What About Prop 37 in California?

The quick answer:  For the first time, Californians can have the right to know if the food they eat has been genetically modified.  That’s the intent of Prop 37.  I’m not a fan of adding new laws, but for this one I plan to vote “yes.”

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David vs Goliath

We refer to the purveyors of the modern American diet (MAD) collectively as Food Inc.  The heavy weights are the GMO giant Monsanto; chemical companies like Dow and DuPont; processors such as Nestle, General Mills, and Kellogg’s; soda companies including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo; plus McDonalds and the motley mammoths of the fast food industry. 

Collectively the Food Inc companies constitute a modern Goliath.  Those who support the food reformation, including yours truly, hope to play the role of David.  You don’t often see David and Goliath in open conflict but it’s happening right now.  I’m talking about the California election battle over Prop 37. 

The purpose of Prop 37 isn’t to ban GMO food.  It simply provides a “right to know” to California consumers.  Basically, foods that include genetically modified ingredients must be labeled as such.  In addition, the term “Natural,” can’t be used with GMO foods.  We’re not the first to want this.  The major industrialized countries require GMO labeling on foods—only the US, where these foods were first invented, allows their use without disclosure to the public.  Besides California, activists in other states are working on similar labeling requirements.

It should be noted that Prop 37 exempts two food groups:  Alcoholic beverages, which are governed by different labeling laws, and meat products, which aren’t yet labeled in most other countries.  Perhaps meat should be labeled too, but animals have a longer lifespan so tracking diet is more complicated. 

Food and the Creation

We’ve noted before that the first chapter of Genesis, between the organization of the world and the formation of Man, is mostly about the creation of our food supply.  It’s mainly about plants, but Man is also given a duty of care over the beasts.

The goal of Word of Wisdom Living is to eat our food—mostly plants but also a little meat—as close as practical to the way it was first created.  We see this as reverence for the Creation.  GMO foods, because they breach the natural barriers between food species, seem the opposite.  Some call them Frankenfoods. 

We won’t know the consequences of genetic modification for some time.  But in the mean time, it would be prudent to follow the Century Rule:  Wait a century before incorporating any newly invented food into your diet. 

The Organic Argument

Food Inc, in an attempt to defeat Prop 37, is pouring money into the fight in California.  That's what Goliaths do.  One of their arguments is that if you don’t want GMO food you can just buy food labeled “organic.”  This is a thoughtless argument because it imposes a heavy cost burden on the average family working to meet a budget.

If you want to know more about the pros and cons of Prop 37, go to this article, for a lively video debate and comments by Mike Pollan.

Please comment:  If you enjoyed some fresh sweet corn this summer, you likely were eating GMO food.  Sweet corn’s the most recent; 25 crops have been approved in the US including most of the papaya grown in Hawaii.  Wouldn’t you rather know what you’re eating?  Share your thoughts on GMO foods.

Protecting Your Family: Proscriptions vs Prescriptions

In a recent post I wondered out loud about the Word of Wisdom, whether the greater benefit might come from the proscriptions or the prescriptions.  By proscriptions I mean the prohibition against tobacco, alcohol, and hot drinks (defined as coffee and tea).  The prescriptions would mean the counsel to build our diet on vegetables, whole grains, fruits, plus a sparing amount of meat.  This basically rules out the modern American Diet (MAD).

The Proscriptions

Because this became an issue—as reflected in reader comments. which I take seriously—I should share my thinking.  I’ve noted before these longevity benefits from things prohibited:

• Tobacco use is linked to about 400K painfully premature deaths each year in the US.  I was in Santa Monica yesterday and drove by the billboard where the current (estimated) death toll is displayed and it appeared we would pass 400K by year-end.  If the number ticks upwards while you’re watching—symbolic of a death—it leaves a sad feeling.  Though the use of cigarettes has declined, the effects are still with us.
• Alcohol has been catastrophic to those addicted and is also the cause of many premature deaths.  I have seen estimates between 40K and 80K in the US, so though lower than tobacco-related deaths, it’s still a plague on our country.
• Coffee/Tea don’t have a specific death toll that I’ve ever seen.  I believe the greater harm is that these hot drinks displace normal meals, like breakfast.  A classic example of poor nutrition is the common practice of having a coffee and pastry for breakfast, rather than eating real food.  Because this gives a short-lived burst of energy, you’ll need more of the same by mid-morning.  The rise of these hot drinks in Europe was associated with the rise of sugar as a dietary staple—a rise that has not yet abated and takes a terrible toll.  It's also a fact that these products were originally produced with slave labor.

In sum, if the prohibitions of the Word of Wisdom had been followed by all in the US, perhaps as many as 500K premature deaths would have been prevented.  This is an incredible benefit.

The Prescriptions

So how many deaths would be prevented if we followed the prescriptions of the Word of Wisdom?  Mike Pollan, in his book In Defense of Food, commented on the pioneering work in the ‘30s of Dr. Weston Price.  Dr. Price, a dentist turned researcher, wanted to identify the cause of a new and fast rising medical problem—tooth decay.  His theory correctly posited that cavities were a result of the modern diet.  He visited indigenous people who ate diets of traditional foods and compared the decay and health of their teeth to those of their cousins who had moved to the cities and were eating modern, refined foods.  Despite the wide variety of natural diets—he visited Eskimos, Polynesians, American Indians, Europeans, etc.—Dr. Weston found about a 100-fold greater incidence of tooth decay and diseased teeth in those eating the modern diet vs. their cousins eating traditional foods.  Tooth decay and malformed teeth (think of the modern need for orthodontics) are one of the first results of the MAD dietary.

Mr. Pollan’s observation was that the human body can prosper on a wide variety of natural foods but there is one diet that it can’t tolerate for long—the MAD, meaning the modern American diet supplied by Food Inc.  Well, the W of W is an inspired antidote to the MAD; it stands squarely opposed to the over-processed food-like products of Food Inc. 

So what is the estimated US death toll from the MAD?  We can only estimate it by looking at the chronic diseases linked to the MAD.  Here is a summary provided by the CDC:

• CHD (heart disease) 527K deaths per year,
• Cancer 444K,
• Obesity 247K,
• Stroke 121K,
• Diabetes 58K.

If you sum up the toll of premature deaths you get 1,397K—well over a million deaths from just the five leading causes.  Now there are other risk factors for premature death besides the MAD.  Physical inactivity is an important cause—we have four Healthy Changes directed at the need for exercise.  Lack of vitamin D—which mainly comes from the sun—is another factor.  There are also inherited issues that affect our susceptibility.

Conclusion

But here’s the conclusion:  If you want to make a horseback estimate, a reasonable person might find that twice as many lives would be saved—meaning prolonged—by following the prescriptions as by following the prohibitions of the Word of Wisdom. 

Fortunately you don’t have to choose—if you’re wise enough to do one, you’re smart enough to do the other.  The W of W is pretty good medicine and it’s simple enough for the humblest of people to follow.  God does look after those who heed His word. 

Please comment:  Please add your thoughts to this discussion.  Have we missed the most important benefit of the Word of Wisdom by not paying equal attention to the dietary counsel?

Voting With Your Dollars

The quick answer:  The modern American diet (MAD) has been implicated as a risk factor for chronic disease and premature death.  Vote with your dollars.  Avoid Food Inc’s unhealthy food-like products and eat real food. 

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The Word of Wisdom

The Word of Wisdom, a scripture important to the LDS faith, is generally known for its prohibitions against tobacco, alcohol, coffee and tea.  Mormons and others who avoid these substances are blessed with better health.  Studies have documented a significantly greater longevity.

But the Word of Wisdom offers counsel of even greater value—though less heeded—the guidance to build one’s diet on vegetables, fruits, whole grains, with a sparing amount of meat.  This can be interpreted to mean, “Eat food, mostly plants, as close as practical to the natural form.”  If a person had carefully followed this wise advice they would have been protected from the sad consequences of processed factory foods and (most of) the fast foods of the modern American diet (MAD). 

The Rise of Food Inc.

We often speak of Food Inc.  By this we mean the purveyors of the MAD—the packaged food-like products mainly found in the central, most traveled aisles of the modern supermarket.  It also refers to the highly processed foods offered by fast food and even some chain restaurants. 

If you will allow me to give a very brief history, the Industrial Revolution began in the 18^th century in the textile industry.  This was a marvelous thing for it freed women from the drudgery of making their own cloth, plus the factory processes allowed more colorful fabrics with designer patterns.  In sum, it was a wonderful thing for women.

Then the principles of the Industrial Revolution were applied to every other sector of society.  Think of Henry Ford and automobiles, Thomas Edison with his electrical appliances, or Steve Jobs’ computers and digital devices.  But there was one sad consequence:  Businessmen found a way to profit by altering—better said, adulterating—the very nature of food. 

Basically, you took a cheap commodity; used factory processes to make it sweeter, more refined and convenient; launched an advertising campaign to promote the brand; and you had a profitable business that might last several generations.  Think of Crisco, Jell-O, Velveeta processed cheese, Wonder Bread, or Kraft Mac & Cheese, to name a few.  By doing this, Food Inc has made, and continues to make, a lot of money.

Where Next

In retrospect, the industrialization of food was an enormous mistake.  I have no argument with any particular food processor.  I try not to attack any company.  But I do think that Food Inc should either join the food reformation, or disappear from the planet.  It’s not personal—we’re just trying to make the world a healthier place.  Won’t you join us?

Healthy Change

I fear that Food Inc is bigger and more powerful than the federal government—their influence over the USDA, for example, has been decried by many.  So we shouldn’t look to the government to save us. 

But Food Inc has an Achilles’ heel:  It lives and dies with the daily decisions of the humblest citizen pushing a shopping cart through the grocery store.  If we refuse to buy unhealthy foods, they’ll go the way of the dinosaurs—like Wonder Bread.  It’s that simple. 

The best way to send a message to Food Inc is to use the power of your purse.  So for the good of your family, and of the nation, practice this Healthy Change:

Vote with your dollars: only buy healthy food products.

Please Comment:  Please share your ideas for improving on the unhealthy products of Food Inc.  Or tell of a bad product you replaced with something healthier. 

Healthy Fats?

The quick answer:  Plain and simple, most of what you’ve heard about fat in your diet is wrong.  Enjoy the traditional fats in moderation.

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Politics  and Food

We’ve nothing to say about the current presidential race—we’re keeping our focus on the food reformation.  Well, one thing.  Because this blog is about “wisdom,” won’t you all take a thoughtful view of what’s best for our country and vote wisely? 

But we do have something to say about the role of politicians in our current food mess.  Maybe it’s because women are more about nurturing and politicians are nearly all men, but on nutrition the pols do have a way of getting things backwards.  Take the subject of fats for example, as recounted in Michael Pollan’s book, In Defense of Food.

If the consequences of this tale weren’t so dire, it would make a hilarious story.  Back in 1968 the esteemed Senator George McGovern convened a select committee that addressed the role of diet in chronic disease.  After ten years the committee got to a reasonable conclusion:  We should eat less animal products (and, thusly, more plants).  There are other factors that affect chronic disease—such as lack of exercise, smoking, and our high sugar diet—but this was a pretty good start.

Well, the dairymen and cattlemen saw this is as bad for business and brought all their guns to bear on Senator McGovern and his committee.  You’ll recall that McGovern was from a state with a lot of ranches.  A compromise resulted:  Rather than recommend less red meat and dairy, the committee meekly suggested that Americans “choose meats, poultry, and fish that will reduce saturated fat intake.”

It was bad enough to replace “eat less” with the verb “choose,” which kind of sounded like a recommendation.  But there was a worse mistake:  The committee decided that the villain was saturated fats, which had been safely eaten for centuries.  Even worse, traditional fats like butter were condemned and new factory-made fats—mainly trans fat-laden hydrogenated vegetable oils found in Crisco, margarine, and salad oils—were recommended. 

Though the outcome was a bonanza for Food Inc, it was a disaster for the average American.  And for McGovern also—in the next election the meat and dairy industry threw their support behind his opponent and drove him from office.  It was a display of power and vengeance not missed by other politicians. 

Healthy Fat Basics

Four of our 52 Healthy Changes are dedicated to eating healthy fats and avoiding unhealthy fats.  HEre is a summary of the frist three:

1. Our 2^nd Healthy Change addressed the danger of trans fats, particularly from deep fried foods:  “Never buy deep fat fried foods.”  We also noted the role of a remarkable woman, Dr. Mary Enig, in exposing the danger of trans fats.
2. In Healthy Change #15 we talked about the vital role of omega-3 fats in our diet and recommended consciously adding them to every meal, either in the short-chain form (dark greens, etc.) or the long-chain form (fish, eggs, etc.).  Your brain is 60% fat and 25% is long chain omega-3 fats.  Healthy fats protect against many ills, including dementia.
3. Omega-6 fats are necessary but we eat them to excess.  Because they compete with omega-3 fats, it’s important to have a balance in order to benefit from omega-3 intake.  Two ways to reduce omega-6 fats are to avoid deep fat fried foods, and to avoid starchy foods fried in man-made fats, like chips.  Americans eat a lot of chips so Healthy Change #28 said, “Limit chips to national holidays, or for scooping healthy dips and salsas.”

Cutting Calories

Our fourth and final Healthy Change on fats encourages the consumption of traditional fats (olive oil, butter, etc) in moderation.  As you know a gram of fat, regardless of the type, contains 9 calories.  By contrast, a gram of carbohydrate or protein has just 4 calories.  Because the modern American diet (MAD) has an excess of calories and fat is calorie dense, we’re often told to avoid fats.  We think it better to restrict the worst source of calories—excessive sugar intake—and enjoy healthy fats in moderation.

In Healthy Change #9, we asked families to work together to reduce their intake of meat:  “Agree on a ‘sparing’ meat intake goal as a family and write it down.  Let your goal guide your menus.”  Although we defend the consumption of saturated fat, we agree that Americans eat too much, particularly with their meat.  We need to be moderate.  There’s a natural and beneficial outcome:  If you’re sparing with the meat in your menu, you’ll also reduce your intake of saturated fats to a healthier level and cut calories.

Healthy Change #41:

“Eat traditional fats (olive oil, butter, coconut oil, etc.) in moderation.”  It's naturally simple—eat the fats your ancestors ate.

Toxic Buttery Flavor

Because we support the use of traditional fats like butter, it’s important that we distinguish between real butter and foods described as “buttery.”  Buttery is a taste claim attached to many factory foods, like the new spreads that have replaced margarine, microwave popcorn products, some candies, and many baked goods.  You won’t see the chemical behind that buttery taste on the ingredient list; it’s usually hidden under the chemical stew of “artificial flavors.” 

The chemical commonly used to give the buttery taste contains diacetyl.  Diacetyl is toxic to humans and has been linked in the laboratory to Alzheimer’s disease.  If you watched this week’s Dr. Oz (see it here), he spoke about the possible danger of diacetyl and recommended it be avoided until more is known.  Sounds like a good application of the “century rule” to me.  (Century Rule:  Avoid foods that haven’t been around for at least a century.  This rule basically rules out most factory foods, especially those containing “artificial flavors.”)

Please comment:  Is there a fat or oil you see as particularly bad?  What are your favorite healthy fats?  What oils do you most use in cooking.

Love Chocolate?

The quick answer:  You women (and the occasional men) who read this blog are exceptional—you get nutrition and you care enough to make changes.  For all you do, you deserve a treat—like chocolate. 

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 The Joy of Eating

Though I’m both a descendent and a respecter of the Puritans who founded our country . . . we’re not puritanical when it comes to food.  It’s good to enjoy food, especially in the company of family and friends.  That’s our position but we’re talking about real food, not the packaged food-like substances made in factories.

Which brings us to the subject of chocolate.  In an interesting survey, Americans associated chocolate cake with guilty pleasure, while the French linked it with celebration.  No Puritans in France it seems, but on the subject of food we can learn from the French. 

Chocolate isn’t yet proven to be a health food—we should make that clear.  On any given day, an apple, orange, or banana is probably a better idea than a chocolate treat.  But life is to be enjoyed and I want to think there’s room for both—like melted chocolate drizzled over fruit.

There are both healthy and unhealthy ways to enjoy chocolate.  Basically, dark chocolate is healthier than milk chocolate, or white chocolate.  With dark chocolate (60-90% cocoa) you get more of the natural good stuff in chocolate and less additives like sugar. 

I just checked the shelf where the beautiful wife keeps her treats.  Sure enough, there was a bag of Ghiradelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips.  Whether you spell it cacao, like the British, or cocoa, it’s her favorite treat.  I like it too, with almonds or walnuts.

Chocolate Benefits

1. Magnesium:  Chocolate is rich in magnesium.  Americans are widely deficient of this mineral (see this post), so essential to bone health and many human enzymes.  The Nurses Health Study found that women with the highest level of serum magnesium had 77% less risk of fatal heart attacks than women with the lowest level.  Chocolate is good for your bones, as well as your heart.
2. Antioxidants:  Critical to fighting the free radicals that cause premature aging, antioxidants are plentiful in chocolate, as well as broccoli, blueberries, red grapes, strawberries, and apples.  For more on antioxidants, go here.
3. Vascular health:  A recent Harvard study of 2575 people found that cocoa consumption reduced blood pressure (by about 5 systolic points on average), improved blood vessel health, and lowered cholesterol, among other benefits.  Chocolate consumption also helped diabetes.

The Century Rule

You may be wondering, isn’t chocolate a highly processed food?  Actually, it is.  But we turn to the Century Rule, which says that processed foods should be used for at least a century before being considered safe.  Cocoa has been consumed for millennia and is linked to many health benefits.  So, like spices, also rich in antioxidants, it’s a traditional processed food with a beneficial history.  But remember chocolate is a concentrated source of calories so it’s best enjoyed with fruit and nuts.

Please comment:  Share your favorite ways to enjoy chocolate, especially those that are healthiest.

The Peace Within

The quick answer:  Worried sick?  Better take control of your stress.
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A Cabin in the Woods

Way back in the ‘30s, my grandfather had the brilliant idea to build a cabin in the woods.  I loved its rough-sawn exterior and knotty pine interior.  To get to it you left the highway, crossed over a wooden bridge, and took a narrow dirt road through the forest.  The cabin had a large shady porch perfect for sitting and reading.  For 75 years that cabin—shown above—was a gathering place for our family.  Though our means were modest, our little cabin in the woods made us children rich as any king. 

My fondest childhood memories revolve around that cabin.  I remember climbing upstairs to bed, a little frightened to be alone, and going to sleep while the flame from a kerosene lamp flickered on the walls.  I awoke in the morning to the sound and smell of wood crackling downstairs in the fireplace.  The morning sun, shining through the trees, replaced the darkness of the night.  I had survived the night to enjoy another heavenly day at the cabin.

Life can be stressful, even for kids, but at our cabin I never felt anything but peace. 

Dr Dean Ornish

A current N. Y. Times article, “Dieting for Health, Not Weight” by Dr. Dean Ornish—famous for advocating prevention of heart disease through lifestyle improvement—supports the position of Word of Wisdom Living:

“In 35 years of medical research . . . we have seen that patients who ate mostly plant-based meal . . . engaged in moderate exercise and stress-management techniques . . . . [enjoyed]improved blood flow and significantly less inflammation which matters because chronic inflammation is an underlying cause of heart disease and many forms of cancer. We found that this program may also slow, stop or reverse the progression of early stage prostate cancer, as well as reverse the progression of Type 2 diabetes.”

That’s a lot but Dr. Ornish found additional health benefits for his plant-based, low-meat program, including:

1. In just three months of healthful living, the expression of over 500 genes that protect against disease was activated,
2. Telomerase length (indicative of gene health and longevity) improved,
3. Weight loss (loss of 24 pounds in a year and 12 lbs of net weight loss maintained after five years.

Dr. Ornish’s program, as noted above is based on a whole foods diet, exercise, and management of stress.  This post is about stress.

Stress

There may be shortages of some things in life, but there’s always enough stress to go around.  But stress, though a bit is necessary to get us moving in the morning, is toxic in excess.  Most of our Healthy Changes are about eating right, four support exercise, but just one addresses stress.  So, for your own good, please take some time to ponder this Healthy Change.

We discussed stress in a post last year.  We talked about Hans Selye (1907-1982) the doctor best known for linking chronic stress with disease.  We discussed the role chronic stress plays in premature aging (the meanest cut), cancer, and heart disease. The list goes on.

There’s a ratchet quality to stress—after a stress episode, we often don’t return to the relaxed state.  Rather there is a residue that remains so that in the next bout—and there’ll always be another episode—we’re driven to higher and higher levels of stress.  When caught in these chronic stress cycles, we take it as the new “normal.”  Like fish in water, we can be quite unaware of a toxic stress level.  This is very common when the economy is bad, like right now.

Finding Peace

The key is not to run faster but to step out of the stress cycle.   Here are seven ways from the prior post:

1. Family: The supporting love of family can be a great comfort.  Who hasn’t come home from work, carrying all the troubles of the day on their shoulders, and found instant relief by getting down and wrestling with the kids?
2. Best friends:  A study of English children found being with their best friend gave the best relief from stress.  Cortisol, the stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands, was most effectively relieved for children by best friends.  Who’s your best friend?
3. Music: The beautiful wife just saw a bumper sticker for the classical music station:  “Less stress, more Strauss.”
4. Exercise:  Strengthening the body helps it to relax and stimulates a similar process for the mind.
5. Worship:  Don’t you find, in the rhythm of church ritual, clarification of what’s really important?  Whatever your faith, the God who orders the universe knows your name and proffers His peace. 
6. Meditation:  Thinking more deeply about whatever troubles you can lead to new insights, and better paths to follow. 
7. Laugh:  Remember Ferris Bueller?  Life goes by pretty fast; if you don’t stop and have a little fun, you just might miss out

Please Comment:  Too much  stress for comfort?  Share your best stress reduction experiences.   Been worried sick?  It happens.  How do you get well?  Stress is one ailment where you can be your own best doctor.

Cruciferous Vegetables

The quick answer:  Cruciferous vegetables—learn to love them, they’re nutritional champs you should eat most days of the week.

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The Cruciferous Family

These vegetables are named for their four-lobed flower, which has the shape of a cross, thus cruciferous.  They’re sometimes called the mustard family because they include the mustard greens.  Examples are arugula, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and radishes.

The cruciferous veggies are nutritional rock stars—dollar for dollar, it’s hard to find a better value. Researchers are giving them a lot of attention, and finding these benefits (for more, read here):

Vitamins:  These plants, especially the leaves, are a concentrated source for B complex vitamins, vitamin K, plus the antioxidant vitamins A and C.

Antioxidants:  The cruciferous family is rich in antioxidants including vitamins A and C (noted above), minerals like manganese, and phytonutrients such as lutein, retinol, and beta-carotene.

Fiber:  If you grade foods as calorie dense (sweetened factory foods) or nutrient dense (natural whole foods) the cruciferous vegetables are the champs.  For example a 100-calorie serving (about 5% of the daily calories) provides 25-40% of fiber need. 

Fighting Cancer

Evidence is still being gathered through studies but cruciferous vegetables may offer anti-cancer protection.  They are known to protect cell DNA, inactivate carcinogens, provide anti-inflammatory aid, and mitigate tumor growth and migration. 

Vegetable Value

A lot of silliness passes for truth in the media.  For example, you often hear laments that poor people can’t afford to eat well.  That may be true in some third-world country, but poor has a different meaning in America.  So we strongly disagree that the poor can’t eat healthy.  In fact, Word of Wisdom Living claims it’s actually cheaper to eat healthy if you’re willing to do three things:

1. Write a weekly menu.
2. Shop from a grocery list,
3. Cook your own food (or be on good terms with a cook).

We made the argument for healthier is cheaper in the post, “Does It Really Cost More To Eat Right?”  Vegetables and whole grains are the all-stars from the healthy but affordable diet.     

How much food do you eat in a year?  Most people, depending on metabolism and energy needs, eat 1200-1500 pounds of food a year.  Most vegetables cost less than $1.00/lb in season.  You can buy most grains for around a buck also.  Bottom line, it’s pretty cheap to eat healthy if you build your diet on veggies and whole grains.

Loving Vegetables

Last year, in the post titled “Hate Vegetables?”, we talked about America’s vegetable aversion.  The central challenge in eating healthier is to eat the recommended 5 daily servings of vegetables. 

This Healthy Change—one of eight on vegetables—addresses the cruciferous family:

Please comment:  Share your favoritre way of enjoying cruciferous vegetables.  Some like them with a cheese sauce—it's the healthiest use of cheese I can think of.

Skip's Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Food Processes

Don’t get me wrong, food processing isn’t all bad.  Your great-grandmother probably used some of the 32 food processing methods recognized by the FDA.  She likely dried apples for use in winter, preserved berries for jam, fermented cabbage into sauerkraut, or milk into yogurt, or pickled beets from the garden.  These traditional processes extend the shelf life of crops to last through the winter.

Other processes make food healthier.  Sprouting grains can make trace minerals more available by reducing phytic acid, and increase vitamins A and C.  Cooking tomatoes releases the lycopene, a potent antioxidant.  Fresh tomatoes are great, but be sure to enjoy pasta with tomato sauce too.

Make vs Buy

In the prior post we discussed the proper limits on food processing and opened the door to doing more home processing.  Commenting, reader Laura noted that she makes her own cheese and Graham crackers.  Jessica observed it’s a balancing act, what to make at home; she prefers to buy both pasta and spaghetti sauce.  (Though we did post a recipe for Real Spaghetti Sauce.)

There’s an interesting book, Make the Bread, Buy the Butter, by Jennifer Reese that reviews the various make vs. buy decisions.  Reese, newly out of a job, decided to cut costs by doing more of her food processing.  She found it cheaper to buy butter, but better to make your own bread.  Reese tried a lot of home-made items but I’d like to add one: oatmeal cookies—the subject of this post.  You can't buy cookies with this kind of love and taste in the store.

Skip’s Oatmeal Cookies

I started with the recipe on the Quaker Oats box and made these changes:

• Butter:  We like a crisper cookie, so I reduced flour ¼ cup and increased butter ¼ cup.  This helped but I learned to also press the dough flat with a fork for an even thinner, crisper cookie.
• Sugar:  The recipe called for 1-¼ C of sugar (3/4 C brown sugar plus ½ C white sugar).  We reduced this to 1 C turbinado sugar (less processed; slightly more vitamins and minerals), though we use regular brown sugar if turbinado isn’t available.
• Flour:  I used fresh-ground wheat flour instead of store-bought flour.  This made a crumbly cookie, especially in humid weather.  After some experimenting, I solved this by combining whole-wheat flour and white flour.  Another solution, if you want 100% whole-wheat flour, is to add 1 tbsp of wheat gluten.
• Seasoning:  We replaced the cinnamon and raisins with walnuts (source of omega-3) and dark chocolate chips (60% cacao; rich in antioxidants).  The beautiful wife says some prefer the semi-sweet chips, but darker means more of the healthy cacao.  There’s nothing wrong with cinnamon and raisins—just a taste preference.

Skip’s Oatmeal Cookie Recipe  (Guess I made enough changes to put my name on the recipe.)

Ingredients:

• 1 C butter (2 sticks, or 16 oz.)
• 1 C turbinado or brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ¾ C fresh whole-wheat flour
• ½ C all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 C oats
• 1 C chopped walnuts
• 2/3 C small dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Cream butter and brown sugar together.  (Some experts claim that colder butter results in less crumbly cookies, but I didn’t see a difference in my testing.)
2. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
3. Add flour, baking soda, and salt.  Blend well.
4. Add oats, walnuts, and chips.  Stir together.
5. Drop on cookie pan (rounded tablespoon size nuggets) and flatten with a fork (as though you were making peanut butter cookies).  We don’t coat the pan but we have a cheap aluminum pan that gets a little sticky and I’m cautious of aluminum cookware so we drop the dough on parchment paper with this pan. 
6. Bake about 12 minutes at 350 F.  Makes about 4 dozen.  We put some in zip-lock sandwich bags to freeze (so I won’t eat them all at once).

Limit Processed Foods

The quick answer:  Food Inc will continue to invent highly processed food-like substances as long as we’re willing to buy them.  Invest your money in real food, as minimally processed and close to Nature as practical.

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Looking Back

In the food jungle, it’s on the buyer to beware of harmful food.  Emptor caveat, as they say.  The perpetrators of junk food wear a dignified title: Food scientist.  I’m acquainted with a food scientist.  He earned a PhD in the subject and spent his career as a college professor and consultant.  He’s one of the most dignified and honorable people you might ever meet.  So they’re not all necessarily bad guys.

Yet food scientists brought us the processed junk foods and fast foods of the 20^th century.  You can’t blame this on any single person, it happened in small steps. But it’s said that future historians will look back on 20^th century food in the same way we see the 19^th century Irish Potato Famine, where a million people died of starvation while the world looked away   I fear more have died of the modern American diet (MAD) though we do die with full stomachs.  Small comfort.

Today wise people are turning away from the MAD and food scientists are on the defensive.  They see themselves as feeding the world through the innovation of new foods and food processes.  But others say their processes create today’s toxic food.  Are they apologetic?  Not that I can see—they defend their work and hope to invent even more processes and food-like inventions.  They’ll only change their ways when we stop buying.

20^th Century Food Processing Binge

We need a minimal amount of food processing.  Milk must be turned to yogurt or cheese; cream to butter.  It’s good, I think, that the seasons of crops have been extended through packaging and better storage.   Processing, done within limits, can extend the shelf life of foods to get us through winter, or famine.  

But there were no limits to the industrialization of our food supply—processing changed the very nature of food.  Waste cottonseed was solvent-refined and hydrogenated to make Crisco, margarine, and then vegetable oil.  Later soybeans were genetically modified to provide a cheaper oil supply.  Nobody worried about trans fats, or the effects of refining and bleaching oil.

Animal-sourced gelatin and cheap sugar were combined to create a famous brand—Jell-O.  The roller mill made white, long-lasting flour that weevils wouldn’t eat by removing nutrients—think Wonder Bread. 

The Oreo cookie was a clever combination of refined sugar, refined flour, refined oil, and preservatives, plus a smidgen of cocoa.  Yes, I know it’s the 100^th anniversary of the Oreo but please remember that our love for Oreos is also a measure of a food culture gone awry.  Whats more, no Oreo compares with Skip's Chocolate Oatmeal cookies (pictured above, recipe to follow).

In fact, many 20^th century factory foods were just combinations of sugar, modified food starch (processed wheat, corn or soy flour), refined vegetable oils, and salt, plus emulsifiers, preservatives, coloring agents, and artificial flavoring.  The ingredients were cheap and deficient of nutrients; we foolishly accepted Food Inc's siren song that the value was in the brand, not the nutrients.

Man’s willingness to redesign Nature’s bounty got so out of hand that Gerald Wendt, science director of the 1939 New York World’s Fair, made the block-headed claim that in the future modern food “will abandon all pretense of imitating nature.” 

A further indictment of Food Inc is found in the book The Real Food Revival:  “Industrially processed foods—convenience foods such as snacks, fast food, and heat-and-serve items that are processed by the vat full at a centralized factory—are the garbage dump of the food industry.”  (Italics added.)

Limits of Food Processing

Some processing is needed.  But the closer we can eat food to the form in which it was first created, the healthier we’ll be.  That’s a statement worth repeating:  The closer we can eat food to the form in which it was first created, the healthier we’ll be.

Or better said, the healthiness of food is related to how much processing is done by you, in your kitchen.  If you process—cook—it yourself, you’ll always know what’s been done to your food.  It’s the one place where we should be in control.

If you think long and hard about the proper limits of food processing, you might come up with rules like these three: 

1. The Creation Rule:  Show reverence for the Creation by eating foods as close as practical to their natural form.  I’ve commented on this before, but there’s wisdom in the guidance found in the first chapter of Genesis.  In between the Creation of earth and man, the creation of our food supply is elucidated.  Eating natural foods shows reverence for the Creation.  This is not easy; humans hate boredom and love novelty.  Food Inc preys on this vulnerability by regularly introducing new shiny objects.  The key is a mature appreciation for natural food and a distain for Food Inc’s food-like counterfeits.
2. The Century Rule:  Wait three generations before eating man-made foods created from new processes.  Thanks to the FDA/USDA, new foods rarely bring acute toxicity.  But many are chronically unhealthy—harmful over the long term.  The Century Rule would have protected you from eating hydrogenated food products.  The first, Crisco, was introduced in 1911 and by 2011 just about everyone knew about the danger of trans fats, though many still ignore the problem. A new example is the butter-like spreads sold as margarine replacements.  They aren’t hydrogenated, but they are made with a newly introduced process called interesterification.  Is it healthy and wholesome over the long term?  Maybe, but no one knows for sure.  In our home, we’ll stick to butter.  We likewise avoid the puffed breakfast cereals and chips.
3. The Fiber Rule:  Cereal foods must contain more natural fiber than added sugar.  Fiber is a part of all plant products and processing generally removes it to make processed foods sweeter and whiter.  This rule requires whole grains be used and strictly limits added sugar.  It can be applied to breakfast cereals, breads, most snack foods, and bakery products.  In fact, this rule eliminates almost everything in the typical supermarket bakery or bread and breakfast aisle.

Food Inc will continue to offer new food-like substances, using cleverly deceptive advertising campaigns that ignore or obscure the truth.  It's how they make their money.  Protect yourself from such shiny objects by applying this Healthy Change:

Please comment:  Suggest foods you feel are appropriately processed, and healthy.  Tell us about processes you have learned to do for yourself. Got a better rule for defining minimal processing?  Please share it.

Live vs Dead Flour

The quick answer:  Freshly ground flour is live, and should be refrigerated or frozen, if not immediately used.  It’s healthier, but has a limited shelf life.

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John and Leah Widtsoe

In 1937 John and Leah Widtsoe coauthored a nutrition guide titled, The Word of Wisdom, A Modern Interpretation.  We are at the 75^th anniversary of this remarkable and prescient book—the best book ever written on the Word of Wisdom, in my view. 

The Widtsoes were remarkably well qualified.  He had earned a chemistry PhD in Germany, the birthplace of nutrition science; had been a chemistry professor and president of two colleges; and served in the highest council of the Mormon Church as an apostle.  Leah was a formidable woman, a granddaughter of Brigham Young, a university graduate when this was uncommon for women, and had traveled east to study domestic science at the Pratt Institute. 

Though much has been learned since the Widtsoe’s time, their guidance was right on target: eat less sugar, more whole grains, less meat, and more vegetables.  An oft-repeated warning against refined grains was included in their book:  “The whiter the bread, the sooner you’re dead.”  

The book caused quite a stir and became a force for better nutrition.  Unfortunately, World War II soon consumed the public’s attention and in the following post-war prosperity, sound nutrition was forgotten.  I think the loss of focus on nutrition was almost a greater tragedy than the war itself.  Only in recent years has public focus returned to healthy food.

In Praise of Whole Grains

A prior post, In Praise of Whole Grains, proposed this Healthy Change: “Enjoy a variety of whole grains.  The post summarized all we have said about enjoying whole grains, including the highly popular post, Waking Up In The Bread Aisle, where we evaluated all the bread in a typical supermarket bread aisle by the rule, “Bread must contain more grams of fiber than sugar.” 

A few, perhaps 3% of the population, are allergic to wheat or intolerant of gluten.  Fortunately there are a variety of grains available. 

Live vs Dead Flour

In the past you could buy refined, bleached, and yes, enriched, flour at the local grocery and store it for years.  Why does it store for so long without spoiling?  Because it’s dead as an Egyptian mummy.  Think, dead flour.

Freshly ground live flour, on the other hand, is much healthier but has a limited shelf life.  When the grinder crushes the wheat kernel, vitamins, omega-3 fats, and other phytonutrients are exposed to the air and begin to oxidize.  The kernel is a remarkable time capsule, capable of preserving the contents for years.  But we must relearn how to care for wheat once grinding has compromised the kernel.  The most noticeable change is a slightly bitter taste and a faint odor of rancidity.

This is an important point.  In our home, when we make bread, we grind wheat kernels into flour and immediately mix the bread.  We preserve the leftover flour in our freezer in a dated container.

The whole-wheat flour you buy in the grocery store, unfortunately, is 4-6 months old when you buy it.  I think this is a better product than the white, refined, enriched white flour, but it’s not ideal, due to the months of exposure. 

In a prior post I reviewed my conversation with two principal suppliers of whole-grain flour—King Arthur and Bob’s Red Mill.  I think these companies provide a valuable service so I’m loath to criticize.  But in an ideal world, it’s best to use freshly ground flour, or flour we have stored in a freezer after grinding. 

The best answer, I think, is to copy the idea of coffee grinders available in many supermarkets.  If we can have fresh-ground coffee, why can’t we have fresh-ground wheat flour?  It makes more sense for the local grocery or health food store to provide a grinder for customer use than for all of us to buy grinders for our homes.

 

Please share how you preserve your whole grain flours.  Also, what is your preferred method of grinding?