My Vote for an Oscar Award!!!

If you haven't heard of the movie FOOD, INC. - I suggest you pick up a copy and watch with your friends and family. I saw this with my husband and son last night but it is a "Must See" movie for everyone and I am going to make sure that my college kids see this as well. FOOD, INC. exposes our nation's food industry and how a handful of big corporations put profit ahead of the consumers health. It reveals surprising and shocking truths about what we eat, how it's produced and who we have become as a nation. You will never look at your food the same way again.

(Better than) An Apple A Day...

Instead of throwing out those lonely fruits and vegies, I often toss them into my Vita Mix for an afternoon energy protein shake with an extra punch of nutrients.

An apple a day is great but did you know that The Key to Optimum Health is getting enough of a high quality, complete protein? Protein is like "building blocks" that help to maintain, build, repair and heal ALL cells, tissues, organs and more. Since I was 14 years old, I have taken a soy protein shake for breakfast and even a second shake in the afternoon for more energy. As you know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and the Shaklee Soy Protein is the best on the market. Why, you ask?

The Essential Seven Checklists for a Quality Soy Product - SHAKLEE MEETS ALL OF THESE SEVEN!!!

1) Were the soybeans ORGANICALLY GROWN?

Studies have shown decreased levels of food nutrients and increased levels of nitrates in chemically fertilized crops, when compared with their organic counterparts. There is a connection between the ingestion of nitrates and CANCER! Therefore, it is important to know that pesticides, fungicides and herbicides have not been used during the growing process. In particular, with soybeans, since they are such a hardy plant, a powerful and DEADLY weed spray called Round-up is usually used. For your safety, you must know that your soy products are organically grown.

2) Were the soybeans GENETICALLY ENGINEERED?

Genetically engineered soybeans are much cheaper to purchase and most companies producing soy products look for ways to save money.

3) Does your soybean powder contain ALL of the nine essential amino acids?

One of the most valuable features of the soybean is that it is a complete protein and provides ALL nine of the essential amino acids. The body requires these daily to produce hormones, digestive juices, antibodies and enzymes. However, NOT ALL SOYBEANS ARE CREATED EQUAL. Quality and amino acid content will vary based on soil conditions and variable growing and harvest conditions. If one essential amino acid is missing, the immune system can be depressed 30%, and many important body functions are delayed or stopped. Therefore, it is essential that each batch of soybeans be checked for amino acid content if we want to depend on the soy isolate to provide a GUARANTEED supply of the nine essential amino acids.

4) Were the crushed soy flakes washed in alcohol or water?

Alcohol washing destroys isoflavone content up to 88%! It is the isoflavones that reduce the risk of breast, prostate, lung and bowel cancer! As well, it is the isoflavones that are so beneficial in hormone balancing and increasing bone mass.

5) Was the “anti-thyroid”, “anti-growth” substance in the raw soy removed?

Orientals, who have consumed large amounts of soy for years, have known that RAW soy contains an “anti-growth”, “anti- tyrosine” substance. Tyrosine deficiency will cause low blood pressure, low body temperature and restless leg syndrome. Therefore, Orientals always lightly cook their soy foods to deactivate the “anti-tyrosine/anti-growth” substance. Shaklee has designed an extracting process that removes this substance, yet keeps the soy in a raw form in order to maintain the HIGHEST LEVEL OF AMINO ACIDS and ISOFLAVONES, which are very sensitive to heat.

6) Is your soybean food RAW or heated?

Amino acids are very sensitive to heat. In some studies, cooking protein has been shown to destroy up to 50% of some ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS. If an individual consistently consumes a diet that is lacking in all of the essential amino acids, inadequate brain development and hormones or other body tissue development can be the result.

7) Has CALCIUM been added to your soy powder?

Some negative reports about soy say that soy powders are VERY ACIDIC and cause bone loss because it causes calcium to be drawn from the bones!!! The raw soybean is a NEUTRAL food -- neither acidic or alkaline. However, the removal of the soybean oil (which is essential so the soy powder will not go rancid very quickly), makes the powder very acidic. Therefore, adequate calcium (which is very alkaline) must be added to cause the powder to be neutral again, or it can cause the above stated problem. Many protein powder manufacturers do not add any or enough calcium.

Shaklee Cinch Mentioned in Brad Lamm's JUST10LBS

Shaklee Cinch Mentioned in Brad Lamm's JUST10LBS

Did you know that Shaklee's Cinch Inch Loss Plan is mentioned in Brad Lamm'sJUST 10 LBS Tour?

JUST 10 LBS is an integral part of the The Dr. Oz Show’s initiative to restore the health of America, and it is fully endorsed by the Dr. Oz production team. Beginning the second week of January, The Dr. Oz Show will follow Brad as he embarks on a cross-country bus tour to inspire America’s twenty fattest and fittest cities to come aboard the JUST 10 train. These JUST 10 events will feature Lamm going into folks’ homes and communities (with tie-ins to each city’s Oz affiliate station and across various media platforms) to give them a Food Makeover.

Dr Oz and Apple have teamed up to provide an App for iPhone to support your goals, and here is what Apple has to say about it:

JUST 10 LBS App is your mobile companion to Brad Lamm’s powerful book of the same name. Why just 10 pounds? We think big—way too big—when it comes to losing weight, working out, and eating better. Once we’re in major overhaul mode, we plot dramatic self-improvement campaigns with jumbo goals like losing 30 pounds or more. The problem with such ambition is the potential for failure and feeling overwhelmed, which may keep you from sticking to your plan. So, forget the big numbers for now. Let’s focus on JUST 10. It’s a winning strategy.


With JUST 10 LBS, you will:

• Make your JUST 10 pledge to walk through the 10 Steps to lose your first 10 pounds.
• Track your daily progress toward your JUST 10 goal.
• Use affirmations to gently reprogram your subconscious mind for success.
• Learn how to connect with support to keep your pledge—online and phone support, coaching, and Turning It Over.
• Eat on the Love-Centered Diet, a plant-heavy, low-carb, moderate protein effort to feed and to honor your body, mind, and spirit.

The JUST 10 LBS Bookshelf also included in the app contains a wealth of information.

Learn about:

• Your eating style
• The JUST 10 Steps
• The 10 Commitments + 10 Commandments—good loving thinking on what you will and will not do
• Brad’s JUST 10 Pledge
• Getting started, including a 3-day menu plan
• Which foods to score, and which foods to skip
• Simple food substitutions

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ FREE Cinch Sampler Packwith $70 member price purchase ($101 value). Click on the link to get started today. Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

"Pucker Up" to the benefits of Lemons!

A couple of nights ago, my niece told me that she is drinking a glass of lemon juice each morning as a means of detoxifying. What a great way to gently cleanse the body from overindulging during the holidays. I figure I could use a little detoxing myself, so I made a pitcher of lemon and cucumber water (a recipe that Spalon Montage serves its customers). This is a refreshing drink even in the Winter.

Additional info on the benefits of Lemons - Pucker Up!

Lemon (Citrus) is a miraculous product to kill cancer cells.

It is 10,000 times stronger than chemotherapy.
Why do we not know about that?
Because there are laboratories interested in making a synthetic version that will bring them huge profits.
You can now help a friend in need by letting him know that lemon juice is beneficial in preventing the disease.
Its taste is pleasant and it does not produce the horrific effects of chemotherapy.
If you can, plant a lemon tree in your garden or patio.
How many people die while this is a closely guarded secret so as not to jeopardize the beneficial multimillionaires large corporations?
As you know, the lemon tree does not occupy much space and is known for its varieties of lemons and limes.
You can eat the fruit in different ways: you can eat the pulp, juice press, prepare drinks, sorbets, pastries, ...
The lemon is credited with many virtues, but the most interesting is the effect it produces on cysts and tumours.
This plant is a proven remedy against cancers of all types. Some say it is very useful in all variants of cancer.
It is considered also as an anti microbial spectrum against bacterial infections and fungi, effective against internal parasites and worms, it regulates blood pressure that is too high and is an antidepressant, combats stress and nervous disorders.

The source of this information is fascinating: it comes from one of the largest drug manufacturers in the world, says that after more than 20 laboratory tests since 1970, the extracts revealed that:
It destroys the malignant cells in 12 types of cancer, including colon, breast, prostate, lung and pancreas ...
The compounds of this tree actually showed to be 10,000 times better than the product Adriamycin, the most commonly used chemotherapeutic in the world, to slow the growth of cancer cells.
And what is even more astonishing: this type of therapy with lemon extract not only destroys malignant cancer cells and does not affect healthy cells.

Institute of Health Sciences, 819 N. L.L.C. Cause Street, Baltimore, MD 1201

I remember reading that cancer does not grow well in an alkaline environment. Lemon juice has the effect of increasing blood level pH. Which might help explain the above. The inclusion of diluted lemon juice in the diet is also claimed to regulate hypertension and blood sugar levels, remove toxins and inflammation,, reduce cholesterol, postpone senility, and even increase energy levels.

Allergies - Dairy, Nuts and now Food Dyes

The increase in food processing over the years has increased the use of food additives such as food dyes, preservatives and sweeteners. It's hard to resist all that colorful marketing but there is good reason why we should choose safer substitutes. Check out the article below that appeared in the Chicago Tribune a few days ago.

This company has products that are Always Safe, Always Work and are Always Green - Click Here!

You know about nuts and dairy – but did you know dyes can be an issue too? Read about one mom's quest to improve our kids' food supply.

Jen Weigel

Lessons for Life

January 10, 2011

My son had a play date the other day, and when I picked him up, he was more hyperactive than usual. I quickly saw the reason: he was clutching a package of gummy bears.

While some kids have peanut allergies and others have dairy issues, mine goes bonkers after eating foods with too many artificial dyes.

"In the last 20 years, we've seen a 400 percent increase in food allergies," says Robyn O'Brien, founder of The Allergy Kids Foundation and author of "The Unhealthy Truth". "It's not just about milk or nuts anymore. Dyes, chemicals and synthetic hormonesare causing serious health problems. And these reactions can be anything from physical, like a rash or upset stomach, to emotional or behavioral issues."

O'Brien, who had a flourishing finance career before becoming a parent, wasn't always conscious about kids' eating habits.

"I'd always sort of rolled my eyes at the whole thing," she says. "I was born and raised in Houston eating Twinkies and po-boys and so I didn't buy into any of this."

After having kids of her own and looking into some of the statistics, she became concerned.

"When I saw that there'd been a 265 percent increase in hospitalizations with kids who have food allergies, that was startling to me," says O'Brien. "That's not a mom crying wolf, those are real numbers, and I come from the world of finance, so I need to see the numbers."

O'Brien traded her briefcase for the diaper bag and now focuses on educating the public about our food supply with allergykids.com.

"I wanted to provide a user's guide for parents on how we start to make these changes," she said.

"Say your school has unhealthy food, join saladbarproject.org to try and get more fruits and veggies in your kids' cafeteria. Find other parents in your school or community with similar interests and begin the dialogue."

O'Brien says one of the biggest challenges is getting older generations to understand that this is a real problem due to a change in our food supply.

"The meat we have now isn't like the meat we had 30 years ago," says O'Brien. "In 1994 we began to engineer new proteins in the food supply. This is a fact. The first example is in the diary industry. They started injecting synthetic hormones and we don't label these ingredients on the packaging. Other countries said no because we don't know what [the hormones'] long-term effects are."

While studies have yet to be done on those long-term effects, O'Brien feels the statistics speak for themselves.

"Since the introduction of these ingredients and chemicals into our food supply, we've had a 300 percent increase in asthma, a 400 percent increase in ADHD and between a 1,500 and 6,000 percent increase in autism," she said. "There's much debate about what could be causing these increases, but I think we can't ignore these numbers."

So how can we help make changes?

"We have to speak up," she said. "Even big corporations will make changes if demand is high. Kraft put out a Lunchables in the U.K. without dyes, [and with] reduced fat and lower sodium. They don't do it here because it's more expensive to use natural ingredients, and we haven't demanded this change here in the U.S."

But O'Brien says that because of complaints in the U.S. about high fructose corn syrup, Kraft is no longer using it as an ingredient in the popular drink Capri Sun.

"We are a community of 300 million eaters -- 75 million kids -- and if you think about that and decide to speak up about what we want in the aisles it can make a difference. Nobody can be perfect but we can all do something, so pick one thing."

That one thing for O'Brien was her children's love of powdered cheese sauce.

"My kids were totally addicted to fluorescent mac and cheese," she said. "I knew I couldn't stop giving it to them cold turkey so I started by only using half the powder packet, and eventually got rid of it altogether … but it wasn't easy. They craved that stuff."

Other snack replacements O'Brien recommends include real chocolate chips instead of M&Ms, pretzels rather than chips or colored goldfish crackers, and plain yogurt with fruit or sprinkles instead of artificially colored yogurts.

"You have to do this in baby steps or you'll have mutiny in the kitchen," she said. "Some snacks might have real sugar, but at least they aren't filled with chemicals and dyes. We don't want to take all the fun out of eating with kids, but we can start to make smarter choices to keep them healthy."

Do you have some tips for helping your kids eat healthier? Let us know!

jweigel@tribune.com

LESS IS MORE IN 2011!

We're two weeks into the New Year - how are you doing with your resolutions?

Did you know that losing weight is one of the Top 3 Resolutions that is made each year? Whether your goal is to lose 50 lbs. or just 10 lbs. - I have something you should look at.

I am a Shaklee Distributor and Shaklee's revolutionary Cinch Inch Loss Program is best in class! It is Safe, Healthy and Works (my husband lost 25 lbs and loved it). This program is scientifically formulated by a team of medical experts, nutritionists and scientists.

Shaklee has three promotions for the month of January that you don't want to miss - (New Member Special, Cinch Sampler Pack and Cinch Auto-Ship). Click here to learn more about the January Specials or contact me.

Enjoy a Cup of Tea!

A couple of my favorite Christmas gifts this past year were two tea pots from the Tevana store. I have been drinking tea for years and will drink just about any kind - green, black, white, herbal and chai are some of the many varieties that I enjoy. Not only are teas flavorful but there are many health benefits as well. Some of these benefits include immune support, detoxification, anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic/cancer, contains antioxidants, eases dieting process and provides cardiovascular support and protection.

The cast iron Tevana tea pots are decorated with designs that have symbolic meanings. As you can see, the larger silver tea pot that I received has a dragon design which signifies power, strength, good fortune, happiness and immortality. The smaller purple tea pot is a Stars & Mountain design which signifies dreams, imagination and steadfastness. Whatever the symbols mean it makes for good conversation when sharing a cup of tea with others.

Drink Up!

WELCOME TO MY WORLD!

I remember when I was in the 7th grade (many years ago) and my English teacher had us write in a journal on a daily basis for the semester. I loved sharing my thoughts, creative ideas and goals in that book, a book that I still possess. There was no right or wrong way to share these entries, it was between my teacher and me. The way I see it, a blog is like a public journal where I am willing to expose myself to others. This is going to be a great learning experience for me and an opportunity to grow. I hope that you will join me on this journey.