Cool Whip DOES contain trans fats

For so long, ever since this post about foods that commonly contain trans fats, I've meant to see for myself whether Cool Whip really did eliminate it from their product. People had commented on my post stating that the package says "0 trans fats". If this were true, then it would make for a better product. It still isn't good for you with all its fat and sugar, but at least it wouldn't be making things worse.

Well years later I finally remembered to grab a carton of Cool Whip and take a look. I was right all along. Take a look at this bad photo I took of it:


Please pardon the blurriness, my cell phone wasn't designed for close-ups. If you squint hard enough, you can make out the ingredients list: water, corn syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oil...! Ha! See? Never believe the large and colorful marketing statements on the front of the package. The FDA allows companies to make statements like "0 trans fats" if the amount is under a certain percentage. Their belief is a little bit won't hurt you. Well I disagree. Why not just cut it out altogether? Why do they have to deceive the general public who usually don't read ingredient lists?

All gloating aside, my point is, always read the ingredient list, no matter what claims they make on the front. Even better, read the ingredients especially if they make claims on the front! Then you'll know what kind of company they are. If they like to make legal yet false claims, then they are not to be trusted. Better to just avoid that company's products altogether. Is it a bit drastic? Maybe, but with so many choices when you shop nowadays, why support the companies that don't have your health in mind?

I'd avoid the brown M&Ms too

In the movie The Wedding Planner, Matthew McConaughey's character tosses out all but the brown M&Ms because food coloring isn't natural, and according to him, "chocolate is already brown," so the brown ones must be safe.

Yes chocolate is already brown, but remember that M&Ms, no matter what color they are, have a candy coating on the outside. That crunchy shell on the brown M&Ms isn't chocolate, it's colored sugar. So if you are avoiding food coloring like the good healthy person you are, don't bother with M&Ms at all. Stick with good ol' chocolate.

I found a way to beat my eczema

I never did make myself start the UltraSimple Diet that I mentioned two posts ago. It requires quite a bit of planning and discipline... more effort that I've been willing to give. My primary reason for wanting to start this cleanse diet isn't for weight control, it's to find out exactly what I might be allergic to.

I've had eczema for as long as I can remember. It's been an itchy, life-long battle, and one I've never come close to winning... until now! One of the ideas behind this period of dietary restriction is that some foods cause mild allergies that manifest in the form of a delayed reaction. For some it's asthma, for others it's sinus congestion, for me it's eczema, mostly on my hands.

What I did instead was to cut out some of the food items listed as possible allergens for many people. What I found out was I'm allergic to wheat, milk and possibly chocolate. I was really hoping wheat wouldn't be a problem for me, because it's in so many foods that I love. Unfortunately this wasn't the case. For a week I refrained from eating bread, pasta, cookies, crackers, pizza, and cereal containing wheat. The irritating rash on my hands gradually began to clear up!

I was both thrilled and dismayed at the same time. I had some lasagna one day, and the next two days new itchy blisters appeared on my hands. No more wheat for me. I was sad, but at least now I know one of my problems!

After banning wheat from my diet, I would sometimes experience new rash breakouts... meaning there were one or more other items I might be allergic to. A friend had brought over a gallon of milk and I had been having that for breakfast with my corn-based cereal. (I normally drink soy milk.) I stopped using the milk and my eczema again began to clear. Yogurt and cheese don't seem to be as big a problem for me as milk, but I still have to be careful about my dairy intake.

Why couldn't it have been peanuts? That's easy to avoid. I wouldn't have been quite so affected if it had been something not quite so ubiquitous as wheat and dairy. It makes it increasingly difficult to be a vegetarian.

As for chocolate, I have suspicions about it. I've been abstaining for a couple weeks now, so I'll have myself a dark chocolate candy bar soon and see if anything happens a few days afterward.

If you'd like to try this strategy of identifing possible allergens in your diet, be sure to carefully read ingredient lists on the foods you buy. Also, research what foods are wheat-based that might be called something else. For example, cous-cous, grahm crackers, and semolina are all made from wheat. When you do start cutting foods from your diet, give at least a week to see results. Patience is key. Good luck!

Dealing with cold sores (aka fever blisters or herpes simplex 1)

Cold sores are one of those annoying and embarrassing things that people hate to deal with, and seem to pop up when you least want them. Let's face it, when do we ever want those damn things? It may be a simple virus infection, but herpes is still herpes and it will always have the negative connotations that come with it, regardless of whether or not you have the genital kind. (Which, for the record, I do not have, thank you very much.)

I never used to get cold sores much, and can't remember when it ever started. However, ever since I became vegetarian my the recurrence of blisters has more than quadrupled. I couldn't figure out why until I researched herpes simplex 1 a little more. Now that I know more, I'd like to share my knowledge and what has worked for me.

First of all, several things can trigger an outbreak:

• Sun exposure
• Excessive wind exposure
• Stressed immune system (like when you're sick)
• Foods high in arganine (like chocolate, nuts, and oatmeal)

The first two are easy enough to deal with. Just limit your exposure to wind and sun (my apologies if you're an avid skier, cyclist, whatever). That last item is what caused my more frequent blister outbreaks. When my diet changed, the nutrients I was getting changed as well, more than I realized.

Viruses seem to thrive on arganine, so naturally foods high in that amino acid will be feeding your virus infections. On the other hand, lysine seems to impede the virus' ability to absorb arganine. Therefore, foods high in lysine and low in arganine are ideal for keeping your cold sores at bay.

The reason my outbreaks became more frequent after I cut meat out of my diet is because meats naturally contain high amounts of lysine. Couple that with the fact that I relied more on nuts for protein than in the past, and you can see how I developed a bit of an imbalance.

It's not just about avoiding foods high in arganine. Some articles you might read about herpes simplex will tell you to avoid dairy for this reason. However, dairy are some of the foods highest in lysine, usually more than double the amount of arganine. This chart will help you identify the foods with the highest and lowest lysine to arganine ratio.

Additionally, I have been taking Lysine supplements. I take one 500 mg pill a day, unless I feel that familiar tingling in my lip, then I increase it to two a day. If the area starts to feel slightly rough, like the blister is about to form, then I increase to three pills a day (over the course of the day, not all at once). I've found that this usually prevents the outbreak and the blister site smooths out and becomes normal again.

I'm so relieved that I've found this solution to my problems. I was starting to feel like some kind of leper with cold sore outbreaks every two months. I always thought I was eating healthy, and I hardly ever got sick. Turns out my diet was too low in lysine to stop the virus from flaring up.

As a final note, bear in mind that I am not a doctor or nutrionist. Please don't down a bottle of lysine in one day and then wonder why you have diarrhea. If you have doubts or experience anything unexpected or worrisome, do talk to a doctor about it. I'm just a regular person sharing her experiences in the hopes of helping someone else.

Trying out the UltraSimple Diet

I've been reading this book called The UltraSimple Diet, by Mark Hyman, M.D. I've been reading it not because I'm interested in losing weight, but because it's more about detoxifying and clearing up allergies. I've been a lifetime sufferer of hand eczema as well as mild asthma. Traditional Western medicine is all about treating the symptoms, and have only given me creams and inhalers. Eastern medicine attempted to treat me with herbs, but the dedication required to continually brew and quaff that nasty, bitter stuff is more than I have in me.

The main goal of this book is a 7-day detoxifying diet, where accumulated pesticides, PCBs, trans fats and other toxins are flushed from your system. The other effect that it claims is to clear up skin conditions, allergies, fatigue, sleeplessness, and numerous other maladies that a lot of people suffer from and doctors only dole out pills for. The author asserts that all these afflictions are caused by toxin buildup and delayed reactions to certain foods.

Traditionally most people and doctors think of allergies as an immediate reaction to an allergen. But this book says that there's another kind of allergy that could take up to 72 hours to manifest reactions. If this is true, then it's no wonder I can never figure out what is causing my problems. Cutting out a food item for a day or two just isn't enough.

My main goal for trying out this 7-day diet is to find out exactly which food is causing my problems. I really hope it isn't eggs. Or corn. Or wheat. Or dairy. Shoot, I just listed the top 4 food allergens listed in the book. Can you see me pouting? Well anyway, one step at a time. Assuming my problems clear up after this diet, I can then slowly reintroduce the foods one at a time and see which one causes a reaction.

The book says part of this process includes journaling, so I'll probably use this blog to do that. Hopefully I don't get lazy.

Update - May 15 - Sorry, as you probably guessed, I never did get around to trying out this cleansing diet. It's a radical change in eating habits that requires quite a bit of planning, preparation and dedication. If I ever do get around to it, I'll be sure to post my results.

Conclusion about chiropractors

I know, I know, I disappeared for months and forgot all about this blog. No I didn't forget, I just got busy. You know, life happens sometimes. Anyway, I stopped seeing the chiropractor. After a month of seeing her 2-3 times a week, I wasn't feeling all that different, to be honest. The best part of each visit was back massage by the on-site massage therapist. My always-tense shoulder muscles needed it.

The whole neck-cracking and spine straightening I'm still doubtful about. Occasionally I would feel some pain in one hip joint, which would go away when she adjusted my pelvis, but that's about the only helpful thing I noticed. I totally think the frequency of the visits was just a scam to get more insurance money out of me because I happened to have a carrier that would cover chiropractic care. After that first month, she said once a week would be enough. Again, too much, I think. Even the insurance refused to pay anymore because they were suspicious. I read somewhere that once or twice a month was sufficient for maintenance.

My conclusion? I can't generalize for all chiropractors since I do believe some actually are good and actually do care about your health instead of your insurance money. But as far as this particular one is concerned, lay off you greedy witch! I got really annoyed at how pushy she was about getting me to refer others or to make future appointments whether or not I wanted it.

I think chiropractors should be judged on a case by case basis. Give them a chance, but definitely beware of the greedy scammers. I let this one take me for a ride for too long, which is my fault really. I kept thinking, "Well maybe it takes time for these treatments to make me feel completely normal." But the fact that I woke up feeling stiff in the neck and shoulders all over again every day was a testament to the contrary. Something else was causing my problems, and it wasn't my spine, as this chiropractor led me to believe. I mean, she didn't even take any x-rays, so accurate could her diagnosis be?

It's been a couple months now since I stopped seeing that chiropractor, and I don't feel any worse. I feel a bit like a sucker for having tried it, but at least now I won't wonder about it.

Fruits are our friends (and veggies too!)

The new recommendation for an optimal healthy diet includes 5-8 servings of fruits and vegetables. I don't know about you, but that's kind of a tall order considering I tend to eat only three -- lunch, dinner and maybe a snack. I'm trying, but it means a change in eating habits.

Snacking is probably the easiest place to start changing our habits. I'm keeping more baby carrots around to munch on, which are very easy to grab and go. The key is to stock your fridge with the things you're supposed to eat, and have them ready to go when you need them. Costco sells a three-pack of organic veggie platters complete with organic Ranch dressing for only $9.99. I drag them out when I watch TV so I'll munch on those instead of M&Ms or chips.

Fruit is another handy thing to keep around. Right now it's summer and fruit is bountiful. Later on they'll be more scarce and expensive, so one way to stock up is to use your freezer. Strawberries, blueberries, and peaches all freeze well. I like to sclice up the strawberries and peaches into useable portions and put them into baggies in the freezer. Later on I can take them out and throw the frozen fruit into a blender to make a yummy fruit smoothie.

We tend to grab what's available and snack on that. If we can make sure we have the right sorts of snacks on hand, then we can help ourselves meet that goal of 5-8 servings a day!