GRAINS

Good: eat whole grains and quit eating white flour.

Better: eat soaked whole grains (this requires planning a little ahead, as my cousin noted).

Best: eat sprouted, raw nuts, seeds, and grains.

SWEETENERS

(Note that I am uneasy about fructose, xylitol, “organic sugar,” or dehydrated cane juice crystals—ways to spend extra money on refined options that really aren’t much better.  They’re maybe a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10, whereas sugar/corn syrup are a 1.  So I don’t even include them in the “good” category.)

Good (4 on a 1-10 scale): use Sucanat and honey and real maple syrup instead of refined sugar and corn syrup.  They have a high glycemic index but also good nutrients and are not terribly acidic like refined sugars.

Better (7 on a 1-10 scale): use raw agave and stevia and molasses.  They have higher nutrition and lower impact on blood sugar.

Best (10 on a 1-10 scale): use little or no concentrated sweeteners, just fruit and dates as treats or sweeteners.  They are high in fiber, lower in sugar, and highest in nutrition.

Your body and spirit will tell you when you’re ready to transition to the next level.  If everything in you is resisting the “best” levels, then start with “good” and congratulate yourself, for now, rather than anguishing or beating yourself up.

I want to talk about good, better, and best in nutrition.  I got an email yesterday from my cousin who said that the idea of soaking/sprouting grains in advance is overwhelming to her.  She probably read my three-part blog on phytates in whole grains.

If my cousin’s comment describes you, then don’t worry about it!  Some of my readers (group #1) are mostly raw, longtime vegans.  Some eats lots of plant food (group #2) and consider themselves “healthy eaters” but are struggling to get off processed food and meat.  Many of my readers, though, (group #3) are eating the SAD (standard American diet)—they know they don’t feel good, they want to change, but they’re starting with limited knowledge and most of the information on GreenSmoothieGirl.com is new to them.

If you are in group #3, know this: you are who I think about every time I write.  If I can help you climb to a better place, my mission with this site is being accomplished!  That’s not to say I’m not keenly interested in group #1 and #2 also, because I am, but those folks are already on a good path.

Group #3, the big thing is to DO WHAT YOU CAN DO.  Bestselling author Stephen R. Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People) once said something like, “The main thing is to always make the main thing the main thing.”  Let’s not get sidelined with fear about this or that or the other thing.  If you see someone from group #1 or #2 asking questions on this site you’re not ready for, just file it away.  The MAIN THING is to get more plant-based food, especially raw, especially vegetables, especially greens!  More this month than you did last month.

The main thing isn’t in the details—or the fact that we make mistakes.  (You and me both!)  Get on the path and just put one foot in front of the other and DON’T QUIT.

Tomorrow: good, better, and best for GRAINS and SWEETENERS.

I just met this cute blonde mom named Mary Jane, who was telling my friend about her little boy’s chronic ear infection that multiple courses of antibiotics just can’t eliminate.  She was saying that her son’s “cold” just keeps going—six weeks now of constant, thick mucous.

I sometimes just can’t believe that no pediatrician will do ANYTHING for an ear infection besides nuke it with antibiotics.  Limiting your practice to systemic drugs that hurt more than help . . . well, I guess you’d be a pariah in the community of M.D.s if you did anything different.  Oh, and also insurance companies wouldn’t pay.  (Minor detail, how could I forget?)

And yet their own medical journals are clear that more than 80 percent of ear infections are viral.  Therefore, more than 4 times out of 5, antibiotics won’t do a bit of good.  But they don’t have a clue if it’s that 1 in 5, so they give you an antibiotic because . . . well, that’s all they know how to do.

(I’m not trying to be mean.  I used to ask pediatricians point-blank: “Do you have any way to help me besides an antibiotic prescription?” and the answer is simply, NO.)

And even if it was a bacterial infection that isn’t antibiotic-resistant, with just one dose, you’ve wiped out ALL the healthy flora in the entire gastrointestinal tract.  That’s what was standing between your little one and the NEXT infection.  So now the little guy is down for the count, just waiting for the next bug to come along when he has no resistance.

I administered my last course of antibiotics well over a decade ago.  Moving on to natural treatments that work WITH instead of AGAINST the body has been so liberating that I just want to tell perfect strangers about it!

#1: Eliminate dairy products and refined sugar/flour.  (That all by itself might be enough to say goodbye to infections forever.)

#2:  Use warmed garlic/mullein drops in the ear (in an olive oil base) that you can get at a health food store.

#3:  Colloidal silver: get some and administer a spoonful three times a day for a week or two.

#4:  See if you can get something like my friend Charlene’s Anti-Plague formula (801) 785-0943 for locals.  She’s an herbologist and makes a batch once a year, so you get waitlisted for the fall.  The stuff is AMAZING, works on anything but the stomach bug every time I’ve used it.  (But can you stand the kid’s garlic breath for 12 hours after?)  If you can’t get it, find something similar featuring garlic, mullein and other herbs, and apple cider vinegar. 

#5: See if you can get that kid to drink LOTS of water!

#6:  Use ear candles.  They draw the wax out of the ear gently (most children and adults will enjoy this treatment) and get the fluids behind the ear drum moving and draining.  I believe this is a Latin American tradition, and you can get ear candles in a health food store.  I’m sure you can get instructions online (too lengthy for this post).  My daughter’s pediatrician even endorsed ear candling and said it works when I told her we did it.

#6: If you’re frustrated reading this because you’ve already done the antibiotics and are in Mary Jane’s position, all is not lost.  Give your child good, homemade kefir or yogurt (in my recipes) every day—no sugar added, please—and you can rebuild a healthy colony of good bacteria in about 30 days.

#7: This one will take more effort, but getting a massage therapist trained in cupping therapy is worth whatever she might charge!  (I pay $35 for 60-90 mins. and will give a referral to anyone in Utah County.)  It physically drains the lymph system, starting behind the ear, and I have done it several times with incredibly fast, effective results.

#8  If you do want to use medical treatment, I actually believe that the simple ear-tube surgery (no general anaesthesia, 15 min. procedure) is much less invasive and harmful than ONE round of antibiotics.  And it’s actually very effective for most children, although you should keep their heads out of the water, which is hard if your kids like to swim or take baths.

Tonight my 14-yr. old son Kincade was reading a newspaper comic called “A Doctor, A Lawyer, and A Cop” and started laughing, handed it to me.

The kid is saying, “But PLEASE, Mom, you don’t understand how important it is for me to have a pair of new sneakers.”  The mom replies, “Or what?! Your friends might see you as someone who is indifferent to whatever happens to be ‘cool’ from one week to the next?”  The boy, shocked, says, “Oh, my goodness . . . you DO understand how important it is.”

Irony and sarcasm are lost on the boy in the comic strip.  I think Kincade “gets it,” even though just the day before, we’d had a conversation about why we can’t just eat a lot of junk food like all his friends.  He does get tired of kids saying, “What IS that?!” when he gets his baggie of cut-up bell peppers and pears out (along with whole-wheat sandwiches).  Even worse are the looks and teasing he gets when he slugs down a green smoothie at the baseball field in front of the guys.

My friend R.J. (26-year old bodybuilder) harangued me for 20 mins. today about how my son’s masculinity will be at risk if I don’t start feeding him steaks.  R.J. saw Cade (5’10″ and 145 lbs.) when we were all at the gym recently and told him, “Dude.  Anytime you want, give me call and I’ll get you a steak at Outback.  TWO steaks.”

Sometimes the pressure of the larger culture is daunting.  I don’t feel like educating everyone in my path, since most of them aren’t interested anyway.  (So I just joke around with R.J.  I told him Kincade’s friends have a tendency to quit laughing when he knocks the ball over the fence or strikes out three guys in a row.)  Also, when my son does something good (in front of others) despite that good thing not being “mainstream” or “popular,” he may be actually learning some really important life skills that transcend just food.  It’s not like I’m sending him to school with black pants 4 inches too short, with white socks.  There’s a POINT to what I’m doing.  I can tell you that some people who were making fun of me 10 years ago are now doing anything and everything I suggest, because they’re sick and tired of being sick and tired.

We just have to remind ourselves that we’re doing this with enlightenment, education, a sense of purpose, and (for many of us) the guidance of prayer and inspiration.  And a sense of humor and balance.  (Still, that overused saying “all things in moderation” doesn’t mean to eat poisons in moderation–it means to eat GOOD things in moderation.  I have to admit I said this to R.J. when he pulled that one out.  I mean, a “moderate” amount of arsenic is still certain death.)

So my son wants to eat junk food in front of his friends?  Awesome.  I can do that.  Today I served hot dogs.  Nobody needs to know that they were veggie dogs on sprouted-wheat buns (both store-bought), with homemade raw sauerkraut made last fall from my garden cabbage!  Chalk one up for Mom.

This cracked me up, from Associated Press writer Wilson Ring.  When suspected killer Chris Williams misbehaved in his Vermont prison, he was fed “Nutraloaf” as punishment.  Nothing with “loaf” in the recipe sounds too tasty, does it?

It’s full of raw carrots, whole-wheat bread, spinach, raisins, beans (and a few other ingredients—I’m listing the ones I approve of).  Inmates say they’d rather go hungry than eat it.  I say, oh well!

Prison officials say it’s a “behavior modification” tool to stop individuals from throwing trays, feces, urine, and silverware.  Inmates are being heard by the Vermont Supreme Court about this cruel and unusual punishment: they say it’s not “food.”  You think if they were being served chicken nuggets, pork rinds, and beer, there’d be any lawsuit?

Corrections Commissioner Rob Hofmann says, “It tends to have the desired outcome. Once the offender relents, we stop with the Nutraloaf.  That’s our goal, to protect our staff and not have them subjected to behavior the average Vermonter would find incomprehensible.”  But Hofmann has tasted Nutraloaf and admits, “It reminded me of eating my vegetables and I’m not necessarily a big fan of vegetables.”                     

No “Nutraloaf” in 12 Steps recipes.  No “loaf” of any kind.  Or . . . IS THERE??  (Cue the ominous-sounding music.)

Millions of Americans are taking Vytorin or Zetia for heart disease.  And yet, full results were finally released last week of a failed trial showing absolutely NO benefit from these drugs.  Two Congressional panels have launched probes into why it took drug makers almost two years to release results!

I could save Congress a bunch of money on those “probes”: Zetia and Vytorin have racked up $5 billion in sales!  Hm, I wonder why the drug companies would drag their feet.  DUH.

 Just like Pfizer’s failed trial of the cholesterol drug torcetrapib, these drugs lowered LDL cholesterol but had no result.  We have repeatedly in recent years seen evidence that obsession with cholesterol is unwarranted: cholesterol is not the biomarker we once thought it was.  Torcetrapib, for instance, lowered cholesterol but increased heart attacks!

So what’s the reaction in the medical community?  Yale cardiologist Harlan Krumholz urges us all to eat a bunch of other dangerous pills instead.  “We know that statins are good drugs.  We know that they reduce risks,” he says.  Come back to Lipitor and Crestor, is his mantra!

We don’t fully know, however, what other problems are caused by eating those chemicals.  (I’m sure you could read a whole page of fine print about KNOWN risks if you picked up your Lipitor Rx, though.)  Putting chemicals into our bodies always cause problems, short term, long term, or both.  That’s because we can’t DIGEST, ASSIMILATE or ELIMINATE those chemicals.

I think it’s disappointing, disturbing, and utterly frustrating that Dr. Krumholz and almost all his cronies use their rare opportunity with the press’s microphone to get people on one drug after the other, when true relief from heart disease lies elsewhere entirely.

Get a BlendTec.  Use it and my free 12 Step program and recipes that come with it, daily, to get 25+ servings of whole green foods, fruits, sprouted grains, seeds, nuts, and small amounts of heart-healthy virgin oils.  You’ll naturally get 50+ grams of fiber daily eating that way.

Turn the typical Western diet upside down.  Instead of the average American’s 51 percent refined oils and carbs, 42 percent animal proteins, and 7 percent fruits/vegs (half of which are potatoes!), do the opposite of that.  Save a boatload on hard little pills that will save you from nothing in the long run.  Break a sweat 5 or 6 days a week.

There’s no straighter path to health than that—eating right and exercising. 

Disclaimer: This is opinion and in no way constitutes medical advice.  Do not discontinue drug use without the supervision of a qualified, competent health care professional.

     My friend Randy, a restaurant manager nearing 50, just told me he had to leave the Utah Jazz game last night in the third quarter, because his eyes hurt so much he couldn’t really see.  He’s frustrated by the degeneration of his eyes.

     If you’re reading this, you likely enjoy reading.  It’s one of the greatest pleasures of my life—my voracious appetite for reading—because it’s how I learn.  I would be so devastated to lose my vision, which is what is happening to one of my close family members right now, in her 60s and unable to read because of macular degeneration.

     It doesn’t have to be that way.  If you’ve followed this blog from the beginning, you might have read that with no surgical or other intervention, my eyes at age 41 are now 20/15, my vision perfect—despite the fact that I wore glasses at the age of 20!  Don’t let anyone tell you that degenerative disease cannot be reversed.

     A study published in 1994 by Journal of the American Medical Assn. (JAMA) said that people who eat greens five times a week have an 86 percent lower risk of macular degeneration!

     Drink green smoothies for your eyes.  If it’s able to make vision improve, just imagine what it’s doing for the rest of your body, too.

Is there anything better than garden tomatoes?  Twenty years ago, we used to make my sister-in-law, when she was a college student, sing a John Denver song before we gave her any of our garden tomatoes: “Only two things that money can’t buy, and that’s true love and home-grown tomatoes!”

Yesterday, Apr. 5, I planted 1 of my 10 square-foot boxes (this particular box is 5’ x 4’; some others are 6’ x 4’).  In Utah, it’s still cold, nothing’s turning green yet, and we’re 4 weeks off from the date we plan on the last spring freeze.  I describe nutritional properties of, and advocate for planting, quite a few crops in the next chapter of 12 Steps to Whole Foods: Planting a Garden and Using Everything In It.  Of those, you can plant 3 crops right now:  CABBAGE SEEDLINGS, and LETTUCE and SPINACH from seeds.  That’s what we did yesterday.

Planting a garden is a critically important part of getting an inexpensive, chemical-minimized, disease-preventing, naturally weight-controlling, plant-based diet.  (12 Steppers, although I release this on May 1, if you want to plant now, write me for the draft in its current form.)

Square-foot gardening (the book is by Mel Bartholomew) gets more produce per foot than any other method: 1 cabbage plant per foot, 4 heads of lettuce per foot, 9 spinach plants per foot, 16 beets or onions per foot.  You can even build a grow box on a concrete patio (which I did on the TV show I went on).  

Next week, if you’re in a cold zone like us with a May 1 last-frost date, you can plant onion sets, radishes, beets, and chard. 

Involve your kids so they know where food comes from and so they have a sense of contribution to the meals that will result some weeks or months from now.  I believe they also learn about the law of the harvest (you reap what you sow), and delay of gratification (work now for a reward later)—concepts that far too few modern children understand in the industrialized age of fast food and credit cards.  A sound understanding of these principles lead to children who make better dietary choices, children who obtain education, and children who will teach your grandchildren self-sufficiency someday.

My younger children (10 and 7) love working with me in the garden.  This is Mary Elizabeth (10) learning to plant cabbage and spinach:

When making baked goods, get in the habit of putting the flour in the blender or bowl with the liquids (with a bit of a fermented dairy product like kefir), and just leaving it all day (or night) before completing the recipe.  You’ll also find that your baked goods are lighter, with a lovely texture, as you take this additional step that creates natural leavening.  You can often cut by half or even leave the baking powder out when you have presoaked flour with kefir/yogurt added.

This extra step of soaking grains or flour, while requiring you to think ahead, doesn’t add time to your preparation, since the dish is then ready, or nearly ready, when breakfast or dinner is served.

You don’t always have to make soaked-grain breads and grain products from scratch.  At your health food store, you can buy sprouted-grain tortillas, English muffins, and manna bread with several varieties like sunflower seed, carrot-raisin, and more.

Don’t be frustrated if you just learned about phytates for the first time and now wonder if whole grains are good for you!  If you’re stumped about whether eating whole grains (even unsoaked) is better than white flour, the answer is a definitive yes!

First of all, white flour robs your body of minerals, too, at a faster rate—and is virtually devoid of fiber and nutrition.  Second, remember that literally hundreds of studies document the link between whole grains and blood sugar control, among many other health benefits.  That one benefit alone–that fiber dramatically slows the release of sugars into your bloodstream–is critically important to your future.

Third, the phytate issue, while worth discussing here, is by no means settled science.  In fact, Reddy and Sathe published a book in 2001 called Food Phytates that surveys the growing body of research on phytates.  They claim that phytates are free-radical scavenging antioxidants that may reduce blood glucose as well as risk for high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease, kidney stones, and some forms of cancer.

So, the jury is still out on the precise role of phytates.  Whether or not they are friend or foe remains a hotly debated controversy, so perhaps the best strategy is to soak, sprout, or ferment wherever possible, and enjoy eating unsoaked grains sometimes, too