In today’s solocast and episode #67 of The Nourishment Mindset, I touch on four topics that recently caught my attention. It’s admittedly a hodgepodge but there is one consistent thread and that’s the critical importance of knowing the INGREDIENTS in our food.
We evolved eating real, whole single ingredient foods and that’s where we should focus for optimal health given nutrient density. As Dr. David Lustig, author of Metabolical says, “if it has an ingredient label, it’s suspect.” Bien dit (well said), as the French say. The problem is that the majority of Americans consume a shocking amount of nutritionally void ultra-processed junk that’s always a combo of the same brutal food equation: seed oils + glyphosated grains + preservatives/colorants + sugar or one of its 60+ other names. If this “recipe” appears on anything in your home right now, my best advice is to toss it out!
We start and end with good news. Topic #1 is a discussion about food dyes/ colorants and I’m beyond thrilled to know that the US will FINALLY be banning these from our food supply. This is a massive WIN no matter what political side of the aisle you occupy. West Virginia, one of the most metabolically sick states, lead this charge so good for them. Two of my trusted resources for deeper dives on food dyes are Vani Hari, aka The Food Babe who wrote Feeding You Lies and Marion Nestle, author of Unsavory Truth (no relation to the Swiss food company). This and other health-related changes are what I have been hoping for this year, albeit skeptically.
I, too, fell victim to Big Food marketing and I share my story of being a competitive age-group triathlete in my twenties and unknowingly downing this junk in bottle after bottle of red Gatorade, something I’d never ingest now. The ingredients including Red40 are a toxic soup marketed to athletes and children for “hydration” when really it’s a pile of chemical crap. (In case you’re wondering, you can hydrate with water with some added high quality salt like Redmond Real Salt or Baja Gold.)
Topics #2-3 present unsavory and infuriating news and I’ll give you a couple hints: your milk and farmed salmon labels are hiding some super shady ingredients! Tune in to find out how what’s lurking beneath the surface of those incomplete ingredient labels and how to make healthier choices.
I also highlight some truly disgusting “innovations” by the food industry including sugary cereal-inspired bacon and a coffee creamer that serves up a side of diabetes with every sip. All is not lost, however, as my son found a chip — or shall I say crisp company that has one product doesn’t use seed oils… what?!! Yep. (The only one here I found with ingredients that don’t make me snarl is the Classic Original; the rest have questionable stuff so buyer as always must check the ingredients!)
Finally, Topic #4 deals with a new CGM (continuous glucose monitor) on the market that is ground-breaking because it’s the first one you can get legally if you don’t have diabetes! Lingo is sold OTC. This is important because this access has been restricted: I share my story of importing a CGM from Canada to know my numbers because I was peeved that I was unable to buy one in the good ole USofA. If you’re wondering to which numbers I’m referring, it’s blood glucose (aka blood sugar) levels.
Knowing these numbers is important for a few reasons: 1) people with impaired metabolic function will show higher than healthy glucose numbers indicating a problem well before a pre-diabetes diagnosis; 2) every person is different with respect to his response to a given food; and 3) and most importantly, you can REVERSE diabetes and blood sugar issues but you must be aware that there’s an issue to do so. Since Type 2 Diabetes — a serious disease sickening every cell in the body, affects 50+% of the population (note I’m including “pre-diabetes”), it’s a critically important issue.
I learned about Lingo when a sales rep contacted me to offer me a free trial. I eagerly accepted and like any good wife, volunteered my husband as the guinea pig. I was easily able to analyze his data through their Bluetooth enabled app and he received important feedback on how different foods affected his glucose levels in real time. Fun times with your health coach wife, right?!!
FINE READ-
I’m absolutely loving The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeown. While breathing is an autonomic process — involuntary, that doesn’t mean we have it mastered. One of my brothers is a dentist and he sees rampant and serious metabolic outcome evidence of poor breathing on a daily basis. This book shows you simple techniques to assess and improve your breathing, which as you may have guessed, can be influenced by your lifestyle factors.
FINE RECIPE-
Here’s a super simple, refreshing summer salad with an Asian flair:
Use a veggie peeler to peel a cucumber, preferably organic.
Cut into fourths length-wise.
Chop into small pieces.
Place in a pretty bowl and toss with sesame oil and salt to taste. You can also add some soy sauce — just make sure it’s traditionally fermented.
Enjoy.
If you haven’t yet bought the book, consider doing so on Amazon or my own website for complimentary shipping of a signed copy. Santé y’all!
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