Day 344- Cleaning Out the Kitchen

We made New Year's resolutions over a month ago, but how many of us were able to stick to those resolutions? If you are one of the many people that are still struggling to make healthier changes for 2012 maybe it is time to start by cleaning out your kitchen. That old saying, "out with the old, in with the new" is exactly what is needed to kick start healthy eating in your home. I have compiled 10 tips on how to stock your kitchen for success!

1. Remove anything that contains hydrogenated oils, or that contains the word hydrogenated on the label; such as margarine or shortening. These items contain trans fat and have been shown to cause cardiovascular issues, diabetes, and possibly even cancer.
2. Canned foods should be avoided. A much better choice is fresh or even frozen vegetables. Cans contain BPA that can leach into the foods. BPA may affect neural development in fetuses, and have been linked to endocrine disorders, heart disease, and cancer. Canned foods are also higher in sodium and sulfites, which are used as preservatives. About one in every 100 people are allergic to sulfites, and the reactions can be quite severe.
3. Avoid products that contain more than 5 ingredients or that list ingredients that you can not pronounce or understand. Visit my post on deciphering food labels for more tips on what to avoid. Also disregard health claims made on products- all gluten-free products are not healthy. Deep- fried potato chips may be made gluten-free, but that doesn't mean that they are something that you should keep in your pantry. Remember ingredients are listed in order of what is most prominent to the least. So if sugar and salt are at the top of the list, that means they are the most prominent in that item. Look for labels that have what you are eating at the top of the ingredient list, without all the extra flavorings and additives.
4. Stock your cupboards with healthier alternatives. If you are a baker, there are many alternatives to white flour that will still taste delicious, but won't have quite the same affect on the blood sugar. Eliminate the harmful "white" products from your kitchen, such as white flour, white bread, and white rice, these items raise your blood sugar and can lead to blood sugar dysregulation. Substitute instead with items such as brown rice, almond, or coconut flour. If you aren't gluten-free sprouted grain bread is a good choice when it comes to a bread option.
5. Stock up with lots of fresh organic fruits and vegetables. For tips on how to store your fresh produce and reduce waste, read my blog, I'll Eat That, by guest blogger Amanda Buhl on how to reduce waste and get the most our of your produce. Take the advice from author Michael Pollan, "if it was grown on a plant, not made in a plant, then you can keep in your kitchen."
6. Reduce sugars and avoid artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, splenda, high-fructose corn syrup, etc. Read my blog on sucralose to learn how this chemical affects the body. These artificial sugars are foreign substances to the body and thus the body does not know how to process them. These substances can eventually lead to blood sugar disorders and obesity.
7. Keep only good healthy oils in the kitchen. Some staples to include are coconut oil, olive oil, nut oils, and grapeseed oil. Remove vegetable oils, soy oil, and canola oil. You want to make sure you pay attention to the individual oil's smoke point to avoid the oil from going rancid during cooking. It is also good to keep only a small amount of oils out, while keeping most of them refrigerated and in dark containers for a longer shelf life.
8. Stock your freezer with premade soup stocks and food dishes that you can heat up for days that time is not on your side. This will help to reduce impulse grocery shopping or take-out food.
9. Enjoy spices! Eating healthy does not have to mean bland food. Stock up of a variety of yummy exotic spices, as well as good quality sea salt.
10. Have good snacks on hand. We all get the munchies, so make sure that there are healthy foods easily available to you when you want to nibble. Nuts and seeds on hand are a great idea. Visit my blog, This is Nuts, to learn about soaking nuts.

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 102- Sucralose

"Made from Sugar, So it Tastes like Sugar."

Splenda, which is made up of a compound called sucralose, claims, that it is basically a sugar product without any calories. So what exactly is this sweetener that is making its way into drinks, baked goods, gum, and many other products we find on the shelves?

Well, part of their slogan is true, sucralose does first start out as a sugar molecule (sucrose), but what happens after, in the factory, changes this molecule so that it is unrecognizable by the body. Three chlorine molecules are added to sucrose to make sucralose. The sucrose molecule is a disaccharide that contains two single sugars bound together; glucose and fructose, when chloride is added it is converted to a fructo-galactose molecule. This unique molecule is not found in nature and so the body does not possess the ability to properly metabolize it. This is where they make the claim that Splenda contains no calories - our body just can't digest or metabolize the molecule making it have zero calories.

The manufactures of Splenda were very smart in choosing the name "sucralose." As consumers we are more likely to relate the ending "-ose" to a natural sugar, just like glucose and sucrose,instead of a altered unrecognizable sugar molecule. But now that we have learned how sucralose is created we know that it definitely is not the same as the other natural -ose sugars. In fact grocery stores such as, Whole foods, will not sell Splenda or any product that contains it, because it is not a "real food," which is their code of ethics.

So is this unnatural molecule safe for humans? Technically, who really knows? Most of the studies have been done on animals, with only around 6 published human trials. What's even worse is that when the FDA approved sucralose for human consumption, only 2 of the 6 trials had been completed, which included a total of 36 human subjects. Then to top that off, out of the 36 people in the studies, only 23 were actually given sucralose for testing, with the longest trial only lasting 3 months.

According to an article in Mercola:

"Splenda is not a drug and is only a food additive. As such the number of studies required to receive FDA approval is substantially less than drug. Vioxx had an order of magnitude of more comprehensive clinical trials than Splenda ever did, and despite the rigorous approval process it still killed 55,000 people."

So what have been some of the findings on sucralose? According to a study from Duke University:

"Splenda suppresses beneficial bacteria and directly affects the expression of the transporter P-gp and cytochrome P-450 isozymes that are known to interfere with the bioavailability of the drugs and nutrients. Furthermore, these effects occur at Splenda doses that contain sucralose levels that are approved by the FDA for use in the food supply."

Splenda is an organochlorine, which is a chemical that is a carbon and hydrogen molecule with attached chlorine atoms, and is the only organochlorine ever used for human consumption. Examples of other organochlorines out there are: DDT, Mustard gas, Chloroform, PCBs, as well as other insecticides, pesticides, and solvents. In fact, Splenda was discovered by accident when researchers were creating a new insecticide! Organochlorines are also fat-soluble and can tend to accumulate in body tissues that are high in fat, such as your brain. Although, the amount of sucralose that is absorbed and stored in the body varies for each person, research shows that 11 - 27% of ingested sucralose is absorbed by the human body. In one human study that Mercola talks about in his article, one of the eight participants did not excrete any sucralose even after three days.

So since there are not very many published research papers out there on the effects of sucralose, it's up to you to decide to consume it or not. But let me remind you that it is not a natural sugar like the name sounds, and that the research on the effects of sucralose are not very extensive on humans, and not taken into consideration for a long duration of time. For me, I choose to stick with the natural stuff, but again that's just me.

While writing this blog I also came across another great blog on 14 reasons why you should not eat Sucralose, click here to read it.

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP