Healthy Junk Food Substitutes

Do you put more money in the candy machine than the collection plate each week?

If you're like most people, you'd not even aware of how much money you're spending on junk food snacks every week of your life.

Want to try an interesting junk food experiment?

Keep a written log for one week and write down every penny you devote to non-meal foods. You'll be stunned after seven days to see how much of your hard-earned cash is paying for sugar-filled soft drinks, candy bars, potato and corn chips, and crap "food" that has little or no nutritional value.

If you want to snack, and most people do these days, give some thought to these healthy alternatives to junk food:

• Snack on organic raisins
• Snack on dates with an almond stuffed inside
• Snack on other dried fruits

If you're watching your weight or if you're diabetic or have sugar-related health issues, include in your bag of healthy snacks some celery and carrot sticks and intermix bites of dried fruit with bites of veggie sticks.

You'll save money and feel a whole lot better than you'll feel if you continue to consume convention junk food.

Chet Day
Editor, The Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Addictive Sweet Potato Burritos

Let's start this Monday with a healthy and tasty recipe, courtesy of Karena, who writes of it...

Once you've had one - you'll want another. The recipe is a little different from most burrito recipes, but I've had many, many requests for it. Serve these with sour cream, chopped green onions and salsa. For vegan burritos, omit the cheese and sour cream. These may be made ahead of time, individually frozen, then heated. For an interesting variation, try deep frying these tasty burritos.

Sweet Potato Burritos

3 tsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups canned kidney beans, drained
2 cups water
3 Tbs chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
4 tsp prepared mustard
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
3 Tbs soy sauce
4 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
12 (10-inch) flour tortillas, warmed
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350F degrees (175C degrees ).

Heat oil in a medium skillet, and saute onion and garlic in until soft. Stir in beans and mash. Gradually stir in water and heat until warm. Remove from heat and stir in the chili powder, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper and soy sauce.

Divide bean mixture and mashed sweet potatoes evenly between the warm flour tortillas. Top with cheese. Fold up tortillas burrito style.

Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven and serve.

If you have a burrito recipe you'd like to share, click on the comments button below.

Chet Day
Editor, The Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Fabulous Avocado Recipe

It's the day after Thanksgiving, and you're probably not thinking about food as much today as you were yesterday.

If you are thinking about food as much today as you were yesterday, you're in trouble.

In any event, just a quick entry today to share a wonderfully simple and very healthy avocado recipe:

Avocado with Grapes

1 ripe avocado
1/2 cup grapes

Blend the ripe avocado with the 1/2 cup grapes and serve on salad or on crackers as a spread.

Whoa, what a surprise taste!

If you'd like to share a favorite avocado recipe, just click on the comment button below and have at it.

Chet Day
Editor, The Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Preaching Hallelujah Diet Heresy

Pastor Jonathan Crosby of Greenville, S.C., has added another voice to the never-ending Hallelujah Diet chorus... or maybe I should say cacophony.

You see, every week for months now in his newsletter, "Christian" George Malkmus has been attacking "Christian" Jordan Rubin. According to Malkmus, Rubin, author of The Maker's Diet, attacked the Hallelujah Diet in his book so Malkmus opted not to turn the other cheek.

And now Jonathan Crosby, the leader of a self-described "congregation of baptized saints of Jesus Christ," rips into fellow "Christian" George Malkmus.

Didn't Jesus say somewhere in the bible these guys all claim to understand so well that people should "love one another"?

In any event, with biting and entertaining prose, Crosby exposes the multitude of biblical contradictions in Malkmus's wild claim to be teaching "God's Diet."

For example, in the prologue to the document, the South Carolina pastor writes, "George Malkmus, a self-proclaimed reverend, turned wild vegetarian ideas into a mass-marketing business to prey on gullible Christians. He sells juicers, distillers, supplements, books, and gimmicks to fleece the simple... This document exposes his heresy for Bible Christians by the infallible Word of God. If you think it too harsh, read Psalm 119:128 and Isaiah 8:20. Amen!"

Click here to read Crosby's full indictment of fellow "Christian" George Malkmus.

Although I don't agree with much of what Crosby has to say about diet, I do appreciate his commentary on a program that is hurting a lot of Christians (especially expectant mothers, nursing mothers, babies, children, and teen-agers).

If you or anyone you know on the Hallelujah Diet is having problems, I have answers for you at

http://chetday.com/biblicalnutritionarticles.htm

These are answers you won't get from Hallelujah Acres.

In fact, Hallelujah Acres and their PhD researcher Michael Donaldson have still not answered the objections raised about their diet over two years ago in the article by former Health Minister
Greg Westbrook at

http://chetday.com/hallelujah-diet-dangers.htm

Chet Day
Editor, The Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Calorie Restriction Equals Better Health

Most Americans eat three meals a day and guzzle soft drinks and coffee and snack on junk food during many of the rest of their waking hours.

That's why we, as a culture, weigh more than any society in the history of the earth.

And most Americans feel tired and blue a lot of the time.

If you're not happy and energetic and feeling on top of your game before you sit down for your next meal, try skipping that meal.

It's amazing how much better you'll feel by this simple act of calorie restriction.

Simple caloric restriction to ease or even relieve the blahs sounds weird, I know, but it works in many cases, and it's a lot cheaper than pigging out on a big Mac, a coke, and an order of nasty fries cremated in sickening hydrogenated oil.

Luigi Cornaro first practiced a calorie restriction diet back in 14th century Italy, and he lived to the age of 102 by following two cardinal rules:

• Eat what agrees with your digestion (quality);
• Eat as little as possible (quantity).

Luigi suggests that by following these rules and by also stopping bad habits and breathing fresh air and taking sunlight and a few other simple steps, one's emotions come into balance along with one's health.

I can't unequivocally confirm the truths of these two rules for life, but I can say that the less I eat of foods that agree with me, the healthier I feel.

And we certainly have endorsement of Cornaro's rules from other individuals who have lived naturally and moderately for many years. Repeatedly, these individuals stress that over-eating causes more harm for more people than just about any other human habit.

See what else old Luigi, the world's first natural health guru and creator of the first calorie restriction diet, had to say by setting your browser to:

http://chetday.com/luigi.html

Give your stomach and digestive system a break today. Even they need a rest from a meal once in a while.

Especially with the annual Thanksgiving gluttony only two days away!

Chet Day
Editor, The Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Drink Water Instead of Soft Drinks

At one time, I used to slop down three or four cans of Dr. Pepper every afternoon of my life. And that was after having three or four cups of coffee every morning.

Not anymore.

These days I only drink pure water or freshly extracted vegetable juices, and I feel a lot better for doing so. My wallet does too.

If you stop drinking all soft drinks today, I guarantee you'll feel significantly better in one week.

If you want to freak out on true details about the relationship between soft drinks and health in American, set your browser to:

http://www.cspinet.org/sodapop/liquid_candy.htm

Give yourself a break today... drink pure water instead of soft drinks or coffee.

And for a treat, have an 8-ounce glass of freshly extracted vegetable juice.

Chet Day
Editor, The Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Sun Tan with No Sun Glasses

Get some sun, for Pete's sake.

Contrary to all the baloney put out by the sunscreen industry and far too many dermatologists who should know better, exposure to the sun each day builds health and well-being.

If you're an American or a Canadian, you're probably deficient in sunlight.

Try this: strip off as much clothing as modesty or surrounding allows and then walk or sun bathe for 10-15 minutes each day. Doing this in the early morning or late afternoon hours works just fine, especially if you are fair-skinned. Breathe deeply and feel the air and the rays of the sun as they touch your body.

Moderate sun bathing like this won't result in a bronze sun tan, but, hey, unless you're a movie star, you don't need that anyway.

Do not use sunscreen.

What? No sunscreen?

Correct.

If you're getting moderate sun exposure, you don't need sunscreen.

The American Cancer Society, of course, has a different view and says, "The best way to lower the risk of melanoma is to avoid too much exposure to the sun and other sources of UV light…. Avoid being outdoors in sunlight too long, especially in the middle of the day when UV light is most intense…."

William B. Grant, Ph.D., who heads the Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center (SUNARC) in San Francisco strongly disputes the ACS stance, however. He says, "This is not particularly good advice. There are several papers indicating that occupational exposure to sunlight reduces the risk of melanoma (Kennedy 2003). It is having fair skin, a high-fat, low fruit and vegetable diet, sunburning, etc., that are more linked to melanoma than total UV exposure."

Famed cancer researcher Dr. Ralph Moss discusses why moderate sun exposure builds health rather than destroying it in an excellent two-part article. Read Part One at

http://chetday.com/skincancersun.htm

and Part Two at

http://chetday.com/sunskincancer.htm

Almost everyone comes away from 10-15 minutes in the sun feeling a lot better.

And, no, tanning beds do not serve as healthy substitutes.

Batteries need electricity to recharge.

Our bodies need some sunlight each day to do the same thing.

Have a good weekend, and I'll see you again on Monday.

Chet Day
Editor, The Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Natural Heartburn and Indigestion Relief

Most people these days suffer from heartburn and/or indigestion.

Most people spend a lot of money on prescription or over-the-counter remedies for these problems, remedies that often don't work.

Well, today I want to share a natural heartburn and indigestion relief tip that probably won't cost you anything other than a trip to the vegetable bin in your refrigerator.

Celery

As my friend Melissa put it when she sent me this tip, "Raw celery possesses the correct amount of whatever that instantly seems to neutralize and calm down an upset stomach. Natural antacid, they call it."

And, as Margaret later explained in more detail, "The whatever that celery has is an alkaline pH, and that's why it neutralizes the acidity of heartburn. Eating it raw or drinking the juice in combination with other greens, plus apple, carrot, etc is a great way to alkalize and cure a lot of other problems besides the heartburn! I have used it frequently in lieu of antacids or Rx remedies!"

If you have a favorite natural remedy for heartburn or indigestion, click on the comment button below and share it with Health Circus readers.

That's it for Thursday.

Chet Day
Editor, The Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Mary Lou's Super Salad

Here's an idea... make every Wednesday evening meal a "super salad" day.

Instead of picking up fast food on the way home from work today, stop at a grocery store and purchase the simple fixings to make yourself a healthy salad.

Don't know any good salad recipes?

That's no excuse... here's one from Mary Lou:

Mary Lou's Super Salad

An old standby with a twist

1 bunch Romaine lettuce
Baby Spinach greens
1 Tbs grated imported Swiss cheese or cheese of choice or low-fat substitute
1 tsp lemon juice
1 large clove garlic, peeled
1 egg boiled for 60-seconds
Cayenne pepper to taste
2 Tbs olive oil
Salt to taste

Sprinkle salt on the bottom of a large wooden bowl and generously rub the bottom and sides with the garlic clove. Add the mustard, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper to taste. Stir with a wooden spoon until the salt dissolves. Rinse the lettuce or other greens well. Dry with a paper towel.

Tear the lettuce into bite-size pieces and place them in the bowl. Sprinkle with the grated cheese. Break the egg over the salad. Thoroughly mix by tossing gently until the ingredients are distributed uniformly.

Talk about healthy and good!

If you're really serious about your health, you'll start lunch and dinner day with a big salad. I'll write more about why you should do this in an upcoming blog.

Finally, if you have a healthy salad recipe you'd like to share, click on the comment button below and have at it.

See you tomorrow.

Chet Day
Editor, The Health Circus
http://chetday.com

Stop Farting -- Try Sequential Eating for Relief

Got gas? Tummy bubbling and groaning, tumbling and moaning every time you sit down to eat?

Do you pop a Rolaids or Tums after half your meals?

Then you're one of millions of other Americans who aren't digesting their foods.

Want a free solution that has worked for thousands?

Try sequential eating.

This'll sound weird, but it works for a lot of folks.

Instead of eating a forkload of beans and then a forkload of potatoes and then a forkload of salmon, eat all of one food first and then go on to the next item on your plate.

For this to work properly, you MUST eat the least dense food first and the most dense last.

For example, your dinner consists of salad, green beans, boiled red potatoes, and salmon. (We'll ignore the fact that this is a bad combination and that for best digestion starches and proteins shouldn't be eaten at the same meal at all.)

To practice sequential eating, you'd eat all of each item in this order:

1. Eat all the salad.
2. Eat all the green beans.
3. Eat all the potatoes.
4. Eat all the salmon.

Everyone will think you've lost your mind. Just tell them your doctor told you to do it and then they'll leave you alone.

To repeat the key principle:

You MUST eat the least dense food first and the most dense last.

I had one man write and tell me his 50+ year indigestion problems resolved in two days after he started practicing sequential eating.

Amazing!

If you have a natural method you're using to cut down on gas and indigestion, click on the comment button below and share it with reader's of The Health Circus.

That's it for this Tuesday. I'll see you again tomorrow with another natural health tip that'll help you improve your life.

Chet Day
Editor, The Health Circus
http://chetday.com/

Let's Make a Crock of Healthy Gumbo

Having living in New Orleans for almost 25 years before ending up in rural North Carolina, I cultivated a taste for gumbo and other spicy "City that Care Forgot" recipes.

Health seekers and vegans will find today's featured recipe interesting and tasty. Thanks to Candace Murphy for sharing this recipe, which I believe she got from Laurel's Kitchen (Elisabeth Freeman).

Crockpot Vegan Gumbo

Even vegans can have their gumbo and eat it too. Here's how. Serves eight. Oh, and did we mention that this recipe is extremely low-fat?

1/4 tsp allspice
3 whole cloves
1 cup corn kernels
1 diced green pepper
1 cup cooked lima beans
1 1/2 cup sliced okra
1 chopped onion
1 tsp salt
2 cups diced tomatoes
4 cups vegetable stockwater for sauteeing

Saute onion, green pepper, and cloves in a dry nonstick pan until soft (use medium heat). Add water as necessary to prevent sticking. Remove cloves.

Put onion mixture, tomatoes, vegetable stock, lima beans, corn, okra, salt and allspice in your crockpot.

Cover and cook on high for 6 hours (or on low for 8 to 10 hours). Serve on brown rice or as a thick soup.

Tips: You can saute the onion mixture in oil if you want, but that adds a little fat, of course.
Add a little salt to the onions as they cook, to draw water out of them and make them less likely to stick.

That's it for Monday. Have a great week.

Chet Day
Editor, The Health Circus
http://chetday.com

P.S. Feel free to hit the comment button to add a favorite gumbo recipe of your own to this thread.

Welcome to Chet Day's Health Circus

Well, I finally bit the bullet and decided to start a blog to beef things up a bit around the old website.

I'm going to try to spend at least a few minutes several days a week sharing a natural health tip or recipe or else ranting or raving about something that's pissed me off in the health circus.

To start things off, here's a health tip about sugar:

Say No To Sugar for One Week and Feel Like a New Person

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, per capita consumption of added sugars has risen by 28% since 1983. The average American consumes at least 64 pounds of sugar per year, and the average teenage boy at least 109 pounds.

Consuming the typical amount of white sugar makes most people moody or hyper or cranky or nasty or just plain sick.

Scientific studies funded by the sugar industry "prove" that white sugar won't hurt us one lick and is supposedly good for us.

Baloney.

Be your own scientific study. Remove all white sugar from your diet for seven days and amaze yourself at how much better you'll feel at the end of that period.

More disturbing sugar facts from the CSPI:

The typical American gets 16% of his or her calories from added sugars.

Children aged 6 to 11 get 18% of their calories from added sugars.

Teenagers (12 to 19) get 20% of their calories from added sugars.

USDA projects that if consumption trends continue, added-sugars intake will increase almost 20% between 1996 and 2005.

People who consume diets high in added sugars consume lower levels of fiber; vitamins A, C, E, and folate; magnesium; calcium; and other nutrients. By displacing protective nutrients and foods in the diet, added sugars may increase the risk of osteoporosis, cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease and other health problems.

Calorie-dense foods, which are typically high in sugar and/or fat, contribute to obesity. Between 1976-80 and 1988-94, overweight rates in teenage boys rose from 5% to 12%, in teenage girls from 7% to 11%, and in adults from 25% to 35%. If you think the obesity trend hasn't continued, stop and look at the people around you when you're outside today.

I repeat the point of today's health tip: remove all refined sugar (read the labels on everything you eat and purchase) out of your diet for one week and see how much better you feel and act without the stuff in your body.

Some docs were onto the dangers of refined sugar almost a hundred years ago. For an interesting flash from the past, check out:

http://chetday.com/sugar.html

That's it for my first entry.

I hope you'll find this space amusing, interesting, and worth your time.

Chet