Bueller’s Kitchen

I’ve been wondering about this for awhile, whether Agave is actually good for you. I had read it wasn’t because of it’s high fructose make up but then I read that was all false. Now after reading Dr. Mercola’s post on agave syrup I am going to ween myself off of it for sure.

Here’s a portion of the article which you can read here:

The Myth of Agave as a “Healthy” Sugar Substitute

* Agave syrup is neither a natural food nor organic

Fully chemically processed sap from the agave plant is known as hydrolyzed high fructose inulin syrup.

According to Dr. Ingrid Kohlstadt, a fellow of the American College of Nutrition and an associate faculty member at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health:

“[Agave is] almost all fructose, highly processed sugar with great marketing.”

* Agave syrup is not low calorie.

Agave syrup is about 16 calories per teaspoon, the same as table sugar.

* Agave syrup may not have a low glycemic index.

Depending upon where the agave comes from and the amount of heat used to proc­ess it, your agave syrup can be anywhere from 55 percent to 90 percent fructose! (And it’s likely you won’t be able to tell from the product label.)

This range of fructose content hardly makes agave syrup a logical choice if you’re hoping to avoid the high levels of fructose in HFCS (high fructose corn syrup).

And if you’re diabetic, you should know that the alleged benefit of agave for diabetics is purely speculative. Very few agave studies have been docu­mented, and most involved rats. There have been no clinical studies done on its safety for diabetics.

Since most agave syrup has such a high percentage of fructose, your blood sugar will likely spike just as it would if you were consuming regular sugar or HFCS, and you would also run the risk of raising your triglyceride levels. It’s also important to understand that whereas the glucose in other sugars are converted to blood glucose, fructose is a relatively unregulated source of fuel that your liver converts to fat and cholesterol.

A significant danger here is that fructose does not stimulate your insulin secretion, nor enhance leptin production, which is thought to be involved in appetite regulation. (This was detailed in one of the most thorough scientific analyses published to date on this topic.)

Because insulin and leptin act as key signals in regulating how much food you eat, as well as your body weight, dietary fructose can also contribute to increased food intake and weight gain.

Therefore, if you need to lose weight, fructose is one type of sugar you’ll definitely want to avoid, no matter what the source is.

Other Dangers of Fructose

In addition, consuming high amounts of concentrated fructose may cause health problems ranging from mineral depletion, to insulin resistance, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and even miscarriage in pregnant women.

Fructose may also interfere with your body’s ability to metabolize copper. This can result in depletion of collagen and elastin, which are vital connective tissues. A copper deficiency can also result in anemia, fragile bones, defects in your arteries, infertility, high choles­terol and heart disease, and uncontrolled blood sugar levels. Could this be the reason for my dry skin and few gray hairs? They say gray is caused by copper deficiency?

Additionally, fructose consumption has been shown to significantly increase uric acid. Elevated lev­els of uric acid are markers for heart disease. It has also been shown to increase blood lactic acid, especially in diabetics. Elevations in lactic acid can result in metabolic acido­sis.

Isolated fructose has no enzymes, vitamins or minerals and can rob your body of these nutrients in order to assimilate itself. Hence, consumption of fructose can also lead to loss of vital minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc.

Other Reasons You Should Steer Clear of Agave

1. There are very few quality controls in place to monitor the production of agave syrup. Nearly all agave sold in the U.S. comes from Mexico. Industry insiders are concerned agave distributors are using lesser, even toxic, agave plants due to a shortage of blue agave.

There are also concerns that some distributors are cutting agave syrup with corn syrup — how often and to what extent is anyone’s guess. In addition, the FDA has refused shipments of agave syrup due to excessive pesticide residues.

2. Agave syrup is not a whole food — it is fractionated and processed. The sap is sepa­rated from the plant and treated with heat, similar to how maple sap is made into maple syrup. Agave nectar is devoid of many of the nutrients contained in the original, whole plant.

3. Agave syrup is not a live food. The natural enzymes are removed to prevent agave syrup from fermenting and turning into tequila in your food pantry or cabi­net.

4. Agave is, for all intents and purposes, highly concentrated sugar. Sugar and sweet­eners wreak havoc on your health and are highly addictive.

I am proud to introduce my new custom series called YOU PICK THE WORDS where you can create your own custom image! Together we will create a custom image based on what you would like to write and/or draw in the sand. I’ve been having great fun creating photos for couples getting married, new babies, phrases, engagements, weddings, save the date cards, etc. If you think it up, I’ll make it. If I can. I love collaborating and creating things so I hope you will check out this great new option in my shop and pass it along to your friends and family looking for new original presents for people!

I also did one that is a riff on the Keep Calm Carry On Posters as shown above at the begnining of this post that is now in my shop.

So just go to my shop and look for the picture that says YOU PICK THE WORDS.

Here are some of my favorites!
For newborn twins:
For a young couple in love:

A tryptic for another couple:


For newlyweds who like to bike:
For a kids room:

Available for free today on hulu

If we all approached our jobs like that what a happier world it would be!

Sign me up! Here is an interesting new product: a Vitamin D and UVB tanning bed that hangs on the back of your door AND is good for you! Looks super cool:

For more read here.

For more on tanning and the myths and truths about tanning read here.

So, I’ve been away because I got some not so great news. My HPV is back. No dysplasia or cell abnormality thank goodness! I’m not really surprised because I was quite honestly so run down after the move that I just knew something wasn’t right. I just knew my body was not getting what it needed and yet didn’t know what it needed. I ended up struggling with staying fully raw and then felt confused about what food to eat and not eat. I started eating some things that had wheat and barley, both of which I’m allergic to. Mostly though I just stopped eating the good stuff. I was eating pathetic salads with nothing in them and not much else of real substance, veggie burgers, etc. I stopped making green shakes in the morning. I just couldn’t stomach it. I stopped juicing. It’s really no wonder I felt all around terrible. Worst of all I felt like I had nobody to tell me what to do about it. I was so sick of food.

My doctor is wonderful and I am so grateful for him yet I was still confused about what to be eating and he couldn’t answer that for me. I was doing the acid/alkaline balance he recommends, I was keeping to all the foods, etc. I’d been doing that for 2 years and it was great at first but then I got tired of eating the same thing and when I stopped I felt horrible. I felt as if someone had drained all the blood out of my body. Also the skin on my face got very rough which can only mean the skin on the inside was not doing well because each is a reflection of the other. This would also indicate my gut is out of balance because that is a direct reflection of your face basically. Then I remembered I switched probiotics and was on antibiotics last year. Maybe my gut never rebuilt itself? That would explain why my skin is not supple and why I’m not absorbing anything. So I switched back to ULTRA FLORA IB by Metagenics. But it was all really discouraging. So as I got more and more rundown I ate more things that weren’t nourishing my body. I was spent on so many levels. When I got the call that I tested positive again for HPV that was the final straw. I was told it was gone for good!!! Just shows you that even doctors can be wrong.

It took me awhile to recover from that blow and I quite honestly didn’t want to blog about it because I felt like I failed my audience. Then I remembered why I started this. This is my experience. I am not an expert. I am not an authority on anything but me. This is just a documentation of my life and what is happening to me. I’m sure it is all happening for a reason. Maybe there are people out there who are saying, hey, that’s happening to me too and we can all help spread the the knowledge of what we learn about all this. That is my only mission. Well that and knocking this thing back to where it was hiding. I made this poster the day before I found out it was back to inspire myself (which just shows how in tune with my body I am to know something was wrong before I was told which I am really grateful for). Living sexy is inspired from Kris Carr and My Crazy Sexy Life because the green life is the best life and the only way to become your sexiest self. Time to make green juice sexy again! It’s in my shop if you need some inspiration (here). This whole experience has made me realize just how important it is to be drinking green juice, green smoothies and making sure you are getting all your vitamins and minerals from food. This is much more important than sticking to any kind of doctrine. My only concern in the future will be am I eating what my body needs and I will stop worrying so much about what I shouldn’t be eating. I will live sexy!!

So I am back to the regime I posted in my GIRLS CORNER. I also have a very close friend who is going through this for the second time as well (she had the LEEP the first time though). She has adopted the protocal as well and is off to see my doctors. It will be interesting to see what happens to both of us. I have no idea. I am grateful though for it happening because I now know for sure what I can’t eat and have figured out pretty well, I think, what I can eat. I will most likely be adding more fish and some organic chicken to my diet and the rest will be mostly raw. I think the universe heard my plea to bring me a guide to help me figure all this out by bringing me Dr. Frank Limpman and his book SPENT thanks to Dhrumil from We Like It Raw.

as well as Dr. Tori Hudon’s book WOMEN’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NATURAL MEDICINE: Alternative Therapies and Integrative Medicine for Total Health and Wellness (she outlines a protocal for every form of dysplasia and cervical pre/cancer).

Both books have helped me understand my body and how to deal with all the toxic overload that I have been dealing with. I have read just about every book out there and all of them are great and very informative but Dr. Lipman’s book is the first one that I felt really addresses what I have been feeling and experiencing on a medical and scientific level and having been a biologist that is so important to me. SPENT by Dr. Frank Lipman explains why and how the toxic load of our environment is affecting our bodies in ways doctors don’t understand and were never taught as well as how to fix it. He discusses adrenal fatigue, exhaustion, viruses, the immune system, the digestive system, hormone balance, omegas, supplements, skin, etc. He goes through step by step how to change your life, how to change your diet, how to change your mood and more importantly how to change your health so that you feel wonderful and more importantly so that your body is nourished from the inside out. There are many reasons why I responded to this book so much but mostly it is because it is practical. Anyone can use the information outlined in it. I can relate to it no matter what I’m eating. Now, I cleaned out my diet 2 years ago but I didn’t really know where the middle ground was and SPENT really helped me find that. 100% RAW ultimately is too hard for me to maintain. Where to go from there was the hard part and I now have a much better idea what I need to continue being strict about (no sugar, refined flours, processed foods, etc.) and what I can be more flexibe on (adding some organic chicken and fish).

I used to go to the doctor and my appointments were usually in the morning because of work and the nurse would always say, hmmm your blood pressure is low. I’d ask, ‘is that normal? Why is it low? How does one get low pressure? What does someone do about it?’ etc. As you know I ask a billion questions and I’d always get the same answer, ’sometimes it’s just low’, with a little shurg and they’d leave the room. For the first time ever I not only understand the reason but also have a way to address it so that I don’t wake up slow and low anymore. So now I’m drinking Licorice Root Tea and I put salt on whatever I’m eating with my smoothie in the morning and I feel a million times better (you must actually have low blood pressure to take licorice root otherwise it can be dangerous because it can raise blood pressure - it’s all in the book). There are so many tips in this book it’s just awesome. I was also quite excited that both books support my green smoothie for breakfast and my diet in general. My biggest frustration with most books is even though they are specific about the diet I never felt I knew what to eat.

SPENT by Dr. Frank Lipman really lays out what you’re eating, how to make it, when to eat and why you are doing this. This is what gives me the ability to take control. With adrenal fatigue, mercury poisoining, Epstein Barr, HPV and everything else that is going on in my body some of the other books didn’t address the fact that my body just doesn’t work the same as others. It is not a normal body. This book has given me the power to finish what I’ve started and and has showm me how to live a somewhat normal life without being pigeon holed to one type of food. It incorporates both Raw and Non Raw cuisine. I really can’t recommend it enough. I hope to meet him one day next time I am in NY. The world needs many more doctors like Dr. Lipman. You can follow his blog here.

So that is where I have been. Research, research, research. I will keep you posted on my progress and my discoveries. I hope you all are well, happy and healthy!
Be well!

Oh and I’ve been taking lots of pictures so check out my store for my new work. Also, I’ve revived my daily photo blog called 2 AND FRO. I put up a new picture every day. Check it out!

Protect you and your family. Educate yourself on the safe way to consume seafood and how to eat it so that we protect our environment. More on this super important topic from the NRDC. Read here on how to protect your family:

And read here to learn more about other mercury toxins in silver amalgam fillings and more:

As you may know I’m a big fan of Brendan Brazier’s THRIVE DIET. He explains Adrenal Fatigue and energy use in way that makes so much sense for my body. About twice a week I make his pancakes which I have now altered so much I call them Bueller Cakes (wheat free, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, sugar free). It is important to keep your balance and to eat one or two with something green like a green smoothie or green juice. Here is the recipe:

BUELLER CAKES

1 cup arrowhead mills wild rice recipe pancake mix

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/4 cup chia flour (info on that here, and you can buy it here) I use this instead of flax because flax is thought to be an estrogenic and can affect your hormones. I feel better when I don’t consume it.

1/2 cup hemp seed (can get smaller bags at Whole Foods)

1 banana

2 1/2 cups water

2 dates

1 tablespoon apricot kernel oil (optional but has vital B17)

Mix in vitamix water and banana, add dates, then add dry mixture slowly, if it starts to get stuck add spoonfuls of water, cook on low on an iron griddle. They cook slowly and you don’t want to over cook them as this kills the vital Omega’s that make them so nutrient dense.

Enjoy!

This is a very useful article and must read for anyone who eats fish. We are severely depleting our oceans of fish which is the new cow of the ocean. How do we eat it and not destroy our environment. Here is a great article in the NY Times explaining just that:

You can also upload and application to your i-phone called SEAFOOD WATCH that tells you what is sustainable and available in the market at any given moment courtesy of the Monetray Bay Aquarium.

You can also go to their site here and print out a guide for your region of the country. It really doesn’t get easier.

For a great overview please read their list here and what is so great about it is you can click on each fish or seafood item for more information. Check it out it’s super cool!

More information on the super important Vitamin D:
Dosage:

How much sun to get and why he doesn’t wear sunglasses: