It was my pleasure to be the guest speaker today in the high school Research Writing Class at Lakeview Christian School in Auburn, Alabama.  Their teacher (Mrs. S.) has assigned a research writing paper, and the students will be choosing a topic in the field of nutrition.  She invited me to share some information with her students about what I have been learning at Hawthorn University.  Sharing information about nutrition is my cup of tea, and my future goal is to be able to help people, one on one, working with them to come up with a plan that meets their specific given needs.  The first thing that I did was to take a picture of the class.  Just look at these smiling students, eager to learn!

Knowing how to research is a skill that we all need to learn, especially in the area of nutrition, because it continues to reveal new findings and our understanding about the relationship between diet and health is continually changing.  How did I wind up in the field of nutrition?  What kind of things do I post on my website?  How can we evaluate information sources?  These are a few of the questions that I answered in the class. Before break, I presented a demonstration, putting several chemicals into a glass of water, and I described the effects of these chemicals on the body.  Then the students were asked if they would like to drink the water.  I had no volunteers.  If these chemicals are so bad for us, how did they get approval in the first place?  With limited time, and I know I ran over my allotment (please forgive, Mrs. S.), I was able to share with the students the process of just how one of these chemicals finally did get FDA approval.  It wasn't commendatory.

After a break, the students sampled several homemade treats made without added chemicals and preservatives and they were placed in groups of three.  Their assignment was to write an advertisement about the product and give it a name.  Warning:  Goofiness ahead :) This group was advertising "Gummy Buddies."  

Wouldn't you say they were just acting a wee bit like teen-agers?  With their ad, this group is sure to sell you some of "Debbie's Fine Granola" made with sprouted grains, sweetened with honey and sucanat.

This group used their charm to win you over to "Cool Kefir" on a hot summer day.

Maybe this group would convince you to eat "Aunt Susan's Sourdough Bread."  It's the healthiest bread in town!

How about "Party Pleasing Popcorn" made with heart-healthy coconut oil and vitamin rich butter?

Thank you students, I look forward to hearing more about your research writing assignment.   I had fun and I hope you did too.  

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Have you ever thought about the concept of "whole foods" and what it could mean to your health?

I'm pretty sure this post will be elementary to many, but being elementary does not make it any less important.  In fact, I would say that even though the topic of whole foods can be well understood, it is doubtful that most of us live by a "whole foods" diet.

It is estimated that 90% of the food budget is spent on processed or refined foods, which offer very little nutritional value, and contain ingredients that even rob us of our stored nutrients.  

Here's a simple explanation of what a whole food is:  It will be one that is as close to its natural state as possible; it will look as it does in nature, unprocessed and unadulterated, and will almost always be found in the perimeter of your grocery store.  It is perishable and has a short shelf life; it does not contain additives, colorings, or preservatives.  It's real food, not from a box or packet.  

Still have questions?  Simply put, it is the foods that God created for us to eat (plants and animals) - the food your great grandparents ate.  So if in doubt, ask yourself if this would be a food your great grandparents would recognize. 

It may surprise you that the major causes of death in the U.S. during the early 1900s were infectious diseases, whereas the leading causes of death now are chronic degenerative diseases like heart disease, osteoporosis, and cancer.  Fortunately, though they are among the most common, they are also among the most preventable.

Adopting  a "whole foods" diet, getting plenty of sleep and staying active, can prevent or control the devastating effects of these diseases.

So here is your challenge.  Try it for one week - eat whole foods, see how you feel, and then hopefully you will adopt this way of eating for life.  At least try to eat whole foods 85% of the time.  For a long life, eat foods with a short shelf life.

For other posts in this series see About Nutrition

Resources:  Hawthorn University lectures and Nutritional Sciences by McGuire and Beerman, 3rd edition.

It's on most major news feeds and it was the subject of a recent Dr. Oz show.  I'm talking about BVO, or Brominated Vegetable Oil.  It can be found in sports drinks and in certain soft drinks like Fanta, Mountain Dew, Squirt, Sunkist,  Fresca and Gatorade.  BVO is used to keep the liquid emulsified, otherwise, it would separate out, look gross, and you wouldn't want to buy it.  BVO makes the liquid look cloudy and not see-through clear.  So if you hold your drink up to light and it is cloudy, chances are it contains BVO.  

BVO is in the same chemical family as flame-retardants like polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE).

What are the concerns of BVO?  See this quote from Dr. Oz:

"Researchers link brominated vegetable oil (BVO) to organ damage, neurological issues, and even birth defects. Studies have found that brominated flame-retardants (BVO’s cousins) build up in human tissues, including breast milk. Animal and some human studies have linked these substances to neurological impairment, reduced fertility, changes in thyroid hormones, and early onset puberty. Up until the 1940s, bromide salts were used for medicinal purposes until it was discovered that they could cause psychological symptoms and mental disorders in patients and they were pulled off the market." 

In response to a recent petition by a teen to get BVO removed from Gatorade, PepsiCo, makers of Gatorade, will start removing BVO from their product, as per their announcement a few weeks ago (Jan. 2013), but does not plan to remove it from Mountain Dew.  The new non BVO Gatorade will be on the shelves in the next few months, this according to the Chicago Tribune.  I do not know what other companies will do.

It's banned in many other countries already, and while no long term studies have been done, I personally, would not want to keep on drinking this until definitive conclusions have been made.  How much toxin are we willing to allow in our bodies?  We are bombarded by toxins daily.  I think it would benefit us to avoid them when we can.  The FDA originally deemed BVO as safe, but in the 1970s, they called for more testing, which has not been done.  

In 12 ounces of Gatorade, it has 80 calories, 160 mg of sodium, and 21 grams of sugar.  Perhaps the sugar should be of greater concern than the BVO.  

Alternatives:  coconut water, a little lemon or apple cider vinegar with a pinch of sea salt in water, seltzer water or a little fruit juice mixed into water.  My personal favorite:  A glass of filtered water with a teaspoon of raw apple cider vinegar, pinch of sea salt, and two drops of lemon essential oil (make sure the essential oil you can be ingested- doTerra brand lemon essential oil can be ingested.)

We all like bargains, don't we?  I'm going to tell you how to get one when it comes to foods.

What is nutrient-richness?  It is the amount of nutrients a food contains divided by the number of calories it also contains.  

Example:  One Medium Orange with 69.7 mg. vitamin C  = 1.13
                                                61.6 calories

So that comes to 1.13 mg. of vitamin C delivered to your body for every calorie in the orange.  

I'd say that's a pretty good bargain!  It didn't cost you many calories to get your dose of vitamin C, and by the way, the recommended dietary allowance of vitamin C is about what is contained in one orange.

Now let's contrast that with a cup of french fries.      One Cup French Fries with 17.3 mg. vitamin C = .13  
                                                                                                                    136.2 calories

So that comes to .13 mg. of vitamin C delivered to your body for every calorie in the french fries.

To get the same dose of vitamin C from the french fries as you do from the orange, you would have to eat 4 servings, with a cost of 544 calories, as opposed to the one orange, with only 61 calories.  

So, want a bargain?  Shop for and eat foods that are nutrient-rich, and that won't cost you an arm or a leg for calories, or in this case, maybe your heart.

For other posts in these series see About Nutrition

I compiled this post by using my required software in my studies at Hawthorn University.  The concept of nutrient-richness came from my textbook:  World's Healthiest Foods by George Meteljan.