To Cheese or Not To Cheese This Holiday Season

This holiday has, by far, been the most difficult and lonely. Since we're moving to another state in a couple of weeks, my husband and I are temporarily living with a friend in their detached guest house. As beautiful as the guest house is, we haven't decorated anything to reflect the holiday spirit. No sparkly lights. No Christmas tree. We had our Christmas presents piled up on a spot on the carpet. Okay, I have to admit that we do have a nice evergreen wreath hanging in the dining room. It smells wonderful and it's the closest thing to a Christmas tree that we have. Yes, we could have bought a Christmas tree for the guest house, but since we're living in our friend's guest house the space doesn't warrant for it. Plus, we didn't want to overstep our hospitable hostess. So as non-festive as our Christmas was, we tried to celebrate and socialize with visiting friends and each other.

One of my former employers and now good friend contacted me last week about her visit to Oahu. I was happy to hear from her since I haven't seen her since 2004. She was kind enough to invite my husband and I over to have dinner with her and her family. Being vegan, I knew it would be a difficult to control what I ate since someone else was cooking, so most of the time, I have to adjust my diet to accommodate vegetarian items like dairy.

As a vegan, you cannot trust others to accommodate your diet. In a world of meat-eaters, many people don't care if something has meat in it. Most people think that vegans are just going through a "phase" or "trend" and that they simply just choose not to eat meat right now. It is also irritating to hear that people who call themselves "vegetarian" eat fish. That's absurd because fish are animals! The word "vegetarian" is defined as someone who abstains from eating any animal meat or its byproducts, and that includes fish and seafood. I understand that people make their own choices but this stereotype only makes it more difficult for people who are truly vegetarian.

Upon arrival, there wasn't much food for us to eat but a small bowl of soup along with some garlic bread and cheese. Luckily, my husband and I went to Costco before dinner and picked-up a big Greek Salad for everyone. To prevent starvation, I convinced my friend and hostess to make some grilled cheese sandwiches so we had more food to eat for dinner. Funny as it was, I ended up making the sandwiches that we ate. With cheese and more cheese, our stomachs became queasy from the greasy cheese. This goes to show that sometimes all you have is cheese to eat whether you like it or not.

Moral of the story is that people who eat meat have no idea what vegans eat. They just think we eat salads and nothing else. Unfortunately with animal products in everything, it only makes it difficult for vegans to go through life like everyone else. Hang in there.

Do-It-Yourself Facials

You’ve got no fewer than five holiday parties to attend this weekend, and the winter weather has your face drier than your mother-in-law’s sense of humor.

Problem is, you basically drained your bank account shopping for loved ones last weekend, and a self-indulgent spa gift certificate isn't really in the cards. Falalala, toots.

Consider it a blessing. Not only are they atrociously expensive, but traditional spas use products and solutions packed with toxic chemicals that accumulate in your body. Get your winter skin back in shape with pantry ingredients that won't soak your skin in harsh ingredients.

Exfoliate 



What you need: Fuji Apples or Papaya and Pineapples 



Why: Fuji apples have a rougher texture and contain malic acid - an alpha hydroxy acid that is great for exfoliation and hydration. Papaya and pineapple juice contain enzymes that give good face.

How: Take the Fuji apples and slice them. Remove all the seeds and gently rub in a circular motion. When you are finished, squeeze the juice out and apply like a toner or splash. You can also dip a cloth in the Fuji juice and dab on your face for a more intense treatment. If you’re using papaya and pineapple, just mix a little papaya with  some pineapple juice and apply to your face.



Defoliate and Brighten



What you need: Rice Flour 



Why: Rice flour is a wonderful defoliator and brightener all-in-one. It is great for reviving the skin after pulling an all-nighter. 



How: Mix rice flour with some water and use as a morning cleanse.

Breakouts and Blackheads

What you need: Baking Soda

Why: Baking soda is great for disincrusting (great term, eh?) breakouts and softening blackheads. 



How: Mix baking soda with water to create a runny consistency. Dip a piece of cloth in the solution and apply it to your face like a mummy. A hot mummy.



Bonus Fruity Tip: Use a cotton ball to apply lemon or grapefruit juice for added cleansing, exfoliating and brightening.



Acne / Oily Skin Treatment 



What you need: Tomatoes



Why: Tomatoes have antioxidant qualities that can prevent skin damage and help tighten pores, which helps reduce the likelihood of an acne breakout. 



How:  Slice tomatoes and lay them on your skin. If you tend to be a little inflamed, cold compresses are great to relieve the swelling of unsightly blemishes. 


Make a Mask

Light a soy candle, grab Mariah Carey’s new Christmas album and rub-a-dub-dub your woes away. Here’s a quick at-home recipe using chamomile - a very calming and powerful anti-inflammatory agent.



Cucumber and Aloe Vera Face and Eye Mask



Ingredients

• Aloe Vera from the plant

• Cold cucumbers 

• Chamomile tea bags

• Rose petals or lavender
   


Preparation: Steep the chamomile tea. Gently wet your face with a steaming washcloth soaked in rose petals, lavender or chamomile water. Slice the cucumber. Place cucumbers or chamomile tea bags in  the freezer for five minutes. Apply this mask to face while lying down. Place aloe vera around the face, neck and  eye area. Place sliced cold cucumbers around the face and over eyes. Let sit for 15 minutes. Wash face off  with same steaming washcloth soaked in rose petals and lavender. Then add juice from steeped chamomile with a cotton ball for a great refreshing splash.

Tip: You don't have to wash your face so often in the colder months - a good splash and you're good to go.    



Now get your beauty sleep—you're going to need it.

Forks Over Knives

We are digging ourselves an early grave. Health care costs have skyrocketed leaving the sick and debilitated to fend for themselves. Heart disease, cancer and stroke are the three leading causes of death in America, even though we live among the most advanced medical technology known to man. Two out of three of every people are overweight, and about half of the population relies on atleast one prescription pill to get them through the day.

In short, we are running out of sick days.

Brian Wendel, creator and executive producer of Forks Over Knives - this year’s adventitious follow-up to the Emmy-nominated, Food Inc.- had a gut feeling that the irrefutable rise of a generation's ailments, degenerative diseases and medical bills was pointing to one single problem: Our widespread dependence on meat and processed foods. This wasn’t just a whim. T. Colin Campbell, author of the reveled bestseller, The China Study, and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a leading surgeon and head of the Breast Cancer Task Force at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic, had already come across plenty of research suggesting a substantial link between an animal-based diet and the rise of disease. Their conclusion: Degenerative diseases could almost always be prevented - and in many cases, reversed - by adopting a whole foods, plant-based diet.

Brian thought the only way to bring the message to the world would be through a feature film. After all, we do love our buttery popcorn and value-size soda pop.

Without any film cred to his name, Brian put his career on the backburner and recruited an award-winning production team to follow the personal journeys of both Campbell and Esselstyn. Taking him a year to make, Forks Over Knives put the idea of food as medicine to the test, documenting real patients with chronic conditions and featuring interviews with top researchers, nutritionists, doctors and authors to support the theory.

Healthy Bitch Daily caught up with Brian to talk about his upcoming feature film, his findings and why the hell this isn’t common knowledge. To get updates on the Forks Over Knives DVD release, visit www.forksoverknives.com.

Heart disease is the number one killer of women, yet it is not common knowledge. It kills more women than all the cancers combined. How can women protect themselves again heart disease with food?

Clinical research from Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and others has shown that a whole foods, plant-based diet will prevent heart disease in most cases. This is supported by population studies that show a close association with animal foods and our nation’s number one killer.

The most exciting element of Dr. Esselstyn’s research is the ability of diet to reverse disease. In Forks Over Knives, you’ll see the evidence clearly. All of Dr. Esselstyn’s patients survived the 12-year study, despite being the sickest of the sick. Some of Dr. Esselstyn’s patients were given up for dead by their regular physicians! And all three patients treated during the film’s production greatly improved their cardiac conditions.

While a whole foods, plant-based diet can reverse heart disease after its onset, I recommend everyone transition into this lifestyle before they have symptoms. In more than a quarter of cases, sudden death is the first and only sign that a person had heart disease.

What was the most startling research you found on cancer and our diets?

It was definitely Dr. Campbell’s laboratory work on casein, the main protein in dairy products. Casein promoted cancer in every instance, at levels not far from the levels that people eating a Western diet typically consume. Other substances considered “carcinogenic” do so at levels many times greater. Dr. Campbell’s research was supported by his large population study in China, where cancer rates varied by as much as 400 times from one county to another. In his study, Dr. Campbell and leading scientists from around the world measured over 360 diet and health-related variables. They found cancer rates and animal foods to be closely associated. 

Forks Over Knives - Movie Trailer

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45,558 views

Can you really use food to "reverse" disease?

Yes, in many cases. There is significant scientific evidence that a whole foods diet can reverse heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. There is evidence that other diseases will respond as well. It seems that the Western diet – a diet of animal-based and processed foods – is the primary catalyst for many diseases. So it follows that making this change will yield benefits, and in many cases reverse existing conditions.

This is exactly why the film is called Forks Over Knives: we show that what’s on the end of your fork can prevent you from going under the knife.

 

In T. Colin Campbell's The China Study, he found that the country's wealthier children, who were consuming relatively high amounts of animal-based foods, were much more likely to get liver cancer.

The one tip you would give women ...

I recommend everyone adopt a whole foods, plant-based diet and start realizing the health benefits. At the same time, it supports a sustainable environment and is inherently more compassionate to our fellow beings. In every way, a whole foods, plant-based lifestyle wins out over animal-based and processed food; it’s only that we have been conditioned otherwise from early childhood.  

How can people watch the movie and support your cause?

Look for the film to be released around November 2010, although an official date is not set yet. The DVD release will follow the theatrical run. Please support the film by joining our Facebook fan page, [CH4]sharing a link to the Web site and following us on Twitter.

*article from The Healthy Bitch Daily newsletter

Diary of a Superfood: Chia Seeds

How Chia Seeds Got Its Hype

It’s all the new rage in the health industry, but this all-natural superfood is actually an ancient food of the Aztecs. And, it’s also the stuff growing right in your Grandma’s uncomfortable collection of Chia pets. A versatile little seed? We think so.

The seed of the Mexican native Salvia Hispanica plant, chia was known by the Aztecs as the ‘running food’ for its high-endurance qualities. Warriors would take as little as a teaspoon to sustain themselves like the Energizer Bunny over a 24-hour period. As for other bragging rights, chia seed is the richest whole food source of omega-3 fatty acids and fiber in nature, with six times more calcium than whole milk, three times more iron than spinach, and 15 times more magnesium than broccoli.

Chia seed has a nutlike flavor and can be used in a number of ways. The most important thing to know is Chia needs to be prepared with pure water before using it in recipes. For most recipes, the ratio is 9:1 (nine parts water, one part seed). One pound of seeds will make 10 pounds of Chia gel. (See “Daily Credo” below for instructions.) Similar to flax seed, you can add chia seeds to flour when baking, or try sprinkling it on bran cereal, yogurt, oatmeal, soup, dips or in a salad. Unlike flax seed, the beauty of chia is that it is easy for your body to digest, so no need to grind them up. In Mexico, they mix it in water with lime or lemon juice, add a little natural sweetener and cheers to a drink called a “Chia Fresca.” Olé!

Bitchworthy Benefits of Chia Seed

Hydrates. Chia can hold 12 times its weight in water to offer you prolonged hydration. Given the fact that fluids and electrolytes create an environment in our bodies that supports the life of all cells, this is a good thing.

Slims. Chia helps to control weight gain, by bulking up and cleansing your body of shit in your intestines. When the chia seed gets wet (i.e. placed in water) it turns into a gel. When in our digestive systems, this gel helps prevent the absorption of some of the calories in food. This blockage of calorie absorption makes chia a skinny bitch’s BFF. Last, but certainly not least, because chia seeds absorb a great deal of water, they release natural, unrefined carbohydrates slowly into the bloodstream to make you fuller.

Protects. Chia is highly concentrated in omega-3 oils, which are essential to heart health. Omega-3s are said to help lower triglycerides, increase HDL “good” cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and act as an anticoagulant to prevent blood clotting. In addition to protecting your heart, omega oils are known for improving memory, recall, reasoning, and focus.

Heals. Chia is pretty much a mega-multivitamin in seed form. Because of the way that it breaks down in your body, it is extremely efficient in delivering all that it has to offer in the most productive way. In gel form, chia is great for healing wounds, treating the common cold, sore throats, upset stomachs, body odors, prostate problems and constipation. 

Where To Buy. You can get chia in seed or powder form at specialty health retailers like Whole Foods. Call your local grocer to see if they carry it.  Navitas Naturals Chia Seeds Aztec Superfood, 16 Ounce Pouch

*article from The Healthy Bitch Daily

Warning: Dining Out May Result in Extreme Eating

Extreme calories, extreme fat, extreme sodium, extreme portions...

Would you order a meal if you knew it contained more calories than you should eat all day? That’s what you’ll get if you order a Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger with a large order of fries.

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), that meal contains 2,380 calories. To put that in perspective, the USDA recommends a daily caloric intake of 2,000 to 2,500 calories per day for the average person. The burger, without toppings, comes in at 920 calories and 30 grams of saturated fat. The fries contain a whopping 1,460 calories!

In contrast, a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder has 410 calories and their large fries have about one third the calories of the Five Guys’ large fries. That news flash is messing with my head. McDonalds as the lighter choice? Well, it’s all relative.

Would you believe The Cheesecake Factory's Pasta Carbonara with Chicken has 2,500 calories? Or that California Pizza Kitchen Tostada Pizza with Grilled Steak has 1,680 calories, 32 grams of saturated fat and 3,300 milligrams of sodium?

Or that P.F. Chang’s Double Pan-Fried Noodles Combo 1,820 calories? That same dish is said to have 7,690 milligrams of sodium -- that’s about three teaspoons of salt!

P.F. Chang’s, according to CNN, says that the nutritional information for the Double Pan-Fried Noodles Combo is wrong. On its website the dish is listed as having 455 calories and that the serving is intended for four people.

Many restaurants list nutritional information on their websites, but you’ve got to read carefully to understand what one single serving is. Let’s face it -- we’ve loss all sense of proportion when it comes to serving size. What used to be a family-size serving platter is often considered a single serving. That doesn’t mean we have to eat it. What ever happened to moderation... or common sense, for that matter.

The CSPI announced it’s Xtreme Eating awards on nine items from seven restaurant chains: And the Envelope, Please: The 2010 Xtreme Eating Awards Go To...

Beware when you eat out. That's the bottom line. If you're going to be an extreme eater, you want to know in advance.

*article from Care2 (http://www.care2.com/causes/health-policy/blog/warning-dining-out-may-result-in-extreme-eating/)

The Nutcracker: A Quick Guide to Healthy Nuts

You skipped breakfast again. Nice. But before you throw dollars at the office vending machine like it’s a Chippendale dancer, consider a handful of nuts. Not only are nuts a tasty treat, they’re loaded with health benefits (when unsalted)⎯ say, promoting a healthy heart.

Pack a resealable bag in your purse or office drawer for the days when those hunger pangs persuade you to opt for naughty foods.

Almonds. A great source of vitamin E, a handful of almonds a day can help reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering LDL by as much as 10-percent. Almonds contain more calcium than any other nut and have solid amounts of magnesium, potassium, zinc, iron and fiber. Plus, they’re big in healthy monounsaturated fats.

Cashews. This nut boasts more than 80 nutrients. Yes, way! Cashews are also packed in vitamin B, potassium and folate. Always opt for unsalted cashews, which are easy to find and taste just as fabulous.

Walnuts. Considered “brain food,” walnuts are crammed with omega-3 fatty acids. In fact, one-fourth cup of walnuts provides roughly 90-percent of your daily need. Walnuts have high levels of l-arginine and can help promote a good night’s sleep (contains melatonin). Nighty, night, hot stuff.

Peanuts. Yes, peanuts are high in fat, but like avocados, they are high in the “good” kind — monounsaturated fats. Peanuts also contain magnesium, folate, vitamin E, copper, arginine and fiber — all of which are known to lower your risk of cardiovascular disease. Another big benny? Peanuts contain high amounts of resveratrol - the same good stuff in red wine - which is great for your heart. Always buy raw nuts over roasted because heating the healthy oils in nuts degrades them.

Pistachios. Pistachios are full of antioxidants and a great source of copper, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium. An especially rich source of vitamin B6 and the other B vitamins, pistachios can help you fight infections, build muscles and give you a boost of energy. Go get ‘em, tigress.

Hazelnuts. Also known as cob nuts or filberts, hazelnuts have no cholesterol and are low in saturated fats but high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Hazelnuts contain arginine, an amino acid that helps to relax the blood vessels. Hazelnuts are also built with folate, which reduces the risk factors for cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's and depression.

Go nuts or go home, honey. 

BPA Found on Cash Register Receipts

The chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) has been making headlines lately. Consumers have been warned to avoid number 4 plastic as well as canned foods and even cans of soda pop. Back in October, though, Science News reported that cash register receipts also contain BPA, and that it’s present in higher quantities than other sources.

The tricky thing about BPA in these receipts is that it’s “free” unlike with plastic. That means it’s not chemically bound, so it’s easier to get it on your hands. Although there is some debate about whether you can absorb BPA through your skin, it’s pretty much a no-brainer that once it’s on your fingers, you’ve got a good chance of ingesting it. Unlike in something like a plastic bottle, which contains nanograms of the stuff, BPA-containing cash register receipts can have 60-100 milligrams. To put that in perspective, one milligram is equal to 1,000,000 nanograms.

Yikes! So how can we avoid coming into contact with BPA-laden receipts? There are a couple of precautions that can help.

Know Your Paper
First off, not all receipts contain BPA. The type to keep an eye out for is thermal coated paper – the kind that’s shiny on one side. Regular “bond” paper receipts should be safe. There are two reasons that companies use BPA to make thermal paper: it allows the cash register to print the receipt without ink, since the ink is essentially part of the paper and BPA is the cheapest coating that achieves this effect.

There is a company that makes BPA-free thermal paper receipts. Appleton Paper in Wisconsin sells receipt paper that uses a different chemical coating. You can ask at the store if they use Appleton Paper. If they don’t you could even express your concerns. Stores often take customer feedback very seriously. Not only is BPA a concern for shoppers, think about the clerks who handle receipts all day long!

Play it Safe
The easiest way to avoid BPA from receipts is to just not take one, but sometimes turning down the receipt isn’t an option. Maybe you paid with a credit card and need to sign or you have to document expenses for your business. In those situations, your best bet is to minimize your contact with the paper and make sure to thoroughly wash your hands before putting your fingers in your mouth or handling food.

Children are especially susceptible to BPA’s effects, since their bodies are still developing. It’s probably not a good idea to let them handle receipts unless you’re 100 percent certain they’re BPA free. You might also want to wash your hands thoroughly between contact with a receipt and playing with children.

Of course, some folks say that BPA is not harmful, and that the amount we encounter daily isn’t enough to be a concern. I’m inclined to err on the side of caution here, but that’s just me. What do you think?

*article from Care2.com (http://www.care2.com/greenliving/bpa-found-on-cash-register-receipts.html)