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h skill or knowledge from the labor force. But all of this has significantly

1. Less fat and better fat…..Meat from grass fed animals has much less total fat, saturated fat and calories than corn fed beef. It also contains Omega-3’s which are created from cells in green plants and algae, an extremely important fatty acid believed to play a significant role in human brain cell growth. The Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio for corn fed cows is 20:1 while grass fed are only 3:1 This is virtually the same levels as fish and is considered ideal from a health standpoint. The high ratio in corn fed beef causes an essential fat imbalance which leads to a variety of health problems.

 1. Support your local farmers and economy and shop at your local Farmers Markets. Why buy truck ripened produce from 1500 miles away from your grocery store when you can get fresh, seasonal produce grown close to home at your Farmers Market??? There are so many wonderful Farmers Markets in San Diego almost every day of the week and most feature organic produce. Even if its not organic, many small farms are still pesticide free but cannot afford to become certified organic even though they use the same methods. There is a lot of paperwork and red tape to get through…..Get to know your local farmers and listen to what they have to say. I’d trust one of them over the USDA or FDA any day!!! Visit www.sdfarmbureau.org  to find a Farmers Market in your town.

2. Join a CSA….A CSA is a Community Supported Agriculture group. Basically you pay a monthly fee to a local farm which in turn they provide you with a box of their fresh seasonal bounty each week that you pick up from a specified location. Visit www.localharvest.org for a list of CSA’s in San Diego. Be Wise Organic Farm and Seabreeze are two wonderful farms……might have a waiting list though….

3. Choose organic whenever possible. Obviously we don’t want our children consuming any food treated with pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, which not only are bad for our bodies, but for our environment as well. This is especially important in dairy products. Dairy cows are commonly injected with growth hormones (RGBH) and antibiotics, which means their milk will contain these things……I don’t want my kids drinking that!!! Always buy organic dairy or at least find products that don’t contain these items. Chicken eggs as well… I want free range, CAGE FREE, organic fed birds that hopefully haven’t been abused…..I still don’t trust this system wholeheartedly, but its the best I can do for now until we get our own chicks for our backyard…..and yes you can do this too even if you live in a tract home in San Diego….

4. Choose grass fed beef over corn fed.  Grass is what cows are suppose to eat. They are ruminants and need to graze to maintain health. Eating corn is unnatural and unhealthy for their digestive systems. Thus they are injected with antibiotics and other drugs to prevent them from getting ill. Also because of the ph levels in their gut from all the corn, E-coli levels are much higher and more likely to end up on your plate. Meat from grass fed animals has less fat and actually contains Omega-3’s which are created from cells in green plants and algae, an extremely important fatty acid believed to play a significant role in human brain cell growth. By eating grass fed beef you will reduce your fat intake, eliminate added antibiotics and hormones, significantly reduce your chances of contracting E-coli and also increase your Omega3’s intake. (Not to mention the fact that your cow will have lived a happier longer life of 4-5 years on a farm eating a buffet of grass everyday, instead of living a miserable life in a feedlot being forced to eat corn only to be fattened up for slaughter in 14 months.)

5. Don’t buy farm raised fish. Most farm raised fish are fed a diet of grain (sometimes even dyed pink to simulate a shrimp diet). You want fish that feeds on a natural diet of, well, fish. Buying wild fish insures that the fish is doing what fish do, swim and eat in their natural habitat. Back to the Omega-3 issue….its only in fish that eat fish, algae or phytoplankton.

6. Bake bread once a week. Who doesn’t love the smell of fresh baked bread…..Baking bread is simple, and one of life’s greatest pleasures.  I have yet to find a loaf of bread in a store that doesn’t contain something I don’t want my kids to eat…..even fresh from the bakery, they still contain dough conditioners and sometimes even trans fats….Yuk!!! Not for my family…..I bake bread twice a week, and even as busy as I am, I still manage to find time…..It doesn’t take as long as most people think. I usually will pop a loaf in the oven after dinner and just wait for my kids to come running as soon as they smell it….It makes a great dessert as well, and guess what…..its only organic flours, organic sugar, sea salt, yeast and water……simple, natural and unadulterated goodness….

7. Eat a vegetarian meal once a week. Now that you are buying grass fed organic beef, wild fish and organic cage free chicken, your grocery bills will be higher. That’s OK, you get what you pay for and it is worth it……But a good way to combat that higher bill is to eat a veggie meal once or even twice a week…..I like to make homemade pastas and sauces with loads of veggies or I have some great frittata recipes. Make sure you have a protein, such as cheese, eggs or even grains such as quinoa.

8. Plant a garden. Grow and harvest your own fruits, veggies and herbs. Save money and get your kids involved. They love this…

9. Ban fast food. Please don’t let your kids eat this stuff…..its poison…..enough said

10. Cook a meal once a week with your children. Introduce them to the joys of cooking and you’ll be surprised at what they will eat……If they don’t like salad, have them make a salad with you and guess what…they will eat it and like it…..The other day my daughter and I were peeling potatoes, just talking about the days events and spending time together. I started thinking, most families don’t do this anymore…..It used to be mothers and daughters would prepare meals together and then do the dishes together, getting this time to communicate. Now with the invention of the dishwasher and microwave, this no longer happens in most households….its so sad, because the kitchen can be a wonderful place to bond…and of course learn basic life skills on how to cook and what to eat….

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For more info email info@captaincooksculinaryacademy.com ]]> http://www.captaincooksblog.com/2009/09/01/now-booking-fall-classes/feed/ http://www.captaincooksblog.com/2009/04/03/10-things-you-should-never-feed-your-kids-number-1/ http://www.captaincooksblog.com/2009/04/03/10-things-you-should-never-feed-your-kids-number-1/#comments Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:38:27 +0000 jon http://www.captaincooksblog.com/?p=813 Saturated and Trans Fat

The culprits - Before we begin I will say that fat in general gets a bad name, it is the major source of energy in the body aiding in the absorption of vitamins and minerals and in moderation is an essential part of a healthy diet. However we need to distinguish between good fat and harmful fat. Lets begin with giving some quick definitions of the four types of fats

Polyunsaturated - Good fat. Found in oily fish, grains and soybeans. Shown to reduce the risk of heart disease

Monounsaturated - Good fat. Found in canola oil, olive oil, whole grain wheat, nuts and avocados. Shown to reduce the amount of bad cholesterol( LDL) which causes hardening of the arteries. In addition there is strong evidence that these fats also raise the level of good cholesterol (HDL) which prevents plaque build up.

Saturated - Bad fat. Solid at room temperature, found in animal products such as dairy ( butter,milk,cheese), meat, chocolate and some oils. It raises the level of LDL which in turn can cause chronic heart disease which kills over 500,000 Americans each year. As it is such a big part of almost everything we eat it is very difficult to completely eliminate from our diet. The FDA has a recommended allowance of 20g a day which most Americans blow past daily. Butter has 7.2 g of saturated fat per tablespoon while whole milk has 5g per cup. As you can see it is possible to exceed your daily allowance before you even  leave the house in the morning. The solution is to identify the major offenders in your diet and begin to substitute safer options. Switch to low fat milk, soft margarine, grilled instead of fried, lean meat, skinless poultry etc.

Trans Fat- Very bad fat. Solid at room temperature. Trans fat is created by hydrogenating an unsaturated fat such as vegetable oil. This is a chemical process in which hydrogen is added creating a product which is more stable with an extended shelf life and a higher melting point. This makes the product very attractive for manufacturers of baked goods as it requires no refrigeration and is much cheaper than the traditional alternatives of butter and lard. Its stabilty also allows it to be used multiple times in deep frying without becoming rancid, an obvious advantage for fast food restaurants.

While partially hydrogenated oils have been around in one form another for a long time it is only over the last 10-15 years that compelling evidence has arisen as to how much of a health risk trans fat is. Not only does it increase the bad cholesterol LDL but actually lowers the level of good cholesterol HDL and a New England Journal of Medicine article from 2006 estimates that 30,000 - 100,000 people die of cardiac illness every year attributable to trans fat intake. Unlike other unsaturated fats it has no beneficial qualities at all and general consensus is that it is best to have none at all in your diet or at best trace amounts. Even the FDA has been unable to provide a recommended daily allowance.

The solution - Eliminate trans fat from your diet completely. Not as easy as it sounds. The newspapers are full of stories regarding countries, states and cities( most recently New York) which have a zero trans fat policy. This unfortunately does not mean that all products have zero trans fat as the FDA has ruled that any product which has a serving with less than 0.5g can be labelled as zero. A serving size may be 15 chips or one cookie so if each contains 0.49g trans fat and you are sitting down and eating 1/2 the bag you are consuming quite a bit more than your recommended daily allowance of zero. Look at all labels carefully, especially on any kind of baked goods.If you see partially hydrogenated oil in the ingredients then it definitely has trans fat in it, somewhere between 0.1g and 0.49g ,even with the zero trans fat announcement on the front of the package.

The culprits - Aspartame, Acesulfame K, Saccharin, Sucralose and Neotame. These are the FDA ‘approved’ sweeteners currently available under a plethora of trade names at your local supermarket. I say ‘approved’ because these additives fall within a category known as GRAS or Generally Recognized As Safe. This means that they have been considered safe to use by food industry experts and are therefore exempt from FDA tolerance requirements. From what I can see, that means that the FDA recognizes them as safe but accepts there may be some scientific evidence connecting some of these sweeteners with health risks, bladder cancer in particular. The fact that the GRAS can be ’self affirmed’ is a little unsettling to me. It means that the manufacturer of the product can deem it safe to use which the FDA can review and put in the FDA- Pending file or allow it through unchallenged with a No Comment approval.

You can find articles all over the internet discussing studies that link cancer and a host of other diseases and conditions to pretty much all of these sweeteners. Of all these products the two which should be on your hot list are Aspartame ( Nutrasweet and Equal) and Saccharin( Sweet’N Low). Both are deemed as safe by the FDA but both have a number of scientific reports linking them to cancer. In fact between 1980 and 2000 Saccharin was on the National Toxicology Program list as a carcinogen but removed as a later review of the supporting data was inconclusive. Aspartame is derived from aspartic acid and phenylalanine, two essential amino acids and has been linked to a number of ailments from headaches to depression and even seizures. One thing is certain is that it can have a negative effect on sufferers of PKU or phenylketonuria which is a metabolic disorder. As it is not possible to detect whether unborn children have PKU it is recommended that pregnant women stay away from Aspartame. By law all products sweetened with Aspartame must be labelled as containing phenylalanine. 

Clever labelling and promotion has allowed Splenda to also become a market leader in the artificial sweetener sector. It is FDA ‘approved’ as Sucralose which may lead people to believe that it is a recently discovered, long lost, low calorie cousin of sugar (sucrose). It was created accidentally whilst manufacturing pesticides and does in fact contain chlorine. It is however a long way from table sugar being seven hundred times sweeter . 

On an ironic note, the use of artificial sweeteners may actually cause weight increase due to the brain being unable to process that you just ate something sweet but no calories arrived in the body resulting in the brain not being able to control appetite leading to people eating more.

The solution -As we have discussed in several of the previous posts both the USDA and FDA have approved additives, hormones, antibiotics and other adulterants which although banned in many other countries continue to be used widely even with agency acknowledgement that they are categorically harmful to your health.This leads me to believe that these broken, possibly corrupt agencies are not looking after our best interests.If you are willing to accept FDA approval of chemicals that have been tested and deemed safe by the same people who manufacture them then keep using them. If you are suspicious of chemicals that may or may not cause cancer and other health problems then I would err on the side of caution and buy products sweetend with cane or beet sugar and if possible choose organic.       

http://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/hotnews/fda-notification-gras-stevia-purecircle.html

The culprits - Penicillin, Tetracycline, Erythromycin… Sound familiar? They should. The livestock industry uses the same antibiotics that we administer to ourselves and our children to combat a host of different infections. Over 70% of all antibiotics produced in the US ( around 25 million tons) are given to farm animals.

The problems - One of the big differences is that we generally only take antibiotics under prescription when we are sick whereas the livestock industry administers them non therapeutically which means they are given to prevent illness. A benefit of this is an increased growth rate, presumably because the animals spend less energy fighting off bacteria and spend more energy growing. Another benefit is that animals can be kept in dirty, cramped conditions with less chance of the spread of potentially fatal diseases. The major downside is that this practise results in the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria developing within the animals system. When the animal is slaughtered these ’super bacteria’ are ingested by us humans and unless killed during the cooking process have the potential to make us ill. Once ill we are prescribed the appropriate antibiotic which may be ineffective against these resistant strains. The research behind this is extensive and these findings are well supported which is why the EU banned non therapeutic antibiotic use in 1998. Many agencies including the World Health Organization, The American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association have repeatedly pushed for banning this practise. The World Organization for Animal Health concluded ” here is clear evidence of adverse human health consequences [ from agricultural use of antibiotics including...] infections that would not have otherwise occurred, increased frequency of treatment failures ( in some cases death) and increased severity of infections.” 

Another recent finding is that these resistant bacteria are being found in fruits and vegetables due to their presence in the animal manure used for fertilizing. Even Organic produce has been affected as there is no USDA requirement that any manure used needs to come from organic livestock. The Dole Spinach food poisoning case of 2 years ago was linked to run off from a nearby cattle ranch.

Consumption of the antibiotics themselves is also a problem. The body is equipped with antibodies that are designed to attack incoming bacteria as part of the immune defense system. If there are constant levels of antibiotics in the bloodstream from the consumption of treated meat then the antibodies are basically ‘unemployed’ which is the basis of what is known as the ‘ hygiene theory’. The antibodies then begin to attack the protein in food which may serve to explain why the numbers of children with food allergies has tripled in the past 10 years.

The FDA has been trying to impose a ban on non therapeutic antibiotic use since the late 1970’s but as has been the case with most of the issues brought up in previous posts it seems unable to impose the same restrictions as the rest of the world due to the agriculture and drug lobby. In 2008 the FDA issued this statement prohibiting the use of these antibiotics and saying they would be banned effective Oct 1st 2008. ” We are issuing this order based on evidence that extralabel use of these drugs in food producing animals will likely cause an adverse event in humans and as such presents a risk to the public health”. By Nov 25th the ban was revised to allow more time to review comments. Apparently after 30 years of covincing evidence the jury is still out.

The solutions - EAT ORGANIC. Organic meat has no preservatives, antibiotics or growth hormones. In addition several chicken producers have labelling that says no antibiotics which is a better choice if organic is absolutely out of the budget.

The culprits - Oestradiol, Progestorone, Testosterone, Zeranol, Trenbolone and Melengestrol. Although they may sound like the contents of A-Rods lunch box there is a good chance that everyone reading this will have consumed some or all of these steroids today if they have eaten any beef. 

The problems -The Fda approved the use of these 6 HGP’s ( hormone growth promotants)   It is estimated that 80% of all cattle and sheep are treated with these chemicals which promote growth, weight gain and redistribution of fat which makes for leaner meat. The health effects on humans is extensive. These natural and synthetic hormones are linked to increasingly early puberty in girls which has been on the rise for the past 50 years. The European Union has not approved them and US beef has been banned for sale in Europe since 1988. One particular hormone Estradiol 17 has been classified as a “complete carcinogen” by the EU which means it has both tumor initiating and tumor promoting effects.

A sinister side effect of their use is that a large amount of these hormones enters rivers and streams through their presence in the manure of the animal. This has been shown to cause changes in the aquatic life with male fish exhibiting female characteristics and vice versa. 

Another chemical compound allowed by the FDA has been in the news recently. Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH or rBST ) is a synthetic version of Bovine Somatropin which is the hormone responsible for milk production. To highlight it’s effectiveness consider this, a dairy cow in the 1950’s produced on average 5300 lbs of milk per year but today that total is over 18,000 lb’s. The estimate is that around a third of all dairy cattle are treated with this product. Once again this hormone is banned in the European Union, Canada, Japan and Australia because  it increases IGF 1 an insulin like growth factor which in high levels has been linked with colon, breast and prostate cancers.

Currently there is only one company approved by the FDA to supply rBST in the US and that is Elanco who sell it under the trade name of Posilac having bought it from Monsanto in 2008. It is estimated that the additional profit from using this product is equal to $100 per cow per year. Considering that there are approximately 10 million cows in the US translates to some big profits and a powerful lobby.

The solutions - Buy dairy products which are USDA organic which certifes that they contain no hormones and are now available in almost every national supermarket. Additionally new labelling has been introduced on milk and cheese recently which states that ” this product contains no rBST”.

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The culprits- Food colorings or E numbers as they are known in Europe are used simply to make the food we eat more attractive. They are used to even out natural color variations, enhance natural coloration and in many cases change the food color completely. Wonder what makes Cheeto’s that appetizing orange color? Thats Sunset Yellow. Red Vines? Thats Allura Red. The Federal Drug and Cosmetic Act gives the FDA the power to approve and oversee the usage of all artificial food coloring of which there are seven. 

• FD&C Blue No1 - Brilliant Blue - Petroleum derivative- used in icing, jelly, drinks,candies etc etc -  Banned in a number of countries as a known carcinogen
• FD&C Blue No 2 - Indigotine - Disodium sulphonate of indigo- used in baked goods, cereals, snack food - Banned in a number of countries as a known carcinogen
• FD&C Green No3 - Fast Green - Petroleum derivative - used in beverages, ice cream, candy - Banned in a number of countries as a known carcinogen
• FD&C Red No 40 - Allura Red - Petroleum derivative - Snack food, baked goods, condiments - Banned in a number of countries as a known carcinogen
• FD&C Red No 3 - Erythrosine - Petroleum derivative - Candy, processed cherries, baked goods - Banned in a number of countries as a known carcinogen
• FD&C Yellow No 5 - Tartrazine - Petroleum derivative - Custard, ice cream, cereals - Banned in a number of countries as a known carcinogen
• FD&C Yellow No 6 - Sunset Yellow - Petroleum derivative - Cereals, snack foods, beverages - Banned in a number of countries as a known carcinogen

The solutions - The presence of food coloring can be pretty obvious. There are very few naturally occurring blue foods or bright pink or purple for that matter. It’s surprising however what other types of food are colored to make them appear fresher or more appetizing. Oranges are frequently dyed to make them more orange, farmed salmon is grey because it does not eat the crustaceans that its wild cousins eat that provide the pink color so a dye is added to its food. Butter is dyed to make it more yellow, glace cherries are naturally brown which would certainly upset the aesthetics of your cocktail. These colorants are going to be found in the same processed foods which contain many of the other ingredients previously discussed in this series. The science will always be out as to the harm done by these products because the studies funded by the food companies will always cast a shadow of doubt. In summary, if its bright pink/ blue/purple/yellow and can survive a nuclear winter it’s probably not good for you. There is a reason why most of this stuff is banned around the world.