ARE MICROWAVE OVENS SAFE?

I’ve always been dubious about using a microwave oven for heating food or drink.  We bought a really nice microwave when we did up our kitchen seven years ago.  There it sat on its special shelf…I just couldn’t make myself use it to feed our family.  So in the end we sold it, almost brand new, on Trade Me to someone who was very happy to buy it.

People often ask me about microwave ovens and I usually respond in the negative.  If they were to ask me why, which they usually don’t (sigh of relief), I really didn’t have a convincing answer.  Actually most people don’t understand how microwave ovens work anyway and have heard vague suggestions about microwaves not being very good for you – that’s why we say with some cynicism… “I’m just going to nuke my coffee,” or whatever.   I’ve had enough of my confusion over this issue and I want an answer.  “Are microwave ovens a source of danger or are they safe?

Are my concerns based in the fear of a cancer scare I had in the late eighties?  At that stage I examined my lifestyle, my spirituality, my stress levels, and my nutrition. I assumed a “no microwave oven” approach that I adopted from numerous informative books I read about health and healing.  I never really discovered the ‘why” behind my choice – was it knowledge, or was I depending on hearsay to make my choice?

I’ve tried to summarise my findings, but there is so much information available so I present you with a thirty minute read.  Here is what I am discovering from my lengthy investigation into the subject.

1. What are microwaves? Microwaves are wavelengths within the electromagnetic spectrum. The closest source of naturally occurring microwaves is our sun, though the specific wavelengths of microwaves that are emitted by our sun are mainly absorbed by our atmosphere. Man-made microwaves are generated by various types of transmitters.
2. What technology uses microwaves?  There is a huge amount of technological advance made possible by the use of microwaves and its use is increasing all the time.  Microwave technology that’s visible to us in our daily lives include:  cell phones, cordless phones, baby monitors, “Smart Meters,” satellite transmission for TV etc, police speed cameras, medical beepers,  wireless laptops, surgical procedures using microwaves  for very precise heating/burning  of cancer tumours¹, advanced radar techniques...and more  
3. How do microwave ovens work?  Man-made microwaves are created using a transmitter of sorts.  In a microwave oven the waves are created in the “magnetron.”  These waves are oscillating extremely fast and cause the molecules in the food to vibrate at about 5 billion times/second, thus causing friction between the individual molecules.  This friction heats the food².

As far as I can see from the thirty something hours I’ve spent investigating this topic there seem to be two adversarial groups generating information about the safety of microwave ovens.  Their views seem to be diametrically opposed.  For the purpose of this article, Group One I’m calling “THEY” and Group Two I’m calling “NOT THEY.”

Group One - “THEY,” first became visible between 1954 and 1966 when the US Military saw a need to establish a standard maximum safe exposure limit for microwave radiation used for defence radar applications during the post WW2 period and the “Cold War.”  This was accelerated because of ill effects reported by radar operators that included internal bleeding, leukaemia, cataracts, headaches, heart conditions and jaundice³.  Almost immediately research was begun to set a proposed standard for maximum exposure to microwave radiation.  Rats were subjected to microwaves at intensities of 6 -10mW/cm².  No blood abnormalities were reported.  There were moderate apparently reversible changes in the circulation of male hormone reported at 300mW/cm².⁴ In a controlled search for eye damage, medical researcher Milton Zaret reported increases in early opacification - in other words the beginning of cataracts in the eyes.⁵ His work was never proved or disproved, but it was enough to sound an alarm about the danger of over-exposure to microwaves.  Zaret was the first medical doctor to testify in Congress on the hazards of microwaves. On March 9, 1973, he told a hearing convened by then Senator John Tunney, of California:
"There is a clear, present and ever-increasing danger to the entire population of our country from exposure to the entire non-ionizing portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The dangers cannot be overstated because most non-ionizing radiation injuries occur covertly, usually do not become manifest until after latent periods of years, and when they do become manifest, the effects are seldom recognized." (Non-ionizing radiation means radiation that doesn’t carry enough energy to remove electrons from atoms – as opposed to nuclear radiation which is ionizing).

Eventually in 1966, the US safety standard was set at a maximum safe exposure of “10mW of microwave radiation per square centimetre of area.”  (The current NZ/ Aust. safety standard is half that at 5mW/cm²).  There were other examples of research carried out during this time that will make this article far too long. If you’re interested Google “Origins of U.S Safety Standards for Microwave Radiation.”⁶ 
                                       
“THEY,” originally included decision makers who were not primarily focussed on public health, but on military applications for defence.  “THEY’ also included military contractors, medical research companies using microwave technology and commercial companies beginning to produce microwave ovens – the public at this stage were not involved.  The safety standard was set amidst the “Cold War” and conflicting interests.  In the final rush it’s possible that some research didn’t get funded that might have cleared up certain questions⁷ that weren’t only based on the frictional heating effects caused by microwaves. These questions might include the effect on the thyroid gland, influence on cell growth, on blood constituents, on hormones in the brain…

Group Two, “NOT THEY” seems to be made up of the general public (professional and non-professional) who are aware of alternative health and criticism of the early research done in the 50’s and 60’s.  One of the frequently quoted experiments I found on health websites was carried out in 1989 by a Swiss food scientist, Dr. Hans Hertel. 
                                        
Dr Hertel, who was genuinely concerned because of his knowledge of the denaturing of food that is carried out by companies producing food for shelf life, set out to study the effects of microwaved nutrients on the blood and physiology of human beings.  He was refused funding for his work, but carried out a small, well-controlled study of nine individuals, including himself.  Please check this site for a well written account of his work.  The results of this study (and I summarise) showed that microwave cooking altered nutrients in the food which resulted in a measurable effect on the blood of the participants. 1. The haemoglobin levels decreased significantly after taking in microwaved food.  2. The hemocrit increased (hematocrit is a blood test that measures the percentage of the volume of whole blood that is made up of red blood cells).  3. The number of leucocytes (white blood cells) showed a temporary decrease.  These results indicated an early pathological process, as you would find in the beginning of a cancerous process.⁸

On the publishing of his work Dr. Hertel was taken to court by the Swiss Dealers for Electrapparatuses for Households and Industry for stating that microwaved food causes blood abnormalities.  He was ordered not to publish or speak further about this study. Eventually he made an appeal to the European Court for Human Rights and won the appeal for freedom of speech. The order was partially removed by the Swiss government in 1998.
Other repeatedly quoted reports on most of the health websites include: 

• William Kopp mentions that from 1957 to 1999, researchers experimenting with microwaves at the Institute of Radio Technology at Klinsk in Byelorussia found that prepared meats, cereal grains, root vegetables and milk heated in a microwave oven created cancer-causing agents in these foods. Ingestion of these foods caused a higher percentage of cancerous cells in the blood.  These findings caused microwave ovens to be banned in Russia in 1976,⁹ they were apparently reinstated in 1987 as a result of international pressure on free trade.
• 1991, an Oklahoma lawsuit: Mrs N. Levitt had hip surgery and did not recover from surgery due to the blood transfusion she received.  The blood had been warmed in the microwave oven and the transfusion was the cause of death.¹⁰
• In the journal Paediatrics (vol 89, no.4, April 1992), there was an article entitled, “Effects of Microwave Radiation on Anti-infective Factors in Human Milk.”¹¹ It was reported that microwaved breast milk showed degradation of antibodies which may have been caused by ‘hot spots’ created by uneven heating which is characteristic of microwave heating.

Opponents, “THEY”, often state that the Hertel study is not valid as it hadn’t been properly set up to eliminate variables.  However, I wonder why funding cannot be found to carry out some food related research that will settle these questions. Perhaps it’s because microwave ovens are just the smallest tip of the whole microwave technology iceberg.



With regard to the New Zealand situation, the National Radiation Laboratory has been measuring microwave leakage from a wide range of new and used ovens for several years.  In the most recent survey 228 ovens were checked and any leakage was well below the maximum permitted level.¹²  When I read this I realised that it is expected that microwave ovens must leak otherwise there would be no need for the safety standard to be applied to them.

NZ and Australian “safety standards” for devices that emit microwave radiation are based on the assumption that microwave radiation is harmless unless it is sufficiently strong to heat body tissues. The Australian/New Zealand Standard for microwave ovens states “The microwave leakage at any point 50 millimetres or more from the external surface of the appliance shall not exceed 50 watts per square metre' (which is the same as 0.5mW/cm²⁾.  Exposure to sufficiently high levels of microwaves will cause heating. In the case of human tissue, excessive heating could have serious health effects such as deep tissue burns and hyperthermia. The purpose of Australian Standards is to avoid all known adverse health effects by limiting exposures to levels below those at which heating occurs.”¹³

In conclusion:  There are still uncertainties about how microwaves affect living organisms that have not yet been addressed.  There seems to be a ‘suspicion of conspiracy’ that is driving the “NOT THEY” group based on the questions raised by Dr. Hans Hertel’s study.  This increasing suspicion is set to remain unless there is a better flow of information between research organisations and the general public.  People in the “NOT THEY” group believe that information from technological research has been held back from them and this can resulted in biased reporting and the creation of public anxiety.¹⁴

Now that I’ve read a range of articles, scientific research papers, skim read the Hertel court case and considered many opinions, my response is that if there is even the tiniest wisp of smoke there must be fire somewhere.

It appears that microwave ovens are relatively harmless operated at the safety levels for exposure that we have in place.  Like so many things moderation is the key.  From my reading I have been alerted to the increasing exposure to electromagnetic fields that is progressively being experienced into our own homes.  I’m talking about wireless, cell phones, Smart Meters and so on.  Let’s not bury our heads in the sand as we need to look into these things for ourselves and not be carried away by fear or ignorance.

Oh, by the way, I’ve decided that I won’t be buying another microwave oven, and if I already owned one I would only use it on low power if I had to defrost something occasionally.  I wouldn’t cook food in it.  I might use it to sterilise the dish cloth every night.  If I used it I would stand about a metre away from it when it was working.  When it came to the end of its life I wouldn’t replace it, I’d buy our family another appliance that I’d use even more, such as a flour mill, or a high power blender or a decent auger juicer, or maybe a gas hob.¹¹

Thanks to all of you who responded to my question about whether you’d use a microwave oven to warm baby formula (if you couldn’t breastfeed) or baby food.  About 90% of those who replied said that they wouldn’t use a microwave to heat a baby’s food.  Your replies helped me and caused me to look in various directions for information.

Yours, trying to be wise and not fanatical,
Penelope

www.happyandhealthy.co.nz

---

^1. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080411150859.htm

^2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp33ZprO0Ck

^3. J.R.McLaughlin, A Survey of Possible Health Hazards from Exposure to Microwave Radiation (Hughes Aircraft Corporation, Culver City, California, 1953)
^4. Proceedings of the Fourth Tri-Science Conference On the Biological Hazards of Microwave Radiation (Plenum, New York, 1961) From summaries in the Origins of U.S. Safety Standards for Microwave Radiation(Science, Vol 208, June 1980)
⁵ M.Zaret in Proceedings of the Third Tri-Science Conference On the Biological Hazards of Microwave Radiation (University of California, 1959)
⁶ N.H.Steneck, H.J. Cook, A.J.Vander, G.L.Kane Origins of U.S.Safety Standards for Microwave Radiation (Science, Vol 208, June 1980)

⁷ N.H.Steneck, H.J. Cook, A.J.Vander, G.L.Kane in (6)
⁸ Dr Hans U. Hertel Journal of Natural Science, Vol 2, No 4, 1999 (Bern, Switzerland)
⁹ William Kopp,  Journal of Natural Science, Vol 1,, 1998
¹⁰ http://wyomcases.courts.state.wy.us/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?citeID=4387
¹¹ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1557249
¹²http://www.esr.cri.nz/competencies/nrl/publications/Documents/is15.pdf
¹³ http://www.arpansa.gov.au/radiationprotection/factsheets/is_microwave.cfm#5
¹⁴ N.H.Steneck, H.J. Cook, A.J.Vander, G.L.Kane in (6)

THE POWER OF SALT

A very effective natural remedy for that change-of-season sore throat.

What causes the acute discomfort of those annoying sore throats? The pain is from the cells in the back of the throat that have become inflamed and infected with nasty bacteria.  And we know that if we don't do something about it, and soon, we are heading for more discomfort in the form of a cold or flu.

Many people gargle with salt water.  This can help because it dries out the inflamed, infected cells and if you get to them soon enough it can kill them off. However, if you don't get to it quickly common salt is not going to be that effective. Therefore I’m going to tell you about a much more effective salt for sore throats, but first -

…a little about salt.
Worldwide there are two main sources of salt - rock salt and sea salt. Many people are ignorant about how salt is produced and the differences between commercial table salt and a good sea salt. Unlike many other countries we have available to us here in New Zealand very good quality South Island sea salt.

We hear about doctors taking heart patients off salt but in France they put heart patients on salt - a good sea salt. We can obtain good French Sea Salt or Himalayan Rock Salt here in NZ, but is that really necessary?  Let’s find out by having a look at our own salt production along the Marlborough coast in New Zealand’s South Island.

>From the 1800’s until the 1950’s all salt used in homes or industry in New Zealand was imported, mainly from Liverpool in the UK.  In 1940 George Skellerup, of Skellerup shoes, sort to change this.  He needed large amounts of salt to make caustic soda for the recycling of rubber tyres.  He tried to establish salt concentration ponds at Lake Grassmere, 40km south of Blenheim, on the Marlborough Coast. Because of the war, the venture didn’t succeed so the government purchased the land and formed Dominion Salt Ltd which now produces about 60,000 tonnes of sea salt per year, half of all New Zealand’s salt requirements.  The remaining salt needed is imported in bulk from the salt lakes of Western Australia and refined at the Dominion Salt plant in Mt Manganui.


                    Salt has been produced from evaporated sea water at Lake Grassmere/Kāpara Te Hau
                    since 1952.  Masses of algae and tiny shrimps give the crystallisation ponds a pink hue.
                    The lake is on the Marlborough coast between White Bluffs/Te Parinui o Whiti (in the
                    background) and Cape Campbell (not visible in this image).

At Lake Grassmere, sea water is pumped into a naturally occurring shallow lake known as  Grassmere or Kaparatehau ("the wind-ruffled lake") along the Marlborough coastline. .Sea salt is recovered from seawater by the evaporation caused by the winds that constantly blow along the coast during summer. This leaves a high mineral content of certain trace minerals in the salt deposits.

Sea salt comes in many varieties, each with its own unique flavour, texture, and colour.   All Table Salt produced in New Zealand is solar sea salt.  The grade of salt called table salt provides a very clean, uniform flavour necessary for use in food processing. However, I think of this as akin to white sugar.  This refined grade of salt has most, if not all, of its natural minerals removed during the refining process leaving pretty much only sodium chloride.  Small amounts of an anti-caking agent called silicon dioxide (SiO₂) and iodine are then added.

Silicon dioxide, is most commonly found in nature as sand or quartz, as well as in the cell walls of diatoms (one of the most common types of phytoplankton).  In its hydrated form, it is used in toothpaste as a hard abrasive to remove tooth plaque. Fruits & vegetables also contain a good amount of silicon dioxide. So is SiO₂ dangerous? Probably not. In New Zealand we don’t add in the variety of chemicals such as aluminium carbonate, fluoride etc., that they do in other countries. However this refined table salt is the salt that doctors need to take their heart patients off.

Much better for us is our own Southern Ocean Sea Salt similar to Grey Salt (also known as Celtic Sea Salt, if it’s from Europe).  This is high quality, unrefined, mineral flavoured salt that can look slightly grey in colour.  The colour comes from the clay that lines the salt water ponds from which it is harvested. Southern Ocean Salt is available in a variety of grinds and is most often used as a finishing salt to be added at the end of food preparation. This high quality salt is easily available here.  I don’t think we need to go to France or the Himalayas for our salt! Oh by the way, Himalayan Salt is the marketing term for the rock salt Halite, which is mined in Pakistan, also high in minerals, but then so is our New Zealand sea salt.

“New Zealand sea salts are as good as any in the world, despite the New Zealand fashion for sprinkling imported salt on fine cuisine.”  http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/salt/page-1   We can sometimes forget how blessed we are to live in this country and have access to such wholesome nutrition.
    
Now back to the best remedy for those sore throats… if you gargle with salt don’t use refined table salt, but instead use ¾ teaspoon of mineral rich sea salt dissolved in ½ a cup of warm water.  Don’t delay – as soon as you get the first tiny feel of a sore throat reach for the salt (especially if you wake up in the middle of the night – get to it and don’t leave it until morning as it will be too late).

Penelope
www.happyandhealthy.co.nz 

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNT?

Hi Everyone,
As it’s the beginning of a New Year we thought you might like to read a short review of some of the principles for good, healthy eating that we’ve covered during 2012. 

THE WHAT & WHY OF WHOLEFOODS
What exactly are whole foods? Think unrefined, unprocessed, unbroken – for example:
• wholemeal flour  - rather than refined white flour
• unsulphured dried fruit
• fresh nuts, fresh flours - not rancid
• cold pressed virgin oils - not chemically refined
“Concentrated, refined foods lacking in vital substances cause us to overeat and make us sick. For our own wellbeing we need to eat less processed food and more raw food and whole grains.”

UNREFINED OILS
If you’re looking for an oil to use for high temperature cooking (above 200⁰C) don’t use extra virgin olive oil because of its low smoke point (207⁰C), instead use un-refined high heat coconut oil, avocado or cold pressed canola oil (all available at Happy and Healthy).  Stay away from refined canola oil which gives off toxic fumes at even reasonably low temps. Here’s a site that gives you some information about smoke points for oils:  http://theconsciouslife.com/omega-3-6-9-ratio-cooking-oils.htm

Are Rancid Oils Bad for You?  In a word, yes... not only are rancid oils reduced in vitamins, but they can also develop potentially toxic compounds that have been linked to advanced aging, neurological disorders, heart disease and cancer.

• So, what does rancid oil taste like? Sniff it – a slight musty smell.  Taste it - it can have a buttery taste or taste slightly like crayons, putty, old peanuts, pumpkin.
• If you value your health don’t feel bad about throwing out old olive oil - feel good about it!  In fact don’t feel bad about throwing out old flour, nuts or other old, processed grains while you’re at it.
• A good, fresh extra-virgin olive oil tastes rich, has a fruity smell, a ‘bittery’ sensation in the middle of your mouth and a ‘peppery’ bite in the back of your throat.  It feels alive in your mouth.

WHOLEGRAINS FOR BREAD – the real price of a flour mill
Milling your own flour just before baking your bread ensures that you are getting fresh whole grain flour and maximising all the vitamins and minerals in the grain. It is also much cheaper. A kilo of wheat grain is only $2, about a third the price of “genuine” wholemeal flour. If you bake bread on a regular basis then you can pay for a flour mill in about 18 months. After that you get to keep the weekly savings, plus enjoy very nutritious home baked bread and have the delightful smell of freshly baked bread wafting through your home daily. We use our Wonder Mill all the time, producing fresh flour to make our own bread, pizza, pastry, biscuits, etc.

Need Gluten-free? Why Not Grind Your Own? Gluten-free diets are notoriously dependent on refined flours and foods. If you follow a GF routine I suggest you get yourself a good grain mill (or share one with another family) and buy your grains and legumes whole then mill them fresh yourself. Millet, brown rice, chickpea and buckwheat are especially recommended. Nuts can be “milled” into flour using a good blender.

SPROUTING
You just can't beat sprouts for abundant nutrition - they are so good for you and they taste just great in your salads, or just for a snack.  Tip: If you soak and then sprout your lentils and beans before you use them in a cooked dish that calls for pulses or beans, you’ll reduce intestinal gas (aka flatulence), plus you’ll be making vital substances more digestible and more available.

SUGAR 
Sweetness is something to be enjoyed.  We can get quite addicted to sugar though, and food manufacturers understand this very well.  Sugar tastes good, but is it good for you?

Refined sugars require many B vitamins to help in their digestion and utilisation in our bodies.  All naturally occurring carbohydrate foods contain an abundance of B vitamins and fibre and our bodies can assimilate these natural sugars well.  Unfortunately, what’s wrong with the stuff we call ‘sugar’ is that when we refine sugar cane or beet we also remove the B vitamins and fibre during the processing.  Our bodies then have to find these B vitamins from somewhere else and our bodies get robbed of this essential vitamin.  Fortunately there are some perfectly good substitutes for sugar - rapadura for one and stevia as another.

OUR SEVEN PRINCIPLES

• Principle #1:  Moderation in all things.
• Principle #2:  Avoid all bad numbers! This means I always check food labels for numbers which indicate emulsifiers, preservatives, colouring, thickeners, stabilisers, anticaking agents, flavour enhancers and so on….some numbers are okay by the way.
• Principle #3:  As unprocessed as possible – meaning that we eat things as they were created, before we’ve changed them into things humans think might be better (usually commercially better).
• Principle #5:  Fresh is best.
• Principle #6:  Avoid addictions - eat to live, not live to eat.
• Principle #7:  Don’t always follow the crowd - don't just do it because it's the easiest or the accepted norm.

Educate yourself, you don’t have to be a fanatic, just be wise - dare to be healthy!  If we care about maintaining good health we’ll realise that the time and cost of investing for the long term is worth it.


Penelope
www.happyandhealthy.co.nz 

IS MY SWEETIE REALLY SWEET?

Here I go again challenging another food essential.  Over the years I’ve had a love/hate relationship with sugar and not really known what to do about it.  I’ve tried to summarise my reading over the past years and now I’ve spent the last few days researching a bit more.  I hope this newsletter is interesting and helpful. 

We’ve been created with a taste for sweetness and there’s nothing wrong with that.  Actually the Latin word ‘frui’ is the root of our English word ‘fruit’ and means ‘enjoy.’¹   Sweetness is something to be enjoyed.  We can get quite addicted to sugar though, and food manufacturers understand this very well.  Sugar tastes good but it’s not good for you – let me tell you why.

Refined sugars require many B vitamins to help in their digestion and utilisation in our bodies.  However, all naturally occurring carbohydrate foods contain an abundance of B vitamins and fibre. Our bodies can assimilate these natural sugars well.  Unfortunately, what’s wrong with the stuff we call ‘sugar’ is that when we refine sugar cane or beet we also remove the B vitamins and fibre during the processing.  Our bodies then have to find these B vitamins from somewhere else.

A story is told by William Duffy in the book Sugar Blues (see Wikipedia) about the survivors of a ship wreck on a distant island, carrying a cargo of sugar.  The sailors ate only sugar and drank water for the nine days they were stranded.  Their rescuers found them surprisingly sickly and weakened.  The poor health of the sailors was attributed to the severe deficiencies in B vitamins caused by their sugar diet.

We’re talking about sugar here, and by the way I don’t only mean white sugar I also mean soft brown sugar, raw sugar, Demerara sugar, dark cane sugar and golden syrup and possibly other sugars like turbinado and muscovado .  One assumes, and we are lead to believe, that they’re less refined, but there’s much refining that goes into removing the ‘raw’ sugar juice from the cane.

Here are some descriptions of the various sugars available in NZ.  The list runs from best to worst:

1. Rapadura is the pure juice extracted from the sugar cane (using a press), which is then evaporated over low heats, whilst being stirred with paddles, then seive ground to produce a grainy sugar. It has not been cooked at high heats, or spun to change it into crystals, and the molasses has not been separated from the sugar.  It is produced organically, and does not contain chemicals or anti-caking agents.  Rapadura is a wholefood product which can vary according to sugar cane variety, soil type and weather. This is why one batch of Rapadura may be lighter or darker than the last batch. Because Rapadura is not separated from the molasses, it contains more nutrients, vitamins and minerals. In baking use cup for cup instead of sugar. ²
2. Sucanat, which is a trade name, (a contraction of "Sucre de canne naturel") is different to Rapadura in that the sugar stream and the molasses stream are separated from each other during processing, then re-blended to create a consistent product, whereas Rapadura is a whole food product.  
3. Jaggery, which I grew up with as a child in India, can be made with either whole cane sugar or palm sugar.  It is also heated to higher temperatures than Rapadura, as much as 200 degrees C.  Jaggery, with its caramel flavour, is solidified and formed into cakes. We often see this sugar here in NZ; it comes from Fiji and is sold in solid brown cakes in island shops and is grated for use.
4. Muscavado, Turbinado, Demarara and 'Organic Raw Sugar' are all refined sugars, though not quite as highly refined as white sugar. They are the products of heating, clarifying, then dehydrating the cane juice until crystals form, then spinning it in a centrifuge so the crystals are separated from the syrupy juice (molasses). The clarifying process is usually done with chemicals, although sometimes through pressure filtration.  The crystals are then reunited with some of the molasses in artificial proportions. The molasses contains vitamins and minerals, and is recommended for a healthy diet, but the crystals themselves are pretty much 'empty carbs.'
5. 'Raw' sugar is not really raw - it has been cooked, and a lot of the minerals and vitamins are gone. Some people choose this sugar as it’s minimally better than refined sugar because it has a little of the molasses still clinging to the sugar crystals.  Some sugar is sold as 'organic' raw sugar, and people think this means it's unrefined - all it really means is that it's grown with organic agricultural methods, then refined as usual... the juice (molasses) has been mostly removed, and there's not really much goodness in it.
6. White sugar is refined much further.  The raw sugar is washed with a syrup solution, then with hot water, clarified (usually chemically) to remove impurities, decolourized, concentrated, evaporated, re-boiled until crystals form, centrifuged again to separate, then dried.  By then any lingering goodness has completely disappeared! A short video about how  sugar is made in NZ: http://www.chelsea.co.nz/content/about-sugar/how-sugar-is-made/default.aspx  Crystallised refined sugars are pure sucrose and contain no nutrients beyond calories. They are a "pure" industrial product, and can hardly be considered a food. Some would say they are closer to a drug, which affects our bodies adversely and is very addictive. Not only do they not give anything beneficial to our bodies, they actually take away from the vitamins and minerals in what we are eating. They are extremely acidic to the body causing calcium and other mineral depletion from bones and organs. People who get headaches from eating refined sugars usually find they have no problem with Rapadura.
7. Brown sugar is just white sugar mixed with molasses.
8. Corn Syrup: A combination of sucrose and fructose.  Highly processed and contains no nutrition at all apart from empty calories.  A liquid derivative of corn starch, that is primarily the sugar called glucose. It is used extensively in the manufacture of processed foods and beverages in the US and increasingly so in NZ.  Many Maple Syrups are made using not maple syrup but corn syrup and maple flavouring.  Honey and brown rice syrup are good substitutions for corn syrup.
9. Maltodextrin  Foods that contain maltodextrin are often labelled “Low Sugar” or “Complex Carbohydrate” which sounds good, but this sweetener should be avoided.
10. Artificial sweeteners:  Nutrasweet, and such like, now sold in NZ, contain the sweetener aspartame. One of the components of aspartame is aspartic acid, a neurotoxin.  Another component is phenylalanine and a final component, wood alcohol, a generalised toxin, particularly harmful to the brain and eyes.³ Aspartame is often present in chewing gums, which causes concern as the cells of the mouth readily absorb the chemicals that are partly digested in our mouths through chewing.  Watch out for it in sugar free soft drinks as well.

Admit it, you're addicted to sugar just like the rest of us; if you don’t believe you are then go on a sugar fast and see how long it takes before the cravings kick in.  Our addiction doesn’t really want to accept the truth about sugar.  I’d have to say I keep avoiding it because I come up against resistance in myself and my family.  I know all this stuff, but now I need to put it into action. The conclusion we’ve come to is that the best option is to avoid refined sugar as much as possible.  We can replace it with less-processed sugars like date puree, Rapadura sugar, raw honey, stevia and so on (more on this in the next newsletter). One of the steps we’ve taken recently is to toss out our refined sugar from the pantry and now I make a kilo or so of date puree each week.  I keep this in jars in the fridge.  We use this in meals like curries that call for a touch of sweetening, on porridge or muesli in the morning, and in some baking.  I’m working on trying some other sweeteners and experimenting with ideas. I had so much to put in this newsletter – overflowing with information - that I’ll save some for next week.  Then you can have a look at the alternative sweeteners available in NZ and I’ll give you some ideas for baking so that children can enjoy making sweet things in the kitchen that are better for them than white-flour-and-sugar cakes and biscuits.  If you have any recipes to contribute then send them to me over the week. The idea is to eat your food: as whole or as unprocessed as possible as fresh as possible and to avoid addictions If we care about maintaining good health we’ll realise that our time and the cost of investing for the long term is worth it. Like you, trying not to be fanatical, but wise!   Penelope www.happyandhealthy.co.nz

Bibliography:
1 & 3:  Rex Russell M.D,  What the Bible Says about Healthy Living, Regal Books, California, 2006
2: http://quirkycooking.blogspot.co.nz/  17.11.12  Some info about sugars

MY SEVEN PRINCIPLES FOR HEALTHY EATING

There is a myriad of different foods available to us on this wonderful planet we call home. New Zealand is particularly blessed in having a great climate for agriculture and horticulture. There are innumerable ways to prepare food for healthy eating. Honestly there is no end to the delicious and nutritive possibilities available to us.

However, if you’re like me you’ve probably come across a heap of conflicting directives about a healthy diet. Here’s a new one a friend sent me the other day that I hadn’t seen before: Not everything should be eaten raw, especially vegetables! (evidently, according to the article, cabbage, cauliflower & broccoli always need to be cooked).

Or how about; don’t eat grains, do eat grains, don’t eat grains and white sugar mixed, don’t eat meat, eat only vegetable protein, fish is good for your brain, only eat certain foods fermented, sprouts are bad for you, sprouts are good for you, take supplements, buy super-foods, don’t fry with olive oil, don’t eat cooked foods, eat raw, use coconut oil, use raw milk, don’t use homogenised milk, use kefir instead of yoghurt, avoid soy products… and the list goes on!

As I’m interested in healthy food options and I have the privilege of working from home and developing Happy & Healthy with my husband, home educating my young adults and tending my vege garden, I get to invest some time into reading, research & experimentation with healthy food. I know you might not have that focus as perhaps you may work outside your home, or are so busy with family & everything else you’re involved with.

Maybe you just don’t get the time to read the research or keep up with the fads, so perhaps I can give you a few helpful principles that guide me in trying to provide healthy nutrition for my family. I don’t want to get caught up in fads or make unwise choices yet I do want to be aware of healthy nutrition without having a fanatical approach to it.
The principles I go by when I shop for food items that contribute to healthy nutrition are:


Principle #1: Moderation in all things. When we start putting our trust in that way or this food we inevitably end up not being moderate in our consumption of this food or that method of preparation.

Principle #2: Avoid all bad numbers! This means I always check food labels for numbers which indicate emulsifiers, preservatives, colouring, thickeners, stabilisers, anticaking agents, flavour enhancers and so on….some numbers are okay by the way. I’ve now worked out a list as to what I do and don’t buy from the supermarket. The Chemical Maze quick reference shopping companion, that I use, is very helpful to understanding all "the numbers" that are in the food - the good, the bad & the ugly.



Principle #3: As unprocessed as possible – meaning that we eat things as they were created, before we’ve changed them into things humans think might be better (usually commercially better). We avoid foods that have undergone complex, commercial processing using chemicals, high heat and so on. Simple processing like low-heat home cooking, or juicing, or dehydrating, or chopping, grating, blitzing, sprouting, and fermenting is fine if we use a good variety of foods and a variety of preparation methods. I don’t get stuck on just one thing.

Principle #4: Avoid items that indicate a high level of processing has gone into this food - for example: hydrolysed anything, starch anything, enriched anything, milk solids, natural flavourings (which are not actually natural), refined sugar, maltodextrin, sweeteners like aspartame (in chewing gum etc)... and again the list goes on.

Principle #5: Fresh is best. That’s why I have a vege garden and a sprouter. I like and prefer organic, but if I find veges that are super-fresh and not organic I’ll go for them instead. The same with fresh dried goods rather than products that have been sitting open in a bulk bin oxidising. For us personally, fresh outweighs organic at the moment.

Principle #6: Avoid addictions. I keep an eye out for things we eat too much of, or have cravings for. Sugar for example, and in my case chocolate. You could also look at fried foods, meats, takeaways, sweets, baking…or even carrots. I have a good friend who told me she once started turning orange because she ate and juiced too many carrots!

Principle #7: Don’t follow the crowd in doing what’s easier or the accepted norm – educate yourself, you don’t have to be a fanatic, just be wise - dare to be healthy!

Actually, we also use these principles in the decisions we make about the goods we sell through Happy & Healthy. We don’t put anything on the website that we wouldn’t select for our own use. In fact most of my weekly shopping is done at Happy & Healthy now.

Anyway, here comes summer! Happy days!
Penelope
www.happyandhealthy.co.nz