B&B Organic Express Blog

Sounds funny when you start saying, “2012” – there’s a hesitation as you resist saying “2011” – it’s like the feeling you have when you’ve just gotten a new pet and the name quite doesn’t roll off your tongue. You need to get used to the new sound, the new feeling, the new ideas it might bring. So, it’s exactly the right time to formulate the NEW YOU we all vow to become as we make our list of New Year’s resolutions.

Most people really want to be healthy. But, many see it as just too much work. Here are a few easy suggestions that can make a difference in your health:

1. As You Seek to Improve Your Health, Aim High, but be Realistic

Unless you are a super achiever, you don’t have to make grandiose resolutions. Experts say it’s better to aim for something realistic that you really can do rather than work toward an almost impossible goal  and realize after just a couple of days that you’ll never succeed, and then quit trying altogether.

2. Choose a Healthy Snack

A snack now and then provides a welcome energy boost and a break. For instance, you might start a healthier diet program by deciding to eat healthy snacks (like organic fruits or vegetables) rather than candy bars and soft drinks. Fruits and vegetables provide important nutrients and don’t cause the spike in blood sugar that can leave you feeling flat once the candy bar sugar rush has passed.

3. Where You Eat Makes a Difference

According to Cynthia Harington, a nationally recognized Nutritionist and founder of the Rose Quest Nutrition Centre in Mishawaka, “Try sitting and eating at a table in the kitchen or dining room. Over the past 30 years, many of my clients have confirmed my belief that eating in front of the television or computer may stimulate ‘mindless eating’ – continuing to eat even after one is full because the plate full of food is still in front of you and you’re focused on something else.”

4. Portion Control Matters – Choose Your Dishes Carefully

Serving size matters, and choosing your dishes carefully can help you control the size of your portions. Reach for a skinny glass. Harington has found that her clients feel they have had more to drink if the same amount is served in a tall, skinny glass than in a short, fat glass. The tall, skinny glass makes the serving look larger.

Plates and bowls come in all sizes. Go for the 9-inch plate rather than the 11-inch plate and the same size helping will appear larger. Harington added, “I’ve observed that the bigger the bowl or plate, the more people will eat.”

5. Start Learning to Read Nutrition Labels

We all know, reading nutrition labels can be a challenge at first, but if you can zero in on even a few of the facts, they could help you maintain better health. For instance, you might want to check the number of servings in a package, the amount of sugar, sodium, or calories. Harington explained, “For instance, the amount of sodium the 2010 Dietary Guidelines and the AHA  recommend has an upper limit of 1,500 mg for most of the population. So, the 800-plus milligrams that you can find in a single frozen dinner can be problematic for some people. Knowing how to avoid foods which could present a health risk to you is important.”

To learn more, see www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNutrition/ConsumerInformation/default.htm

Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year!

When we were kids, my grandmother always made us each a root beer float in a tall glass with a massive scoop of vanilla ice cream. We were overjoyed! My health conscious mother was aghast, but my round little grandma always said, “Oh, it won’t hurt them just this once.”

“Just this once…” words that can open the door to all kinds of bad habits and questionable decisions. I really wish my grandmother had said, “Look here’s a special treat – a delicious carrot!”

According to Cynthia Harington, founder of the Rose Quest Nutrition Centre in Mishawaka, “More moms today encourage their children to eat healthy meals and snacks like fresh organic fruit, organic popcorn, or organic yogurt. Grandparents need to respect these decisions. Though they might not have grown up with these foods, they need to understand the importance of encouraging their grandchildren to eat healthy.”

Choosing organic fruits and vegetables means that they were grown without the use of products containing harmful chemicals, petroleum based fertilizers, genetic modification or irradiation. Organic farms treat plants, soil and animals with natural products instead of synthetic chemicals and drugs. Because of their lower body weight, children are particularly susceptible to harmful chemicals, making organic choices especially important.

Thankfully, more kids are learning about organic foods, healthy eating and pushing back when they are offered foods they know they shouldn’t eat. Last week in the grocery store, I overheard this conversation, “Grandpa, I love you, too, but Mommy says I’m not allowed to eat Twinkies!” The energetic five-year-old pushed away the brightly printed package as his seriously overweight grandfather added, “I grew up on these! It won’t hurt you to eat them just this once.” I smiled at the brave little boy.

If your grandchildren are going to be visiting you, here are some suggestions.

1.       Ask your grandkids’ mom what she wants them to eat for meals and snacks.

2.       Resist buying just your favorite food treats or the foods you liked when you were a kid.

3.       Buy some healthy foods you can prepare or cook together with your grandchildren. For instance, try organic almond butter spread on rice cakes for a delicious treat.

4.       Bake muffins or breads with fruits or vegetables like bananas or zucchini.

5.       Bake Sugar-free Applesauce Cookies. See recipe below.

6.       Make Banana and Chocolate Chip Pops. See recipe below.

7.       Have a great time enjoying every minute with your grandchildren!

Sugar-free Applesauce Cookies

½ cup organic butter, softened

1 cup unsweetened organic applesauce

2 organic eggs

2 tsp. organic vanilla

1 cup organic spelt flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. organic cinnamon

1 cup organic rolled oats

2/3 cup organic walnuts, chopped

2-3 cups organic raisins

Cream together moist ingredients. Combine dry ingredients (except for walnuts and raisins) and gradually combine with batter. Stir in walnuts and raisins. Drop by the spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

Banana and Chocolate Chip Pops

1  small ripe organic banana

1  8-oz carton organic banana yogurt

1/8 tsp. ground organic nutmeg

2  Tbsp mini organic chocolate chips

Slice banana; place in food processor with yogurt and nutmeg. Process until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl; stir in chips. Spoon banana mixture into 4 plastic popsicle molds. Place tops on molds; set in provided stand. Set on level surface in freezer. Freeze 2 hours or until firm. To unmold, briefly run warm water over popsicle until each pop loosens.

Today’s grocery store shelves are loaded with packages boasting, “Gluten-free!” Retail sales of gluten-free food and beverages in the U.S. were estimated to be $2.6 billion in 2010.* It is boldly proclaimed on labels and menus, but what does it really mean?

Gluten, a protein commonly found in rye, wheat and barley, is important to our health. It contributes to the balancing of our immune system. Unfortunately, many people today cannot digest gluten because they lack the proper digestive enzymes. Generally, their diet has included too much pasta, bread and cereal and not enough fresh organic fruits and vegetables, so they don’t have sufficient enzymes to digest gluten.

Symptoms of gluten intolerance include bloating, constipation and/or diarrhea, migraines, multiple sclerosis (MS), psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions. The most exaggerated cases are those with celiac disease.

People with gluten intolerance have two choices – avoiding gluten or eating healthy to get their digestive enzymes working. Avoiding gluten is one way to go. Not all foods from the grain family contain gluten. Examples of grains that do not have gluten include wild rice, corn, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, quinoa, teff, oats, soybeans, and sunflower seeds. Avoidance isn’t always the answer – in some people, lack of gluten in the diet can lead to extreme nervousness and other undesirable conditions.

The other option is to find out why your body cannot break gluten down and to make the necessary dietary changes to improve your digestion. Cutting back on processed foods and eating a selection of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables can help restore the enzymes and nutrients necessary to handle gluten.

If you are suffering from symptoms of gluten intolerance, consider starting your healthy eating with the addition of a fresh, organic Bartlett pear as an evening snack every day. To make serious progress, consider seeing a professional nutritionist who will help you learn which foods can enable you to digest gluten and enjoy breads and cereals without discomfort.

“Gluten free” labeling is always important for people with celiac disease. Sometimes gluten is used as a stabilizing agent in products like ice cream and ketchup, where it may be unexpected. But, some companies have created confusion and cashed in on the gluten scare by labeling foods “gluten-free” even if they would never contain gluten (like applesauce or vegetables) and then charging a premium price. Read labels and make sure you are not paying more than necessary for “gluten free” products.

Gluten has taken a bad rap. Before you cut gluten out of your diet, try replenishing your digestive enzymes with fresh organic fruits and vegetables. Gluten isn’t a bad thing, but it is certainly widely misunderstood.

*Earlier this year, a Packaged Goods report, “Gluten-Free Foods and Beverages in the U.S., Third Edition,” put retail sales of gluten-free food and beverages at $2.6 billion in 2010 and projects that the market will grow to $6 billion in 2015.

Eating healthy foods, like raw organic honey, can help build your family’s resistance to bacteria and viruses by strengthening the immune system. However, raw honey is not recommended for children under 18 months.*

As a child, when I complained of a sore throat, my mother would mix warm water (not hot), a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice and a teaspoon of raw honey. It was a soothing drink and made me feel better. Today, most people reach for a plastic bottle of something brightly colored from the drug aisle in the supermarket and complain that it doesn’t help.

Turns out, Mom knew what she was talking about. According to Cynthia Harington, certified nutritionist and founder of the Rose Quest Nutrition Centre in Mishawaka, “Organic raw honey is antiseptic, antibiotic, antifungal, and antibacterial — it never spoils! What’s more, it is also packed with vitamins and nutrients which can enhance the immune system. It contains beneficial live yeast and enzymes because it has not been processed. The heat of pasteurization kills those beneficial enzymes, so be sure you use raw organic honey.”

Finding raw, organic honey can be a bit of a challenge since most honey stocked on supermarket shelves is pasteurized. Harington explained, “Almost all honeys on the market are pasteurized in high heat and filtered to make them clear, removing many of the beneficial nutrients and enzymes. Pasteurization is unnecessary as honey does not spoil (even after 5000 years in an Egyptian pyramid). Finding raw honey which is also organic is important because many of the plants that produce the flowers needed for honey (clover, orange blossom, etc.) are grown with potentially harmful chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Organic raw honey uses only flowers grown without any harmful pesticides and fertilizers.”

Research studies have shown that raw honey can be useful in the treatment of a number of diseases. Harington added, “Raw honey has been used internally to help cure ulcers, particularly stomach ulcers.  It has been used to relieve canker sores, high blood pressure and constipation. And, since, it is a good source of anti-oxidants, research shows it works naturally to relieve pain, neutralize toxins, harmonize the liver, and can play a role in the prevention of certain types of diseases.”

Moreover, raw honey is useful as a dressing for abrasions or burns. Harington explained, “By applying raw honey to your wounds, you can prevent infections. Raw honey contains antimicrobial agents which may help prevent infections by killing the bacteria in and around your wounds. Applied every 2 to 3 days under a dry dressing, raw honey helps promote healing of ulcers and burns. Due to its natural anti-inflammatory effect, it will help to heal the wounds more quickly. It also has different phytochemicals–chemicals found in plants and different foods–that kill viruses, bacteria, and fungus making it a good substitute for wound dressings.”

Raw honey can also play an effective role in helping alcoholics handle their cravings during their hangover period. Harington reports, “Alcoholics in their hangover period can find relief from their cravings for alcohol by eating a spoonful of raw honey when those cravings occur.”

If you are buying raw honey for the first time, you might be surprised to see that it is not clear and that the consistency is thicker than pasteurized honeys. Fine, smooth textured crystals are characteristic of totally pure, unheated, unprocessed, raw honey. Crystallized honey preserves natural goodness and doesn’t drip. It may turn harder over time as it crystallizes, but can be softened by briefly placing the jar of honey in a bowl of warm water (never in a microwave oven).

Next time you feel a scratchy throat coming on, reach for the raw honey, warm water, and lemon juice. Relief is on the way!

*One note of caution, Harington explained that children under 18 months of age should not be fed honey since their digestive system is not well developed enough. Babies don’t yet have the ability to break down botulin, so raw honey fed to babies can cause botulism.

Cynthia Harington, a nationally recognized nutritionist, is founder of Rose Quest Nutrition Centre with offices in Chicago and Mishawaka, Indiana. She works directly with clients seeking improved quality of life through proper eating.