White, Dark, and Red Meats

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/11/01/what-s-the-difference-between-white-and-dark-meat.aspx

Fast Food's "Healthy" Salads

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/10/22/the-truth-behind-fast-food-restaurant-s-soft-and-fluffy-claims.aspx

High Fructose Corn Syrup

"...if we really want to maintain or regain our health, we really MUST avoid high fructose corn syrup like the plague."

Read the article online at http://blog.wellnesstips.ca/blog/index.php/?p=118

Interesting Website

http://www.oldwayspt.org/

Very interesting! (On Sugar and Sweets)

http://www.dld123.com/sweetsavvy/newdirection.html

"Processed Food is taking over our supermarkets"

http://www.wellnesstips.ca/processed%20food.htm

Kids and Colds: Problems with Kids' Cold Meds

"...children's medicine (and adult's) is usually full of other lovely stuff like high-fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners, colourings, and flavourings and other chemicals, forcing the body to waste energy detoxifying rather than trying to deal with the invading virus. So, what is a parent with a sick child to do?"

See full article on Vreni Gurd's blog at:
http://blog.wellnesstips.ca/blog/index.php/?p=146

Christmas Wassail

David and I have been in a cranberry mood lately, apparently. It all started when I made my cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. (The first attempt last year was successful, so I was eager to make it again this year.) Well, it's a little tart for some people, but David and I love it. I've now fixed a total of 4 batches, I believe, just since the Sunday before Thanksgiving. The fourth batch I just made yesterday, and we've been enjoying munching on it yesterday and today. We use it like a jelly or sandwich spread (we like it with peanut butter, turkey, or plain or with cream cheese) or as a dip (like for bagel or pita chips). We also like it on our salads for a "dressing." I also tried yesterday dipping my apple slices in it, and that was pretty good. I didn't like the celery as well. I prefer peanut butter on my celery (or just plain).

But on to the wassail. David remembered it the other day and I found my recipe before heading out to the store. Tonight I'm enjoying some of my second batch. It does give us more sugar than we usually get, because we rarely drink fruit juice. But it sure does make a nice holiday treat. Here's what I did:

2 cups cranberry juice (100% juice, but it's a cranberry juice blend, not 100% cranberry juice)
2 cups water
2 Tbsp lemon juice (or to taste, I don't measure)
2 Tbsp honey (again, I don't measure)
Cinnamon stick or ground cinnamon
Orange slice with whole cloves

Let simmer on stove top or in a crock pot. Very, very yummy! You'll have to let me know if you try it.

Exercise -- very interesting

"Do you frequently drag yourself out of bed when the alarm goes off in the morning? Do you regularly feel unrested in the morning? Do you frequently have times in the day where you would really like a nap? Do you need coffee or other stimulants to get through your day? Do you frequently have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep at night? Do you have chronic digestive or other health issues, or are you in pain frequently? Are you under a fair bit of emotional stress? If you answered yes to more than one question, parasympathetic-type exercise will give you energy and improve your health, whereas sympathetic exercise (hard exercise) will drain you and worsen your health."

Read the entire article on Vreni Gurd's blog entry:
http://blog.wellnesstips.ca/blog/index.php/?p=107

Artificial Sweeteners

"Artificial sweeteners are not a healthy substitute for sugar and they often cause people to eat more food and gain weight. "

Read the entire article online at http://www.wellnesstips.ca/artificial%20sweeteners.htm

Sugar

"On some level most of us know that sugar is not healthy, but I don't think the majority of us have any idea truly how devastating sugar is. "

Read the entire article online at http://www.wellnesstips.ca/sugar.htm

GMO Foods

A list of processed foods and brands which contain GMO ingredients (and alternatives which don't!):
http://www.truefoodnow.org/shoppersguide/guide_printable.html

From the Cooper Institute: Exercise

"According to a new study, even low levels of weekly exercise (below the current recommendations), provide major health benefits. Researchers conducted a 12 week study on 106 healthy, but sedentary adults between the ages of 40 and 61. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The first group briskly walked 3 days a week for 30 minutes. The second group briskly walked 5 days a week for 30 minutes. The third group was the non-walking control group. After 12 weeks, the findings revealed that blood pressure and waist and hip girth decreased significantly in both of the walking groups. Overall fitness also increased in both of the walking groups. The researchers noted that these positive changes are enough to make a difference to an individual's risk of heart disease. There were no changes in the control group. Hopefully, these findings will encourage people who haven't been able to make time for the recommended 30 minutes of physical activity 5 days a week. Remember, some activity is better than none!"

My salad last night (and other recent food-related stuff)

I saw this somewhere recently and wanted to try it, so I mixed it up last night and liked it. I'm posting it here to share and also to remind me if I happen to forget about it (since it was a first-timer, and may not readily come to mind again without a memory prompt).

I mixed together: half a tomato (diced), half a cucumber (diced), 1/2 cup or so of cottage cheese, and 1 green onion (both green and white). I knew I liked all the ingredients separately, but didn't know about combining them -- but it was good. Different, but good.

It made a nice little low-carb, low-cal salad; very filling, very tasty. I try not to do much dairy, so cottage cheese is a little bit of a splurge, but you can't do everything (no grain, no dairy, no meat) all the time -- so I guess I just rotate through them, and in doing so get a lot less of all 3 than I used to. I ate it just like this, but if you wanted I think you could put it on salad greens and eat it that way, too.

Another interesting salad combination I saw this week but haven't tried yet: watermelon, feta cheese, and red onion. Hmm. Several of the comments said it was very good. I have watermelon and red onion right now, and am planning to go to the store today; maybe I can pick up some feta cheese and try it. Feta cheese is not my favorite, but I'm willing to try again.

Oh, and speaking of cheeses and new foods, here's something new I tried and really enjoyed. Okay, let me give you the Aleecia version (the full story): it was about to be the third weekend of celebrating the kids' birthdays. David and I had decided -- celebration, but no more cake. So I wanted something that would be a nice treat and ideally something you could put candles in (so trying to think of an alternative to apple crisp -- yummy and relatively healthy, but not very candle-friendly) -- and saw this idea online: take strawberries and cut them in half length-wise, then fill with a mixture of cream cheese and honey (kind of like you do for devilled eggs). I used a decorative icing thingie for the cream cheese filling, and this looked so pretty on the tray! We put candles in the middle and sang Happy Birthday; it turned out really nice. It is definitely something to do for parties or showers or potluck dinners. It's kind of like strawberry cheesecake but with more strawberry than cheesecake. Very easy, very bite-sized (so in my mind good for big crowds). Well, this doesn't end up using much of the cream cheese (it doesn't take a whole package), so I had this leftover cream cheese-honey mixture. For Jayden, I'm not as worried about breads and dairy as I do for me, because it's okay for her to gain weight, etc. So I had some of the pitas I like to get from Super 1/Brookshire's, and I get the idea to make her a "cream cheese sandwich." I lightly toasted the pita and then added the cream cheese filling (plus a little extra honey for a nice treat); we all loved it. David and I have to keep from eating them; Jayden eats a whole pita of it by herself. If you like cream cheese, I think you'll like this, too. (Think the Toaster Strudels they make with the cream cheese filling; it's like that.) This makes a nice dessert, snack, or even breakfast. It's yummy! You'll have to let me know if you try it.

Vreni Gurd: Artificial and Natural Flavors

"Do you know why fast and processed food, from french fries, hamburgers, ice cream and chicken fingers to microwave popcorn, flavoured yogurts, baked goods, breakfast cereals, fruit drinks and beer all taste so good? The chemical wizardry behind the artificial and natural flavours added to the processed food adds back the flavour that was taken away during the processing and storing of the foods. The long list of chemicals that make up the flavours is hidden behind the words "artificial" or "natural" flavours."

Read the entire article on Vreni Gurd's blog:
http://blog.wellnesstips.ca/blog/index.php/?p=126

Quotes

I love this:

"People change for two reasons, They either learn so much they want to or they hurt so bad they have to." (author unknown)

We experienced this last year in relation to our health, but it's so good and so true for all of life. This quote is a keeper!

And, more specifically related to health, I thought this was very interesting:

"I don't always go into details about the possible side effects of drugs. I tell them all drugs are poisons with possible beneficial side effects."-Dr Jay Gordon

I liked that. I think that's a great perspective. So many today treat medications as an automatic fix and jump to a "pill" without even thinking about a possible cause for their illness. We all still have a lot to learn, but the first step is a mindset change.

"High Cholesterol does not cause Heart Disease"

Read Vreni Gurd's article online: http://www.wellnesstips.ca/high%20cholesterol.htm

Summer Salad Recipe

A new salad recipe for us to try (from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/08/08/a-yummy-scrummy-new-summer-salad.aspx):

INGREDIENTS:
SALAD:
1 pint organic cherry tomatoes
2 cups black, pitted olives
1 cup organic green beans, chopped large
DRESSING:
Approx 1/2 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
About 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 squeeze of lemon juice
GARNISH:
Sprig of fresh mint or oregano

PREPARATION:
Place tomatoes, olives, and green beans in medium bowl.
Place olive oil, garlic oregano, and lemon juice in small bottle and shake.
Pour dressing over salad and toss well.
Garnish with sprig of fresh mint or oregano.

Eggs and Diet Soda (but not together -- in fact, enjoy one and avoid the other!)

"Slowly the evidence is mounting that there is absolutely no need to be afraid of eating eggs, despite the fact that they are high in cholesterol."

"The other interesting study that was publicized this week noted an association between soda pop, both diet and regular, and metabolic syndrome and heart disease. The association for regular pop is a no-brainer, but that diet pop is also problematic is surprising, as diet pop contains no sugar nor high fructose corn syrup, so why would such an association exist?"

Read the entire post online on Vreni Gurd's blog:
http://blog.wellnesstips.ca/blog/index.php/?p=116

Body Detox

Check this out: http://www.bodypurenow.com/

(We've ordered one box of these to try.)

--Aleecia