Healthy Eating, Healthy Living: 16 Reasons to Avoid HFCS

I am sure I must annoy many of my friends and family with all of my talk about avoiding HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup).  I constantly talk about reading labels and not feeding that stuff to my kids.  Once in awhile I am somewhat bamboozled by a brand that I trust that slipped it in with out me knowing either because I didn't read the label or because they used a different name.  The corn industry is sneaky like that, you have to learn to watch for many different names.  They know we catch on and start avoiding 1 particular ingredient (like HFCS) and they just change the name.

Names to watch out for:
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Crystalline Fructose- “is produced by allowing the fructose to crystallize from a fructose-enriched corn syrup.”  Sounds like HFCS to me!   
Corn Syrup- HFCS is made from Corn Syrup.  Corn Syrup is made from corn starch.  It is not the same as HFCS but the starting blocks of it.  Its not necessarily as bad for you but really not that good either so I suggest avoiding it.
Corn Syrup Solids- Same as corn syrup, not as bad for you has HFCS but it's still made by turning corn starch into glucose so probably best to avoid. 

Corn syrup solids are nothing more than a dried/dehydrated version of corn syrup, often used in powdered coffee creamers and similar products
High Maltose Corn Syrup- This link says it all, "Meet High Fructose Corn Syrup's Sneaky Cousin: High Maltose Corn Syrup".  I only discovered this new sneak tactic in the last week when I was reading the label of a trusted "all natural" brand.  I had band trust and brand loyalty and didn't think to check the label before buying this new product of theirs.  It was only after we had eaten half the box that I made the discovery.

Glucose Syrup- another name for corn syrup
Corn Sugar- I only added a link to this to show the corn industry's attempt to pass of HFCS as "corn sugar" and "natural".  I most assuredly do NOT agree with ANYTHING on that website!!

"IF YOU CAN’T CONVINCE THEM, CONFUSE THEM."
-Harry Truman

That's exactly what they are trying to do.  They are trying to convince and confuse us into believing that HFCS is natural and just like real sugar.  Corn Sugar, is the Corn industry's newest idea to slip HFCS in under the radar and make it sound "natural" after their failed Sweet Surprise/Get the Facts advertisement campaign of  claiming "HFCS is just like sugar and fine in moderation"

"High-fructose corn syrup and sugar are nutritionally and metabolically equivalent," the Corn Refiners Association said. "The name 'corn sugar' more accurately describes this sweetener ..."
- Michigan's sugar beet growers in fight against 'corn sugar'

The problem with that is, it is not even close to real sugar and there is no moderation with that stuff.  Almost every processed food in the grocery store from bread to snack cakes, chips to soda and even a few surprising ones such as lunch meat and pancake syrup, ice cream and even canned fruits/veggies often contain HFCS in them.  It is actually quite a challenge to avoid the stuff.  You really have to become a label reader and read every single label on every single item you buy.  Its the only real way to ensure nothing you are buying contains HFCS in it.

HFCS is unnatural and sweeter than sugar.  It actually makes your body crave MORE sweet things to eat.  It is also cheaper than sugar and has a longer shelf life which is why so many companies chose to use it instead.  It is an artificial way to keep food costs down.

I plan to write another post about avoiding all artificial sweeteners (as that is EXACTLY what HFCS is no matter what the anyone in the back pocket of the corn industry claims) but for now I will stick to the reasons why you want to avoid this stuff like the plague.

16 Reasons to Avoid HFCS:

1. HFCS has been associated with accelerating the aging process.  Gotta appeal to people vain sides, a diet that includes HFCS = aging much faster!
2. Obesity- and while we are on the subject of vanity HFCS is a KNOWN contributor to the obesity epidemic in the US.  50-100 years ago there was no obesity problem and you know what else, there was no HFCS, processed foods or fast food!!  Butter (and I mean REAL butter, made from a cow not fake plastic wanna be crap) is not our problem, other natural fats are not our problem,  Processed unnatural food like substances are the problem.  Our bodies do not know what to do with these unnatural wanna be foods.
"When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this; they don't all gain extra weight."
-Bart Hoebel, Psychology Professor at Princeton who conducted a study that showed that "all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same." 
the article also goes on to say that:
"In the 40 years since the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup as a cost-effective sweetener in the American diet, rates of obesity in the U.S. have skyrocketed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1970, around 15 percent of the U.S. population met the definition for obesity; today, roughly one-third of the American adults are considered obese, the CDC reported. High-fructose corn syrup is found in a wide range of foods and beverages, including fruit juice, soda, cereal, bread, yogurt, ketchup and mayonnaise. On average, Americans consume 60 pounds of the sweetener per person every year."
3. Its not REAL food- like too much "food" in America these days, HFCS is not REAL food.  It is a man made chemical that mimics sugar to our taste buds and our brain.  The problem is our bodies do not know what to do with it.  Store it as fat?  Attack and expel it out as a foreign toxin?  Our bodies just don't know.  Most food in America (and definitely anything that contains HFCS) can only be called a "food like substance" at best.  Fillers that are made cheaply with the intention of tricking your body into thinking you have eaten and are full.
4. Fructose is metabolized in the liver, diets high in HFCS may cause the liver to over work creating many liver problems up to and including liver failure.  Sugar is a perfect 50/50 balance of glucose and fructose.  HFCS can have anywhere from 55-80% fuctose causing the liver to over work.  Since it is created it is not an "exact" match for sugar and the acceptability range on the fructose balance fluctuates.
5. The liver can also develop cirrhosis when HFCS is consumed, a disease that is normally seen in alcoholics.  So if your diet includes HFCS you could avoid alcohol and never have a single drink your entire life yet end up with a liver that looks exactly like that of an alcoholic. (see #4 above)
6. HFCS has been linked to cellular inflammation and oxidative damage to the body.
7. Infertility- cellular inflammation and oxidative damage in the body can negatively impact fertility.  Add to that the fact that obesity can negatively impact fertility and anything that causes the body to be out of whack in any way can also cause fertility issues.  It's no wonder so many people in America suffer fertility issues.  So if you are trying to have a baby, put down that soda can!
8. When HFCS is consumed the body builds extra, very dangerous and unnecessary fat deposits around the heart, liver and digestive organs.
9. Consuming HFCS may cause and has been linked to Diabetes
10.  Consuming HFCS may cause and has been linked to Heart Disease- see #8, fatty deposits around the heart can lead to heart disease.
11. Consuming HFCS may cause and has been  linked to Kidney Damage/Kidney Disease-
"Researchers from Loyola University’s Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago took a look at the link between kidney disease and high-fructose corn syrup. Using data from nearly 9,400 adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2004, they tracked consumption of sugary soft drinks, a major source of high-fructose corn syrup in the United States, and protein in the urine, a sensitive marker for kidney disease. They found that overall, people who drank two or more sugary sodas a day were at 40 percent higher risk for kidney damage, while the risk for women soda drinkers nearly doubled."
-The New York Times: Still Spooked by High Fructose Corn Syrup
This TERRIFIES me because I already have plenty of kidney issues including chronic kidney stones and kidney infections.  I often jokingly ask my hubby if he will give me a kidney when mine fail but its really not that funny anymore!  I used to have an almost constant pain in my right lower back/side area (the right kidney is always the one that produces the stones) that began in my early 20's and became progressively worse as I got older.  It really flares up when I am pregnant. When I stopped consuming HFCS it went away.  When I started allowing myself to indulge in Dr. Pepper again (when the Dr. Pepper Throwback, made with real sugar, was no longer available to buy, it started out as 1 every 2-3 days and quickly jumped back up to 1 with lunch and 1 with dinner. ) the pain returned as well.  This was just last month and when I switched to a local Lemonade made with inverted cane juice and Natural Sierra Mist (made with real sugar) the pain is once again gone.  That's enough "proof" for me that the HFCS was doing something to my kidneys!  I also had and passed a kidney stone in the few months I was once again consuming the HFCS laden Dr. Pepper.  They appear to have kept the Pepsi and Mt. Dew throwback sodas but the Dr. Pepper is no longer available in any of the stores near me.
12. HFCS has been linked to many forms of cancer including the almost always deadly pancreatic cancer.  The pancreas is part of the digestive system.  It aids in insulin production and the breaking down of sugar into energy for the body.  The pancreas is just as confused with HFCS as the rest of the body.  HFCS causes the pancreas to have to work overtime.
13. HFCS causes you to over eat.  Since it is broken down differently in your body it does not trigger the correct release of hormones to tell your body you are full.  It creates a vicious cycle of confused "hunger" (your body thinks you are hungry when you are not) followed by over eating. 
14. Diets high in HFCS have been associated with Metabolic Syndrome which "is a cluster of conditions — increased blood pressure, elevated insulin levels, excess body fat around the waist or abnormal cholesterol levels — that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes."
15. A 2008 study found that High Fructose Corn Syrup Contains Mercury.
"Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient, according to two new U.S. studies."
-The Washington Post
We all know Mercury is a huge toxin!!  I shudder at the thought of the amount of Dr. Pepper I have drank in my lifetime as I am pretty much 100% sure that is one of the "55 popular brand-name food and beverage products" they are talking about!
16. There is now evidence that links Colony Collapse Disorder (aka the disappearance of the Honey Bees) to HFCS.  Apparently some irresponsible bee keepers decided it would be cheaper and easier to feed their bees HFCS ("BRILLIANT" I know!), especially in the winter months when the bee's natural foods are not readily available.  The problem arises with, Hydroxymethylfurfural (try to say that 3 times fast! I don't even know how to pronounce it 1 time fast.) which is a byproduct of the heating process of HFCS and apparently a toxin to bee's.
So not only is HFCS potentially making us sick, reducing our life expectancy and eventually killing us off but its now linked to the disappearance of the honey bee's.  At first this may seem insignificant, unless like me you love honey, BUT bee's do a lot more than just make honey.  It is the process in which they make the honey, collecting nectar and at the same time pollinating plants, that is their most important contribution.  With out honey bees (and other pollinating insects/birds) our plants cannot reproduce and die off.  No plants = no food for us.  It is not a good scenario at all!

I have always been a believer in the "Everything in moderation is fine" mantra.  This is 1 area where I am going to have to become really strict and throw that out the window. As far as I am concerned, there is no room for moderation with any sort of "food like substance" 

I already try to make sure that no products containing HFCS (or any other form listed above) ever enters our home or my children's mouths.  Sometimes I am hoodwinked, as in the case of the High Maltose Corn Syrup.  Then there are a few areas, like Ted's soda, where this is over looked but as I mentioned in my first Healthy Living Post even he is now on board with these ideals and ready to give up the Mt. Dew habit (or at least switch to the Mt. Dew throwback which is a step in the right direction).  Now we have to work on getting the kids on board with the "no more Happy Meals" rule.  We never consumed them a lot, literally once every 4 weeks  (as it was usually the second pay day of the month because the first was always rent and had very little left over).  They are not going to be happy with this as they really look forward to Happy Meal night.

In the words of the documentary Food Inc. "Every time you go to the grocery store you are casting a vote."  People often become overwhelmed at the fact that HFCS is in everything and they think there is nothing we can do about it.  That we are stuck consuming this food like substance in our foods.  In this case, however, change can be simple, you just have to be willing to make it.  You have to be willing to put in the effort to read labels and avoid buying anything that contains HFCS.  Imagine the change we could make if even 1/4 of us began to avoid this stuff.  Cast your vote today!  Do you vote for HFCS, Obesity, Diabetes, over all poor health and possibly even death or do you vote for REAL FOODS?!


I know this blog post is heavily laden with links but I encourage you to read them and educate yourself.  Ultimately it is your body and your choice.  I for one choose real foods!

Love,
Christy

Healthy Living: 40 (because I could not come up with more) Uses for Honey

I am so excited, I have been wanting to start a series of posts called Healthy Eating and Healthy Living but I couldn't figure out how to keep them all together.  I even contemplated starting a new blog just for these posts but really wanted to keep everything here.  Then I FINALLY figured out the whole Labels thing on blogger and now I will be able to group them together for easy access (and all this time I thought the "tags" feature was to type in keywords to link your blog when people google things, I am quite computer challenged what can I say!).

I have been inspired to do these posts for awhile now to document our family's journey to a healthier lifestyle.  The motivation has increased recently due to my discovery of a blog called 100 Days of Real Food and from watching the documentary Food Matters.

Up until this point it has just been me alone on a quest to try and improve the overall health of my family with my hubby dragging his feet along the way.  Ok, so he was more like a kid not wanting to go take a bath who clings, claws and straddles the door so you cannot place them inside.  He refused to give up his fast food, white pasta's, white breads, white sugar, white everything as well as his beloved Mt. Dew.

He watched the majority of Food Matters with me and when it was over he told me I need to help him do better.  So he basically gave me full reign to take this family in the healthy direction I have been wanting to go for awhile now.

I must admit it wasn't all him dragging his feet though.  I still kept my crutches (hello Dr. Pepper, my frenemy!) and I used his refusal to switch as an excuse to indulge myself but now more.  I am going to hold myself accountable and make the changes we so desperately need.

I jumped on Ted's offer too the last time I went to the store.  I had been buying both white and wheat bread but this time it was only wheat.  I don't think he cares so much because I converted him to wrap sandwiches anyways.  They are so yummy that he doesn't care that they are also far better for you.

By far my favorite healthy discovery to date is Honey!  Local Honey to be exact but we will get to that in a minute (as there is a difference).  Honey has long been used not only for it's sweet taste but also for it's immune boosting and healing properties.  In the documentary Food Matters Honey is listed as one of the top Superfoods.  The use of honey both as food and as medicine dates back to the Eqyptians.
In researching all to post about the almost magical effects of honey I decided there was way too much information to compact down into 1 post so for now I am going to list some great uses for honey, as many as I can think of/find.  In the future I plan to write more on all the wonders that makes up this amber liquid gold.

"Honey is composed of sugars like glucose and fructose and minerals like magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium chlorine, sulphur, iron and phosphate. It contains vitamins B1, B2, C, B6, B5 and B3 all of which change according to the qualities of the nectar and pollen. Besides the above, copper, iodine, and zinc exist in it in small quantities."
-source: Health Benefits Of Honey

40 (because I could not come up with more) Uses for Honey:

1. Take approximately 1 tblsp of honey and in the palm of your hand mix with approximately 1 tsp of brown sugar.  Massage on face and remove with warm water or a warm rag-you will never use chemical facial cleansers again.
2. Next time you are working out or playing sports forget the sports drinks or even the water, instead opt for honey water.  Simply mix in 1 teasp per every 8 oz of water.  Honey is a natural energy booster, the glucose in honey is absorbed by the body quickly giving you the immediate energy you need and the  fructose is absorbed more slowly helping you to sustain the energy boost.
3. Place a dab of honey on a bee sting-the honey will draw the stinger right out. My grandma did this all the time when we were kids.
4. Eat 2 Tblsp of  LOCAL honey each day- this not only boosts your overall immune system BUT if you suffer from seasonal allergies local honey can help with the symptoms or even cure the allergies.
5. Next time you are baking some bread replace the required sugar with honey, not only will this make the over all bread healthier but it actually makes it taste yummier too.  I have started baking all of our bread goods (bread, rolls, pizza crust, bread sticks, hoagie buns, hamburger buns, etc) with honey instead of sugar.
6. Honey possesses natural antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties.
7. Use it as a salve on minor burns- because of its natural antibacterial properties as well as natural anti-inflammatory properties making it perfect to treat minor burns.
8. Spread honey on a cut or scrap- Honey is a natural antiseptic and just like with the minor burns the antibacterial properties make honey a great natural healing agent.  It also helps reduce swelling and pain and is even believed to help reduce scaring.
9. Help soothe a sore throat- I can personally attest to this one as we have all been sick in our household this week (pesky summer colds!).  I had never heard of or used honey for a sore throat before but just continued my daily 2Tbls's in the morning and noticed instant relief!  Honey is also antimicrobial so it not only soothes the sore throat but also kills the infection causing it.  Which would explain why I am getting better faster than Ted even though I got sick after him.
10. Speaking of being sick, you can also use honey to help aid with other general cold symptoms.  Again, with my normal habit of 2Tblsp each day I noticed relief not only of my sore throat but also of my sinus symptoms and over all fatigue.  This seems to last a few hours, about the same amount as over the counter medication, and when it wears off I just take 2 more.  So the next time you have a cold instead of reaching for the medicine cabinet, reach for the honey instead.
11. Trouble Sleeping?  Honey is a great sleep aid.  The whole "warm glass of milk and honey" trick your grandma used on you really does work it seems.  If milk is not your "thang" try it in a glass of tea, chamomile would be a great option as it is relaxing and also helps with sleep.
12. Honey is great for mild acne problems (see #1 for a simple but wonderful facial scrub)
13. Combine 1/2 cup of honey with 2 tblsp of Olive Oil and apply to your hair as a hair mask.  Allow to sit on hair 30 minutes, rinse with cool water (you may want to shampoo to ensure all of the honey is rinsed out).  This is a great deep conditioning treatment for hair.
14. Take a "Hot Honey Bath"  Add in 1/4-1/2 cup of honey to hot (not burning, but as hot as you can stand it) water and soak.  This is not only relaxing but it will also leave your skin silky soft.  It is rumored that Cleopatra herself took hot Milk & Honey bathes to keep her skin soft and youthful.
15.  Make your kids (and yourself) a nutritious healthy packed lunch simply by making Peanut Butter, Banana and Honey Sandwiches or as we call them in our house Monkey-Bee Sandwiches (we called just peanut butter and banana "Monkey" sandwiches, we added the Bee when we started adding the honey). My kids think I am letting them indulge in a treat as a meal but in reality this is 1 of the most nutritious things I could feed them.  We use 100% whole wheat/whole grain bread (I make sure its free of HFCS and other unnatural ingredients), Organic Peanut Butter and local Honey.  Sometimes we leave the bananas off and just have "Bee-Butter" sandwiches.
16. For a quick and healthy breakfast toast some 100% whole wheat/grain bread, add a smidge of REAL butter and a drizzle of honey and enjoy.  Honey is great for providing a boost of energy.
17. Honey helps prevent cancer- honey contains antioxidants, or bioflavonoids, which gives it carcinogen-preventing and anti-tumour properties.  This is not to say that it will cure cancer but it can definitely help prevent it from ever forming in your body.
18. It is believed that taking honey regularly can improve overall blood flow because the glucose provides energy in the bloodstream, which is then distributed throughout the body.  Glucose is believed to prevent capillary damage due to its ability to improve your blood flow.
19. Further, it is also believed that regular intake of honey can actually stabilize blood sugar levels.
20. Take the juice from 1 lemon and mix it with 2 Tblsp of honey- not only will this help with a sore throat but it will also help aid digestive problems (sour tummy anyone?).
21. Honey can prevent colon damage- if taken daily the antioxidants found in honey can strengthen the colon.
22. Honey is a natural Anxiety reliever.  If you are feeling anxious just take some honey straight or mixed in your favorite beverage/food.  Honey creates a natural mood stabilizing effect.
23. Honey can prevents Heart Disease (see #18)  Honey can preserve the quality of the produced blood, which can help to prevent heart disease in the process.
24. Honey can even SAVE limbs from antibiotic resistant infections such as MRSA and  group A streptococcus better known the Flesh Eating bacteria. (source: Honey Remedy Could Save Limbs by Brandon Keim)
25. Honey is great for eczema.  Karma suffers from eczema and a dab of honey on the little dry patches (usually on her back and legs) clears things right up.  If you don't want sticky clothes I would suggest some nakey time after you apply the honey.
26. Honey is a great treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (see #'s 2, 4 and 11 for starters)
27. This goes along with #22 as not only can Honey reduce your overall anxiety but in doing so it actually cane IMPROVE memory.  Less overall anxiety means better overall brain function including memory.
28. Honey can help improve and cure a Bladder Infection-this is great news to me as I have a lot of kidney/bladder problems including infections and stones.  To treat a bladder infection, mix one tsp. honey with two tsp. apple cider vinegar in a glass of water. Stir well and drink once a day until the infection is cleared.
29. To go along with #28 to help pass a kidney stone combine 1 tsp. of basil with 1 tsp. of honey swallow. Kidney stones will be minimized and expelled easier using this concoction should.  Take once or twice a day.
30. Suffer from seasonal allergies?  Find LOCAL honey and consume daily (see #4).  The bee's collect pollen local to your area and turn it into the honey.  Giving yourself a low dose of this each day helps your body build up immunity to it so that you are no longer affected when you breath in the same pollen.  While there have been no formal studies done to prove this there was a study on allergies and honey conducted by students at Xavier University in New Orleans that produced positive results.
31. Even if the theory above is inaccurate honey is great for helping many sinus problems including to chronic sinusitis sufferers.  It is believed that the antibacterial and antimicrobial properties of honey are the reasons for this and as I said in #10 it has helped all of my symptoms with this pesky cold, including the stuffy/runny nose and sinus pain.
32. If you drink tea or coffee (which I don't!) replace the sugar you would normally add with honey.
33. To relieve the achy sting of a sunburn, gently apply a thin layer of honey to the affected area.
34. Honey is lower in calories than sugar, containing 40% less calories than an equal amount of sugar.  This makes it very dieter friendly.
35. Honey can treat yeast infections- apply honey to the affected areas, allow to sit 5-10 minutes and wash off with a gentle unscented soap or pure water.  Repeat several times a day as needed.
36. Honey can treat athletes foot- rub honey on the infected area before bedtime. Cover the feet with old socks, and leave on overnight. Wash and thoroughly dry the feet in the morning.
36 Honey increases the beneficial Lactobacillus bacteria in the gut when included regularly in the diet.
37. Honey can help heal a diaper rash- with my cold that I currently have I cannot smell anything.  This is a blessing and a curse when it comes to stinky diapers.  Blessing that I don't have to smell them as I changed them and curse because I am not aware they exist until regular changing times.  Because of this Sariah got a bad diaper rash and after learning about the healing properties of honey I decided to try it.  For a regular diaper rash just apply a small amount of honey directly to the rash.  For a yeast diaper rash mix honey with tea tree oil and apply.  This really did help clear the rash up and it had no ill effects on my cloth diapers so I would say it is a cloth diaper friendly option.
38. For a cool summer treat mix up some honey water (see #2 ) and pout into an ice cube tray.  Freeze for a few hours and enjoy in your favorite beverage (I like them in cucumber water, you may enjoy them in tea if you drink tea).  You could also use popsicles sticks to give the kids a healthy treat. 
39. Enjoy honey in place of sugar for all of your recipes, this may need to be tweaked so play around with it.  Start out using equal amounts of honey for sugar and then use more or less as needed until you perfect it.
40. Add honey to your morning oatmal or cereal to give a great pick me up for the day.  Honey is also great on top of pancakes and waffles in place of syrup.

Make sure the honey you are buying is a good quality 100% pure honey.  Watch the big store brands, read the labels, many bigger brands have sugar, water and even High Fructose Corn Syrup in them.  They are not pure honey.  Try to find a local honey farm to purchase from.  I am lucky, one of the "perks" of living in the sticks is that our small country store carries a lot of locally made/grown/harvested foods.  I purchase my honey from them, its made less than 20 miles away.

There is no definition for how close honey has to be from to be considered "local".  A general consensus seems to be within a 20-30 mile radius or about as far as a bee can travel from the hive.

There are a few types of honey that seem to be held in high reguard for their healing properties, including Manuka Honey.  These honey's are, of course, far pricier and I think that while thay may be useful in extreme situations such as #24 when you are trying to save a limb, for the most part as long as you find a good local honey the rest of the benefits can be achieved.

I think I am going to glaze our fish tonight in Honey with some lemon and herbs, can that be #41?

Love,
this healthy livin' (hopefully!) mama,
Christy

Wordless Wednesday- Food Eploration

Decided to try and pick back up with the Wordless Wednesday posts after taking a complete break from blogging in April and just kind of forgetting each week after that.

I like to try to match my theme up with the Natural Parents Network when possible.  This week's theme is Food Exploration.

Sariah

Sariah

Karma

Karma

Kimmy

Teddy

Lemon Drop Melon

I am sure there are plenty of things I could be doing right now around my house.  A few things that come to mind are dishes, laundry and various other cleaning opportunities that my kids provide me with daily.  Instead I decided that blogging about a yummy new fruit we tried was much more worthy.

Today while perusing the fresh fruit and veggie section at out local store I spotted a small section labeled Lemon Drop Melon (may be called  Lemon Melon not 100% sure which is the proper name as our store had it labeled Lemon Drop but when I google it I barely come up with any results for either combination).

We live in the sticks so I am always impressed with the large variety of fresh fruit and veggies our little country bumpkin store has available, and its usually locally (from local small farms) or in the least USA grown produce too.  For that reason the selection changes with the seasons and in the summer they get in some very exotic (to us) fruit and vegetables.  In the past we have purchased star fruit, pomelos, mangos, pomegranate, kiwi's as well as the staple fruits of the summer from them. 

It was their wide selection of fruits that inspired me to create my Food Bucket List.  Its a list of foods I want to try eating at least once before I, you know, kick the bucket.  It mainly contains a lot of exotic fruits and veggies but also has fun things on it like Deep Fried Snickers and Ostrich Burgers.

our Lemon Drop Melon before it was cut up

I also love to buy a wide variety of fruits to expose my kids to.   I think it's important for them to have an appreciation for all foods and to try new things as much as possible. My kids LOVE fruit (what kid doesn't right!) so its easiest to get them to try new flavors when they come from fruits.  Currently their favorites include peaches, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.  So I purchased all of those along with the Lemon Drop Melon and made a little fruit salad to go along with our lunch when we got home.

I was not sure what to expect from the melon.  I imagined it would be somewhat tart or tangy from the name so I was not sure how much the kids would like it.  Therefore I only put about 1/4 of the melon into the fruit salad.  They. LOVED! It.  They were picking the melon out over all the rest of the fruit and asking for more melon before they even touched anything else.  I made them finish the rest of the fruit they had on their plates first and then cut up more melon.  We ended up eating the entire thing, minus a few slices I held back to try some Lemon Drop Melon Water (which is currently chilling in the fridge, I have yet to try it but hope it's as good as it sounds).

Lemon Drop Melon Water

The taste of the melon is hard to describe.  Its sweet with a tangy almost salty taste to it.  The closest I can come is that it really reminded me of my childhood.  Growing up my grandma would always sprinkle salt onto our honey dew or cantaloupe melon after she sliced it up (healthy I know!).  It sounds awful if you never tried it but it actually tastes good.  I no longer do this as an adult, I appreciate the tastes of the fruit themselves and don't want to add any more salt to our diets BUT that's really what this fruit tasted like.  It was sweet like a honey dew or cantaloupe but it had a tangy/salty taste to it as well.  In a totally good way.

The whole point of my nonsensical ramblings is.... in the wise words of Yo Gabba Gabba......

TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT!

Try new foods, expand your horizons, buy that crazy looking/sounding fruit. You never know if you will like it if you never try it.

Ok, so now that I have wasterd 30 minutes of my afternoon writing this and a good 5 minutes of your afternoon as you read this I guess I will go and do something a little more productive.

Love,
this fun fruit lovin' mama,
Christy


P.S.  Check out my new blog called More Exotic Melons for a little more info on this melon and several other new (to me) melons I discovered.

UPDATE 08/01/11

Check out the comment that Sarah left, she works in the produce department at a grocery store and had some great info to share, thank you so much Sarah! 
Also, I just bought a Lemon Drop Melon a few days ago and used it for smoothies, I will be posting the recipe soon, it was YUM YUM YUM!  Be on the look out for that, I will link it here when it is up.

"Hi! My name is Sarah and I just stumbled across your blog here for the first time, and I'm hoping I can be of a little bit of help. I work for a grocery store in the produce section and it's my job to find out more information to pass on to customers and it just so happens that the Lemon Drop melon is what I'm looking at this week, and I'm happy to share the information that we found.
First off, the Galia Melon and the Lemon Drop Melon (a.k.a. Lemon Melon) are NOT the same melon.
The Lemon Melon came about only in the last few decades from a melon breeder in the Mediterranean region. He originally found a melon that was naturally high in citric acid, which is what gives the Lemon Melon it's lemony taste. Over the next decade or two after it's discovery, it was bred with many sweet-type melons using traditional breeding techniques (Non-GMO) to get the delicious melon that we have today.
As far as nutrition goes, the Lemon Drop Melon is fat free, low in calories (60 calories/cup) and high in Vitamins A and C.

To Sarah: I don't have twitter, I am not "cool" like that and find new technology intimidating.   I am on Facebook

Also, I got a notification a few days ago that someone left a comment on More Exotic Melons telling a trick on how to know if the Lemon Drop Melon is ripe.  I know many of you are wondering this, however when I go back and look the comment was gone.  I remember he said something about the green lines in the rind being dark in color but that's it.  So Sorry, I have never been good at how to tell if any melons are ripe.  I usually just grab 1, I have not been disappointed yet.


You can feel free to contact me on my personal twitter account, which is sarahwells61 if you have any more questions. Hope this helped! "

Our Dye Free Adventure

YES!  I am now one of "THOSE" moms.  Oh hush, you know that crossed at least half the minds of those reading this.

After much thought and research I have decided to try eliminating dyes from our kids diets.  I sincerely think (hope) that this will help calm some of the hyper active and obsessive-compulsive behaviors that both Monkey and Little Man exhibit.

For the past two years or so we have been slowly but surely switching over our diets from commercially over processed foods to more wholesome nutritious homemade items.  It has been a slow process and we are not 100% complete yet.  There are still some "questionable" items in our kitchen and I think that giving up dyes will help to eliminate most of them.

To start out this process I spent over 45 minutes looking and reading every single label on everything in our kitchen from bread, spices, even frozen veggies to look for any hidden dyes. I don't exactly have blue ketchup ,  bright red sports drinks or florescent green yogurt in my kitchen but I was surprised by a few items that did contain hidden dyes.   Once I was finished I must say I was pretty pleased to find so few items, I honestly thought we would have more than we did.  I contribute this to the over all shift we have been making with our diets and views on what real food is.

Here is the complete list of what I found:
1. Blueberry Pop Tarts- DUH!   My kids love pop tarts but this one did not surprise me in the least.
Contained red 40 and blue 1

2. Fruit Snacks-  Red 40, blue 1 and yellow 5


3. Ovaltine- this is one that shocked me!! WHY?? Has red 40, yellow 6 and blue 1. I do not see the purpose of dyes in this but whatever.

4. Quaker Fruit & Cream Oatmeal-Assrt flavors- only 2 of the 4 flavors have dyes and again I am like WHY!?!? Why do they have to put stuff like that in there. The strawberry has red 40 and the blueberry has blue 2 and red 40. The peach and banana do not have any.

5. Hershey's Butterscotch Baking Chips- this one was a shocker to me! Has yellow 6, yellow 5 and blue 2

6. Jello Pumpkin Spice Pudding Mix-  nooooooooooo. Yellow 5 and yellow 6

7. Mission Jalapeno Cheddar Wraps- nooooooooooo, again WHY!!!! Has yellow 5 & 6

8. Fruit Chillers Freeze & Eat tubes- Silly me, I thought these were pretty healthy for the kids. This is what I give them as Popsicles/ice cream. Has red 40

9. Sun Chips- Garden Salsa Flavor- another shocker, also thought these were pretty healthy!  These are the only chips I eat! Yellow 5 & 6 as well has red 40.

Now my kids do not get any of these daily so I am not sure how much eliminating dyes will help. Most of these are only occasional treats/meal items. I am willing to give it a shot though to help get some normalcy back in this house!

food dye chart from the CSPI article:
Food Dyes Pose Rainbow of Risks

I am not going to lie, some will be hard to give up for my kids.  They LOVE pop tarts and fruit snacks.  Thankfully over at confessions of an earthy young mom she has an awesome home made pop tarts recipe that I plan to try out.  I will also be on the lookout for more all natural alternatives to fruit snacks.  I really want a dehydrator and I know that you can make your own fruit roll ups in them.  I could easily pass those off to my kids as "chongas" as they are called in our house. 

What are "chongas"?  Fruit snacks silly, just ask my kids.  "Chongas" is one of several words that Little Man made up around 18 months of age.  He made up words for things that he didn't have words for and some have just stuck and been passed down kid to kid.  "Peep" is another.  Peep = Vacuum.

Many have asked me why I am trying to eliminate dyes.  The answer is simple really, to help save the last shreds of sanity I have. Being food label junkie that I am I have recently discovered that some studies suggest artificial food dyes can be linked to ADD, ADHD and even Autism like symptoms in children (they are also linked to cancer and allergy risks).  Little Man is extremely hyper active.  I am not saying this in an "I'm an exhausted mom of 4 who can't keep up with my normal 4 yr olds behavior" I say this as in "he is bouncing off the wall, ultimate sugar high x 100, I am worried he will be stuck with a "label' once he enters school" hyper activity. 

Even his behavior is overshadowed by Monkey though, if you have followed my blog for any length of time then you are all too familiar with her behavior.  I swear that girl has insomnia.  Is it possible for a toddler to have insomnia?  How about a toddler that was exposed to harmful drugs by the birth mother while in utero?

I have the same bedtime routine as always.  At 8pm we warn the kids bedtime is approaching and try to calm them down.  TRY being the keyword there. They get bednight drinks and snacks-that's what Little Man dubbed them when he was 2 and again the name has just stuck ever since.  We get PJs and night night diapers on about 8:30ish.  Then there is book time, snuggles and "bednight" kisses, prayer and tuck in by 9.  Once I close the door though Monkey is right back up and the battle begins.  I spend the rest of the night fighting with her to get her to stay in bed and go to sleep.  She can't be in a crib because she climbs right out and she has not been able to sleep with us since Tubs was born, queen size bed is just not enough room.  I battle with her most night until 12-2 am.  Yet she still wakes 8-9 am and either refuses naps all together or tries to take a nap right about dinner time, which I do not allow her to do and fight with her to stay awake for hours.  The rare occasions she does fall asleep at 8-9pm she wakes a few hours later and treats it as if it was a nap.  It has been really bad for the last month or so and she has even started keeping Little Man and Smunchkin up with her on many nights. 

Its a battle I am so wary of fighting and I am hoping that by making some dietary changes her body will be able to regulate itself better.  I have read that the "sugar high" so many parents observe in their kids after candy/sweet consumption has nothing to do with the sugar itself and can be attributed to the dyes in the treats.

I will keep tabs on here on how the elimination is going and if their behavior is improving.  I will give it a few months and if there is no change I will look into eliminating gluten and/or dairy as both of those can also have the same effects on kids with unknown/undiagnosed allergies to them.

Even if the dyes are not the triggers its still a good idea to eliminate them, they provide no nutritional value what so ever and to quote one of the articles I found:

"Dyed foods should be considered adulterated under the law, because the dyes make a food "appear better or of greater value than it is"--typically by masking the absence of fruit, vegetable or other more costly ingredient."

Food Dyes Linked to Cancer, ADHD, Allergies

by Laurel Curran.  July 08, 2010

I find it so sad that many countries in Europe ban dyes in their foods but the good ole US of A still allows it.  Why this surprises me so much I am not sure, the US also loves and embraces HFCS (high fructose corn syrup); overly processed, chemically laden, barely passable as food like substance and GMO (genetically modified) food!

colors the way nature intended

Here are some links to some great articles/blogs I found while researching dyes:

CSPI Says Food Dyes Pose Rainbow of Risks

A Naturally Colorful Life » Autism is a Trip

The color of trouble | Spoonfed 

Food Dyes Linked to Cancer, ADHD, Allergies

So goodbye Blueberry Pop Tarts, so long Dora Fruit Snacks.  Sun Chips, you and I are going to have to have a talkin to and you may have to hide in my bedroom where the kids cannot see you.

Is it hard to give up convenience foods, YES!  Do I enjoy making everything from scratch all the time, not always.  I do love cooking but sometimes I really want to just open up some pop tarts and say "here you go", especially in the morning.  In the end though, I know its better for us all so its something I am willing to do.  Would I make these changes if I was not a mom?  I do not know for sure as evidenced by the fact that I continue to drink my Jones soda that's full of dyes.  I am trying to give up the soda.  Baby steps, baby steps!

Love,

a confused and overwhelmed but determined mama,

Christy

P.S. Check out ehow.com's guide to make your own natural food coloring