Be Careful of Glutens and Fillers When You Eat Out

Today, I was in a very upscale market and ordered some lovely takout for my lunch.  A bit of lemon chicken, satueed pole beans and a kasha with caramelized onions and raisins.  4oz each; protein, complex carb and a green vegetable.  Perfect, right?  WRONG!!!  What I didn't know is that there was some sort of filler, gluten or soy-based product in the items.  No less than 5 minutes after eating a really delicious lunch, my throat began to close, phlegm built up and it was 'uh oh, spagheteeo'...food allergy!

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  The tastiest foods at the most wonderful markets can be loaded with glutens, preservatives or thickeners.  If you have food sensitivites, ask what exactly is in your upscale take out lunch before you have an experience like the one I had today.  Thank goodness I can needle myself - acupuncture also works well for the side effects of food allergies!

Alternative Forms of Fiber

My dear friend, Nanci Panuccio, offered me a wonderful list of fiber options for the folks out there who have various types of food allergies.  Here's what Nanci had to offer everyone:
"Brown rice, millet, and quinoa are great non-gluten, non-wheat sources of fiber. Millet bread is especially delicious. Some other options: amaranth, corn, teff, and wild rice.  You can also get tons of gluten/wheat-free fiber from fruits, veggies, leafy greens, beans, potatoes, squashes, seeds, and nuts.   We've been using quinoa gluten free pasta from Ancient Harvest. And Bionatureae makes great gluten free pasta made with rice, potato and soy.  We also make angel hair pasta out of zucchini with a veggie spiral slicer. Has a very similar texture to its wheat/gluten counterpart and with sauce, you wouldn't even know the difference."
Nanci can be reached at:  https://www.facebook.com/npanuccio  and  http://twitter.com/RawJuju   She said she'd be happy to answer any questions you might have!


Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  If you have food allergies and don't know where to turn for food options, log on to my wellness page http://www.kmondesire.com/wellnessprogram.html  click on to the link for Orgran Foods...they have a plethora of products - from cookies and crackers to pastas and breads, etc.  They've got a recipe page on their site and a wonderful customer service center that is ready to answer all your questions!  Thanks again, Nanci, for sharing your wisdom!
There will be no blog tomorrow; I'm taking the day off to golf, fish, ride the bike, exercise, hike.......you get the point!  I'll be back with more Healthy Tips on Monday!

February is Heart Month, So Watch the Salt

Processed foods, fast foods and anything you eat in a restaurant contain a tremendous amount of salt that you most likely don't taste because you are accustomed to salty foods in general. Yes, there is such a thing as 'salt addiction'. Just look at some people who, before even tasting their food, reach for the salt shaker and pour it on. Salt conceals the real taste of many foods, and if you don't add salt to your meals, you'll actually taste what all that stuff on the plate is supposed to taste like! If you're trying to wean yourself off salt, try some fresh lemon or lime over your food. You'll be getting a little bit more Vitamin C and your food will be fresh and tasty. To wean yourself off salty nuts, try doing half salted/half unsalted and reduce the amount of salted nuts until you're only having the unsalted nuts. Nuts do contain healthy fats and proteins...it's the salt that will kill you.


Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day: There are many people out there who are highly sensitive to salt and those with congestive heart disease, high blood pressure and other maladies who cannot tolerate salt. Be kind, be salt sensitive and be smart....switch to sea salt and don't cook with a ton of salt...allow your tablemates to choose their own taste at the table. After all...nobody forces you to eat your peas if that's not your thing...don't force others to eat salt. You could be making them very, very sick at the end of the evening!