6 “Healthy” Foods That You Should Never Eat
See, it does take a village! Of chihuahuas!
It’s Project Runway, health food cycle: One day you’re in, the next day you’re out! (Bonus points if you can say that like Heidi Klum.) Food fads are a sad but true fact in the health and fitness industry. Science, and more importantly marketers, are always pimping the next Super Food. And sometimes that introduces us to some really awesome weird foods that we might not have otherwise tried. Chia seeds, quinoa and acai berries anyone? Many times these fads are duds. And then there are the few times where purportedly “healthy” foods are actually harming you. Check out my slideshow on Shape.com to see the full list of 6 Healthy Foods That Should Never Pass Your Lips but the one most surprising to me was – dun, dun, dun – agave nectar!
Long touted as an “all natural” and healthy alternative to sugar and artificial sweeteners, it turns out the agave nectar sold in stores, including “blue,” “natural,” and “organic” varieties, has more fructose than even high-fructose corn syrup and is far more processed than plain table sugar. If you’ve watched “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” then you’ll know that fructose taken out of fruit (where it occurs naturally) becomes a toxin when processed. While it’s true that agave nectar is lower on the glycemic index than other sweeteners, it’s no dietary friend but rather poison disguised as a health food. All of which really surprised me given the aura of “health” that surrounds it.
Any of you surprised to discover a food you thought was healthy, wasn’t? Have you ever tried a food fad??
Other things I wrote this week:
Fitness Trainers Reveal: The #1 Piece of Equipment I Swear By (which we already discussed on here but all my trainers are so darn adorable I had to give them a little more love!)
Are your birth control pills safe? (And the controversy rumbles on…)
Do you make your kids write thank you notes? (Or do you write them for them? Cough, cough, not that I’d know anything about that)
The #1 Thing Parents Wish People Understood About Their Child (Weirdly this got reposted on Yahoo and the comments are even crazier this time around. If that’s possible.)
Mom’s 10 Weirdest Tips for Saving Money
Is it harder having 1 child or 9? (One mom’s poignant answer may surprise you)
How parenting changes us: Jay-Z to stop using “bitch” (The day after I wrote this, news outlets said that it couldn’t be confirmed that he actually said this. Which I think kind of depresses me. You’d hope after a man has a daughter he’d stop calling women hos and bitches. Of course if being married to Beyonce didn’t turn him around I’m not sure how much hope there is for him.)
It was Friday the 13th! Do you have a mommy superstition?
Parenting Challenge: How do you get through the vending machine gauntlet? (I really love one company’s answer to this: H.U.M.A.N. vending only stocks healthy options in their machines plus they offer in-community health counseling as well as video tips that play on their machines. Advertising – it can be used for good too!)
Saving Money on Gluten-Free Foods
There is no doubt that gluten-free foods are more expensive than their gluten-filled counterparts. If you’ve been gluten-free for more than a week, you are well aware of that.
How can you save money on gluten-free foods?
1. Eat Naturally Gluten-Free Foods
This may not be the answer you want to hear, but I’m putting it first because it’s the easiest, healthiest, and often most frugal way to eat gluten free.
Shop the perimeter of the grocery store for things like fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat, as well as eggs, milk and cheese (if you can eat those).
Rice and beans are a classic frugal combination. I recommend rinsing dry or canned beans before eating them.
2. Shop Around
There are many stores carrying gluten-free products. My son’s favorite cereal can vary as much as $2 per box depending on the store.
My experience is that independent health food stores tend to be pricey, but they might carry items you can’t find elsewhere.
Chain health food stores such as Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and Mom’s Organic Market tend to have the best prices.
Most regular chain grocery stores carry some gluten-free specialty foods, but prices can vary. They do sometimes put items on sale.
There are a variety of places where you can buy gluten-free foods online. Even with shipping, it can be cheaper than buying at a store, but you need to compare prices and always include the cost of shipping.
Amazon had good deals on gluten-free food
A couple other good choices are iHerb and Nuts.com.
4. Coupons
Check manufacturer web sites for coupons they may offer.
Janelle from Gluten Freely Frugal has a list of coupons available right now.
5. Samples
Attending gluten-free or celiac events and vendor fairs can often mean that you come home with product samples. It usually costs to get into big events, but if the cost is low and the number of vendors attending is high, then you will likely come home with more product than you paid for.
Take time to talk with the vendors and let them know you have difficulty affording gluten-free products. They need to hear from us on that issue, and they might give you extra samples or coupons.
How do you save money on gluten-free foods?
Pacific Foods Broth Review & Giveaway
I like to make my own chicken broth, but there are times when I don’t have any, or it’s not thawed. In those cases I almost always turn to
That’s why I was thrilled when they contacted me to do a review this fall. As the weather turns cooler and the holidays approach, broths are perfect for making
I really like all of the Pacific Natural Foods broths. They have great flavor and use natural ingredients. All of their broths are gluten free. You can use their
The organic free range chicken broth is probably the product I use the most. The quart size container is usually perfect for making soups. If I need less than a quart for a recipe, I put the remainder in the refrigerator and use it for another meal.
The ingredients in the chicken broth are: Organic chicken broth (filtered water, organic chicken), Organic chicken flavor (organic chicken flavor, sea salt), Natural chicken flavor (chicken stock, salt), Sea salt, Organic evaporated cane juice, Organic onion powder, Turmeric, Organic flavor
One cup does contain 570 mg of sodium, but if you are watching your sodium intake you can opt for the low sodium version which has only 70 mg of sodium.
I have found that pouring from the cartons is a bit tricky. If you try to pour too fast it comes out in bursts and results in splashes. The key is to pour slowly. Don’t tilt the carton much and you will have a nice slow but steady stream without any splashing.
Pacific Natural Foods also makes delicious soups and dairy free beverages. Their hazelnut chocolate is a favorite of mine. If you can eat dairy, they sell
If you have never tried the Pacific Natural Foods broths, or even if you have, be sure to enter the giveaway below.
The Giveaway: Pacific Natural Foods is giving away an assortment of their gluten-free broths to one winner. The giveaway is limited to US residents.
To enter you must leave a comment on this post, not on my Facebook page and not an email. If you receive my updates by email, click on the underlined title and it will take you to my blog page where you can leave a comment.
Leave a separate comment for each entry:
- Leave a comment on this post telling me if you have tried their broths.
- Like
- Subscribe to this blog via
- Post this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, or mention it in a blog post (only one entry)
The giveaway will end on Friday, October 28th at 11:00 pm eastern time. The randomly chosen winner will be contacted by email and will have 24 hours to respond after being contacted.
Disclaimer: I was provided with free products but was not paid for this review. The opinions in this post are my own.
Foods and Supplements For Back Pain Relief
I’ve never had problems with back pain so I was not happy when my lower back starting hurting all at once with no warning. I admit I do a lot of lifting since my part time job is in a freight department. I guess that’s why the lower back pain even happened.
I’m not one to take OTC pain meds and I had to find relief so I could do my job (more lifting!!!) without complaining about “my back hurting.” I thought back to what I did to help my frozen shoulder a while back. I increased my cod liver oil to boost the Omega 3 fatty acids in my body. I also ate more flax seeds (buy whole and grind them at home) in salads, on yogurt or in breakfast drinks. This worked for my shoulder in few months. I gained full range of motion so I hoped the back pain would go away with diet.
What is inflammation? The online Medical Dictionary defines inflammation as: a protective tissue response to injury or destruction of tissues, which serves to destroy, dilute, or wall off both the injurious agent and the injured tissues. The classical signs of acute inflammation are pain, heat, redness, swelling and loss of function. In other words, inflammation can be experienced as painful joints and/or muscles, loss of ability to move freely, and painful swelling.
Gladly I did find relief for my sudden back pain with diet and supplements! No pain pills, no medicine patches, no stinky rubs and no doctors. I used a drug-free pain patch that stimulated my back the way acupuncture does but without the needles. Worked up to 3 tablespoons cod liver oil a day. Ate 4-5 tablespoons flax seeds daily. Supplemented with a whole food multivitamin, vitamin E, CoQ10, Krill oil, and Big B, a stabilized rice bran vitamin B complex.
Here are some foods that are known anti-inflammatory or have helped me with my back pain and shoulder.
Whole fresh fruits, especially blueberries
Bright colored and dark green leafy vegetables
Coconut oil, Olive oil, grape seed oil or walnut oil
Nuts, legumes and seeds
Turmeric and ginger
Omega-3 essential fatty acids – Fish, walnuts, flax and pumpkin seeds
Pastured chicken, grass fed beef, wild caught salmon
Drink plenty of water daily
Here are some good resources for you to learn more about natural back pain relief.
I only use supplements from whole food sources. Some I get from www.iherb.com, or Whole Food Nation or Vitacost.com. The cod liver oil I use is Carlson’s lemon flavor (no fishy taste) Best price I’ve found for cod liver oil is from www.iherb.com and if you use the code OBI850 you save $5 on your first order.
It is possible to control or get rid of lower back pain with food, herbs and supplements. I had fast results but your results might take a bit of time so hang in there.
Fat Burning Foods
Are there fat burning foods? The answer to that is yes, and no. No in the sense that there are no foods that you’re going to eat and that will magically burn body fat. Yes in the sense that there are foods that will help your fat burning goals by helping you body set up a foundation that will turn in into a fat burning machine. Some foods will help more than others.
For starters, if you want to burn body fat, a boosted metabolism is essential. In order to have a revved up metabolism and burn body fat efficiently, you need to have a solid foundation of muscle. Muscle doesn’t only help you burn calories during your workout, but muscle will also burn calories after you workout and while you rest. Part of this is due to what’s referred to as After Burn or EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). For more on After Burn or EPOC check the article Exercise After Burn: Research Update at About.com.
In order to build and maintain this solid foundation of muscle, you need to feed the muscle properly, especially after intense workouts. Foods high in protein will feed your muscle, which in turn will keep you metabolism revved up, and which will help burn body fat and assist in your fat burning goals during and after workouts. So therefore, foods high in protein, are fat burning foods.
Most clients that come to me tend to have a diet extremely low in protein. Increasing that protein content is usually one of the biggest adjustments that I have them make. I attribute this adjustment to their diet as one of the main reasons they get such great fat burning and fitness results.
Here is a short list of foods high in protein:
Chicken breast
Tuna
Salmon
Steak
Eggs
Turkey Breast
Talapia
After a workout, a protein smoothie is a good idea as the protein will quickly be absorbed and utilized by the body to begin the building and maintenance of muscle tissue.
Once you add these fat burning foods to help build and maintain muscle, there are others foods that will also help your fat burning goals. The next most important list of foods that will help set up you body to become a fat burning machine are foods high in nutrients, yet low in calories.
By limiting excess calories, your body will be forced to break down body fat for energy. But the key is not just to lower your calories, the key is to find foods low in calories but high in nutrition (vitamins, minerals, fiber, anti-oxidants). Your body needs the nutrition to continue to run it’s metabolic processes optimally so that it helps you burn fat efficiently and keep it off long term. These foods that are low in calories, but high in nutrition, therefore are fat burning foods.
Here is a list of these foods low in calories, but high in nutrition:
Broccoli
Spinach
Cucumber
Bell Peppers
Wheat Grass
Mushrooms
Blueberries, but generally all berries fit this category
A lot of people confuse the Fat X Diet with a no carb or low carb diet because I don’t mention carbs (carbohydrates). The reason I don’t mention carbs is because with the Fat X Diet I decided to simplify the subject. Vegetables contain carbs, they just happen to be considered “good” carbs. The consumption of “good” carbs and a solid amount of protein are the engine that drives the Fat X Diet, and the reason that when combined with the Fat X Workout Program, the fat burning and fitness results are what some refer to as amazing.
There’s another list of foods that I consider fat burning foods. I’ll post that soon on the Fat X 101 Facebook page. Make sure you “like” the page so you stay updated.
Amazon Sale on Gluten-Free Foods
Savings on Many Gluten-Free Products
In celebration of celiac awareness month, you can save up to 30%
A Great Deal on Gluten-Free Oats
If you can tolerate gluten-free oats, right now you can get Bob’s Red Mill brand for only $2 a pound. Here’s how.
- Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Whole Grain, Rolled Oats, 32-Ounce Bags (Pack of 4)
is on sale for $20.52
- Save 15% with Subscribe & Save. (You can cancel later if you wish or adjust your subscription so you only receive what you want when you want it.)
- Use the promo code BOBSGFO5 for an additional 5% off.
- Get free shipping on orders over $25 or more.
My thanks to Erin of $5 Dinners for the promo code!
Amazon Sale on Gluten-Free Foods originally appeared on The Gluten-Free Homemaker on 05/12/2011.
Kitchen Tip: Handling Frozen Foods
This month’s Clean Kitchen challenge is to clean your refrigerator and freezer. Emptying out a freezer, or simply handling a lot of frozen items, can be hard on your hands. That stuff is cold!!
A simple solution is to wear oven mitts
Jessie Steele Polka Dot Oven Mitt
Do you have a kitchen tip to share? Send me an email at Linda (at) GlutenFreeHomemaker (dot) com.
Kitchen Tip: Handling Frozen Foods originally appeared on The Gluten-Free Homemaker on 05/10/2011.
Pacific Foods Review & Giveaway
Pacific Natural Foods is a company that produces products I can feel good about consuming. Visit their What We Believe page and find out what I mean. But not only do I feel good about the ingredients that go into their products, their products also taste great.
I was recently sent some samples to try. A few of my favorites are the three products pictured above. I’ve been using their organic chicken broth for some time, but I really loved the creamy (but dairy free) cashew carrot ginger soup, and the chocolate hazelnut milk was a real treat.
Regarding allergens, their web site states the following. The sentence in italics is mine.
Pacific Natural Foods does not produce products with eggs, sesame, shellfish, or peanuts in our facility. We do produce products containing dairy, soy, tree nuts, and corn. (I believe wheat should also be on that list.) Every 24 hours, production shuts down for a total cleaning and sterilization of all equipment. Complete cleaning and sterilization is also performed between runs of dairy and non-dairy items.
To further reduce potential for cross contamination, a thorough cleaning and flushing of all equipment also takes place after running any product containing allergenic ingredients. The same cleaning is also performed between runs of non-organic and organic products to maintain the integrity of the organic ingredients.
You can read more at their FAQ page. They also have a product information guide that makes it easy to find out if a product contains allergens, is gluten free, dairy free, vegan, etc.
The Giveaway: Pacific Natural Foods has offered to giveaway an assortment of soups and broths to FIVE winners. The giveaway is limited to US residents.
To enter you must leave a comment on this post, not on my Facebook page and not an email. If you receive my updates by email, click on the title and it will take you to my blog page where you can leave a comment.
Leave a separate comment for each entry:
- Leave a comment on this post telling me if you have tried an of their products.
- Subscribe via email or RSS (or tell me you already do)
- Post this giveaway on your Facebook page
- Mention this giveaway in a blog post
- Tweet about the giveaway (include @gfhomemaker)
- The giveaway will end on Friday, May 15th at 11:00 pm eastern time. The winner will have 24 hours to respond after being contacted. The winner will be posted on my Facebook page.
Disclaimer: I was provided with an assortment of broths, soups, and milk alternatives. The opinions in this post are my own.
Pacific Foods Review & Giveaway originally appeared on The Gluten-Free Homemaker on 05/08/2011.
Top 3 Asthma Fighting Foods
According to statistics, 20 million Americans suffer from asthma and 11 die from the disease each day. Although there is no cure, there are medicines that can help alleviate and subdue the…
Visit http://medchrome.com for Full Original Article.
Amazing Weightloss Tricks – The Foods That Supercharge Your Metabolism
Are you sick of all the fad diets? Maybe you have tried them and just put the weight back on again? Imagine if the normal foods which you eat could actually assist you to lose weight? There are many types of foods that actually help to speed up your metabolism so if you are able to include these foods into your diet then they’ll assist you to burn fat and lose weight. You might already be eating some of these superfoods, so it might just be a matter of adjusting your diet to include more of those foods.
If you’re a spicy food lover then you are in luck. Cayenne peppers, jalapenos and habaneros are some fantastic hot and peppery foods that give the metabolism a great big boost. Basically, as well as tasting hot they also get your innards running hot too. These spices can persist in boosting your metabolism for approximately three hours after you eat them. So if you’d like a three hour fat burnout then go eat a meal containing plenty of hot and spicy peppers but just be sure that the meal isn’t too high in carbohydrates and fats.
Salmon, sardines and tuna – these fish are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids which will help speed up your metabolism and even have the extra benefit of being extremely good for your heart. Our bodies possess a hormone known as leptin and our metabolism runs more rapidly when the leptin amounts are lower and these fish help to keep those levels lower, permitting your metabolism to run at a higher speed and burn off calories. Fish are also a source of protein and protein is great for speeding up the metabolism.
Whilst on the subject of protein – foods like lean meat, beans, eggs and also peanut butter will provide your metabolism a boost. Peanut butter needs to be eaten in moderation because of its high fat content, but do attempt to incorporate it in your diet as it’s rich in both protein and monounsaturated fats. Nut butters are also high in protein, monounsaturated fats and also contain a lot of antioxidants. Even though nuts are high in fat, if consumed in small amounts they can actually benefit your weight loss.
Whole grains, like oatmeal, are also excellent for boosting the metabolism. These foods contain glucose and energy that are much required for our body and brains to operate properly, but unfortunately many diet plans shun them. They are great for enhancing the metabolism by regulating the insulin in the bloodstream. They digest slowly and only put a bit of insulin into the bloodstream which keeps things operating smoothly. If your blood sugar levels climb too much then a big release of insulin enters the bloodstream which makes your body try to store everything as fat, so it’s crucial to keep the insulin levels at a healthy level so your body will not store up excessive fat. The reason they are so good is because they are rich in fiber which the body tries to digest and convert to energy despite being unable to. Of course, fiber is also excellent for digestive health
Speaking of fiber, there is a noodle originally produced by the Japanese known as Shirataki, Konjac or Konnyaku noodle. This noodle is produced from a mix of 100 percent soluble fiber and water. Because they are created from fiber your body is unable to convert them to energy which to all intents and purposes makes them calorie free when you swap them for conventional noodles. For further info visit shirataki noodles online. If you would like a discount visit miracle noodle coupon code
Other foods that are great for speeding up the metabolism are fruits and vegetables, particularly dark green leafy vegetables and berries. These foods are also an excellent source of vitamins and antioxidants so consume as much of these foods as you want.
Get helpful info about – go through this web site. The time has come when proper info is truly only one click of your mouse, use this chance.
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