5 Simple Ways to Eat More Compassionately in the New Year

1. Eat less chicken and fewer eggs. When you reduce or eliminate chicken and egg consumption, you’re helping some of the most abused animals on the planet. Chickens raised for meat are crammed by the thousands into filthy warehouses and denied access to the outdoors, fresh air and sunlight for their entire lives. Specifically excluded from the Federal Humane Slaughter Act, chickens are carried through the slaughter process so rapidly that many are injured but not killed and are instead boiled alive when it comes time to remove their feathers. Gardein and Quorn, two brands widely available in supermarkets, make chicken alternatives that — wait for it — taste just like chicken! Minus the fear and suffering, of course.

Chickens raised for eggs don’t have it much better. They are packed so tightly in fetid cages that they can never engage in basic natural behaviors or even stretch their wings. Millions are starved for a few weeks each year to shock their bodies into another egg-laying cycle. Think about it: Is your momentary enjoyment of an omelet really worth making an already depressed and miserable animal go hungry for weeks? If that doesn’t sit right with you, opt for the high-protein, cruelty-free tofu scramble instead.

2. Replace cow’s milk with a healthy, animal-friendly, non-dairy, calcium-fortified milk made from almonds, rice, oats, coconut, soy or hemp. It’s complete hooey that people need cow’s milk for calcium. Cow’s milk is for baby calves, and there are plenty of delicious, more healthful and calcium-rich plant-based alternatives we can consume. The only way for people to consume cow’s milk is to routinely tear newborn calves from their mothers as dairy cows are trapped in an endless cycle of pregnancy and lactation. Pushed beyond their biological limits, they are worn out and sent to slaughter after just a few years “in production.” Have you had an almond milk or soy milk mocha latte? They are fantastic and truly guilt free!

3. Avoid foie gras like the plague. Foie gras, or fatty duck liver, is only produced by the systematic and abusive practice of over feeding ducks via a metal tube that is forced down their throats. Foie gras is in a class with veal in terms of the cruelty inflicted on animals, and we should shun it every bit as much.

4. Resolve to eat vegetarian one day each week. If the above seems like too big of a challenge to start, eat vegetarian at one meal a week. Before long, you’ll realize how easy and delicious it is to eat vegetarian, and it will feel effortless to increase how often you eat vegetarian meals. Using this incremental approach, you may decide to eliminate animal products from your diet all together. Simply decreasing your consumption of factory-farmed meat will prevent countless animals from living a life of pure misery. More than 95 percent of all meat sold in restaurants and supermarkets comes from animals so cruelly confined they cannot lie down comfortably, extend their limbs, or engage in any of their natural behaviors.

5. Eat more plants! From salads and pasta dishes to vegetarian meats and cheeses, there’s a new world of flavorful alternatives to enjoy as part of a kinder, healthier eating plan. If you want cheese, try the Daiya non-dairy varieties; for sausage, reach for the Field Roast chipotle or apple sage links; instead of a hamburger, try a veggie burger with pickles, tomato, onion and other fresh toppings; when the kids want chicken nuggets, they won’t even realize that Quorn brand nuggets are missing the meat.

It’s 2012 — isn’t it time we stop eating foods produced by industries that treat animals like unfeeling commodities and start eating in a way that reflects the healthy, evolved, compassionate society we aspire to be? Let this be the year you opt out of eating cruelly. You’ll be amazed at how great it feels (and tastes) to eat compassionately.

For more by Gene Baur, visit farmsanctuary.typepad.com/making_hay/

Photo credit: Beth Terry

9 Steps to Getting Healthy This Year

1. Get clear.
Want to see the most marvelous waterfall at sunset? Let’s go! Wait – where are we going?

You can’t find it without directions, right?

To transform your health, energy, and body, you need to take stock of where you are now, what you’re eating, and what you want to change. Write down everything – how you feel when you wake up, what cravings you have, what your diet is like, your exercise routine (if any), and what you would like to feel and look like.

Got it written down? Good. Now let’s begin.

2. Get support.
Now you’re ready to climb the mountain to see the waterfall, and you’ve even timed it so you can get there right at sunset to catch the most spectacular view.

But what supplies do you need? There are twelve paths to choose from – which one is safe, fast and will get you to the best spot?

That’s where expert support comes into play. Talk with someone who has been there before – read the blogs of experts, watch inspiring movies online or listen to radio shows on the area of health that interests you the most. Find a tribe of people who are dedicated to making the same changes you want to accomplish.

There is power in joining forces – they’ll pull you along, and you’ll help them at the same time.

3. Make a plan.
Once you have the map, the expert guide and the support, look at the goals you’ve created.

Do you want to eat more vegetables? Less sugar? Kick your caffeine habit completely? Do you want to lose 20 pounds or clear up your skin? Great!

What is the first step towards your goal? If it’s eating less sugar, maybe it’s time to learn about natural foods that give you the sweet sensation you’re looking for without robbing your energy (more on that in a minute). Or maybe you need to throw away the bags of candy or chocolate lingering from Halloween. Or maybe there’s something in your lifestyle that triggers your sugar cravings that you can address in a non-food-way.

Whatever the issue is, there are steps you can take to make it a non-issue: Start brainstorming on what to do first, then what you can do tomorrow, and in no time you’ll be free and clear!

4. Be seasonal.
Use seasonal, local produce as much as possible.

When you eat veggies from a nearby farm, they offer you the energy and nutrients that support you where you are and when you are. Here’s what I mean:

Eating iceberg lettuce and watermelon north of the 45th parallel in winter does not support your body in the cold, sunless months. Instead, choose winter squash, cabbage, other hearty winter greens and apples and pears. These fruits and veggies give you great, fresh nutrition rather than arriving depleted from half way across the world.

5. Sleep more.
The human body is built to follow natural rhythms. Our inner body clock, called circadian rhythm, triggers the natural impulses to wake up with the sun, sleep when it’s dark, as well as a host of other natural body processes.

When your natural circadian rhythm is thrown off, due to jet lag or just staying up too late night after night, your body and brain work at half-speed, and your body feels off balance. Years of staying up late and not getting enough sleep during the darker, winter months, makes caffeine necessary and cravings for sugar more intense.

This winter, try an experiment: Go to bed early and wake up early. Get into bed by 9 P.M. and wake up at 4 or 5 A.M. Even a few days a week of this pattern will help you feel more refreshed, healthier, and those intense food cravings will release their hold on you just a bit more.

6. Make breakfast a priority.
Now that you’re sleeping better, you can wake up earlier and get a good breakfast in your body. Still everyone is different and you might need something that your partner or child doesn’t like or desire. Experiment with different types of food for your morning meal, alternating savory, sweet, liquid or combination breakfasts.

You might notice that a protein-rich meal keeps you filled longer. Or perhaps you find that a light meal of fruit and herbal tea is perfect.

Try it out – notice what happens for the rest of the day with your cravings. Your first meal can determine your energy for the rest of the day.

7. Skip the white foods.
Any white, refined food is going to steal nutrients and energy from your body.

White flour, white sugar, white table salt.

All of these foods are stripped of nutrition, vitamins and minerals, and offer only the jolt of carbohydrate or sodium. Without any supportive nutrients, your body must draw on its own precious stores to metabolize the refined food, leading to depleted energy over time.

8. Sweeten the deal.
Use more naturally sweet foods instead of relying on white foods, candy, and soda for energy.

Include sweet root veggies, fruits and even whole grains to satisfy your sweet cravings.

Sweet potatoes offer carotenoid antioxidants, and help your body respond to insulin better. Parsnips are high in silicon and fiber, and are high in calcium. Beets are high in boron, a mineral critical for the production of human sex hormones.

Adding daily doses of sweet veggies, you’ll crave less sugary treats, and you’ll be giving your body necessary nutrients for long-term health.

9. Move your body like your life depends on it – because it does!
I don’t care what you do – you can run, walk, swim, bike, dance, lift, jump or even get jiggy between the sheets more often (I personally vote for the last one! Sex and masturbation are great for your immune system, sleep and attitude.) – just move. Daily. As if it were your last day on earth.

Transform your relationship with food and your body; join Alex Jamieson’s 8-Week Delicious Detox Tele-Series beginning Thursday, January 5th at 2pm EST. Details and sign-up are here: http://deliciousvitality.com/

Photo credit: 23am.com

Time to Take Out the Trash

The saying “garbage in, garbage out” is familiar to us all. But what if you don’t get the garbage out? If you don’t remove your household garbage, you’ll build up piles of trash. Your house would remain standing, but it would quickly get cluttered and smelly, and eventually it would become unlivable—literally a sick house. Similarly, if you allow “garbage” to build up in your body, you will experience increasingly unpleasant consequences as time goes on.

When you eat, your body goes right to work breaking down the food you’ve ingested, detoxifying and digesting, using what it needs, storing what it thinks it may need later, and eliminating the rest. The more additives and chemicals are contained in our food, the more complex the whole process becomes for our bodies. Some chemicals are not well recognized by the body and thus are more difficult to process. A prime example of this would be trans fats. Eating trans fats is somewhat akin to eating a tire, in that trans fats can never really be broken down and utilized. As a result, trans fats get “tucked away” into fat and into plaque inside the arteries, ultimately causing atherosclerosis.

The solution to getting the garbage out of your body starts with an elimination diet. Take out the bad, put in the good, see the difference (the detox phase), and then slowly add back in one food at a time (the re-challenge phase). While the process works best over a two- to three-week period, it can be done in as little as seven to 10 days. If this sounds too tedious and time consuming, consider how often you eat and how many more meals you will have for the rest of your life. In that context, you’ll find that an elimination diet is a tiny slice of time to definitively figure out what does and does not work for you.

I won’t sugar-coat it (all puns intended): the hardest part of the process will be the detox “symptoms.” If your body is used to sugar and carbohydrates, processed foods and/or alcohol equivalents, you’re likely to feel much like an alcoholic coming off alcohol. You will feel negative effects. In fact, it’s common to feel worse than ever around day four in the process. This is not a sign of going in the wrong direction. In fact, it’s an indicator that you’re going in the right direction by expelling from the body the chemicals that are causing oxidation, inflammation, intolerances and allergic symptoms, all unbeknownst to you. If you persevere and push through, you’ll be rewarded by an amazing burst of energy and clarity around days seven to 10. (Note that if you have complex health issues, you may need a longer detox period along with medical supervision for this process.)

Doing a food detox is like taking out the garbage: Just as you would check every trash can in the house, you should be mindful of all the avenues and organs of elimination when you detox the body.

• Brain: The mind, with all of its power, is your grounding and foundation for the detox process. A positive mindset can work wonders.
• Lungs: Take deep breaths in and out, and get some exercise.
• Skin: This is our largest organ and is critical to detox, as we sweat many toxins out. Sweat internally from exercise and externally from full-spectrum saunas, which are wonderful ways to speed up a detox and ignite the metabolism.
• Liver: This is the detox factory! Putting good veggies and healthy foods in your system will free up glutathione, enzymes and their co-workers to help the liver do the job it was designed to do.
• Kidneys: Keep hydrated, and eat alkaline foods, as acidic foods stress the kidneys. Veggies in general are more alkaline. Urinating throughout the day is ideal, even if it cramps your work day.
• Colon: Keep things moving through your colon, and clean it out. Don’t be shy! You may need more fiber; more magnesium, which puts water into the gut; or a little help from slippery elm or chia seeds. It may be helpful to “go from below” with low-pressure colonics or enemas. For those of you open to more radical things, try rectal implants with organic, green, low-roasted coffee or wheatgrass.

After detox, you re-challenge. Food intolerances can be subtle yet cumulative. It may take 24 to 48 hours for any negative symptoms to be felt, so it’s crucial to add back different food types individually over three to four days, then pay attention and take note of your body’s signals. Once you learn and feel the difference, more simple eating is much easier to do; your body will not want to go back and you won’t have to “bare-knuckle” every meal to stay on track.

When you open yourself to enhancing your body’s ability to “take the garbage out,” you will also solve your personal food puzzle. The results will be tangible, and extend far beyond weight loss. There is a wonderful energy that comes when numerous and confusing food intolerances and cravings no longer control decisions, emotions and actions. I call it “getting your Mo-Jo back!”

Photo credit: daniel zimmel

5 Tips to Beat Your Holiday Sugar Cravings

It’s the holiday season again, bringing festive good cheer, celebrations with friends and family and usually more delicious sweet treats than you can handle!

So before we launch into the negative effects of too much sugar (and, of course, give you some healthy alternatives!), we want to give some background of the sugar addictions we have in this culture.

Since the beginning of civilization, sugar has been directly linked to feelings of love, comfort, joy and celebration. The very first thing a baby tastes is their mother’s sweet milk, so we all have a very basic and immediate trigger with sugar and love as well as basic survival. Hunter gatherers didn’t come across many sweet foods; when they did, they knew it meant fat, calories and energy (i.e., survival as well).

So we’re sort of hardwired to crave sweets. We also crave sweets when we’re deficient in certain nutrients, especially chromium, carbon, phosphorus, sulfur and tryptophan. Don’t beat yourself up about sugary indulgences; the guilt and worry is way more toxic to your body (and your mind!) than anything you’re eating. We promise. Let go, savor and enjoy every delicious mouthful, and then make sure you get your greens in to balance it out. Some other tips to follow are:

1. When a sugar craving hits, try eating whole fresh fruits, nuts, non-gluten grains, sweet potatoes and dark green leafy vegetables like kale and spinach to balance the body and lessen the cravings.
2. Boost overall intake of protein and fats since our bodies are biologically programmed to use those as fuel first. So lots of beans, dark leafy greens, nuts, seeds, coconut, olives and spirulina are all great choices to keep you nourished, satiated and energized. Your body will be able to run longer and more efficiently with these as the primary sources of fuel rather than any kind of sugar that spikes insulin and then quickly brings about a crash and interferes with fat burning.
3. Sugar also affects overall immunity by wiping out beneficial bacteria in the gut. So along with taking a strong probiotic during the holiday season (we recommend at least 40 billion organisms daily), it’s good to limit sugar intake as much as possible.
4. If you do choose to indulge in sweet things, try choosing ones that minimally spike blood sugar, like whole fresh fruit, coconut nectar and brown rice syrup, or even better, stevia, which is a natural herb that has zero effect on glycemic levels.
5. ‘Tis the season for giving, sharing, celebrating and being joyful. Offer tons of gratitude that you’re able to make choices for your most vibrant health and direct your energy toward your friends and family rather than stressing about a few sweet treats.

Life is inherently sweet on its own and you’re one of the sweetest things in it!

Happy Holidays!

Jenny Nelson is a Clean Wellness Coach and Alejandro Junger, M.D. is author of “Clean:The Revolutionary Program to Restore the Body’s Natural Ability to Heal Itself.”

Photo credit: Sharyn Morrow

5 Ways to Save Billions and Boost the Nation’s Health

While Congress debates how to cure America’s massive debt problem, let me offer a doctor’s prescription: five smart cuts could save taxpayers $383 billion and make Americans healthier at the same time.

Right now, the U.S. government spends billions subsidizing the least healthful foods, fueling America’s obesity epidemic and escalating healthcare costs. In contrast to federal nutrition guidelines that emphasize healthful vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, federal subsidies go in the opposite direction, supporting meat, dairy products, and sugar, and all the cholesterol, fat, and calories that are packed into them. This, despite abundant scientific evidence showing that increasing consumption of animal products is associated with obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and certain forms of cancer, among other health problems.

So here’s where to put the scalpel:

1. Cut Junk Food from SNAP

The government provides food for economically disadvantaged people through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP (formerly the Food Stamp Program). One in seven Americans now draws SNAP benefits.

The enormous size of the program — $65 billion a year — is not a testament to the political clout of SNAP recipients. Rather, it’s the food manufacturers who are profiting, as SNAP supports a growing market for candy, soda, fatty cheese, and specialty meats as much as it does for healthier foods.

SNAP perpetuates food deserts — geographic areas with inadequate availability of healthful foods. Because shelf-stable junk food is covered on the same basis as perishable fruits and vegetables, grocers have little incentive to stock healthful foods, and providers of fresh fruits and vegetables operate at a disadvantage.

A vanishingly small number of Americans currently suffer from hunger, defined as an inadequate caloric intake. Instead, a great many suffer from poor nutrition — too much fat, cholesterol, and overall calories, and not enough of the fiber, vitamins, and minerals provided by vegetables and fruits.

SNAP also has an unintended demeaning feature in that it tacitly suggests that economically disadvantaged people view unhealthful foods as necessities. I don’t believe that for a minute. Everyone, regardless of their income, recognizes that unhealthful foods are not to be parts of our daily routine and that a continued supply of these foods is to our detriment.

Here’s a better SNAP structure: SNAP should be limited to truly healthful staples: oats, rice, and other grains, dry beans, fruits, and vegetables, which could be fresh, frozen, or canned. Participating grocers could be required to stock certain items, such as no-salt-added canned beans and vegetables.

With these nourishing foods, an adult’s monthly food costs would total approximately $134, which is one-third less than the $200 benefit provided by the most complete current program coverage. Were SNAP to be reorganized in this way, we could cut costs by $24 billion annually. For once, we could wipe out both hunger and malnutrition at the same time.

2. Prioritize Health in Commodity Purchases

American children today are in the worst physical shape of any generation in the nation’s history. One in three is overweight. And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in three children born since the year 2000 will develop diabetes at some point in his or her life. As the years go by, the drain on America’s health care resources will only escalate.

Contributing to this problem is the fact that the U.S. Department of Agriculture routinely uses school meal programs and other food assistance programs as a dumping ground for agricultural commodities. When cheese prices fall, the USDA buys up millions of pounds of cheese. When beef prices fall, it buys up beef. School menus then feature cheeseburgers, cheese pizza, and Salisbury steak. These purchases are designed to boost agribusiness income, but they do children no favors.

In fiscal year 2009, USDA spent more than $1.4 billion on commodity purchases of meat, dairy products, and eggs — twice what it spent on all fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and oils combined. If USDA were to base commodity purchases solely on health value, we could reduce expenditures by about $14 billion over the next decade, save on medical care costs, and improve children’s health.

3. Eliminate Direct Payments to Agribusiness

Food producers currently receive yearly checks in a direct-payment program set up as part of the 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. These payments are based on the historic use of land. That is, if you used to grow feed corn for livestock, you’ll still be paid today. The direct payment program makes it profitable to keep land dedicated to the production of feed grains for livestock, and program restrictions block the growing of vegetables and fruits. Eliminating direct payments would save approximately $50 billion over the next decade.

4. Let Producers Buy Their Own Crop Insurance

Weather happens. When rain fails or floods arrive, food producers need to be insured against losses. All industries protect themselves against shifting profits and costs, and agribusiness is no different.

The cost of crop insurance programs was approximately $7.3 billion in 2009, and approximately 80% of crop-insurance costs are borne by the U.S. government. Unfortunately, these programs favor feed grains for livestock (especially corn and soybeans), providing a de-facto subsidy for meat production. It is difficult to argue that taxpayers should shoulder these costs. Privatizing crop insurance would save an estimated $70 billion over the next decade.

5. Make Polluters Pay

Feed-grain production and concentrated animal feeding operations create wastes that pollute rivers and streams. Government programs cover much of the clean-up costs, becoming yet another de-facto subsidy. In 2010, the Environmental Quality Incentive Program cost $839 million.

Producers raising crops for animal feed or raising livestock under intensive conditions should pay for their own waste clean-up. At the same time, governmental agencies that oversee environmental protection must have authority to enforce appropriate regulations to ensure a healthful, clean environment. Privatizing farm clean-up operations would save $9 billion over the next ten years.

Do the Math

Adding up our savings, we reach $383 billion over the next decade. But wait, there’s more. As we stop promoting unhealthful foods, our healthier population will need less medical care. Today, the medical costs attributable to meat consumption are approximately $60 billion to $130 billion every year. If we can trim even a little of that, we’re talking real money.

For more information on how to optimize your health, visit NealBarnard.org

Originally published on HuffingtonPost.com

Photo credit: KAZ Vorpal