Day 11- Sugar's Evil Step Sisters- Mmm, Chemicals!

Let’s talk about Soda (“Liquid Satan.”) Not only does a typical soda have 10 teaspoons of sugar (which I bemoaned yesterday,) the high levels of phosphorous can leach calcium from your body, which can lead to bone loss and even osteoporosis.

“There is nothing in soda that should be put in your body,” according to the Skinny Bitches.

If you are proudly saying, “I drink diet soda, I’m good!” PLEASE pour it out right now! And be careful where and on what because it will probably kill anything it lands on.

“Aspartame (an ingredient commonly found in diet sodas and other sugar-free foods) has been blamed for a slew of scary maladies, like arthritis, birth defects, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes.” – Skinny Bitch

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received more complaints from the public on aspartame than any other “food” product. There are actually aspartame victim support groups. According to Freedman and Barnouin,

 “Some of the ninety-two aspartame side effects listed by the FDA include memory loss, nerve cell damage, migraines, reproductive disorders, mental confusion, brain lesions, blindness, joint pain, Alzheimer’s, bloating, nervous system disorders, hair loss, food cravings, and weight gain.” 

No, I didn’t make a mistake. Diet soda leads to weight gain.

NutraSweet and Equal are the chemical sweeteners that contain aspartame. So why is aspartame so dangerous? When eaten, methyl alcohol, one of the ingredients in aspartame, changes into formaldehyde, a deadly neurotoxin which is carcinogenic (cancer-causing.)

Also, when aspartame is combined with carbs (like a chips and diet soda snack), it “causes your brain to slow down its production of serotonin. A healthy level of serotonin is needed to be happy and well balanced. So drinking diet soda can make you fat, sick, and unhappy.” – Skinny Bitch

Equal goes even a step further, increasing your risk of seizures, depression, and schizophrenia due to high levels of phenylalanine that go to your brain.

So, you prefer Sweet & Low? (You thought you were going to sneak on by, didn’t you?) It contains “saccharin, a coal-tar compound.” Mmmmm.

And Splenda? Remember when they told us that one was the new, safe alternative? It contains small amounts of heavy metals, methanol, and arsenic. Sucrose, in Splenda, is made by chlorinating sugar and “has been found to cause diarrhea; organ, genetic, immune system, and reproductive damage; swelling of the liver and kidneys; and a decrease in fetal body weight.” – Skinny Bitch
Additionally, there is evidence that Sucralose may increase appetite. (Wait, what?)

Please, throw those nasty chemicals AWAY! I won’t even go into the legal battles that happened to get them into our food, but I will say that they were shady and not in the best interest of human health. According to The Kind Diet, all artificial sweeteners followed the same path: “failing safety tests, being approved by the FDA anyway, and now producing ever-growing anecdotal evidence of ill effects.”

Also, beware of “low-fat” or “fat-free” claims on packages. What these words really mean, according to Skinny Bitch, is “Chemical Shit Storm.” Foods go through more processing to take out the fat. Typically, it means adding extra forms of sugar (or sweeteners), stripping the “food” of more minerals and vitamins, and adding hydrogenated oils (not diet food, really.)

I just heard someone say, “I’ll eat what I want now and just take medicine later.” (With all due respect...) Ugh. If your body is saying, “I don’t like this,” that’s a natural signal to keep it out of your body. 

“Every time you take medicine, you interfere with your body’s natural ability to heal itself. You are alleviating those intelligent responses that alert you to a problem, and sending false signals to your brain…most likely, your body is having an adverse reaction to the unhealthy crap you’re eating.” – Skinny Bitch

When we pay attention to our bodies and take proper care, the body is a perfect machine. We have the ability to heal ourselves. When we cover up the problems with medicine (chemicals), we cause other side effects that ruin the balance in other ways. Of course, there are times when medicine can be a necessary evil, but if you have a little headache, drink some water (you could just be dehydrated.) Or rest! The more chemicals that we regularly add into the body, the more likely we will be to fall out of balance and have to take more and more to ease the symptoms.

“He that takes medicine and neglects diet, wastes the skill of the physician.”
-Chinese Proverb

Ok, in case I've upset you by talking smack about those jerks Sugar, Diet Soda, and all their nasty friends, please enjoy this gooey, comforting recipe that will have you saying, "Sugar who?"

Polenta Gnocchi in Tomato Sauce

¼ cup olive oil
Prepared polenta (follow instructions on box.  I like to buy a pre-made roll of polenta from Trader Joes- I know what you’re thinking and I checked the ingredients – organic yellow corn meal, salt, water, vitamins)
2 cups spaghetti sauce (see below for a quick sauce)
¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley or basil, for garnish
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Prepare a baking sheet by placing a layer of aluminum foil (or better yet, parchment paper) over the surface, then grease with half of the olive oil.

2. Spread the polenta in a smooth layer on the baking sheet and refrigerate the polenta until cool and firm, 2 to 4 hours. Use a biscuit or ravioli cutter to stamp out rounds of polenta.

Note: For a thicker sauce, puree in a blender for 10-15 seconds. It makes it even and it spreads more nicely on the polenta.

3. Preheat the oven to 400 F (204.5 C).  Prepare a baking dish by coating it with the remaining olive oil. Arrange the polenta gnocchi so the pieces are slightly overlapping one another in the bottom of the baking dish.Generously spoon the sauce over the polenta gnocchi and bake until hot, about 30 minutes.

4. Remove the gnocchi from the oven and sprinkle with the parsley, then grind some fresh pepper over the top. Serve immediately.

Great with a salad!

Quick and Easy Pasta Sauce
Your favorite jarred (32 oz) sauce (watch the sugar and ingredients- Heinens has an organic sauce with no sugar)
1 TB olive oil
1 onion, diced
½ yellow bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
½ tsp parsley
1 pinch rosemary
1 tsp garlic powder

1. Heat the oil on medium-low and sauté the onions when hot. After 2 minutes, add the pepper. Add the oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary, and garlic powder. After 3 minutes, add the garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds (it gets aromatic.)

2. Pour about half to ¾ of the jar into the sauce pan (depending on if you want leftovers. Bring to a gentle boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.