Thanks so much to everyone who attended my Workshops!

I’ve got another one scheduled for Friday, June 14th, 1-3pm, on Fermenting and Culturing Foods.  My friend and fellow Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Gina Phelps, who is a certified Cultured Food expert and a certified GAPS practitioner, will be leading it.  She’s got the education and experience to put on a great class.  If you’re interested in learning how to make keifer, kombucha, cultured vegetables like sauerkraut and MORE, put it on your calendar to attend.    Why would you want to?  BECAUSE BENEFICIAL BACTERIA ARE IMPERATIVE TO OUR HEALTH!!  Probiotics from Real Whole Foods are more powerful and effective than probiotics from supplements.

The cost is $30/person, and will be held at the Marshall Community Center.  Well worth your time – I promise.  Email me if you’re interested.

Have you ever heard of Weight Watchers Smart Ones?  It’s a line of frozen meals, guaranteed to taste great and make you skinny:)    Here’s the ingredient list for Smart Ones Smart Beginnings  English Muffin Sandwich Canadian Style Bacon (210 calories, 27 g carbs):

English Muffin: (Water, Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Whole Wheat Flour, Yeast, Degerminated Yellow Corn Flour, Degerminated Yellow Corn Meal, Contains 2% or Less of: Wheat Gluten, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Modified Potato Starch, Soybean Oil, Salt, Vinegar, Fumaric Acid, Calcium Sulfate, Potassium Sorbate, Azodicarbonamide, Soy Lecithin), Egg White Patty (Egg Whites, Cornstarch, Xanthan Gum, Annatto), Canadian Style Turkey Bacon (Turkey Thigh Meat, Water, Salt, Dextrose, Sodium Phosphates, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite), Pasteurized Process American Cheese (Cultured Milk, Water, Cream, Sodium Phosphate, Salt, Lactic Acid, Sorbic Acid, Color Added, Sodium Citrate, Enzymes).

Gross.

The Average American eats 7 frozen meals a month.  I know I’ve sure eaten my share; I loved how I could have the comfort of knowing exactly how many calories and fat grams I was consuming.  Of course, I was constantly hungry, and had pretty bad stomach issues, but I never connected that to my healthy diet of frozen/ processed/ refined, but very low cal/low fat foods.  Too many people don’t.

So what’s wrong with the Chemical Concoction listed above?  To start with, it has 11 sources of carbohydrate, (did you know xanathan gum is a carb?)  all of which are highly refined and will quickly and easily be broken down to glucose molecules that rush the blood stream as a Blood Sugar High.  Big amounts of Insulin will  be released to handle the onslaught.  High Blood Sugar and High Insulin – some of the most potent inducers of Disease, Inflammation, and WEIGHT GAIN around.

There’s wheat gluten – gluten sensitivities affect ALMOST EVERYONE; annetto – which according to the FDA is one of the top 10 food allergens; sodium nitrite – a potent neurotoxin, that means it overstimulates brain cells; Azodicarbonamide -banned in all of Europe bc of it’s asthma effects, so illegal in Singapore it’s a jailing offense, our FDA has given it a GRAS (generally recognized as safe status); sodium erythorbate – some side effects include headache, fatigue, gastritis, and kidney stones.

There’s also soy and  high fructose corn syrup.

Take all these chemicals, sugars, starches, and Omega 6 oils, and how could we ever be fooled into thinking that processed Diet Foods could possibly help us achieve our health and weight goals?  The effects on our Liver (biggest source of Metabolism), our Hormones (hormones RULE our weight – not calories consumed), our Immune System, our Digestive system, our Cardiovascular system (inflammation from all this junk), our Brain/Mood/Neurotransmitter status – all disastrous!

Eating processed, refined foods, Diet or Not, is a 100% guaranteed way to induce Heart Disease, Diabetes, and Cancer.
The alternative?  Real Whole Foods!  Plan (write it down), Shop, Prep (schedule a couple hours into your week), Cook, Pack:  take back your health and get to a healthy weight, by eating real, traditional foods.   Your body NEEDS proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals to build your organs, your tissues, your hormones, your neurotransmitters, and your brain.  Eat according to the recipe of your body!

Our body also needs to replenish and nourish it’s supply of Beneficial Bacteria as well; did you know that if we’re healthy, we’ll have between 4 and 8 pounds of that stuff in our Colon alone?? Wow!  Great party talk there.  Beneficial bacteria are an integral part of our Immune System, but it’s under constant assault from antibiotics, stress, and poor food choices. Learn the best way to nourish your ” Micro Biome ” in the Fermenting and Culturing Class, Friday, June 14th.