Nutritional Advice

Nutritional advice for foods

2009-09-29T01:07:00.000-07:00

It seems that business cannot be trusted to mislead and distort what you are actually getting in food. Consider the following. There is a very good program in NZ called 'Target' which shows on TV3. You can follow the show on their website. On the Tue-29-Sep program they were discussing bread spreads. This was interesting to me because some of my most cherished foods were discussed. There were some surprises:
1. Nutella - This is the most popular spread used by kids in Australia and NZ, and its sold in Asia as well. Probably international. I thought this was a health food because its high fat, and based on nuts. But its misleading because its just 13% nuts, has heaps of sugar, and they use palm oil, which is less healthy apparently. In fairness palm oil is an plant fat, but I suspect its not as good for unsaturated fats.
2. Vegemite - this overpriced spread is popular in Australia and NZ. It really takes good on toast. The problem with it is that its high in salt. The claim that is the highest source of Vitamin B is because they add the Vitamin B. Why B? Probably because excess is readily flushed out in your urine.
3. Peanut butter - This is actually nuts, though it is high in fat so good if you consume a lot of energy. Its actually the best choice because low GI, high source of energy, but you need to watch the salt. Anything over 1mg is added, and it can be as high as 150mg.
4. Honey - This is basically sucrose - a natural liquid sugar with few other nutrients. Basically its like injecting sugar into your bloodstream, but if you're active, why not.
5. Jams - In NZ jams are required to be at least 50% fruit, but the rest is sugar.

These programs are useful for establishing the quality of services and products in the market, so I recommend reviewing the TV3 'Target' website. Its one of the better TV programs in NZ.

This program poses the question of what foods you can eat which are healthy. None of these foods is so bad in small quantities. You can argue that you grew up on them, so why not your children. There is some truth in that, but remember your kids are probably less active than you. Possible spreads - no idea - its good me thinking. Why not avacado, banana -as they spread easy.

It occurred to me as an after-thought that food manufacturers are being unfairly attacked for the lack of nutritional value of their food. The reality is that processed foods need to be 'preserved'. They are 'long life' shelf foods because they contain preservatives like sugar, salt, etc. There is a health value and convenience in being able to buy such foods. If we could not buy and store preserved foods, there is the prospect that the cost of living would rise, and we would also require bigger refrigerators. The surest defence is maximising the use of fresh, perishable , unprocessed foods.
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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

The importance of vitamin C

2009-09-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

This article highlights the value of Vitamin C in preserving a healthy body. The article in particularly interesting because it explains the underlying bio-chemistry.

Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, who won the Nobel Prize in 1937 for his discovery of vitamin C, asserted that good health” is the result of ample flow and interchange of electrons in your cells. Poor health results when the flow of electrons between your cells is impaired or poor. Poor electron flow equates with “disease,” and when electrons cease to flow entirely, your cells die.
The oxidation in your body is caused by free radicals involves the loss of electrons. Antioxidants are important because they counter the 'disease causing process' caused by oxidation (loss of electrons) by supplying electrons.
Vitamin C is an important antioxidant according to Dr. Levy, and "perhaps the most important electron donor to maintain optimal electron flow in your cells". Using Vitamin C to combat infectious diseases is not new, yet conventional medicine can be quite resistant to the idea, as this case report shows. Even when the man was on his death bed the hospital was still unwilling to give him intravenous vitamin C, despite the fact they had absolutely nothing left in their own toolkit!

As a critical thinker I am inclined however to question these views for several reasons. Firstly it possible that it was not solely the Vitamin C that made the difference in the case of the patient, and I would suggest, if the value of Vitamin C is that it promotes electron flow, then there are a great many antioxidants. This science seems to basic to be true just for Vitamin C. Why is it not true of all anti-oxidants. I'd also have thought that oxidation is a normal part of body functioning. I get the sense that there is far more to know than this article draws attention to.
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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

The role of Vitamin B17

2008-10-29T03:52:00.000-07:00

The following video describes the science of cancer prevention and the role of Vitamin B17.

Refer to Healing Daily for more information. Here is a list of foods which control laetrile, or Vitamin B17.
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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

Preservatives in food

2008-09-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

I recently saw a story on the use of preservatives in food. They were saying that a McDonalds burger still looked fine after 12 years. That is the power of preservatives. But what are the risks?
The problem of course is that we are not dealing with a single preservative but hundreds. The risk is that:
1. Companies seeking short term profit are likely to create the pretence of following procedure
2. Regulators is under-resourced in Western markets

There is no question that there is a need for preservatives - the issue is whether it is safe to use the whole range of them and whether consuming a lot of them is harmful. The best approach is to eat fresh foods as much as possible.
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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

Vitamin supplements

2008-09-21T13:28:00.000-07:00

I have mixed feelings about using vitamins for several years:
1. False sense of safety: You might be taking vitamins, but are you confident you are taking the right ones? Are you confident that the active ingredients are being absorbed into the bloodstream. Drug companies produce these products to make money. I would suggest as long as there is no evidence to suggest they hurt you (that is, they are not legally liable), they will do pretty well anything to get you to purchase more.
2. False claims: There was an advertisement on TV suggesting that vitamins improved performance. I suspect if you read the labelling it might say 'vitamin supplement', but the advertisement claims its a 'performance factor'. That is a highly dubious claim.
3. Synthesised drugs: Why take synthetic products when there are healthy alternatives. Why? The concern I have is that chemicals are not just important in themselves, but in the associations in which they occur. If you are taking more than your daily needs of something, you could be preventing your body from absorbing other compounds because the supplement is more reactive. This is the context which drug companies likely do not consider. Drug companies see no danger because if you are health conscious enough to take vitamins, you are probably getting a balanced diet already. If you are on a bad diet, the solution is more fruit and vegetables, not vitamin supplements. Some vitamins are actually dangerous if you take too much.
4. Price: The price is a big reason not to buy these vitamins. They are priced at a premium because they have scared you into thinking you need these products. The idea of paying $20 for a bottle of vitamins is crazy. Unprocessed fruit and vegetables is the best way to buy food - its the way your body was designed to consume energy, it has a natural distribution of vitamins, and they are far cheaper.

I take just 2 vitamins - Vitamin B & C - but only after a night of drinking alcohol, and I hardly drink any more. In these instances there is a clear benefit - no hang over effects. These vitamins are depleted by drinking, so it makes sense to replenish them.

The latest product in Australia is the Vitamin drink. Sure they have vitamins, but they also have 5-5% sugar, thats half the daily energy requirements for a women. Its nonsense to suggest that a 'lolly water' like this is healthy, as the sugar will give the drink a high glycemic index rating. These products are a scam to keep sales high after the mainstream products like Coca Cola have lost market share to water and other 'health drinks'. The best approach is tap water. If you are living in a developing country with unsafe water you can still use tap water, but use a filter first.
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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

Do you know what you are eating?

2007-12-31T13:51:00.001-08:00

When we buy processed foods from a shopping centre we know what we are buying because there is a ingredients list on the packaging, which is mandatory for processed foods. For natural foods like fruit and vegetables, no health advice is considered necessary because they are 'naturally' rich in nutrients for our bodies.

This is not the case for foods that we consume in restaurants and other take-out food stores that is made on the premises. Few such businesses provide details as to their food ingredients or the calorific value of their foods. This of course makes a healthy selection more difficult. Either we can take an interest in these issues, we can limit the amount of 'unidentify calorific intake' or we can adjust by changing our exercise regime.

What we really want to know from these businesses is the following:
1. What is the calorific value of the foods they sell?
2. Are the products made from natural ingredients?
3. How much added sugar is there?

If you are not asking those questions or the processed food vendor is not offering you an answer, then you need to be asking yourself - What amount of exercise do I need to perform to regulate my weight level?

Cakes vs Pies

2007-12-31T13:22:00.000-08:00

Not all pies and cakes are the same. Among the biggest ingredients of cakes and pies are flour, oil and sugar. Cakes tend to be sweeter and lighter because they tend to have more flour, flour and sugar. In contrast, pies tend to have higher oil content to make the pastry more malleable, so its less inclined to break apart during preparation an baking. Much depends on what filling is used in the cakes and pies. Pies containing a fruit, vegetable or meat filling are healthier than ones containing custard (higher sugar and animal fat). Fillings can also have a high amount of added sugar to sweeten the filling.

Eating alot of pie or cake is going to increase your calorie intake - so all things being equal - you need to increase the amount of exercise you perform or reduce other sources of calories if you are to effectively manage your weight.

As far as the question of which food group is best for you - I make the following observations:
1. Cakes are lighter so you are more likely to eat more
2. Pies have higher calorific value but require more energy consumption to break down the fats (oil), protein (any meat filling) and complex carbohydrates (vegetable or fruit)
3. Cakes tend to have higher sugar contents. The problem with eating large amounts of sugar is that it is readily absorbed into the bloodstream and the excess used to create fat. In addition, the sudden drop in sugar in the blood is likely to make you crave more food.
4. The higher oil content content in pies is likely to fill you up faster, so you are likely to feel more satisfied eating pies than cakes.
5. Oils are not all the same, and cannot simply be considered bad for you. In fact, the human body requires fats for important bodily functions. The oil used in cakes and pies is vegetable oil, which is considered 'good fat'. Animal fats are considered 'bad fats'. Nuts are also good fats and eggs are bad fats.
6. Fillings tend to feature as an important constituent of pies - more so than cakes. If the pie is based on natural ingredients like vegetables and fruit, you can expect pies to offer greater nutritional value than cakes. The amount of carrot in a carrot cake is far less than a carrot based pie, but also be mindful of the added sugar added to sweeten that apple pie.

In the modern diet most people tend to be eating excess calories, so its important to regulate total calorie intake. The best way of doing that is including exercise in your daily activity so you stay fit and increase your metabolic rate. You should also monitor your body mass so that you can adjust your exercise regime to moderate your weight.