Life's Harmony

Living life these days is like riding a fast train that never stops!  It seems like I can hardly catch my breath before preparing for the next activity.

Earlier this year, my husband performed in a cantata with our church.  They practiced for several months and spent many hours getting ready for their performance.  During that time, my husband started to come up with this great idea about how to maintain balance and create harmony in one's life, based on his experience with music.   What he came up with is called Life's Harmony.  He is starting to do free workshops and began a meetup group where he teaches about this concept.

Over the past few months, we have discussed this topic often with each other as well as friends and family.  Through these discussions, I have found that it can apply to everyone!  I am a highly organized and fairly efficient person, but I was still able to find some simple yet meaningful changes in my life to help me find more balance, and thus create harmony.

If you are interested in learning more, check out my hubby's meetup site, or you can email him directly.  

Healthy Eating For Kids - Ten Step Guide to Improve Your Child's Diet

This Article is by Joy Houston, a raw food chef.  It has some really fabulous tips!  Enjoy:)

Why do we need oils and nuts?

Replacing saturated fat or carbohydrate with unsaturated fat definitively lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.  And there's a huge amount of evidence that will reduce the risk of heart attacks.  It does seem that there's some added benefit of polyunsaturated fats above monounsaturated fats, but virtually all oils and nuts have some of both.

Q: With 120 calories in a T. of oil and about 175 calories in just 1/4 cup of nuts, isn't it easy to go overboard?
A: Of course.  It's too much of a good thing.  Eating a horrible diet and pouring oil on it is not a good idea, just like sprinkling bran on a horrible diet is not a good idea.  If you consume nuts and oils as part of an overall healthy diet, it's easier to control calories, but that means replacing bad stuff with good stuff.

Walter Willett is chair of the Dept. of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School.  He has published over 1,400 scientific articles on diet and disease. Excerpt from Nutrition Action Healthletter

What benefits do fruits and vegetable provide?

The benefit for lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease is clear.  Some of that is due to their potassium, which lowers blood pressure.  That's proven.

But some is also likely due to their folic acid, antioxidants, and other micronutrients.  Fruit and vegetables are a primary source of vitamins and many minerals.  We don't understand all of their benefits.  There may be some modest benefit for preventing some cancers, but a large benefit isn't there.

Walter Willett is chair of the Dept. of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School.  He has published over 1,400 scientific articles on diet and disease. Excerpt from Nutrition Action Healthletter

What's wrong with sugars?

At this point, sugary beverages are the number-one problem in the American diet.  They're the number-one source of calories on average.  Sugary beverages are also the number one sales item in terms of dollars at grocery stores, and a lot are consumed at McDonald's and other fast food places.

They're like cigarette smoking.  They're only bad and they have no redeeming virtue.  And the adverse effects are weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, gout, cavities, and maybe some cancers as well.

Q:  Even fruit juice is a problem?
A: Yes.  It's associated with a higher risk of diabetes.  And you'd expect that because fruit juice has about the same number of calories per serving as Coke or Pepsi, and it will have the same metabolic effect.  So,e nutrients come along with fruit juice, but there's a bit metabolic price to pay for getting nutrients that you could get from foods that have fewer calories.  And most peopler are getting those nutrients anyway, so two glasses of orange juice a day doesn't have many health benefits and has many harms.

Walter Willett is chair of the Dept. of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School.  He has published over 1,400 scientific articles on diet and disease. Excerpt from Nutrition Action Healthletter

Can you overdo whole grains?

You can always overdo foods.  A key principle that's been documented in the last few decades is that if you are a lean and active, you can tolerate more carbohydrate.  If you're not, a high carbohydrate diet can exacerbate insulin resistance.

What's interesting is that if you're really eating whole grains, you won't overeat them. I think of my Kashi pilaf as a paradigm because it's a blend of intact grains.  We're not talking about whole grain bread or Kashi breakfast cereals.  I can tolerate only 30 to 40 percent of calories form intact grains because more causes gastrointestinal disturbances.  The healthiest whole grains are self-limiting.

Walter Willett is chair of the Dept. of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School.  He has published over 1,400 scientific articles on diet and disease. Excerpt from Nutrition Action Healthletter

How to save your produce from going bad

Click on the link above to read the whole article, but here are the basics. 

Fastest to Slowest Spoilers: What to Eat First You can enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables with just a single weekly trip to the supermarket, with proper storage and a little planning.  The key is eating the more perishable produce early on. Use this guide, right—created with the help of Marita Cantwell, PhD, postharvest specialist at the University of California, Davis—based on a Sunday shopping trip. The timing suggestions are for ready-to-eat produce, so allow extra days for ripening if you're buying, say, green bananas or not-quite-ripe pears.      And remember, looks count. Appearance—vivid green spinach; smooth, unbruised peaches; plump oranges—is the best clue to whether fruits and veggies are fresh to begin with.
Eat First:  Sunday to Tuesday Artichokes Asparagus Avocados Bananas Basil Broccoli Cherries Corn Dill Green beans Mushrooms Mustard greens Strawberries Watercress	Eat Next:  Wednesday to Friday Arugula Cucumbers Eggplant Grapes Lettuce  Lime Mesclun Pineapple  Zucchini	Eat Last:  Weekend Apricots Bell peppers Blueberries Brussels sprouts Cauliflower Grapefruit Leeks Lemons Mint Oranges  Oregano Parsley Peaches Pears Plums Spinach Tomatoes Watermelon	And  Beyond Apples  Beets Cabbage Carrots Celery Garlic Onions Potatoes Winter squash

REFRIGERATE  THESE GAS RELEASERS Apples Apricots Cantaloupe Figs Honeydew

DON'T REFRIGERATE  THESE GAS RELEASERS  Avocados Bananas, unripe Nectarines Peaches Pears Plums  Tomatoes

KEEP THESE AWAY  FROM ALL GAS RELEASERS Bananas, ripe Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage  Carrots  Cauliflower Cucumbers Eggplant Lettuce and other leafy greens  Parsley Peas Peppers Squash  Sweet potatoes Watermelon

 

A high-glycemic carbohydrate raises blood sugar rapidly?

Yes.  The strongest evidence that glycemic index matters comes from the Acarbose trial.  Acarbose is a drug that inhibits an enzyme secreted by the intestine to split long chain starches into their glucose building blocks.  This drug inhibits the enzyme, so it's turning a high-glycemic index carb into a low-glycemic-indec carb.

The drug reduced the risk of heart disease and diabetes.  From a physiological standpoint, it's the definitive study on glycemic index.

Q: Don't most foods-like hamburgers, pizza, and cookies--mix refined carbs with fat, which blunts the glycemic index?
A: If you add fat to refined carbs or potatoes, that will lower the glucose response.  But you'll also lower blood sugar if you replace the high-glycemic carb with a low glycemic carb like barley.

No matter what your diet, if you switch from a higher- to a lower-glycemic index carb, you'll get the expected drop in blood glucose.  That's why glycemic load matters.  It takes into account the amount of carbohydrate as well as the glycemic index.

Walter Willett is chair of the Dept. of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School.  He has published over 1,400 scientific articles on diet and disease. Excerpt from Nutrition Action Healthletter

What's wrong with refined grains?

They're problematic in two ways.  Much of their vitamins and minerals and fiber have been removed in the refining process.  For example, there's pretty good evidence that the magnesium that's removed has some protective effect for diabetes and heart disease.

Labels usually call the flour "enriched" and in parentheses you'll see a list of vitamins that are added back.  It should be called "depleted" flour. Or "depleted and partially restored."

So there's a problem with what's lost, but also with what's created--which is a rapidly absorbed, high glycemic form of carbohydrate that has clear adverse affects on the risk of diabetes, weight gain, and heart disease.

Walter Willett is chair of the Dept. of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School.  He has published over 1,400 scientific articles on diet and disease. Excerpt from Nutrition Action Healthletter

Why limit red meat?

The evidence has now become very strong that keeping red meat low is one of the most important steps in creating a healthy diet.  Replacing red meat with almost anything is better, but replacing it with poultry will move you in the right direction and replacing it with fish or nuts--something with positive health benefits--is even better.

Red meat is high in unhealthy fats.  And even lean cuts have unhealthy fats.  So, replacing them with unsaturated fats will move the risk of heart disease and diabetes in the right direction.

Q: How does red meat affect diabetes?
A: We're not sure.  There may be multiple factors in meat.  Some evidence suggests that he heme iron increases risk.  The link with diabetes hasn't been appreciated until recently, but now it's been seen in many studies.

Q: Does meat promote colon cancer?
A: Yes, particularly if it's processed red meat.  So much happens in the processing that we're not sure what matters, but the evidence is quite strong.

Breast cancer does not seem to be related to red meat consumption during midlife and later, but we have seen a relationship with red meat consumed in early adult life and high school.  So far we have the only prospective data on high school diet and breast cancer, so that needs confirmation.

Q: How much red meat is okay:
A: Like almost everything, it's frequency and amount that influence our risk.  There's no sharp cutoff.  It's like radiation.  We can't say that there's any safe level.

But the large majority of the risk would be removed if everyone would cut back from the current average intake, which about once a day, to once or twice a week in a moderate amount.  A 20-ounce steak once a week is still a lot of meat.

Q: A serving should be three ounces?
A: Yes, three or four ounces cooked.  That would be a huge step in the right direction for the vast majority of Americans who are eating red meat on a daily basis.

Walter Willett is chair of the Dept. of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School.  He has published over 1,400 scientific articles on diet and disease. Excerpt from Nutrition Action Healthletter

How much cancer can a diet low in salt prevent?

Keeping salt on the low side is definitely important for preventing heart attacks and strokes, but that tends to happen automatically if you eat fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that have been minimally processed.

You still need to pay attention because you can find whole grains even at places like Whole Foods that are extremely high in salt even though they are marketed as healthy.  If you go to the processed, packaged route, you run the risk of a high salt intake.  But if you prepare your own intact foods, most of the times, your salt intake will be low.

Walter Willett is chair of the Dept. of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School.  He has published over 1,400 scientific articles on diet and disease. Excerpt from Nutrition Action Healthletter

How much cancer can diet prevent?

Cancer is more complicated than heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.  It's pretty clear now that diet's biggest impact on cancer is avoiding overweight and obesity, and they are almost entirely avoidable.  Obviously, quantity of food is important.  And choosing the right foods can help us control our calories and weight.  It's the same market basket that's high in intact whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, and low in sugar, sugary beverages, refined grains, potatoes, and red meat.

Walter Willett is chair of the Dept. of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School.  He has published over 1,400 scientific articles on diet and disease. Excerpt from Nutrition Action Healthletter

What are the right foods?

Within that healthy market basket will be mostly plant based foods.  That means plenty of vegetables, but not potatoes, and plenty of fruit, but not fruit juices.  It's aiming for the more-intact, less-processed fruits and vegetables and for whole grains as opposed to refined grains.  Those factors have an enormous influence.

And I should add healthy protein sources, which means a combination of plant-based foods like legumes and nuts and a modest amount of poultry, fish, and dairy.  It's not necessary to be a vegan, but to move in the direction of plant-based choices.

Q: Is any plant-based diet good?
A: No.  Just aiming for a plant-based diet alone doesn't cut it.  If your plant based diet is high in refined starch and sugar, that could be the worst possible diet.

Walter Willett is chair of the Dept. of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School.  He has published over 1,400 scientific articles on diet and disease. Excerpt from Nutrition Action Healthletter

Can food keep us healthy?

The foods we choose have a huge impact on our long term health and well-being.  We've learned that in the last few decades.

We've seen that, say rates of heart disease in northern Europe are ten times higher then in Southern Europe and that rates of cancer vary tenfold or more around the world.  The foods we choose-along with physical activity and not smoking--are a major factor in those huge differences in rates of almost every disease that we look at, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and many cancers.

Walter Willett is chair of the Dept. of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School.  He has published over 1,400 scientific articles on diet and disease. Excerpt from Nutrition Action Healthletter

You don't need a membership to the gym to get fit and lose weight!

I was stoked to come across this article today!  I teach a class with free weights in the gym every week, and this article made me realize how great free weight work outs really are!

The great thing about them is you don't have to have a membership to the gym.  You can get some free weights and work-out at your own home!  Hope you enjoy the article.  

Updated Dirty Dozen and Clean 15

Here is the most up to date comprehensive list of the dirty dozen and clean 15.  Scroll to the bottom to see an even more comprehensive list of 53 foods they tested!

Support Food Day!

Go to the link above and join me and many others in signing this petition!  Check out the site and organize or participate in an event!  IT'S TIME TO EAT REAL, AMERICA!

Ask Congress to Support Food Day's Goals:

• 1Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods
• 2Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness
• 3Expand access to food and alleviate hunger
• 4Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms
• 5Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids
• 6Support fair conditions for food and farm workers

Coppell Farmer's Market

Check out this AWESOME local farmer's market in Coppell!

Food Day for Kids will be held on October 22nd, promoting healthy food for healthy families. Parents are encouraged to bring their kids to the farmers market to choose nutritious food to eat. Placemats will be given out to guide in the selection of foods for a healthy plate.

The morning will be full of kid's activities, kid-size shopping, face painting, and more! Remember the location of the Coppell Farmers Market has moved just one block south on So.Coppell Road. Street parking is available.

The Coppell Farmers Market is celebrating the first Food Day along with many others across the nation. The six principals of Food Day outline the purpose for a day to focus on healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way. The Coppell Farmers Market will be helping youth make good food choices. Click here to find out more!

Best Gift Ever!

Anyone looking for an awesome wedding gift to give? Try this veggie spiralizer!

I have used mine to make zucchini spaghetti, potato and sweet potato fries with all different cuts, and more! It is so easy and fairly inexpensive. I have a long list of gadgets I want for my kitchen. This was the first to cross off since it is the cheapest, but so valuable! A huge time saver!

Why sleep is important and what happens when you don't get enough

This is a great resource to read about the importance of sleep. My husband doesn't care about what pillow he sleeps on because he could probably sleep standing if he had to. I, on the other hand am more picky about how I sleep. When we bought a new bed about 2 years ago, I got a memory foam pillow as well! It took me some time to get used to the firmness, but now I LOVE my memory foam pillow. I feel like it contours much better to my neck and allows me to sleep properly no matter which position I sleep in. Check it out!

Next on my list is a memory foam pillow topper for the whole body! My body is happy just thinking about it!