Worst Foods are...

[l23]

I just saw a speaker at my local college- Christina Pirello, a whole foods cook who has her own show, Christina Cooks on PBS. It was really interesting, although I have no intention of becoming a vegetarian, like she advocates.

The top 4 Worst Food Ingredients are:
1. Chemicals- like when you can't read all of the 100 ingredients!

2. Dairy- she said that women who drink a lot of milk for calcium actually get more osteoporosis. Countries who don't eat a lot of dairy don't get osteoporosis as much. Never heard of that!

3. White Flour, Sugar

4. Saturated Fats
Partially Hydrogented Soy Bean Oil- I checked my cabinet when I got home and it's in almost everything! Crackers, cookies, popcorn,...things I shouldn't eat anyway, but they make good snacks.

I certainly don't see myself changing my whole like- but I'll try to one step at a time. I'd love to hear anyone's comments on her list.

 

[schnebbles]

The dairy is the one I find most interesting. Hard to imagine that being true.

It reminds me of something my friend told me (she had breast cancer), and that many doctors will say to steer clear of SOY after having breast cancer, but she also said that women who do consume lots of soy products in their diets (Asian countries), don't have near the breast cancer we do here in the USA.

I don't know, but I'll still keep drinking my milk. I find it so hard to keep up with everything, one minute you hear this, next that, etc.. what are you to believe? I have read alot lately where your dairy products actually help you to lose weight? is it true or not? who knows! It's very frusting (IMO) to always be hearing different ideas on what's good & what's bad, because they all seem to make sense while you're reading/listening about them.

 

[naughtoj]

With the dairy..
You would have to drink A LOT of milk! It is true that the less of a vitamin you take in the more you absorb, and the opposite holds true. If you bombard your body with tons of calcium it will absorb less...how that puts you into Osteoporosis zone I don't know. I guess that would be if you took in mass quantities for a long time..

I don't buy it. I won't give up dairy. The others I believe....
Janice

 

[clareMc]

And research I read recently here at the U of Michigan clearly stated that adequate dairy intake can help with weight loss.

So, go figure.

I'm still eating my cheese and drinking my milk and my kids are too. ;-)

Clare

 

[dani21496]

I don'y buy the dairy thing either. I was just at my doctor's the other day and she said that women these days don't get nearly enough of it. I love my yogurt, milk, cottage cheese, and cheese. I won't give it up either.

Danielle :7

 

[l23]

When I heard Christina go on her whole foods crusade, it was motivating since she says it "cured" her terminal cancer, but thinking about it now, food can't cure/prevent everything! Life is short and I see no reason not to enjoy foods, even if they're not "whole" foods.

As for the milk/dairy thing, that really confused me because I've never heard anyone say NOT to drink milk! Every nutritionist says to drink more of it. I think I'll listen to the doctors and drink my milk.

Talking with others about it in class has made me realize that the whole foods lifestyle is just that- a lifestyle. Some can do it and that's awesome, but it's just not realistic for most of us. The best thing for us to do is TRY to LIMIT foods with chemicals, sat fats, etc. and keep on exercising.

 

[Jenne]

Sometimes the milk advice seems to be more political than nutritional. I limit my milk because of a slight lactose intolerance, but I will never give it up.

 

[nancy324]

Quote from macrobiotic website:

"A diet of meat, poultry, eggs, milk, dairy, fish, simple sugar, fruit juice, and oily, greasy foods along with few good quality vegetables creates an acidic condition in the blood so the body has to use the minerals stored in the bones to maintain an alkaline blood. This borrowing of minerals causes the bones to become weak. And if this diet is eaten for a prolonged period, osteoporosis develops. On the other hand, appropriate proportions of whole grains, vegetables, sea salt, miso, soy sauce, beans, bean products, and sea vegetables along with fresh organically grown vegetables will create an alkaline blood condition. These foods will supply the minerals the body needs to maintain healthy bones and teeth."

Not sure what it all means.

I looked at Christina's website and the recipes look fabulous. Even for people who cook, those recipes require a lot of work. Wish someone would pay me to stay home and cook that stuff. I sure would be healthy.

 

[mojolisa]

I was told the Osteoporosis condition was genetic.

Once I was looking at calcium supplements, and there was a chewable antacid product (I think it was Tums) that was advertising that it provided 100% of the USRDA of calcium.

Then on the back of the package, I can't remember the exact wording, but it said something like "calcium supplements have been shown to reduce the occurrence of osteoporosis in Asian and Caucasian women...." I thought it was odd that they were highlighting specific demographics that could benefit from their product, so I called the (800) number to ask them about it.

The operator told me that low bone density of Asian and Caucasian women led to higher rates of Osteoporosis. I wasn't sure if this sounded right, so I asked my doctor and she agreed that African American women typically had "dense bones" and normally do not succomb to Osteoporosis, regardless of our calcium intake. I guess this is true around the world, and would support your idea that some countries who consume practically zero dairy do not get Osteoporosis. Go figure...

Lisa

 

[kellib]

just my 2 cents...
i've done a good amount of research about milk and here's what I believe:
- milk comes from cows that have been pumped full of hormones to keep them pregnant nearly non-stop (not to mention the terrible living conditions and mechanical 'milkers' attached to the cows)
- cow milk was meant for calves to drink, just like human milk is meant for human babies to drink. No other species except for human drinks another species milk. In addition, the majority of humans are lactose intolerant.
- Yes, calcium is asorbable and present in dairy products
- Milk contains a high amount of pus that is allowed into the milk cartons in the grocery

So, imho, milk is not good for you and when I learned about these and other aspects of it (aside from the calcium benefit) I went from vegetarian to vegan. This works for me but I know it doesn't and won't work for everyone, and I'm not saying my way is the only way.

Here's a link http://www.milksucks.com/more.html that gives info on it. It is a PETA site, but you can do your own research and find other sites if you feel this one is too biased.