Bugs Won’t Even touch McDonald’s Hamburgers

Years ago back in the olden days I was on a quest to start eating healthy because of my own health issues at the ripe old age of 25. At the time my children didn’t feel as enthusiastic about my health quest as I did. In fact I got a lot of  complaints which centered many times around their school lunches I sent to school.

When they came home from school I heard comments and compaliants that they didn’t get any good stuff in their lunch boxes…you know the sodium ladden lunchables, fruit cups laden with sugar and and oh yes let’s not forget the fruit roll ups that was full of sugar and void of any enzymes and fiber. However, I  have been vindicated. My grown kids have thanked me for teaching them about healthy eating.

My own personal quest turned into a crusade as I now teach wellness classes to local Mops groups. The goal is to give  moms practical suggestions about what they can do to have healthy children. When speak  I use props such as a label from dog food and a label from a breakfast cereal. Before I show them the box of dog food and the cereal I read them the label and ask them to guess which product it might be.  Most moms are shocked to find out that the dog food is healthier than the most breakfast cereals.

One prop I saw years ago was used by Ann Westergarrd was a McDonald’s hamburger.  Now this hamburger wasn’t any ordinary hamburger. It was a McDonald’s hamburger that she purchased 17 years previously.  Ann would cart this old hamburger around in her bag as she spoke to other moms about good nutrition.   What was so amazing about this 17 year old hamburger is that it  hadn’t molded or rotted in any way. In fact it looked like a hamburger she just picked up ….okay maybe the meat turned a little darker but still no signs of bug gnawing or chomping. Those bugs are smart. They know that there is no nutrition in McDonald’s.

The point is food science has only accomplished making something taste good and filling one’s stomach with empty calories.  None of the calories ever have nor never will build a single healthy cell in the body.

While I didn’t have a picture of Ann’s 17 year old hamburger I did find one that Karen Hanrahan had up on the web that she purchased in 1996. As you can see from the picture the hamburger  doesn’t look like it is  14 years old. In fact it doesn’t look too different than the hamburger you would pick up today. Just think McDonald’s is spreading their “good” food to other countries as well. I would suspect world around that the hamburger are pretty much the same.

I challenge you. Teach your children or your grandchildren about how to stay healthy by eating healthy. Many parents  do not realize that the food they feed our children between birth and 5 years old has long lasting effects even into their 50’s and beyond.

Okay, so your child may be older than that. Don’t beat yourself up.  Is is never too late. As the saying goes, “The best time to plant an oak tree is 50 years ago, but the next best time is today.

Start making the changes slowly. You don’t have to throw everything out of the pantry but start with simple changes. Start with a whole wheat bread that isn’t too dense as you make the change from white flour to whole wheat. Don’t keep carbonated drinks around the house. Use them only occasionally when you go out.

Here are a couple of guidelines for eating healthy:

Dietary Recommendations for Children’s Health

• Eat Complex Carbohydrates.

These are the stone ground whole grain breads, rice, and crackers. The complex carbohydrates are where you get your B-complex.   These foods are going to give you superior nutritional content compared to refined sugar, white rice and white bread.  They are burned more slowly resulting in more energy and less hunger for better weight management.  These kinds of foods can be found in any major grocery store or coop.  They are often made from organic grains as well.  Spelt bread and sprouted grains are excellent sources of bread that offer a good source of protein, taste great, and can make weight management much easier.

• Eat High Quality Protein with each meal–

High quality soy protein powder, clean poultry grown without hormones and antibiotics, cold-water fish, organic eggs, clean beef are excellent choices.  Soy has many benefits.  It is a high quality, lean, vegetable source of protein, easily digested and assimilated by the body.  This is critical for building healthy cells.

• Use foods made with cold pressed oils or expeller pressed oils

You can find these kinds of food in the health food section at any major grocery store.  There are cookies, crackers, cereals, etc. made with these cold pressed or non-hydrogentated oils.  This is going to allow you to minimize hydrogenated oils or trans fats in your diet, which lead to an overabundance of free radicals.  Free radicals are very damaging to human cells and are believed to play a significant role in cancer.  Keep all oils refrigerated or even cold pressed will become rancid and create free radicals in the body.  Keep your oil in a wide open mouthed jar.  Scoop out what you need with a spoon and can cook with it.  Also, keep some in a small bottle and run under hot tap water to liquefy what you need.

Olive, Sunflower and Safflower are excellent sources of the essential fatty acids so important for good health!

• Drink Watered Purified by Reverse Osmosis

Tap water and even bottled water is often contaminated. Look for a bottled water source, which states on the label it has been purified by Reverse Osmosis.  This guarantees the purity of the water.  Bottled water can literally be “tap water in a bottle”.  Better yet, consider investing in a good Reverse Osmosis Purifier for your home.  It is much more economical in the long run.

• Eat Pesticide Free or Organic Foods When Possible

All major grocery stores and local co-ops offer organic produce.  Grapes, strawberries, lettuce and cucumbers are often very high in pesticides.  When possible, eat organic or pesticide free.  You can also greatly reduce your exposure to chemicals by peeling your food or washing it with a good organic cleaner first.

• Use Organic Milk and Other Dairy Products that are Free of Growth Hormones or Choose non-dairy Alternatives.

Certain growth hormones have been associated with an increased risk of such things as breast cancer.  Avoiding foods that contain this can reduce risk.  Consider trying soy or rice milk.  Dairy products, can be difficult to digest, lead to increased mucous production and can make weight management challenging.  There are wonderful cheeses made from soy, goat or sheep milk that are more easily digested and taste delicious!  Try some of the ice creams, sour creams, cream cheese made from rice milk or almond milk.

See my previous post on hormones in milk

• Supplement your Child’s Diet

Use  a complete Multi Vitamin and DHA supplement. You simply cannot get all the nutrients out of food even if your child is a “good” eater. Much of the food is denatured of nutrients  because they are grown on depleted soils. It just makes good sense add nutrients to your child’s diet.

I personally like the Shaklee Kids Incredivites it is complete and contains lactoferrin that is found in mother’s milk. Great for the immunce system. Shaklee product for feeding a healthy brain is  called Shaklee Mighty Smart. For more info on DHA for the brain see my previous post. For infants and toddlers Shaklee Baby.