Exploring Processed Foods, Whole Exploring Processed Foods, Whole Grains, Microwaves & the Nutritional Grains, Microwaves & the Nutritional

Facts PanelFacts Panel

1. Eat Fruit Alone

Every morning have a breakfast of fresh fruit. Fruit is a powerful detoxifier. It has the highest water content of all foods and travels

through the body very quickly. The fiber in fruit acts like a brush to keep the intestinal

walls clean and clear. The soluble fibers in fruit also help to lower

cholesterol in the blood.

2. Do Not Combine Protein with Starch Continued

When protein and starch are eaten together, ptyalin is not effectively produced in the saliva, and the starch is not predigested in the mouth. It enters the stomach and begins to ferment, producing gas.

Protein needs to be digested in an acidic environment and starch in an alkaline environment. When starches and proteins are combined, the acid and alkaline digestive juices neutralize each other.

2. Do Not Combine Protein with Starch

Protein foods and starchy foods require different digestive juices in order to be properly broken down and used by the body.

The digestion of starches begins in the mouth with the enzyme ptyalin, which is found in your saliva. Proteins are mainly broken down in the stomach by hydrochloric acid and the protein-splitting enzyme pepsin.

3. Eat Protein Alone or with Non-starch Vegetables

Non-starch vegetables are high in water content and are relatively easy to digest. They can be broken down in either an acid or alkaline environment. Thus, they can be combined with proteins or starches.The fiber contained in vegetables helps to move the non-fiber protein foods rapidly through the intestines.

Non-Starchy Vegetables Include: Leafy greens, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, carrots, bok choy, cabbage, celery, lettuces, green beans, garlic, fennel, onions, chives, turnips, sprouts, red radish, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumber, beets

4. When Eating Starches & Grains, Eat Them Alone or with Vegetables

Since vegetables do not require their own specific digestive juices, they can be digested in the alkaline environment required by starches.

Starchy vegetables include:  Acorn and butternut squash, lima beans, peas, corn, water chestnuts, artichokes, sweet potatoes potatoes, yams

5. Do Not Drink with Meals

Drinking water, tea, or any other beverage along with your meal dilutes the digestive juices needed to break down the food, therefore preventing it from being properly digested. The best time to drink fluids is between meals, at least half an hour before or after eating. Eating fruits and vegetables high in water content, or beans and grains prepared with water, then the food itself will provide plenty of fluid, and one should not feel thirsty after a meal. Using too much salt in food preparation could be the cause of thirst.

1. They Ruin Your Taste Buds Processed foods contain refined sugar, extra salt, and other

flavor enhancers which desensitize taste buds from unnatural stimulation.

After eating processed foods, more processed foods are needed to get taste and natural foods will no longer be appreciated.

Taste buds are designed to seek out sweet, salty, and fatty flavors, processed food manufactures take advantage of this by making their products as unnaturally sweet, salty, and fatty as possible.

Taste buds have a life span of only about 2 weeks so if you stop exposing your taste buds with artificial stimulation for 2-3 weeks they will heal and become more sensitive.

2. Deadly Additives

Harmful chemical additives are added to foods to keep a longer shelf life and to enhance taste and color.

Processed foods would taste like paper if it were not for the addictive and artificial flavorings that are added to them.

3. Hidden Harmful IngredientsProcessed foods often contain hidden sugar, salt and harmful fats. All three of these contribute to health problems.

Additives to Avoid: aluminum silicate, artificial colors, artificial flavorings, Bisulfite, BHA, BHT, BVO, caffeine, carrageenan, EDTA, metabisulfite, propyl gallate, salt, sodium benzoate, sodium sulfite, sorbitol, sulfur dioxide, sodium propionate.

Food Colorings to Avoid: Red 3 & 40, Blue 1 & 2, Green 3, Yellow 5 & 6 have all been linked to cancer.

4. Mystery Ingredients, Hair, Bugs and Sand, Just to Name a Few

Human Hair: CNN has reported that most human-derived L-cysteine (an amino acid used to condition dough for baking) comes from Chinese women who help support their families by selling their hair to small chemical-processing plants.

Sand: is often added as an anti-caking agent to processed beef and chicken to prevent clumping.

Beetle juices: are a “natural” food dye used for red food coloring that comes from the dried, crushed bodies of female scale insects called cochineal.

5. Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS)

All food additives and chemical ingredients are considered to be GRAS by the FDA, research has not been conducted on the long term effects and quantitative damage that can be done from a long term diet of processed foods.

6. Fortified with Synthetics

To make up for the loss of nutrients during processing, synthetic vitamins and minerals are added. These may appear healthy, but our bodies are not built to process synthetic nutrients. Synthetic ingredients are stored in fat cells and make weight loss difficult.

7. Supporting the Wrong Industry

Spending money on processed foods, encourages growth in this market.

Money spent on organic fruits and vegetables instead, encourages others to enter this market, therefore bringing prices down.

8. Money

Although fruits and vegetables often appear to be expensive, they are often less expensive than processed foods.

The hidden expense of processed foods are included in the costs of prescription medications, sick days lost at work, doctor visits, and other detrimental health effects experienced from nutritional deficiency.

Eating well helps prevent disease and the associated costs that come with it.

9. They Are Dead & So Are We

The nutrients are cooked or processed out of manufactured foods. We do not benefit from the enzymes and nutrients.Consuming processed foods reduce your ability to enjoy life in the moment due to increased fatigue, low-grade health complaints, obesity, depression and other health complaints.

Whole grains are good sources of fiber.

Whole grains are excellent sources of folate, B vitamins, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, chromium, selenium, phosphorus and vitamin E.

Folate helps decrease blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine. High levels of homocysteine in the bloodstream are associated with an increased risk of heart disease.

Whole grains are naturally low in fat.

1. Amaranth Seeds

Often used as a cereal grain.

Once a staple of Aztec royalty.

Amaranth is an excellent source of protein, calcium, fiber, iron, potassium and vitamins A and C.

The seeds can be used whole, toasted, popped, flaked or ground into flour and used in most types of baking and pasta.

2. Millet

A small, round, yellow, gluten-free, grain-like seed.

Common ingredient in bird seed mixes.

A staple in India, Europe, Asia and northern Africa.

It’s nutritionally similar to other grains, and its bland flavor makes it perfect for use in pilaf, as a cooked cereal, or even baked into bread.

3. Quinoa

Native to South America and was considered sacred by the Inca Indians.

Is a complete protein, and also contains larger amounts of iron, copper, magnesium and fiber.

Includes antioxidants, phytonutrients and can help balance blood sugar levels.

4. Wheat berries

Wheat berries resemble other grains such as barley.

Wheat berries are an excellent source of fiber, vitamins and minerals.

Crushed wheat berries are known as cracked wheat.

Wheat berries may be sprouted, which makes them sweeter; cracked and added to salads; cooked as a grain or side dish; and/or ground into a flour to be used in breads or other baked goods.

5. Farro

Has a nutty flavor and a chewy texture.

High in fiber, protein, magnesium, and vitamins A, B, C, and E.

Farro grain must be soaked before use and takes hours of cooking to become tender.

Farro can be purchased in flour form and used to make baked goods and pasta.

6. Spelt

Available in whole grain or flour form with a nutty flavor.

Spelt is a nutrient-rich grain that can be used in preparing baked goods or purchased already packaged in the form of spelt pasta, tortilla and bread.

Spelt is rich in manganese, fiber, phosphorous, niacin, and protein.

Eating excess amounts of certain fats, notably saturated fat, can increase risk of chronic disease.

Unsaturated fats have important functions in the body that promote health and well-being.

Fats help to maintain skin and hair, store and transport fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, protect cell walls, keep the body warm, and protect vital organs.

Saturated fats are amongst the most common and also the most harmful fats in our diet.

They are found in animal foods like meat, poultry, dairy products and certain tropical oils.

Diets high in saturated fats are associated with higher risks

of heart disease, certain cancers, and stroke.

Found mostly in nuts, vegetable oils

and fish.

Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) are found mostly in vegetable oils such as olive, canola, and peanut.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are found in nuts and vegetable oils such as safflower, sunflower, and soybean, and in fatty fish.

Our bodies cannot manufacture all the fatty acids we need.

Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) ALA is part of the omega-3 family Is the precursor to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and

eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) DHA is important for development of the brain and eyes Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring and the marine

plants they feed on

Linoleic acid (LA) LA is part of the omega-6 family Used to make another omega-6 fatty acid, arachidonic acid

(AA) Important for infant growth

How do microwaves work?

Every microwave oven contains a magnetron, a tube in which electrons are affected by magnetic and electric fields to produce micro wavelength radiation at about 2450 Mega Hertz (MHz) or 2.45 Giga Hertz (GHz).

Microwaves interact with the molecules in the food and change the polarity from positive to negative with each cycle of the wave. This happens millions of times each second.

How do microwaves work?

As these microwaves generated from the magnetron bombard the food, they cause the polar molecules to rotate at the same frequency millions of times per second.

This agitation creates molecular friction, which heats up the food.

The friction causes damage and deforms the molecules of the food.

Microwave ovens use an alternating current (AC) to create frictional heat.

Radiation, as defined by physics terminology, is “the electromagnetic waves emitted by the atoms and molecules of a radioactive substance as a result of nuclear decay.”

Radiation causes ionization, which is what occurs when a neutral atom gains or losses electrons.

A microwave oven decays and changes the molecular structure of the food by the process of radiation.

1. Young Families, the Minnesota Extension Service of the University of Minnesota, published the following in 1989: Heating the bottle in a microwave can cause slight changes in the milk. In infant formulas, there may be a loss of some vitamins. In expressed breast milk, some protective properties may be destroyed.

2. In 1991, a lawsuit was filed in Oklahoma concerning a hip surgery patient who died from blood warmed in a microwave oven. Blood is routinely warmed for a transfusion, but never in a microwave oven. In the case of Mrs. Levitt, the microwaving altered the blood and it killed her. This tragedy makes it very apparent that there’s much more to “heating” with microwaves than we’ve been led to believe.

3. Dr. Hans Ulrich Hertel published a research paper that appeared in issue 19 of the Journal Franz Weber indicating that food cooked in microwave ovens could pose a greater risk to health than food cooked by conventional means. The article stated that the consumption of food cooked in microwave ovens had cancerous effects on the blood. The scientific conclusion showed that microwave cooking changed the nutrients in the food and that harmful changes took place in the participants’ blood analysis.

Free radicals were formed in microwaved plants, especially root vegetables.

60 – 90% decrease in food value of all foods tested.

Among the changes observed were: decreased bio-availability of vitamin B complex, vitamin C, vitamin E, essential minerals and lipotropics factors in all food tested.

Microwaving prepared meats sufficiently to consume caused formation of d-Nitrosodienthanolamines, a well-known carcinogen.

Microwaving milk and cereal grains converted some of their amino acids into carcinogens.

Thawing frozen fruits converted their glucosides and galactosides into carcinogenic substances.

Extremely short exposure of raw, cooked or frozen vegetables converted their plant alkaloids into carcinogens.

Sugar consumption has risen 1,500% in the last 200 years.

The average American consumes 150 lbs. of sugar annually

compared to the 12 pounds consumed in the early 1800s.

According to the U.S.D.A., that is equal to 52 teaspoonful's of added sugars per person per day.

Sugar hinders the body’s immune system and predisposes people to allergies and infections, including cancer.

Health conditions associated with the over-consumption of sugar

allergies, obesity, eating disorders, eczema, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, kidney stones and failure, learning disabilities, diverticulosis, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, candida, anxiety, hyperactivity in children, dental cavities, adult-onset diabetes, atherosclerosis, and countless others.

Agave, Amazake, Barley malt, Birch syrup, Beet sugar, Brown sugar, Buttered syrup, Cane-juice crystals, Cane sugar, Caramel, Caramel Coloring, Carob syrup, Corn sugar, Corn syrup, Date sugarm, Diastatic malt, Diglycerides, Ethyl maltol, Fructose, Fruit juice, Fruit juice concentrate, Glucose, Glucose solids, Golden syrup, Grape sugar, Grenadine, Dextran, Dextrose, Diastase, High-fructose corn syrup, Honey, Lactose, Malt syrup, Maltodextrin, Maltose, Mannitol, Molasses, Raw sugar, Refiner’s syrup, Rice sugar, Sorbitol, Sorghum syrup, Sucrose, Turbinado sugar, Xylitol

Label Teases

Fortified, enriched, added, extra, and plus: Nutrients, minerals and fiber have been removed and vitamins added back in the processing.

Fruit drink: Little or no real fruit and a lot of sugar.

Natural: The manufacturer started with a natural source, but once it's processed the food may not resemble anything natural. Look for "100% All Natural" and "No Preservatives.“

Label Teases

Organically grown, pesticide-free, or no artificial ingredients. Trust only labels that say "Certified Organically Grown."

Processed products that contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients can use the phrase "made with organic ingredients." 

Products labeled "organic" must consist of at least 95 percent organically produced ingredients (excluding water and salt).

Sugar-free or fat-free: The manufacturer compensated with unhealthy ingredients that don't taste very good and the product may not have fewer calories than the real thing. Check the calories per serving.

Low: 5% or less, can be labeled as low Examples: low-fat, low sugar, low sodium

Good Source: 10-19% can be labeled as a good sourceExamples: good source of calcium, good source of iron

High: 20% or more can be labeled as highExamples: high in fiber, high in vitamin C

Nutrients by Weight and Percentage of Daily Value (%DV): This symbol refers to the recommended daily allowance for a nutrient based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Moderately active women or a sedentary male. DV make it easy to compare products.

Serving Size: Check here for the portions sizes, generally it is smaller than you think. For example one can of tuna is 2.5 servings.

Calories per serving: 40 or less is considered to be low, 100 is moderate, 400 is high

Calories from Fat: It should not be over 30% of the total calories per serving.

Saturated Fat & Trans Fat: linked to raising LDL and cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease. Code words to watch out for include hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated. Less than 65 grams daily, with less than 20 grams saturated fat.

Carbohydrates: this is a large category and can include anything from healthy such as whole grains to unhealthy such as sugar. It is recommended to get 300 grams.

Protein: .45 per lb. of body weight (68 grams for 150 lb. person). % DV recommends 50 grams.

Sugar: the label doesn't distinguish between natural sugars, such as those found in fruit, and added sugar.

Sodium: is linked to high blood pressure, keep this as low as possible. Recommended daily limit is 2,300 mg, low sodium is less than 140 mg

Calcium: 1,000 mg = 100% DV

Potassium: 4,700 mg=100% DV

Dietary Fiber: Try to get 25-35 grams, a good rule is to purchase breads and cereals that have at least 3 grams

Ingredients: listed in order from the greatest amount to the least.

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3 Quick Tips for Grocery Shopping Quickly

1. Take a quick glance at the daily value percentages.

2. Then check serving size, if you eat twice the amount, then double the %DV for accuracy.

3. Compare 2-3 items and pick the best one.

Breyer, M. (2012, February 12). 8 Creepy Mystery Ingredients in Fast Food. Mother Nature Network. Retrieved June 21, 2012, from http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/8-creepy-mystery-ingredients-in-fast-food

Food Combining: The Little-Understood Secret to Optimal Health & Weight Revealed. (2007, March 12). The Body Ecology. Retrieved June 21, 2012, from http://bodyecology.com/articles/food_combining_optimal_health_and_weight.php

Global College of Natural Medicine (2010). Dietary Guidelines. The Global College of Natural Medicine.

Hyman, M. (2009, August 14). Why Quick, Cheap Food Is Actually More Expensive. Huffpost Healthy Living. Retrieved June 21, 2012.

The Whole Grain Council (2011). What are the Health Benefits. The Whole Grain Council. Retrieved June 21, 2012, from http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/what-are-the-health-benefits

Disclaimer: The information in the educational products is not intended to replace medical care or advice. Please refer to medical providers for medical follow-up.