Yearly Archives: 2012

Birke Reports – Don’t Let Cooking Oils Fool You

...by Food Babe

Thank you for following along with my travels on Facebook… I’ll be back soon, but in the meantime I have a special guest post from one of the most inspirational people I met this year – 13 year old – local food and organic farming advocate – Birke Baehr. If this is the first time you are learning about Birke – you’ve got to check out his TED Talk and his new book “Birke On the Farm” – especially if you have kids. I am super proud to call him one of my friends and who knows he might just become a regular around here…so watch out, he’s a firecracker!

First of all, I’d like to thank Food Babe for inviting me to be a guest on her blog, I’m very excited! We have been talking about working together and I really like hearing about her ideas and recent adventures.

I’d like to start by sharing with you a certain line of products that have popped up in my local “healthy” supermarket. The day after Christmas I was shopping and noticed a large display in the middle of the aisle. Spectrum, a well known brand of organic oils and cooking products has introduced some new products. My family has bought Spectrum coconut oil and some of their other organic oils because they have such an extensive line of organic products. But, what caught my eye that day was this whole new line of products they have introduced. They’re canola oil blends and it seems that they have mixed non-organic canola oil with coconut, peanut, and olive oil just to name a few.

Birke

Now for those of you who don’t know canola oil is…

“It is widely recognized as the healthiest salad and cooking oil available to consumers.” (But it is not!) It was developed through hybridization of rapeseed. Rapeseed oil is toxic because it contains significant amounts of a poisonous substance called erucic acid. Although canola oil contains only trace amounts of erucic acid it is also one of the top 4 genetically modified crops. You can read more about the history of canola and how it is a big con here.

Spectrum is owned by Hain-Celestial Group; which probably has the largest conglomerate of well known organic brands such as: Arrowhead Mills, Celestial Seasonings, Rice, Soy, and Almond Dream, and the Garden of Eatin’ just to name a few. In 1999 the H.J. Heinz Corporation bought 19.5% of the company but then sold their stock in 2005.
Continue reading →

Sending Love From Peru!

...by Food Babe

Spending the holidays in Peru has been pure magic. Whatever you are celebrating this end of year… I hope it is just as magical.

IMG 6163

I am forever grateful for your readership. Your support and love gives me so much more than you can imagine. Thank you.

I’ll be back to blogging soon…In the meantime, please follow me on Facebook where I am sharing moments from my journey. Until then…

Muah!

Food Babe

Is Your Protein Shake Safe?

...by Food Babe

Protein shakes, powders, and supplements are incredibly popular with the health conscious crowd. Considering what typical protein shakes promise – sleek muscles, weight loss and a quick, easy “healthy” meal replacement – it’s logical to see why. Unfortunately, the food industry is making an absolute killing (maybe literally) selling ones that are filled with highly processed denatured proteins, chemicals, preservatives and other additives. There’s one thing in common for all of them – they are all processed and deciding on whether or not they are actually “real food” comes into question. Now not all processed things we put in our body are technically bad for us – but understanding what exactly is in your protein shake is critical to deciding whether to consume it, select an alternative, or discontinue use all together.

Below is a summary chart of the ingredients in popular protein shakes and powders:

Protein Shake Ingredients to Avoid - by Food Babe on 100 Days of Real Food”?” indicates protein supplement has not been tested or proven to have that specific ingredient

GET INFORMED

We’ve discussed GMO’s here, Artificial Colors here, Carrageenan here, Antibiotics here, and rBGH here before so I won’t go into them again in detail specifically. Regardless, you should know consuming a protein drink with any of those ingredients is a risk to your health and if you don’t know why – please read up on those past posts to learn more.

NOT CERTIFIED ORGANIC

I should also mention that none of the protein brands listed here (Body by Vi, Slim Fast, Designer Whey, EAS Myoplex, Shakeology, Special K, Ensure, Isogen, Pure Protein, Herbalife, Atkins, Gatorade Recovery, Vega, and Muscle Milk) are certified organic nor are they Non-GMO project certified. That means all of them might contain GMOs and most definitely contain pesticides that are considered harmful and potentially toxic with long-term exposure. This increased exposure is linked to birth defects, nerve damage, and even cancer. The President’s Cancer Panel has urged us not to consume food sprayed with pesticides and doesn’t believe any amount is safe. Because of this reason, I can’t imagine willingly wanting to spend a serious chunk of change (protein shakes are expensive!) to buy any of these listed products as a way to help build muscle, lose weight or replace a meal.

IS YOUR PROTEIN DRINK SAFE? Hmmm…NOT WITH THESE INGREDIENTS:

Heavy Metals

Consumer Reports conducted an eye-opening investigation that revealed several protein powders contain heavy metals – specifically arsenic, cadmium, and lead. EAS Myoplex tested for two heavy metals in higher amounts than the USP limit of exposure per day. Muscle Milk had the highest of all levels of all brands tested.

Here’s an excerpt taken from the Consumer Reports investigation on Protein Powders:

To Continue Reading click here

The Healthiest Protein Powders On the Market

...by Food Babe

Years ago, I started adding a very delicious vanilla whey protein to my smoothies that I got from GNC. I was religious about using this one brand, and when they suddenly discontinued it, I became outraged!  I called every GNC in town searching high and low for it. It was the best tasting whey protein on the market and I didn’t want to go on a hunt for another kind. Well… long story short, I got to the botttom of why they discontinued it – the health department found rat droppings in samples of the protein at the manufacturing plant! WHAT. I’d been drinking rat droppings for all those years? @#$%&%&*^%^$$!

Needless to say, I have never looked at protein powders the same again. I research the heck out of them before I ever consider putting them in my body.

The key to finding a high quality protein powder is figuring out the right questions to ask…. Is it organic and free of pesticides? Is it GMO free? How is it processed? Does the processing retain it’s nutritional quality, vitamins and minerals? Does it contain artificial or refined sugars? Do they have heavy metals?

Yes…I said heavy metals. Consumer Reports conducted an eye-opening investigation that revealed that several popular highly processed protein powders like Myoplex, Muscle Milk, Designer Whey and GNC brand all contained arsenic, cadmium, and lead. Yikes.
Continue reading →

Memorable Meals in Miami

...by Food Babe

Vani at Design Miami

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a special VIP trip with the Mint Museum of Art for Art Basel and the many art fairs going on around the city of Miami… they say this is the best week to be in Miami and that I tell ya…  is the absolute truth!  I love contemporary art and design, but never thought I would grow so much deeper in love with it. This trip opened up a whole new world to me that I could have never imagined and I can’t thank the Mint Museum of Art enough for inviting me and my husband to be part of such a awe-inspiring week.
Continue reading →