The Dirty Dozen

Like I said in my previous post I don't break my budget by eating everything organic. I just focus on the foods that come with the heaviest burden of pesticides, additives and hormones. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), consumers can reduce their pesticide exposure by 80% by avoiding the most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating only the cleanest. If consumers get their USDA-recommended 5 daily servings of fruits and veggies from the 15 most contaminated, they could consume an average of 10 pesticides a day. Those who eat the 15 least contaminated conventionally grown produce ingest less than 2 pesticides daily.

EWG has been publishing guides to the "dirty dozen" of most pesticide contaminated foods since 1995, based on statistical analysis of testing conducted by the USDA and the FDA.

1. Peaches

Multiple pesticides are regularly applied to these delicately skinned fruits in conventional orchards.

Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include watermelon, tangerines, oranges and grapefruit.

2. Apples

Like peaches, apples are typically grown with the use of poisons to kill a variety of pests, from fungi to insects. Scrubbing and peeling doesn't eliminate chemical residue completely, so it's best to buy organic when it comes to apples. Peeling a fruit or vegetable also strips away many of their beneficial nutrients.

Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include watermelon, bananas and tangerines.

3. Sweet bell peppers

Peppers have thin skins that don't offer much of a barrier to pesticides. They're often heavily sprayed with insecticides.

Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include green peas, broccoli and cabbage.

4. Celery

Celery has no protective skin, which makes it almost impossible to wash off the chemicals that are used on conventional crops.

Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include broccoli, radishes and onions.

5. Nectarines

There were 26 different types of pesticides found on tested nectarines.

Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include, watermelon, papaya and mango.

6. Strawberries

If you buy strawberries out of season, they're most likely imported from countries that use less-stringent regulations for pesticide use.

Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include blueberries, kiwi and pineapples.

7. Cherries

Even locally grown cherries are not safe. In fact, cherries grown in the U.S. were found to have three times more pesticide residue then imported cherries.

Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include blueberries, raspberries and cranberries.

8. Kale

Traditionally kale is known as a hardier vegetable that rarely suffers from pests and disease, but it was found to have high amounts of pesticide residue when tested this year.

Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include cabbage, asparagus and broccoli.

9. Leafy Greens

Leafy greens are frequently contaminated with what are considered the most potent pesticides used on food.

Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.

10. Grapes

Imported grapes run a much greater risk of contamination than those grown domestically. Vineyards can be sprayed with different pesticides during different growth periods of the grape, and no amount of washing or peeling will eliminate contamination because of the grape's thin skin.

Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include blueberries, kiwi and raspberries.

11. Carrots

In Europe pesticides commonly used on carrots, parsnips and onions will be banned within the next decade. The U.S. has yet to catch up with its European counterparts, so organic is the way to go with carrots.

Can't find organic? At least be sure to scrub and peel them. Safer carrot alternatives include sweet corn, sweet peas and broccoli.

12. Pears

As insects become more resilient to the pesticides used on pears, more and more chemicals are used. The safest bet is to go organic.

Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include grapefruit, honeydew mellon and mangos.

Organic Milk

I try to eat as much organic food that I can, but milk is one item that I always buy organic. It's amazing how much organic food is now available in Wal-mart and Target, and the prices are decent. I don't kill my budget every month going to Whole Foods, I purchase the organic foods that are available at at these two stores.

The one question I'm always asked about when I recommend someone to switching to organic milk is "Does it taste the same?" -- YES, it does! Some of my friends have refused to try it thinking it would taste different, but I have given them organic milk without them knowing and they could not tell the difference. So, just try it!

Before switching to organic milk I would never finish the milk by the time it expires and end up throwing away half a carton of milk. Organic milk stays fresh much longer, about two weeks longer than conventional milk. I have over a month to use up my milk, and now I throw away empty cartons. The reason is organic milk undergoes a different process to preserve it.

Eligibility for the organic seal requires that dairy farmers provide outdoor "access" for their animals, do not treat herds with added growth hormones or antibiotics, and do not use feed treated with synthetic pesticides or that is genetically modified.

Organic milk is much more beneficial to us and to our children.

On big industrial farms animals are kept in crowded, dirty conditions and these condition increase the chances of illness in the animals. With illness and infection, the animals need to be treated with antibiotics. An ethical farmer would destroy the milk until it tested negative for antibiotics, but this would mean a high cost for a business. Unfortunately, most big corporations don't destroy the milk. About 25 million pounds of antibiotics, which is roughly 70 percent of US antibiotic production, is given to chicken, pigs and cows.

Also, on industrial farms cows are given hormones to increase milk production and when we drink this milk, we are also given the same hormones.

Organic milk contains 71 percent more Omega 3, 500 percent more Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), two to three times more of the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, 50 percent more vitamin E and 75 percent beta carotene.

Omega 3 is an essential fatty acid which is required for healthy growth and its deficiency has been the reason of various health problems recently. Regular intake of Omega3 keeps you away from various diseases and helps you in reducing incidences of heart disease, inflammations (in skin diseases such as eczema), cancer, arthritis, etc.

CLA increases metabolic rate, immunity to diseases and muscle growth. It also reduces abdominal fat, cholesterol, and allergic reactions. It is worth noting that human body cannot produce this substance and most of our CLA intake happens through the milk and milk products that we consume. Also, CLA is beneficial in cancer treatment.

Lutein is extremely important for eye health and is effective in preventing numerous eye diseases such as macular degeneration and cataract. Zeaxanthin is also important for good eye health. It protects the eye from UV damage and free radicals. It is very helpful in preventing cataract, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and macular degeneration.

Vitamin E is useful for protecting your body cells from free radicals and thus delays ageing. It also reduces the incidence of various chronic diseases including heart diseases, diabetes and cataract. Beta carotene is converted by our body into Vitamin A. Vitamin A, also called retinol, is useful for strong eyesight, increasing resistance to infections, good skin, bone growth, tooth development, reproduction and gene expression.

Currently, only three percent of the milk sold is organic, but this segment is growing rapidly.

Let me know what you think about buying organic.

High Fructose Corn Syrup...

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is the first ingredient I removed from my diet, and I recommend removing this from everybody's. HFCS is made from corn and is used as a sweetener, preservative, and makes food "look natural" (like it came out of grandma's oven) and is found in just about any food product.

Click here for a list of products that contain HFCS.

**(Can you believe how many products contain HFCS?)**

There has always been a debate on wether HFCS is a cause of obesity, but recently researchers at Princeton University discovered that HFCS prompts considerably more weight gain than other sweeteners. Also, leads to abnormal increase in body fat, especially in the abdomen.

Click here for the article about HFCS from Princeton University.

The three main types of sugars are sucrose, fructose, and dextrose. Both dextrose and sucrose our body is able to break down before they reach our liver, but our body is not able to break down fructose before it reaches our liver. HFCS contains an even higher concentration of fructose and this causes our liver to release fatty acids into our bloodstream. The flood of fatty acids causes our muscle tissue to develop insulin resistance. This leads to diabetes and other health problems.

Also, fructose causes our body to burn sugar instead of fat (the other types of sugar burn fat). When consuming fructose our metabolism actually stores fat.

The reason so many products now contain HFCS is because corn is a lot cheaper than sugar, and back in the 1970s the government wanted to make food cheaper for Americans. Also, major corporations are all about making a profit. Unfortunately, the causes of using man-made ingredients in our food is making our country obese and unhealthy, which only leads to higher medical care costs.

Go to your pantry, refrigerator, or grocery store and check the ingredients of your favorite foods to see if it contains HFCS.

Do you think you could go without eating/drinking these foods or do we need to try and get this ingredient taken out of our foods?

Welcome to America!

I hope everyone was able to watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on ABC, which aires on ABC on Fridays at 8/7c. Also, I hope people were SHOCKED by what was shown on the show.

Click here to watch the show online for free.

My generation, the Millennium Generation, is the first generation expected to have a shorter life-span than our parents, due to obesity. Statistics show that one in three children born in the US after the year 2000 will develop early onset diabetes. For children from ethnic minority groups, the ratio rises to one in two.

I don't think parents realize what exactly they are feeding their children, but this show will show parents, exactly what they are feeding their children.

Would you ever hand a child a cigarette? I think that is what we are doing to the children in this country. The food we feed children is killing them and causing them to live shorter lives. We continue to do it and our schools continue to do it because its cheaper and faster to feed them these unhealthy, chemical filled processed foods.

The schools have a budget on how much they spend on food, and they say it is to expensive to give students fresh, healthy food. Our government came up with a healthcare reform bill that will be funded by tax payers dollars. Maybe, we wouldn't need this if the tax dollars went towards feeding children in schools a REAL nutritional meal, instead of processed food that is causing obesity in children.

In this country, we fix things by adding something instead of going back and changing what needs to be fixed. We just add, add, and add more to cover up what is being broke.

We will feed our children this food, and they will get diabetes. So, we will make doctors appointments and insulin available to them by making this healthcare reform. To me that just doesn't make any sense.

Another example. The beef industry.

We are going to put cows on these HUGE feed lots and they will be packed in like sardines so that they can't move because it will cause them get fat faster. This will be cheaper creating more profit. They will be standing in their own manure and this will cause ecoli to be in the meat, but that's OK. We will just come up with a filler product, which is the meat normally not used, that is then put through a process of being soaked in ammonia to mix in with the meat that will kill enough of the ecoli that people won't get sick from it.

Jamie Oliver said it all in the show when he said, "Welcome to America."

I think it is time everyone wakes up and realizes that to eat healthy doesn't mean we need to eat a salad 24/7.

Please watch the show it is a GREAT show, I promise.

Leave me comments on what you think about it.

ABC's newest reality program, Food Revolution

I just heard about a new reality show that will air on ABC called Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, which will premiere on Friday, March 26th at 8/7c, and make sure to watch the special sneak peak tomorrow, March 21st at 10/9c. After reading about it and watching the trailer I am excited that this show will open more eyes about how unhealthy we eat in America.

The show will follow Oliver as he travels to Huntington, WV, which was labeled "the unhealthiest city in America" by the Associated Press in 2008, to start a new initiative that utilizes local resources to improving eating habits. He is inviting viewers to take a stand and change the way America eats, in our home kitchens, schools, and workplaces.

Jamie Oliver, also known as the Naked Chef, is an English chef and media personality and has a growing list of food-focused television shows. In his more recent roles he has been campaigning against the use of processed foods in national schools, and to change unhealthy diets and poor cooking habits for the better across the United Kingdom, and now he is taking on the US. Food Revolution is loosely based off of his show in the UK, Jamie's School Dinners, which had such an impact that the UK government changed the type of foods served in the schools.

I hope everyone watches the premiere episode and is able to take something away from it to make a change in your own eating habits. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about the show, if anything shocked you, or just something you found interesting.

Click here for the link to the show on ABC.

Bayou City Classic 10K Run & Walk

Today I ran in the Bayou City Classic 10k Run & Walk. I ran the 10k/6.2 miles in 68 minutes, which is a little over 11 minutes per mile. I was number 748. I am very proud of myself because I just started running about a month ago, and have come such a long way. So, in this blog I will be talking about different workouts to do and training tips to get everyone in shape.


I am a huge fan of H.I.I.T's, which stands for high intensity interval training. This is a GREAT workout to do, and a long with HIIT's one should also do strength training. HIIT's consists of going at a high intensity for about 15-30 seconds and then slowing down to a low intensity for about a minute to two minutes. This can be done on any cardio machine, but I recommend doing this outside on a track because machines take awhile to go to a higher resistance or speed and its more dangerous. This is a great workout because you continue to burn up to six times the calories you normally would for 24 hours, and its a quick workout. Fifteen to 20 minutes of HIITs is all you need. This is great for people that are constantly busy and don't have the time to go to the gym for two hours a day, but also for people who like to lift weights and do cardio.


Before doing this workout make sure you stretch, I would say a good five minutes of stretching before and after. Also, you want to make sure you do a five minute warm up and cool down. Always cool down, don't just stop make sure your heart rate slowly slows down. After your five minute warm up, start running as fast as you can (sprinting) at a pace you wouldn't be able to keep up for longer then 15-30 seconds. Then, you slow down to a walking pace, a pace that is going to bring your heart rate back down so that you are able to run at a high intensity over and over again. It's best to stay at this walking pace for one to two minutes. Then, back up to the high intensity speed again, and just keep doing the high intensity to low intensity intervals for at least 10 times. Make sure you complete with a five minute cool down.


To do this on a machine, such as a stationary bike, elliptical, or treadmill, just increase the resistance/speed and try to keep a high pace so that your heart rate increases quickly and then lower the resistance/speed to bring your heart rate back down. With the machines remember that it takes some time to get the resistance/speed up. Going from 4 to 8.5 on the treadmill takes about 13 seconds. So, when doing this on a machine I would stay at the high intensity for 30-40 seconds. It also can be more dangerous because you can't slow the machine immediately like you can do out on the track, and it gets annoying constantly having to bring the resistance/speed up and down.


Another great advantage to HIITs is that your body learns to take in more oxygen so you can increase your longevity that way you are able to run at a slower speed for a longer period of time.


A place I love to go to to find out new workouts or stretches, just about anything really, is YouTube. Go look on there for things that you can do at home or in the gym, there are so many videos to watch that will help you get in shape.

How I became interested in what I'm actually eating!

"I was struck by the idea that with food, there could be so much we don't know about something we are as familiar with."

Robert Kenner, director of Food, Inc.

I've always loved food, but I never thought about where it came from, what's in it, or how it has become so cheap.

Growing up my mom didn't cook that often, and my dad traveled a lot. So, for lunch my sister and I would have a school lunch and for dinner my mom would take us through the drive-thru at either McDonalds, Burger King or Taco Bell. Almost always it would be Burger King because it was right next to my middle school and we could get an icee with our meal. All I ever drank was Coke, and there was always bottles of it in the fridge. Ice cream, cookies, and candy were also always available (my mom didn't know how to say "no"). At that age I didn't understand the reason why I was so over-weight, and now I have to deal with this issue everyday.

I wasn't interested in what America eats until recently, and this problem we have just caught me by surprise. About a year ago I decided to sign up for the free trial for Netflix (best thing ever fyi), and I loved it. I loved being able to watch things instantly, and so I ordered the little box that will instantly stream video from Netflix onto my TV. I started to watch documentaries about EVERYTHING! I love researching and learning as much as I can about any topic. That's just what I do. When my friends tell me something and I don't know about it they say "I would tell you, but there's no point you're just going to go home and look it up on google and find out more about than I do."

The first documentary about the food industry that I watched is called King Corn, directed by Aaron Woolf, this is an amazing film about the business of corn. This film really opened up my eyes about how much nutrition we actually get from the food we are eating, why food has become cheap, and using corn in ways that I feel just aren't right.

Click here to watch the trailer for King Corn.

The next documentary I watched is called Food, Inc., directed by Robert Kenner and was nominated for a 2010 Oscar in the category of documentary feature, is an amazing film about the food industry as a whole. Kenner spent six years putting together this documentary, which features prominent food writers Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation). This film will open up anybodies eyes that watch it, and it will make you think twice about what you are eating and what you are supporting.

I recommend watching both of these documentaries they are interesting and informative, and both of them are on Netflix for instant play if you have it.