Coffee 'Creamer' Isn't Food. The Future of Organic Foods. Commercial Fruit Creates Acidity. “Father Of Canning”. New Zealand. 2000 Presidential Election.

 

For "Foodie Friday":

Powdered coffee 'creamer' isn't food, it's processed chemicals.

"Every day, millions of Americans add powdered coffee "creamer" products to their morning cups of joe because they falsely believe that these substances are somehow healthier than real cream. But little do they know that most coffee creamer products contain no actual cream, or food for that matter, as they are really nothing more than a crafty blend of toxic chemicals.

When powdered coffee creamers first came onto the scene back in the 1950s, they actually contained real dehydrated cream and sugar, which made them a convenient, non-perishable source of cream for coffee. Over time, however, manufacturers began to phase out the cream, and replace it with things like processed vegetables oils, stabilizers, chemical sweeteners, and other additives that were less expensive and that more easily dissolved in coffee.

Today, the average canister of so-called "creamer" substitute contains not a trace of actual food, at least not food in the technical sense of the word. Take the Coffee-Mate brand of coffee creamer, for instance. The original powder flavor contains corn syrup solids, hydrogenated vegetable oils, and a handful of stabilizing, emulsifying, and flavoring chemicals (http://www.coffee-mate.com).
Not only is there no "cream" of any kind in Coffee-Mate's Original Powder, but there are also no natural food ingredients whatsoever. This is why some countries actually require that powdered coffee additives be called "whiteners" rather than "creamers," since they do not actually contain any real cream.

Corn syrup solids and hydrogenated oils are highly-toxic 'non-foods'

Though both are derived from real food, corn syrup solids and hydrogenated oils are not technically foods themselves. To produce corn syrup solids, corn kernels are first transformed into corn starch, which is then chemically treated with hydrochloric acid, a highly-corrosive, industrial chemical solution that is also used to make plastic materials. The resulting liquid goo is then processed again and dried to form dried crystals -- delicious, eh?
And hydrogenated oils are produced using a similar chemical process that involves subjecting already heated, pressurized, and highly processed oils to various chemical catalysts and metals such as nickel and platinum that change its density and molecular structure. The final product is the definition of a trans-fat, which are linked to causing heart disease and death (http://www.naturalnews.com/027445_fat_fats_trans.html).
Then, there are ingredients like sodium caseinate, a milk derivative; mono- and diglycerides; sodium aluminosilicate; and artificial flavor, all of which are non-foods as well. Sodium caseinate, for instance, is derived from a milk protein known as casein using a chemical extrusion process. The chemical alteration is so significant that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not even consider the final product to be a dairy product.

And sodium aluminosilicate is an anti-caking, flow agent chemical additive produced specifically for use in processed food items, laundry detergents, and other dry, powdered products. Like its name implies, sodium aluminosilicate contains toxic aluminum, which is linked to organ and tissue damage, bone disorders, gastrointestinal problems, Alzheimer's disease, cell damage, and other problems (http://www.angelfire.com).

If dairy is problematic for your dietary needs but you still want to add creamer to your coffee, it is important to always read ingredient labels and carefully avoid all powdered creamer products that contain artificial ingredients.

Some great non-dairy alternatives to conventional creamer products include liquid coconut creamers like those made by So Delicious (http://www.sodeliciousdairyfree.com), for instance.    Fresh coconut cream or milk (http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com) and homemade almond milk  (http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2011/11/homemade-almond-milk/) are several other useful options as well.
Sources for this article include:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-dairy_creamer, (this is interesting).      From: http://www.naturalnews.com/035784_coffee_creamer_hydrogenated_oils_HFCS.html#

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The Future of Organic Foods

"Dr. Weil speaks about the future of organic foods and how there needs to be a change in the way we choose what we eat. If more people become involved and make their voices heard with organic foods, there can be great change in the way food is grown and consumed. We eat what is cheap and available, but by making changes we can live a healthier life and eat healthier foods."

"Learn more about organic foods and find out which foods you should always buy organic:
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02985/... "

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Unripe Fruit Creates Acidity, and Most Commercially Available Fruit is Unripe...

"Another interesting aspect relating to the consumption of fruit is the fact that often the fruit available at your local grocery store is not ripe, and unripe fruit, according to Dr. Clement, creates acidity in your body. (Ripe fruit is alkaline.) Sure, the fruit you buy may look ripe, but we actually have a vastly erroneous concept of how fruit ripens.

As it turns out, you cannot commercially process ripe fruit. If you were to pack ripe oranges in Florida, for example, and ship them to another state, they’d be rotten in about a week. Hence the fruit is picked months before it’s ripe. If you’re like most people, you probably think that once a fruit turns color and softens, it’s ripening. But this is not accurate.

Dr. Clement explains that in order for a fruit to optimally ripen, it must remain attached to the branch on the tree or bush. Nutrients are continuously fed to the fruit while on the tree. The veins that feed the fruit come from the roots, which in turn extract nutrients from the soil and beneficial soil bacteria. Add to that the UV rays from the sun, causing photosynthesis to occur throughout the plant. Once you pluck the fruit, it’s no longer receiving nutrients, and the ripening process stops. Hence the nutritional value of the fruit is compromised."  From: Click here: Hippocrates Health Institute's Way of Using Food as Medicine

From me: More reason to buy fruit and veggies at your local farmer's market.

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Never Hungry

An Amazing Fact: "When Napoleon’s armies invaded Europe, his general soon realized that an “army marches on its stomach” and that foraging for food was wasting time. But when the armies tried to carry their food with them, it spoiled. So in 1795, the French government offered a prize of 12,000 francs to any Frenchman who could find a way to preserve food. It wasn’t until 1809 that a French confectioner named Nicholas Appert claimed the money.

After almost 15 years of experimenting, Appert placed peas and carrots into wine bottles, cooked them at a high temperature, and then sealed the glass with a cork. The food remained edible after standing many days, and thus was discovered the basic principle of modern canning. Food preservation techniques have become so sophisticated that perishables can be preserved and remain edible for centuries!

 
Appert has been called the “father of canning” because of his invention of airtight food preservation. Later in 1810 a British inventor and merchant, Peter Durand, patented his own method of preserving food in a tin can. However, mass-producing canned food did not happen until the 20th century because of the difficulty of opening  the cans with a hammer and chisel. Not until someone invented a can opener did it really take off!

Do you know what the most perishable food in history is? “And Moses said, ‘Let no one leave any of it till morning.’ Notwithstanding, they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted” (Exodus 16:19–21).

 
We can be certain of one thing about food. Someday we will never have to worry about it spoiling. There will be plenty for us to enjoy in heaven. “They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore” (Revelation 7:16). God will supply our daily bread."

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On This Day:

Tasman discovers New Zealand, Dec 13, 1642:

"Dutch navigator Abel Tasman becomes the first European explorer to sight the South Pacific island group now known as New Zealand. In his sole attempt to land, several of Tasman's crew were killed by warriors from a South Island tribe, who interpreted the Europeans' exchange of trumpet signals as a prelude to battle. A few weeks earlier, Tasman had discovered Tasmania, off the southeast coast of Australia. Tasman had named the island Van Diemen's Land, but, like the Tasman Sea between New Zealand and Australia, it was later renamed Tasmania in the explorer's honor.

New Zealand, named after the Dutch province of Zeeland, did not attract much additional European attention until the late 18th century, when English explorer Captain James Cook traveled through the area and wrote detailed accounts of the islands. Whalers, missionaries, and traders followed, and in 1840 Britain formally annexed the islands and established New Zealand's first permanent European settlement at Wellington."

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Al Gore concedes presidential election, Dec 13, 2000:

"Vice President Al Gore reluctantly concedes defeat to Texas Governor George W. Bush in his bid for the presidency, following weeks of legal battles over the recounting of votes in Florida, on this day in 2000.

A Florida election official tries to divine a voter's intentions.

Gore had won the national popular vote by more than 500,000 votes, but narrowly lost Florida, giving the Electoral College to Bush 271 to 266.

Gore said he had telephoned Bush to offer his congratulations, honoring him, for the first time, with the title ''president-elect.''

''I promised that I wouldn't call him back this time'' Gore said, referring to the moment on election night when he had called Bush to tell him he was going to concede, then called back a half hour later to retract that concession.

A little more than an hour later, Bush addressed the nation for the first time as president-elect, declaring that the "nation must rise above a house divided." Speaking from the podium of the Texas House of Representatives, Bush devoted his speech to themes of reconciliation following one of the closest and most disputed presidential elections in U.S. history. ''I was not elected to serve one party, but to serve one nation,'' Bush said.

Bush and his running mate, Dick Cheney, took office on January 20, 2001.   They were re-elected in 2004 over Democrats John Kerry and John Edwards."

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Yesterday:

Misty and I went to get Jay, and had our walk down there.   Misty wanted to keep on walking, but we had to get back to the house as an AC man was coming to look at these two new Heat/Air conditioners that I bought for my house and the guest house.

Jay installed the other lattice triangle on the screen porch, and then he fixed the Puddle Jumper's bad battery terminal.  It just wouldn't close tightly around the post, so he took the bolt out and cut some off the inside of the terminal with a hacksaw.  Now the bolt tightens up.  We put the charger on it, and it started right away when I took Jay home.  But that wasn't for quite a while, as he wanted to mess about with a wallet.

In the meantime, Ray and I moved my computer desk away from the patio door that goes to the screen porch.  The long Ethernet cable had got pinched in a door, and so until I can get an new one, we had to use a shorter one.  The view isn't as great, but the PC needed to be moved anyway, to get it out of the way of the AC guy.  They went to the guest house first, and put a new 'brain' in that Heat/AC, but the fan still kept on blowing cold when the heat strip was off.   Then they said that is the way it is.  So when they came here to do mine, I told them not to bother, I would return the Heat/Airs and get something that didn't blow cold air on you on a cold day.  I got the sniffles over that thing.

Jay had bought a leather wallet the day before, and kept on going on about wanting it on a chain that he could hook to his belt loop. They had the chains and clasps at Walmart for $5, but he thought he could do better making his own.  He spent a lot of time drilling, and riveting, and messing about with the thing before I took him home.

It was still chilly outside, and I just couldn't get warm, especially when that heater is blowing cold air.  I could even feel the draft all the way into the kitchen.  So I asked Ray to help me get my 'kick-ass' 220v heater down from my attic.  Once that was plugged in, it didn't take long before I  warmed up.  The fan only runs when the element is on.

About 7.30pm Shay called to tell me that Ray was in the hospital.  He had been injured in a truck accident with a friend who wasn't from these parts.  About 3 miles from here, the friend took a corner too fast, and the truck rolled over.  We locals all know about that dimly-lit sharp corner.  Apparently, Ray is in better shape than the friend, but Ray has some serious cuts and bruises on his head and face, and I can't wait to find out how he is today.