Day 275- What's Good At Trader Joe's

I stumbled upon an entire blog that is dedicated to reviewing Trader Joe's products!

But seriously what's not to love about good 'ol Trader Joes? They offer responsible prices, friendly staff, great tasting food, and a great wine section.

Well first of all I must admit the produce section is not the freshest. I have attempted to purchase apples, especially, at Trader Joe's and have been extremely disappointed time and time again. You definitely have to check your produce throughly because moldy, old, or rotten produce may slip into your shopping cart unexpectedly. You also have to make sure to check the labels on all the items, because a majority of products at Trader Joe's are not organic. If it is organic it will be labeled so. So keep your eyes open. Usually you will have the option of organic products or regular.

Besides those few complaints, Trader Joe's is where I do majority of my shopping. I even bought the Trader Joe's cook book last year to help give me ideas of new meals that I can cook with Trader Joe's ingredients. They have done a great job at adding new products that meet new dietary demands. Trader Joe's offers many delicious gluten-free items, coconut milk, and great egg options. And let's not forget some of my favorite Trader Joe's products: Carne Asada (the only one that I have found that I like), Taco Seasoning, Gluten-free granola, Peppered Turkey Bacon, Chicken meatballs, etc.

To read reviews of some of the popular products from Trader Joe's visit the blog, What's Good at Trader Joe's. Just keep in mind that they are judging the products pretty much solely on taste and don't take much consideration to the nutrition facts of the products, although they do include a picture of the nutrition label.

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 274- Brain Injuries from Soccer

I was working out today with my trainer and he was having me perform a certain jump move. "Pretend like you are heading a ball in soccer," he said. I laughed at this, because although I played soccer for many years, and still do, my mom never wanted me to head the ball. She thought that the impact of the header could kill neurons in the brain, and thought that it may be damaging in the long run. Fortunately I hated heading the ball anyways, so I embraced that idea and avoided header balls to the best of my ability.

Ironically, as I was preparing to write my blog for the day, I came across an article in the Huffington Post regarding recent research on the effects of headers. In the article they have found a possible link with frequent header balls to a decreased ability to multi-task, lower attention span, and decrease in memory. Here is the article, "Soccer Brain Injury Raise Concerns Among Researchers:"

"Abby Wambach may have set the sports world aflutter last summer with a blazing header that gave the U.S. women's national soccer team a crucial overtime win over Brazil. But new research suggests the practice it takes to achieve that level of cranial competence may have serious implications for players' brains.

In new data presented Tuesday at the Radiological Society of North America's annual meeting, researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine used an advanced MRI technique to detect microscopic changes in the brain's white matter. They looked at 32 amateur soccer players who were approximately 31 years old and had played soccer since they were kids.

What the researchers found is that heading a soccer ball constitutes a form of repetitive, mild brain trauma among those who do it most.

The new data suggests that frequent headers, i.e. those players who headed the ball between 1,000 and 1,500 times per year (or around three to four times a day), had low fractional anisotropy (FA), which measures how water moves along the millions of nerve fibers in the brain. In healthy white matter, water moves relatively uniformly and FA is high. When the movement of water is more random, FA values decrease -- a state that has been linked to cognitive impairment.

"This is the first study that's really looked at the brain in this way," said Dr. Michael Lipton, associate director at the college's Magnetic Resonance Research Center and one of the study's authors.

"It's unique because we're showing this dose response," he continued. "The message here is that this low-level but repetitive injury is associated with these adverse consequences."

The researchers focused on FA measurements in areas of the brain responsible for attention, memory, making plans and multi-tasking, as well as high-order visual functions. They took pains to control for outside factors that might impact the brain, like concussive injuries. They did not find any evidence to suggest that those who head the ball more frequently are more aggressive and thus sustain more concussions from head-to-head or head-to-goal contact.

Lipton cautioned that the new findings must be replicated and further evaluated before researchers truly understand what the differences in FA actually mean. Groups like the American Youth Soccer Organization have said that heading is a skill that must be properly taught and only to children age 10 and up, but have ultimately concluded that it is part of the game.

Other sources are equally unclear. A 2010 report in the journal Pediatrics looking at youth soccer injuries referenced earlier research that suggested that 81 percent of their pool of Norwegian adults who had played soccer since youth had deficits in attention, concentration and memory, but said further study is needed before conclusions can be made about the safety of heading in soccer.

Which at this point may be the one thing experts can agree upon: that the new study and others like it suggest a critical need for further study, particularly in light of estimates that as many as 18 million Americans play soccer.

"What does this mean clinically? People can have changes in brain MRIs, they can have obvious brain damage in imaging, and might never have a manifestation of [that] problem," said Dr. Jeffrey S. Kutcher, director of the University of Michigan's Neurosport Program. "It's very intriguing and it points to why we need to do more clinical research on this."

In the meantime, he said that soccer players and their parents should be aware of the "dose" of their impact and should limit that as much as reasonable. Players should avoid gratuitous contact and gratuitous heading.

"If it's part of a game, great. But it shouldn't be a 'practice half-an-hour every day' kind of deal," Kutcher cautioned. "And if you're going to play a contact sport like soccer, don't go from soccer one season to hockey and rugby the next. Use common sense."

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 273- Sporty Cyber Deals

Today is the biggest internet shopping day of the whole year. In order to help us obtain the proper deals to make sure we all stay active during the holidays, here are some great cyber deals to keep you motivated and properly supplied.

• 
  
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• Amazon- outdoor gear and equipment
• Athleta – women’s clothing
• Adidas – men’s, women’s and children's workout apparel
• REI – outdoor gear and clothing
• Gaiam- Yoga clothing, DVDs, eco-friendly housewares
• Beyond Yoga – women’s yoga and active clothing
• Purely Elizabeth – gluten-free, vegan baking mixes and granola. Free shipping on orders over $20, and 10% of online sales will be donated to a non-profit of your choice
• Road Runner Sports – running apparel
• Splits 59 – stylish activewear for women
• workouthealthy.com – home workout equipment
• yoga-clothing.com – men’s and women’s yoga apparel

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 272- Workout of the Week

• Sprints, 30 secs
• Mountain climbers, 30 each side
• Walking lunges, 20 each side
• Sprints, 30 secs
• Bear crawls, 1 minute
• Walking lunges, 20 each side
• Sprints, 30 secs

Repeat each exercise 3 times through

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 271- FDA Nutritional Supplement Actions

The FDA has presented a troubling issue regarding nutritional supplements. A GUIDANCE issued by the FDA calls for such incredible constraint on the supplement industry that, if enacted, could truly have a profound effect on the availability of a vast array of products. Since virtually all of us, including myself, use dietary supplements, I urge you to take immediate action by sending the attached letters to your representatives. A text version is also at the end of this email – you may cut and paste it into an email to your elected representatives in Washington, but you will need to fill out a brief contact form first. I believe faxing is the best way to be heard. Feel free to change the letters and personalize them.

Follow this link for Website address for government contact information including mailing addresses and fax numbers for your Senators and Representatives. www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

DEADLINE IS DECEMBER 2, 2011 FOR COMMENTS – The FDA is proposing certain regulations to impede, restrict, and ban dietary supplements. This has happened in Europe and other countries. Please help to stop it from happening in America!

The following are a few highlights of the Guidance document:

The FDA’s draft Guidance requires companies to possess exorbitant amounts of information concerning their existing dietary supplements to prove that New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) notifications are not required for the products they are currently marketing. In many cases, it will be impossible to gather such information, thereby threatening the future availability of numerous dietary supplement products on the market today.

In order to market a product that contains a new dietary ingredient, manufacturers will be required to submit a tremendous amount of information concerning historical use of the ingredient or conduct a multitude of animal and human studies which are overly burdensome and costly. Establishing such excessive requirements is both contrary to Congressional intent and unnecessary given the safety record of dietary supplements over the past few decades.

Any change in the manufacturing process of a dietary ingredient that results in chemical alteration of such ingredient or a change in specifications of the ingredient,regardless of how insignificant the alteration or change is, will require the submission of a NDI notification. This will discourage manufacturers from using the most advanced and efficient manufacturing technologies and pursuing methods that can improve the safety and effectiveness of dietary supplement products.

Any increase of the amount of a dietary ingredient in a dietary supplement or any change in formula of a dietary supplement, regardless of how minute or insignificant, will require the submission of a NDI notification. This will discourage the innovation of new products.

……………………………………………………… SAMPLE LETTER BELOW

November , 2011

To My Elected Representative:

My name is , and I am a constituent in your District. I am deeply concerned about the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recently issued Draft Guidance document entitled New Dietary Ingredient Notifications and Related Issues.

Dietary supplements are an important part of my and my family’s health-maintenance routine. We consider access to affordable supplements to be a crucial part of our healthy lifestyle to mitigate the need for expensive medical procedures and promote good health to improve and extend our lives.

The FDA’s issuance of its draft Guidance is very troubling because it signals a dramatic shift in its policy towards dietary supplements, and I believe the FDA is attempting to establish a system of pre-market approval for these products. It has been nearly two decades since enactment of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). Back then the industry was in a fight for its life because of the FDA’s insistence on using the vague standards in the food additive provisions as a means of removing from the marketplace ingredients it disapproved of even for reasons unrelated to safety. The FDA abused its authority, and through a lot of hard work, we won the battle.

Now we find ourselves having to defend the very existence of this industry once again. While DSHEA purposely had drafted in it, a sensible and reasonable system by which the agency must be notified of the marketing of a new dietary ingredient and the basis for which the manufacturer believes that a dietary supplement containing such dietary ingredient will reasonably be expected to be safe, the FDA has taken positions in its draft Guidance that indicate that it intends to treat dietary ingredients as food additives once again. Even more disturbing, is FDA’s insistence that any change in the formula of a dietary supplement that contains a new dietary ingredient will require the submission of a NDI notification. The agency has announced its intention that all dietary supplements containing new dietary ingredients be pre-cleared by the FDA. This is contrary to Congressional intent in passing DSHEA. If the FDA deems it necessary to make such drastic changes in the way dietary supplements are regulated, I think it should have to go through Congress. This is a bureaucracy that is out-of-control. It would needlessly restrict access to safe dietary supplement products, and is a job killer for the dietary supplement industry.

As a concerned constituent in your District, I am requesting that you do everything in your power to stop the FDA from enforcing DSHEA in a manner that is contrary to Congressional intent and in a manner that has the potential to destroy an industry that has brought so much good to so many people.

If you would like to send a letter to your representative to help stop this from going into affect, you can download the customized letter, here. Please help to keep our rights when it comes to nutritional supplements. I truly believe in the benefit of nutritional supplements and don't know where I would be without them, I hope I never have to find out.

If you would like to read more about this issue, click here.

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 270- Napa Ragnar Relay Video...Finally!

Devin finally got our flip camera working again, so here is the longly awaited for video from our race from San Francisco to Napa Valley. Hope you enjoy!

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 269- Happy Turkey Day!

Today is a day that allows us all to step back and take a minute to reflect on what we are the most thankful for in our lives. Our health, our friends, our family, or what ever it is in our life that makes us happy.

The past month has been a struggle for me personally, and it was easy for me to forget what is really important in life. Today I am taking the time to reflect on what is really important to me, and to remember that even though things seem bad right now, I will overcome this obstacle and things will get better. This bump in the road is simply that. In the end help I will grow from it and become stronger, and I will refuse to let it keep me down.

I have an amazing family, both blood and the one that I have the privilege of marrying into. I have the most supportive husband, who is my best friend. I have friends that are always there for me through all the obstacles that life has thrown at us. A job that helps me grow educationally, a roof over my head, and the strength to enjoy all different types of physical activities.

I am blessed.

This Thanksgiving, even if things are not as you had planned them at this moment in life take the time to reflect on what is really important and what you are thankful for.

Thank you all for being a part of my life in some way or another. Have a great Thanksgiving!

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 268- Not all Turkeys are Created Equal

Most people are beginning to prepare their Thanksgiving menus; the body is starting to salivate just thinking about the delicious food ahead. Unfortunately the average Thanksgiving meal contains a load of sodium. Not only is salt added to many of the common dishes, it also comes pre-added to most of the mainstream brands of turkeys.

A salt solution is added to turkeys before you buy them in order to make them look bigger and weigh more.

According to an article in Food Renegade:

"They’re just adding weight. After all, who in their right mind would want to pay extra for salt water and wind up with far less meat than they bargained for? If your store-bought turkey is labeled “enhanced” or “flavor enhanced” or “self-basting” or “basted,” it has been injected with a salt water solution during the packaging process. Often, this solution contains nasty additives like vegetable oils and emulsifiers.

While U.S. law does require that these “enhanced” meats be labeled, the labels are often inconspicuous and hard to find. The USDA has recently proposed new rules that require these labels to be more prominent and explicit, but as of yet this is not the law of the land. As it stands, the labeling may be hidden near the Nutrition Facts or ingredient labels, may be small enough to hide in plain sight, and may not fully list the ingredients in the brining solution.

In other words, you could be buying a certified organic, all-natural turkey at Whole Foods, and it could be up to 40% solution and only 60% turkey!"

An article from Channel 5 News talks about the hidden sources of sodium in our Thanksgiving meal:

"No need for a salt shaker on the Thanksgiving table: Unless you really cooked from scratch, there's lots of sodium already hidden in the menu.

Stealth sodium can do a number on your blood pressure. Americans eat way too much salt, and most of it comes inside common processed foods and restaurant meals.

The traditional Thanksgiving fixings show how easy sodium can sneak into the foods you'd least expect. Yes, raw turkey is naturally low in sodium. But sometimes a turkey or turkey breast is injected with salt water to plump it, adding a hefty dose of sodium before it even reaches the store -- something you'd have to read the fine print to discover.

From the stuffing mix to the green bean casserole to even pumpkin pie, a lot of people can reach their daily sodium allotment or more in that one big meal unless the cook employs some tricks.

"For Thanksgiving or any meal, the more you can cook from scratch and have some control over the sodium that's going in, the better," says the American Dietetic Association's Bethany Thayer, a registered dietitian at the Henry Ford Health Health System in Detroit.

The Food and Drug Administration this month opened deliberations on how to cut enough salt in processed foods for average shoppers to have a good shot at meeting new dietary guidelines. The idea: If sodium levels gradually drop in the overall food supply, it will ease the nation's epidemic of high blood pressure -- and our salt-riddled taste buds will have time to adjust to the new flavor.

"Reducing sodium is important for nearly everyone," Dr. Robin Ikeda of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the FDA hearing.

The question is how to make that happen. The prestigious Institute of Medicine and several public health advocates are urging the FDA to order gradual rollbacks, setting different sodium levels for different kinds of foods, a step the government has been reluctant to take.

Food makers want a voluntary approach and say they're reworking their recipes, some as part of a campaign launched by New York City to cut salt consumption by at least 20 percent over five years.

It will take different strategies to remove salt from different foods -- and some may need to be a sneak operation, Kraft Foods Vice President Richard Black told the FDA meeting. Ritz crackers labeled low-sodium were a bust until the box was changed to say "Hint of Salt" and those exact same crackers started selling, he said.

In other foods, salt acts as a preservative with a variety of functions. Kraft sells cheese with somewhat less sodium in Britain than in the U.S. Americans melt a lot of cheese and lower-sodium cheese doesn't melt as well, Black said.

In the U.S., the average person consumes about 3,400 milligrams of sodium a day. The nation's new dietary guidelines say no one should eat more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium -- about what's in a teaspoon of salt -- and half the population should eat even less, just 1,500 milligrams. The smaller limit is for anyone who's in their 50s or older, African-Americans of any age, and anyone suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.

Why? One in three U.S. adults has high blood pressure, a leading cause of heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. Being overweight and inactive raises blood pressure, too, but the weight of scientific evidence shows sodium is a big culprit.

People want to eat heart-healthy, but Wal-mart shoppers spend about 19 minutes buying groceries, added Tres Bailey of Wal-mart Stores Inc., which told its vendors to start cutting sodium.

That's not a lot of time for label-reading to find hidden sodium, especially in foods where it's unexpected -- like salad dressings that can harbor more than 130 milligrams per tablespoon.

Depending on your choices, Thanksgiving dinner alone can pass 2,000 milligrams: About 600 per serving from stuffing mix, another 270 from gravy. The salt water-added turkey can bring another 320, double that if you saved time and bought it fully-cooked. Use canned beans in the green bean casserole and add another 350. A small dinner roll adds 130. A piece of pumpkin pie could bring as much as 350."

So what can you do to avoid all the extra salt this holiday season? Buy meat from farms you know and trust. Make sure that the labels do not make the claims, "enhanced," "flavor enhanced," or "self-basting." Use sea salt to flavor instead of the usual table salt. Or why not bast your turkey yourself? Click here for a tutorial on how to brine your own turkey.

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 267- Spicy Tomato Egg Pappardelle Pasta

Here is a new pasta recipe...but I have to admit the pappardelle noodles are not gluten-free :(

Ingredients:

• 1 bag pappardelle noodles from Trader Joe's
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 jalapenos, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 jar or tomato sauce
• cayenne pepper, to taste
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 2 teaspoons basil
• 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 8 large shrimp

Directions:

1. Cook noodles according to directions
2. In a sauce pan saute onion and garlic
3. Add bell pepper and jalapeno
4. Add tomato sauce and spices, cook until it starts to bubble
5. Brush shrimp with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, place on hot grill until cooked
6. Place sauce and shrimp on top of noodles, and enjoy!

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 266- Holiday Recipes- Pomegranate & Mandarin Salad

Pomegranate & Mandarin Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 cups spinach
• 2 cups spring greens
• 1 pomegranate
• 4 mandarin oranges
• 1 cup walnuts, crushed
• 1/4 cup poppy seed dressing (I like Brianna's Brand)

Directions:

• Remove all the seeds from the pomegranate and place in large bowl
• Peel the mandarins and dissect them and then place in bowl with the pomegranate seeds
• Add the walnuts and greens to bowl
• Toss with poppy seed dressing

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 265- Workout of the Week

• Jump squats, 20x
• Alternating jumping lunges, 10x each side
• Push-ups, 20x
• Bicycle crunches, 20x each side
• Side plank hold, 1 minute each side
• Skaters, 1 minute

Repeat each exercise three times through

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 264- Sugar Beets Bakery

Need lessons on how to cook delicious gluten-free or vegan meals? The Sugar Beets Bakery offers cooking classes twice a month. For $20 the bakery will provide all the ingredients, equipment, and lesson, and you get to enjoy the end-product.

The upcoming classes that are on the schedule are:

• December 4th~ A class for children that teaches them how to bake and decorate gluten-free and vegan sugar cookies
• December 18th~ A gluten-free and vegan holiday meal planning class

Sugar beets bakery was founded after the owner Gina was diagnosed with Celiac disease. She claims that being diagnosed with Celiac disease was a blessing in disguise; allowing her to learn about a whole new healthy life-style. She uses beets as a healthier option to sweeten her baked goods.

"Beets are low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, and Sodium. They are high in Fiber, Folate, Potassium, Manganese, Vitamin C, Iron, and Magnesium. They aid in maintaining proper health and assist with weight loss. They add density and sweetness to my line of Organic Cakes, Cookies, Donuts, Cupcakes, Cobblers, Muffins and Brownies. In addition to the nutrients from beets, our baked goods are made with organic fruits, high protein nuts, raw antioxidant chocolate, organic vegetables, and fiber rich flours. These desserts won’t blow your healthy eating habits or leave you feeling super guilty."

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 263-Article: What does your husband really think about your wobbly bits?

An online UK magazine, The Daily Mail, featured an article where they interviewed 5 couples to see what they really thought about each other's bodies. What the interviewer, Jill Foster, found out was that women are much more vocal on their feelings of their spouses bodies, whereas men on the other hand where more satisfied with everything about their wives; including all their imperfections.

So women, relax! Even though all you see when you look in the mirror is the little pudge in the belly or the larger than twiggy thighs, your men may be seeing just how beautiful you are. So relax and enjoy your body and all the imperfections that make you, "you" and your husband just that much more attracted to you.

Here is my favorite interview from the magazine, but if you want to check out them all, visit the Daily Mail website, here.

MARK ON KAREN

Karen has a very curvaceous body and I’ve always found her very sexy. I don’t like skinny women, I like something to get hold of. She likes Jennifer Aniston’s physique, but for me, someone curvy like Kate Winslet is much more beautiful.

I know Karen is not particularly happy with her B-cup breasts, but there’s nothing wrong with them. Yes, they’ve dropped a bit because she’s had kids, but so what? I wouldn’t want them any bigger or smaller — they’re just right. She has a nice nipped-in waist and curvy hips. And I love her bottom. She says she hates her thighs, but her legs are very toned.

FAVOURITE BIT: Her bottom.

LEAST FAVOURITE BIT: I can’t think of one — she’s gorgeous and wish she’d stop worrying.

KAREN ON MARK

Mark has a great physique. His pert bottom was one of the things that first attracted me to him when we met at work. That and his gorgeous dark eyes.

He’s ageing really well. His hairline hasn’t receded. He’s thinning a bit on top — like his father — but you’d hardly notice. When we first got married and had the kids, he stopped working out for a while and got a little pot belly which I’d tease him about. It never put me off him, but now he’s back to playing more sport and looking fitter again, I’m not complaining!

FAVOURITE BIT: His bottom.

LEAST FAVOURITE BIT: When he’s put weight on his belly.

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 262- Pizza is a Vegetable??

Congress believes that pizza should be considered a vegetable since one slice of pizza contains 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. Whereas the U.S Department of Agriculture believes that in order for it to be considered a vegetable it should contain one-half cup of tomato paste, which would mean that the pizza would literally be swimming in tomato paste. Making it less appetizing to children in the long run.

The campaign to make school lunches healthier by reducing french fries and adding more fruits and vegetables was denied by congress. Although even McDonalds heard the message and have worked to make their children's menu somewhat healthier (I guess a little bit of a oxymoron).

In the NPR health blog, "The Salt" Allison Aubrey wrote:

"It's a shame that Congress seems more interested in protecting industry than in protecting children's health," wrote Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest in a statement today.

"This [nutrition regulation proposed by Congress] may go down as the biggest nutritional blunder since Reagan tried to declare ketchup as a vegetable," Wootan tells The Salt. "It's ridiculous to call pizza a vegetable."

But she argues that pizza should be served with a vegetable. The nutrition standards, she argues, were intended to reinforce the2010 Dietary Guidelines that say it's important for people to eat whole fruits and vegetables.

The AFFI's Corey Henry argues that even a little tomato paste on a slice of pizza packs in a lot of the nutrients kids need.

"Tomato paste is almost unique in its ability to provide a very significant amount of critical nutrients and vitamins," says Henry. And he argues that any comparison to the 1980s ketchup-as-a-vegetable controversy is just unfair.

Here is a news report on MSNBC about the issue:

It's a little disturbing that congress is taking the side of the food industry rather than the health of the students. Hopefully they will get it together soon and realize that pizza really is not a vegetable.

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 261- More Motivation

Happy Wednesday! Here is a little motivation to keep you going for the rest of the week.

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP