Unrefined, Whole and Organic Eating

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This video is the coolest thing I have come across in awhile. Please check it out, and take it to heart.

That film is just one example of the organic and whole grains trends in supermarkets lately. Publix has its Greenwise sections, (even opened a Greenwise Store!), Wal-Mart joins the bandwagon last year with Organics. Wild Oats and Whole Foods stores are popping up every where (everywhere EXCEPT Lakeland, that is!!!), not to mention of course the many small independent or chain health food stores that have held their own when it wasn’t so popular to eat healthy.

going organic:

An article at realmama.org spells out exactly what ORGANIC means and why pesticides are so harmful for kids and adults. If you aren’t sure which foods are especially important to buy organic, use the following guide:

“Produce with most pesticide residue:

apples
bell peppers
celery
cherries
imported grapes
nectarines
peaches
pears
potatoes
red raspberries
spinach
strawberries

Buy organic produce for those fruits and vegetables most often eaten by your child.

Produce with least pesticide residue

asparagus
avocados
bananas
broccoli
cauliflower
sweet corn
kiwis
mangoes
onions
papayas
pineapples
sweet peas”

I’ve read that if the produce has a thick skin that you peel, its less necessary to buy organic. If you eat the skin, or if it is something grown in the ground like root vegetables, go organic.

coffee beans: always go organic?

Here at MamaNeedJava, all roads lead to coffee. A friend of mine read in a magazine that coffee beans can be bought non-organic because the roasting process burns away the chemicals. I would still say its best to buy at least fairly-traded grounds (farmers are paid fair market wages) and beans from environmentally friendly growing practices, such as Starbucks’ Shade Grown Serena.

unrefined foods:

Um, do the words”enriched” or “bleached” sound like nutritious adjectivesto you? What’s the point of eating empty calories and leaving your body with a 10% of the nutrients and then replacing it with additives- food dye, hormones, genetic enhancers, radiation, and so on. Take in calories that are life giving instead of life depleting!

grain3 Unrefined, Whole and Organic Eating

And, for goodness sake’s, don’t follow all the marketing hype by thinking that Gold Fish and Chips Ahoy “made with whole grains” is some how a truly healthy alternative to junk food. It’s still junk food. They just through some oatmeal or something into the ingredients. What’s worse, I’ve heard several moms struggling to lose baby pounds eating these types of “healthy” snack foods rather than cutting the sugar and junk and eating REAL whole grains. Sadly, most people don’t even know what whole grains are. That’s another blog for another day, but for now I’ll insert this little thinking piece from an internet article by Bonnie Liebmann for “The Whole Grain Guide“:

“If whole grains are so healthy, why do an estimated 80 percent of us eat them less than once a day? It doesn’t help that many people don’t even know what whole grains are.

1. Which breads are usually all or mostly whole grain? (a) whole wheat, (b) multi-grain, (c) rye, (d) pumpernickel

2. Which grains are whole? (a) bulgur, (b) quinoa, (c) couscous, (d) oatmeal

3. Which cereals are whole grain? (a) Total, (b) Product 19, (c) Special K, (d) corn flakes, (e)shredded wheat, (f) cream of wheat

The answers:

1. a. In theory, multi-grain, rye, and pumpernickel breads can be all or mostly whole grain. In most of the U.S. and Canada, however, only whole wheat bread is (see “The Bread & Cracker Box”).

2. b, d. Quinoa and oatmeal are whole grains. Bulgur and couscous sometimes are and sometimes aren’t.

3. a, e. Total, Product 19, and Special K have healthy reputations. Of the three, only Total is whole grain (see “Cereal Numbers”).

It’s not easy to separate the whole wheat from the refined chaff nowadays. Shoppers may understand that a refined grain has had most of its bran and germ removed (see “Meet the Kernel”).

But they may still be stumped when it comes to guessing whether, say, pearled barley is refined (yes), or if cornmeal is whole grain (rarely), or whether unbleached wheat flour is white flour (always).

“Consumers can’t figure out what’s whole grain and what isn’t,” says University of Minnesota researcher Joanne Slavin. “The bagel store sells ‘whole grain’ bagels, but are they really whole grain? It’s a big mess.’”

I’m not any kind of expert on these subjects, but I truly think its important to consider what you are putting in your body as harmful toxins that later result in all kinds of allergies, diseases or disorders. Even more so when considering your children’s health. Say “YUCK” to MacDonald’s, Chefoyardee, Doritos, soda, candy, milk, on and on- start eating what is cultivated from good ol’ water, soil, and sun!!!