Kate, The Blog Diva

Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

(Picture From Flickr: infilmity)

I recently came across an article that listed some of the worst foods you should never eat, and it got me thinking that maybe I should do a post about this on my blog.  I have the list of  foods that you should NEVER eat below.

These are my own opinions that I formed by reading a lot of studies for myself.

1) Microwave Popcorn: Never eat this stuff people no matter how temping it is. The health effects that microwave popcorn is causing is out of this world. Did you know that the lining of the bag contains a chemical called “perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)” that is very deadly and can cause Cancer and other damaging health effects. This chemical is so bad that the factory workers who are making this stuff are coming down with lung cancer and they are finding that their lungs are turning white and disintegrating.

Your best choice for popcorn is just stick to good old fashion air popped popcorn and try to also eat Organic popcorn as well so you are not eating the GMO (Generically Modified) popcorn.

2) Corn-Fed Beef: Today’s cattle are feed an all corn and soybeans, and not grains. The majority of farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter and by fating the cow up faster this means a lot less nutrition for the consumer.  Another problem that is also occurring is that feeding the cow corn is that you are actually making the cattle sick, and this is requiring that farmers give the cows very high levels of antibiotics. If the cow is being given antibiotics this is not good for us the consumers because we are ingesting all the antibiotics give to the cows, what is this doing to our bodies when we then eat the cows?

The best thing you can do is looking for organic non-antibiotic given beef that is grass-fed. Try to also look for local farmers or butchers that sell grass-fed beef.

3) Conventional Apples: Today’s apples are sprayed with deadly pesticides that have cancer causing agents and are also being linked to Parkinson’s and other diseases.  Conventional apples are also listed on the dirty dozen fruits that should not be eaten and avoided.

The best thing you can do is look for organic apples you can find them at your local market and even at your local farmers market. I always buy organic apples and besides, they taste way better!

3) Conventional Potatoes:  Potatoes are a root vegetables and they absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that are  in our soil. In the case of potatoes–the nation’s most popular vegetable–they’re treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they’re dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting. Potatoes are also being Genetically Modified and that is a bit no no when it comes to eating.  You want to avoid eating the conventional potatoes at all costs because down the road you will pay the price.

The best thing you can do is look for organic potatoes. You can find them at your local market, and at your local farmer’s market. I always buy organic potatoes and if you have a hard time trying to find organic potatoes, try growing your own in your garden.

4) Non-organic Corn:  Ok, if there is one vegetable to avoid no matter what, “CORN” is one of them. Please whatever you do, if you learn one thing from this post, stop buying CORN unless it is Organic.  Corn is the major ingredient in the Western diet. Most corn grown in the USA now is genetically modified, and grown with very powerful herbicides and pesticides. Today’s mass-produced corn barely resembles the plant from which it came from. Corn is nutritionally bankrupt, genetically modified, tasteless, and chock full of pesticides.

The best thing you can do is buy Organic CORN and you can find it at your local market and even at your local farmers market. I always buy organic corn and I always look for tortilla chips that say organic corn used and NON-GMO free.

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Make your own homemade Vitamin C at home, it’s far better than any of the store bought Vitamin C on the shelves!

So, everyone knows that oranges, lemons and many other fruits are loaded with Vitamin C, but did you know that you can make your own homemade Vitamin C supplements from your used lemons and oranges? I recently came across a website that had a fabulous article on how to make your own Vitamin C from lemons. I though this was a fantastic idea since I love making homemade remedies and I just happened to have a whole bunch of lemons for a lemon pie I planned to bake. The main reason why you’d want to do this, is that you don’t always have lemons, or oranges on hand, but if you dehydrate the peals, you can make a jar of your own Vitamin C supplements for daily use.

Homemade Vitamin C has all the live enzymes that allow the vitamin C to be 100% assimilated into your body. It has its own natural source of rutin, hesperidin, and bioflavonoids that your body needs. It’s easily acquired, easy to make, and even tastes good, too. It’s just orange or lemon peels that you can buy at your local grocery store. I always buy and use “organic” lemons and oranges.

Here is what you do to make your own Vitamin C that is even better than the Vitamins in the store, which are mostly made of GMO corn (yuck).

Once you are done squeezing out, or pealing the pulp from your lemons or oranges, you simply take the peels and cut them into strips. After you’ve cut them all up into strips, just place them on your dehydrator over night and in the morning you will have nice crispy Vitamin C supplements. If you like your lemon peals (or orange peals) to have a sweet flavor to them (like I do), just sprinkle a little bit of Stevia over the lemons before dehydrating them, and they will taste just like candy! You can now store your dried lemon peels in a container for up to one year and you will have all the Vitamin C you need. Now, if you do not own a dehydrator, you can still dry your lemon peels, you just need to do the exact same thing as above, but leave your lemon to dry on a plate until they are nice and crispy. Your lemon peals will only stay good for about week or so if you use this method.

Here is what your lemons peels will look like when you lay them out on your dehydrator tray. Make sure you leave enough space between or peels so they dry evenly, and not stick together.

Here is a picture of the finished product after having your lemons dry overnight. I experimented with dehydrating some of the pulp too, but I found that I enjoyed the peals much better.

These babies are soooo TASTY and GOOD for you. -Enjoy!

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I’m so excited the cherries are almost ready! =-)

I have two big cherry trees in my backyard and every year (usually in the dead of Winter) I start dreaming about eating fresh picked cherries from my cherry trees.

These cherries will be perfect in about a week.

Here is a full view of one of my cherry trees. Don’t mind the pie plates LOL.. I have to hang pie plates in the trees to keep the darn Black Birds and Robins from eating all my cherries. They really like them too.

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If you are drinking diet sodas, sugar free gum, than chances are you are consuming Aspartame. Aspartame is a synthetic chemical combination which is comprised of approximately 50% phenylalanine, 40% aspartic acid, and 10% methanol.

These sweeteners contain Aspartame: NutraSweet, Equal, Sweet One and Spoonful. Aspartame is found in thousands of foods, drinks, candy, drinking powders, cereals, cooking sauces and in almost every chewing gum out there (even those that are ALREADY sweetened with SUGAR! – WHY?????).

Alternative sweeteners I use to sweeten my favorite foods.

Two natural sugar-free alternative sweeteners are Xylitol, and Brazilian Stevia Leaf (Not Truvia). From my personal experience, and from reading of various studies out there, Stevia and Xylitol are not linked to harmful side effects like headaches, dizziness, fatigue, neurological damage, and the 87 other related symptoms that Aspartame is reported to be linked to. To be safe, I simply avoid all “diet foods” laced with Aspartame, and ALL other synthetic man made chemicals and sweeteners. I also moderate my sugar intake, and make lots of my own treats (and baking) with Stevia as a sweetener.

It starts with one step at a time, and believe me I know, because I once was addicted to all sugar-free products that were out there, but I stopped and now I feel better than ever.

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