"Mountain Dew" Mouse

I just spotted this short article (Mountain Dew would have dissolved mouse) while signing out of my email. Reading this reminds me of one of the many reasons myself and my family choose to eliminate food and beverage products like Mountain Dew from our diet.

Just the name of this drink demonstrates what an abomination it is in relation to its name. What exactly is in Mountain Dew? According to the producer Pepsi, it contains the following ingredients:

CARBONATED WATER, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CONCENTRATED ORANGE JUICE, CITRIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVORS, SODIUM BENZOATE (PRESERVES FRESHNESS), CAFFEINE, SODIUM CITRATE, ERYTHORBIC ACID (PRESERVES FRESHNESS), GUM ARABIC, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA (TO PROTECT FLAVOR), BROMINATED VEGETABLE OIL, YELLOW 5

Source: PepsiCo

What could possibly dissolve a mouse? Let's examine some of the suspects:
Link
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS):
Is used in a range of food products and medicines these days because it is a cheap sweetener. However, some of the dangers of HFCS include:

1. Significant Risk of Weight Gain & Obesity

2. Increased Risk of Developing Type-2 Diabetes

3. Hypertension and Elevated triglyceride and HDL “Bad” Cholesterol Levels. Together these can cause arterial plaque build-up and eventually lead to dangerous heart conditions including hypertension, heart disease, and even stroke.

4. Long-Term Liver Damage, and damage to your kidneys and gallbladder.

5. Mercury Exposure. Mercury exposure can result in irreversible brain and nervous system damage – especially in young, growing bodies.

CONCENTRATED ORANGE JUICE
Wow, it has orange juice in it. Well, it can't be too bad you say. But wait let's investigate this one a little. Fresh squeezed and concentrated fruit juices are naturally high in fructose which raises your blood sugar. A high blood sugar level forces your pancreas to secrete extra insulin to shuttle the glucose into your cells. Any that is not needed is stored as fat, which contributes to obesity. When you combine juice concentrate with HFCS, excess sugar is quickly absorbed into your bloodstream.

CITRIC ACID
Could this be the culprit? Exposure to citric acid on human skin can result in rashes and reddening of the skin. I am not sure how much citric acid is present in a can Mountain Dew, but excessive consumption of citric acid can result in the loss of enamel on the teeth and tooth decay, the stomach cannot absorb excessive amounts of citric acid and the kidneys may be unable to break it down.

SODIUM BENZOATE
Sodium Benzoate, sometimes listed as E211 is a food preservative used in salad dressings, jams, pickles and other condiments. It is also used in fireworks, but that's another story. The dark side to E211....

 Danger to DNA
"Professor Peter W. Piper of the University of Sheffield claims that sodium benzoate by itself can damage and inactivate vital parts of DNA in a cell's mitochondria. Mitochondria consume oxygen to generate ATP, the body's energy currency. If they are damaged due to disease, the cell malfunctions and may enter apoptosis." Source: Wikipedia


Disclaimer:

This article is a stepping stone, a headline if you will. I suggest you do some research and don't take anything that I write as gospel. This is my small amount of research due to time constraints and your reading this suggests you have access to the internet. However, here are a few spots to start.

Further reading:

A sweet problem: Princeton researchers find that high-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain

Creamy mushroom and tomato soup

I just found this rv tasty soup recipe in the archives and thought to share. I think raw soups are an extension of the very popular Spanish gazpacho. Lovely for warm, balmy, summer nights. 

Ingredients
Serves: 2

P.S. All ingredients should raw where possible

11/2 tbsp wakame

200g mushrooms, optionally you could marinate mushrooms in a little olive oil and tamari for 10 minutes, set aside a few to garnish

1 shallot (spring onion)
2 tsp Udo flaxseed oil, olive oil or other cold pressed oil

1 tsp chia seeds

1/2 cup raw cashews

1/2 tomato or a few cherry tomatoes

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 aged garlic extract capsule, emptied or tsp garlic powder
2 digestive enzyme capsules, emptied (optional)

2 mushroom extract capsules, emptied (optional)

Garnish with basil or if you have marinated the mushrooms, 

RV Chocolate smoothie

The chocolate smoothie is not anything new. How can anyone really reinvent it. Maybe we can't but we can certainly play with various combinations. I think I had one of the best smoothies ever this morning and I didn't measure the ingredients. I am going to share it anyway. Apologies for the crazy measurements. My daughter drank half a glass without stopping and that is a record for her. Next time I make it I will measure and adjust to more conventional measurements. I think the secret to the magic of this drink is the vanilla, I would not leave it out. I haven't even mentioned the nutritional benefits either.

Yields: 2 tall glasses

Ingredients

One young thai coconut, liquid and meat
1 dessertspoon raw cocoa powder
2 dessertspoons coconut sugar
1 tsp vanilla
handful of cashews or two

Blend all ingredients and serve.

Red quinoa and lentil soup

Thought I would share this soup with you as hubby gave it a big thumbs up for healthiness and taste.  The lemon makes this rather zesty, Stay tuned for a variation on this recipe.

You will need: Food processor or blender

Ingredients

1 cup red quinoa, soaked overnight
1 cup red lentil, soaked overnight (optional)
1 vege stock cube
1 tomato
1/3 cup parsley leaves
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp beetroot powder (optional)
 1/2tsp salt
1 large or 2 garlic cloves
1/3 cup passata
1/4 tsp mace (optional)
pinch of chilli powder and or cayenne

Method
In a medium or large saucepan, cook lentils and quinoa together till quinoa is soft, add vege stock cube. The lentils will cook faster so you may want to give the quinoa five or ten minutes head start. With a fine mesh sieve, remove half the lentil and quinoa mixture and process together with the the rest of the ingredients. And then return mixture to the pot. Simmer for 10 minutes to allow flavours to merge.

Aussie favourites: Milo and Vanilla Ice-cream alternative

The other day I made a raw vanilla ice-cream for my daughter. I always use Heather Pace's recipe from her e-book "Ultimate Raw Ice Cream", it is the best and easy. I grated some Loving Earth's Lucuma & Maca Chocolate, mixed it into the ice-cream and also sprinkled it with Organic Times "Little Gem's", okay the last bit is not raw but I had some left over from a cake.

After I tasted it, it brought me back to a childhood favourite. I loved Milo by the spoonful. Warm milo whilst watching "Romper Room", an Australian children's TV series. Cold milo sometimes when I got home too. This progressed to milo and vanilla ice-cream. Actually my Nanna was made it with condensed milk for me, how decadent it all seemed back then.

Well, anyway I just wanted to share this to show you that when you explore organic wholefoods, sometimes you stumble upon an old favourite. And it also lets me share something with my daughter. A creamy, ice-treat that doesn't have all the nasties that store bought ice-cream and another product have.

Chocolate granola

We recently purchased a bulk amount of rolled oats for our porridge-loving daughter. My hubby also loves granola or muesli as we tend to call it here in Australia. I have wanted to make my own for a long time and it is so easy!

Whilst searching for a recipe to get a rough idea or proportions I came across an article about Sanitarium, a large food company in Australia throwing their weight around about trademarking the word "granola" in Australia: Sanitarium lays down law against cereal offender chefs. I wonder what Mr Kellogg what make of it all, the poor chap would be turning in his grave. Anyway, back to my granola recipe.

The flavour was beautiful for us and I was pleased to see my hubby not adding any raw honey to sweeten it. I think you could play around this with recipe. Add or exchange various dried fruits, double the cinnamon and nutmeg portions, add fresh ginger, cacao nibs, dessicated (dried) coconut, superfood powders.

Home-made granola served with raw hemp milk

This is very low in sweetener. All of my ingredients are organic, gmos and pesticides are not helpful for starting the day.

Yields/Servings: 6 cups

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 25 to 30 minutes

Dry ingredients
5 cups rolled oats
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup black sesame seeds
1/2 cup chia seeds
1/2 to 1 cup nuts of your choice
1/2 cup psyllium husks
1 tbsp lucuma
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup raw cacao powder
 1 cup goji berries (you may prefer to add after cooking)

Wet ingredients
3 tbsp virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup to raw honey or other substitute

Preheat over 180c (160c Fan Forced Oven/320 F/Moderately Slow). Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Add dry ingredients to a bowl and mix well.

If coconut oil and/honey is hard, warm on a low heat to a syrup consistency. Add syrup to dry ingredients and mix well. Place mixture into baking tray.

Stir mixture a few times. 

Cultural serving suggestion: 

Sunday morning sit on the couch and put on Alan Parker's 1994 comedy, "The Road to Wellville" DVD. Starring a barely recognisable Anthony Hopkins as Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his Battle Creek Health Institute, Michigan. I loved Matthew Broderick, Dana Carvey and Bridget Fonda in this. Also stars John Cusack, Colm Meaney and Lara Flynn Boyle.

If you can't sleep ... here's why!

I just had an afternoon nap. A very rare thing for me. I feel so clear in the head.