I've had it with Ezekiel wraps and bread! The honeymoon is over.

It is hard enough waking up early, eating breakfast, ironing your clothes for work, walking and feeding the dog… and making your lunch for work before running out the door, without having to add unnecessary complications into the mix.

I have been using Ezekiel brand wraps and breads for a while now, because they are very healthy. But after trying to “wrap” food many different ways with the wraps I’ve come to realize that they kind of suck. The main reason is that they don’t stay closed. A tortilla should just close and that’s it, end of story. But Ezekiel wraps have a way of reopening themselves, because they are essentially cardboard. It disappoints me to write this as much as it is disappointing you to read it.

This morning I was making some turkey sandwiches and a chicken burrito to take to work, and I learned that even Ezekiel’s bread is pretty lackluster in the sandwich making department. You wouldn’t think that bread would really have much impact other than for taste and texture (both which are pretty bad IMO), but the thing is with Ezekiel bread, your sandwich manages to fall apart moments after closing it.

So, I’m sad to report, that I am going to abandon healthy wraps for now. I guess everyone has their “one thing” that they won’t give up in their quest for good health. For me, it might be wraps. When you’re getting ready in the morning, ready to rush out, late for work and trying to do five things at the same time, there’s just no time to deal with burrito malfunctions. So I’ve decided to go back to regular flour wraps [gasp] for now. For bread, I may have to go back to a slightly less healthier bread – like Milton’s whole grain. I will report back as I continue to search for a healthy wrap that works.

MIA

Hey guys, sorry I've been MIA for the last week, work has been pretty insane lately. But I'll be back at it this week after the 4th. I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. I'm off to the beach with the dog! Eat well - Chris.

Too much salt

Not that this is really news... I think most people already understand that they eat too much salt... but I thought it was worthwhile to post the link.


http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/25/study-americans-eat-too-much-salt/?hpt=Sbin

The World's Healthiest Foods

I recently found this website, it promotes the "worlds healthiest foods." I don't know very much about their foundation, but the list of foods on the website is spot on.

http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php

Avocado/egg/parmesan cheese scramble (or wrap)

My latest morning creation has been a simple easy to make breakfast wrap (or scramble).

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 avocado
2. 3 eggs
3. fresh grated parmesan
4. Ezekiel wrap (or your whole wheat wrap of choice) - or Ezekiel bread 
5. Olive oil

This one couldn't be easier. Fry 3 eggs in olive oil, once the eggs are starting to firm up add the avocado, and then when the eggs are almost done add some fresh grated parmesan, scramble the mixture and that's it. You can put the mixture into a wrap, or serve it over Ezekiel toast. Add a little pepper to taste and a little sea salt or kosher salt and that's it. A friend tells me that if you add a little fresh basil to this it is great, so I'll have to try it next time.

So why is this healthy? Because it's good to have protein first thing in the morning. Also, the avocado and olive oil gives you a healthy dose of unsaturated fat to make you feel full and ready to take on the day. A little parmesan adds great flavor but use it sparingly, parmesan is high in saturated fat and sodium. In general, softer cheeses are healthier (mozzarella, feta, goat), and harder cheeses are higher in fat in sodium.

Unsaturated fat (any fat really) makes you feel full, which is why often when people eat healthy food they don't feel full, and then end up eating more, or worst yet - unhealthier food after eating healthy food.  Sadly, the healthy food and unhealthy food don't balance themselves out - (as many would like to believe), nope - sadly it's just more calories and you would have been better off just eating the unhealthy meal...

A good way to make sure this scenario doesn't happen to you (again) is by eating plenty of unsaturated, healthy fats. Olive oil for cooking oil, almond butter, peanut butter, avocados are all excellent sources of these fats. I recommend more of healthy fats than many professional nutritionists, and although they are probably right when it comes down to a scientific analysis of nutrition - my reasoning is more about human nature. If you can keep yourself feeling full, eating small meals throughout the day so you don't get too hungry, and include enough healthy fat to make you feel satisfied throughout the day, then you're less likely to over eat.

Actually, while I'm on the fat train here... if you ever get a late night craving for something and you know you shouldn't be hungry because you already ate, you're tired and sleepy and normally would head for the pantry for some scrumptious late night carb... try a heaping teaspoon of almond butter or peanut butter instead (the first is preferable), the unsaturated fat will coat your stomach and give you a full feeling, it'll kill your craving. The trick is doing this before you get too hungry... once you get past the point of no return it's hopeless! I'll post about this subject another time.

Alcohol, Diet and Pancreatic Cancer risk

1)     Don't drink soda.
2)     Don't eat a diet high in fat and low in fiber
3)     Don’t smoke
4)     Stay away from chemicals
5)     Use chemical free dry cleaning only (it may cost a little more but it's a lot less than chemo)

Read on...

 http://consults.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/alcohol-diet-and-pancreatic-cancer-risks/?hpw

Ridiculous and Hilarious High Fructose Corn Syrup Commercial

This commercial is just too funny not to write about. You probably have been seeing this ad a lot lately, and it is because the corn growers are getting nervous that the country has caught onto the fact that HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup), is bad for our health - even worse than refined white sugar (which is also bad for our health). 

First of all, the acting is so bad in this clip you'll probably pee yourself watching it. I can't imagine some Mom randomly walking up to another Mom that's pouring juice for her kid and saying "wowwww, you don't care what the kids eat, huh?..." Most Mom's I know would pour juice on her with a comment like that. The argument the commercial tries to make is even funnier. Sorry Corn Refiners Association - we're onto you. 

HFCS is more dangerous than sugar because it causes spikes in insulin levels... the speed at which HFCS enters your bloodstream is higher than regular sugar. Unfortunately HFCS has found its way into everything from Ketchup, breads, cheese, soda, juice, cereals, beef jerky, iced teas, pretzels, snacks, almost all processed foods... literally anything and everything in place of sugar.

Why you ask? Well it isn't some evil government conspiracy to kill off our population... it's because corn based products are dirt cheap because they are subsidized by the government. Move over big oil, big corn is here! This makes it much less expensive for companies like Heinz to use HFCS in place of sugar. Also, HFCS extends the shelf life of products, so it acts as an additional preservative on top of its sweetening effect. 

The Mayo Clinic recommends limiting the quantity, and also suggests that the new research coming out in favor of HFCS is supported by the beverage industry (big shocker - I've never heard of anything like that ever happening before!) 

So what to sweeten with? I recommend following the advice of the article from the Mayo clinic. Limit sugary foods to as little as possible... stick with unsweetened products always (like iced tea, etc). Eat fresh fruit, limit soda and fruit juice drinking. My favorite sweetener is Blue Agave Nectar. It looks like honey, and is the healthiest sweetener available. It is all natural, low in sugar, and very low in the glycemic index. English translation: the sugar enters your blood stream slowly, which is good, because when things enter your blood stream quickly you get fat, that's all you need to know.

Even natural fruit juices are loaded with sugar. Fruits naturally have a lot of sugar, and while it is much healthier than refined sugars - we should still drink fruit juices in moderation because there is A LOT of fruit in juice. Eat fruit instead, you're unlikely to eat as much as you would drink - so it works out better for your health. 

Anyway - let me know what you all think. I know seeking out food without HFCS is a pain, but I think it's worth the second it takes to read the ingredients. I'm glad to see that companies are starting to advertise that they are not using it, and some are using cane sugar instead. My advice is just to not eat sugary foods, it's a huge cause of obesity and one that's often overlooked. 

It's amazing how much sugar is in that you wouldn't thing of (yogurt, milk, etc). If you're a high fructose fan, check out their website. You'll see lots of kids eating sweet sugary HFCS... on their way to a childhood of ADHD and other issues. While the "sweet surprise" for us adults will be a spare tire around our waist. good times!