Eating Disorder Pro » Eating

The New School Lunch

Dr. J Renae Norton — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:10:24 +0000

This week, the USDA announced the new requirements for school breakfasts and lunches. This marks the first major overhaul to the requirements in over 15 years! Although the changes aren’t as significant as the Obama administration would have liked, the new requirements are definitely a step in the right direction in the right direction. The changes are definitely worthy of praise.

By implementing these new requirements, it is hoped that there will be a noticeable decrease in the number of obese children. In the past 30 years, our nation has experienced a threefold increase in childhood obesity rates. The result? One in three children in our country are now overweight. It is becoming increasingly more common for our children to leave their pediatricians office with a diagnosis of Type II Diabetes, high blood pressure, heart conditions and joint deterioration; diseases which have historically been unheard of in youth populations. Recent studies predict that the epidemic of childhood obesity will result in a 2-5 year decrease in life expectancy. This will be the first generation since the Great Depression that our children are projected to have a shorter lifespan than their parents.

So what changes will we see in the foods that our country’s children are being served at schools? Here’s the breakdown…..

I really love how they are requiring a wide variety of vegetables on a weekly basis. Kids will get a wide variety of nutrients by eating all the ‘colors of the rainbow’, it will also give kids the opportunity to discover new fruits and vegetables.

There has been much controversy over schools being permitted to classify ‘pizza’ as a ‘vegetable’ because it contains 3 tablespoons of tomato paste. The new requirements do allow ‘pizza’ to be classified as a ‘vegetable’, but children will be required to have an additional serving of vegetables on their tray alongside the pizza.

I don’t necessarily agree with this change. Previously, I have discussed the disadvantages of low-fat milk. When I choose milk for both myself and my grandsons, I stick to these guidelines . When it comes to low-fat milk, some of the most respected health gurus in our country say:

“Low fat milk causes weight gain. This is how farmers fatten pigs. If they give them whole milk, the pigs stay lean.

Low fat milk is missing all the vitamins that you get in the fat. The industry has figured out that they make a lot more money on butter and butterfat if they put it in ice cream. So they take the cream out of the milk, put it into ice cream. They would much rather you spend the money on ice cream, than on butter or buttercream; they make a lot more money.”
-Sally Fallon, Weston A. Price Foundation

“A note on the production of skim milk powder: liquid milk is forced through a tiny hole at high pressure, and then blown out into the air. This causes a lot of nitrates to form and the cholesterol in the milk is oxidized. Those of you who are familiar with my work know that cholesterol is your best friend; you don’t have to worry about natural cholesterol in your food; however, you do not want to eat oxidized cholesterol. Oxidized cholesterol contributes to the buildup of plaque in the arteries, to atherosclerosis. So when you drink reduced-fat milk thinking that it will help you avoid heart disease, you are actually consuming oxidized cholesterol, which initiates the process of heart disease.”
-Weston A. Price Foundation, Dirty Secrets of the Food Processing Industry

“Let us get rid of one fallacy which is that skim milk is actually milk that has had the cream skimmed off the top. That actually sounds logical but it is not how is done, at least not in this modern world. That process would not remove all the cream so what is done in modern processing is the milk is spun around with centrifuges, eventually completely separating the cream (fat) and milk. It is first clarified, then separated, then pasteurized (or ultra-pasteurized), and then finally homogenized. This over-processing has now removed every healthy vitamin, living enzyme, and natural mineral. Welcome to your now-dead beverage……Skim milk will not support life. So by removing the cream you have essentially turned the milk into something completely useless, especially the pasteurized variety as you have not only removed the healthy fat but you have also as stated removed the living nutrients.”
-Raw Milk Truth

“Researchers from Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute conducted a study that monitored the dietary habits of more than 20,000 Swedish women for a decade. It turned out that women who consumed full fat milk or cheese had a lower Body Mass Index (BMI) than the rest of the group. The results were convincing enough for the researchers to recommend that a glass of full fat milk every day will cut weight gain by 15%, and a portion of full fat cheese each day will cut weight gain by 30%. Alicja Wolk, professor at the Karolinska Institute stated, ‘The surprising conclusion was that increased consumption of (full fat) cheese meant that overweight women lost weight.’

Yet skim and 1% milk is pervasive in school lunch programs, and throughout the American diet. If you summarize the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) food pyramid you see an emphasis on grains plus skim milk, the very combination that fattens hogs so efficiently! In fact, the USDA recommends we start the low-fat habit early: children as young as pre-school are recommended to consume non-fat or low fat milk, yogurt and cheese. With a food pyramid like this it’s little wonder we face an obesity epidemic from childhood onward.”
-Ann M Childers, MD. Life Balance Northwest

“Guess what they feed a pig if they want to make it as fat as possible as fast as possible?

Low-fat milk, because if they give the pig milk with fat in it, the pig gets satiated. It’s satisfied and won’t eat any more. But if they give it low-fat milk, it will eat the grain they feed it forever because it’ll have a deficiency of fat.

Now think of what we’re eating for breakfast in this country…

If you don’t want to get fat you’re told to drink low-fat milk, and corn or wheat or oat-based cereal.

It’s the prescription to make you as fat as possible as quickly as you can get there. You’ll never stop wanting to eat because you’re never getting any food that causes satiation.

Americans are told to eat a diet that is scientifically designed to make you as fat as possible as fast as possible.”
-Dr. Al Sears, MD. Power for Healthy Living

Again, I’m not completely on board with this change. There are some saturated fats that would benefit our children, such as coconut fat.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison, showing the foods that meet the current requirements versus the foods that will be served under the new requirements (from the USDA Food and Nutrition Services)

So, how quickly can we expect to see these changes implemented? About 1000 schools in the US are already feeding their kids according to these new guidelines. Many other schools have already started making changes by offering some more healthier choices, such as salad bars. The current plan, however, is to phase all of the new requirements into the schools over the next five years.

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Medical Advice Disclaimer: The information included on this site is for educational purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. The reader should always consult his or her healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation or if they have any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment plan. Reading the information on this website does not create a physician-patient relationship.

The Morning Rush + A Make-Ahead Breakfast Recipe

Dr. J Renae Norton — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:37:27 +0000

Many of my patients experience a lot of stress first thing in the morning. Getting ready for work or school, making breakfast, getting kids ready to go to daycare, facing rush hour traffic can all inflict stress on even the most healthy individual. In order to ease the stress of my patients, I have discovered a breakfast recipe for Overnight Oats that is nutritious, delicious and convenient.

Overnight Oats provide a delicious blast of protein in the morning. You can make a few days worth in advance, put them in individual serving size containers, and grab it as you head out the door in the morning. I have created a few variations on this recipe that you can rotate between, just to switch things up a bit. This is definitely not your granny’s hot bowl of oatmeal! No cooking involved on this one, it’s eaten chilled.

This recipe contains two types of protein; casein (from the cottage cheese) and whey (from greek yogurt). Whey protein is a naturally complete protein; it contains all essential amino acids. It is easy to digest, our bodies absorb it quickly. Our bodies absorb casein protein more slowly, so the amino acids in the protein are released into the bloodstream at a more steady pace.

Photo courtesy of lwphotographics.com

Overnight Oats

1 cup organic old-fashioned oats (not instant oats, minute oats, or flavored oatmeal)

2 cups cottage cheese (my favorite is Kalona Supernatural)

12 oz plain greek yogurt

2 tbsp Coconut Crystals (more if you like it sweeter)

cinnamon (to taste, I like lots)

Combine everything in a medium sized bowl and mix away! Store in the fridge overnight, and you will wake up to a delish breakfast.

Makes 4 servings

Approximately (depending on which brands of ingredients used) – 235 cal, 6 g fat, 24 g protein, 20 g carbs

Variations:
-add 4 tablespoons of peanut flour and organic dark chocolate chips or organic raisins for Overnight Oats that taste like cookie dough
-top with nut butter, maple syrup or coconut nectar
-put a layer of frozen fruit in the bottom of each portion, or a layer of nuts on top

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Dairy Aisle Confusion

Dr. J Renae Norton — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:05:43 +0000

With all the varieties of milk available in grocery stores today, it is very difficult to know which type of milk is the healthiest. In this post, I hope to provide both my patients and readers with some insight to make the decision-making process less stressful.

Today’s milk is much different from the milk our grandparents and great-grandparents drank. Much of the milk in stores today:

comes from cows that produce A1 beta-casein
comes from grain-fed cows
is pasteurized (and in some cases ultra-pasteurized) and homogenized
contains synthetic vitamins, antibiotics and growth hormones
has dry milk added to improve consistency

We can avoid some of these unhealthy aspects of today’s milk by consuming milk from grass-fed cows when possible. Milk from grass-fed cows has many health benefits, including but not limited to:

it contains five times more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)
it contains the perfect ratio of essential fatty acids. This can reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, allergies, obesity, diabetes, dementia, and mental health disorders
it contains more beta-carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin D than grain-fed milk

So, what kind of milk should you buy? I’ve created a handy, quick-reference guide to use when making your decision.

*Raw milk is only legal for purchase in my area through cow-share programs. To find out the laws in your area, check here

The Cornucopia Institute recently did an in-depth investigation of over 100 organic dairy farms throughout the United States. They ranked each dairy based on organic farming practices and ethics. I’ve summarized some of the findings for some of the organic dairy farms that sell milk in the Cincinnati area (for readers outside of the Cincinnati area, you can find more dairy farm ratings here)

-Traders Point (milk and yogurt) was the only dairy farm in my area that was rated ‘Outstanding’ (5 out of 5 cow rating) (Snowville Creamery was not included in the report)

-Dairy farms that were rated ‘Excellent’ (4 out of 5 cow rating) include:

-Ben and Jerry’s Organic Ice Cream was the only locally available ice cream that was rated ‘Very Good’ (2 out of 5 cow rating)

-Dairy farms that were rated ‘some or all factory-farm milk or unknown source, but better than conventional’ (1 out of 5 cow rating)*

Kirkland Signature Organic Milk (Costco)
Naturally Preferred Organic Milk (Kroger)
Meijer Organic Milk
Trader Joe’s Organic Milk
Archer Farm’s Organic Milk (Target)

-Dairy farms that were rated ‘Ethically Deficient’ (0 out of 5 cow rating)* include:

Horizon Organic Milk
Aurora Organic Milk
Back to Nature Cheese

*There were no ’1 cow rated farms’ or ’0 cow rated farms’ that agreed to participate in the investigation, so score was based on information that was publicly available

Although milk has changed over time, we can still make healthy decisions by becoming informed consumers. Thanks to institutes like Cornucopia, we can gain much knowledge about where our food is coming from.

Sources:
www.foodrenegade.com/healthy-milk-what-to-buy/
www.eatwild.com/articles/superhealthy.html
www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html

Book Review – Dark Side of Fat Loss

Dr. J Renae Norton — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:53:00 +0000

The Dark Side of Fat Loss (Photo from www.darksideoffatloss.com)

I rarely write book reviews, but Dark Side of Fat Loss is a diamond in the rough for those interested in being proactive about their health and nutrition at a time when so many foods contain hidden neurotoxins, carcinogens, and obesogens. This book is a must for anyone on the road to good health. Whether you are happy with your current weight, trying to lose weight, or trying to restore weight, Dark Side of Fat Loss is a required read.

As stated in Croxton’s biography, after graduating from San Diego State University in 2001 with a Bachelor’s in Kinesiology (emphasis: fitness, nutrition, and health), Croxton began his journey as a certified personal trainer. Despite his extensive education in health, he was met with much failure as clients got heavier and sicker. Client programs consisted of endless cardio and the horrific Food Guide Pyramid. Rather than accept defeat, Croxton took his failures as an opportunity for growth. He has since spent thousands of hours educating himself on the many truths that eluded him throughout his formal education, often joking that he got his Master’s from Amazon.com. He is also a Functional Diagnostic Nutritionist (FDN) and Certified Metabolic Typing Advisor (CMTA).

Croxton has created a book that is full of life-changing information. While in many books, all this information might be overwhelming, Croxton’s writing style not only makes it easy to comprehend but a pleasure to comprehend. The real draw to this book is the holistic approach Croxton suggests for obtaining health. He doesn’t suggest to try to correct health issues solely by diet, but by examining the five pillars of health (diet, hormones, digestion, detoxification and immunity). This may be the book that changes your life in the way it needs to be changed.

He discusses how our hormones affect our health goals. He explains how our hormone system are “Like dominoes, when one hormone falls out of balance, others soon follow”. He provides information on hormones (leptin, insulin, cortisol, NPY and ghrelin) and how the body reacts when we have too much or too little of these hormones. He not only explains this in words, but also with the use of graphics. The graphics in this discussion are especially helpful in the explanation of how our hormones interact with our bodies.

He uses a very common-sense approach to addressing some of the dietary issues that many people have. He introduces the concepts of just eating real food, and becoming healthy and fit by doing what healthy and fit people do. He is very down to earth in his approach to choosing healthy foods. He provides solutions to eating healthy when on a budget. He makes suggestions of what foods to eat and what foods avoid and provides information about why certain foods should be avoided. He even provides a handy reference sheet of all these foods.

Like many in his field, Croxton suggests logging calories daily. But, he also does something that is really rare in this type of book. He stresses the importance of listening to our bodies and logging what our bodies tell us. This is so important to him, that he even created a print-friendly body language log. Once again, Croxton doesn’t leave his readers hanging here, he provides solutions to some of the negative body language that many people experience.

Croxton provides a nearly 100 page real food cookbook of recipes that were submitted from real foodists from all over the world. From healthy breakfasts to healthy desserts, this book has it all. Again, the addition of the cookbook truly show Croxton’s mission to make being healthy attainable for all. He knows that if people stress out about what they are going to eat, it will affect their results. He does everything in his power to make the transition to eating real food an easy one.

The Dark Side of Fat Loss is definitely a must-read for all. This will not be a book that you read once and never pick up again. If you are interested in becoming healthy using a holistic approach, this book will be a great ally in fulfilling this goal.

The Dark Side of Fat Loss e-book can be purchased at: http://darksideoffatloss.com/
Check out the Underground Wellness Website at http://undergroundwellness.com/

Appetite Hormones 101: Ghrelin

Dr. J Renae Norton — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:11:40 +0000

This is the second part of the series, ”Appetite Hormones 101″. This series is designed to explain the role of hormones on both appetite and body weight goals, whether it’s weight loss or weight restoration. “Appetite Hormones 101” will be made up of three articles that describe the major appetite hormones: leptin, ghrelin, and peptide YY.

Ghrelin

Ghrelin, discovered in1999 by scientists, is known as “the hunger hormone”. Produced in the stomach and pancreas, Ghrelin stimulates the appetite with the purpose of increasing the intake of food and promoting the storage of fat. So when Ghrelin levels are high, we feel hungry. After we eat, Ghrelin levels fall and we feel satisfied.

Leptin and Ghrelin have a “teeter-totter” relationship. When leptin levels rise, ghrelin levels fall. Likewise, when ghrelin levels rise, leptin levels fall.

Ghrelin levels are highest right before eating meals and lowest right after eating meals.

Leptin, acts on regulatory centres in the brain to inhibit food intake and increase energy expenditure, acting as a long-term regulator of body weight. Whereas Ghrelin is a fast-acting hormone that operates as a meal-initiation signal for short-term regulation of energy balance.

There are distinct abnormalities in the production of Ghrelin among obese and eating disordered individuals. Those with anorexia tend to have high levels of ghrelin which often normalize with weight restoration. Among those with bulimia, Ghrelin does not respond as strongly when food is eaten, which could contribute to binge eating as the individual suffering from Bulimia does not “get full” even if they have overeaten. Obese individuals tend to have low levels of Ghrelin, probably because they are Leptin Resistant, since Leptin and Ghrelin are inversely related. Research also shows that Ghrelin levels are higher after an individual loses weight, which may make it more difficult to maintain weight loss.

There are several easy things we can do to help manage ghrelin levels:

Eat a diet high in good quality protein (organic, grass-fed, free range etc. when possible)
Get an adequate amount of sleep
Practice meditation and relaxation techniques to reduce everyday stress
Drink plenty of water, since ghrelin levels are affected by thirst
Avoid processed fructose (especially high fructose corn syrup)

Although these things can make irregular ghrelin levels tolerable, the best way to normalize ghrelin levels is to address the root cause head on. In most cases, irregular ghrelin levels can be corrected by committing to living a healthier lifestyle through exercise, healthy dietary choices, weight restoration (for the anorexic individual), or weight loss (for the obese individual).

Sources:

Medscape News – Sibling hormone to appetite-boosting ghrelin has opposite effects, raising hopes for a new obesity treatment – http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/538867

WiseGEEK – What Is Ghrelin? – http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-ghrelin.htm

Journal of Pediatrics – Ghrelin levels in obesity and anorexia nervosa: effect of weight reduction or recuperation – http://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(03)00737-6/abstract

The Disadvantages of Low Fat Milk

Dr. J Renae Norton — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:14:15 +0000

In the media, we often see that the healthiest milk we can drink is low fat or fat free dairy milk. A prime example is this advertisement, that was released late last month…

In my practice, I am often asked if there are any disadvantages of drinking low fat or fat free dairy milk. I’ve done some research and the results are in! Here’s what I’ve found:

”A study at Harvard found that women who ate two or more servings of low-fat or non-fat dairy per day, like skim milk or yogurt, had 85% higher risk of infertility than those that ate full-fat dairy products.”
-Chris Kresser, in response to this study

“Low fat milk causes weight gain. This is how farmers fatten pigs. If they give them whole milk, the pigs stay lean.

“Guess what they feed a pig if they want to make it as fat as possible as fast as possible?
Low-fat milk, because if they give the pig milk with fat in it, the pig gets satiated. It’s satisfied and won’t eat any more. But if they give it low-fat milk, it will eat the grain they feed it forever because it’ll have a deficiency of fat.
Now think of what we’re eating for breakfast in this country…
If you don’t want to get fat you’re told to drink low-fat milk, and corn or wheat or oat-based cereal.
It’s the prescription to make you as fat as possible as quickly as you can get there. You’ll never stop wanting to eat because you’re never getting any food that causes satiation.
Americans are told to eat a diet that is scientifically designed to make you as fat as possible as fast as possible.”
-Dr. Al Sears, MD. Power for Healthy Living

I recently read somewhere that we are becoming Homobesians! (Instead of Homosapians) Is it any wonder? -J. Renae Norton

Sources:
Healthy Baby Code – 5 Myths About Pregnancy Nutrition #1: A Low-Fat Diet is the Best Choice (http://healthybabycode.com/5-myths-about-pregnancy-nutrition-1-a-low-fat-diet-is-the-best-choice)
Croxton, S. (2009, June 3). Eat Fat, Lose Fat! with Sally Fallon. The Underground Wellness Podcast. Podcast retrieved from www.undergroundwellness.com
Weston A. Price Foundation – Dirty Secrets of the Food Processing Industry. (http://www.westonaprice.org/modern-foods/dirty-secrets-of-the-food-processing-industry)
Raw Milk Truth – Benefits of Raw Milk. Why Skim Milk Makes You Fatter. (http://rawmilktruth.com/Benefits-of-Raw-Milk-Why-Skim-Milk-Makes-You-Fatter.html)
Life Balance Northwest – Just Say ‘No’ to Skim Milk. (http://annchilders.blogspot.com/2011/02/just-say-no-to-skim-milk.html)
Al Sears, MD. Power for Healthy Living – The Skinny on Fat. (http://www.alsearsmd.com/the-skinny-on-fat/)

News You Can Use

Dr. J Renae Norton — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:54:27 +0000

Your weekly health news update!

Lawsuit Against the Corn Refiners Association Moving Forward
Why the New Corn Syrup Labeling is Misleading
O.N.E. Coconut Water Pledges $10,000 to Nonprofit Whole Planet Foundation to Help Fight World Poverty
Organic Apples Make the Perfect Health Food
Which cereal brands are truly committed to producing clean, organic food?
Eat Your GOMBBS!
Label Plan Offered to Rate Food Nutrition
Leptin Levels Linked To Anxiety And Depressive Symptoms
Genetically Modified Salmon: The Fishy Risk the FDA Is Taking with Your Health

Were there any news articles that you saw this week that really grabbed your attention? Leave a comment with a link. If the article helped you, it will likely help some of my other readers!

Our Health in the News

Dr. J Renae Norton — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:14:47 +0000

There is so much information in the news about our health these days, that it can become quite overwhelming. In hopes of relieving some of the stress this can inflict on both my patients and my readers, I’ve decided to start a new weekly series. This series will highlight some of the weekly health news that was of particular interest to me. With no further ado, here is your weekly health news summary for the week of October 9th-16th. Enjoy!

The Health Benefits of Raw Cheese

Eat your fruits and veggies and improve your memory

Heart Disease Rates Fall

Teenage Obesity Worse for Girls than Boys

Eating Disorders a New Front in Insurance Fight

The Latest Class Action Lawsuit Against General Mills

Healthier Foods Earn Healthier Profits

The Dangers of Transfats

Coconut Water Compares Favorably to Sports Drinks

Were there any news articles that you saw this week that really grabbed your attention? Leave a comment with a link. If the article helped you, it will likely help some of my other readers!

Coconut Oil and Malnutrition

Dr. J Renae Norton — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:58:03 +0000

It’s a great honor to have Dr. Bruce Fife as a guest writer today. Dr. Fife was kind enough to write about some of the effects of coconut oil on malnutrition. Dr. Fife is an internationally recognized expert on the health and nutritional benefits of coconut oil and all coconut products. He operates the ‘Coconut Research Center’, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to educating the public and medical community about the many benefits of coconut and palm products. He has authored many books, including: ‘The Coconut Oil Miracle’, ‘The Palm Oil Miracle’, ‘Coconut Lover’s Cookbook’, ‘Eat Fat, Look Thin’ and most recently ‘Stop Alzheimer’s Now’. These books are highly recommended reads, and can be purchased at Amazon.com, and Piccadilly Books.

Coconut Oil Can Help Prevent Malnutrition

By: Dr. Bruce Fife

Coconut oil can be an excellent way to increase the nutritional content of foods and improve nutrient absorption. Coconut oil is different from other fats and oils because it is made primarily of a unique group of fats known as medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). Most all others fats in our diet are composed of long chain triglycerides (LCTs).

One of the advantages of MCTs over the more common LCTs is their speed and efficiency in digestion. MCTs digest very quickly, with minimal effort and stress placed on the body. LCTs require pancreatic digestive enzymes and bile in order to break down into individual fatty acids. MCTs, on the other hand, break down so quickly that they do not need pancreatic digestive enzymes or bile, thus reducing stress and conserving the body’s enzymes. The digestive systems of those people with malabsorption problems often have a difficult time digesting LCTs. Not so with MCTs. Consequently, MCTs provide a superior source of energy and nutrition than do LCTs.

The difference in the way MCTs are digested is of great interest in medicine because it provides a means by which a number of medical conditions can be successfully treated. Replacing a portion of the LCTs normally found in the diet with MCTs has allowed doctors to successfully treatment of a variety of malabsorption syndromes including defects in fat digestion and absorption, pancreatic insufficiency, liver and gallbladder disorders, defects in protein metabolism, cystic fibrosis, and celiac disease. MCTs can even, speed recovery after intestinal surgery.

Because of MCTs are digested more efficiently, they also improve the absorption of other nutrients. As far back as the 1930s researchers noticed that adding coconut oil to foods enhanced the food’s nutritional value. For example, researchers at Auburn University studied the effects of vitamin B-1 deficiency in animals given different types of fats. Vitamin B-1 deficiency leads to a fatal disease called beriberi. When rats were given a vitamin B deficient diet, coconut oil was effective in preventing the disease. Coconut oil doesn’t contain vitamin B-1. So how did coconut oil prevent a vitamin B-1 deficiency? Coconut oil made what little of the vitamin that was in the diet more biologically available, thus preventing the deficiency disease.

A number of studies have found similar effects. Coconut oil improves the absorption of not only the B vitamins but also vitamins A, D, E, K, beta-carotene, lycopene, CoQ10, and other fat soluble nutrients, minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and some amino acids—the building block for protein. Adding coconut oil to vegetables can increase the absorption of beta-carotene, lycopene, and other nutrients as much as 18 times!

What this means is that if you add coconut oil to a meal, you will get significantly more vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients out of the food than if you used soybean oil, canola oil, or another oil, or if you used no oil at all. Simply adding coconut oil to a meal greatly enhances the food’s nutritional value.

This fact has led researchers to investigate its use in the treatment of malnutrition. For example, coconut oil, mixed with a little corn oil, was compared with soybean oil for the treatment of malnourished preschool-aged children in the Philippines. The study involved 95 children aged 10-44 months who were 1st to 3rd degree malnourished. The children were from a slum area in Manila. The children were given one full midday meal and one afternoon snack daily except Sundays for 16 weeks. The food fed to the children was identical in every respect except for the oil. Approximately two-thirds of the oil in their diet came from either the coconut oil/corn oil mix or soybean oil. The children were allocated to one of the two diets at random: 47 children received the coconut oil diet and 48 children the soybean oil diet. The children were weighed every two weeks and examined by a pediatrician once a week. At the start of the study the ages, initial weight, and degree of malnutrition of the two groups as a whole were essentially identical.

After the 16 weeks, results showed that the coconut oil diet produced significantly faster weight gain and improvement in nutritional status compared to the soybean oil diet. A mean gain of 5.57 pounds after four months was recorded for the coconut oil group, almost twice as much as the weight gain of the soybean oil groups of 3.27 pounds.

Coconut oil or MCTs is included in all hospital infant formulas. Premature infants whose digestive systems are not fully matured have a difficult time digesting most fats. However, they can handle MCTs. When coconut oil is added to their formula they grow faster and have a higher survival rate. Adults also benefit with the addition of coconut oil. For this reason, coconut oil or MCTs are also included in the feeding formulas given to hospital patients of all ages. When MCTs are added to nutritional formulas, patients recovering from surgery or illness recover faster.

Amaranth

Dr. J Renae Norton — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:41:26 +0000

Raw Amaranth Seed

Looking for a nutritious substitute for your favorite processed breakfast cereal? Look no further, your search ends here! Amaranth is an unprocessed, nutrient powerhouse that puts processed breakfast cereals to shame.

First, a look at the ingredients of a popular breakfast cereal, corn flakes.

Ingredients:

MILLED CORN, SUGAR, MALT FLAVORING, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SALT, IRON, NIACINAMIDE, SODIUM ASCORBATE AND ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), VITAMIN A PALMITATE, FOLIC ACID, VITAMIN B12 AND VITAMIN D. TO MAINTAIN QUALITY, BHT IS ADDED TO PACKAGING.

Allergens

CONTAINS TRACES OF SOYBEANS

Potentially Problematic Ingredients:

Milled Corn – one of the most genetically modified crops in the US

Malt Flavoring – likely MSG

BHT – Prevents fats in foods from turning rancid, is linked to cancer, developmental toxicity, allergies, neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, biochemical or cellular level changes.

Soybean – another of the most genetically modified crops in the US

Many companies that produce processed cereals add synthetic forms of vitamins such as ‘folic acid’ (synthetic folate) and ‘pyridoxine hydrochloride’ (synthetic vitamin B6) during the production process. Amaranth is an excellent source of naturally occurring folate and vitamin B6.

Folate plays a strong role in the production of red blood cells in our bodies (preventing anemia), encourages cell production, prevents osteoporosis and dementia, assists in nerve function, and prevents the build-up of homocysteine in our blood.
Vitamin B6 is essential for proper nervous system function, helps our body breaking down carbohydrates, and, like folate, prevents the build-up of homocysteine in our blood.

Amaranth is rich in many minerals, including calcium, iron, and magnesium. One half cup of amaranth contains 15% of the recommended daily intake of calcium, 42% of the recommended daily intake of iron, and 66% of the recommended daily intake of magnesium. Amaranth is also a good source of potassium, copper, phosphorous and manganese.

The amino acid content of amaranth is another health benefit, especially lysine, cysteine and methionine.

Lysine can reduce cholesterol and assist in the conversion of fat to energy. It is also essential in collagen production.
Cysteine has antioxidant properties and detoxification properties.
Methionine helps the body to break down fat and aids in digestion. It is one of the key amino acids in producing energy and building muscle.

Amaranth is a complex carbohydrate with a high protein content. A “near complete” protein, amaranth slows down absorption of glucose. According to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, it is one of the best sources of plant protein available.

The amount of linoleic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid) in amaranth is impressive. A 100 gram serving of amaranth contains 2.8 grams of linoleic acid. Some of the benefits of linoleic acid are:

it promotes fat loss, by normalizing leptin and resistin and targeting abdominal fat
it promotes muscle growth
it increases metabolism
it suppresses catabolic hormones
it may act as an antioxidant

Studies show that this gluten-free food could help prevent and relieve hypertension and heart disease, boost our immune system, prevent osteoporosis, improve brain function and prevent anemia.

Try substituting amaranth for your favorite breakfast cereal. Just pop the amaranth on your stove top, like popcorn. Simply preheat an ungreased, covered skillet over high heat. Wait for it to get very hot and pop the amaranth one tablespoon at a time (four tablespoons of uncooked amaranth yields about one cup of popped amaranth). You will need to use a screen to prevent it from popping out of the pan! Once popped, top it with your favorite fruits and nuts, pour in coconut milk, sprinkle on a little coconut crystal sugar and enjoy! The best thing about the amaranth is that it is naturally sweet and absolutely delicious! Children will love it and so will you!

Popped Amaranth with Raw Pepitas

Sources:

Kellogg’s – Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Cereal (http://www2.kelloggs.com/ProductDetail.aspx?id=449)

3 Fat Chicks On a Diet – 8 Health Benefits of Amaranth (http://www.3fatchicks.com/8-health-benefits-of-amaranth/)

Nu-World Amaranth – FAQ (http://www.nuworldfoods.com/content/answers/faq.asp)

All information regarding the role of all vitamins and minerals discussed was obtained from www.livestrong.com