A lot of times I end up talking to people about all sorts of ‘amazing and exciting new health drinks’. Drinks like MonaVie, Zrii, Frutaiga, Goji juice, Noni Juice, Genesis, Xango, Mandura, Vemma, and the list goes on and on.

First, let me say that I think a lot of these products are good, and there are some good manufacturers of them, and some are done well and can be beneficial for people. Buuuuuut, I’m gonna go with my gut on this one…

I do not care for the spirit of all of these companies and drinks. Let me explain. Far too many people are looking for a quick fix or a miracle drug or one thing that they can do so they do not have to change their life. The mindset, whether spoken or not, is ‘let me do whatever I want and just take this drink to keep me healthy’ or ‘taking this product is going to cure my ills’ or ‘I am going to use this combined with whatever to help me stay young forever’ or… whatever else is here it bothers me. It’s like the mindset that says, ‘I can eat this terrible thing, I will just exercise a little more to work it off’.

When you are eating well, there is no need to even be concerned with all of the peripheral latest and greatest things that are coming out. There are numerous beneficial products being produced, but the majority of people, who these products are marketed to, need to look in the mirror and change themselves and their every day habits of diet or way of life. Sure, keep an eye on the ‘modern food’ coming out, but keep perspective with food that has nourished people for thousands of years, like olive oil, perhaps.

The $20-$40 per bottle that this stuff costs is ridiculous. They should go drink some raw goat milk or colostrum, buy some coconut oil, and eat fresh vegetables and it would do the exact same thing for less money.

Besides, MLM always comes across as distasteful. It’s kind of like the taste of sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, and sulfur dioxide… pun intended.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

1. Russia Bans U.S. Poultry over Chlorine
Chicken frequently gets a chlorine bath… and ammonia baths too! Yay!
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2. California Firm Recalls Beef Products Due to Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination
No surprise here.
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3. Monsanto’s GMO Corn Linked To Organ Failure, Study Reveals

I have mentioned a little bit about Monsanto previously here.
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So I haven’t seen this video before… about the 4 year old burger from McDonalds. That’s just caarazy. And gross.

It’s time to talk about food and common sense again. Well, I am not sure how much I will actually talk about common sense but that’s what I want to call it. So buck up! Gear up! Get ready to pay attention!

What’s the point of writing about food? What’s the point about caring about what we eat?

Some people say “we are all going to die anyway” (which I agree, of course) and others say “let’s not make too big a deal with what we eat” or “it doesn’t really matter”… all to which I say fooey! And I rarely say fooey… so there!

You are not going to spend one day more than what God has appointed for you on this earth. Also, you are free to eat what you want and have the consequences of those actions.

The purpose of this site, EAT TODAY TO LIVE TOMORROW, is to join in with me and you on the journey to make wise decisions with the food that we eat so that we can better fulfill the purpose of life, and that is namely to glorify God. I believe God will give each person the strength and resources they need to accomplish His will in their lives.

So when a person has understanding about eating correctly… or eating wisely (a better description), then that is a gift from God. Not everyone’s eyes will be opened to the benefits or even the desire to eat wisely. That is fine. But wisdom is worth pursuing… in all areas of life whether it is finances, food, family, friends, or faith. f f f f and f.

Eating wisely also has practical everyday benefits for which people do not normally connect the dots. Like being able to enjoy each day better because your body has the energy for the day, it has the strength for the day,  it is able to meet physical demands, it is not inhibited from doing things because of unhealthy weight issues, it doesn’t have a sore throat, it is free from headaches, it doesn’t have stomach aches, it doesn’t have toxic metals and chemicals, it doesn’t have cancer ravaging it, it isn’t overwhelmed trying to prevent diseases from taking over, and on and on.

God has created the body with the ability to continually fight off disease and infection. If the body is strong it has the ability to do its job, but if the body is weak then the disease and infection take over. Most people fail to realize that they are all infected with something. It’s like when you go to a different country and they say “don’t eat the street food”… all the while the locals eat the street food and are fine. The reason is because the foreigner (typically U.S. traveller does not have enough healthy bacteria to keep the ’scavenger’ bacteria at bay, while the locals do.

Many times there are people who are ‘carriers’ of germs and microbes who do not get sick. We all have pounds of bacteria in us. There are ’scavenger’ bacteria that feed on decay or harmful substances just like flies on… yeah. If you don’t “clean house” then you are just swatting at flies but the poop is still there. Get it? The people who do not get sick from such bad bacteria have a “clean house” (or prepared defenses) and their body is able to quickly deal with threats that come to the body and eliminate them.

So we are all infected and the body is continually working to maintain a state of stability and equilibrium (homeostasis if you will). The body works to prevent free radical damage from oxidation with anti-oxidants… yes we have all heard that word.

So there is a wisdom in the choices that you make with what you put in your body. AND it takes reading and learning what is good and what is not. So for example, which of the ingredient lists will be the wiser choice for helping bring stability to your body:

A. Frosted Devil’s Food Donuts: Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortening (Soybean, Cottonseed), Water, Unbleached Enriched Wheat Flour [Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Reduced Iron, Niacin, Thiamin Mononitrate (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Folic Acid], Cocoa (Processed with Alkali), Egg Yolks, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Leavening (Baking Soda, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate), Glycerine, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Dextrose, Corn Syrup, Wheat Starch, Soy Flour, Nonfat Milk, Modified Food Starch (Corn, Tapioca), Soy Lecithin, Sorbitan Monostearate, Mono- and Diglycerides, Polysorbate 60, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Guar Gum, Cellulose Gum, Karaya Gum, Xanthan Gum, Tapioca Dextrin, Calcium Carbonate, Calcium Sulfate, Agar, Carob Bean Gum, Sodium Phosphate, Caramel Color.

B. Blueberries (or pick any berry that you like)

I am not even going to tell you that B is the correct answer! Oh. Well. If you don’t want to take the time to learn, then a quick way to go about it is to not buy or eat it if you don’t know what it is or what is in it! That should help you a ton! Most likely you will be staying away from packaged and processed foods because they have plenty of things which you have no idea what they are… and for good reason.

I do not mean to come across too harsh by any means. I grew up eating lots of typical American fare. Heck, after band practice when I was a teenager we used to go to Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and down a dozen. I had a major sweet tooth growing up… I know all about Entenmanns and Chips Ahoy and Oreo and little elf dude. BUT that was when I was a child, when I was uninformed, ignorant, stupid, and unhealthy. So were my parents. Most people are. BUT now I have more understanding. (There are much better ways to aid your sweet tooth: it’s called make it from scratch, at home, with good ingredients)

To my knowledge I have never had a serious illness or disease (as I said we never know what may be in our bodies). My mom did though and passed away from it. That is one of the things that awakened me to the choices I make with my body… and that awakening is a gift from God. Maybe this will be your gift.

After changing my diet over 4 1/2 years ago so many things have changed. It is strange because on the outside, by all appearances, not much has changed at all, but on the inside I feel different and I am different. It is in the little things. I used to always be able to predict when I would get sick and I did about 4-6 times a year no matter what I did. Now I rarely do and if I do, I know how to make it easy for my body to get over it. Also, my digestion is way better.

Digestion is a good indicator of overall health (your gut is a good indicator). It doesn’t entirely matter if you never get sick or if you are “regular”… it matters how the process takes place. Are you able to assimilate (use or integrate) the food you eat? Are you getting value from it? Do you not get sick because your immune system is so weak that you do not show any symptoms when infected? Things are not always as they seem.

Things take time for most of us though. Years of ‘garbage in’ may produce ‘garbage out’ for some time to come. However, eating today to live tomorrow will help with the process as you will put ‘good in’ and get ‘good out’… that is, you will reap what you sow.

So don’t ‘live to eat’… but eat today to live tomorrow and eat wisely with good food. “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” (James 1:17)

Yes it takes time, money, and work, because fake and processed food is more convenient, cheaper, and readily available. Real food costs more than fake food and takes time to prepare (as it always has for thousands of years). I guess to sum it all up: When it comes to food most people have sacrificed understanding and health for ignorance and convenience.

Fast food is out, slow food is in.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions or would like to chat. Tim (at) ettlt.com

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Food and Common Sense (numero uno, the first, volume 1, in the beginning)

A couple of blogs ago I mentioned that I was going to start a series with regard to foods for weight loss. Well here it is. I have given it some thought and decided that 1. I want to start with some foods that you SHOULD be eating if you are serious about eating the right foods for weight loss and 2. I didn’t want to limit any post to a certain format but would just keep adding parts… after all this is not a book, it’s a blog. I will provide links though to all of the parts. Also, I wanted to mention that the series will not only be about losing weight… but more about losing weight from fat, since you can gain good weight from muscle. Now, on we go with part 1.

One of the first things I want to touch on is something I mentioned in that earlier post, and that is CLA. CLA stands for Conjugated Linoleic Acid. After seeing “linoleic” many of you may realize that CLA is a fatty acid. It is found mainly in meat and dairy products from animals that graze. So if the animals do not graze then the amounts are greatly diminished.

CLA is not only an anti-carcinogen (cancer fighting compound) but it also reduces body-fat. I believe it reduces body fat by accelerating the metabolism as well as slowing the body’s conversion of dietary fats into body fat. Animals that graze on grass are leaner and healthier than animals that are grain-fed. The effect is the same on your body when you eat from grass-fed sources. You become leaner and healthier. 

It is most important to note that you should not take a CLA supplement. You should obtain it in whole food form from grass-fed meat and dairy products. As I mentioned in an earlier post, grass-fed lamb is an excellent source of CLA. Also, there are non meat sources like whole raw milk from grass-fed cows or goats. Raw milk cheeses like parmesan and eggs can also be good sources of CLA.

Before I move on, I want to first point out one of the keys to losing weight from fat: You need to eat good fat to lose fat. Do not subscribe to the unhealthy lowfat diet. Certain fats are excellent for you and your body needs fat to survive. All fats are not created equal. Just the fact that I am even discussing it shows how far astray our culture has gone in the United States with regard to food.

One of the healthiest fats that you can consume is unrefined extra virgin coconut oil. Coconut oil is a saturated fat that is stable even when cooked with high heat. It does not go rancid easily like so many vegetable oils and has an excellent shelf life. It also is burned very easily by the body due to its medium chain fatty acid makeup. It also contains lauric acid which is anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-microbial. Do I need to repeat that? It is anti-viral! You know how you get sick from the common cold and it is cause by a virus (most of the time). Well, ahem, coconut oil is anti-viral. Point made. It also speeds up the metabolism and is good for digestion. So you can look around but it doesn’t matter if you look at avacodo oil, grapeseed, walnut, olive, palm, peanut, sesame, flax, or any other oil… none of them pack as many benefits into one as does coconut oil.

Having said the above, certainly there are other good cooking oils and fats you can use. Butter from grass-fed cows is not only a great source of CLA but is also an excellent fat that is easily metabolised. If the butter is clarified (the milk solids taken out) it is even better for high heat cooking (since the milk burns at lower temperatures). This is also called ghee.

 Olive oil is another excellent oil. It is a classic oil, used by mediterranean cultures for thousands of years, that has excellent health benefits. One may be more prone to gain weight with excessive use, however it is extremely healthy for the heart and has a high concentration of antioxidants.

Now I am going to tell you one of the most powerful fats for losing fat. Are you ready? Ok, here it is: Omega-3 fatty acids. Most people do not get near enough omega-3 fatty acids and get far too much omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-3’s help your blood circulate and decreases the blood insulin level. High insulin levels not only promotes the storing of excess fat but also negatively affects the lipase enzyme in your blood (lipase is the enzyme that helps to metabolize fat).

By adding these fats to your weight loss plan you will see tremendous differences over time. They must be a part of the rest of your plan though. So to summarize:

INCLUDE:

1. Omega-3’s (naturally occurring, one of the best sources is sardines, then salmon, then other fish)

2. CLA (naturally occuring from animals that graze on grass, minimally processed meat and dairy products)

3. Cooking with coconut oil, olive oil, and butter. Occasionally using avacado oil, sesame seed, flax, walnut, etc.

AVOID:

Vegetable oils like:

1. Canola oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil, corn oil, and rapeseed oil.

2. Heavily processed, refined, deodorized, bleached oils (they will not say but you can tell if you know what to look for, also, the ones that are not refined will say “unrefined” and “extra-virgin” and “unbleached”, etc)

Lastly, I want to mention that when oils are oxidized they become dangerous for plaque buildup – arterial build-up that can cause heart-attacks and heart disease. Remember that – oxidized. So many oils oxidize with heat, oxygen, and light. Such is the case with vegetable oils and even good oils like avacado oil can rapidly oxidize when too high of heat is used in cooking with it. Olive oil even goes bad over time or when used with too high of heat. 

Just look at the trend of heart attacks and heart disease over the last fifty years and see how drastically it has increased right along with recommendations to switch to margarine and crap like that. At the same time Mediterranean cultures are using olive oil and butter and are not having near the rates of heart attacks and heart disease.

Sorry this was so long… once I get going… shoot. I will be surprised if you actually made it this far. And this is only part 1…. haha. Later this week I will start part two on more foods for weight loss and sooner than you know it you will be a lean, mean, uhuh.

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Foods For Weight Loss – Part 2
Foods For Weight Loss – Part 3
Foods For Weight Loss – Part 4
Foods For Weight Loss – Part 5
Foods For Weight Loss – Part 6

Finally a great article from Yahoo. I frequently check several different places for health news and health articles and every time I see an article from Yahoo it is rather poor. It contains poor information and  typical, general food misinformation. 

Finally though, this article here, had some great things to say. While the recommendations by Lucy are short and sweet, she is on the right track. She actually mentioned CLA (conjugated linoleic acid). Ha.

I have noticed that women, especially those who are trying to lose weight, have so many wrong ideas and fears about what they should or shouldn’t eat. Don’t get me wrong, men do too… just not to the extent because usually they do not care (to their shame).  For example, many women trying to lose weight think that they have to avoid fat. They subscribe to these lowfat diets which are not only unhealthy but are not the best way to lose weight.

When trying to lose weight, it is best to consume fats that help the process and to consume them regularly… as in daily. Coconut oil speeds up the metabolism, helps digestion, and enhances the immune system. Coconut oil is a saturated fat that burns easily and does not promote arterial buildup like vegetable oils and hyrogenated fats. Also, as mentioned by Lucy in the article, CLA is present in whole fat dairy and meat products. CLA is very powerful not only for the immune system, but also for losing weight. So how can you get CLA? 

Cows, goats, and lambs that are grassfed are the best sources of CLA. So whether you have raw, whole milk from one of the three or whether you eat meat from one of the three you will be getting a good source of CLA. Grassfed lambs are among the best source for CLA. Beware of synthetic CLA supplements and low quality milk and meat. Know your source. 

If you are lactose intolerant, most likely it is because of commercial dairy. Pasteurized dairy destroys the lactase enzyme which greatly aids in the digestion of lactose. I used to have problems with milk until I switched to raw, grassfed milk over 4 years ago. Also, if you were to still have problems with raw milk there are other options. Goat milk is much easier to digest than cows milk and better assimilated by the body. OR, fermented products like Kefir are even easier to digest than straight raw milk and you can still get your CLA. Also, many hard cheeses are virtually lactose free. As the article mentioned, parmesan cheese is a great way to get some CLA and parmesan is lactose free. (Trader Joes has an excellent raw milk parmesan!).

There are so many things that you can do to help you lose weight that are solid. They are foundations of health and wellness, as well as weightloss. Maybe I should start a series. That way I can expound on eating protein, drinking water, avoiding the “white stuff”, eating superfoods, fasting, and changing habits.

Stay tuned.

First I should say that I am not against vegetarians. I used to be a vegetarian for a short time. I have had an interest in eating healthy for around 12 years now, so of course I have studied it. In looking at the issue of food I have found that there are many conflicting sources. From Atkins to The China Study. All over the board… I am aware of this and most likely you are as well. So I will state my foundations and biases as to how I come to my conclusions.

I base my eating first and foremost on the Bible. Of course I realize the world has changed and times have changed but the foundational truths have not. When the Bible mentions change in diet or mentions profitable foods it does so for a reason. That is not to say that we must now eat exactly as the Israelites did or that we are under the Mosaic law. It is however to say that it is beneficial and profitable for us.

So after the fall and as subsequently given to Noah and then Moses, God directed which meats were beneficial for consumption with the understanding that vegetables and grain were good in their proper context. SO of course I am a vegetable lover, and in fact, more so than any vegetarian I have met. Most vegetarians I have met (I will admit they have been in bands on the road) eat very poorly… mostly eating french fries, chips, soy protein bars, tofu, and popcorn. 

Now onward. In detailing which meat to be added to the vegetables and grains, God gave specific instructions due to the quality and cleanliness of the animal and meat. There is specific examples of roasting lamb over the fire, and choosing beef, poultry, and certain fish, while eschewing (I like that word, I mean avoiding) pork, ostrich, shrimp, crab, lobster, catfish, and all sorts of other unclean foods. Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 give the wisdom. 

So starting from that basis we can form a foundation and move forward. For example, today many things that were once ‘normal’, natural, and customary are no longer… like cows grazing in the pasture or unpolluted oceans. So the ramifications of these things should be taken into account. As modern technologies and so called modern wisdom corrupts good food… then beef from cows that are raised stuffed in a barn with 6000 other cattle, fed who knows what, and stuffed full of antibiotics, have their milk heated, homogenized, and then added with fake vitamin A and D and extra powder milk, then they are butchered. That is a far cry from the quality of milk and meat from a cow that is eating grass and hay (it’s vegetables) and is living how God made a cow to live and it’s food to be taken.

Also with regard to fish, because of heavy metal contamination in much of the oceans, many fish contain unsafe levels of heavy metals. Therefore one should continue to seek out, not only wild caught fish (not farmed), but also fish caught where they will not contain unsafe levels of heavy metals like mercury.

So you can see how to have a foundation that promotes health and wellness and have to move forward from that. Foods like grass-fed beef and lamb, pastured poultry, and wild caught fish are excellent for health. 

Vegetarians face the problem of B-12. There is not real B12 in plants… only B12 analogues (similar structure) which can actually compete for absorption and lead to a B12 deficiency. 

Also, typically vegetarians stress a low saturated fat diet which is not accurate. In fact, fats like coconut oil and butter from grass-fed cows are extremely healthy and excellent for the body. Unrefined, extra virgin coconut oil is rich in lauric acid and butter from grass-fed cows is rich in trace minerals and fat-soluble vitamins that protect against cancer and infections. Isaiah 7:15 says, “Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.” While they can eat both of these fats, the viewpoint is typically contrary to such fats.

I also do not believe that vegetarians live longer, in fact looking at history not only does it not appear true on the surface, often most of the quality and type of animal sources are taken into account and when they are the people group lives just as long or longer than anyone eating any way. Also, I do not eat for long life but so that if God should allow me long life it will be a means which He has ordained to carry that out as well as, so that I will be able to have a better quality of life in the present to carry out His will.

The whole idea promoted by some vegans and vegetarians that eating meat from animals is inhumane… is simply preposterous (another great word). Animals should be taken care of and raised with care, but they are for our benefit. We have dominion over them. We are allowed to use their skins for warmth and wear. We are allowed to eat them for nourishment. They are not humans. Jesus always noted how much more value humans were than animals. So it is not wrong to save the whales and baby seals… but come on… Americans are aborting human babies and neglecting the poor and elderly.

Some people just do not like the taste of meat. There are good animal products like organic eggs, raw butter, and raw milk from grass-fed sources that can fill the gaps.

Well… I am ready to stop typing for now. As always more can be said. AND as always I will say that high quality sources are important.