The Maui Diet: Blog

We got confirmation on the nightmare I wrote of in my post, If Man Made It, Don’t Eat It. A company making health food snacks recalled foods, saying they could be contaminated with salmonella. The company is Robert’s American Gourmet Inc. I said forget the salmonella, as bad as that is. A deeper concern is these products being recalled are actually made by another, unnamed company, not by Robert’s.

We know nothing about who makes this product that contains salmonella, and I guessed it might be a company in China. Good guess. Because on July 6 it was revealed this spray-on seasoning suspected of causing salmonella was made with imported Chinese ingredients.

This is a true nightmare. Because any American company can use ingredients that come from China or anywhere else in the world, and not disclose where the ingredients come from. And China food products are a nightmare.

Ralph Nader reminded us on the same day all this was revealed that congress passed “a country of origin” law that is supposed to give us information on where food comes from, but it is not enforced. Sound familiar? Our government, particularly at the federal level, fails abysmally to protect us. So it is up to us.

Step one is to buy no food product from China; that’s what I started doing some time ago, and I stand solidly behind this advice. Step two is to make sure any food you buy does not contain anything from China; take particular care in the area of vitamins and supplements. I no longer take vitamins or supplements but a lot of people do. That is a mistake, I believe, on its own, but particularly since China has cornered the market on many of these. One American vitamin company is coming out with a “China-free product” on its labeling. Look for that if you’re buying vitamins.

But best is to get your vitamins, minerals and other nutrients from a balanced diet of whole, fresh, natural foods, emphasizing plant-based foods much more than animal; the more locally grown, the better. Foods just as they come from nature. Organically grown if possible.

With our government failing so miserably to protect us in this area, it has never been more important to follow the advice, If man made it, don’t eat it. Eat whole, fresh, natural foods—got it?
For more go to www.themauidiet.com

This is a special alert.
Boycott or just avoid any and all food from China. We just have no idea what is in food coming from mainland China and the recent news is all bad.
This is a no-brainer. But it’s deceptive, too, because food manufacturers in America import huge amounts of food products from China, then use these in manufacturing food products. Without identifying that the finished product includes ingredients from China, like wheat gluten, for example.
What is clear is our Food and Drug Administration is in no way looking out for American consumers. They are both unwilling and unable to, so the responsibility for watching what we feed ourselves is up to us. Cross anything from China off your list—they are sending tainted, chemically laced, toxic crap of all kinds, sometimes over and over again until it gets through. It’s sounds unbelievable, but that is the state of affairs in this country, where huge segments of our government do not work, including the FDA.
Protecting yourself and your family comes down to you. Start by moving away from “food products” as much as possible. Eat food that is as close to natural as possible. The best food is always locally grown, and even better is if you can grow some of your own—then you know what you’re eating. Outside of that, buy organic, fresh, whole natural foods and eat those exclusively, as much as possible. More plant-based food than animal, and move toward a totally plant-based diet if you’re not there already.
China is undoubtedly the worst poison food offender, but America now imports a huge percentage of it food and food products from outside the U.S. Be aware almost all of these countries have little oversight over food, and again, our FDA does a lousy job of watching what comes into our country. Aloha and good luck.

For more go to TheMauiDiet.com

Here are a few of the impostor foods that have earned reputations as healthy foods, but aren’t.

Bagels
The average bagel is not a great food, no matter how many people mistakenly think they are. Most bagels have a lot going against them. Like being made from refined/enriched flour. Most are full of junk carbs, salt, and sugar. Add cream cheese and other fattening favorites they’re generally served with, and you’ve got a classic junk food: refined, high fat, non-nutritious.

Blueberry muffins
Or bran, poppy seed, banana nut or any other kind of muffin. They are filled with refined flour, sugar, fat and other unhealthy ingredients. This is the old “blueberries (or bran, bananas, etc.) are good for you, therefore blueberry muffins are too.” Wrong. Blueberries are a healthy food choice, but plain blueberries aren’t blueberry muffins. Ditto for all the other kind of muffins that are filled with sugar, white flour and fat. Don’t kid yourself by thinking they’re a healthy food choice. They’re not. If you’re not ready to get rid of them altogether, you’d do well to make them a very, very occasional treat.

Yogurt
Frozen, fat free and all the rest. We’ve all heard for so long and bought into for so long the belief that yogurt contains healthy bacteria beneficial to stomachs and digestive systems. It’s just pretty much accepted as fact, but yogurt is a cow’s milk product, and no cow’s milk product is as good for human consumption as the dairy empire would like us to believe. Plus, with a few exceptions, all those little cups and cutesy cartons of this stuff are loaded with “fruit” that is loaded with refined sugar. They’re as much a sugar blast as anything. Yogurt is far from a truly healthy food choice.

Pasta
Pasta got a huge boost during the carbo-loading craze that came with running and other endurance sports. It was a favorite that so-called nutrition and exercise experts touted. The night before an endurance event, eat a plate of spaghetti or other pasta and you won’t bonk, won’t hit the wall.

Pasta took on cult status as a health food and still enjoys that today. The problem is, almost all pastas are refined flour products. They’re the equivalent of white bread, made from flour that’s been refined, all the good nutrients removed. And like breads, most pasta products after refining are fortified or “enriched” with ingredients no educated nutritionist would ever recommend.

There are true whole wheat and other pastas made from whole grain. Choose the whole grain product and don’t kid yourself if you’re eating the refined flour variety. It’s pretty much empty, non-nutritive calories, period.

These are just a few—there’s a crappy cornucopia of junk food choices out there, most of them these days, including “meal replacement” bars and other crap disguised as somehow healthy. They’re not.

So what’s a person who interested in losing weight and getting fit to eat?
Simple: eat whole, fresh, natural foods, just as they come from nature. Foods as grown. Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans and legumes, raw nuts and seeds.

For more go to www.themauidiet.com

If we went through your trash thoroughly, what would we find? Your garbage can be a treasure of dietary information.
I had a house guest recently. He’s overweight, the extra 15 pounds he’s carrying around on his gut bugs him. He threatens to do something about losing weight, but so far no action. That is, cleaning up his bad food habits and getting daily exercise. Know anyone like that? Perhaps someone very close to you?
In a bit of a strange circumstance, I had to transfer his household trash—by hand—from one container to another. And it was a revelation.
The contents of his trash receptacle showed why he is fat and will stay fat until he makes some real changes in his eating habits, along with getting exercise. The contents:
• A half dozen coffee cups, the standard size today, at least 16 ounces; I know he takes he takes cream and sugar. One such concoction daily has much more fattening results than most people realize. Like an extra 10 to 12 pounds over the course of a year.
• Lots of wrappers from pseudo healthy snack bars, and so-called “meal replacement bars.” My house guest likes to believe such food products are healthy, but they’re not. These things are no better than plain old fashioned candy bars, loaded with sugar, salt, fat, no matter what the labels claim—“All Natural” “Healthy” and all the rest. They’re high sugar, refined junk carbohydrate food, and have no place in a healthy diet of whole, fresh, natural foods.
• A number of meal bags from famous fast food places, including the most famous fast food place on Earth. Once a month a meal from these places is too much; he had two breakfasts and two other meals in a week. Along with of course the huge sodas that spell disaster for any weight loss or weight management program (and that includes diet sodas, which are worthless as far as weight loss goes—they don’t work).
Add all these things up and it’s not a pretty picture. And he’s not getting any exercise. Result? He’s like two-thirds of Americans, that is, overweight. He’s malnourished, not getting the beneficial phytochemicals, antioxidents and nutrients found in a healthy, natural diet.
He’s definitely not following the kind of health habits that ensure long-term excellent health. Being overweight increases the risk of heart disease, hypertension (high blood pressure), stroke, diabetes, arthritis and other health maladies. The absolute scariest of these is of course the big C, cancer. If you’re asking yourself, is this meant to be scary? Yes, it is. Cancer is as scary as it gets and overweight is being linked up with more and more forms of cancer.

For more go to www.themauidiet.com

Here’s a duh. If you’re overweight, you probably eat and drink too much.
If you’re at all like me—that is, you have a big appetite, you like to eat, you like to drink your favorite beverages—the chances are good you overeat and over-drink.

This sounds like a duh, especially to people who don’t have a weight problem. “Fat people eat too much,” they simply say. But things have gotten so extreme in this whole area that it’s easy to miss what’s obviously going on. It’s not that big a duh. It’s subtle.

The average person has no idea what a recommended serving size of food actually is. Our vision is warped—we’ve become used to super size meals and over-the-top servings in restaurants, family meals, oversize packages of food, beverages, etc. Overabundance is the norm.

That recommended serving size for many foods is one cup. If you have one, take out a measuring cup and check out much one cup is.

When I carefully explored this, I was surprised. An example was my usual pasta meal, without meat sauce, cheese or other high fats, just tomato sauce and veggies. I’d eat four, five, six cups—a platter, a big bowlful of that delicious pasta. I’m just talking an oversized serving size here, understand, not the fact that most pastas are a refined flour product, typically served with high-fat meat, cheese, etc.—in sum, a high-fat, true junk food—that’s a whole other article.

Same thing with beans, rice, breakfast cereals, potatoes, whole grains—one-half to one cup is the recommended size. Same thing with beverages—eight ounces is a cup.

It’s easy to overeat and over-drink. And be fat as a result.

You can connect the dots with other foods and many other factors in this whole area. Like the recommended few ounces of animal flesh versus six-eight ounces breaded, deep fired chicken nuggets dipped in a sugar-filled sauce. Washed down with 18 to 38 ounces of soda. One cup is eight ounces, not 18, or 38 or 48. Side of fries, anyone?

Now connect all these things up with our incredibly sedentary lifestyles, and it’s clear most of us overeat, big-time.

What to do? If you’re interested in losing weight and/or maintaining a healthy weight, here are five easy tactics.

1. Check how much you’re really eating. Take a real look. Check out a cup that measures just one cup.
2. Include in your survey “throwaway” mindless eating, like munching salty junk snacks. Bet you can’t eat just one.
3. Your drinking habits—if pure, filtered water isn’t your main beverage, start moving toward that now.
4. Without obsessing and counting every grape, start to cut back.
5. Get into the habit of only eating until you’re about three-quarters full. You can easily do these things.

It’s very easy to overeat, yet I hear repeatedly from folks who are overweight that they don’t eat that much. Chances are, they do. I know I do, unless I’m really watching my “feed limit.”
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For more go to TheMauiDiet.com

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