Organic Vitamins - Organic Life

Balsamic Chicken

Here’s a very nutritious recipe that is so easy and quick to prepare.  Try serving it over gluten-free pasta, jasmine, brown or wild rice.  This dish is low in fat and cholesterol, and takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.  Its wonderful blend of herbs will leave you and yours feeling as if you’ve just eaten a meal that took all day to prepare.

Makes six servings

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves.

1/2 teaspoon black pepper to taste

8-ounce pkg sliced mushrooms

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon fresh or dried basil

1 teaspoon fresh or dried oregano

1 teaspoon fresh or dried rosemary

1/2 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme

Directions:

1. Season chicken breasts with ground black pepper.  Heat olive oil in a medium skillet and lightly brown the onion and seasoned chicken breasts.

2.  Pour tomatoes, mushrooms and balsamic vinegar over chicken and season with garlic, basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme.  Simmer until chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear, about 15-20 minutes.

3.  Serve over pasta or rice

Enjoy!

Organic Vitamins, Organic Life was sent this recipe from Andre’ Haas, thanks Andre’!

The rutabaga is quickly becoming a staple food for the nutrition-minded.  It’s rich in flavor and  loaded with minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium and vitamins A and C.  Not only is it a healthy alternative to potatoes, it can be used in soups, salads, breads and even cakes.  Here is a recipe based on the traditional carrot cake, only using rutabaga instead.  We know you’ll enjoy it!

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cup raw sugar 

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 cup Canola or Grapeseed oil

3 eggs beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups GRATED RUTABAGA

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup shredded coconut

1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple (with juice)

Lemon Cream-Cheese Frosting (see recipe below)

Grease and lightly flour two 9-inch round cake pans; set aside.

Mix the flours, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the ingredients. Pour oil, beaten eggs, and vanilla into the well. Beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in rutabaga, walnuts, coconut, and pineapple (do not drain). Divide the batter between the 2 cake pans, spreading evenly.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool layer cakes in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool thoroughly on a wire rack. Frost the top of each layer with LEMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING, then stack one on top of the other. Store cake, covered, in the refrigerator. Makes 12 servings.

LEMON CREAM-CHEESE FROSTING

With an electric mixer on medium speed beat two 8-ounce packages of softened cream cheese for 30 seconds. Add 3/4 cup sifted powered sugar, beating well. Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice; beat until smooth. Add additional lemon juice, if necessary, to make a frosting that’s of easy-spreading consistency. Stir in 1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel. Makes about 2 1/2 cups. 

We think you’ll enjoy this Rutabaga Cake Recipe.  Give it a try and give us some feedback on what you think or leave your name and email address to join one of our nutritional webinars and receive OVOL updates (don’t worry, we are very selective about what we send to our members)

In Part 1 and Part 2 of Toxic Overload, we discussed toxins, sources of toxins, and lifestyles that tax your detoxification system. Here we will discuss the effect of toxic food on obesity.

Research is demonstrating more and more relationship between toxic food consumption and obesity. Examples of toxic food come from sources such as fast food restaurants, processed foods and foods high in MSG and fructose or more specifically, High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Changes in food processing and manufacturing are largely to blame for this correlation. Fibers are being removed and replaced with sugars and High Fructose Corn Syrup. Trans fats are being substituted instead of natural fats. Natural herbs and spices are being removed and MSG are used in their place. Therefore the term “processed foods” is said to be one of the leading causes of obesity and obesity related diseases.

It is a known fact that foods high in fructose, MSG, and trans fats are highly addictive. The processed food industry are using these substitutions because of the enormous savings compared to using real whole foods. We are paying a much higher price in our health care and the food industries are seeing the profits… We are now seeing the affect of a new generation being brought up on a predominately fast food or processed food diet.

The field of Nutrigenomics is quickly discovering the link between DNA and certain predispositions for illnesses such as obesity.

A University of California San Francisco researcher has determined that a key reason for the epidemic of pediatric obesity, now the most commonly diagnosed childhood ailment, is that high-calorie, low-fiber Western diets promote hormonal imbalances that encourage children to overeat.

Our current Western food environment has become highly ‘insulinogenic,’” Lustig says, “as demonstrated by its increased energy density, high-fat content, high glycemic index, increased fructose composition, decreased fiber, and decreased dairy content.”

“In particular, fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin,” he adds.

Lustig says that it has long been known that the hormone insulin acts on the brain to encourage eating through two separate mechanisms. First, it blocks the signals that travel from the body’s fat stores to the brain by suppressing the effectiveness of the hormone leptin, resulting in increased food intake and decreased activity. Second, insulin promotes the signal that seeks the reward of eating carried by the chemical dopamine, which makes a person want to eat to get the pleasurable dopamine “rush.”

Calorie intake and expenditure normally are regulated by leptin, Lustig says. When leptin is functioning properly it “increases physical activity, decreases appetite, and increases feelings of well-being.” Conversely, when leptin is suppressed, feelings of well-being and activity decrease and appetite increases – a state called “leptin resistance.”

Changes in food processing during the past 30 years, particularly the addition of sugar to a wide variety of foods that once never included sugar and the removal of fiber, both of which promote insulin production, have created an environment in which our foods are essentially addictive, he adds. “If we don’t fix this, our children will continue to lose,” he emphasizes.

Couple all of this toxic food, how effectively your body systems eliminate the toxins, and your DNA contribution to certain illnesses; it is clear why obesity and related diseases is of such massive proportion.

To learn more about your DNA and nutrition, or the obesity crisis and weight loss tips, leave a message or sign up to attend one of our next seminars.

Sources:

UC San Francisco

CDC; Information on obesity and children

Tyson Foods is the second largest producer of chicken in the United States today, and the largest processor of meats in the world. In today’s marketplace, and people’s desire to become more “green,” Tyson has been accused of practicing deceptive advertising in its own effort to hitch a ride on the “green” market.

Since the summer of 2007, Tyson has been labeling its birds with the term “antibiotic-free,” when in fact they have been injecting their chickens before they are hatched with antibiotics.

The practice of treating chickens and other birds with antibiotics in order to prevent intestinal infections that might reduce the weight and, in turn, what the bird will sell for at the grocery store, is a common practice among poultry farmers and is not in dispute.

Scientist’s fear that the continued use of antibiotics in animal agriculture may accelerate the development of disease-resistant bacteria.

Making false claims in order to stay on top of an ever-increasing public awareness of more natural and organic food products is what the USDA is concerned about here.

Tyson was warned by the USDA to remove its “antibiotic-free” labeling, saying it was deceptive and misleading. Tyson responded with a lawsuit which enabled the continued marketing campaign of “raised without antibiotics”.

To date, Tyson has spent millions of dollars on this marketing campaign claiming their birds are “raised without antibiotics”.

Tyson regularly treats its birds’ feed with bacteria-killing ionophores. The USDA argued that these ionophores are antibiotics and requested the company discontinue its use of these ionophores. Once again, Tyson responded with a lawsuit. Tyson made an offer in compromise; the birds consuming feed with these ionophores be labeled as “raised without antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans” and the USDA eventually accepted the rephrased labels.

On June 3rd, 2008 USDA inspectors found that in addition to the ionophore-treated feed; Tyson injected its birds prior to hatching with ANOTHER antibiotic called Gentamicin. Even though Gentamicin takes SEVERAL weeks to dissipate, Tyson argued that because the birds were injected two days prior to hatching, “technically” they are being “raised without antibiotics”.

Gentamicin is an antibiotic used regularly in the United States to treat urinary tract and blood infections. The drug is also stockpiled by the United States government for future treatments of biological outbreaks such as the plague. According to USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety Richard Raymond, the routine treatments of Gentamicin “in ovo” definitely raises public health concern.

Finally, after over a year of litigation, Tyson agreed to “voluntarily” remove the false and misleading labeling from all of its birds. They then sued the USDA for having an unclear definition of “raised without antibiotics” and is requesting that the regulation be thrown out.

Tyson agreed to voluntarily withdraw its “raised without antibiotics labels,” citing “uncertainty and controversy over product labeling regulations.” It then filed a lawsuit against the USDA, claiming that the agency had improperly changed the definition of “raised without antibiotics” to include the treatment of eggs.

Below you will find an article from Eating Well Magazine’s December 2008 issue regarding the field of Nutrigenomics.

This information reinforces our belief here at OVOL:

Knowing your genetic predispositions (in particular which SNP’s you have and on which gene) can help you make better food choices and therefore potentially avoid or suppress those predispositions.

DNA guided supplements are the latest in Nutritional Genomics and are a reassurance that you are doing everything to support your gene expression.

For more information on DNA guided supplements and DNA guided nutrition, submit your name and email address to the right and we will send you notice of our next webinar.

Eating Well Magazine. December 2008

“In 2002, the Human Genome Project completed an awesome undertaking: the first comprehensive map of the tens of thousands of genes, those tiny bits of DNA, that make us human. Yet as towering as that achievement was, what researchers have discovered in the years since may be even more important.

Although all of us have very similar genes, hundreds of thousands of tiny differences exist. These genetic variations—what scientists refer to as single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs—make each of us unique in all sorts of ways, including how our bodies respond to different types of foods.

For example, one gene discovered in May of this year appears to stimulate the desire to eat sweet foods. People with a particular form of this gene consistently consume more sugar and sweet foods and beverages than those with a slightly different one.

Could the discovery of this “sweet tooth gene” help explain why some people are more likely to become overweight? “It’s easy just to say that people get fat because they eat too much,” David M. Mutch, Ph.D., told me when I rang him up in his office at INSERM, the French Institute for Health and Medical Research, in Paris. “But it’s much more complicated than that.” Read more »

Guess Who Funds High Fructose Corn Syrup Studies?

Ads hyping high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) have been hitting the airwaves as part of a major marketing campaign from the Corn Refiners Association.

Negative impacts of consuming HFCS

* weight gain
* raises triglycerides (increases risk of heart disease)
* tricks your body into wanting to eat more
* affect regulation of food intake
* does not have any vitamins, minerals or enzymes; robs body of micronutrients

The deception in the industry is that they say it is the same as sugar. To the contrary; fructose converts to fat more rapidly than any other sugar.

In addition, unlike glucose, fructose does not stimulate insulin secretion or enhance leptin, a hormone thought to be involved in appetite regulation/production. Insulin and leptin aid in the regulation of food intake and body weight; this suggests that dietary fructose may contribute to increased food consumption and weight gain.

To get that message out, the campaign relies on nutritional research. But funding for many of the major studies in question came from companies with a financial stake in the outcome.

Out of the six studies on the Corn Refiners Association’s Web site that “Confirm High Fructose Corn Syrup [is] No Different From Sugar,” three were sponsored by groups that stand to profit from research that promotes HFCS. Two were never published, so their funding sources are unclear. And one was sponsored by a Dutch foundation that represents the interests of the sugar industry.

Pepsi funded one study. So did a D.C. based lobbying group that gets their money from food, chemical and drug companies. And the American Beverage Association gave a grant for another.
Sources:

* CBS News October 1, 2008

Feel free to leave a comment if you have any additional information concerning this topic or tune into our webinars for information on topics such as HFCS and other foods that have a negative impact on your health.

How to Make Your Own Sprouts

For many years now, proponents of “living” and raw food have claimed that sprouts, which are truly alive at the time of consumption, impart their energy and vitality to our system when we eat them.

Being that I am a busy Mom and business owner, I am not ready to convert to a completely raw diet but I try to incorporate as many vital foods into my families diet as possible.

Sprouts are an easy and effective way to do just that.

You can buy a simple sprout making set up form your local health food store for about $5. It will come with a jar, screens for rinsing and draining the sprouts and a breathable lid. Just follow the instructions that come with your kit and you should have a jar busting with sprouts in no time at all.

1. For smaller seeds such as alfalfa, broccoli and radish, you’ll need to use two tablespoons to grow enough sprouts that will fill a quart jar. For beans, grains and other larger seeds, you may need to use as much as two cups.
2. Rinse seeds well and place in a sprouter or jar that has a mesh top. Cover them with plenty of water and let them soak for 8 hours (for small seeds) or 12 hours (for large seeds) then drain well.
3. Follow the instructions for your sprouter and place it in the open air, out of direct sunlight. Let jar sprouters stand upside down so that moisture can continue to drain out. Rinse well every 8-12 hours until sprouts have reach their desired size.
4. After their final rinse, dry the sprouts at room temperature before eating them. If they are refrigerated and stored in a clean container or plastic bag that allows some air circulation, the sprouts should last for about three to seven days.

Please leave a comment below or write us and let us know how your sprout growing project turns out.

Your skin is your body’s external mirror reflecting your internal health.

Acne most commonly occurs in teens and young adults. The primary cause of acne is thought to be hormone turbulence and an over production of sebum. The presence of an excess of sebum on the skin creates a perfect environment for an incubation chamber to host acne causing bacteria. The sebum mixes with dead skin cells and plugs the hair follicles, and bacteria then grows in these plugged follicles.

Acne appears in the form of redness, swelling, obvious enlarged pores, blackheads and whiteheads. Over a period of time, if left untreated, scaring and pitting can occur on the skin’s surface. Blackheads are not cause by dirt, rather than when a follicle is plugged near the surface and the air touches it, it turns black.

Acne is most prevalent in teenagers, however is has been known to affect adults from 20-60. Common locations for acne are on the face, neck, chest and back.

Another known contribution to acne is an unhealthy lifestyle. At the forefront of lifestyle is stress… Stress along with a poor diet create toxins in the body and are stored in your organs. Your skin is the largest organ. Skin inflammation is a sign that your body has an excess of toxins.

Eating to much chocolate is a myth. Chocolate (real dark chocolate) is a powerful anti-oxidant and actually helps prevent acne. Some of the known food and beverage irritants for acne are:

• Alcohol
• coffee
• greasy foods
• spicy foods
• food allergies can lead to acne

At OVOL, we suggest holistic acne treatments. First and foremost, lets look at the nutrition. If you have a poor diet and want to make changes first try reducing the consumption of the above known irritants.

Secondly, add a quality multi-vitamin. Genewize Life Sciences is our favorite for several reasons. For a holistic acne treatment, Genewize is packed with anti-oxidants, phytochemicals, vitamins A, C, E, all of the Bs, folate, biotin, and zinc (just to name a few).

It is a whole food supplement which also contains a patented bioactive extract called AC-11 which does the following:

• reduces and repairs both oxidative damage and non-oxidative damage to DNA caused by stress, viruses and bacteria.
• anti-inflammatory
• Improves immune function

All of the above listed are benefits of AC-11 and will contribute towards reducing acne flare ups.

Top 3 Holistic Acne Treatments:

1. REDUCE STRESS
2. CHANGE YOUR DIET
3. ADD A QUALITY MULTI-VITAMIN

Now that you have learned who is affected by acne, potential causes, visual appearance and differant treatment options for acne, click on this link for additional information on acne products/treatments .

Millions of Dollars from BPA Manufacturer Funneled to FDA Panel Chair’s Employer

WASHINGTON – With yet another conflict of interest swirling around the Bush administration’s assessment of potential health risks from exposure to the toxic plastic chemical bisphenol-A (BPA), Environmental Working Group (EWG) has called on the FDA to halt all further work of the agency’s Science Board BPA subcommittee until a top-down investigation is concluded.

As reported on October 11 in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, BPA subcommittee chair and Science Board member Martin Philbert, Ph.D., failed to disclose to the FDA a $5 million gift from Charles Gelman, the retired head of Gelman Sciences, a medical device manufacturing company, to the University of Michigan Risk Science Center where Dr. Philbert serves as Acting Director….Read more.

Bottled water contains disinfection byproducts, fertilizer residue, and pain medication

October 2008

Authors: Olga Naidenko, PhD, Senior Scientist; Nneka Leiba, MPH, Researcher; Renee Sharp, MS, Senior Scientist; Jane Houlihan, MSCE, Vice President for Research

The bottled water industry promotes an image of purity, but comprehensive testing by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) reveals a surprising array of chemical contaminants in every bottled water brand analyzed, including toxic byproducts of chlorination in Walmart’s Sam’s Choice and Giant Supermarket’s Acadia brands, at levels no different than routinely found in tap water. Several Sam’s Choice samples purchased in California exceeded legal limits for bottled water contaminants in that state. Cancer-causing contaminants in bottled water purchased in 5 states (North Carolina, California, Virginia, Delaware and Maryland) and the District of Columbia substantially exceeded the voluntary standards established by the bottled water industry.

Unlike tap water, where consumers are provided with test results every year, the bottled water industry does not disclose the results of any contaminant testing that it conducts. Instead, the industry hides behind the claim that bottled water is held to the same safety standards as tap water. But with promotional campaigns saturated with images of mountain springs, and prices 1,900 times the price of tap water, consumers are clearly led to believe that they are buying a product that has been purified to a level beyond the water that comes out of the garden hose.

To the contrary, our tests strongly indicate that the purity of bottled water cannot be trusted. Given the industry’s refusal to make available data to support their claims of superiority, consumer confidence in the purity of bottled water is simply not justified.

Laboratory tests conducted for EWG at one of the country’s leading water quality laboratories found that 10 popular brands of bottled water, purchased from grocery stores and other retailers in 9 states and the District of Columbia, contained 38 chemical pollutants altogether, with an average of 8 contaminants in each brand. More than one-third of the chemicals found are not regulated in bottled water. In the Sam’s Choice and Acadia brands levels of some chemicals exceeded legal limits in California as well as industry-sponsored voluntary safety standards. Four brands were also contaminated with bacteria…Read More.

An NPR experiment on Kinoki foot pads tested to see if they’d drawn anything out of a reporter’s body.

Sarah Varney and her husband purchased some Kinoki foot pads in an experiment to test there authenticity.

The advertisement stated that if you put them on your feet and slept with them, in the morning the proof would be on the pad as illustrated to the right. The pads were in fact, as promised covered in the brown muck…

When Sarah took the samples to a lab and had them analyzed and compared with unused pads, the used pads were almost identical to the blank. Hmmmm…

Further experimentation showed that the “gunk” in the pads shows up if you hold the pad over a pot of boiling water. Who knew steam had “metabolic waste”?

The Kinoki foot pads — as well as other brands — promise to draw out everything from heavy metals to metabolic wastes, toxins, parasites, cellulite and more, to restore your vitality and health.

Beware of false claims for detoxification procedures. Consult a Naturopathic or Holistic Doctor for a complete consultation for the most effective treatments available.

For more complete details regarding this subject, click on this link:

http://articles.mercola.com/

For more valuable information about nutrition, organics and overall wellness awareness, sign up for our FREE Back To Basics Webinars. We provide easy and practical information that you can use to apply to your daily life. We believe that by taking the right steps, albeit small ones, can have a significant impact on our health.

They fill up fast, so sign up to be next in line.

Here at Organic Vitamins Organic Life we are not big fans of the processed food industry…for a number of different reasons. But I wanted to provide you with 5 solid reasons to limit the amount of processed foods in your diet.
I can safely assume that all of our readers have some sort of processed food in their daily diet since the average American spends about 90% of their food budget on processed foods.

1. Trans Fats - The Real Fat Substitute:
   • These are in all processed and fast foods
   • Linked to heart disease, cancer, digestive disorders, degeneration of joints and tendons, auto immune disease, skin problems, learning disabilities and stunted growth in children.
2. High Fructose Corn Syrup:
   • Increases your triglyceride levels and your LDL (bad) cholestorol within 60 minutes of ingestion
   • In 2005, if one looks at the actuarial curve on cardiovascular disease, obesity, hypoglycemia and diabetes, they all parallel HFCS increase in the food chain.
3. White Sugar:
   • Can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease.
   • Feeds cancer cells and has been connected with the development of cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, rectum, pancreas, lung, gall bladder and stomach.
4. Artificial Sweeteners
   • Can stimulate you appetite, increase carbohydrate cravings and stimulate fat storage and weight gain.
   • Drinking diet soda increases you risk of metabolic syndrome & heart disease.
5. MSG - Monosodium Glutamate:
   • Essentially is concentrated salt
   • Hidden in food labels under names like broth, casein, hydrolyzed, autolyzed, gelatin, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), yeast extract, malted barley, rice syrup or brown rice syrup…making it extremely difficult to identify.

For more valuable information about nutrition, organics and overall wellness awareness, sign up for our FREE Back To Basics Webinars. We provide easy and practical information that you can use to apply to your daily life. We believe that by taking the right steps, albeit small ones, can have a significant impact on our health.

They fill up fast, so sign up to be next in line.

The latest buzz word in the world of nutrition and supplements is DNA Guided Supplementation.

In 1990, the Human Genome Project was established. This massive project was spearheaded by the US Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health.

The projects goals were to generate a high-quality reference sequence and identify all human genes, as well as enhance computational resources to support future research and commercial applications.

This project is ongoing, but ultimately reached its goals in 2003.

“Within every human cell is an individual’s blueprint for life - their DNA. DNA contains the master information that is needed to construct and maintain the human body”

DNA breaks down into three small pieces:

• Chromosomes
• Genes
• Nucleotides

Nucleotides are the smallest unit of our DNA structure. Nucleotides are the building block of DNA and are less then one millionth of a millimeter in size.

If you were to look at the DNA of two completely different people, you would find that there is only a 0.9% variation between their individual DNA structures. It is within this 0.9% that determines who we are, what we look like and what makes us unique. Read more »

I first realized the difference between “Fragrance” and Essential Oils on a family vacation I took in Portland, ME.

Let me first start by saying that due to 22 years of exposure to a profession laden-ed with chemicals, my body has finally started displaying signs of intolerance.

The best example is the simple fact that my body responds with an allergic reaction response any time I encounter an atmosphere such as Yankee Candle, The Body Shop, or a “Perfumania” type store that uses synthetic fragrances.

Forget about the INSTANT and INTENSE headache I get if I get anywhere near a nail salon that uses acrylic nail applications!

Back to the Maine vacation… I walked into this privately owned “Perfumery”. I did not see the name of the business on the front; what I noticed was all of the fresh herbs that were adorning the front entryway. It drew me like a magnet. Read more »

This is a question I’ve asked myself a number of times so I have taken the time to find the answer…

Based on the information that I was able to find, my understanding is that organic pertains to how food is grown, whereas natural partains to how food is made/produced or processed. This is over simplifying the matter so allow me to explain further:

Organic and organic certification as defined by the National Organic Program (NOP) is:

Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic foods and other organic agricultural products. In general, any business directly involved in food production can be certified, including seed suppliers, farmers, food processors, retailers and restaurants. Requirements vary from country to country, and generally involve a set of production standards for growing, storage, processing, packaging and shipping that include:

• avoidance of most synthetic chemical inputs (e.g. fertilizer, pesticides, antibiotics, food additives, etc), genetically modified organisms, irradiation, and the use of sewage sludge;
• use of farmland that has been free from chemicals for a number of years (often, three or more);
• keeping detailed written production and sales records (audit trail);
• maintaining strict physical separation of organic products from non-certified products;
• undergoing periodic on-site inspections.

In some countries, certification is overseen by the government, and commercial use of the term organic is legally restricted. Certified organic producers are also subject to the same agricultural, food safety and other government regulations that apply to non-certified producers.

The NOP covers fresh and processed agricultural food products, including crops and livestock. It does not cover non-food products that may be sold as organic, including natural fibers (eg: organic cotton), and health and beauty products (eg: organic shampoo).

So, needless to say, it’s a good idea to buy organic whenever possible. Not only are you putting food that is safe into your body, you are supporting a more sustainable approach to farming.

Natural foods are foods that do not contain artificial ingredients and are minimally processed. They do not consist of ingredients such as refined sugars, refined flours, milled grains, hydrogenated oils, artificial sweeteners, artificial food colors, or artificial flavorings. You may find that some products will fall into both classifications which is all the better. But worst case, if you can’t buy organic, try to by natural.

In a perfect world, concerning yourself with these sorts of details would be unnecessary, but unfortunately this is our reality. We must be extremely cautious and continue to self educate about the in and outs of the food industry.

Our group is dedicated to providing you with the best information we can find about proper nutrition and healthy, sustainable living. We welcome comments and are always looking for folks who would like to contribute to our articles and webinars.

Please feel free to leave a comment.