The 50right Guide to Healthy Eating I am very healthy and have never had an illness that required a hospital visit. I do not take any prescription drugs for any disease or affliction. I attribute much of this success to a careful, healthy diet. I have done a lot of reading and experimentation on various food and drink, so considering my overall excellent health, I feel this gives me some good credibility on the subject of healthy eating. I thought it would be interesting to provide information and brand names for the products I choose to continue a long, healthy life. So here they are, posted as I think of them, not in order of importance.
I'll start the thread off with olive oil, which is one of the healthiest foods you can consume. An important key is buying the right olive oil. Be careful...I have read that some imported Italian olive oils, because of Mafia influence in regions of Italy, can be tainted with unhealthy and sometimes dangerous additives, in order to make the Mafia gangs more money. Frankly, I would avoid all imported Italian olive oils for now to be on the safe side. The specifications of organic, extra virgin, first cold pressed, should be your olive oil of choice. I have tried different brands and I feel the best out there is distributed by Bragg Live Food Products, imported from Greece. It has a taste and texture of freshness that is satisfying to the palate without any harsh bitter taste which can be associated with olive oil. The only problem with the Bragg brand is that it can sometimes be difficult to find. It is usually available in health food stores, and in a few supermarkets. Of course it is also available online thru the Bragg website. If Bragg is not available or you don't want to wait for delivery, another high quality olive oil, Newman's Own brand, imported from Tunisia, is usually on the supermarket shelves. Nothing at all wrong with Newman's, I just prefer the Bragg brand a little bit better. I've seen American grown and produced olive oil in the stores, and have tried some. Unfortunately, it didn't have a fresh taste. I guess they don't sell as much, and so it sits around for a while and turns a bit rancid. Bragg and Newman's are both good sellers, so even though they are imported, it's fresh olive oil that you are consuming. The mentioned olive oils all cost more than brands of lesser quality. However I strongly feel that my good health is well worth the price.
https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty_dozen_list.php#.WhyREUqnGUk EWG's 2017 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - An excellent guide for produce with the worst pesticides. In my healthy eating perspective, consuming organic fruits and vegetables isn't a luxury, it's a necessity.
Most supermarkets now have a decent selection of organic vegetables in the frozen food section. I have tried a number of them, and my favorite for freshness and flavor is the brand Earthbound Farm. Earthbound Farm grows high quality vegetables. My favorite, sold in their plastic wrap, is the one they call "Organic California-Style Blend." I'm not sure what the "California-Style" has to do with it, but the package consists of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots which are three of the best vegetables for our bodies. It's easy to prepare. I open the package, place the vegetables on a BPA-free paper plate, then put it in the microwave for 5 minutes. It comes out hot and delicious, and I sprinkle it with the previously mentioned olive oil for a healthy, tasty treat.
Nuts about nuts: Rather than at snack time reaching for pretzels, potato chips, cookies, or some cheese concoction which are all devastatingly unhealthy...why not choose a healthy snack? Nuts are a terrific, healthy snack but the key is choosing the right nut made the right way. Always choose organic, raw unsalted nuts. Some nuts may not be available in organic, so at least always choose raw unsalted, which are readily available at most quality food stores. Big number one for best buy are walnuts. They are simply superb in a number of ways. A close second are almonds, followed by pecans. Seeds can also be a wonderful, healthy snack such as pumpkin seeds. There may be other nuts and seeds that are good for you, but these are the ones I have tried and prefer.
Seafood: Seafood, especially fish, can be a very healthy meal or it can be unhealthy. Canned and processed seafood is basically unhealthy. However you may believe that seafood bought "fresh" in those supermarket glass presentation cases would be healthy. Mostly it is not. Seafood spoils quickly. Preservatives are normally added to ensure the product can be sold when it gets to market. So the seafood in those glass presentation cases advertised as fresh, is loaded with preservatives to keep it from spoiling for as long as possible. Consuming these preservatives cannot be healthy for our bodies. Nevertheless for many years, I still was an enthusiastic buyer of this so-called fresh seafood. Alarmingly, I started getting very uncomfortable and painful cramps in my toes, feet, and legs, especially at night. It took me awhile to figure out what was causing the cramps. As it turns out, the cramps were directly attributed to the fresh seafood. I stopped eating this seafood and the cramps totally went away. That made me quite happy that the cramps were gone. However I missed the taste and wanted the health benefits of seafood. I checked out the frozen seafood section of the supermarkets and the same situation was there. All sorts of preservatives with long names. The longer the preservative name, the more it sort of frightened me. I simply wasn't going to risk having those bad cramps come back. Every once in awhile, I continued to check out the frozen seafood section of the various supermarkets, and lo and behold, I finally found a winner. Orca Bay brand seafood contains no preservatives. They advertise on their package, "100% free of artificial preservatives, colors or trans fats." I was still skeptical that there could be something other than seafood in there. Maybe some sort of chemical that wasn't required to be listed in the ingredients, that would again cause cramps. However I bought some Orca Bay flounder and wild caught salmon to try it and check out the results. Happily, after around six months of consuming Orca Bay seafood, I have not had any toe, foot, or leg cramps whatsoever. Another nice benefit is that I haven't had any constipation since eating the Orca Bay seafood. I had constipation around once a week, and it was becoming more frequent, while eating the other seafood. However I didn't attribute constipation to the seafood. I just figured it was all part of getting older. When I stopped eating the other seafood, the constipation went away. When I began with Orca Bay, I just assumed the constipation would come back, and I accepted that coming discomfort for the benefits of eating seafood. Surprisingly, the constipation did not come back. Based on that and considering that I made no other discernible changes in my diet, I have to conclude that for whatever reason, the chemical preservatives in the other seafood were causing the constipation. The other good news about Orca Bay is the taste. It's as good or better than any seafood I have ever consumed that is sold in those supermarket glass presentation cases. A minor problem for some may be that their selection is limited. I was lucky because two of my favorite seafoods are flounder and wild caught salmon. Hopefully in the future, maybe Orca Bay will expand their selection. I'm not a big shellfish eater for various reasons, but I have tried the Orca Bay scallops, and it is absolutely delicious. And again, no preservatives. Since discovering Orca Bay, I have seen a few other brands in the frozen seafood section of some supermarkets which also do not have preservatives. I have not tried any of those brands yet, figuring I can't do better than Orca Bay. But if I ever see trout sold by these other brands, I will try it and post the results.
Fruit juices: The vast majority of the fruit juices sold on supermarket shelves, sorry to inform you, are like slow acting poisons on the body. They often contain loads of sugar plus artificial colors, sweeteners, and flavorings. There really is nothing good to say about these type of beverages. They prematurely wear out the filtering organs of the body such as the liver and kidneys which must constantly strain to get rid of all this ingested chemical pollution. These unhealthy drinks rob children and adults of their full intellectual and physical potential. The chemicals can and do cause behavioral changes in the brain, and also side effects in the body such as headaches, stomach aches, etc, and rising up to cancer in the long term. Fortunately there is a solution to wanting a healthy tasty drink as an alternative to water, without the negatives, and that is organic, 100% fruit juices. An excellent brand is R.W. Knudsen which is sold in most supermarkets. I've even seen this brand in Walmart. Be careful though, not all of the Knudsen offerings are organic. Look specifically on this brand for the organic label and read the contents to ensure it is organic 100% fruit juice with no sugar or artificial ingredients. Some of their juices contain ascorbic acid (vitamin C) which acts as a preservative of sorts. I'm willing to accept this particular additive which is about as benign a preservative as can be, in order to consume a fresh tasting, healthy product. Another excellent brand is Lakewood which I also buy. Lakewood doesn't seem to have the same selection or availability as Knudsen. I keep my eye out for other possible new brands. However these two brands make a great choice for your health and taste buds.
Frozen organic blueberries: Rather than reach for a frozen unhealthy treat such as ice cream, a far superior choice is frozen organic fruit. My favorite is organic blueberries. The frozen blueberries can be thawed out in the refrigerator, or placed in the microwave for a quick thaw, or believe it or not I like to pop them in my mouth frozen, chew them, and it's like munching on a naturally sweet popsicle as they melt in my mouth. My recommendation for best quality product is that from Cascadian Farm. I have tried other brands and they do not seem to be up to the consistent quality from package to package as Cascadian Farm. Cascadian Farm also offers frozen organic strawberries which I have not tried yet, but I will one of these days.
Spaghetti: Perhaps around once or twice a month, I enjoy a tasty plate of spaghetti. Certainly spaghetti will never be known as a health food, but there is a way to enjoy this delicious pasta meal as healthy as possible. The key is buying both organic pasta and organic pasta sauce. I choose DeBoles brand spaghetti which is a high quality organic pasta. There are a few other organic brands out there, and they are acceptable, however I prefer the DeBoles brand most of all. The organic pasta selection is limited, but the organic pasta sauce selection is growing. I see both national and regional names on the supermarket shelves for organic pasta sauce, and that is wonderful for a variety of taste. All of the organic pasta sauces that I have tried are really delicious. The brand which I prefer is called The Vine. The main reason I choose The Vine is their brand contains a lower salt content than the other brands. Remember when reading the ingredients label on a product, that the ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. This means the highest weight ingredient in the container is listed first, the lowest weight listed last. The Vine organic pasta sauce that I like, they call it "Vegan Marinara", the salt content is listed next to last on the ingredients label versus other brands which list the salt content higher than that. Also remember to always buy processed tomato products in a glass jar, never in plastic or a tin can.
Chicken: One of America's favorite lunch and dinner foods. There are two brands of chicken that I recommend from the grocery store. The first is Harvest Farms brand. They advertise on their label, no added antibiotics ever, no preservatives, no added hormones, no artificial ingredients, raised cage free, and 100% vegetarian fed. I'm not sure that you can get much better than that. Tyson brand is advertised as no antibiotics ever, no added hormones or steroids, and no artificial ingredients. Both brands are products of the USA and are of excellent quality. I like the taste of Harvest Farms just a notch better, but nothing at all wrong with Tyson. The problem with chicken is when it becomes processed such as with Chinese food, TV dinners, chicken wings, chicken nuggets, and dozens of other ways. Just read the ingredients label to find out what else is in there...you probably won't like what you see. Also sorry to inform you but those rotisserie chickens available in most supermarkets that you may believe are healthy, actually are processed with sodium and probably non-organic seasonings. You are much better off buying the mentioned brands along with your own favorite organic seasonings. Then preparing and cooking the chicken yourself which is a far healthier choice. Yes, it's a bit more work in preparing and cooking the chicken yourself, but in return you get a much healthier meal, custom made to suit your own taste buds. And your internal organs will be happy that they won't have to work hard labor in filtering out from your body all the brutal added ingredients contained in processed chicken.
Birds Eye Organic mixed vegetables: Excellent quality. Recommended although not quite as good as Cascadian Farm quality. Be careful about most "name brand" vegetables in the frozen food section. Most of them contain additives and ingredients which are unhealthy. These "name brand" vegetables typically mix-in sauces or creams, which negates the whole purpose of eating totally healthy. Similar to smothering a salad of fresh vegetables with salad dressing containing high amounts of sugar, salt, and additives having long names you can't even pronounce.
Bread: Today's bread found in supermarkets and practically everywhere else such as bagel shops, really is not a good choice for a healthy diet. Sure, the corporate bread producer advertisements may say their bread is "Just like Grandmother used to make"...yea, if Grandmother was a chemist. The amount of preservatives, additives, flavorings, sugar, salt and other unhealthy ingredients in today's bread, truly is a product only a chemist could love. Your internal organs, having to labor hard to absorb and filter out all of these unhealthy ingredients certainly don't love it. However there are healthy choices for bread available. My choice for bread is Nature's Path Organic Oats. I prefer the "rolled oats" style. It is 100% whole grain with no added ingredients. There are other brands of similar product which are also excellent quality. Just be sure you carefully read the ingredients label before buying it, rather than quickly placing it in your shopping cart. Then when you get home, you look at the ingredients label and discover that you bought an unwanted chemistry set. At that point, just toss it outside for the birds or squirrels to eat, they don't worry about getting cancer. There are many ways to prepare this. I just put the oats in a glass, add bottled water, allow the oats to soak, then add some delicious organic fruit such as blueberries, bananas, apples, etc. Do it any way you want for a tasty, healthy snack, even a low calorie meal.
New organic fruit juice: I saw a new brand of organic fruit juice today in the supermarket, and decided to try it. The brand name is North Coast and from the label it says that they've been in business since 1922 which is almost 100 years. I had hopes for this brand as the ingredients label stated 100% fruit juice with no preservatives, such as ascorbic acid. I bought a bottle each of their regular apple juice and their honeycrisp apple juice. I was used to the name "honeycrisp" because that is a name of organic apples that I sometimes buy. So just to clarify, there is no "honey" in this honeycrisp apple juice. I am pleased to report that both juices were of excellent quality and absolutely delicious. Highly recommended, and I will be drinking more North Coast organic fruit juices.
The Fuji organic apple: Fuji is not a brand name, but a type of hybrid apple that was developed in Japan in the 1930's as a cross between two types of American apples. In most quality supermarkets today, you can find organic apples and all of them are good. However the best in my opinion for taste and crispness are Fuji apples. I haven't seen Fuji apples offered as non-organic, but before buying them, double check to make sure they are organic. Because if the Fuji apples are not organic, it turns the positive of this healthy apple into a negative. Rather than eating some unhealthy snack, why not reach for a delicious Fuji organic apple. Your body and internal organs will be glad that you did.
Whole Foods is a supermarket that is highly recommended. I now do most of my food and drink shopping there. They offer a wide variety of organic. The best by far I have ever seen in one place. Their organic apple juice is superb. Their organic chicken is expensive but very tasty. Their 365 brand of organic vegetables are among the best. These are staples for me, as well as other products such as organic nuts. Also offered are high quality vitamins that although more expensive, I prefer these over typical vitamins. But they also offer lower price vitamins for folks on a tight budget. Most everything at Whole Foods is geared towards good health. Although they do offer junk food such as potato chips, pizza, ice cream, etc, which I do not buy. However it seems to be the "healthiest" junk food out there, if that makes sense.
While enjoying my healthy diet, unfortunately due to the high fiber content and other reasons, I was beginning to experience some problems with my digestion and painful stomach cramps. I researched the problem and came to the conclusion that it was a disorder known as irritable bowel syndrome. There is a dietary solution to this disorder. However most of the foods recommended are bland, and some of it although friendly to the stomach, tended to be a bit unfriendly to the rest of the body. I definitely did not want to begin taking drugs. So I was hopeful there would be a natural solution in which I could stay with my healthy diet, but not needing drugs in which to do so. Thru some hours of research on the internet, I came up with a possible best solution of peppermint oil. Fortunately it was sold at Whole Foods. With the help of a new friend, she guided me to find the little bottle of peppermint oil located in a store with hundreds if not thousands of little bottles. I purchased the Herb Pharm brand which was organic so I really liked that fact. Well it was around dinner time, so I intentionally consumed a bit more food than usual, which I knew would likely give me a stomach ache, just to test the peppermint oil to see how effective it might be. After the heavy meal, I followed the instructions on the label, placed one full "squeeze" from the dropper bulb into four ounces of water. Stirred it and drank. It actually has a very refreshing taste, sort of like a mouth wash, but more pleasant. Well lo and behold, my stomach still made a few benign noises, but overall no uncomfortable indigestion and no stomach cramp pain at all. Remarkable success, and I fully intend to keep using peppermint oil as needed. Thank you Whole Foods and thank you Evelyn!
As previously noted, the peppermint oil has worked great for digestion problems when it arises. However, I continued to read about this peppermint oil and some folks may experience side effects if used too often. Upon further research and experimentation, I have found that green tea, decaffeinated, works almost as well, but with no side effects. In fact the green tea has other properties which can enhance health in other ways besides digestion. So my basic strategy now has been rather than wait for digestion problems to occur, I consume a cup of the decaffeinated green tea along with a meal that could be problematic. Then if feeling that my tummy needs it, another cup after the meal. It has worked like a charm. A brand that I really like is Bigelow, available at Whole Foods. Highly recommended for taste and quality. Just to mention again, make sure you buy the decaffeinated tea for best health results versus tea containing caffeine.
Always looking to improve the situation, especially with the tummy, I have tried peppermint tea because the green tea didn't seem to be quite good enough some of the time. The peppermint tea has provided excellent results so far. Right now, I would still rate the peppermint oil as tops but with possible side affects. The peppermint tea second but with no side effects. And the green tea in third. Please note that I have not had any side effects from the peppermint oil such as heartburn, but it does contain alcohol. So unless it's a gross situation of say overeating at Thanksgiving, then I'm going to be using peppermint tea most of the time. Again, choose decaffeinated.
