It used to be that picking up a carton of milk was very simple. There was only one "kind": dairy milk. Now, the cow must make room for the almond, bean, grain, seed, and even the goat.
Whether it is lactose intolerance, milk allergies, veganism, taste or health reasons, people are switching to non-dairy forms of milk. The most common reason I have heard for giving up the cow are the potential health benefits.
Question: How much money does it take to up the health quotient of the food served in our nation's public schools and feed more low-income children?
Answer: $4.5 billion -- over 10 years.
Today, the Senate approved the "Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act" which seeks, among other things, to make food served in public schools more healthy.
Athletic-Minded Traveler has posted on this important topic before:
I give credit to Wendy's for making salads a big part of the fast food chain's menu. The burger joint just rolled out four new "premium" salad choices -- adding to the existing four choices. So salad eaters have 8 choices. Panera Bread is another fast-causal eatery that showcases salads. And with research lambasting frequent burger eating, substituting a tasty salad for a burger *can* be good for the body -- if you pick the right salad.
And that is the point of this post: How good/healthy are fast food chain salads?
Not too long ago, we blogged on Kombucha and its unique health benefits. Recently several of our die-hard Kombucha drinkers were aghast; Whole Foods had pulled GT's & Synergy's Kombucha beverages from store shelves. (Both are manufactured by Millennium Products.)
Some people strive to improve their eating habits. Others don't. And many restaurants seek to appeal to the later group.
I read from the Glendale News Press today:
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, in its January/February "Nutrition Action HealthLetter", ranked vegetables so that YOU can max out on any health benefits when you go GREEN.
What we also love about the article is that it provides the reasons as to why you should eat vegetables.
I love this little blurb that I read in the April 2010 issue of Cooking Light Magazine:
When UCLA researchers stuck salad bars in three elementary schools, they found that fruit and veggie consumption rose roughly 25 percent--a sign that poor eating habits at school may in part be the fault of poor selection, not resistance to fresh food.
Maybe it's because we just completed a post about healthy eating for kids, or maybe it's because we just love cookies, or maybe it's simply that we get excited when we find a treat that tastes good and has sensible nutrition properties.
This is not a new topic for the Team. Not long ago, we posted a healthy cookie comparison.
The Wall Street Journal (March 2nd, 2010) had a very informative piece about guarana, a highly caffeinated plant from South American that is used in a variety of products such as energy drinks, dietary supplements, herbal tea, beef jerky, and candy.
Bottom Line:
The
We introduced this topic in a recent post, where we readily admit that defining "healthy" is not easy. We are exploring the topic in the context of four categories. The first is food.
Above all, before anything else, we think it is imperative to:
1. Get educated about food
2. Get the "crap" out of the house
3. Be patient.
And if you aren't sure what the "crap" is, see #1 above.
