The Risks of Mass Production in Foods: Why buying Organic Just Isn't Enough

So, you purchased an Organic candy bar. Bet you feel pretty good about yourself, huh?  I hate to burst your bubble, but junk food is junk food, even if it is stamped with a pretty little USDA Organic emblem or makes claims of being "gluten-free", "allergen free", or "all natural".  The health food industry is not completely innocent. They still need to make money and they're still using deceitful marketing techniques the same as everyone else. In fact, a number of popular "health food" companies are direct monetary supporters against Prop 37 in California or the labeling of GMO food-stuffs. Granted, I'd eat this kind of packaged food over conventional store brand any day, but one of the biggest motivators of clean unprocessed eating is food safety.

For most of our lives we meander the aisles of the grocery stores blissfully unaware of the toxins lurking in our favorite foods. But with food recalls and food-borne illnesses making the news on a weekly basis, I believe it is time we stop viewing the food industry through rose colored glasses and at the very least be informed about the risks we are taking when we consume mass produced food.

So, why is eating organic or all natural not enough? Because these chains are still subject to your typical assembly-line mass proucing food factories that place a significant amount of attention on their bottom line.

Processed, packaged food travels too far and is handled by too many middle men to remain safe.  Factories cut too many corners to save a buck and we pay the consequences.

Don't believe me?  Go ahead and feed your children that bowl of frosted mini wheats (advertised/marketed directly towards their young and malleable minds), but make sure you check the serial number first. Kellogg's has recalled 2.8 million boxes of Frosted and Unfrosted Mini-Wheats due to a possible metal mesh in the cereal from a faulty manufacturing part. And the shame of it is that while masses of people are dying of starvation and malnutrition in developing countries, we're padding our already-full land-fills with 28 million cardboard boxes, wrapped in plastic, and filled with food. 

Think your organics and other "health" foods are safe? Then you must have missed this week's recalls:  

• Justin’s Organic Peanut Butter Cups due to possible salmonella contamination in the peanut butter.
• Creative Energy Foods' Crunch Thinkthin Nutrition Bars due to possible salmonella contamination in the nuts.
• Dole American Blend salad in 12 oz. bags due to a possible health risk from Listeria monocytogenes.
• Wegmans 17.2 Gluten Free Double Chocolate Brownie Mix due to allergy risk cause by possible undeclared milk contamination.

"Whole" foods are not immune to risk, however, as seen through recalls of canteloupe, peanuts, raw milk, etc.  This is where buying organic produces LOCALLY comes in handy, though. By developing relationships with small scale farmers who legitimately RELY on your business to keep their farms up and running, you are able to witness first hand what their handling is like. These farmers don't own extensive acrage with more produce than they can handle just to turn a profit. They farm what they can manage without compromising on quality and safety of the food that will feed your families, your children.  

This is not to say that you can't enjoy a banana or another imported tropical fruit, but it is to say would you rather fill up on food that has travelled 1500 miles in the back of a truck, handled by every Tom, Dick, and Harry, sprayed with dangerous chemicals to ward off insects, and contributing to the over-consumption of fossil fuels and rampant pollution, or would you rather support your community...your neighbors...and enjoy the untampered-with flavors of produce the way your God intended it to be? 

Just a thought.  :) 

Savory Medley!

I was hungry post work out this afternoon, but I was in a hurry to get to where I needed to be and had little time (or groceries) to prepare lunch/dinner to take with me. Time for one of those miracle-this-is-what-I-found-in-the-recesses-of-my-refrigerator-and-threw-some-seasonings-on-it meals. Longest hyphenated word EVER...maybe.

Deliciousness. 
Nutritiousness (which is now a word - because I said so.)

1 cup organic Kale
1/2 cup organic beans (pre-soaked/boiled with onion...or canned...do what you want)
1/2 cup roasted butternut squash (I already had some roasted from earlier this week).
3 oz chicken breast, diced
Paprika, pepper, and kosher salt to taste

*Note I would have totally put onion in this, but I'm fresh out.
1.  Saute chicken in 1 tsp unrefined coconut oil until mostly done.
2. Add Kale, saute until slightly welted, then add beans and squash.
3. Season and continue to heat until thoroughly warmed.

SO EASY. SO TASTY. 

Dietician Disasters #2

Holy moly.

I came in to work tonight to check what monstrosity of a meal was on the menu for dinner, and was surprised to find that even I was in disbelief at the train-wreck of a meal being served.  The main theme for the majority of their meals is something rolled in bread, fried in vegetable oil, with a side of bread/margerine, topped with bread, served with potatoes and an extra 10lbs in the midsection...probably.

Tonight was a real tribute to "home style cookin'."  If it were served in 3 seperate meals.

Salisbury Steak with Gravy
1/2 cup Green Been Casserole
1/2 cup Buttered Noodles
1 slice Wheat Bread
1T Margerine
1/2 cup Peaches
1 cup 2% milk

By now your stomach probably hurts just thinking about this. Or maybe you're salivating because you really love food additives and sky-high levels of sodium and have a thing for bread crumbs. I don't know your life.

Let's look at the totals...

Calories: 980
Fat: 51g
Sodium: 1867mg (WOW. My blood pretture just jumped a mile)
Carbs: 98.5g (Atkins dude just rolled in his grave)
Protein: 31g

Luckily for their vital organs I just could not serve this meal...morally. I stuck with the main dish (because they like us to at least pretend to follow the menu) and lightened up the rest.

1 Salisbury Steak with Gravy
2/3 cup greenbeans w/ diced onion
1/2 cup diced potatoes w/ diced onion, tossed in basil and garlic (no oil)
1 slice 100% Whole Wheat Bread (surprisingly! Still has nasty additives, though)
1/2 T Margarine
2/3 cup peaches
1 cup 2% milk

New Totals: 

Calories: 740 (Still really high)
Fat: 31.5g
Sodium: 1170.5mg (the Salisbury Steak is 800mg on its own. The bread is 170mg.)
Carbs: 79.5g
Protein: 27g

Sadly, I can only do so much with the ingredients that are given to me. One of the most frustrating encounters with this meal I had was with an oversized can of peaches (24 servings of which my clients at ALL of).  Now imagine you're walking along in a beautiful orchard. You pick a peach from a branch...smell it. Feel the fuzzy skin brush against your lips and the burst of sweet nectar as your teeth sink into its vulnerable flesh (Okay that sounded creepy...like a vampire or something. I promise I'm not a freak...maybe.) Is your first thought, "This fresh peach could use some sugar!"  No. No it isn't. Unless you're my boyfriend. This can contained the mutilated remains of one of natures finest treats. Cause of death:  drowning in corn syrup. That's right. Someone told this company that soaking these already sweet fruits in water, corn syrup, AND Sugar (both...really?) is the only thing that makes them edible. And that makes me angry.

How delicious does that steak-thingy look. Mmmmm---barf.

Oh, and I forgot to mention their snack just one hour prior to dinner. Grandma's brand cookies. 2 of them.

Nutritional Values (Oatmeal Raisin)
Calories: 310
Fat:  12g
Cholesterol 25mg
Sodium:  390mg
Carbs:  45g
Protein: 4g

Soak that one up.

Dietician Disasters #1

I intend for this to be a series of posts here on The Clean Weigh, because it is a topic that is near and dear to my heart and because the issue is so pervasive.  What am I talking about?

"Dietician" designed meal plans in hospitals, schools, and the like.  Dietician

It is appalling to me that we feed our children, our sick, our elderly, and our disabled food of the lowest quality and in ridiculous quantities. How does it make any sense to feed those fending for their lives in hospital beds meals that even the least food conscious of individuals finds unappetizing? That's right. It doesn't.

Meals provided in hospitals, schools, and facilities run by health care organizations demonstrate a complete dearth of adequate nutrition, an overabundance of processed foods filled with GMOs, cheap vegetable oils, trans fats, sodium/MSG, and the countless food additives/preservatives/fillers known to be carcinogens or cause immediate health issues.The vast majority of these foods comes from large chain stores like Sam's Club and GFS. Until I began working in this field and preparing these meals on a daily basis, I had no idea what a dire issue this is.

We're making our sick sicker.

Issue 1:  The menus don't make any sense.  Who has three starch items in their meal?!  Who has chocolate cake with lunch every day?? And a dietician thought of this?

Issue 2:  The menus lack choices of fresh fruit and whole, raw veggies.  There are no whole grains. And everything is laced with high fructose corn syrup.

Issue 3:  Simply TOO MUCH FOOD.  These menus provide roughly 4000 calories a day (not including the sugary baked goods they choose for snacks, or sodas, etc.).  Think about it logically, if you're stuck in a hospital bed, or you're elderly and live in an assisted living facility, how much physical activity are you truly getting? Definitely not enough to need 4000+ calories in a day.

In this series I'll highlight some of the most offending meals served at my job. Lets start with tonight's dinner.

As per the dietician:

1 Frozen Chicken Cordon Bleu (From GFS - Breaded chicken breast stuffed with ham and a gooey cheese-like substance)

10 French Fries - Yeah right

1 Slice Whole Wheat Bread- Three bread/carb options? Also, they rarely have 100% whole wheat
1/2 cup Green Beans
1/2 cup Mandarin Oranges - soaked in "light syrup"
1 cup 2% Milk
1 T Margerine 

Lets look at the totals.

Calories:  1000 (not including ketchup for the fries/chicken)
Fat: 48g
Sodium:  1700mg (not including added salt on fries and green beans)
Carbs: 90g!!!
Protein: 39g

The list of ingredients for the Cordon Bleu takes up half of the box. The ingredients of most of these items include an abundance of added sugar (HFCS), canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, modified food starch, and a whole host of chemical additives that I can't say or spell.

The lunch menus are equally confusing. I won't go into such detail, but really , who eats like this??

1 Hot Dog with Bun
1/2 cup Green Beans
1/2 cup Peaches
1 slice chocolate cake
1 Dinner roll
1 T margerine
1 Cup 2% milk

Our sick get sicker and our healthy get sick, and that is how we make money.

Balsamic Roasted Brussel Sprouts

I heard that.

Everyone says "ew" when they hear Brussel sprouts. I've been guilty before.
You gotta give them a fair shot! They're little pods of nutritious deliciousness! And they're fun to eat. They look like little craniums. I digress...

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt, Pepper, and Basil to taste
2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

1.  Wash your brussel sprouts, cut them in half, and toss them in the mixture.
2.  Place them on a baking sheet and into the oven preheated at 350.
3.  Bake until tender enough to put a knife into it.

SO. EASY.

Pumpkin Fries

As everyone who knows me knows, I live for fall because I LIVE FOR PUMPKIN.

PUMPKIN EVERYTHING.

Alas, why have I never had PUMPKIN FRIES before now?!

These tasty morsels were supposed to make it to a friendly gathering the following night.  They lasted for about an hour after leaving the oven.  Oops.

Can you imagine pairing these with a black bean burger?  YUM.

1 tbsp Coconut Oil
2 tsp pumpkin spice
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 small pie pumpkin

1.  Grease a baking sheet with your coconut oil. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2.  Clean out a small pie pumpkin (Save the seeds and roast those bad boys!), peel it, and cut it into fries.
3.  Toss the fries in the maple syrup and spice.
4.  Arrange in a single layer and bake until crispy/browned!

I know, why didn't you think of this first?

100% Cornmeal Cornbread

Cornbread reminds me of grandparents.

For whatever reason, most likely the demonization of carbohydrates, I don't feel like people my age eat a lot of things like corn bread, corn in general, beans, dinner breads, etc.  But these items can be that missing piece sometimes!  I can't tell you how many times I've sat down for a meal and felt so unfulfilled afterwards because it was missing that heart and soul!

Right now there's nothing better than a big pot of stew, or a steaming mug of beans, with a piece of buttered corn bread!

Most popular recipes incorporate wheat flour in equal parts to the corn flour and are deathly sweet. Not saying that's not delicious, but that's more like corn cake than corn bread. So, I found this recipe at Nourishing Days and adapted it to my liking.

• 1 3/4 cup cornmeal, preferably organic or non-GMO (find it here)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 cups milk (I used 1 cup 1% and 1 cup whole because that's what I had on hand)
• 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a 10″ cast iron skillet or an 8×8″ pan.
2. In a small bowl combine cornmeal, baking powder, and salt and whisk well with a fork. In a medium sized bowl beat eggs and mix in honey, milk, and melted butter.
3. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and place in oven.
4. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean when inserted into center of the bread. Allow to cool before cutting.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serving Size:  1/10 of recipe
Calories:  150
Protein: 5g
Carbs: 21g
Fat: 6g
Fiber: 1g
Sugar: 6g

Enjoy! 

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Stew

I love fall.
Everything about it. I particularly love this season's food! Pumpkins, squashes, root vegetables galore! There's something comforting in the heartiness of it all. The temperature is dropping and I'm loving soups and stews! The things with soups is that if not done the right way, they leave you unsatisfied and longing for more in one hours time. That's why I love hearty stews that pack a protein and fiber punch!

This recipe is pretty versatile. You can season it however you wish. Play around with spices!

2 tbsp coconut oil
4 medium garlic cloves
1 white onion
2 celery stalks
2 carrots
4 small sweet potatoes
2 cups black beans, drained
1-15 oz can of diced tomatoes/chilies 
4 oz Ground Lean Turkey (Optional)
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
Fresh Cilantro
Salt and Pepper to taste!

PREPARATION

1.  Heat your coconut oil in a skillet.  Saute garlic, onion, celery, carrot, and potatoes and then transfer them to your pot.
2.  Add canned tomatoes with juice. Fill the can with water twice and add it to the pot. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are soft. 
3. Add your seasonings, beans, and browned ground turkey.
4. Let it simmer.  Add more water if you prefer a thinner consistency.

Serve this with Southern Gluten Free Cornbread for a meal that is certain to stick with ya!

NUTRITIONAL INFO

Serving Size: 1 Cup
Calories: 166
Protein: 11g
Carbs:  29g
Fat: 2g
Fiber: 7g
Sugars: 4g (No added sugar) 

One Week Gluten Free - Almost

I still have not heard the results of my blood tests. That will be Tuesday.  However, I thought I'd give this gluten free thing a shot this week, just to see if I could do it.  I can't really comment on whether I feel better or not, though, due to confounding variables (a) Bryan kept making me "taste" things that most likely had gluten in them and gluten is not something you can do "just a little bit"of if you are sensitive or intolerant to it. Even small traces damage the intestine. (b) Lots of social events that I over-ate my clean/whole/gluten-free foods. Your diet can be good and still make you fat. There are no "free" foods. I can say that I feel much lighter after meals. I don't feel that dense weight in my gut, and I'm generally not as tired after eating. *shrug*

Anywho, what did I eat this week?  Aside from too many bottles of wine, I think there were some meals in there somewhere. I will post the recipes separately

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Stew

Spicy Shrimp Pad Thai in a Curry Sauce

Pumpkin Fries! 

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Crock Pot Whole Chicken

 In other news this week:

 Kroger Manager's Specials are the love of my life. These little nutrition packed jewels normally cost an arm AND a leg. Thank You Kroger!

This tiny owl oil burner made me go "d'aww" and shell out three whole dollars for another thing I don't need.

And these grotesquely yellow monstrosities are a great representation of why I've grown to despise today's food market.  On what planet does this look appetizing? And, how much yellow dye does a pudding need to convince it's purchasers that it is, most definitely, lemon flavored (yuck)? 

Bryan bought two packages (despite my warnings) of the "apple pie" and "iced cookie" variety. Both of them tasted like vomit. 

How was your week? 

A Work In Progress

So, obviously, the blog is still under construction. 
I have just had no time to post, cook, or anything really! 

In addition to my incredibly hectic schedule, my current health issues are not taking any mercy on me. 

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel.  I have a doctors appointment on Monday that I am axiously awaiting.  I will be requesting a long list of blood panels to search out definitive proof of what I believe to be an ever-worsening thyroid condition. 

I know what you're thinking, "Of course you think you have a thyroid problem because you're overweight!"  It has been the stand-by cop-out of overweight women for years. However, my uncontrollable weight gain over the past year is only a minor concern of mine as it relates to this condition.  It is alarming how many things our thyroid gland is responsible, so if yours is fully functional I recommend you thank it for working so hard every day! Thyroid Respect! I digress. 

The list of symptoms started with a couple concerning things such as excessive fatigue, the weight gain, and the complete whackiness of my menstrual cycle *TMI* but then they grew to include dozens of symptoms that impeded the quality of my daily life.

The symptoms of hypothyroidism may be categorized by Early, Late, and Uncommon. Check yourself for these symptoms!  I have bolded and elaborated on my personal symptoms (from Wikipedia). 

Early

• Cold intolerance, increased sensitivity to cold *Severe
• Constipation *Extremely Severe
• Weight gain and water retention^[10][11][12]
• Bradycardia (low heart rate – fewer than sixty beats per minute) *My resting HR is around 52bpm
• Fatigue *Severe
• Decreased sweating
• Muscle cramps and joint pain *Extremely Severe leg/joint cramps throughout the night
• Dry, itchy skin
• Thin, brittle fingernails *My fingernails actually peel
• Rapid thoughts *
• Depression * The combination of rapid thoughts and depression actually sent me to a nurse practitioner earlier in the year, around the time my dad passed away. They put me on antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications which, wouldn't you know it, reduce the activity of the thyroid. JOY! Alas, my symptoms worsened.
• Poor muscle tone (muscle hypotonia)
• Female infertility; any kind of problems with menstrual cycles *I am on my period for 3 weeks at a time! 
• Hyperprolactinemia and galactorrhea
• Elevated serum cholesterol *Unknown

[edit]Late

• Goiter
• Slow speech and a hoarse, breaking voice – deepening of the voice can also be noticed, caused by Reinke's Edema.  *I have had no voice/cracking voice for a solid 6 months. It's like always having a cold.
• Dry puffy skin, especially on the face
• Thinning of the outer third of the eyebrows (sign of Hertoghe)
• Abnormal menstrual cycles *See above
• Low basal body temperature *My "normal" body temperature is 97.0
• Thyroid-related depression *Severe

[edit]Uncommon

• Impaired memory *I forget things so fast! Bryan and I are frequently arguing over whether or not I said something, because I don't remember saying it! 
• Impaired cognitive function (brain fog) and inattentiveness.  *I have the attention span of a gnat now.
• A slow heart rate with ECG changes including low voltage signals. Diminished cardiac output and decreased contractility
• Reactive (or post-prandial) hypoglycemia^[15]
• Sluggish reflexes
• Hair loss
• Anemia caused by impaired haemoglobin synthesis (decreased EPO levels), impaired intestinal iron and folate absorption or B₁₂ deficiency^[16] from pernicious anemia
• Difficulty swallowing
• Shortness of breath with a shallow and slow respiratory pattern
• Increased need for sleep *I could sleep for days and 
• Irritability and mood instability  *I'm a roller coaster of emotions! 
• Yellowing of the skin due to impaired conversion of beta-carotene^[17] to vitamin A (carotoderma)
• Impaired renal function with decreased glomerular filtration rate *Don't get me started on my kidney/bladder problems. 
• Acute psychosis (myxedema madness) (a rare presentation of hypothyroidism)
• Decreased libido *This sucks.
• Decreased sense of taste and smell (anosmia)
• Puffy face, hands and feet (late, less common symptoms)
• Gynecomastia
• Deafness^[19]
• Enlarged tongue^[20]
• Tinnitis *RIIIINGINGGGG In my ears. All the time. 

Needless to say, I have been less than a happy camper lately.  

As it turns out, hypothyroidism is not only attributed to low levels ot Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) and is, in about 90% of the cases, due to an autoimmune disorder called Hashimoto's.  If your doctor only tests for TSH4 in your thyroid screening...find a new doctor.  A TSH blood test will not show Hashimoto's as the issue is with the immune system. The doctor will need to run an antibody test to definitively diagnose Hashimoto's.  However, if you feel like crap and your tests come back "normal" and you're realllly convinced it is your thyroid, get a second opinion.  There is still much to learn about the thyroid and autoimmune disorders. Doctors are still somewhat in the dark in terms of treating these sort of things. Also, there is no consensus on "normal" levels of TSH or other hormones in our bodies. What is within the "normal" range for others might not be adequate for your body! 

Waiting for blood tests can be lengthy and agitating.  How can you help yourself manage symptoms in the mean time?  Turns out eliminating gluten from your diet will make a world of difference and once definitively diagnosed with hypothyroidism or Hashimoto's it is strongly suggested that you turn your back on gluten and never look back. 

Alas, my mind has been made up.  I am going to try to give up gluten.  I am already skilled at making substitutions in the kitchen, and live on whole foods the majority of the time, so I think I will be able to manage. However, I'm concerned that I won't have the will power to be as strict as I need to be.  Even trace amounts of gluten are damaging to the system and there will be no "cheating" or "free-days" without consequence. 

I will still post old recipes that include whole wheat and other glutinous ingredients, but new recipes posted will most likely be gluten free.  

I will keep you posted on the results of my blood tests and such! 

Thanks for reading! 

Haley