Tis The Season!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season! My wish for you is a Happy & Healthy 2014.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Play List ~ Some Old Some New ~ Perfect Mix!

I am loving this Christmas play list. I cleaned house to it yesterday and it just put me in a great mood...thought I'd share it with you!

Enjoy!

 

Specific Carbohydrate Diet

I  just had to share this website with you. I have a friend whose child has autism and she is eating a wheat, soy, nut, and dairy free diet but she isn't getting the results she wants. So I did some surfing and found this amazing site. I really think they are onto something and if you have Crohn's, Celiac, Autism, Irritable Bowel, etc...I think it's worth checking out. I think for those of you who may not see results for your ADHD child you might want to research this and give it a try.



SCDLifeStyle

(click in the link)

What is the Specific Carbohydrate Diet?

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) is a group of foods which are grain-free, sugar-free, starch-free, and unprocessed.  While removing many foods that are toxic and digestively harmful the diet remains natural, extremely nourishing and representative of what our ancestors ate.
Eating SCD is a way to “re-boot” your digestion and give you an overall health boost.  The diet will probably have you feeling better than ever even if you don’t have any intestinal damage.  But if you are one of the lucky few who needs a bit of digestive support this diet was created especially for you.

Where Did SCD Come From?

The principles of SCD were laid down by Dr. Sidney Valentine as he treated Celiacs and other IBD patients in the 1950s.  One of his patients was Elaine Gottschall’s daughter who at the time was very sick with ulcerative colitis.  Dr. Haas helped Elaine’s daughter to achieve lasting remission through diet and the use of fermented foods.
Elaine Gottschall then dedicated her life to researching the diet – gut connection.  She coined the named the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and released the science and ground rules in her life’s work “Breaking the Vicious Cycle, Intestinal health through diet”.
Breaking the Vicious Cycle is the reason we are here today and.  We are very grateful for all the hard work that Elaine put into it and we think everyone should own a copy or two.

What Science is Behind the Specific Carbohydrate Diet?

The diets guidelines are based on the fact that not everyone’s digestive tract has evolved to optimally digest complex carbohydrates and other man made food products like sugar. The main principle of the diet is that carbohydrates are classified by their chemical structure; they are monosaccharide, disaccharide, or polysaccharide. On the diet only monosaccharide carbohydrates are allowed to be eaten as all others require extra digestion steps to break the chemical bonds down to monosaccharide carbohydrates.
Any food that is not properly digested causes bacterial and yeast overgrowth when undigested carbohydrates are fed on by bacteria and yeast in the intestinal tract. This starts a chain reaction of excess toxins and acids which cause irritation of the small intestine cells damaging them and causing food absorption issues which only helps to continue the cycle.
The diet is an all natural way to break this cycle of bacteria and yeast overgrowth by eliminating the food sources they feed on. By working to restore gut flora to normal levels the intestinal tract is allowed to start repairing any damage by itself.

How Does the Specific Carbohydrate Diet Work?

By eliminating complex carbohydrates, lactose, sucrose and other man made ingredients from the digestive process, the body is finally allowed to start healing. As gut flora levels start to stabilize, the reduction of irritants from undigested foods, toxins and other man made ingredients allows inflammation levels to retreat.
This is accomplished by beginning the diet with extremely easy to digest, natural foods. This “intro diet” starts the healing the process and then more complex foods are added back to the diet very slowly. By carefully adding foods back to the diet the Specific Carbohydrate Diet is individually tailored to each person’s state of injury and digestion abilities.

What Do I Eat Already?

Below is a quick summary of the Do’s and Do NOTS.  Please check the official list before eating something.

Eat This:

Allowed Meats: Eggs, Chicken, Turkey, Beef, Fish, Pork, Wild Game, Bacon, Lamb
Allowed Vegetables: Fresh or frozen of most commonly eaten vegetables are acceptable (asparagus, beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, celery, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, kale, lettuce, mushrooms, onions, peas, peppers, pumpkin, spinach, squash, string Beans, tomatoes and watercress) Click here for others
Allowed Fruits: Commonly found Fresh or Frozen or dried with nothing added are acceptable (apples, avocados, bananas (ripe with black spots), berries of all kinds, coconut, dates, grapefruit, grapes, kiwi fruit, kumquats, lemons, limes, mangoes, melons, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapples, prunes, raisins, rhubarb, tangerines) Click here for others
Dairy: SCD Yogurt, natural 30 day aged Cow and Goat cheeses (not Kraft-see below), Butter, Ghee, and Dry Curd Cottage Cheese (DCCC).
Nuts: Almonds, Pecans, Brazil, Hazelnuts, Walnuts, Cashews, Chestnuts (no additives for butters, salted mixes and flours)
Legumes: Peanuts, White beans, Navy Beans, Lentils, Split Peas, Lima beans, Kidney beans, Black beans
Spices: Most non-mixed spices are allowed, screen for anti-caking agents, and make sure the ingredients are listed

Not This:

No CEREAL GRAINS: Wheat, Barley, Corn, Rye, Oats, Rice, Buckwheat, Millet, Triticale, Bulgur, Spelt, Quinoa
Not Allowed Meats: Ham, Processed Sausages, Lunch meats, Bratwurst, Turkey dogs, Hot dogs
Not Allowed Vegetables: Canned are not allowed due to the usual addition of sugars, processing aids and preservative chemicals.
Not Allowed Fruits: Canned and most fruit juices are not allowed due to the common addition of sweeteners, preservatives, and processing aids.
Not Allowed Legumes: Soybeans, chick peas, bean sprouts, mungbeans, fava beans, garbanzo beans
Dairy: Commercial yogurts, milk of any kind, unnatural cheeses (Kraft and most other main stream shredded cheeses fall into this group), all of the following cheeses: Cottage, Cream, Feta, Gejetost, Mozzarella, Neufchatel, Primost, Ricotta, Processed cheese spreads.
Starches/Tubers: Not allowed including Potatoes, Yams, Sweet potatoes, Arrowroot, Parsnip, Cornstarch, tapioca starch
Spices: No Curry powders, Most Onion and Garlic powders are filled with anti-caking agents

Drink This:

Weak tea or coffee, Water, Mineral Water, Club soda, Dry Wine, Gin, Rye, Scotch, Bourbon, Vodka

Not This:

Instant coffee, Most commercial juices, Milk, Soda Pop, Sweet Wines, Flavored Liqueurs, Brandy, Sherry

Sweeten With This:

Honey

Not This:

Sugar of any kind (Cane, Coconut, Table, etc), Agave syrup, Maple syrup, artificial sweeteners.
Ready to Get Started? Click Here Get Your Free Guide

Almond Butter & Rice Cakes

Love these for snacks. I always have them on hand and they are fast and easy for the kids to make.

Sometimes we put banana's, jam, or honey on top. I buy the almond butter from Costco and the rice cakes from Trader Joes.

 

 

Experts Link Food Dyes To Behavioral Problems In Kids

The excellent feature on the harmful effects of fake dyes on

children's behavior aired on the 10 pm news on February 2. You can view it at  Experts Link Food Dyes To Behavioral Problems In Kids « CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — As busy parents, we don’t always make the healthiest choices for ourselves but when it’s meal time, we try to make the best choices for our kids.
We check food labels for whole grains, less fat and low sugar but something extra, added to everything from cereal to fresh fruit, could be causing behavior problems in children. Concerns about food dyes led manufacturers in other countries to change their recipes, but they’re still sold here.
Kelly King is certain of the difference food dyes make in her 6-year-old daughter Kendall.
“She’s always had a lot of energy,” King said.
Doctors diagnosed Kendall with ADHD last year and put her on powerful drugs.
“We were going to need to medicate her all day, then give her another pill at 4 p.m., then give her a medicine so she could sleep. It just didn’t feel right to me,” King said.
A few months ago, the King’s heard about a possible connection between dyes and hyperactivity. Within weeks of taking dyes out of her diet, Kendall didn’t need the medication.
“We’ve had amazing results.  She’s like a whole new child and she’s herself again,” King said.
King said it’s been much easier to find dye-free food than she thought. With what they used to spend on medication for Kendall, the cost of food has evened out.
Taking dyes out of kids’ diets is a big part of Dr. Arlen Lieberman’s practice.
“It’s definitely a big factor in what I look at when I talk to the parents is what kind of food are you giving your kid?” Lieberman said.
At the Golden Valley clinic he shares with his daughter, they’ve seen again and again the change food dyes make.
“They have risks and they have no benefit really the only benefit that they have is the look,” Dr. Krystle Lieberman said.
Food manufactures in the U.S. can use up to nine dyes in food. The dyes Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 make up 90 percent of the market and cause the most concern.
Take a shopping trip and you’ll see them everywhere. They’re listed on a bright cereal box, even the more covert packaging of a pickle jar. From cough syrup to toothpaste, and waffles to crackers.
Synthetic dyes are sometimes even sprayed on fresh fruits to sharpen their shades.
Dr. David Wallinga at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy said he believes the science is there for customers to be concerned. He cites more than two dozen studies that point to problems.  Most were done decades ago while we eat more dyes than ever before, a 5-fold increase in 50 years.
Wallinga said dyes mess with our metabolism. The yellow dyes deplete zinc levels enough in some kids, he said, to cause hyperactivity.
An added concern: The chemicals come from petroleum products that Wallinga said have shown carcinogenic to cause effects.

“There is no necessary reason to put petroleum dyes in food.  Period,” Dr. Wallinga said.

Countries across Europe have already responded to the controversy. For the most part, you won’t find the dyes in food on grocery store shelves. The European Union requires foods using synthetic dyes to carry a warning label.
Rather than scaring customers away, American companies like Kellogg’s, General Mills and Kraft did away with the synthetic dyes overseas.
“Why shouldn’t American consumers be treated with the same respect, and conversely, why should the U.S. be the dumping ground for worrisome food dyes?” Dr. Wallinga asked.
The FDA took up the issue last spring. Its scientists found that dyes could affect children who already have behavioral disorders. But the agency said most children won’t see a reaction. So the FDA voted against putting warning labels on foods, but it believes more research is still needed.
Some grocery chains, like Whole Foods, have made the decision themselves and won’t sell synthetic dyes.
Ted Labuza, a professor of Food and Science at the University of Minnesota, said he believes it comes down to customers making choices. While other countries operate out of precaution, he sees our system as limited.  In this country, food additives can’t be tested on people so scientists have to rely on several different factors for study results.
“There’s no way to be 100 percent safe. You can’t test your way to safety. You can’t inspect your way to safety,” Labuza said.
One potential solution to the food dye question is being developed in a small lab in St. Paul and planted in the ground in southwest Minnesota.
The company Suntava started as a way to breed corn resistant to common pests.  Scientists found something much more powerful in their purple corn, a compound called anthocyanin with more antioxidants than blueberries.
Suntava CEO Bill Petrich said it’s a huge find.
“I believe this is a game-changing technology that can positively affect many lives for years to come, ” Petrich said.  “I think the market is global, it’s not just U.S. it’s global.”
The research led to the realization of the corn’s potential as a natural color.  Natural food colors can be as much as 20 times more expensive to produce.
The Hopkins School District decided it was worth the investment.  It’s taken dramatic steps to get dyes out of its schools.
Barb Mechura, the school’s nutrition director, said it’s changed their approach to cooking.
“Our kitchen looks a little differently because we need additional equipment for scratch cooking,” Mechura said. “We don’t need as much room in the freezer right now because we don’t have all the frozen, manufactured foods.”
Cooks are constantly checking labels for food dyes and if they can’t find a natural substitute, it won’t be served.
An important part of the curriculum for all of their kids includes reading food labels. For the last few years, the district’s lunchrooms have been considered leaders in school nutrition. After making many changes, teachers said they see fewer outbursts in class.
“It makes sense that if we’re going to put a lot of synthetic and artificial stuff into it our cells aren’t going to have the energy they need to create a healthy body, a healthy brain, help us be happy,” Mechura said.
In a statement, the FDA said “Approved food color additives are considered safe. There has not been a cause and effect relationship established between color additives and hyperactivity in children.”
A spokesperson from General Mills said “We comply with all regulations where we do business and monitor global regulatory developments. Differences around the globe in product formulation have long existed, and are due to different laws or consumer preferences.”

The Feingold Program Pure Facts Newsletters are FREE!

The Feingold Program has all their newsletters from 1982 to 2012 free. Here's the link, Pure Facts Newsletter Archives.

These newsletters are packed full of great info! I think it would be absolutely worth your time to read through these.

This issue talks about probiotics and the gut, I hasn’t realized that The Feingold Program supported the use of probiotics.

Very interesting information. Be sure to check it out.