A video here http://www.mercola.com/sweet-deception-aspartame shows the truth behind the artificial sweeteners that are so prevalent. My own objection to them is that I don't know what plant they came from and I cannot be sure the body will process the ingredients. Although I am not exactly "thin," I know that when I ate many of the diet foods and artificial sweetners, I only got fatter. They seem to prevent the body from using up calories. In the end, real food, as close as possible to its original form, (an apple is better than a sweetened apple desert, for example), is the safest way to go. Real foods were created for the body. These imposter sweeteners and fake fats will eventually cause health problems, and may even prevent weight loss.
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29 comments:
Dear Lady Lydia,
I believe you are right about artificial sweetener, fats, etc., and the video was very sobering to view as well. My husband gets painful sores on his tongue if he eats anything containing artificial sweetener so we stay away from it.
Years ago I inherited my mother's and some of my grandmother's cookbooks and even home economics textbooks from the 1910-1950 period. Cooking was considered a science then (which it is) and was taken very seriously so that homemakers could learn how and why to cook foods in such a way as to protect the health of their families.
Of course, no one had ever heard of artificial ingredients, except perhaps oleo-margarine. The ingredients for all the recipes in these old cookbooks are whole grains for breakfast cereal and baking, vegetables and fruits in season, dairy products, eggs and meats. Judging from many family photographs I have from that time period hardly anyone was even slightly overweight and an obese person by today's standards would have been an oddity indeed.
I've puzzled over this for some time now and my best guess is that the homemakers used up so much energy doing the laundry by hand in a washtub, scrubbing floors on hands and knees and not to mention trying to stay warm in a drafty house that they simply burned up any excess calories they may have eaten.
Maybe some of our modern conveniences have a hidden downside to them that we are only now considering.
Sorry this is so long but I just love reading your blog and it does me good to have others with whom I can discuss the finer points of homemaking.
Best wishes from Mrs. T.
..and one reason we gain weight with artificial foods is that they don't give us any satisfaction, so we eat more of them. I know lots of bad things have been said about the effects of too much sugar, but I'd rather have the real sugar grown from sugar beets or cane, than anything artificial.
Where can I find an older cookbook from the early 1901's - 1950's? I really would like one that teaches how to can fruits and vegetables.
Thanks,
Mrs. F.
Dear Mrs. F.,
A really good, all-purpose cookbook is the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook first published in 1950. It has been reprinted exactly as it first appeared and is available new and used at Amazon or new at www.bettycrocker.com. You can also get the 1957 Betty Crocker Cookbook for Boys and Girls which is also reprinted exactly from the original - very good for children (or new homemakers!) to learn a few basic skills and some simple yet delicious recipes. As for canning, it would be safest to go with any recent edition of the Ball Blue Book which is available in any bookstore. You can learn the modern and safe methods of preserving foods and there are plenty of the old-fashioned recipes included. Hope this info is helpful to you.
Best wishes from Mrs. T.
Dear Lady Lydia -
Thank you so much for posting this. People need to know that these chemicals are dangerous.
I become violently ill if I have ANY artificial sweeteners at all...even the small amount they use in toothpastes and mouthwashes. (I have to use Tom's of Maine oral care products so I don't become ill) It is not an allergic reaction, but more like my body is rejecting the chemical because it irritates my insides so much. MSG also bothers me in the same way. My DH gets horrid migraines if he eats MSG.
Many people don't realize that the fake fats like olestra make you have diarrhea and out with the fat goes fat soluable vitamins.
Nitrates and nitrites in packaged meats are carcinogenic. They are proven carcinogens yet they are still allowed to be put in deli meats, hot dogs, bacon, pepperonis, sausages, etc. This is scary. You can find these products without the nitrates/nitrites, but it does take some searching.
Some scientists are wondering if the hormones in our dairy products are causing the early development in our young ladies these days. If that is the case, that means that more cancers will be popping up as well.
I am trying to get back to cooking as much from scratch as possible. My goal is to use plain flour (no Bisquick type mixes), plain sugar, no food colorings, sea salt (Morton's type salt has talc added), organic meats, vegetables, grains and fruits, non-GMO foods, etc. If there is a chemical, pesticide, herbicide, hormone or preservative in it, I don't want me or my family to eat it.
I remember hearing about my great-grandparents eating bacon and eggs every morning, butter on and in everything, cream on cereals, etc. yet they were skinny and lived to be 98 and 99. I think it has to do with 2 factors: 1. no chemicals in their foods and everything was organic then...that's how it was done and 2. they got more daily exercise just by doing their activities of daily living.
MSG is said to go under many names, see the link "Hidden Names for MSG" on the left of this page -
http://www.msgmyth.com/
Soy is also being associated with early development in children, among other problems -
http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/index.html
Barbara Cartland wrote a health book about diet, in the 60's, showing how men in England changed their diets (no doubt due to the medical establishments warnings about high this or high that) from a protein/vegetable diet to a carb. diet. Breakfasts in England used to be a celebrated affair, with many different dishes, and it went to a rushed bowl of cereal and some toast. Consequently the men who worked in laboring jobs found their health deteriorating. Back to the doctor for investigation, and they came away with cholesterol lowering drugs. It was found that the high carb. diets actually increased cholesterol, not the natural foods high in fat.
A problem we have now that we are learning that the old food is actually good for the body, is to eat it without feeling guilty. Yes, we can have all that delicious naturally rich food, and when we do, we find we don't need a lot of it to satisfy, and we don't gain weight from it. However the guilt we have been imbedded with, that we shouldn't eat all that hearty, hot food, can restrict the nerves and the stomach so much, that it doesn't digest properly. I think we ought to eat everything with a clear conscience!
I've been lurking here for a while but this article hit home for me.
I was thrilled to find Splenda sweetened Pepsi last year. Nutrasweet made me sick and regular Pepsi has so many calories. About March of this year I started getting migraine headaches. They knocked me out for weeks at a time. After I went to the doctor for painful shots and expensive head scans I went on a migraine elimination diet and the headaches went away. I "cheated" and started a can of Pepsi. Halfway through I got a blinding headache. And now the worst part is I seemed to have messed up my system because I can no longer tolerate any sort of carbonated beverage, aged cheeses, chocolate, or vinegar now. Things I have always been able to eat in the past.
Very scary what we'll put in our bodies.
The bible is right again: All things in moderation.
It is just amazing how it is one new fad after another.
The oatmeal phase and then the no carb and whatever will be next???...
I so agree with the other comments: just eat as close to nature as possible. Stay away from chemicals and try to get some exercise.
My greatgrandfather died at 81, he was outside working and that was it, he always said he wanted to die with his boots on....
He ate old english breakfasts.... probably eggs, bacon or sausage, bread and butter with jam....
the heaviest meal is usually in the middle of the day, and then tea in the afternoon, basically a pick me up, with sandwhiches or cookies... later on if they were still hungry it would be supper, maybe a scrambled egg or other lighter fare... but everything was natural...
Too true, it echos what I said in previous comments. And of course everything in moderation.
Dear Madam:
Thank you for writing about the dangers of artificial sweeteners. These are facts of which consumers need to be aware. Another excellent source of information regarding specific sugar substitutes is the Feingold Program website. The following URL will take those interested directly to the screen I’m referring to: http://www.feingold.org/sugar-pg.html.
I have Parkinson’s Disease and a degenerative auto-immune disease. Fortunately, the specialists who treat me have been willing to explore nutritional approaches to treatment. I still take prescribed pharmaceuticals, but as part of my own self-care, I do not eat foods containing artificial sweeteners, corn syrup, MSG, and soy in any form among others. Your comment about eating ‘real food, as close as possible to its original form’ is also the general rule I follow when I prepare food for my family and myself.
I purchase organic produce and buy dairy products from a dairy that does not inject its herd with recombinant bovine growth hormones (rBGH or rBST). Some of your readers may want to check out the following websites to learn more and locate these healthier resources in their home states:
http://www.themeatrix.com/learnmore/rbgh.html
http://www.eatwellguide.org
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/organic_an.cfm
http://www.localharvest.org
Thank you for hosting this important conversation. I appreciate you!
Most sincerely,
Miss Leah Claire
This article (link following) is about how they came up with the number "200" as a safe level for cholesterol, according to Mary Enig, PhD:
http://homodiet.netfirms.com/otherssay/healthy_cholesterol.htm
That site's information on diet is ironic compared to the "pyramid" of high carb eating. The diet the Polish doctor, Dr. Jan Kwasniewski, developed is high in fats and proteins and low in carbs. The site says the diet has helped Type 1 diabetics, even to avoiding amputations.
http://homodiet.netfirms.com/
When you read about food in the Bible, you see great feasts where they ate cheese and milk and beef, lamb, fish, vegetables, fruits and grains. Yet in the 60's there was a change from that to low fat and low cal. foods. I really see no evidence that this drastic change in diet made people any healthier.
according to one author, the pyramid was created to sell more grains, cereals, and breads.
A close friend of my family's, and my sister, are both nurses. They told me that when they were in nursing school, they were studying artificial sweeteners. In one experiment, they had a glass filled with fats suspended in water. Into this glass they dipped a string saturated with either sugar or an artificial sweetener. When the string saturated with sugar was dipped, nothing happened. However, when the string with aritifical sweetener was dipped, the fats in the water accumulated onto the string. You absorb and accumulate more fats when eating "diet" foods than when eating the real thing. If a food is an invention of man, and not a creation of God, it really doesn't belong in our bodies.
Wow, this is really interesting! So much information. I must review it all.
I read somewhere that "too much sugar" can cause a person's pancreas to throw up its hands, so to speak, and quit, causing diabetes. My parents decided to take advantage of aspartame years back, eschewing much sugar.
Now, my father is de facto diabetic, and my mother is fast approaching it; both have weight issues. I, on the other hand, use plain sugar, and my system goes almost completely the opposite direction; I lean toward hypoglycemic, and I've been underweight all my life.
Not to say I eat sugar all day...In moderation. (Btw, could someone please give me a citation on "All things in moderation"? I hit my Strong's concordance, but apparently the phrase doesn't appear thus in the KJV. Searches of the NIV and ESV also come up empty. I'm not trying to be snarky; I'm asking so I can learn.)
I have to dispute the "early bloomer" theory of "milk hormones." I bloomed late, despite three servings of non-organic milk per day. It was a source of endless frustration for me...
Sorry for rambling. It's raining here.
Mrs. Bartlett
Lady Lydia, I hope you don't mind me answering Mrs Bartlett:
Mrs Bartlett, "Everything in Moderation" is a favourite saying of my Nan's. It is not, as far as I am aware, Biblical in origin. Moderation was a favourite subject for ancient thinkers and philosophers.
Relevant quotes would be:
"Moderation in all things" is a quote by Andria Terence Roman comic dramatist (185 BC-159 BC)
"The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom". Aristotle
A more modern quote is:
"Be moderate in everything, including moderation". Horace Porter (1837-1921)
A Biblical quote which encourages moderation is this:
Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:
Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. (Proverbs 30:7-9)
I hope that this is useful :o)
Thank you, Mrs. T.
Your comments were very helpful! I always wanted to learn canning techniques, but no one has ever taught me.
Mrs. F.
Thanks, Mrs. Blythe. That did help! (The non-Bible quotes, too.)
Mrs. Bartlett
Philippians 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Here is the scripture in the new testament..
Phi 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
I understand though, that the Greek word from which this was translated, means "moderation" means "yielding," or "pliable."
In English, the word comes from the Latin, moderatio, which means:
1. Restraint of violent passions or indulgence of appetite. Eat and drink with moderation; indulge with moderation in pleasures and exercise.
2. Calmness of mind; equanimity; as, to bear prosperity or adversity with moderation.
3. Frugality in expenses.
But, as I commented before, eating real food in its natural form or prepared nutriously, reduces the need for moderation. The apestat will naturally subdue the appetite when one has had enough. With our modern foods, our bodies do not give out the signal that we are satisfied, so we upset the balance between hunger and satisfaction.
Well now there you go, just shows I don't know my Bible well enough! I hope Mrs Bartlett comes back to see the Philippians verse :o)
And I totally agree with your point about not needing moderation if we simply eat good food. Having the time to prepare decent food is indeed a blessing for our families.
Thank you for saying this! Well said and I totally agree! And thank you for the link!
Lady Lydia, I hope you don't mind but I have linked to a couple of your posts on my blog. The post is about encouraging stay at home mothers and wives.
http://not-just-a-housewife.blogspot.com/2006/10/encouraging-articles-for-stay-at-home.html
If you would prefer I remove your links I will be happy to. Just leave a comment on my blog (comment moderation is enabled)and they will be immediately deleted if you so wish.
I have one problem with the moderation in all things quote. When we visited my secular father and he saw we did devotions as a family, he pulled me aside after several days and told me we were extremists with our faith and that the children would hate us when we were older. He said remember..Moderation in all things...
Just wanted to give you all an example of how that relatively good advice can and has been used incorrectly. But as to food and aspartame...I totally agree...I have even heard it maybe one of the causes of the increase in muscular dystrophy for adults.
Okay, got it.
The word "moderation" in the KJV Phil. 4:5 is Entry 1933 in Thayer's Greek Lexicon (via Strong's concordance). I don't know how to transliterate Greek yet, so please forgive. Thayer renders it:
1. seemly, suitable;
2. equitable, fair, mild, gentle.
He specifically notes that the second definition applies to the above Scripture.
So Dr. Thayer says you're right, Mrs. Sherman. It refers to the Christian's quality of gentle fairness.
(I have these books because my husband is much more the Bible scholar than I am. I'm not trying to make myself an expert. I'm sure someone else has more skill with this than I.)
Momof3blessings, I've heard that myself from several people, telling me I needed "moderation" in my faith, too (especially in law school). But then again, if I challenged that they had a constitutional right to abortion, they would go all to pieces on me. It would have been funny if they hadn't used vile language to describe me...
Mrs. Bartlett
Sometimes a little knowledge is dangerous. You will notice that progressives like to use our language and THEIR meaning. So the word moderation has come to apply to something totally different than the Bible application, just to nuetralize the effect of people's convictions. Tolerance is another word that is totally misused. Many people assume the Bible teaches tolerance, but it does not teach it in the way that the world teaches it. The New Testament scriptures aren't very moderate or tolerant, but they do teach the moderation is gentleness, and in commanding gentleness, it seems not to be very tolerant. The bible commands love, but just because you love someone does not mean approval or that you must participate in the unsavory things they do. Tolerance and moderation are the big by-words of progressives, designed to make us accept every thing that comes along, even if our instincts scream out that it is not right.
hmm. I found your comments re glace cherries of interest. I wonder if they're made the same way here in Aus (where you don't buy them in jars as you would maraschino cherries and the like.
Traditionally, glace fruit, with its origins going back to the Middle East in the Middle ages (first becoming known to Western Europe around 1300-1400 ) was and still is made by poaching the fruit in a sugar syrup which permiates and partially crystalizes it - a manner of preservation, glace being reserved for special occasions only.
It's funny, one brand of cherries I buy still have the occasional seed in them (smile). As an adventurous cook, I may well research how to carry out this process and preserve my own when they're in season - choosing the odd little two-toned white and scarlet variety which come out for a crueley short time over summer (being the sweetest of them all). Dried fruit forms the vast majority of my cake and fruit mince ingredients (candied peel what we term 'dried' here in Aus).
Yes, i agree with you wholeheartedly concerning highly refined foods. Though white flour has been with us since Biblical times, indeed, spoken of in the Pentateuch to form part of Israil's offering ingredients, its use has been only a comparitevly new phenomina. Did you know prior to the industrial revolution going into full swing in the 1850's and 1860's, millet, not wheat, was the grain of choice for bread - being used by bakers and homemakers alike for eons. If you want a really lovely, natural ingredient, either white or wholemeal, you can't go past Spelt flour. Spelt is the original ancient form of wheat still cultivated in the middle east today. having not been altered by man, it's a far preferable staple and incidentally, those who have intolerances to modern wheat can usually eat spelt without side effects. Same goes for italian Pasta. the good stuff is made from semolina, not highly refined flour - you can literally smell the grainfield in the pasta pot. it has the colour of straw, is a little rough in texture and absolutely beautiful.
Mrs. Sarah Elliot in Australia
I use Equal for ant poison. Sprinkle on a mound, dampen - it will be gone in a couple of days. Do we really want to eat that?
My eldest son cannot have any artificial chemicals. We have banned Red dye #40, other food dyes, MSG, BHA, BHT, TBHQ, etc. from our home. (BHA, BHT, and TBHQ are petroleum based preservatives often substituted for lard to preserve shelf-stability. It is also frequnetly listed as a component of cereal packaging - the wax bag - do we want to be eating this?)
Not only was oldest son cured of the "ADHD" that supposedly afflicted him, my other son stopped wetting the bed.
The best cookbook I have found is the Joy of Cooking. It details everything, from preparing all manner of meat from scratch (yes, how to pluck a chicken and skin a squirrel!) to how to preserve food, and of course contains recipes for every occasion. I was saddened to read that the new version coming out this Christmas has been 'updated'; condensed mushroom soup and other convenience foods have replaced the truly made from scratch recipes. As we cannot buy most soups, I will be treasuring my copy!
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