Perhaps the best way eliminate HFCS is to simply educate people to stop buying items containing it as an ingredient. I am not a big fan of what Uncle Sam has been doing lately.

The issue goes deeper than just HFCS. You are working at a level of effect rather than cause. The cause is the state of collect consciousness at the present moment. Change the way people think at a fundamental level and everything else will fall into place. HFCS is just one of millions of odd things going on these days.

How do you change people at a fundamental level? Well I have an idea. Consider a world that collectively KNOWS that we are more than our physical body. That would change things! Ego would disappear and greed would slowly become non-existent.

I say hit it at a level of cause and effect both at the same time :)

_________________
After all this is over, all that will really have mattered is how we treated each other.

http://www.malleablelight.net

I think you be singing to the choir David. Getting kids to form a relationship with their food is basically my Capstone for my MS I am working on, and trying to come up with a good recipe for shrimp cocktail with no ketchup. Tomato puree should do it. As long as ketchup counts as a vegetable in our kids school lunches to go with the other veg, french fries, (and they do) we have a long ways to go. Yes, HFCS is but one little thing, but it is something we can do something about. Just enough have to know, not everyone.
Love
Bette

_________________
All That Is
what is?
Consciousness.

Thank you for your work with kids to teach them how to eat.

_________________
After all this is over, all that will really have mattered is how we treated each other.

http://www.malleablelight.net

BTW. I think you might like this guy, based on this thread.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/

_________________
After all this is over, all that will really have mattered is how we treated each other.

http://www.malleablelight.net

He used to be the Naked Chef, now he goes into schools trying to change things. Yes, I like him, he has a good idea, and a platform with his new TV show about this. Thank you.
Love
Bette

_________________
All That Is
what is?
Consciousness.

Ok, I am trying to find things to eat that I like (besides fruits and vegetables) that don't have any sugar. I have found cheddar cheese doesn't have any, and nuts like peanuts, cashews and pistachios. So tonight I had a baked potato with white cheddar cheese melted on there, and a handful of nuts for dessert.

I don't miss coffee and so far I don't miss bread as much as I thought I would. If I feel like I want to eat out, I can have Indian or Thai, I am sensing that these won't have as much sugar. If I need to eat meat, I think turkey or chicken rather than ham or bacon. And there's always tuna if I get bored with fruits, vegetables and nuts.

Unfortunately the one exception to the "no-food-at-your-desk" rule at Bose is wrapped candy. Up until recently, I would snack on candy at my desk all afternoon and that helped make the time go by. It seems wrong that we cannot have a granola bar or a handful of nuts at our desk, but Hershey's kisses and Reese's peanut butter cups are ok. But if I bring a banana, I can just run downstairs and eat it in the caf, I can even bring work down there with me if need be.

I'm eating a lot of eggs, but I was doing that even before I quit coffee and sugar, I just don't eat English muffins, bagels or toast with my eggs like I used to.

9 days without coffee and I don't have a headache or withdrawals and I feel no more awake or sleepy than when I started my day with two cups every day.

Edit, May 13th: Tomorrow marks the end of my second week off coffee and taking in very little sugar. Some days I have gone with no sugar whatsoever and about 4 or 5 days I've eaten candy or bread.

I mentioned this to Tom in NYC, but did not have any information on it at that time, now I do. Miracle Fruit makes sour taste sweet. I think of it to replace sugar in those that have already developed a taste for sweet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_fruit

Here is this too, Hunt's removes HFCS from its ketchup, http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases ... 20479.html, it's a nice start.
Love
Bette

_________________
All That Is
what is?
Consciousness.

I have been a bit bad of late, but I was off of sugar and all foods with chemicals. That leaves out your cheese Lynda. I haven't eaten any meat except fish for over 30 years. So that leaves out almost anything besides fruit, vegetables, nuts, yogurt, eggs. Pretty restricted diet. I feel better when I eat that way but it was hard for me to stay on. I have to do it again and stay on it long enough that food cravings don't matter any more. How long do you suppose that will take? Years! Hah!

Well Sainbury I've been bad of late too, pretty much all this life so far. It'll come and it will take the rest of this life to get it, I will imagine for now. It's a process I will say, never ending perhaps. A never ending rendering even. My new doctor said he thought I was the perfect type person to promote healthful ways of living even though you wouldn't think that to look at me. Don't give yourself a hard time, I imagine there are people that do that well enough on their own. Be good to Sainbury.
Love
Bette

_________________
All That Is
what is?
Consciousness.

Thanks Bette.

Sugar is my drug of choice and I am an addict. It is either all or nothing. When I go off sugar completely I go nuts craving it for a week. Then I am OK, but if I casually have some then I am right back to wanting to eat it all the time. My mom was a fabulous cook and baker. We had dessert with every meal. We often had dessert for breakfast. I have a friend who is doing the same thing to her 3yr old son. I beg her not to leave him with this legacy but she doesn't think it is important.

I have arthritis and sugar is such an inflammatory food that I am much worse if I eat it. I have been able to skip my anti inflammatory meds weeks at a time if my diet is good. You'd think that would be enough to keep me off sugar. I have found a few things at the health food store. There is a cookie made without sugar and there are some chips made with pure ingredients. OK they truly taste like cardboard, but they will do if I am dying for something crunchy.

I do the best if I keep to a boring same every day diet. I get in trouble if I go out to eat or over to someone's house for dinner.

Lots of info here:

http://www.madcowboy.com/

In general, you really should avoid eggs unless they are organic and locally grown (the word 'organic' in chain groceries is a misnomer.) They are full of antibiotics and other chemistry, and the hens that produce them spend their lives in hideous conditions.

There is the idea out there that each body chemistry is "ruled" by a dominant gland, and the dominance can be switched. Don't have the time to research the sites at the moment, but here are two that refer to it. it may help with getting past sugar cravings.

http://www.klance.com/Body_Code.htm

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-body-type-diet.htm

-Montana

Thank you Sainbury, I was afraid of that. I checked the ingredients before I bought the cheese and checked them again just now. Are the chemicals in the pasteurized milk, the cheese cultures, or the enzymes? Because those three and salt are the only ingredients in the Cabot extra sharp white cheddar cheese I bought a huge brick of, and I have been eating it with impunity, thinking it was ok.

The problem with cheese is that it's dairy. :) I avoid all dairy like the plague. Dairy products may have a significant amount of dairy fat, which is animal fat. Any pesticides, hormones, or other unhealthy things that may be given to animals tend to be concentrated in their fat.

Check out the Paleo Diet. Paleo is a simple dietary lifestyle that is based on foods being either in or out. In are the Paleolithic Era foods that we ate prior to agriculture and animal husbandry (meat, fish, shellfish, eggs, tree nuts, vegetables, roots, fruit, berries, mushrooms, etc.). Out are Neolithic Era foods that result from agriculture or animal husbandry (grains, dairy, beans/legumes, potatoes, sugar and fake foods).

Optimal Foraging Theory says our ancestors mostly ate foods that were easiest to hunt or gather at that specific locale. As nomads we would have adapted to various mixes of foods. Under the paleo concept the quantities consumed of each "in" food is up to the individual. You can make it meat heavy if you want, or more fruit and veggies if you prefer, as long as the foods you eat are paleo. Fruits in the Paleolithic would have been tart and smaller, and you may want to limit modern fruit because of this.

Some feel the cause of (and the solution to) the rising rates of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and possibly other chronic medical conditions is based on the current Western diet. The idea of being more healthy by eating foods similar to what our ancestors ate is known as the Paleolithic Diet.

Jack Challem wrote an article in his publication, The Nutrition Reporter (September 1998, Vol 9, No 9) and explained of the basic principles of the Paleolithic diet.

The main point is that the foods we eat today are very different from what our ancestors ate. Why does this matter? Maybe it doesn't. But current research and a growing number of nutritional theorists support the notion that there is valuable information to be gained from study pre-historic diets.

The basic composition of food can be divided into three groups: proteins, fats and carbohydrates. This has not changed throughout history. Each has its own unique set of biochemical pathways that is used to convert food into energy and basic building blocks that we can use.

S. Boyd Eaton, M.D. has researched these ideas and believes that 99.99% of our genetic make-up is identical to that of humans living 10,000 years ago. So there has been very little change in the most basic make up of our bodily structure. Also, there is been minimal change in the way our bodies use food. This research would indicate that biochemical pathways of nutrition are the same today as they were 10,000 or more years ago.

Just look up paleo diet on Google for more info (if you are interested), that's what I did. I have been on this diet for half a year and have perfect vitals and they only time I get sick is when I have a allergy to all of the pollen in Austin.

_________________
After all this is over, all that will really have mattered is how we treated each other.

http://www.malleablelight.net

my take on this thread...

- become educated on the relative health of every food and all the various diet philosophies and research and develop a mental scale, truely evil food like hydrogenated oils and hamburger on one end, and cave man foods on the other end...then gently push yourself toward the better end when shopping, cooking, snacking...and not be too hard on yourself when you occasionally drop back into the "bad" part of the spectrum. When eating bad food, at least do it "french", which means, very small portions. If I have a burger, its the plain $1 burger, no cheese. I see it as an ebbing and flowing of periods of discipline, falling back to old habits, but hopefully each cycle moves your center of gravity closer to the good end. I like Dr. Weils approach to food.
- I use erythritol as a sugar substitute, which has zero calories and is psychologically more satisfying in crystal form than stevia. Some formulations combine stevia and erythritol to take advantage of the potency of stevia and the flavour of erythritol. Any opinions on this would be appreciated.
- Try to move away from plastic food, which is all dairy and refined grains and oilseed oils, which are actually food "plastic" that is "formed" into various and many "foods". Eat things that more or less look like how they came out of the ground. If using milk, use goat milk rather than cow milk, or try to use non homogenized cow milk. Some research suggests that homogenization vapourizes the fat, releasing damaging chemicals and confusing your bodies capacity to process this unnatural stuff.
- Coffee is a tough one for me. There is a lot of research that is positive for coffee, and some research says it is protective for parkinsons, which is a risk factor for myself (grandad had it). That being said, if opinion leaders here are insistent that this is important, I will take another look at coffee reduction/elimination and monitor the benefit.
- Alcohol is a tough one for me. I was a teetotaler for most of my life, and took up drinking, mostly wine, based on health research, and to overcome my natural germanic dourness. The wife prefers my personality AFTER my vodka and black cherry juice martini before dinner. Black cherry juice is packed with all sorts of good things...ironically, keeps "my literal big toe" from minor swelling. I never ever ever never drink depressed.
- there are certain healthy foods that I love but are very expensive...tabouleh, hummous, date squares....I am learning how to make each one of these (2 down, one to go). Easy with a food processor.
- Eternity Soup (book) is an interesting take on diet and latest research into longevity
- if using jam, choose a dark jam so that you get flavinoids
- learn about the link between free radicals, antioxidants, cell damage and division, telomeres, and aging.

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Does this PMR make my butt look big?

kroeran is right.

I actually settled into the Paleo Diet after years of reading and trail and error. Another thing that has helped me is living in Austin.

The one thing that I have learned after being vegan etc is that there is no perfect diet. Please don't read my post about the Paleo Diet and think that it's the perfect diet. There are naturally better diets than others and the Paleo Diet may or may not be it. It's just the diet that fits me the best at this moment (makes the most sense to me and keeps my vitals in balance). I only hope that people keep an open mind and explore (try them for extended periods of time (and be honest)) the possibilities available to them.

There is one other part of diet that I think people miss sometime (me included), and it's that diets are not fads (if you want to see the full benefit). A diet should be a change in lifestyle and consistently followed. Additionally one must actually be serious about it or it will never work. I had a friend who always talked about being Paleo but would eat out at places like Cheddars etc every day and ate junk. He was only on the diet in his mind.

In conclusion, if anyone does happen to read my post and become interested int he Paleo diet, feel free to reach out and I will provide recipes that I have found very tasty.

_________________
After all this is over, all that will really have mattered is how we treated each other.

http://www.malleablelight.net