The meat you eat

First, a little wave hello to all the newcomers to PreventionRD. I loved reading your feedback on Greek yogurt...and for correcting my spelling! Hate misspelled words!! I appreciate all who read and contribute to my blogging experience with your whit and wisdom -- you make my day! Sap, sap, sap!

I made a most delectable breakfast which I must share

(I'm always envious of all you fancy oats people!)...

Flaxseed Waffle

Flax Matters sent me this mix and let me tell you, it is PHENOMENAL!! I'll be honest in saying I'm not a huge fan of whole wheat when it comes to waffles, but these just tasted hearty and earthy...almost nutty. Mmmm! This was a huge treat, I will DEFINITELY be buying more of this mix! AND, it's reasonably priced!!!

Each waffle worked out to be ~300 calories, 5 grams of fat, 7 grams of protein, and 6 grams of fiber!

Ohhhhhhhhh yeaaaaa, yummy! And showing off the best Kitchen Aid waffle maker ever! If you're drawing a blank on what you want from Santa...waffle maker! Just sayin, you won't regret it...

The flaxseed bars Flax Matters sent are also WONDERFUL! They make a great high-protein, high-fiber snack that keeps you full for hours. I love'em!

A lucky winner may win some if they enter into the Prevention Cookbook!!!!

The emails of recipes are rolling in -- I am so excited!

All the details are here!

Don't delay, enter before January 1st to receive your cookbook and chances to win!

Annnnnnnnnnyways....THE MEAT YOU EAT!!!!

Reading Food, Inc. has really lit a fire in me! I've dealt with the back-handed comments from my husband and father for years regarding free-range this and grass-fed that. Just call me a little hippie child from the big city, okay?! And I'm not gunna lie, "clean" dairy, meat, eggs, and produce come with a hefty price tag and limited availability. And until recently (yesterday, in all honesty), my lack of knowledge surrounding the US food supply has enabled me to easily turn my head and "work with what we've got" -- the standard hormone-pumped, mass produced, grain-fattened meat and animal products comprising the vast majority of our food supply. Would you like that steak rare, medium, or well-done, right? Bleck.

I spent my lunch break looking up local farmers who sell eggs, beef, chicken, pork, etc. I’ve always “known” that free-range and grass-fed animals were “better,” but I feel like I’m learning why. If you don't know why, keep reading.

As I’ve ventured through the first few chapters of Food, Inc., I’d like to share with you quotes and summaries of points which I not only find interesting, but valuable knowledge for ALL. What is being revealed through solid research is that our food supply is dangerous, monopolized, and harmful to our health and economy.

Quotes from Food, Inc.:

“According to a study by the Union of Concerned Scientists, beef and milk produced from cattle raised entirely on pasture (where they ate only grass) have higher levels of beneficial fats, including omega-3 fatty acids, which may prevent heart disease and strengthen the immune system. This study also found that meat from grass-fed cattle was lower in total fat than meat from feedlot-raised cattle.”

rBGH stands for recombinant bovine growth hormone. This hormone is injected into dairy cattle to increase milk production by8-17%. Canada, Australia, Japan, and the European Union have all prohibited the use of rBGH in their food supply!!!

“So we’ve created a perverse system in which the food is cheap at fast food restaurants because they employ cheap labor, sell products that are heavily subsidized by the government, and sell them to consumers whose wages have been kept low. We’re walking about a race to the bottom.”

“An estimated two-thirds of all U.S. cattle raised for slaughter are injected with growth hormones” – half of these hormones are synthetic and half are natural.

“Meat packing used to be one of the best-paid jobs in the country…they had well-paid union jobs. They earned good wages, before the fast food companies came along.”

Question: “How much resistance did you encounter in researching and reporting the book?” Answer: “A lot. None of the major meat packing companies allowed me to visit their facilities. McDonald’s was not helpful at all.”

“The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that one-third of all American children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes as a result of poor diet and lack of exercise.”

“Factory farm operators typically manage what animals eat in order to promote their growth and keep overall costs of production low. However, what animals are fed directly affects the quality and safety of the meat and dairy we consume.”

“Scientists believe that ‘mad cow disease,’ or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is spread when cattle eat nervous system tissues, such as the brain and spinal cord, of other infected animals.”

“A researcher from Cornell University found that cattle fed hay for the five days before slaughter had dramatically lower levels of acid-resistant E. coli bacteria in their feces that escape during the slaughter can lead to the bacteria contaminating the meat.”

More to come as I plow through this book (husband and puppy are beating me to the holidays and taking off for the north tomorrow - *daaaaaance*), stay tuned.

What can YOU do?

Lots! There are so many resources out there to help you access safe, healthy, sustainably-grown food!

To access information and contact information on FARMS, STORE, or RESTAURANTS offering sustainably raised meat and dairy products, check out this site.

To find a local farmer's market near you, go here.

Do you buy free-range, hormone-free meat? If no, is cost a major barrier?

Are you a vegetarian or vegan? If so, what is your motivation behind your decision?

While I'm 100% omnivore and intend to remain that way, I am making a commitment to consume safer, healthier, more sustainable meat and meat products.

I am a "single" woman as of tomorrow at 5pm -- expect me to be blogolicious tomorrow night and for the weeks to come, getting back to ALL the blogs I wish to read. Hello, vacation! 

Weight...or height?

Is trying to control our country's height just as plausible as trying to control our country's weight? Maybe so.

Economists estimate that excess weight accounts for 9% of the U.S.'s medical spending. And while there's no similar figure for height, it is clear that both obesity and short stature cause similar economic strain [1].

Whatever the reason as to why, higher weight and lower height are associated with chronic disease, low wages, and poor educational attainment. In the US, the shorter you are the higher risk you're at for developing coronary heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. Women weighing more than 212 pounds at 5'4" tall are paid up to 9% less for their work, for example. According to survey data collected from over 450,000 adults suggests that male college graduates are, on average, more than an inch taller than men who never finished high school [1].

Is the reshaping of America both a war against fatness and shortness? How can one increase stature?

Height is not only genetic, but nurture and nature-related. Exposure to malnutrition, infectious disease, chronic stress, and poverty can abbreviate children's proper growth and height. Promoting foods which are low in calories and high in micronutrients, such as fruits and vegetables, is one feasible option. Increasing and improving education as a means of decreasing poverty and environmental stress is another. And of course, access to quality health care providers to improve prenatal and postnatal care is imperative [1].

This information is simply food for thought...and a topic that peeked my interest. Or maybe we should just throw everyone on growth hormone and run a blow-out sale on bariatric surgery!!

Kidding.

Yesterday checked out like so...

Breakfast:
1 cup steel cut oats, prepared (2 carbs)
1 Tbsp pumpkin butter (1 carb)
1/2 tsp turbinado (0 carbs)
     Total: 3 carbs

Lunch:
1 slice Buffalo Chicken Lasagna (2 1/2 carbs)
1 2% string cheese (0 carbs)
apple (1 carb)

     Total: 3 1/2 carbs

Snack:
6 ounces fat-free yogurt (1 1/2 carbs)

Dinner:
1 serving Chicken Tamale Casserole (2 1/2 carbs)

     Total: 2 1/2 carbs (low)

Snack:
4 peanut butter crackers (1 carb)

10 more days of being a diabetic...I can DO IT!!!!! Though, I am yet to look up the carbohydrate content of the INCREDIBLE pumpkin spice cappuccino I mixed with Dark Roast coffee this morning. It was worth the splurge though, I swear!!

Gina, CandidRD, is having a great give away on her site. Go here for more information!

[1]. Engber, Daniel. The Fat and Short of It. The New York Times. October 15, 2009.

Blog topic request: sleep and diet

Our friend Lena requested a blog topic: sleep and eating. She asked, "How does sleeping tie into what/how you eat? Is there really much of a connection?" Lena, I'm so glad you asked!

Yes! There most definitely is a connection between sleeping and what and how one eats. There has been a lot of recent research focused on sleep and diet/weight/nutrition with the ever expanding obesity epidemic.

What's the deal? There's lots of theories and ideas, let's discuss.

Scientifically speaking, hormones such as leptin, ghrelin, and cortisol can become out of whack with insufficient sleep. Leptin is the hormone playing a central role in fat metabolism; ghrelin is a hormone counterpart to leptin, which stimulates hunger -- increasing before meals and decreasing after meals; cortisol is a hormone commonly referred to as the "stress hormone", which helps the body use sugar (glucose) and fat for energy (metabolism). A lack of sleep triggers a wave of reactions in the body that begins with the hormones mentioned above. This results in the body waking up exhausted and craving fat and carbohydrates, says Dr. Joseph Koninck, director of the University of Ottawa's Sleep Research Laboratory. There is no doubt that the hormones which control appetite are effected by insufficient sleep [1]. So, sleep more!

Basic math would also lead any logical person to the conclusion of less hours awake leads to less hours of eating, and thus, less calories consumed. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Those staying up late to watch TV, catch up on emails, or surf the Internet are more often than not consuming high-calorie foods. When you eat late at night, Dr. Koninck suggests one's sleep is more fragmented due to the body's digestion process. Lack of deep sleep can also cause a drop in the "satiety hormone", leptin. This can cause excessive hunger the following day, even after eating. All the while, ghrelin, the "hunger hormone", is rising...setting one up to overeat [1].

Stanford University connected a lack of sleep to the rise in obesity back in 2004. Their 15-year study of 1,024 volunteers with sleep disorders found that individuals sleeping less than 4 hours a night were 73% more likely to be obese [1]. If you don't have time to sleep, you certainly don't have time to cook or eat properly, right?

Think YOU'RE getting enough sleep? Maybe not!

In 2006, University of Chicago researchers found that while adults may be in bed for 7.5 hours, the average woman slept for 6.7 hours, while men enjoyed a mere 6.1 hours of rest [1].

How much sleep does one need? Follow these steps to find out...

1. Set a bed time. Calculate back 7 1/2 hours from the time you need to get up to figure out what time that bedtime ought to be.

2. Go to bed 15 minutes earlier every day. Make note of what length of sleep leaves you feeling refreshed and awakening without the use of an alarm clock. This is your optimum length of sleep -- likely between 7 1/2 and 9 hours each night.

3. Keep a journal. Track when you go to bed, when you get up, any restless periods, when you ate and exercised before bed, whether or not you napped, and if so, for how long.

4. Keep on this schedule! Your body and waistline will thank you!

Key points to remember:
- exercise 30 minutes daily, but not within a few hours of your bedtime
- keep your bedroom a place for sleep and sexual activity only
- get into a pre-bed routine (i.e. bath, music, reading)
- DO NOT check email, watch TV, or play video games before bed -- it can leave you sleeping restlessly or unable to get to sleep
- cut out caffeine in the afternoon and evening hours
- DO NOT go to bed on a full stomach OR hungry
- use alcohol in moderation, and not as a sleep aid!

I have to say, I may ace this test. Mark and I climb into bed around 9:40 every night. My alarm goes off at 6:22 am, which is when I get up, so long as Lily has a restful sleep, too. Generally, I feel refreshed and ready for the day. While I still require one dose of caffeine and an alarm clock, I think we happily master the sleep routine.

What time is your bedtime? Are you often tired? What gets in your way of getting more sleep?

[1]. Beun, Chown, Julie. Dozing to diet: Sleep as a diet aid works, research shows. Canwest News Service. September 18, 2009.