For the Love of Dairy

by Nature's Symbiotics. Posted on September 4, 2013

04 Sep

When it comes to determining whether or not dairy is good for you, you’re probably confused! It seems like every few weeks there is a new set of ideas about which – if any – dairy products are healthy and good for you. It’s time to finally set the record straight on dairy products.

Full Fat and Organic: The Best Way to do Dairy

Conventional wisdom has it that skim and reduced fat dairy products are the only kinds a healthy person should consume, because these products have less fat. However, recent research has shown that organic, grass-fed, full fat dairy is actually the healthiest option. This can be hard news for fat-phobics to swallow, but the human body actually needs fat to function. In fact, the reduced-fat and skim dairy options that line the shelves of your grocery may actually be contributing to the obesity epidemic because they are full of unwanted sugar and calories.

Not convinced yet? Reuters recently reported that grass-fed cows produce milk that contains much higher levels of an unsaturated fat known as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLAs are healthy fats that are believed to improve heart health. In addition, CLAs can encourage weight loss and even decrease your risk of cancer and diabetes. Furthermore, organic grass-fed dairy products lack the antibiotics and growth hormones that can make conventional milk a health risk.

Raw Milk: An Even Better Option

While full fat, grass-fed organic dairy products may be your best bet for dairy products that you can find at most grocery stores, raw (organic and grass-fed) dairy products are the healthiest for you. The benefits of raw milk include higher levels of essential nutrients such as fatty acids and several vitamins, including Vitamin C. The pasteurization process dramatically reduces all of these vitamins and nutrients. Raw milk devotees also report that raw products actually taste better. If you’re interested in supporting local business endeavors, raw milk also lets you support local farmers and suppliers! However, it should be noted that raw milk can make drinkers very sick if it contains any bacteria or pathogens, since it is not pasteurized or sanitized in any way. You should only purchase raw dairy products from a farm that you feel is trustworthy.

There is actually some evidence to suggest that raw dairy products are suitable for people who struggle with lactose intolerance – raw dairy products have enzymes and live cultures that are not present in pasteurized options. Many people who suffer from lactose intolerance have found that raw milk is less likely to make them feel uncomfortable or sick. Perhaps this is because raw milk still contains all of the healthy bacteria that help your body to process dairy. Pasteurization actually removes all of the lactase enzymes that are known to improve digestion of lactose, the main sugar in milk!

It’s OK to Love Dairy!

So the set the record straight – dairy products are part of a well-balanced and healthy diet! The key is to find the right dairy products, which will give you the best health benefits while also tasting delicious. At a minimum, replace fat free or reduced fat items like milk, yogurt, cheese, and sour cream with the real, full fat versions. Also, eliminate any margarines or other butter substitutes and replace them with the real thing. If your budget allows, buy organic (and grass fed) dairy wherever possible. Finally, give raw dairy a try!

Frozen Yogurt: Not Exactly a Healthy Treat!

by Nature's Symbiotics. Posted on June 13, 2013

Excellent article yesterday courtesy of our friends at 100 Days of Real Food and the Food Babe! With the huge popularity of these refreshing, summer time treats, we’re glad they went the extra mile to look into what we are really eating when we buy from these popular chains like Red Mango, Pinkberry, and the like. We’ve written about popular “healthy alternative” misconceptions before, so we weren’t surprised to discover that they found that frozen yogurt is not the healthy treat people tend to think it is.

pinkberry 2

The bottom line? Low-Fat/Fat-Free, commercially offered frozen yogurt treats are full of processed ingredients, both to preserve them for large scale distribution and also to make them taste better (since the fat has been removed). In fact, much like how fast food chains do their shakes and soft serve, they come in a box or carton full of pre-made, pre-mixed liquid or powder that the store then prepares and freezes.

And perhaps the most surprising bit of all is what these yogurts don’t contain – probiotics! That’s right, the freezing process kills off all or most of the probiotics so much that they no longer meet the criteria to actually be called yogurt.

So at the end of the day, what you are really eating is a frozen, “milk-based” treat that bears little to no resemblance to actual yogurt and is full of processed ingredients. That doesn’t sound super healthy to us.

The alternative? Well, as always, reading the labels and doing a little research is really the best option and the only way to make sure that what you are eating is “real food”. We did some research to try to find brands out there that are real food and it turns out it is difficult but not impossible! As it turns out, sorbets may be your best bet. We found one widely available brand, Ciao Bella, which is widely available at stores like Target, Safeway, and Whole Foods. And while all of their products don’t fit the criteria, a lot of them do, especially their sorbet. Deserving an honorable mention is Häagen Dazs, which we’ve always loved for their real food ingredients, although we were disappointed to see them using corn syrup in their sorbets. Even so, in general their products are pretty good quality for a mass-distributed product line.

Here is an example of how Pinkberry compares to Ciao Bella:

	Pinkberry Strawberry Frozen Yogurt	Ciao Bella Raspberry Sorbet
Serving Size	1/2 cup	1/2 cup
Calories	110	120
Total Fat	0g	0g
Cholesterol	5mg	0mg
Sodium	50mg	0mg
Total Carbohydrate	23g	28g
Dietary Fiber	0g	3g
Sugars	22g	24g
Protein	3g	0g
Vitamin A	0%	0%
Vitamin C	4%	4%
Calcium	10%	0%
Iron	0%	4%
Ingredients	Nonfat milk, sugar, strawberry flavor (strawberries, sugar, water, natural flavors, fruit and vegetable juice [for color], guar gum, sodium citrate), nonfat yogurt (pasteurized nonfat milk, live and active cultures), nonfat yogurt powder (nonfat milk, culture), fructose, dextrose, natural flavors, citric acid, guar gum, maltodextrin, mono- and diglycerides, rice starch	Raspberry Puree, Organic Cane Sugar, Water, Natural Flavor, Pectin

Remember, though, it’s still a treat, so moderation is important – just read the labels and make sure the ingredients are real food!

You can read the article in it’s entirety here: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/06/12/food-babe-investigates-frozen-yogurt-gone-bad/

The Secret Behind my Favorite Fast Food

by Dana. Posted on June 9, 2013

If you’re anything like me, you’ve found it pretty difficult to deal with hunger cravings, the desire to snack, giving up junk food, etc, right? Especially when you’re busy at work, running errands, doing chores around the house, and all of the various other things that keep us busy each day, even on the weekends!

I really thought that getting rid of all the junk and convenience food would be super hard, but I’ve discovered that lots of healthy stuff is actually just as fast to throw together in a pinch. The key is really to just keep a few great ingredients on hand all the time. For example, I’ve gone from stocking my pantry with crackers, chips, noodle packets and the like to stocking my fridge with lemons, limes, and avocados (among other things).

And that brings me to what has become by far my favorite “fast food”:

avocado-fast-food Avocado with lemon juice, Spike, and citrus sparkling water

1 Avocado
1 or 2 fresh lemons and limes
sparkling water
Spike (also comes in a salt and gluten free version)

This literally took me 5 minutes to throw together! For the avocado, simply slice open and sprinkle some fresh lemon juice on top, to taste. I usually like to make sure that the indentation in the center is at least half full of lemon juice. Then sprinkle Spike, a fantastic all-purpose natural seasoning full of great herbs and spices, on top. Then eat with a spoon! I also like to make a quick pitcher of sparkling water and sliced lemons and limes as a refreshing, healthy and virtually zero calorie drink.

Here’s the secret behind why this is such a great fast food snack, especially when you’re feeling hungry and having cravings:

Avocados have only around 250 calories each – so even though they seem like a rich indulgence, they really aren’t!
They are rich in healthy fat and fiber, which means your cravings for rich, fatty foods will be satisfied and the fiber will help you feel full too
They are also rich in potassium, magnesium and iron as well as VItamins A, B6, and C
The citrus gives an extra boost of Vitamin C

Personally I’m thinking the whole phrase about an apple a day should’ve been about avocados. Enjoy!

Why Fat Free and Low Fat Foods Actually Make You Fat

by Nature's Symbiotics. Posted on April 27, 2013

Same calories, but low-fat has twice the carbs and nearly three times the sodium!

A common misconception among dieters is that fat free foods are good for you. This couldn’t be farther from the truth! If you’ve ever read the label of a fat free or fat reduced food, then you know that awful substitutes are used to accomplish the lower number of calories. Fat is replaced with sodium, sugar, and carbohydrates.

According to numerous medical studies, fat free foods:

Interfere with the body’s ability to regulate fat storage and metabolism. Artificial ingredients confuse the natural processes of the body and make it difficult to stabilize how fat is used and stored.
Increase our appetites. Our bodies need a minimal amount of fat to survive and operate. Think of fat as a fuel – we need enough to sustain our bodies with energy, but not too much or it’s stored as body fat. So when we remove this fuel from our diets with fat free foods, our bodies are searching for more sources of energy. This makes us hungrier and hungrier, and we eat more foods as a result.
Confuse the metabolic process. Since these processed foods distract the body’s ability to digest and metabolize food, we retain more from what we eat, thereby resulting in weight gain.

As these studies have shown, it’s better to taste more and consume more calories with real foods than it is to replace them with artificial substitutes. Remember, not all calories are created equal. While many diets focus on the number of calories consumed, the more important consideration is to focus on the quality of calories consumed.

Another major misconception is that fat free foods are synonymous with low calorie foods. This is why so many people watching their intake of fat calories struggle to lose weight. The proportion of fat calories to “normal” calories is of little consequence if the overall count is high and the food quality is poor. Again, it’s natural for all food to have at least some percentage of fat calories. Low or no fat means that the food has been unnaturally processed to modify its composition.

Need ideas? Check out these rich and tasty healthy-fat recipes!

What does this mean? It means that extra sugar, sweeteners, and simple carbs have been added to make up for the lack of fat calories. These elements aren’t only enemies of your diet plan, but are high in calories as well. What has essentially happened is that fat calories are removed only to be replaced with even more calories that are allegedly better because there isn’t any fat. But remember that in terms of dieting, a calorie is still a calorie. Kind of defeats the purpose of eliminating fat calories, right?

The worst part is that eliminating fat calories means that flavor has been eliminated as well. To add back the lost flavor, processed junk, sugar, MSG, and carbs are added to the ingredient list to make it taste better. These ingredients mess with our metabolic process and are just flat-out unhealthy in general. In other words, low or no fat foods don’t necessarily equate to low calorie foods – and it certainly doesn’t equate to healthy foods.

This means that you can enjoy full fat, natural foods as long as you eat them in moderation. Go enjoy that steak you’ve been craving and don’t be afraid to have fun at the neighborhood picnic! Focus on naturally low fat foods (fruits and veggies) and foods with healthy fats like fish, eggs, and avocado (to name just a few). It’s always better to moderate real food consumption than rely heavily on processed fats and foods.

Click here for Part 1 – Why Diet Sodas Aren’t Really Diet

Click here for Part 3 – How Convenience Foods Make You Fat

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