Blueberries faked in products

I've been talking about this for a few years now, but here's a great video that shows a great example of what products REALLY contain. 
 
Blueberries faked in cereals, muffins, bagels and other food products - Food Investigations - NaturalNews.tv

Make this post will refresh your memory of what food coloring is really made of: Food Coloring.

First time cooking: Duck

I just posted my first time cooking duck. Well, my husband grilled it, but you'll see =)

Check it out at www.SimplyJenelle.com and follow the "New Recipe" links. Enjoy!

Sulfites in Wine.

I've wondered for some time why wine, even organic, contained sulfites. Well after looking into it, I found this website that explained it in perfect detail and simplicity. I'm going to cheat and just paste the excerpt:

Wine and Sulfites: The Facts

AN ORGANIC WINE IS FIRST AND FOREMOST A WINE MADE WITH GRAPES GROWN ORGANICALLY

The public often equates organic wines with "sulfite-free" wines but this is inaccurate. Organic wines are produced using organically grown grapes. No pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chemical fertilizers, or synthetic chemicals of any kind are allowed on the vines or in the soil. Only mined minerals, natural extracts and derivatives can be applied. Strict rules govern the winemaking process and storage conditions of all imported and domestic wines that acquire certification. Organic winemakers are not allowed to use the various chemical substances commonly found in conventional wineries to make or modify their wines. In case of emergency their toolbox is limited to a few harmless substances.

SULFITES ARE A NATURAL BYPRODUCT OF FERMENTATION

Fermenting yeasts present on all grape skins generate naturally occurring sulfites in amounts ranging from 6 to 40 parts per million (ppm). Totally sulfite-free wines are therefore an accident of nature but wines low in sulfites or free of added sulfites do exist. Wines can be labelled as "Organic Wine" if no sulfites have been added and the total does not excced 10ppm in the bottle.

[According to Professor Roger Boulton, Ph.D., U.C. Davis, Department of Viticulture and Enology, even if no sulfur dioxide is added to wine, fermenting yeasts will produce SO2 from the naturally occurring inorganic sulfates in all grape juices. Thus, says Boulton, it is impossible for any wine to be completely free of sulfur dioxide.]

WHAT ABOUT ADDED SULFITES?

Sulfur has been used as a preservative in winemaking for quite some time. To prevent wine spoilage, European winemakers pioneered the use of sulfur dioxide (SO2) two hundred years ago. Unfortunately, freshly pressed grape juice has a tendency to oxidize and spoil due to contamination from bacteria and wild yeasts present on the grape skins. Not only does sulfur dioxide inhibit the growth of molds and bacteria, but it also stops oxidation (browning) and preserves the wine's natural flavor.

Although technical advances permit the industry to add much less sulfur, most serious winemakers and enology professors concur that to make a consistently stable wine, some sulfites must be added to those naturally present which are not chemically active. A handful of winemakers go beyond that: They use no added sulfites at all. However, sulfite agents, when properly handled and kept to reasonable levels, are not intrinsically toxic to humans or to the environment, and many feel they are essential in order to prevent oxidation or bacterial spoilage. Therefore, American and European organic winemaking standards allow for the addition of strictly regulated amounts of SO2.

In the U.S., wines can contain up to 350ppm of sulfites. Organic winemaking standards, as adopted recently (12/00) by the USDA, limit the use of sulfites to 100ppm in all finished products. However, most organically grown wines contain less than 40ppm of sulfites. The Organic Wine Company line of wines, for instance, is regularly analyzed by the local BATF laboratory. On average the reds contain 40ppm of total sulfites (20 to 60) while the whites, along with the sparkling, contain around 70ppm (50 to 90). Some show none at all (Cartagene or certain vintages of Guy Chaumont wines). For us, this does not represent a criterion of quality in and of itself since we know that all our producers are striving to use the smallest possible amount of sulfites given their respective situation.

SULFITES IN OTHER PRODUCTS.

According to Mitchell Zeller of the Washington, D.C. based Center for Science in the Public Interest, sulfites exist in a wide variety of products at levels that are comparable to, or in excess of the concentration that is found in wine. The presence of sulfites ranging from 6 to 6000 ppm is found in products such as fruit juices, dried fruits, fruit concentrates, syrups, sugar, jams, gelatins, cake toppings, baked goods, pizza dough, frozen and dehydrated potatoes, processed vegetables, cheeses, as well as in many prescription drugs.

"CONTAINS SULFITES"

At the present time both the US and the EU regulations require that all wines, beers and spirits exceeding 10 parts per million of sulfites bear the mention "Contains Sulfites" on their label. Wines that contain less than 10 ppm sulfites are not required to do it and can state "Free of Added Sulfites" if that is the case.

WHO IS AT RISK?

The FDA says only about .4% of the population, or about a million people, is considered highly allergic to sulfites. According to Dr. Vincent Marinkovich, an allergist and clinical immunologist who has performed extensive research on SO2, sulfites pose no danger to about 99.75% of the population; the highest risk group are asthmatics (about 5% of the population) and only about 5% of this group is allergic to sulfites.

Many people, however, have simply a low tolerance for sulfites. They are considered sulfite-sensitive. Even for moderate wine drinkers, the average level of sulfites found in many commercial wines can cause heartburns or other side effects. Unpleasant reactions include burning sensations, hives, cramps, and flushing of the skin. For them, organically grown wines are an especially good choice since they contain minimal amounts of sulfites that will in most cases lie below their threshold level.
The link you can find this information is: http://www.theorganicwinecompany.com/sulfites.php 


What is Ascorbic Acid, really?

During flu season and especially when feeling the onset of a cold coming, we always get out our trusty Vitamin C from the medicine cabinet. The typical dosage people take when feeling sick or for immune building is about 500-1000 mg a day (more when sick). But when you look closely at the bottle, 98% of the time you'll see ascorbic acid (or the less acidic form called ascorbate) as the main form of C, but I'll teach you a little something you may not know.

Ascorbic acid is NOT vitamin C. It represents the outer ring that serves as a protective shell for the entire vitamin C complex, much like an orange peel that serves as a protective shell for an orange.

In essence, you're not really taking Vitamin C. You're taking a synthetic form that is not as readily bioavailable as C from food. You're not getting the full benefits of what the entire C complex contains. For example, vitamin C contains the following components:
  • Rutin
  • Bioflavonoids (vitamin P)
  • Factor K
  • Factor J
  • Factor P
  • Tyrosinase
  • Ascorbinogen
  • Ascorbic Acid
New Chapter C Food Complex
It's unbelievable how many times I see people buying all or some of these in their synthetic form when all they have to do is consume foods containing vitamin C (which has the full complex) or taking a C supplement that is whole food based. 

Here's the deal: When you take only ascorbic acid found in your synthetic vitamin C tablet or powder, your body must get all of the other components listed above from your body’s tissues in order to make use of it. 

Garden of Life Raw Vitamin C
Please understand that ascorbic acid itself DOES NOT provide any of the health benefits that the full vitamin C complex does. 

After circulating through your system, the unused ascorbic acid is eliminated through your urine.

There are several GOOD supplement companies that offer food based vitamin C from the following sources: acerola fruit, amla berry, and camu camu. Two of my favorite supplement companies that ONLY use whole foods and herbs are New Chapter and Garden of Life. 

When looking at whole food based supplements, don't look for the same milligrams you're used to. All are NOT created equal. When you take 1000 mg of ascorbic acid, you only absorb about 10-30% of the tablet or capsule, which is why we take such high doses. When you consume natural forms of C, you're getting it from food, not from a foreign synthetic form that is unrecognized by your body. 

Bottom line: always try to take the food based form, whether in supplement or in food form, of vitamins and minerals for all your health needs, but especially with vitamin C.

RDA (Recommended Daily Amount) = 60mg
ODA (Optimum Daily Amount - good for daily use) = 1,000-3,000mg
TDA (Therapeutic Daily Allowance - by doctor's recommendation only) = 10,000mg

Worst type of birth control.

A few weeks ago, we had a lady who came in to exchange the chlorophyll she had purchased with one from another brand. Her reason? One of the "other ingredients" included was Polysorbate 80. I overheard her telling the cashier that someone had told her that ingredient caused infertility.

I immediately looked into this because that's what I do. I found the following research:

According to Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, Volume 95, Number 6, December 2005 , pp. 593-599(7), "it is of current relevance as a 'hidden' inductor of anaphylactoid reactions", and "Polysorbate 80 was identified as the causative agent for the anaphylactoid reaction of nonimmunologic origin in the patient. Conclusions: Polysorbate 80 is a ubiquitously used solubilizing agent that can cause severe nonimmunologic anaphylactoid reactions."

What does that mean? It can cause severe damage to your immune system and can lead to anapyhlactic shock which can kill you. In fact, the study above included pregnant women who suffered anaphylactic shock after being given an IV drip of multi-vitamins containing polysorbate 80.
 
**You should NEVER eat, drink, put on your skin or inject Polysorbate 80 because of its toxicity.**
That's not the only study either. There have been numerous studies showing that this toxic stabilizer (which is why it's an added ingredient) causes infertility: Gajdova M, Jakubovsky J, Valky J.Delayed effects of neonatal exposure to Tween 80 on female reproductive organs in rats. Food Chem Toxicol. 1993 Mar;31(3):183-90. PMID: 8473002.

To make matters worse, scientists from the World Intellectual Property Organization (part of the United Nations) are developing vaccines specifically to damage fertility as a method of contraception due to overpopulation. A suggested ingredient: polysorbate 80!

Does Gardasil sound familiar? Of course! It's the vaccination that has been pushed all over commercials to girls ages 9-26 to prevent cervical cancer. What are one of its ingredients? Polysorbate 80. Am I sounding redundant??? It stands to reason that this may be one of the main reasons infertility and miscarriages are extremely common.
One of many examples of products containing Polysorbate 80
 
Polysorbate 80 is found in shampoos, soaps, bubble baths, dairy products (mostly ice cream), canned or jarred food, and even vitamins! Start reading labels carefully for this toxic ingredient and keep you and your loved ones far from it.
 
Now you know.

Been too long!

I want to thank all my loyal followers that have been bothering me about updating my blog. I've had so much to write, but not the time to do it. I just moved to Orlando last week and started a new job as manager of the supplements department in a natural health food store. It's been a little time consuming...

BUT...

this year, one of my goals is to make sure I keep this updated with at least one blog a week as well as my website, www.SimplyJenelle.com.

I have a new post I'll submit tomorrow. If there's anything specific you want me to write about, please let me know and I'll give that preference. I have a HUGE list of topics I'll be covering!

Thanks for reading!!!!