Getting to the bottom of food intolerance

(NC)—There’s a reason food intolerance is known as the “hidden” condition: Triggers and symptoms can be difficult to identify and nearly impossible to solve without proper testing and guidance. Lactose and gluten intolerance are well-known triggers, but there are over 100 more food triggers to consider. It’s important to understand that the path to relief is a lifestyle change that that can change your quality of life for the better.

“I recommend beginning a food intolerance program which tests the blood for problem foods and gives patients the tools to put those results into action,” says Dr. Gordon Ko, director, fibromyalgia integrative treatment clinic at Sunnybrook HospitalThere is a difference between food allergy and food Intolerance

Food intolerances are different from food allergies. Unlike food allergies, food intolerances are not life-threatening. However, they can be the cause of chronic pain and discomfort. Food allergy symptoms have a short reaction time whereas food intolerance symptoms can take hours, or even days, to appear. This is where it gets tricky. When symptoms don’t occur right after eating, patients may attribute pain to the wrong foods or not even realize they are related to food. Common symptoms of food intolerance include bloating, headaches and migraines, eczema and fatigue, which can be attributed to any number of medical issues.

Guessing your food intolerances can be nearly impossible

In order to identify food intolerances, patients must be committed to cutting problem foods out of their diet for at least three to four weeks. Problem foods can range from fruits and vegetables, to nuts, fish and meat. “Food intolerance programs like the YorkTest FoodScan begin by testing patients for more than 100 different foods,” says Dr. Ko. It only takes a few minutes to collect a simple finger-prick blood sample, and this test can be done by the patient from the comfort of their own home. Imagine how long it would take you to cycle through all the foods in your normal diet using a trial and error method.

Identifying your intolerances is the first step on your road to recovery

“It’s important to begin a food intolerance program that also includes counselling and nutrition sessions that teach patients how to put their test results into action,” says Dr. Ko. A proper food intolerance program should guide patients as they implement their new diet plan and track progress over a four-to-six week period. “I have seen success stories in my practice. One of my patients that suffered from chronic lower back pain found relief by simply identifying and cutting out problem foods from his diet,” says Dr. Ko.

More information about food intolerance and the YorkTest FoodScan Program, is available at www.canlabs.ca.

www.newscanada.com

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Green Festival™ hits Washington, D.C., November 8 & 9 at the Washington Convention Center, and San Francisco, Calif., November 14, 15 & 16 at the Concourse Exhibition Center.

Green Festival is a joint project of Global Exchange and Co-op America, is akin to a walk through a sustainable community.

The festival features more than 125 renowned authors, leaders and educators; great how-to workshops; cutting-edge films; fun activities for kids; organic beer and wine; delicious vegetarian cuisine and diverse live music. There’s also a unique marketplace of more than 350 eco-friendly businesses—everything from all-natural body care products and organic cotton clothing to Fair Trade gifts and beautiful kitchen tiles made from renewable resources.

See the most recent developments in renewable energy and green technology; sample Fair Trade chocolate and coffee; and learn how to invest in your community, green your home and avoid products made in sweatshops.

Green Festival Facts:

Green Festival is the largest sustainability event in the world and continues to grow year after year. 
Green Festival is the only green event that screens exhibitors for their commitment to sustainability, ecological balance and social justice using Co-op America’s green business standards.
Green Festival offsets 100% of its electricity emissions with clean, renewable energy.
Green Festival walks its talk: each year it gets closer to being a zero-waste event. 

Look for Green Festival in 2009, when it will be visiting Seattle March 28 & 29; Denver May 2 & 3; and Chicago May 16 & 17.

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Here’s a quick lesson on beans, which pack quite a powerful healthy punch (they are high in protein, and may also help protect against heart disease, diabetes, and obesity).

Kidney Beans (pictured above)
These red beans are often found in chili and contain almost as much antioxidant power as wild blueberries.

Navy Beans
These small, white beans provide high fiber and calcium, and are often used  soups such as minestrone.

Black Beans
These small black beans are related to kidney beans and help fight heart disease. They are often found in Mexican foods.

Chickpeas
These beans are a staple in Middle Eastern foods, such as hummus and falafel. They are also known as garbanzo beans (their Spanish name). The beans contain folate and selenium. Use them in soups and stir frys to add a nutty flavor.

Lima Beans
Also called butter beans, these large, white starchy beans offer potassium and selenium, and are often used in succotash.

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Not only is October a beautiful month where I live (northern California), but it’s also a month full of awareness and events that pertain to the way I eat.

October is both Vegetarian Awareness Month and Celiac Disease Awareness Month (thus, the gluten-free blurb).

Not only that, but October 1 is also World Vegetarian Day, an event that helps launch Vegetarian Awareness Month. So try eating no meat, if only for one day.

More information about Vegetarian Awareness Month can be found here, and to get the scoop on living gluten free, click here.

And for those in northern California, head to San Francisco October 4 and 5 for World Veg Festival Weekend at Golden Gate Park’s Fair Building on 9th Avenue and Lincoln. In addition to featured speakers, there’s also a vegan dinner Saturday at 6:30 p.m., lots of international vegan cuisine and healthy food demos, live entertainment, organic athletes, and much more. There’s a suggested entrance donation of $6, and kids, seniors and students with ID are free. For more information about the event, click here.

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You know how people always say that when things taste good, they’re bad for you? And when things taste bad, they’re good for you?

Well, in the case of Kardea Nutrition, food not only tastes good, but it’s also very good for you.

Kardea’s snack bars deliver 50% more heart healthy soluble fiber than found in oatmeal, and each provides 1 gram of cholesterol lowering plant sterols.

Robert Leighton created Kardea in order to enable and empower people to manage their cholesterol naturally and nutritiously. Leighton founded Kardea as part of a personal mission to lower his own cholesterol. When he was 47, Leighton found himself moving from “border line” high cholesterol to outright high cholesterol, due to both diet and genetics.

Rather than rely on medication, Leighton took his love of culinary creations and belief in the science of natural cholesterol management and founded Kardea.

Kareda’s snack bars are available in four flavors: Banana Walnut, Chai Spice, Cranberry Almond and Lemon Ginger.

Each contains 1 gram of plant sterols, 7 grams of fiber with 5 grams soluble fiber, 3 grams of viscous soluble fiber (50% more viscous soluble fiber than oatmeal), and 7 grams of protein with 3.5 grams of soy protein.

Each bar is Kosher certified, has only 150 calories, contains no trans fat, and features a lower glycemic formulation. In addition, all are vegetarian-friendly and two, Chai Spice and Banana Walnut, are vegan.

I’ve tried ‘em all, and they are all great.

The Chai Spice is subtle and not to spicy, the Banana Walnut is the perfect blend of nutty banana flavors, the Cranberry Almond is a flavorful breakfast pick me up, and the Lemon Ginger will satisfy any sweet craving.

If your local Co-Op or other grocer doesn’t carry the bars yet, you can purchase them online here.

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For those who eat seafood, it’s time to take a look at how that smoked salmon, lobster tail, crab legs or shrimp scampy got from the ocean to your plate.

Not only should you be aware of the mercury levels in the seafood you dine on, but also how the seafood is caught, and how that impacts the environment.

According to Blue Ocean Institute, among the best (most abundant, eco-friendly) choices are:

• Farmed clams, mussels and oysters
• Farmed talapia from the U.S.
• Wild Alaskan salmon
• Mahimahi (poll- and troll-caught)
• Yellowfin tuna (poll- and troll-caught)

In the middle group (some issues with abundance and/or fishing/farming methods and how they impact the environment):

• Farmed rainbow trout
• Swordfish (contains high levels of mercury)
• Blue, snow and tanner crab (contains high levels of mercury)
• Yellowfin tuna (canned or line-caught, contains high levels of mercury)
• Farmed shrimp in the U.S.
• Sea scallops
• Lobster
• Monkfish

The worst choices (issues including overfishing, farming methods that seriously impact the environment) are:

• Grouper (contains high levels of mercury)
• Atlantic halibut
• Atlantic cod
• Chilean sea bass (contains high levels of mercury)
• Orange roughy (contains high levels of mercury)
• Farmed slmon( contains high levels of mercuryt)
• Shrimp (imported)
• Shark (contains high levels of mercury)
• Caviar (wild sturgeon)

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It seems beef issues are on the rise these days.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc., Canada’s biggest food processor, is recalling meat products after health officials identified a Toronto plant as the source of food poisoning that led to four deaths.

Laboratory results linked meat products from the plant with an outbreak of listeriosis in four provinces, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Maple Leaf Foods, based in Toronto, temporarily closed its Bartor Road plant last week after a number of Sure Slice delicatessen meats tested positive for listeria, which can lead to fevers, severe headaches and nausea. The test results confirmed health officials’ suspicions that the same strain of listeria at the plant was responsible for the outbreak.

Maple Leaf said the recall will cost about C$20 million ($19.1 million) before taxes, mainly for reimbursement for returned products and to sanitize the plant. More costs may occur for advertising, communications and lost sales, it said in a statement.

Health officials said 21 cases of listeriosis have been confirmed and another 30 cases are being investigated.

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In my ongoing obsession with trying to get gluten-free, I recently came across alternative flour sources via Natural Health Magazine, and I thought I would pass along some alternatives the magazine suggested.

Almond Flour: high in vitamin E and magnesium

Coconut Flour: high in protein and fiber

Chickpea Flour: rich in protein and iron

Hazelnut Flour: high in fiber and iron

Corn Flour: high in fiber, especially stone ground corn flour

Rice Flour: brown is higher in fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals than white rice flour

While gluten helps give breads and pizza crusts their doughy texture, and because it’s hard to get by without it, try substituting an alternative flour for part of the wheat flour your recipe calls for (one part alternative to three parts whole wheat) for best results.

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Eggs have been known to get a bad rap, as the cholesterol found in the yolks has been blamed for raising cholesterol levels in the body. Not so, says the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which recently found no link in healthy people between eggs and either heart disease or stroke.

In fact, eggs may even reduce your risk of cancer, as they are one of the best sources of the nutrient choline (found mostly in the yolk), and a recent study indicates that women with a high intake of choline are 24 percent less likely to get breast cancer.

Golden yolks are also high in lutein and zeaxanthin, both antioxidants that have been shown to ward off macular degeneration.

Eggs also also more satisfying than carbs, and have been shown to help lower weight in obese people. They also contain a sequence of amino acids that makes egg protein easy for the body to absorb, so they help build and repair muscles.

Egg Options
Organic: laid by chickens that aren’t fed slaughterhouse byproducts, antibiotics or additives.
Pasteurized: they were placed in warm water to kill bacteria (look for this if you’re using raw eggs).
Omega-3 Enhanced: An easy way to up your intake of heart-healthy fatty acids.
Any other labels, such as Cage Free, Free Range, Pasture Raised, etc., don’t mean the chickens were treated well, and probably cost more than they’re worth.

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