How smart is Popeye?

Smarter than you think. Popeye attributes his amazing strength to eating spinach but he is also protecting himself against osteoporosis, heart disease, colon cancer and arthritis. The Journal of Nutrition recently published a report that spinach fights prostate cancer while The Nurses Health Study reveals women whose diets are high in kaempferol, a nutrient in spinach, have a 40 percent less risk of ovarian cancer.

Spinach, like other leafy green vegetables, provides more nutrients than most other foods. Vitamin C and Vitamin A, two nutrients in spinach, are important antioxidants that work to reduce free radicals in the body known to cause blocked arteries, heart attacks, or strokes. Spinach’s Vitamin K promotes bone health. Add the iron and calcium and you have the mighty spinach. Make your spinach organic and you even increase the healthy nutrients of the mighty spinach. According to a study by Rutgers University comparing conventionally grown spinach with organic spinach, organic spinach has 97 percent more iron and 99 percent more manganese than conventionally grown spinach. Many of the essential trace elements that are absent in the conventionally grown spinach are rich in the organic. The United States—notably California and Texas—is one of the largest commercial grower of spinach.. Help the economy and yourself, have organic spinach for dinner.

Organic Spinach Recipe

Jasmati Rice with Spinach

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large organic sweet onion, chopped
• 1 cup organic frozen mixed vegetables, defrosted
• 1 package of organic spinach, rinsed and dried
• 1 cup uncooked organic Jasmati Rice
• 2 cups of organic chicken broth

Place rice in pan with chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Wrap towel around lid. Secure wrapped lid on pan, making sure the cloth does not touch any part of stove top. Simmer rice for 20 to 25 minutes or until all broth is absorbed and rice is slightly dry. Turn off heat but keep pan on burner. Remove wrapped lid.

Sauté onion in olive oil for 2 minutes. Add mixed vegetables and spinach. Continue to sauté for 3 to 5 minutes. Add rice to large bowl. Add spinach mixture and stir well.
Serve Jasmati Rice and Spinach with sliced tomatoes on the side. Tomatoes help the body absorb the iron in spinach.
Sandy Powers
www.organicforhealthsite.com

Hormones are injected into cattle and sheep to promote weight gain in the animals. The faster they gain weight, the faster it reduces the waiting time for the animals’ slaughter, therefore speeding the meat to the dinner table and maximizing profits.

Dairy cows are injected with hormones to boost their production of milk. This increase in milk production requires frequent milking of dairy cows, which in turn leads to udder irritations and infections that require treatment with antibiotics. Since the infections don’t always completely clear up, the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) permits a certain amount of pus to remain in the milk. This is the same agency that permitted synthetic estrogens (DES) to be used to increase the size of cattle and chickens in the early 1950’s. When DES was found to cause cancer, it was phased out in the late 1970’s only to be replaced by other steroid hormones.

According to a report by Cornell University, there are six different kinds of steroid hormones that are currently approved by the FDA for use in food production: estradiol and progesterone which are natural female sex hormones; testosterone, the natural male sex hormone; zeranol, trenbolone acetate and melengesterol acetate which are synthetic growth promoters (chemicals that make animals grow faster.) And, let’s not forget the protein hormone rbGH to increase milk production in dairy cattle.

Do These Hormones Affect Our Health?

Independent studies have been conducted to determine the effect of these hormones added to our food, and how they affect our overall health. Scientists at the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine have reviewed the studies submitted by the manufacturers of rbGH, the hormone given to dairy cattle. Based on the reports by the manufacturers, the FDA concluded rbGH does not affect human health. The FDA does not mention any independent studies in reaching this conclusion.

Doctors recognize girls are maturing earlier than ever. According to research from the University of North Carolina, girls are entering puberty as young as eight years old. Several research studies from other universities indicate boys are experiencing decreases in sperm count. Lifetime exposure to estrogen as well as other hormones are known to increase the risk of breast cancer and may account for decrease in sperm count. Bacteria are becoming immune to antibiotics’ fighting properties. Researchers are concerned cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and hyperactivity in children are exacerbated by the chemicals in our conventionally produced food. These are the outgrowths of the Cumulative Effect.

How can we combat the disastrous consequences of the Cumulative Effect that is affecting the health and welfare of our families? We must eliminate the added hormones and antibiotics from our diet. The three most commonly eaten foods with the highest concentrations of added hormones and antibiotics are milk, chicken, and eggs. Switching to organics for these three foods are the best first choices to removing these damaging additives in our children’s diet.

It is essential that each one of us as parents and consumers stop the out reaching impact the Cumulative Effect is having on our children’s health. Their well being is dependent upon our actions.

Sandy Powers
www.organicforhealthsite.com

A new study out of the University of California at San Francisco, and published in the American Journal of Epidemiology has shown that in eating a diet that is high in fiber rich foods and whole grains, a person has the chance to lower their risk of pancreatic cancer.

Each year in the United States of America, over 37,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and just over 34,000 people die from it. In Europe, that number is even higher, with 60,000 people diagnosed each year. Pancreatic cancer is a malignant tumor of the pancreas, an organ in the digestive system.

“There is a possibility that diet can affect one’s risk of pancreatic, as well as other cancers,” researcher June M. Chan said, “and that eating a diet rich in a wide variety of grains is likely to not only help in the prevention of diabetes and heart disease, but also this very deadly cancer.”

University of California researchers examined the grain intake of 2,233 San Franciscans, who were relatively similar in age, body weight and gender distribution. However of the number, 532 had already been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and were also detailed as being more likely to be smokers.

In their research they found that those they surveyed who ate two or more servings of whole grains per day were 40% less likely to suffer from pancreatic cancer, than those who ate less than two servings per day. Likewise, but focusing more on fiber, they found that those who ate 26.5 grams or more fiber daily were 35% less likely of contracting pancreatic cancer.

Whole grains are cereal grains that retain their levels of bran, germ and endosperm, compared to refined grains which only retain the latter. Spend any amount of time in front of a television, and you will no doubt be told that eating a healthy breakfast of bran is good for your digestive track and healthy living.

In fact, you will probably have already encountered health advice along these lines. Eating whole-wheat bread or brown rice, compared to their “white” relatives, is good advice, to say the least.

The researchers believe that there seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding of what is good and bad for you. They found that those who ate two or more servings per week of donuts or cooked breakfast cereals, were more likely to contract pancreatic cancer than those who ate less than one serving per month. They speculate that many are simply unable to distinguish between the above mentioned whole grain and refined grain breakfast cereals. Subsequently, this misunderstanding could be a clue as to why their findings appeared as they did.

“The risk reductions associated with some whole grain foods and fiber provide general support for the hypothesis that whole grains are better than more refined and sweetened grains for pancreatic cancer prevention,” Chan said.

Other Foods High in Fiber

Whole grains are a great source for fiber, but there are many other foods that you can implement into your diet to provide you with beneficial fiber. Fruits and vegetables are a great source of fiber. The skins of apples, and many other fruits, contain a large amount of fiber. Nuts like almonds, pecans and cashews are full of fiber, as well as many essential fatty acids & Omega-3’s.

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