K.A. Thomas's Blog, page 3

Green Superfoods

It’s time to go green! Green Superfoods should be at the top your list, specifically in today’s era with all the chemical ridden and processed foods that are being consumed by the average consumer. Why? Green Superfoods are packed with mega concentrations of fat burning compounds, very easily digestible nutrients, amazing sources of vitamins and

Health Risks Associated With Energy Drinks

Energy drinks are one of the worst drinks to be consumed and yet our children still drink them like it’s fresh water. Energy drinks such as Monster producer has had numerous deaths reported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. These energy drinks contain large amounts of caffeine –approximately three times found in a regular

Organic Food Can Save Your Life

We all know that organic foods are often more expensive but obviously healthier due to not containing any of the harmful chemicals. But did you know that eating organically could  possibly save your life? Take it from Bob Neapolitan of Youngstown, Ohio which is now cancer free. Yes, you heard me right, “Cancer Free”! Bob

6 Amazing Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar has more uses than just salad dressing — it can improve health and help with a host of ailments. The health benefits to AVC or Apple Cider Vinegar are endless and has shown promise in help fight diabetes, heart health, cancer, high cholesterol, weight loss, and even used as a folk remedy

No-Fat Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins

I recommend you double this recipe which makes only 12 muffins.   Use silicone muffin cups–the muffins will slip right out. Couldn’t be easier. Recipe adapted from Cathy Fisher’s Straight Up Food blog Ingredients: 5 plump medjool dates, pitted & chopped 1/4 cup golden raisins (yes, golden) 1/2 cup warm water 1 3/4 cup rolled oats

Know Your Disease & Longevity Risk With The Telomere Test

Would it not be amazing if you could find out just how at risk you are for disease and longevity? I know I would personally want to know if the facts were  accurate. Well there is a new company in town called “Telome Health” and they are becoming very close to launching one of the

The Worst Foods You Can Eat! You Might Be Surprised!

Some of the worst foods that the average person consumes on a regular basis is described in the Video. It’s unfortunate that our nutritional values have stooped so low due to our fast pace environment and not having time to sit around the time with our family like in the good old days! We might

Avocado Chicken Salad

Well besides being the perfect salad, it’s also extremely healthy for you. This recipe is sure to be a great hit with the family.

Avocado Chicken Salad

As we all know the benefits of adding avocado to meals is endless. Avocado’s provide 20 essential nutrients, they are rich in healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (such as omega-3  fatty acids), vitamin A,C,K,E and the B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid,

biotin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12 and folate. Wow! Now that is a packed punched salad.

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded organic chicken

1 avocado

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tsp lime juice

1 tsp fresh cilantro

1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt

Directions:

Mix ingredients together

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and serve.

Enjoy!

Cancer in a Can: The Truth about Pringles

If you believe that Pringles and other reputable chip brands come from actual potatoes in any way, then you are being deceived and do not understand

Cancer In A Can: The True Story Of Pringles

the whole truth.

The Pringles Company (in an effort to avoid taxes levied against “luxury foods” like chips in the UK) once even argued that the potato content of their chips was so low that they are technically not even potato chips.

So if they’re not made with potatoes, what are they actually made with?

Here is the process:

It begins with a slurry of rice, wheat, corn and potato flakes which are pressed into shape. This dough-like substance is then rolled out into an ultra-thin sheet cut into chip cookies by a machine.

According to io9:

“The chips move forward on a conveyor belt until they’re pressed onto molds, which give them the curve that makes them fit into one another.

Those molds move through boiling oil … Then they’re blown dry, sprayed with powdered flavors, and at last, flipped onto a slower-moving conveyor belt in a way that allows them to stack.

From then on, it’s into the cans … and off towards the innocent mouths of the consumers.”

I suspect nearly everyone reading this likely enjoys the taste of potato chips. However, they are clearly one of the most toxic processed foods you can eat—whether they’re made from actual potato shavings or not.

Cancer – Causing Chemical are loaded in Potato Chips

One of the most hazardous ingredients in potato chips is not intentionally added, but rather is a byproduct of the processing.

Acrylamide, a cancer-causing and potentially neurotoxic chemical, is created when carbohydrate-rich foods are cooked at high temperatures, whether baked, fried, roasted or toasted. Some of the worst offenders include potato chips and French fries, but many foods cooked or processed at temperatures above 212°F (100°C) may contain acrylamide. As a general rule, the chemical is formed when food is heated enough to produce a fairly dry and brown/yellow surface. Hence, it can be found in:

·         Potatoes: chips, French fries and other roasted or fried potato foods

·         Grains: bread crust, toast, crisp bread, roasted breakfast cereals and various processed snacks

·         Coffee; roasted coffee beans and ground coffee powder. Surprisingly, coffee substitutes based on chicory actually contains 2-3 times MORE acrylamide than real coffee

How Much Acrylamide are You Consuming?

The federal limit for acrylamide in drinking water is 0.5 parts per billion, or about 0.12 micrograms in an eight-ounce glass of water. However, a six-ounce serving of French fries can contain 60 micrograms of acrylamide, or about FIVE HUNDRED times over the allowable limit.

Similarly, potato chips are notoriously high in this dangerous chemical. So high, in fact, that in 2005 the state of California actually sued potato chip makers for failing to warn California consumers about the health risks of acrylamide in their products. A settlement was reached in 2008 when Frito-Lay and several other potato chip makers agreed to reduce the acrylamide levels in their chips to 275 parts per billion (ppb) by 2011, which is low enough to avoid needing a cancer warning label.

The 2005 report “How Potato Chips Stack Up: Levels of Cancer-Causing Acrylamide in Popular Brands of Potato Chips,” issued by the California-based Environmental Law Foundation (ELF), spelled out the dangers of this popular snack. Their analysis found that all potato chip products tested exceeded the legal limit of acrylamide by a minimum of 39 times, and as much as 910 times! Some of the worst offenders at that time included:

·         Cape Cod Robust Russet: 910 times the legal limit of acrylamide

·         Kettle Chips (lightly salted): 505 times

·         Kettle Chips (honey dijon): 495 times

Beware: Baked Chips May Be WORSE than Fried!

If you think you can avoid the health risks of potato chips by choosing baked varieties, which are typically advertised as being “healthier,” think again. Remember that acrylamide is formed not only when foods are fried or broiled, but also when they are baked. And according to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) data on acrylamide levels in foods, baked chips may contain more than three times the level of acrylamide as regular chips!

Interestingly, the same trend holds true for other foods, too, which suggests that baking processed potatoes at high temperature may be one of the worst ways to cook them. For instance, according to the FDA’s data, Ore Ida Golden Fries contained 107 ppb of acrylamide in the regular fried version and 1,098 when baked. So remember, ALL potato chips contain acrylamide, regardless of whether they are natural or not; baked or fried. Likewise, they will ALL influence your insulin levels in a very negative way.

Acrylamide is Not the Only Danger

Acrylamide is not the only dangerous geno-toxic compound formed when food is heated to high temperatures.

A three-year long EU project, known as Heat-Generated Food Toxicants (HEATOX), whose findings were published at the end of 2007, found there are more than 800 heat-induced compounds, of which 52 are potential carcinogens. In addition to their finding that acrylamide does pose a public health threat, the HEATOX scientists also discovered that you’re far less likely to ingest dangerous levels of the toxin when you eat home-cooked foods compared to industrially or restaurant-prepared foods.

Additionally, the HEATOX findings also suggest that although there are ways to decrease exposure to acrylamide, it cannot be eliminated completely.

According to their calculations, successful application of all presently known methods would reduce the acrylamide intake by40 percent at the most—which makes me wonder whether chip manufacturers have really succeeded at this point in reducing acrylamide levels to within legal limits… There’s no updated data as of yet, so there’s no telling whether they’ve been able to comply with the 2005 settlement.

For more in-depth information about acrylamide, I recommend reading the online report Heat-generated Food Toxicants, Identification, Characterization and Risk Minimization.  In general however, just remember that cooking food at high temperatures is ill advised. A few of the most well-known toxins created in high-temperature cooking include:

·         Heterocyclic Amines (HCAs): These form when meat is cooked at high temperatures, and they’re also linked to cancer. In terms of HCA, the worst part of the meat is the blackened section, which is why you should always avoid charring your meat, and never eat blackened sections.

·         Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs): When fat drips onto the heat source, causing excess smoke, and the smoke surrounds your food, it can transfer cancer-causing PAHs to the meat.

·         Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs): When food is cooked at high temperatures (including when it is pasteurized or sterilized), it increases the formation of AGEs in your food. When you eat the food, it transfers the AGEs into your body. AGEs build up in your body over time leading to oxidative stress, inflammation and an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and kidney disease

How to Avoid Heat-Induced Toxins in Your Diet

Ideally you should be falling the 80/20 rule. 80% organic and nutritious and 20% or sugary foods. The more raw food the better. It may take a while to switch over and leave the processed food world but your body will love you for it.

You can start by just taking a few out of your diet such as:

French fries and potato chips

All sodas

Doughnuts

Remember, eating fresh whole foods is the “secret” to getting healthier, losing weight and really enjoying your food. It’s unfortunate that so many are under the mistaken belief that it’s “next to impossible” to create a meal without processed foods.

Try and change at least 1 to 3 things this week and then just continue. I dare you!!

Source: mercola.com

Image: aimeedevlin.com

Evito Ramparte Rejects Chemo, Overcomes Ovarian Cancer With Nutrition

Evita Ramparte paid a visit to her doctor due to her severe and constant pain which revealed a serious case of ovarian cancer.  Upon diagnosis she was    told that chemotherapy, surgery and radiation were the options that were the best route to recovery. Evito was not convinced.     

Instead of choosing the traditional western medicine methods that so many are pressured into, she opted to use an approach that revolved around changing her lifestyle and nutrition habits – ones that cleaned and cured her cancer which the doctors said could not truly be cured.

Evita took an alternative approach and began a regiment of the Gerson Institute style juicing which by altering her diet from the high processed and sugary foods to a high intake of nutrious juicing at home made all the difference in the world to her body.

She explains that this method of juicing allowed her to remove around 16 stones from her gallbladder which are made up of toxins.

This new lifestyle made her look at life in a whole new way, by experiencing the results of looking and feeling healthier not only physically but mentally.

Research has proven time and time again that what you eat DOES truly affect and contribute to your physical appearance. Juicing and eating nutrient rich foods and superfoods for that matter can literally enhance your overall beauty in everyway possible.

Most beauty products on the market are loaded with toxic chemicals yet we still apply them in large amounts on a regular basis and these chemicals do attribute to cancer. As does hair dyes, treatments and any other chemicals we apply to the skin or scalp.

This is truly a wonderful story of one women taking a stand to the medical community and making her own choice on choosing a natural healthy therapy that is proven to work, time and time again.

Source – Holistic Voice