Led by Ambassador Tony Hall, leaders of NGOs, religious leaders, and ordinary people all over the country began fasting last week to protest the immoral state of affairs in this country when our representatives in Washington D.C. continue to allow and encourage tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations while poor people starve. Right now they are debating which programs for the poor and middle class they will cut yet changing the tax break structure is not even being considered.

To learn more and to add your voice to the list of concerned citizens visit some Web sites I’ve cited below.

We can all be agents for change.

CREDO

http://www.communitychange.org/press-room/press-releases/deepak-bhargava-to-join-heads-of-major-progressive/view

Chart showing tax vs. budget cuts

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/02/tax_breaks_infographic.html

Mark Bittman column

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/why-were-fasting/

Center for Community Change

http://www.communitychange.org/press-room/press-releases/deepak-bhargava-to-join-heads-of-major-progressive/view

Sugar: the thing we hate to love.

By now we’ve gotten the message that sugar isn’t a health food, that most of us eat too much of it, and that many of us should not eat it at all.

But, there’s a reason for eating sugar besides that it tastes good. Our ancient ancestors used sweetness as a test for safety—foods that were poisonous were mostly bitter. If the plant they were testing was sweet, it was probably safe to eat. That Stone Age diet included tiny walnut-sized apples. The sweet juicy colorful fruit we know today were nonexistent in our distant past.

Luckily, or not, I became obsessed with learning about sugar while in grade school, because my grandparents had diabetes. In many parts of the Eastern U.S. diabetes mellitus was called “sugar.” In many other parts of the country, it was referred to as “sugar diabetes.” The name “sugar” itself tells you a lot about how I made the connection between a substance and a disease.

Many times during my childhood, I watched my grandmother inject both my grandfather and herself with insulin with huge scary-looking needles. When I was in junior high, my grandmother lost both of her legs, one at a time, due to complications from diabetes. Because my grandfather did not eat healthfully, he was grossly overweight.

I became convinced that in order not to suffer my grandparents’ misery, I had to figure out how to live without sugar. Of course, that had to wait until I was an adult, since I certainly wasn’t going to give up sugar as a kid.

Our love affair with sugar starts in childhood, and for some in babyhood. Baby food manufactures, like Gerber, used to put sugar into their products. They wanted their products to taste good to the people who were buying it—to Mom’s, not babies who have no purchasing power. In addition to commercial products, one of the first solid foods given to babies is bananas, because baby can’t choke on a mashed banana. Bananas are one of the sweetest fruits. Learning early to love the taste of sugar is a set up for disaster.

Though sugar was available in past millennia, it wasn’t until the 20^th century that such a high percentage of daily calories came from something with no nutritional value. Per capita consumption has increased at an alarming rate. In 1913, the average annual sugar consumption was 40 pounds per person. Today it has risen to 142 pounds. It’s easy to see that unnecessary extra weight on bodies all around us.

During the 1980s, many people believed that fat was responsible for people getting fatter. This led to companies cutting back on the fat in their products. Consequently, they loaded manufactured food with sugar because removing fat left cookies, or whatever, tasteless. Today boxes of dead sugar-laden foods pollute supermarket shelves.

Here are recommendations. Keep in mind that if you are healthy a fairly safe allowable intake of sugar is based on your total daily calorie consumption:

• 1600 calories per day—6 teaspoons sugar, or 22 grams
• 2200 calories per day—12 teaspoons sugar, or 44 grams
• 2800 calories per day—18 teaspoons sugar, or 66 grams

To put this in perspective:

A 12-ounce Coca Cola contains 39 grams of sugar as High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS);

a 20-ounce Coke contains 65 grams.

Don’t forget that drinking your sugar in fruit juices counts as sugar too—fruit juices don’t do well in the sugar debate. Twelve-ounce containers of juices range from 15 teaspoons of sugar for grape juices to 8 teaspoons of sugar for orange juice. A 12-ounce Coke has 10 teaspoons. The lesson is—don’t drink your sugar.

If you buy food in boxes, always read the label for sugar. Sugar comes in all kinds of disguises. Anything ending is –ose is a sugar as well as honey, maple syrup, agave, HFCS, and others. Ingredients are listed in the order of their percentage. The sugar content is listed on the dietary label as well.

When you consume sugar, appreciate it for the pleasure it gives and limit your intake to sugar you have personally put into the food.

Or eat a piece of fruit where the sugar is combined with healthy fiber and other nutrients.

Here is Web site about all the reasons not to eat sugar: http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/sugar.htm

Here is a really good site on the history of sugar http://www.globalissues.org/article/239/sugar

apple

Eating fresh produce seasonally is not difficult for people living in a warm or tropical climate where there is lots of variety year-round. I lived in San Diego for several years. I wandered wide-eyed from store to store marveling at the beauty and choices I had. I’d moved there from Ohio where choices were extremely limited in winter. I was so in love I thought I’d stay in California forever.

After San Diego, I lived in Alaska for over a decade.

The problems in Alaska were the same as Ohio—little or no local produce in winter. Food in Ohio came from Florida and California mostly by truck. In Alaska, food came by plane—making the cost of fresh food out of reach for a lot of people.

But the cost of food wasn’t the only problem; the quality was awful. Food grown for transport is not the same as food grown for local consumption. In order for food to be transported long distances, growers plant seeds bred to produce food that can survive a long trip, and harvested before they are ripe. Growing foods for transport does not encourage taste, or nutrition.

While my choices for fresh foods in Portland are not as limited as in Ohio or Alaska, there are no Farmers’ Markets in the dead of winter.

I usually limit my winter fresh produce to foods grown in Oregon, Washington, and California. This means no fresh tomatoes in January.

Tomatoes in stores during winter look and taste bland and boring. Today I am dreaming of pulling a warm tomato from the vine on a hot summer day and taking a big juicy bite. The anticipation of a fresh tomato is better than a poor imitation for instant gratification. I’m not into hardship or suffering, rather I strive to eat foods at their peak of flavor and nutrition and think the rewards are worth the wait. Besides, having a more limited palette in winter forces me to be creative.

Not so long ago, our ancestors had no choice but to eat food they processed themselves. They grew their food in summer; then canned and stored it for winter.

If you can’t grow and process your own food in summer to eat in winter, fermented and sprouted foods are a healthy delicious choice. Fermentation is easy—cabbage becomes sauerkraut in less than a week. Sprouting beans, grains and seeds is even easier. All you need are glass jars and some cheese cloth. Within 2 or 3 days you’ve got a lovely crop of crisp fresh veggies with an outstanding nutritional profile.

For a really well written, informative, and interesting book on the topic of eating locally get a copy of Paul Nabhan’s “Coming Home to Eat.”

And remember, spring is just around the corner.

I can’t remember ever not loving peanut butter. We ate it a lot as kids. Because my family was Catholic and couldn’t eat meat on Fridays then, I always looked forward to Friday lunches. My favorite Friday lunch was a peanut spread my Mom made by grinding Planters cocktail peanuts and carrots with a hand grinder, mixing it with Kraft salad dressing then spreading it on white bread.

Today to save the grinding step, I keep a jar of organic sugar-free crunchy peanut butter in my refrigerator. I also slather peanut butter on my morning apple slices. Ymmm.

Peanut butter sandwiches are my go-to meal—easy to make, nutritious, and portable. Whenever I’m travelling I take along a sandwich with crunchy peanut butter, Umboshi plum paste, and grated carrot. This is my version of Mom’s peanut spread.

The first time I flew following September 11^th when airport security tightened, I was pulled aside after my back pack passed through the X-ray machine. The security agent asked me to remove my shoes which he carefully examined. Then he asked if he could look into my backpack. Of course. I was curious and nervous, as I removed everything from my back pack. He looked through what I had—the usual stuff: reading materials, water, and a peanut butter sandwich made from the heels of dense whole grain sprouted bread. He picked up my sandwich and gave me a puzzled look. I smiled politely and said, “It’s a peanut butter sandwich.” He handed it back, and sent me on my way.

After breathing a sigh of relief I found it hilarious that my peanut butter sandwich could set off a red flag for security agents. After that experience, I no longer make a sandwich from the heels of bread when I travel by air; I just use the regular inside slices. That seems to have solved the problem—no security agent has questioned me since then.

I travel through the Detroit airport fairly often. The last time I was there I found a food court shop on Concourse A called PB&J. They offer a choice of breads, peanut or cashew butter (smooth or chunky) and some kind of jam or honey. I watched a young woman make a humongous sandwich on thick slices of bread. I didn’t want anything that huge.  So I asked if I could get just one slice of bread, half a sandwich, and pay the full price ($4.49). After a discussion, the sandwich makers decided that would be OK. I got whole grain bread, and crunchy peanut butter, and that’s it. I’m not fond of jelly or anything sweet with my peanut butter. Later, when I got hungry on the flight back to Portland, I had mineral water, courtesy of the airline, with my peanut butter sandwich. I was happy to have something so easily portable that I could save until I was hungry. All airports should have a PB&J’s.

I wish I’d thought of the idea.

Although a growing number of us need to lose weight, weight loss is not the only reason we need exercise. There are many benefits from regular exercise. At every age there are rewards. You don’t need me to tell you this, but I’ll do my best to give you a push.

Friend and dog walking the Mendocino Headlands

Walking is the cheapest form of exercise, requiring only a good pair of shoes, and, for most women, a supportive bra. You can walk any time. And while the minimum recommendation to have positive results is only 30 minutes most days, those thirty minutes can be broken up across the whole day.

Here are some ideas:

• Walk to work if you can
• If you drive or take public transportation, park or get off the bus several blocks before your destination
• Walk up stairs instead of taking an elevator
• Walk up escalators
• Take a walk during your lunch break
• Get your spouse and kids together for a walk following dinner—it’s just as important as homework

To get started, if you’ve not walked in some time, first make sure you have no health issues that would negatively impact walking. Then go to a sport shoe store with knowledgeable employees and ask to get fitted with a good quality shoe. These can be expensive. Whenever I am replacing my shoes I always get last year’s model, and have never paid more than $30. Good socks are also important. Sport socks are knit without those annoying knots near your little toe that can give you the excuse you need when you’re trying not to walk.

Start by walking somewhere safe for five or ten or more minutes. Or perhaps walk around the block. When I started running years ago, I was told in a workshop to run for five minutes—something I’d never done before—and add a minute a day. That worked so well that I was able to run in a 10k (6.2 miles) race four months later.

If you increase your time by a few minutes each day, before you know it you’ll be walking 30 minutes. Over time you can increase your distance and your speed. Doing this in increments is so easy you won’t even know you’re doing it.

Any walking at all is good, but you do have to challenge yourself to get continuing benefits. That means walk farther and/or walk faster.

Walking with a pal is a great way to go. You both get exercise while you catch up.

Walking outdoors connects you with nature, but the weather is sometimes uncooperative. Go to a mall or any large public building and walk.

Studies show that walking helps with memory by holding off memory loss that often comes with ageing. Even older people show memory improvement following periods of regular walking.

You are never too young to start a healthy activity that can last a lifetime. At 20 you are creating a good habit you can practice throughout your life—if you do, you’ll still be walking and active in your 80s.

I heartily recommend About.com for inspiration.

Make sure to eat a variety of fruits and veggies. Use color to help with your choices. Different colors indicate different nutrients. Our eyesight is the first sense we use to eat—make your plate a color palette. Eat greens at least three times a week. Greens can be: kale, Collard greens, Swiss chard, mustard or turnip greens, the leaves of any root vegetable.

Farmers' Market last day 2010

For the picky eaters in your life who say they don’t like veggies, sneak vegetables into anything you can by dicing them into sauces and pureeing them into dips. Have clean cut up veggies on hand ready to eat when anyone wants a snack so there’s no excuse for not eating something healthy.

The fruits and veggies we consume ideally should be organic and local; about one-third to one-half should be consumed raw (seasonally).

The web site of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a section called ‘my pyramid‘ which is an interactive tool to help folks learn to eat more produce. The site is easy to access. If you are interested in food and nutrition be prepared to spend hours on the site as there’s a ton of information to take in. Be careful though because some of the information is controversial due to the USDA’s dual role as the overseer of health and nutrition, and as the promoter of farming—both commercial and family farms.

As a general rule of thumb, divide your plate into thirds: animal protein (if you eat it) should take up no more than one-third of your plate—about the size of a deck of cards or your palm. One-third will be whole grain or starchy-vegetables, the remaining third will be other vegetables. Have a salad in its own bowl. If you buy ready-made dressing make sure it has no sugar nor sugar substitutes. Better yet, make your own.

Here are some ideas for eating enough produce each day:

1.       Have seasonal fruit with breakfast.

2.       For your morning break have a carrot or other raw crunchy veggies like a turnip or kohlrabi or celery with some nut or seed butter.

3.       For lunch have a tossed salad with garbanzo beans and/or pile veggies on your sandwich: lettuce, onions, cucumbers, avocado, tomatos in season.

4.       Have some steamed broccoli with hummus for your afternoon break.

5.       Eat a seasonal salad with dinner.

6.       Have steamed greens or other above-ground veggies.

7.       Have a starchy veggie like winter squash, yams, beets, or potatoes.

8.       Make a whole grain pilaf with onions and mushrooms, or bell peppers in season.

9.       If you eat dessert make it a fruit based dessert.

Become friends with the folks at your Farmers’ Markets. They are the best source of information. They know what’s in season and can give you ideas for ways to prepare unusual ingredients.

It seems that the nutrition information continually contradicts itself. One year coffee is bad, the next it is good. For years butter was bad. Now it’s not as bad as its substitute, margarine, with Trans fatty acids.

In order to be well informed, and be able to discern the accuracy of the information coming at us, a person has to be constantly attentive, and read everything that comes along. Most people don’t have that much time, nor are they that dedicated. I’ve been attentive to health and nutrition for a long time and I am good at separating the real from the fad. To make your life easier, here are eleven things you should do every day to be healthy. I’ve done the homework so you don’t have to.

In future blogs I will elaborate on each one separately, but this will get you started.

1. Make fruits and vegetables the main part of your diet–the more the better. At least half should be raw.

2. Take a walk, at least around the block.

3. Eat seasonally and locally grown fresh whole foods.

4. Cut down on your consumption of sugar.

5. Read Labels. And understand them. Read every label before you buy it or consume its contents.

6. Eat unrefined fats and oils.

7. Drink water.

8. If you eat meat, eat pasture raised. If you eat fish, eat wild fish.

9. Eat something cultured and/or fermented.

10. Exercise your brain.

11. Take some unplugged alone time–5 or 10 minutes is better than nothing.