Category Archives: Nutrition

Nutrition factors about the foods we eat.

Being Organic on a Budget

Here’s an excerpt and link to a really good article from the current issue of Organic Lifestyle Magazine.   I encourage you to take a look at their website http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com  and magazine.

IT CAN BE DONE!  by Stephanie Dickison

If you shop at a typical supermarket, the prices on organic produce might be enough to convince you that only the rich can afford an organic diet.  But you, too, can afford to eat organic.Shopper with list and cart, scratching her head

The first step is to educate yourself.  Right now, we are spending money on being sick (health insurance, co-pays, medication) instead of spending money on being healthy.  Your health begins with eating good food loaded with vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Whenever possible, that means buying an organic product over a regular one. But it doesn’t always need to be labeled USDA Organic to be a better choice. Did you know the Certified Naturally Grown label also certifies food as organically grown?

Locally grown fruit and vegetables bought at a vegetable stand on the side of the road may have been grown organically. Many small farmers don’t go to the expense of certification. Ask them about pesticide use and crop rotation and do your best to support these small organic farms. Their food has more vitamins, minerals, and enzymes than the organic food farmed by the big agriculture companies (due to a lack of crop rotation).

Click HERE for the complete article.

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Family Line: How to make organics fit your food budget

Found this today in the Green Bay Press Gazette.

Hope you enjoy it!  Oranges on the tree.

Today’s shoppers can choose from an increasing array of foods labeled organic. But while organic foods continue to grow in popularity, they often seem to come with a higher price tag.

Organic food production is strictly regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers cannot use synthetic pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics, genetic engineering, chemical fertilizers or waste products in the growing process. And organic foods must come from farms that have been certified organic by the USDA. All these requirements can boost the cost of producing foods with the organic label.  Read complete article here.

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Natural Herbal Remedies and Medicines and their History

Natural herbal remedies have been in use for medicinal purposes for more than 3,000 years. Today, more than 80% of the population uses them to treat illnesses of all kinds.

The concept is fairly simple. Find a natural element in the environment and ingest it. See what kind of affect – good or bad – it has on the ailment from which you suffer. Each and every part of the plant, from the seed to the flower, has been used throughout the history of herbal medicine. Natural remedies have been delivered in so many versions – raw, brewed in with tea, topical ointments, and pills. Originally, the uses for these plants were determined by superstitious cues, based upon the plants likeness to a particular body part or because it grew in a particular area. Over time, the practice became more refined. To the point that many prescription drugs available today actually contain extracts of the herbal medicines.

This fairly simple concept has evolved quite a bit over the years. Today, this complex practice effectively treats ailments from headaches to heart disease and the common cold to depression. The first practitioners of natural herbal remedies likely used marshmallow root, which is a grass that can be chewed to treat a sick stomach. Strangely enough, this is probably a practice learned from primates. Who says we come from apes? Similarly, these first users may have used hyacinth as a diuretic to purge the body of excess water.

Cultivating certain plants have become an important role in human society as the knowledge was gained as to which plants treated certain ailments. Eventually, these herbalists began to keep track of what was prescribed and to whom and this knowledge was passed on from generation to generation and to all subsequent forms of conquering societies. Herbal remedies were first systematized by the Egyptians; and then by the Greeks. We can thank the Greek culture for what amounts to the foundation of modern medicine today. They introduced the concept of not only prescribing these herbal remedies, but also recording both the prescription and the result of treatment.

Across the world, different societies took to the earth to seek out their own versions of these natural remedies. Medical concoctions were created by herbalists in India by combining the herbs with parts of animals. In the Americas, the hunt for herbal remedies was driven by spirituality and different tribes collected herbal remedies and passed the knowledge on to other tribes through oral tradition. And in China, where we find the first written record of herbal medicine, herbalist paired natural remedies with acupuncture to balance the ‘life force energies’.

From its beginning as a primate activity, herbal medicine has ridden the roller coaster of being acceptance and rejection by traditional medical field. The use of natural remedies has been documented for over 3,000 years, and in addition to the thousands of years of human testing, the practice has withstood intense scrutiny and real world testing. Though studies continue and remedies continue to alter, herbal medicine has stood the test of time as an effective means of helping humans stay healthy.


Johney Maron, a medical device salesman and active father of 2, is a believer in the power of natural herbal remedies and medicines. Pharmaca offers a large selection of nutritional health products including herbal vitamin supplements and wellness products from some of the most trusted brands in the industry.

Source: http://www.submityourarticle.com

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Mercury in Canned Tuna

In my update from Natural Food Merchandiser today, they highlighted their article titled “Canned tuna exceeds EPA’s safety levels for mercury.”  The information in the articles comes from testing done by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2006.  Nevertheless, it is interesting.  Read the full article at this LINK.  Here is an excerpt: 

More than half of canned tuna samples from three national brands exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s safety level for human consumption, according to a new study published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Only 5 percent of the tuna studied contained more mercury than what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers safe.

A few things I noticed when I looked into the source a little further…

  1. The EPA guidelines for safe levels of mercury in human food is much lower than the levels set by the FDA.  Who to believe?
  2. While they note that one brand is worse than the other two, they don’t reveal the brand names.  Bummer!
  3. They noticed difference in mercury levels in different “types” of tuna.  Seems that “chunk light” was slightly less contaminated than “solid white” or “chunk white.”  Strange.

The conclusions drawn in the article and the study are that there is a need for a long-term monitoring program to ensure the safety of the tuna we consume.  I certainly agree with that!!  So what’s a body to do?

Of course, the answer to that depends on your situation and intention.  For children and pregnant women, the risks appear to be more dramatic.  It might be advisable to avoid tuna altogether.  Other adults might want to use it in moderation.  But there is an option for purchasing much safer tuna, but of course the cost is three to five times more than mainstream brands.  If you are like me, you will want to pay the extra price to be mercury free.

American Tuna LogoThe best mercury-free tuna I have found so far is American Tuna, a group of six fishing families in San Diego, California.  The 6 oz. cans run about $5 on their website market.  I would expect similar prices at the Whole Foods Market locations and other retailers on their list

Best regards to all of you.  Be safe, be healthy. [tweetmeme source=gsorganics only_single=false]

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Natural Foods Dietary Guidelines

The Weston A. Price Foundation is a non-profit organization “dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to the human diet through education, research and activism.”  It’s definitely one of the best nutritional websites I’ve come across to date.  One caveat for the vegans among us, this group does espouse the eating of animal products.  Below are the first two paragraphs from their “About” page and their “Dietary Guidelines.”  I was so impressed that I joined.  Check it out.Healthy Family

The Weston A. Price Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charity founded in 1999 to disseminate the research of nutrition pioneer Dr. Weston Price, whose studies of isolated nonindustrialized peoples established the parameters of human health and determined the optimum characteristics of human diets. Dr. Price’s research demonstrated that humans achieve perfect physical form and perfect health generation after generation only when they consume nutrient-dense whole foods and the vital fat-soluble activators found exclusively in animal fats.

The Foundation is dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to the human diet through education, research and activism. It supports a number of movements that contribute to this objective including accurate nutrition instruction, organic and biodynamic farming, pasture-feeding of livestock, community-supported farms, honest and informative labeling, prepared parenting and nurturing therapies. Specific goals include establishment of universal access to clean, certified raw milk and a ban on the use of soy formula for infants.

Dietary Guidelines

  1. Eat whole, natural foods.
  2. Eat only foods that will spoil, but eat them before they do.
  3. Eat naturally-raised meat including fish, seafood, poultry, beef, lamb, game, organ meats and eggs.
  4. Eat whole, naturally-produced milk products from pasture-fed cows, preferably raw and/or fermented, such as whole yogurt, cultured butter, whole cheeses and fresh and sour cream.
  5. Use only traditional fats and oils including butter and other animal fats, extra virgin olive oil, expeller expressed sesame and flax oil and the tropical oils—coconut and palm.
  6. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables, preferably organic, in salads and soups, or lightly steamed.
  7. Use whole grains and nuts that have been prepared by soaking, sprouting or sour leavening to neutralize phytic acid and other anti-nutrients.
  8. Include enzyme-enhanced lacto-fermented vegetables, fruits, beverages and condiments in your diet on a regular basis.
  9. Prepare homemade meat stocks from the bones of chicken, beef, lamb or fish and use liberally in soups and sauces.
  10. Use herb teas and coffee substitutes in moderation.
  11. Use filtered water for cooking and drinking.
  12. Use unrefined Celtic seasalt and a variety of herbs and spices for food interest and appetite stimulation.
  13. Make your own salad dressing using raw vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and expeller expressed flax oil.
  14. Use natural sweeteners in moderation, such as raw honey, maple syrup, dehydrated cane sugar juice and stevia powder.
  15. Use only unpasteurized wine or beer in strict moderation with meals.
  16. Cook only in stainless steel, cast iron, glass or good quality enamel.
  17. Use only natural supplements.
  18. Get plenty of sleep, exercise and natural light.
  19. Think positive thoughts and minimize stress.
  20. Practice forgiveness.

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