Pages

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Christmas recipes





Christmas cake

5 eggs
180 g dates
1,5 dl water
0,5 dl raisins
1 dl fine chopped dates
0,5-1 dl handcrushed walnuts
1,5 dl coconut oil
1,5 dl almond flour
1 dl coconut flour
1,5 tsp baking powder
(some dried apricots/dried apples cut into small pieces)
1 tsk clove
1,5 tsk cardamom
2 tsk cinnamon

Whip the eggs with electric whisk until fluffy (not stiff as in merengue). Boil dates with water until the dates dissolve and mix with handmix until smooth. Add coconutoil to the dates and mix with the eggs. Mix all the dry ingredients together with the spices in a separate bowl before addid to the batch. Finally add the nuts and dried fruits. Bake in a baking dish greased with coconut oil (I use silicone) in 180-220 degrees celcius for aprox. 60 minutes (until the middle of the cake is stiff). Let cool before taking out of baking dish.

This cake just as the Chilean version that I mimicked (pan de pascua) has a tendency to fall apart. Do not dispair - it is supposed to be this way! :-)


The brown flowers next to the cake is this next recipe:

Christmas ice chocolate

200 g >70% chocolate
0,5 dl coconut oil
2 tsk cardamom
2 tsk cinnamon
1 dl quinoa puffs
10 hand crushed pecan nuts
4 apricots (cut into small pieces)

Melt the chocolate and the coconut oil (we have a chocolate fondue, otherwise in a bowl in water in a pot on the stove) Add the other ingredients. Let cool a bit before you add to silicone ice cube tin and place in fridge/freezer until stiff. Keep the chocolate in the fridge before you eat them, otherwise they might melt. 

Monday, December 9, 2013

Sweet dreams on holiday

We have been visiting family in Chile for a couple of weeks. I decided not to get to hung up on organic food while we are here. I know it is impossible to live as we do in Finland and instead I decided to enjoy every bite of good food without thinking of the source, the pesticides or the GMO ingredients in some of the food. In the middle of the winter I have indulged in fresh locally produced vegetables and fruits; hey it is summer here so you can imagine what that means as far as diversity goes! I have eaten my fair share of (cooked) seafood and fish, and a lot of fatty beef! As the days have gone by I have also let the kids try foods that they usually have to avoid in Finland. And strangely enough we have not noticed too bad side effects (makes me wonder once again - am I imagining, or is there something more to wheat and milk and the place where these are produced?).

I have tried to only drink bottled water but some days I have been too lazy (particularly in the night) and just had tap water. This does produce some concern, I knew they add chloride here and now I found out that also flouride is added. Not good for the baby I am carrying...

Another thing I have maybe been a little bit too loose on is herbal tea... Because of my holiday from strict diet, I have also had some digestive issues (too little good fiber and fat I think). So I drank some Boldo tea and boldo water a couple of days right when I got up. This is supposed to help digestion. Today I stopped by my herbal dealer in twon, thought I'd take some boldo and other herbs with me. Talking to the lady in the store I found out that as pregnant I should really not be drinking any herbal teas whatsoever. Uups... First maca, and now this. When we got home I googled boldo+embarazo and found out that very little is know of the effects, there are some scientists that mean that there is a connection to Parkison, and in huge amounts it is used as an abortive method (hey we are in Chile, where legal abortion is practically impossible....). Well, this one is still kicking, and I am not going to freak out about Parkisons when it grows old just because I drank a glass of tea three mornings while here... But I'll stay away from herbs from now on... One thing I will have to check is the effect of ginger on the baby. I have used this as a natural remedy before, together with garlic, and since I found this combination I have not needed any antibiotics again... but the lady at the store said something about ginger as well... so I will do some research!

Anyway, I think it does good to the body when the soul finds some rest from not stressing too much about the food around it. I have avoided gluten all the time, and most of the sugar, but for the rest, it has been a really nice holiday food-wise!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

I am not alone anymore

I have for long been waiting for the big bang in Finland. Having followed the fat/carb debate in the country right next to us, I have been astonished by the silenced, or sometimes demonized, resistance to the state dietary recommendations at home. I have been frustrated to my ears (read this: What's eating my children?) over the bad daycare food, and the effect this is having on my own children, but often feeling completely alone in my observations. I have pondered my options (of opting out of the whole daycare/school lunching offering) and looked for allies to start a food revolution. But although there is a handful of allies, I have still felt terrible alone against the big giants: state dietary recommendations & the drive for industrial sized school kitchens - There is no way out of this has been my conclusion - just try to 'keep calm and carry on'. And so we did, we got the worst health villains out of our childrens' diet (gluten for one, dairy for the other) by a medical license and the kids started being healthy. I shut my eyes for all the potentially harmful additives that my kids now are getting instead of clean real food (when substituting gluten and dairy they fill the gap with industrially processed crap) and went on with my business. Have to say, it's been very nice to have four months straight of not one sick leave day this fall. Unheard of in my motherly working life until now.

Anyways, the struggle for better food for the children is still a priority for me although not as urgent as before. It helps that we now live in a municipality where sugar intake has been restricted (but instead they now order the schools and daycares to feed the kids with only margarine, no butter...). I am still very mad that while I am literally working my ass of to keep processed crap out of my children's body, the state education system is doing all it can to sabotage my efforts. Sometimes I think to myself what the point is of running around like a mad woman to get organic this and organic that for our dinner table, when the school and daycare lunching decisions are based on the cheapest alternative option (read: lost of fake food, additives, non-organic, non-local cheap ingredients). But I still continue, because I am convinced that good food at home still does make the difference for us. So when suddenly there are several Facebook-pages appearing on this very same topic (Laatua lasten lautasilleRavintotieteiset vanhemmat) and even plans to create a registered association that will drive the interest of 'nutrient aware parents', I feel overwhelmed by happiness. Finally! Not alone anymore! Reading through the posts and comments on these pages, I then realize that many other parents are going through the same agony as experienced in our family, some have found solutions, others are still struggling in the dark. The support you can feel from just one comment, one parent commenting that they have been experiencing something similar, it is just overwhelming! And so as this school semester is about to end, I start to have faith again: tides are turning also in Finland. And knowing the Finnish Sisu- spirit, I am more than convinced that these tides will be able to move mountains. Hooray for food conscious-parenting! We can maybe still change the world, and maybe one day our children don't have to eat, as Michael Pollan put it:  "...anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food". 


Sunday, November 17, 2013

Expanding knowledge boundaries

Things are moving along maybe faster than what I am capable of handling right now. But it seems ok still, time is ready for this...While the storm is ranging outside our house, I feel relaxed and filled with the energy from the full moon.

My thirst for knowledge has brought me into new areas again. Had already decided that I will not open up Pandora's box of vaccinations before I am ready for it. It just felt too loaded with "bad energy" - and conflicts, and bringing me more problems with my closest and dearest surrounding. Well, guess what? As I am pregnant again, and Kidtwo is soon up for some shots, I decided that time has come to take on the bull fight. Today both hubby and I participated in a Pandora's box opening lecture on how the whole vaccine paradigm works. I might give you the details at some point but right now I've decided to let myself get accommodated with the new information. Actually, I can tell I was ready to receive this information because nothing of what I heard was shocking or unexpected. In fact, it was the part of the health puzzle that was missing for me. Now I understand more clearly why kids are so sick these days, and why people of my generation go around with so many autoimmune diseases. What I still cannot understand is the blindness of the practitioners in the field of medicine - how on earth has this been possible?

The second thing I wanted to share is that I am looking into "painfree" delivery through hypnobirthing. This is exciting stuff - learning to connect to the inner you, breath well, prepare for a fearless delivery, and thereby also a painfree delivery. I might tell you more as I move along my preparations. Not sure yet if I will be able to release all that subconscious fear hiding inside of me to be able to pull this through when time comes. But tomorrow I am having lunch with a friend that happens to be a doula - and I will definitely ask her advice on this subject!

This is the book I am reading: Hypnobirthing

Here a video clip on what it is all about:

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

I have a choice - so why don't I use it?

This morning I had an early departure, heading for a Nordic conference on Development held in Helsinki these days. On the way to the train I remembered that I forgot to pack my dark chocolate for the road. Then my next thought was: well, do I really need it? I have two eggs, a gluten-free sandwich (with my new obsession: Philadelphia cheese...), and avocado and some water. That will keep me in good shape until the conference coffee somewhere around ten o'clock. Besides, the chocolate I had bought (Marabou) is not "clean" - it contains at least soy lecitin, which most probably is derived from genetically modified soy. So why do I insist buying these products for consumption, although they contain substances that I in principle do not support? The question becomes even more relevant as I think of the long term effect on the child that I am bearing. How do I know that strange substances that are not natural are not affecting my off spring? This should be the most dominant human drives of all, to produce healthy off springs so that the genetic code is passed on into the future. Then I think of my laziness to bring food for lunch lately and instead eating at the university canteen - well aware of all the strange extracts and substances like maltodextrins that hide in the food-like stuff served during lunch. Or the fruits for that matter - we have "fruit week" this week for the personnel at the school. Nice beautiful fruits fill up the teachers room and everybody is indulging - also I am enjoying this extra treat, although I know that there must be pesticide residues on and in them - they are not organic. Why do I do this when I have a choice? Why not just stick to my home-cooked meals, make an extra portion each day and be happy with the organic fruits that we buy for our local veggie dealer? Why isn't that enough?

Well, first because I hate fanaticism (yeah, really - who could have imagined? Me, the sugar busting fanatic number one!). In case of products that I have not found a direct link to health concerns,I just can't stay away all the time. Particularly not when we talk about chocolate....Second, eating habits are very hard to change! Just take the example of Philadelphia above, I have been off dairy products for a considerable amount of time and just recently reintroduced raw milk to my body - after noticing that this was fine I am now also indulging in Phillly-cheese... it is just sooooooo gooooooood, and so is chocolate, did I forget to mention? Third, my lack of planning ahead with any other meal than our dinner is just beyond my capacity right now. In the morning we have oatmeal and eggs in some form and I get the kids to day care, to still remember to pack down my own lunch is just too much, really, come on, I am only human. And so it goes, I have a choice to eat according to my best of knowledges, I even have the capacity to turn raw real food organic ingredients into nutritious food, and I have the motives - but I lack the coordination and the determination. There is long road from principles to practice... but at some point I might be getting there. And in the mean time I just tell myself that I am way better off than during that first pregnancy when I blindly trusted both the state dietary recommendations and the authorities that are supposed to guarantee that the food-like products on our supermarket shelves are indeed: safe.

And then, as I am finalizing this writing, I see a post on Facebook on a new study on the side effects of the most popular herbicide in the world, glyphosate, the most popular herbicide in the world today. The abstracts starts off nicely:   "Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup®, is the most popular herbicide used worldwide. The industry asserts it is minimally toxic to humans, but here we argue otherwise." And the conclusions aren't that hard to understand either: "Consequences are most of the diseases and conditions associated with a Western diet, which include gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. We explain the documented effects of glyphosate and its ability to induce disease, and we show that glyphosate is the “textbook example” of exogenous semiotic entropy: the disruption of homeostasis by environmental toxins."

So what was I saying again about my choices and the future health of my off spring? Maybe I should really start using that choice of mine in a more coordinated and determined way...


Sunday, November 10, 2013

News from over here

I need to keep the flow going here on this blog, although I mostly working locally now, blogging in Swedish on my other blog. But I still think this blog is worth keeping alive: just to focus on food and well-being and dismantling myths about the two.

So here are some significant news from over here:

1. My rashes are GONE!!! It only took 10 months but they are gone. And you can't believe how happy I am to look myself in the mirror and not see a snorting-kind-of-face staring back at me. I still think my gut needs some more healing but at least it doesn't seem to be so acute anymore.

2. I stopped eating maca. Two reasons: you are not supposed to eat it for a prolonged time according to the research I did for the previous post, and maybe more importantly, several of the sources I used mentioned that pregnant women should not consume maca. Before I have talked to any indigenous health experts from Peru on the subject, I thought I'd better be safe than sorry because, yes, this is my other big news of the day: I am pregnant. A little bit of a surprise but as the tummy grows and the kicks get stronger I can feel the love building up inside of me.

3. Because of my "blessed situation" I am now both freaking out and embracing the situation. During my two previous pregnancies I have not been remotely aware of all the things I know today. This is both empowering and scary. I am trying to deal with my knowledge so that it is mostly empowering and I am glad to say that my health care sister is quite understanding of my increased knowledge on most subjects. Last time I paid here a visit I had to fill in the papers on my eating habits. As I ticked the "saturated fat" boxes I said to her "you will probably kick me out after this", and when she said that if I wanted she could book me an appointment at the dietitian's office I politely declined. I said that appointment will only end up in a debate on who is right and wrong, I'd rather see a dietitian that follow the same stream of "belief" as myself. So then I turned to another one, just over the chat, checking whether what I am eating is ok... and it should be - in the end, who knows really what is ok and what not?!?

4. I am going into the "next level", from mostly being concern about food related stuff to achieve well-being I am now stepping into the mental awareness phase. We laughed with a colleague the other day, because we have both done the same journey, we agreed that this is how it goes, first you become aware of you body and from there you move over to the mind. So with the mental thing comes this next thing, which I hope I will be blogging more about in the future: Hypnobirthing. I have discovered a book by this name and it is all about going through labor without fear and pain - just as women used to do it thousands years back. Fascinating stuff and I am determined to at least give it a chance. I have the book, I am learning every day, and if it won't give me a painless birthing experience, at least it will give me tools on how to relax - and already that would be a tremendous victory in my life!

So these were my updates for today. Let's see if I can start squeezing in some more informative posts in the near future again!

Until then, I thought I should let you know about the new lecture from Robert Lustig that was recently released on Youtube. I watched it today and feel a little be more informed once again on the connection between sugar, obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome! And above all, in his lecture he shows that it is the processed foods (not the sodas) that are the number one reason to this obesity epidemic. This is what I have been trying to say all the time: stay away from that stuff, you never know how much sugar they manage to hide in there! He talks especially about the unhealthy sweetened yogurts. This is also why I feel we are so misinformed in this country, most people think that our eating habits are so different in comparison with those fast food eating and soda drinking North Americans... but really, if we give processed food the space it really deserves in this debate, then we are not that much better off than what they are on the other side of the big pond...

Here the clip:





Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The Power of Maca!

You might now that I have been struggling with a skin rash (and here) next to my nose. In the beginning I was really annoyed and tried everything to get rid of it. I was even about to start the GAPS diet, but then life happened I never had energy to do it... Then suddenly, after four months without any milk products, it disappeared on one side of the nose to only appear on the other. I had a theory that the second appearance had to do with heavy apple fermentation in my tummy as this happened just as our apple trees had me eating some 5 apples a day... Well, now as the apple season is over, and 3 months later I can report that the rash is slowly going away. I have even started to include raw milk back to my diet and it does not seem to affect the intensity of the rash  (but does seem to balance my sleep in the night!).

Instead this time I have a new theory (part from not eating so much apples anymore...) and this one is called MACA.

I read somewhere that Maca is good for female hormonal balance, and since I can never be balanced enough I thought I'd try. Now I drink a glass of water with a tiny bit of Maca powder in it almost every day and the days when I forget I kind of have a feeling that the rash is a bit redder than usual.

So what is this wonder power? I set out to find out and this is what I found:


The Maca root is part of the radish family and it is also called the Andean Gingseng. It is grown in Peru and used widely in cooking in Peru (have I ever mentioned that my best food experiences have always been in Peruvian restaurants! - We need one of those here....). When starting with Maca, just as any other power food, the path to success is: slowly. First half a teaspoon of powder and then increasing up to 1-2 teaspoons a day, having a day off once a week. No side effects reported but there can be a detox symptom in the beginning if not careful. Mix in smoothies, soups or stews. I guess I could even try blending it into my wonder raw chocolate dates balls if ever needed to trick it to the kids...

And what is it good for? Well, just to save some time, here is a list that I got from Vegkitchen:

Vitamins
Maca is rich in vitamin B vitamins, C, and E. It provides plenty of calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and amino acids.
Sexual function
Maca is widely used to promote sexual function of both men and women. It serves as a boost to your libido and increases endurance. At the same time it balances your hormones and increases fertility.
Women’s health and mood
Maca relieves menstrual issues and menopause. It alleviates cramps, body pain, hot flashes, anxiety, mood swings, and depression. If you are pregnant or lactating you should avoid taking maca.

Read more at http://www.vegkitchen.com/nutrition/7-top-health-benefits-of-maca/#wxfe3Pg6RoRXx7Fh.99
Vitamins
Maca is rich in vitamin B vitamins, C, and E. It provides plenty of calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and amino acids.
Sexual function
Maca is widely used to promote sexual function of both men and women. It serves as a boost to your libido and increases endurance. At the same time it balances your hormones and increases fertility.
Women’s health and mood
Maca relieves menstrual issues and menopause. It alleviates cramps, body pain, hot flashes, anxiety, mood swings, and depression. If you are pregnant or lactating you should avoid taking maca.

Read more at http://www.vegkitchen.com/nutrition/7-top-health-benefits-of-maca/#wxfe3Pg6RoRXx7Fh.99
  • Vitamins: Rich in B,C, and E. Contains calcium, zink, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and amino acids.
  • Sex function: promotes sexual function in men and women.
  • Women's health and mood: brings relief to menopause and menstrual issues, be cautious if pregnant or lactating.
  • Energy: increases energy levels and stamina, used by top athletes for peak performance (natural doping?!?, my comment)
  • General Health: helps to restore blood cells, be cautious if you have a condition of high blood pressure!
  • Skin: clears acne and blemishes (well, well - so there might be some truth to my observation then! :))
  • Mood balances: alleviate anxiety, depression, and stress

So just as I once figured out that serving frequently bone broth to the kids was a good idea, I also think that maca may be a very good idea when I myself feel out of balance... But it seems quite powerful, so better be careful! Would love to have a chat with someone from Peru who really knows the power of maca in detail!

Edited later: Maca is also supposed to be natures own tyroxin, it balances the thyroid function and it also activates the hormone production of the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus (Source: Proyecto bebe).
Vitamins
Maca is rich in vitamin B vitamins, C, and E. It provides plenty of calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and amino acids.
Sexual function
Maca is widely used to promote sexual function of both men and women. It serves as a boost to your libido and increases endurance. At the same time it balances your hormones and increases fertility.
Women’s health and mood
Maca relieves menstrual issues and menopause. It alleviates cramps, body pain, hot flashes, anxiety, mood swings, and depression. If you are pregnant or lactating you should avoid taking maca.

Read more at http://www.vegkitchen.com/nutrition/7-top-health-benefits-of-maca/#wxfe3Pg6RoRXx7Fh.99
Vitamins
Maca is rich in vitamin B vitamins, C, and E. It provides plenty of calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and amino acids.
Sexual function
Maca is widely used to promote sexual function of both men and women. It serves as a boost to your libido and increases endurance. At the same time it balances your hormones and increases fertility.
Women’s health and mood
Maca relieves menstrual issues and menopause. It alleviates cramps, body pain, hot flashes, anxiety, mood swings, and depression. If you are pregnant or lactating you should avoid taking maca.

Read more at http://www.vegkitchen.com/nutrition/7-top-health-benefits-of-maca/#wxfe3Pg6RoRXx7Fh.99
Vitamins
Maca is rich in vitamin B vitamins, C, and E. It provides plenty of calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and amino acids.
Sexual function
Maca is widely used to promote sexual function of both men and women. It serves as a boost to your libido and increases endurance. At the same time it balances your hormones and increases fertility.
Women’s health and mood
Maca relieves menstrual issues and menopause. It alleviates cramps, body pain, hot flashes, anxiety, mood swings, and depression. If you are pregnant or lactating you should avoid taking maca.

Read more at http://www.vegkitchen.com/nutrition/7-top-health-benefits-of-maca/#wxfe3Pg6RoRXx7Fh.99
Vitamins
Maca is rich in vitamin B vitamins, C, and E. It provides plenty of calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and amino acids.
Sexual function
Maca is widely used to promote sexual function of both men and women. It serves as a boost to your libido and increases endurance. At the same time it balances your hormones and increases fertility.
Women’s health and mood
Maca relieves menstrual issues and menopause. It alleviates cramps, body pain, hot flashes, anxiety, mood swings, and depression. If you are pregnant or lactating you should avoid taking maca.

Read more at http://www.vegkitchen.com/nutrition/7-top-health-benefits-of-maca/#wxfe3Pg6RoRXx7Fh.99

Friday, August 23, 2013

Investigative journalism

There is a new book out in Swedish, it is called Salted Bill  (Saltad nota) and refers to the hidden ingredients in the food that we are served at restaurants. The author, Mats-Eric Nilsson, is already well-known up here in the North for his other three books of investigative journalism discovering what is in our (processed) food.

Come to think of it, his first book, the Secret Chef, must have been the first food-related book that ended up in my book-shelf. Not sure how surprised I was at that time of what he wrote, or how much it bothered me. I bought the book back in 2008 when I was still living a life of ignorance in relation to food (and most other things around me). Not complete ignorance, of course I tried to avoid "bad foods", but I had never really taken the time to reflect over all that junk that my poor body has to cope with every day when I do not take the time to read labels and look for natural alternatives. Over the years that changed... as you might have noticed if you have followed this blog from the start. Now I am HIGHLY critical to ANYTHING that is sold in a package with more than 1-3 ingredients, and particularly with ingredients that I cannot read out loud, or remember the next day. May I add that most things that come in a package include such ingredients.

Anyway, so now Nilsson has dug into the restaurant food. I haven't read this book yet but based on the previews he seems to succeed in exposing many bad practices in the Swedish restaurants, like the tiramisu cake that is sold at many places. It is not made by the restaurant itself, but bought from a French food chain with subsidiaries around Europe. Nilsson counts 14 preservatives (E-numbers) on the ingredient list. The result is even worse when he looks at the ingredients of a crab-cream offered in a sandwich chain around Sweden.

I salut Nilsson.I only wish that his next project would be the food served in schools. Then again, I started thinking of it. Do I really need a Swedish journalist to do the job that I need to get done in order to feel some peace? Nope. I google the municipality pages, call the receptionist, and ask for the name of the person in charge of school and daycare food. She didn't answer the phone. But I have her number and name now.

Before you can start doing something, you need to know what it is you need to know...On Monday I'll call again.


Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Rash update

Since May I have been on a strict diet because of some skin rashes that would not go away. I have had to exclude strictly everything that includes milk protein (and sugar, gluten and yeast which anyway were not part of my diet before). It has slowly been getting better but the problem still persist. Most frustrating about the whole thing has been that I have still not been completely sure what is causing the rash. The doctors I've seen have recommended some sort of creams, and I myself have tried many different antibacterial creams. The last doctor that I saw in May gave me this long list of what to eat and what not. Well, as said, it has been getting better. But every once in a while the rash pops up again, red and itchy. Once after having eaten at a Nepalese restaurant, chicken masala, which I thought was gluten and dairy free - now I think it might have had both in it. I ate there two weeks ago, the rashes are still there... And then yesterday, I couldn't figure out why the rash just suddenly got worse. Until this morning, I had a look at the dark chocolate package from where I had eaten one (!) piece of chocolate yesterday. I thought it was milkfree, dark chocolate 70%, normally safe. But no. Fazer has the bad habit of adding milk powder into their dark chocolate mix. Goodbye chocolate - I will have to donate to someone else. And well, at least one thing seems to be clear: the rashes ARE connected with dairy, even in tiny tiny amounts. ARRRRGH!!!!!

Monday, August 5, 2013

The Big FAT War - or how a truth is being dismantled.

Sweden is on top of things. The good thing about being a small and open society is that when things start moving, they move fast. Many who have been convinced about the mistakes in the Nordic dietary recommendations might feel that change is not coming fast enough. Still, we do not know when the paradigm shift will happen, but that it will happen that is already a fact. It is a remarkable battle that is going on over who is right and who is wrong and since Sweden has some of the lead figures in this debate, and a very active (cyber) society, it is also showing the way. The Food Revolution is already a fact. How it will play out in the state dietary recommendations and the acknowledgement from the current cholesterol-frightened experts is something that only time will tell.

I have been amused by following the storm that arose last week after the letter to the editor in one of Sweden's biggest newspapers, Dagens Nyheter. Original text to be found here: De populära fettdieterna är ett hot mot folkhälsan. Five professors of medicine and nutrition warned the Swedes of the dangers of eating a low carb and high fat diet: strokes and heart disease. This because according to the article, there have lately been an increase in the statistics of these diseases, particularly in young women and men age 35-44 years old. The professors go on making fat into the devil and explaining that red meat and fat, combined with sitting still and not getting enough exercise will basically eventually kill a big bunch of Swedes. They demonize the Low Carb High Fat Movement for spreading non-scientifically based information and that the effects can now be seen in an increased consumption of butter, sour cream and red meat. This while the consumption of sugar and salt continues on the rise.

It didn't take long for the LCHF-gang to react. Andreas Eenfeldt, author of the book "Food Revolution" (available in Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and German) is quick to dismantle the arguments by showing the same statistics from a different light: how Swedes since 1995 have actually been suffering less from heart diseases and strokes. He then points to scientific studies that show the detrimental effects of a diet based on low fat products. What then follows is a war over who has the juiciest piece on the "fat war" in media. Eenfeldt himself is invited to a tv channel to explain his points. The other experts, those who wrote the original piece in the newspaper do not participate in person. Instead one of them goes to another tv channel to give her opinion on the dangers of the fat diet. The evening press paints big first page headline news on how the fat diet is dividing the Swedish people. And all the LCHF-bloggers mark their stand on their own pages. And there are some very balanced (in favor of fat) texts published on DN debatt webpages from other experts (Sugar is the villain, Saturated fat is neutral for the brain,There are many types of fat), who have taken the time to read all new scientific studies on the connection fat- hear disease: the verdict is clear: it is not the fat, it is the low fat/high sugar/high carb intake that is problematic. Still media continues being obsessed with finding the victims of this new dangerous trend of eating saturated fats.

What is my take on all this? First of all, I find it utterly exciting that in a matter of days, the Swedish media has made a storm out of the fat debate. And although the intentions once again were to demonize the dangerous fat diet, the effects seem to (once again) be the opposite. Dr Eenfeldt's blog reaches an all time high in daily visitors, the success stories of those who have been able to turn around their paved road to destruction through a dietary change is made visible through these blogs, and the very important debate on what is actually wrong with the current state dietary recommendations gets attention both on the prominent pages of newspapers but also out on blogs (this one piece is particularly amusing: Professor Hellenius is worried). We have to remember that the change is coming from below, through the told experience of those who have seen their lives turn around just by changing their diet towards eating more REAL FOOD and that is why the blogs play a very important part in this 'war'. I prefer referring to real food rather than LCHF because LCHF is a polemic wording. It has created a lot of association to bacon at butter, to cream and cheese, as if that was all that people on this diet ate. I'd say this picture of LCHF is mostly due to the demonization in the press...there is always a picture of bacon and egg when the demonization starts. But really, what most people do when they start eating this kind of diet is that they turn away from processed crap, including fat free sugary yogurts and industrial processed margarine and instead they start paying attention to that what they actually put in their mouth is real food and not any industrial made mimics.

So what started as yet another demonization of real food has in just a few days unfolded into a very good debate over what is real food, and who is to gain and loose from eating/supporting this kind of lifestyle. It has also brought up the false assumptions embedded in the fear for cholesterol (if you didn't know, cholesterol is not bad for you, it is your friend!). And so my take on this big Fat War in Sweden is that we are one step closer to a real paradigm shift.

So that is Sweden, and I live in Finland. What's the deal? Well, if the Swedes manage to overthrow all these faulty assumptions and really get their message through to those who can do anything about the state dietary recommendations, then I believe it will not take long before we here in Finland will see some radical changes as well. I mean, if the Swedes can be healthy on real food, why shouldn't we? Although I started off saying that change is coming fast in Sweden, I still feel it is not coming fast enough. My children go to daycare everyday and are served low-fat (including margarine) food every day. The food they are served are based on the state dietary recommendations, and although this municipality has decreased the use of sugar in daycare food, it is still alarming that the milk and the bread spread are highly processed and lack all the important nutrients that a child needs. The same goes for hospitals and senior homes. They are all bound to the state dietary recommendation. Not to speak of our state budget on health care. How much couldn't be saved if the people were given the right kind of advice on what to eat? Heaven forbid, they could be off (state subsidized!) medication and not be in need of so many doctor's appointments anymore. I mean, if this country is really struggling with its state finances, and if it really wants to continue to pretend to care for its citizens under the banner of a "welfare society" - well wouldn't these state dietary recommendations be the first ones that we need to fix.

Quick fix - direct results!

Oh I forgot, we also have to defend the right of the prestigious experts that ones made up the cholesterol myth, we have to defend the right of the pharmaceutical companies and the processed food industry, we have to defend the right (to work) for the state nutritionists, even the right of the garment industry. Because once people starting real food all these people and institutions will suffer. The old professors will lose their prestige. The pharmaceutical companies will lose many highly profitable products. The food industry will lose many market shares as people turn to eat veggies and unprocessed food. The nutritionist services will not be needed anymore as people will start understanding what is real food and what is fake. And the garment industry, particularly the big-size-producers will lose out once people stop yoyo-dieting and not need to buy new clothing every time they gain/lose 10 kg. All this, together with a lot more, is what is preventing us from having real food at the table! But the fat war in Sweden is leading the way! So keep on fighting, the change is coming!



Friday, June 28, 2013

On request: a bean based tiger cake

I am experimenting big time in the kitchen now. Wonder why? Well because I decided to take on the challenge of making another dream come true and went to the local "arbis" (community evening school, where you can take a class on anything remotely interesting) and offered my expertise. Knocked on the principals door and said: 'I'd like to give a class on how to bake without sugar, wheat and milk, how do I do that?' Ten minutes later we had set up the course with the head of cooking classes and it was all set for this fall. I will become a hands-on teacher. Then I returned to my abstract world of research literature. Absurd!

Now I need to get the recipes straight. No more experimenting with the family and friends.  Now I have to get it right. So I am practicing. And may I add that the family actually has not been too upset about me taking on an extra job beside my already very time consuming researcher job. They love the side effects!

I already posted this following recipe on the other blog, but my one (and only?) fan on this blog insisted I'd translate. Apparently Google didn't do such a great job. So here it comes, may I present the....

TIGER CAKE (adapted with modifications from www.spunkycoconut.com)

Lighter batch:
3,5 cooked white beans
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
50-100 grams of soaked dates

Mix until smooth and then add: 

0,5 dl coconut oil
0,5 coconut meal (or less)
0,5 tsp sea salt or other quality salt
1 tsp bicarbonate
1,5 tsp baking powder

Mix well.

For the darker batch, do the same but instead of coconut meal use 0,75 dl (raw) cacao powder.

Grease the baking form with coconut oil. Add the two batches in layers. Bake in oven for 40 minutes in 200 degrees. Let cool before you take the cake out of the baking form.

Enjoy!




Monday, June 17, 2013

When tides turn

It is my experience from studying newspaper coverage of conflict situation that once the business/economics pages start writing about "the other side", that is when the tides turn. Might be that the marginalized part of the conflict get visibility through letters to the editor, through newspaper day-today reporting, but that is still not enough. It doesn't matter how much sensational news is writing about the stuff, but once the economics pages are in, we're talking business. Things get serious and we can talk about a real shift in the perception of what is considered legitimate and what not. Or at least we can see a serious debate getting started on the two different side, which means that the once marginalized now have a real voice to make an influence.

This is happening now in Sweden, at least partly. After having read Ann Fernholm's book "A Sweeter blood", I was convinced this book is serious stuff. Scientific evidence is killed with other scientific evidence. She is talking the language of the experts. I also saw an interview with her on telly, really convincing stuff. Sugar is bad, in so many ways that you can't even imagine, and she makes the case clear, as said, in expert language.

The problem? It was "only" a book (only those who are really interested tend to read it without widespread reviews) and the tv outlet was a marginal channel. Thus, the effects might also be  marginal.

But what happened? Just today I read a column in the Swedish weekly business magazine magazine "Veckans Affärer" where the book is brought forward by a columnist stating: 

"The fact is that the high bloodsugar levels have negative impacts also on healthy organisms. For example, tests have shown that sugar stimulate growth in the cancer cells, which could explain the increased amounts of cancer... A number of studies on diabetics shows clear results: diabetes can be fought with the right diet. Goodbye insulin shots." (Emanuel Sidea, my translation). 


Well well, if my observations of what happens when news focus shifts from being something trivial, everyday to being of economic importance, then my friends, we are in for the big one soon! Soon we can start taking the harms of sugar seriously, also outside the health fanatics personal blog pages!

But it still needs to make it out of the "opinion" pages into the real business news. I am still waiting for articles on how much society could save by doctors making good dietary recommendations. How much we could save in tax payers money if the children at day care were fed real food. How much less ADHD medication society would need, if the food we feed our children would be less triggering... These are the stories I am waiting to see. Not hearing on the radio like today that ADHD medication has doubled in the past 5 years, and that this has brought on problems with people faking ADHD because the med includes amfetamin-like substances. I just... doooh! What is happening in society?!?! Why are we drugging kids with amfetamin-like substances when they are already high on sugar? What about first have the kids detox from sugar and other triggering foods and then see how much of the problems are left...

We need more coverage of books like "A sweeter blood". This was a first step. More certainly ahead. Particularly when it is about saving taxpayers $$$!

Interesting indeed!

You can follow Ann's webpage here in Swedish: http://ettsotareblod.se/ and I wrote a blog about the book earlier here: Hell hour.


Friday, June 14, 2013

Doing some serious thinking...

I'll try to make this short and quick, since what I am actually doing right now is writing a paragraph on "testimonies" as a research method, an major breakthrough in my own research, and I should not use my braincells to ponder about healthy food right now. By the way, I think testimonies would be an excellent research method for anyone who would like to study how the low-fat paradigm came to be challenged through personal testimonials on blogs and other social media outlets...

But about what I wanted to tell you now, I have to let off the lid a little bit. Because I wanted to let you know that I am changing my perspective from being an extremist that supports most of the paleo-preaching towards a more moderate food advocate. Why? Because I am starting to think that there might actually be some nasty side effects also to an extreme paleo diet that is being silenced in the fierce debate on who is right and who is wrong regarding what people are meant to eat. And because I have started to think that maybe some of my own problems lately are not only due to stress, but actually one of the main reasons I feel stressed in the first place. Could it be that I am stressing my body by being too harsh on it through what I eat? Could it be that when bloggers talk about magnesium deficiencies and problems to fall asleep, what they are actually telling us is that there are wide spread side effects to a very strict low carb diet? Dr Cate does talk about the risks of converting to a low carb diet too fast in that it can cause thyroid problems (read here).

So I have started to embrace some of the things Cheeseslave is talking about (here and here). However, I am still very aware that gluten might be dangerous particularly if celiac desease is the root of the problem. And by the way, when I say that my body is stressed because of food, I recognize that I might not be getting enough carbs (although I have been eating rise and potatoes for quite some time) but endulging in sugar and sweets are by no means the way back to a more balanced diet...although I am considering using cane sugar this fall to make jams and juices of the berry harvest...

I have been thinking a lot about what is the root problem of so many people having serious digestive problems these days. It is hard for me to swallow that grains are the evils on this planet. Afterall, they are (or at least used to be) a natural source for energy,  particularly for us living on these altitudes in need of foods that can be stored over the winter. Instead, in my mind (when I am not thinking of my research project that is) I am coming up with two hypotheses, or actually three, hypotheses that needs further exploration. 1) the increased digestive problems among the Western population is due to the increased amount of pesticides and industrially processed ingredients in our food system. 2) the problems are related to our dependency on chemical medication such as antibiotics and pain killers, which has lasted for more than two generations already, 3) stress is causing major problems in our body.

These hypotheses above have completely wrecked havoc on our microbacterial flora in our gut making us more susceptible to allergies and food intolerance. These allergies and food intolerances appear gradually, almost so we do not notice them, but the foods that become first problematic are those that are the hardest for our digestive system to handle. This would be why many now react to dairy (milk protein casein is difficult to digest) and grains (gluten is not easy either). And if we do not clean up our system and the food we eat (read: start eating less pesticides and get rid of the processed foods completely) our body will react by making us allergic to an ever growing amount of foods (nuts, nightshades, fish, egg, etc). So what to do? Eliminate all healthy foods and live on air and water? No, absolutely not - fortify the good bacteria and clean up the kitchen mess, get rid off bad habits of popping ibuprofen every time a headache hits and start relaxing to give ourselves a stress free life. I think that is the way to go! For me, it is that last part that is the hardest: to relax!  Just need to get the hang of it, that's all!


While I was writing this, an interesting text written by Michael Pollan appeared in my Facebook feed. He seems to be supporting similar hypotheses as I do regarding out food system! Look Processed food killing friendly bacteria-gut - Can eating home pickles fight infections?


Oh, and by the way - all the thoughts above are HIGHLY hypothetical. I do not have ANYTHING to support my claims! Just thinking out loud. That is all!

Monday, June 10, 2013

From dreaming to action!

I used to dream of a better world. Now I have my hands in the dirt, literally. May today be a proof of my road towards real action:

Set one big bag of potatoes in the ground. With the help of my uncle and his old potato setting machines (borrowing land from him as well, important acknowledgement). I hope the potatoes will make it and once we get them out of the ground, some two months from now, they will also last at least until Christmas. Storage? Well, we have a never used potato cellar in our house now. Let's see if it can keep up with the task!

I also picked nettles, a big bunch. And these were just lightly boiled. I'll get them through the food processor and then into the freezer for the winter. Replacing our use of frozen spinach (which is on the list of the dirty dozen, btw). And I saved the boiled water, it is supposed to be good fertilizer for the plants...

The other thing I picked was dandelions. A whole bunch of them. So now I am also trying out this recipe: Sunshine syrup, which I found through this excellent blog: Lev mer pÃ¥ mindre. She also gives this great link for what to do with dandelions: What to do with dandelions. I'll try to explore a bit more still, but time is running out with the dandelion season...

We had some really good polenta fried fish to lunch. Now the salmon is the oven. I usually do not make this much fish, but we had a fish market last Saturday in town, and I kind of overdid my shopping there...

Soon I am off to a cooking course on how to make use of the fresh and wild produce of the season! Kind of right up my alley.

Feels good to be alive and not only dreaming for a while.

Tomorrow I continue my day (dream) job. Have a lot of text lined up in my head that needs to get structured and sent out for review!

Enjoy the sun everyone!

Monday, June 3, 2013

Got Milk?

I am in a process of grief. From denial to grief... and maybe back to denial again. When we returned from Chile to Finland and I suddenly had a skin rash appearing next to my nose I swore it was the rye bread. I was so sure about it. I hadn't had rye bread for a very long time and suddenly I just had to eat it. Well, the skin rashes started just about there. However, I was not able to see that the butter that I was putting on the bread, the full fat Greek yogurt that I had not enjoyed for many months either, or all that cheese could have something to do with the rash. Although I do not drink milk, there are so many milk products here in Finland that are so good that there was no way I was about to give it up. Not even although I was struggling to keep one of my children free from milk products for optimal health. Total denial. I made kefir yogurt, I made real yogurt. I used raw milk from special ecological cows. And the rash just got worse...

Until a doctor told me: get off the milk. See what happens and try to reintroduce it. I have now been milk free for three weeks. The rash is almost gone. You can still see the contures of the former rash. But it is nothing like it was a month ago. I still have hopes to be able to eat milk products now and then. But I am also painfully aware of that that might not be possible.

I am also more and more open for the message that milk is maybe not so beneficial as the formal verdict wants to portray it to be. Instead of strengthening bones, it might actually do the opposite. And a lot more. But I am still decolonizing my mind. Milk (and particularly cheese) is way to yummy to give up just like that. I need some time to digest my milk free lifestyle.

If you want to know more you can watch this youtube clip by the (paleo-inspired) medical doctor Mark Hyman. He gives a lot of insight to the subject:



Btw, I actually think that milk might be ok for most people, but that casein is problematic for those who have a digestive system out of balance (due to stress or other reasons). This is my personal speculation though.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Müsli

Inspired by Paleoparent's recipe in their book Eat like a Dinousaur, I made some of my own. It isn't exactly like theirs because I used ingredients that I know works for us. And it is not strictly paleo since I am using glutenfree oats. If you want to go paleo all the way you just eliminate the oats and add more of the other stuff, particularly the coconut flakes, almonds and walnuts. t.

3 dl glutenfree oatmeal
1 dl sunflower seeds
1 dl coconut flakes
1 dl semi-crushed almonds
1 dl semi-crushed walnuts
0,5 dl falxseeds
1,5 dl dates
1 apple, I threw it in the food processer to get good sized bites
4-5 tblsp cold pressed coconut oil
1 tblsp cinnamon

If you are allergic to nuts, just replace with more seeds and add pumpkin seeds to the mix. Also more coconut flakes should do the trick.

Mix everything in a bowl. Add to baking tray (cover with baking paper if you do not want fuzz with dishes afterwards...).

Bake in 130 celcius (270 F), 60 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes to bake crips and even müsli. Once ready let cool on the tray. Keep in air tight glas jar. According to Paleoparents, their müsli is ok in room temperature for several months. Well ours will not last that long, for sure... But if you want to be on the safe side, store in fridge.


Enjoy!
On the way into the oven Check the hand...always there! :-)

Done!


Saturday, May 25, 2013

MaM?

Did anyone out there participate in the March against Monsanto today?

I did. With the whole family.

What a great feeling to finally get out and activate myself after all these years of accumulating anger against the current food system. Or should I say biotech system, I do not consider that stuff food. STill, I know I eat something of it almost every single day. I mean many of the veggies that are non-organic have probably mean treated with chemicals coming from this company. The few times I buy meat or eat out, I probably eat something that has been touched by the claws of the giant.

It is so frustrating but at least today I felt great trying to do something more than just getting angry.

The fight continues. Eat organic.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Skin rash update

Remember my skin rashes? Remember the curing from the inside out?

Well, I finally made it to a doctor who knows what she is doing. And this time I mean really knows. She gave me a list of what to eat and what not. Basically, she had me drop milk products and yeast (which I do not eat much anyway) from my already quite ok diet. I mean, I already dropped sugar and gluten years ago. I dropped coffee in March when I realized just a zip of coffee will make my nights miserable. And I have been trying to eat myself (and sleep) towards a better skin since Easter. But without success. The cortisone cream that another doctor prescribed got the rashes to to calm down, but only while I was using it. A week later the rash return, in foll blown. Just as I knew it would...

Well it just seems that I have become sensitive to milk. I prefer to think that it was a reaction of the change of environment, the stress and the lack of sleep that did it. I hope there is a chance that I will be able to digest some milk product again once I have my gut back in balance. The doctor also prescribed a heavy dosis of probiotics. These aren't for sales in any health store or farmacy, I had to order them directly from the distributor. They arrived yesterday and I immediately started taking them. I am boosting the gut bacteria by having three doses a day. The doctor said it is safe to take up to 4 doses a day, and I have recently read a blog where the blogger had talked to a gut-bacteria specialist about exactly this: that if your gut is out of balance, fermented food won't do the trick: you need to overpopulate your digestive tract with beneficial bacteria. So I am doing just that. And the rash is back at what is was when I was treating it with cortisone. Amazing!


Thursday, May 16, 2013

The taste of real food

I have had the help of my mother this week in the kitchen. Today she commented that the food we have eaten has been really tasty. I said, well, that is what real food tastes like. We have had meat soup made from scratch. That means with bone broth and the meat that could be found on the bone, which by the way is the best meat ever, and it is almost free when you buy a stack of bones from your organic farmer. We have also had chicken soup based on a complete real hen (no fake chicken here). It had to cook for over two hours, but oh my, it was a good chicken broth that came out of that hen! Oh and then we had hen liver, cauliflor and some fried cold smoked salmon. Also good. And simple.

I have also made some waffles, all grain and milk free. And this morning I made pancakes for the whole bunch. We are getting more eggs this afternoon, home delivery. So I needed to make space. Not to speak of the space needed for the 70 kilos of highlander beef that is arriving with the eggs... Got the big freezer installed last night...

Life is good in the house of a foodie! :-)

Monday, May 13, 2013

Protest or Growtest?

Here is an interesting site to check out in these days running up to the big Anti-Monsanto March on May 25. I am linking to the movie "The world according to Monsanto" but the site has a lot more than that to offer.

Growtest - The world according to Monsanto

I find it fascinating! Should we create awareness through protests against these companies or should we simply sidestep them by growing our own food and dealing with our own local farmers (who does not buy anything from these companies)? The latter is what is called Growtest, you grow your own vegetables in protest against the current food system. It is an emerging movement within the larger food movement that has been around now for about a couple of decade gaining force with books such as "the Fast Food Nation" and movies like "Food Inc", or local-food promoters such as Jaime Oliver.


What do you think is more effective? Protesting out on the streets, demanding the right to know what is in our food, as far as genetically modified seeds are concerned? Or growing your own food and thus not giving your support to the current food system?

I guess I am in favor of both. Both are needed. Awareness must be raised through protests, and it is probably the only way, even if minimal, that we will be able to stop further laws to be implemented that favor these large scale solutions on the cost of small scale more natural solutions. Then again, in order to show to the masses that this really is a viable option, that you can feed the world (or at least your community) also through small scale solutions we need to growtest.

My growtest is currently going through its first stress test. They have been placed on our balcony for more sun.

I am also planning to participate in the March against Monsanto  in my town. What about you? Are you growtesting or protesting this spring?


Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Made my day!

Today I had a beautiful start of the day. I went down to the hair dresser in our house to get some soap for the new house. We started talking about gardening, hens, milk and cows and one thing led to an other and suddenly I find myself giving advice on how to bake in our way. I realized I possess a world of knowledge. A world of knowledge that I have naturalized. I do not even reflect upon it, or think of it as something strange. I know where to shop glutenfree natural flour. I know how to use coconut oil. I know how to sweeten stuff with only dates and banana, and if needed honey. I know what psyllium husk is and how you can use it in baking. Heck, it seems like I know a lot of stuff that is unknown to many out there.

Maybe I shouldn't be downplaying my knowledge? Maybe I should cherish it and let it come alive more often. Well, let's see if there is anyone interested when I'll hold my sugar, wheat and milk free cooking course next fall at an institute here in town. Maybe it is worth it. Maybe there are people that really want to know!


Once I get into the new kitchen, I hope I can start baking and experimenting in the kitchen again. It's been a while. But in our tiny current hideaway you do not do a lot of experimenting. Or correction, a lady of my generation has a hard time doing a lot of experimenting there. My grandmother used to make a complete four-course dinner for ten in that same space. But that was then and this is now....or maybe, that was her and this is me! ;-)

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Gotta love it

...when the clock turns 22:00 and my eyes are almost wide shut. Hoorrrrray, my efforts are working, cortisol levels seem to be back to normal (almost, still wake up damn early)!

So goodnight and auf wiedersehen. My pillow is calling. What a wonderful feeling.

Hate sleeplessness. Love sleepiness!


Tuesday, April 30, 2013

And they eat pizza


This documentary is about kids with ADHD on medication.



I just get really disturbed that diet is a non-issue here. Medication is the only thing. And then they eat pizza... I just wonder. Is it really an unexplainable phenomena that can be "cured" by medication. Or is it an undetected (wheat/milk) allergy?



Sunday, April 28, 2013

How to quit the addiction

The past few days, I've had a few friends commenting the need to do something about their own sugar addiction. I congrat them, recognizing you have a problem is always the first step!

For me it took years between understanding that my cravings for sweets was a problem and me doing something about it. Maybe even decades. I somehow always knew. Craving sweets like I did was not a good thing. I also felt ashamed. How can it be that I can't control myself and eat healthy food?!?! Why do I again and again end up eating the whole 200 g chocolate bar, or the whole cookie package? Where is my self-control? It didn't really help that hubby insisted that I should just control myself and that buying home sweets shouldn't be a problem.

So what did I do at the end? The whole thing was a process, a learning curve. I quit sugar several times before I gave it up for good. I went back several times before I understood that I couldn't go on like that. Jumping in mood and in kilos every six months. Not good.

It isn't so hard to set up a goal and quit sugar for one or two months. I think many can do that. The challenge is to quit it forever.

Now, the real answer to the question of how to quit sugar has to do with changing the focus. Instead of focusing on quitting sugar, I started focusing on getting my body back in balance. Instead of restricting my diet, I started thinking what should I eat so that I do not want to eat the crappy food instead. Lucky me, the low carb high fat diet (LCHF, check www.dietdoctor.com for details) worked wonders in the beginning. It really took out the edge of my cravings. I started eating full fat yogurts with nuts for breakfast, I drank my coffe without milk and only cinnamon added, I ate oven baked broccoli soaked in cream, goat cheese and cashew nuts. I stuffed my self so full on proteins and fat (bacon and eggs for breakfast kept me going until 3 p.m.!) that there was no room for craving sugar. Bread was a complete no-no. Pasta, potatoes, and rise as well. Instead I ate cauliflor rise, and a lot of puréed cauliflor with cream. And it worked!

After a few months on a diet like that, I felt extremely heavy (but was loosing weight all the time)  but my cravings were gone. I then stopped stuffing myself with the cream, yogurts, and fatty cheeses and instead turned to more vegetables, smoothies, berries (which I had avoided due to their sweet taste in the beginning), and a lot of nuts and coconut oil. I even started baking sweet stuff, unheard of in the beginning when I did not even allow myself anything remotely close to a sweet taste. I learned how to bake with dates and bananas instead of sugar, and almond and coconut meal instead of wheat flour. My body didn't seem to react like it had done before. I could still continue to feel a balance, but without that heavy and stuffed feeling that I had gotten from all the fatty dairy products.

Today I am not avoiding carbs per se anymore. I eat quite a lot of potatoes, some rise and from time to time dessert with sugar in it, as long as it doesn't contain gluten (the process involved my realizing I am gluten sensistive). And despite the amout of sugar (lactose) in milk, I still enjoy a glass of raw unpasteurized full fat milk every now and then. I still feel in balance. The focus in our family has shifted from feeling that we are worth treats all the time (read: icecreams, buns, cookies whatever happens to be "in season") to trying to stock up on really good ingridients to make REAL food sourced from local and organic farms. Eating real food three times a day has meant that there isn't really that much room for any kind of craving anymore. Lately I haven't even craved 86% chocolate anymore (might have to do something with the fact that I have started to supplement magnesium, chocolate cravings have been reported to correlate with magnesium deficiency). I haven't even craved coffee. Strange feeling. But a good one.

So as said, it has all been a process. At the beginning I was only focused on staying away from sugar, and I did it by eating a lot of fat. Today I am still eating fat, but not so much dairy, and I am a lot more focused on the quality of the food. For anyone who is starting this journey, I'd give the advice to be consistent but take the shift in stages. First, get rid of the cravings. Then, start thinking of where and what you are buying.

And I am still learning. My next challenge is to detox the kitchen ustensils from chemicals. Bye bye Teflon and plastics!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Hope in new generations

Yesterday I got the book "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon and "Deep Nutrition by Dr Cate. Great reads. Fallon's book has a wealth of information, even how to cure naturally most common child diseases. It is also a good guide to how to "produce" excellent offsprings, by eating the right kind of nutrient dense food  previous to conception. Wish I would have known about the book some 7 years ago..There is always a small sense of guilt for not having known all this stuff before. At least I am grateful that everything went quite well still. I mean, we could have had it a lot worse, heavy allergies during lactation, defect teeth, skin issues, behavioral issues, allergies, asthma... My kids are after all in the books of any doctor almost perfectly normal!

But hey, I was actually going to post this link: Farmvoices. Wooho!! I am so happy, the new generation is returning to the farms in the US! Now if this would be back in the 1990's when all the young people in this small town wanted was to be like the "Americans" and have our own "MacDonalds" (me included, 90210 succer!), then it wouldn't take long before all the young kids of today would be longing out to the countryside here as well! Change is coming....in our house the plants are faster than speedy Gonzalez, and Kidone is already dreaming of setting up her own veggie stand at the market square this summer. Asking if she can keep the money for the veggies sold. Business woman that girl of mine... and picking up farming. That's my gal, following in mommy's footsteps! :-)

Today we also went for more raw milk from our milk farm. They had several customers there tonight. I said to the farmers "change is coming, be prepared!". When we got home Kidone drank two glasses straight of fresh milk and Kidtwo had two fried eggs with an egg yoke more yellow than a New York Taxi. Guess the chickens have been out eating spring grass!

And about raw milk, may I add that Sally Fallon and Dr Cate are both strong advocates of raw dairy. Pasteurized is a big no no in their vocabulary. They also like pastuered egg yokes. The more yellow the better!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

"Hell hour"

There is a new book out in Swedish on the consumption of sugar. They say it's good. I had it in my hand in February and was about to buy it but thought I have learned enough already from Nancy Appleton, Robert Lustig, Bitten Johnson, and all those others who preach the message regarding the harms of sugar. Anyway, because the book is receiving so much attention in Sweden, and actually influencing media to have a closer look at sugar, I have now decided that I need to read this book. So I am line to get it from the local library.
The book is called "A sweeter blood" and it is written by a biochemist and journalist called Ann Fernholm.

Since I haven't read the book I can't really deal with its inner core here but instead I just wanted to comment on some of her thoughts that have been presented on the blog "Naturlig mat i skolan".

First of all, I have to say that I feel an enormous relief that somebody has done such a thorough job to debunk the prevailing assumption that sugar to kids cause little harm, and that fat would be worse than sugar. I feel such a relief that somebody is writing about those observations I made when we switched diets, as something that is not specific to our family, many others are struggling with the same problems! Take for example what she calls the "hell hour", the hour between when you pick up your child from daycare and when you have dinner on the table. I remember how we were walking home from daycare with one child screaming and crying because she was so exhausted. And how that changed when we started eating breakfast with protein and fat included at home instead of at daycare. Or if I go even further back in memory, I remember that first year of daycare when we had a one year old child who was going crazy in the kitchen while I was trying to as quickly as possible get some food on the dinner table. The stress level was high and I hated cooking just because of that.


Second, she talks about the prestige invested in the faulty dietary recommendations (avoid fat instead of sugar)  and that knowing how the research community works, it will probably take a good while before these faulty assumptions are corrected. She adds that if the politicians get involved, then change might come sooner. Unfortunately, I am more pessimistic than Fernholm. I think the politicians have invested just as much prestige, if not even more, in this cholesterol/fat-scare than the scientists. Besides, much of the funding of political campaigns probably comes from the food industry, and if not in form of direct money to finance the fake smiley faces next to the roads during election times, then at least the politicians have consequences to take when food industry starts making losses and jobs are lost. Instead, I think it is now up to each and everyone of us to decide about our future: do we want to have a healthy future or do we want to continue making ourselves sick by the way we are eating? And then act accordingly. The problem is of course up here in the north the school and daycare food, which is steered by the state dietary recommendations. Here once again, I have little hope that change will come from above. Instead I think that as the consciousness grows among parents, we can start putting pressure on the municipality to do something about the food. Particularly once more real stories of success start raising up to the surface. Change will happen, once those parents who have seen remarkable change in their children by changing their diets start speaking up and making everyone else aware of the health gains to be won by reducing sugars, fast carbs and increasing the amount  real food (and real fat) dare to speak up!

Until now we who have noticed the difference have been met with a lot of skepticism when trying to tell the world about our observations. I think it is the natural resistance to change that produces this reaction. But I also think that books like Fernholm's book can help our message to grow stronger. I think it can help many children suffering from food addictions or behavioral problems categorized as ADHD or hyperactivity once their parents understand the connection between getting rid of the sweet tooth and their children's health. After all, I think we all want what is best for both ourselves and our children. But while the establishment continues preaching the risks of fat and the non-addictiveness of sugars, it is hard to let loose and believe in other contradictory stories.

I also think there might be a big step between realizing that Fernholm's book is right to the point and then actually doing something about it.That is the biggest challenge of them all; the challenge of changing lifestyles! More about that in a later post!

Oh, and I am also happy that Fernholm's book will be published in Finnish soon!Yey, yey, happy happy! :-)



Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Yoggie

Ok, here is the deal. I am now also a real yogurt producer. I got myself a yoggie machine from the local flea market and a batch of real unpastorized yogurt from Helsinki last weekend. I was amazed by the local food movement offering, it is maybe a bit too hipster for my un-hipster lifestyle, but still, amazed. Feel a bit out when I have to travel 500 km just to get a batch of real yogurt! And then another 12 km for the real milk straight from the farmer. But now I have it, and the production is rolling. Let's see what we have in the small glass jars tomorrow morning!

Sadly though, I might not be able to use the yogurt for the intended purpose. Kidtwo fell ill again and we had to cut out the raw milk from his diet... again... Hope we will be able to try it again soon, because whatever Sanna Ehdin says about the dangers of milk (read her post here in Swedish), I still think life is soooo much easier if you can fill up the kids with that white protein drink once in a while!


Tuesday, April 9, 2013

About my process

Forget the gut healing stuff. I had one good day, Saturday, when I followed the GAPS rules, bone broth, ginger tea, broccoli soup on bone broth, ginger tea, meat soup with some more broth.... And then, what happened? Well life happened. Kidtwo sick again. And I cannot follow such a strict diet when tired and with other issues to take care. So I decided to skip it. We still continue eating soups this week, because I probably made some 20 liters of bone broth. Or more. Not even sure if I need to do such a strict diet. My problems aren't really that big at the end of the day. Skin rash at the nose still there though. Bugger. I've tried many different natural remedies and even thought that garlic finally would take care of it, but not yet. I'll blame it on the weather, too cold for this time of the year! I am supplementing with magnesium though, and that is good. As well as some good probiotic pills, fermented food, kefir. And yes, zero sugar. Not even fruit. But today I think I'll break that rule also.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Ayurveda cooking

I did a course in cooking according to ayurveda principles with nutritionist Nina at "Real Food" (btw, if you need nutritional help in Helsinki I would recommend her- and this is not a commercial, just an advice). The event was really interesting and I learned quite a bit. The plate is supposed to include tastes that activate all your different "senses" in the mouth: sweet, bitter, sour, salty, astringent, pungent. Also it is important to activate the tummy before you eat and in ayurveda eating you do not drink with the food  but before you eat. That was interesting because as I am reading up on the GAPS diet I realize that they have this in common; the GAPS diet only encourage you to drink bone broth together with the dinner. The (filtered) water should be drank in between meals and preferably as ginger tea. All this also to activate the acids in the stomach for better digestion. Chai tea in the ayurveda diet helps with digestion. Only raw milk is ok in the GAPS diet, and that is after the intro-period. So I guess if I'd like to mix the two, I'd have to have raw milk. Lucky me, I have a local supplier for that nowadays!

Also, in ayurveda, what you should eat also depends on your body type, or dosha. There are three of them: pitta, vata, and kapha. We all have a bit of them all but there is one or two that are more dominant. The trick is to find a balance between diet/lifestyle and dosha. Read more here: The three dosha.

Here are some pictures from the ayurveda event: