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Marcus Guiliano is the chef & owner of Aroma Thyme Bistro located in the bountiful Hudson Valley of New York. Chef Guiliano has been an advocate for over 10 years on healthy, sustainable, local & real food. He found his mission in cooking when he reversed over a handful of medical conditions including 28 years of asthma. For more information visit http://www.chefonamission.com.
Aroma Thyme is know for their "stealth health"(Zagat). The Bistro has an award-winning wine list from Wine Spectator Magazine and over 200 beers. Aroma Thyme is certified green by The Green Restaurant Association.
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http://www.aromathymebistro.com/

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The Dangers of HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup)

Look in virtually most of the sweet foods in your kitchen; probably over 50% of them will contain some amount of high fructose corn syrup, one of the evils of the weight loss world. High fructose corn syrup is a sweetener that is produced using corn starch, fructose, and glucose. It is significantly sweeter than refined sugar which means that manufacturers can use less of it thus cutting costs to produce their products. It also has a very long shelf life making it a cost effective addition to many products. Unfortunately, the payoff for it being a cheap alternative is the effect that it has on your health.

High fructose corn syrup has absolutely no nutritional value whatsoever. It does not contain any vitamins, minerals or enzymes - unlike natural sweeteners such as honey or agave nectar. To be able to digest HFCS, the body must utilize its own micronutrients which depletes the body and leads to deficiencies and even premature aging.

Your body does not process HFCS the same way it can process sugars. When you consume regular sugar or glucose, the body initiates a series of chemical reactions including delivering energy to the cells by increasing production of insulin, regulating appetite by increasing the production of leptin, and stabilizing food intake by suppressing the production of ghrelin. Fructose, on the other hand, does not produce any of those hormonal changes which can cause you to continue to eat without feeling satisfied. Basically without any of the hormone regulation, your body will not be able to regulate your food intake or decrease your hunger.

HFCS has also been shown to increase cholesterol levels which will create scarring on the wall of your arteries. When the walls have enough damage, the body will begin to produce more cholesterol in an attempt to heal these areas. Too much cholesterol is what forms plaque that ends up blocking your arteries.

To avoid HFCS, be sure to perform a thorough clean up of all of the products you currently have. That means checking every single nutritional label to ensure that none of the products contain the high fructose corn syrup. Products to look out for are table syrups, cookies, jams, certain granola bars, certain cold cereals, and other various backed goods. Getting rid of products containing HFCS will help not only your diet but your health too.

Source http://www.articleclick.com/Article/The-Dangers-of-HFCS-High-Fructose-Corn-Syrup-/1622877

Comments from Chef Marcus Guiliano:

I have always avoided corn syrup in my cooking.  In fact I have avoided white, brown and sugar in the raw as well.  These ingredients wreck havoc on our health.  The problem in that most chefs do not know how to cook without them. I do however use sweeteners, but much healthier ones.  It is hard to say that any sweetener is healthy to begin with.  So please do not take my recomendations as a license to eat as much of them as you want.  These are simply suggestions that you can use to replace the highly refined sugar in recipes.  

I use the following items in my restaurant:

Grade B Organic maple syrup

Organic Succanat from Wholesome Sweeteners

Stevia

Organic brown rice syrup

raw agave

and my favorite

dried coconut blossom sap aka palm or coconut sugar (crystals)

Have fun and experiment with them solo or combined.

 

Dangers of Diet Soda

By Pilar Gerasimo, Experience Life

OK, I am not going to rant. But I need to get this out of my system: I think diet soda is awful. I think all soda is awful, actually (yes, I know there are no “bad” foods, but I hold soda in approximately the same regard as those puffy orange Circus Peanuts — these are not really “foods,” per se). Diet soda, in my view, is especially insidious.

Here are my top reasons:

1. There is absolutely no proof that diet soda helps people lose weight. The calorie-reduction argument is total bunk, and zero studies have shown a positive correlation between drinking diet soda and weight loss. On the contrary, there’s significant evidence that diet sodas and other noncaloric, artificially sweetened drinks actually lead — quite powerfully — to weight gain. (See “6 ‘Healthy’ Food Choices to Rethink” for more on that.

2. Diet sodas are billed as being good for type 2 diabetics and other blood-sugar- challenged types, but they aren’t. Because of something called the “cephalic phase response,” your body tastes the sweetness, and even though there are no calories to shuttle, the brain triggers a release of insulin from the pancreas and also a “Sugar is coming! Stop-burning fat” response from the liver. The result is the usual array of insulin-related problems (increased urge to eat, increased tendency toward fat storage, pro-inflammatory biochemical cascade), plus an arrest of healthy protein-and-starch production, and a confusion of the body’s built-in caloric monitoring systems, all of which compel you to plump up and eat even more unhealthy stuff later

Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/dangers-of-diet-soda.html


Comments from Chef Marcus Guiliano:
Lots of people know how bad diet sodas are. The author does not get into hard facts.   But trust me there are many hard facts about the dangers of chemical sweeteners. Diet soda is a total scam.  It is pure acid and filled with nasty chemical.

Here is a great link to hard facts http://aspartame.mercola.com/

Report Cites Health Risks of Farm-Raised Salmon

Salmon raised in ocean feedlots, the main source of supply for American consumers, contains such high levels of PCBs, dioxins and other toxic chemicals that people should not eat it more than once a month, according to an extensive study reported today in the journal Science.

The study, which has triggered heated protests from the industry, focused on commercially raised salmon in both the Atlantic and Pacific. It found roughly 10 times more PCBs, dioxins and pesticide residues in farmed salmon than in the wild variety. The amount of contamination exceeded some federal guidelines, although officials of the Food and Drug Administration said that the levels of PCBs detected in the fish are not high enough to justify the limit on consumption.
Researchers say the culprit is salmon feed: pellets of ground up small fish, which are rich in fish oil, that help farmed salmon grow fat fast but also contain concentrated amounts of pesticide residues and industrial byproducts that have spread widely in the environment.

Analyzing more than two tons of fish bought in the U.S., Canada and Europe, a team of scientists found that amounts of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were the highest in fish from offshore farms in Scotland, Norway and the Faroe Islands, located between Iceland and Norway. Amounts were not quite as high in salmon raised in British Columbia, Washington state and Chile.

None of the high levels exceed standards set in 1984 by the Food and Drug Administration for commercially sold fish. But they are higher than the guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1999 for recreationally caught fish, which are 40 times more restrictive.

"Just because the contaminants we found do not exceed FDA levels, that doesn't mean they are safe for consumers to eat them," said Dr. David O. Carpenter, a study coauthor and a professor of environmental health and toxicology at the State University of New York at Albany.

The health warning in the study that is more restrictive than the FDA's has sparked a sharp reaction from the booming salmon-farming industry, which now produces most of the fresh salmon sold worldwide and supplies more than 80% of America's third most popular seafood, after shrimp and canned tuna.

Charles Santerre, a food toxicologist at Purdue University and an industry consultant, called the study flawed because it failed to take into account the nutritional benefits of eating salmon. He said any slightly elevated risk of cancer pales in comparison with the advantages of consuming salmon rich with omega-3 fatty acids, which help prevent heart attacks.

Even an increase in farmed salmon consumption, he said, is a worthwhile trade-off in the flight against heart disease, American's No. 1 killer. "I would calculate 6,000 people getting cancer over their lifetime, that's an approximation, versus potentially saving the lives of 100,000 individuals every year."

Furthermore, Santerre said, the levels of contaminants detected in the study show salmon to be perfectly safe, as is recognized by the FDA.

The study's team of six scientists doesn't dispute the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, but says consumers should opt for wild salmon or other sources, such as canola and flax oil.

The team also took issue with the FDA's standards, which Carpenter said are outdated and focus too much on the economic implications of restrictions and not enough on the long-term health effects of PCBs and dioxins, which build up in body fat and linger there for decades.
Aside from a slightly elevated cancer risk from these potential carcinogens, he said, the chief concern is that pregnant women can pass on these contaminants to their fetuses, impairing mental development and immune-system function.

He said women and girls should limit their consumption of salmon raised in feedlots to less than once a month.

"It's never possible to draw a clear line between safe and unsafe," Carpenter said. "Our recommendations are that women and girls should reduce their consumption of farmed salmon and other contaminated fish until they are through reproductive age."

The study also calls for labeling whether the salmon is wild or farm-raised. No law requires such labeling, although Atlantic salmon almost always comes from a farm because wild Atlantic salmon is extremely rare due to overfishing.

For its part, the FDA says it is not completely satisfied with the status quo.

"We do think that the levels [in farmed salmon] should be lowered," said Terry Troxell, an FDA office director and toxicologist. "However, we don't believe there is a public health concern with the levels seen here.... Our message to consumers is not to alter their consumption of wild or farmed salmon."

EPA officials take a different view. In a statement, the agency said it "stands by its guidance" and is reviewing the study to make sure there were no errors in applying the guidance.

Source:http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jan/09/local/me-salmon9

Possible Dangers in Farm-Raised Salmon

Farm-raised salmon contain more worrisome pollutants than wild salmon.Farm-raised salmon contain significantly more dioxins and other potentially cancer-causing pollutants than salmon caught in the wild, says a study that could confuse consumers long told the fish is heart-healthy.

The study tested contaminants in 700 salmon bought around the world and found those farmed in Northern Europe contained the most pollutants, followed by North America and then Chile.Eating more than a meal of farm-raised salmon per month, depending on its country of origin, could slightly increase the risk of getting cancer later in life, according to the study published Thursday in the journal Science.

Researchers blamed the feed used on fish farms for concentrating ocean pollutants, advised farmers to switch feed and recommended that consumers in the meantime eat more wild salmon.But the study's conclusions are controversial. The Food and Drug Administration insisted that the levels of pollutants in farm-raised salmon are too low for serious concern and urged Americans not to let the new research frighten them into a diet change.

The study ``will likely over-alarm people in this country,'' said Eric Rimm of the Harvard School of Public Health, a specialist on nutrition and chronic disease. ``To alarm people away from fish because of some potential, at this point undocumented, risk of long-term cancer _ that does worry me.''The American Heart Association advises eating fish at least twice a week because it helps prevent heart disease. Salmon is usually listed as a top choice because it is particularly high in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids and low in a completely different seafood contaminant, brain-harming mercury.

Most farm-raised salmon sold in the United States come from Chile and the pollutant level in this salmon was not too much higher than that found in some wild-caught salmon.In addition, the study tested salmon raw, with the skin on. Removing the skin and grilling it removes a significant amount of PCBs, dioxins and other pollutants stored in fish fat, the FDA noted.``We are certainly not telling people not to eat fish. ... We're telling them to eat less farmed salmon,'' said David Carpenter of the University at Albany, N.Y., who led the new research.

Farm-raised salmon contained significantly higher concentrations of 13 organochlorine pollutants, he found. Among the most important are dioxins, which are released when industrial waste is burned, and PCBs, once widely used as insulating material.The average dioxin level for farm-raised salmon was 11 times higher than wild salmon's _ 1.88 parts per billion compared with 0.17 ppb. For PCBs, the average was 36.6 ppb in farm-raised salmon and 4.75 in wild.

Animals absorb those pollutants through the environment, storing them in fat that people then eat. High levels are believed to increase the risk of certain cancers and, in pregnant or breast-feeding women, harm the developing brains of fetuses and infants.The salmon farming industry points out that all the pollutant levels are well within the FDA's legal limits and says other foods eaten far more often, such as beef, are more important sources of exposure.

The government has no one set level of dioxins and PCBs considered safe in foods. In setting his consumption advice, Carpenter cited Environmental Protection Agency guidelines that are far stricter than the FDA's legal limits.Farm-raised salmon eat lots of fish oil and meal made from just a few species of ocean fish, concentrating the contaminants they're exposed to _ while wild salmon eat a greater variety, he explained.Raising salmon in floating pens is an industry that began just two decades ago but has helped the fish's popularity to soar. More than half the world's salmon now is farmed, available year-round while wild salmon is generally available June through October. Farm-raised salmon sells for about $4 or $5 a pound compared with $15 for wild salmon, said Alex Trent of the trade group Salmon of the Americas.

Many farmers in the United States, Canada and Chile are slowly replacing some of the fish oil in salmon feed with soybean and canola oil to address the pollutants, Trent said.``PCB levels are coming down 10 to 20 percent a year. Every year we take more steps,'' he said.One in two Americans will die of cardiovascular disease, a far bigger risk than the cancer concern, said nutritionist Alice Lichtenstein of the Agriculture Department's Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University.Still, ``this was a beautiful study'' that does raise a concern that needs more attention, she said. ``The bottom-line message is to continue to eat fish but consume a variety of different types.''

As for the geographic difference in contaminant levels, ocean pollution follows a similar pattern. Europe was industrialized before North and then South America, and presumably each region uses salmon feed made of local ocean fish.

Source:http://www.holistic.com/holistic/learning.nsf/ed8732a8bed2f2a4872569060015ca74/01d992078a2aa34087256e2a006a4ce9!OpenDocument

The Untold Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup

Maybe you’ve seen the commercial. There are two people in the park. One turns down a soda saying he doesn’t want the high fructose corn syrup. The other chides him that it comes from corn, so it’s natural and, in moderation, is part of a healthy diet.

One of these guys is wrong!

The truth is high fructose corn syrup isn’t natural. It’s been chemically altered to enhance its sweetness. And it certainly isn’t part of a healthy diet. Research shows that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) can damage your organs, trigger weight gain, and increase your insulin resistance leading to diabetes.

The Deadly Truth Behind this Popular Sweetener

Food manufacturers like high fructose corn syrup because it’s cheap, it’s super sweet and it has a long shelf life.

Unfortunately, once it’s in your body, there isn’t much good to say about it. It disrupts your metabolism and puts you at higher risk for diabetes in many ways.

Once upon a time, doctors actually recommended fructose to people with diabetes because your body absorbs it more slowly. It also doesn’t cause the same spikes in blood sugar that glucose does. It turns out that these “benefits” are actually part of the reason behind the dangers of HFCS.

Your body absorbs fructose more slowly because it has to be metabolized by the liver, unlike glucose, which can be absorbed and used by every cell in your body. Because it’s only metabolized in the liver, fructose doesn’t trigger insulin production in the pancreas. So, rather than being used by the cells, fructose is usually stored as fat.

High fructose corn syrup is so hard on your liver that it can actually cause nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). One of the complications of NAFLD is insulin resistance.

In order to use fructose, your body must contribute a number of minerals such as magnesium, copper, and chromium. Depletion of these minerals, especially chromium, interferes with insulin production and use… and that’s the first step toward diabetes. HFCS also impairs the function of insulin receptors on your cells. That leads to insulin resistance, and again, a higher risk of diabetes.

Finally, when you eat HFCS, it doesn’t make you feel full. People who eat a lot of HFCS-containing foods are likely to consume more calories and become overweight or obese. Obesity is another risk factor for diabetes.

How to Immediately Boost Your Health and Drastically Reduce… Your Risk of Diabetes

As you can see, high fructose corn syrup contributes to diabetes in a number of ways. It depletes minerals that are critical for proper insulin production. It damages your liver. It leads to weight gain. It directly contributes to insulin resistance.

The average American gets 25% of their calories from sugar. Most of that comes from HFCS. That’s a recipe for disaster.

But you don’t have to wait for disaster to strike. You can make three simple changes right now that will dramatically cut your HFCS consumption. As a result, you’ll probably lose weight, your liver will be healthier, and your body will be better able to deal with the other sugars you eat.

First, cut sodas and sweetened fruit juices from your diet. Drink water, tea, or coffee instead.

Second, start reading the labels on any packaged or processed foods that you buy. If a product contains HFCS, look for an alternative.

Third, begin eating more fiber-rich foods. Fiber slows the absorption of fructose and reduces the negative effects. That’s why fruit, which contains fructose and fiber, is still a healthy choice.

High fructose corn syrup is just not good for you. It puts you in danger of becoming overweight, developing liver disease, and becoming diabetic. If you want to be healthy and full of energy, cutting out HFCS is a good start.

Credit:Mark Rosenberg, M.D.

Source: http://livingfructosefree.com/blog/the-untold-dangers-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup/


Comments from Chef Marcus Guiliano:
I have always avoided corn syrup in my cooking.  In fact I have avoided white, brown and sugar in the raw as well.  These ingredients wreck havoc on our health.  The problem in that most chefs do not know how to cook without them. I do however use sweeteners, but much healthier ones.  It is hard to say that any sweetener is healthy to begin with.  So please do not take my recomendations as a license to eat as much of them as you want.  These are simply suggestions that you can use to replace the highly refined sugar in recipes.  

I use the following items in my restaurant:
Grade B Organic maple syrup
Organic Succanat from Wholesome Sweeteners
Stevia
Organic brown rice syrup
raw agave
and my favorite
dried coconut blossom sap aka palm or coconut sugar (crystals)

Have fun and experiment with them solo or combined.

What are the health concerns about high-fructose corn syrup?

High-fructose corn syrup, sometimes called corn sugar, has become a popular ingredient in sodas and fruit-flavored drinks. In fact, high-fructose corn syrup is the most common added sweetener in processed foods and beverages. Given how ubiquitous high-fructose corn syrup is, some people are concerned about possible adverse health effects. 

Research studies have yielded mixed results about the possible adverse effects of consuming high-fructose corn syrup. Although high-fructose corn syrup is chemically similar to table sugar (sucrose), concerns have been raised because of how high-fructose corn syrup is processed. Some believe that your body reacts differently to high-fructose corn syrup than it does to other types of sugar. But research about high-fructose corn syrup is evolving.

Some research studies have linked consumption of large amounts of any type of added sugar — not just high-fructose corn syrup — to such health problems as weight gain, dental cavities, poor nutrition, and increased triglyceride levels, which can boost your heart attack risk. But there is insufficient evidence to say that high-fructose corn syrup is less healthy than are other types of added sweeteners.

Recommendations from the American Heart Association — not a part of official U.S. dietary guidelines — say that most American women should consume no more than 100 calories a day from added sugar from any source, and that most American men should consume no more than 150 calories a day from added sugar, and that even less is better. That's about 6 teaspoons of added sugar for women and 9 for men.

It's prudent to consume any added sugar only in moderation. Consider these tips to cut back:

    * Avoid sugary, nondiet sodas. Drink water or other unsweetened beverages instead.
    * Choose breakfast cereals carefully. Although healthy breakfast cereals can contain added sugar to make them more appealing to children, skip the non-nutritious, sugary and frosted cereals.
    * Eat fewer processed and packaged foods, such as sweetened grains like cookies and cakes and some microwaveable meals.
    * Snack on vegetables, fruit, low-fat cheese, whole-grain crackers, and low-fat, low-calorie yogurt instead of candy, pastries and cookies.

Credit: Jennifer K. Nelson, R.D., L.D.

Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fructose-corn-syrup/AN01588


Comments from Chef Marcus Guiliano:
I have always avoided corn syrup in my cooking.  In fact I have avoided white, brown and sugar in the raw as well.  These ingredients wreck havoc on our health.  The problem in that most chefs do not know how to cook without them. I do however use sweeteners, but much healthier ones.  It is hard to say that any sweetener is healthy to begin with.  So please do not take my recomendations as a license to eat as much of them as you want.  These are simply suggestions that you can use to replace the highly refined sugar in recipes.  

I use the following items in my restaurant:
Grade B Organic maple syrup
Organic Succanat from Wholesome Sweeteners
Stevia
Organic brown rice syrup
raw agave
and my favorite
dried coconut blossom sap aka palm or coconut sugar (crystals)

Have fun and experiment with them solo or combined.
 

 

The Dangers of Diet Soda

 By Macdaddy

On Sunday, I went over to a friend’s house for a marathon board-gaming session. I ate too much home-made chili (Will is from Texas) and drank too much ginger ale.

“Do you have any diet coke?” I asked before choosing the soda.

“No,” said Will. “And besides, that stuff is awful. It’s worse for you than regular soda!”

“Come on,” I said. “I know it’s bad, but worse than regular soda?” I was thinking of the two giant diet cokes I’d had with my greasy hamburger a couple days before. I was thinking of how I used to drink two or three diet sodas every day.

“I’m serious,” he said. “That stuff will give you diabetes. Look it up.” And so I did. Turns out Will was telling the truth. Sort of.

Diet drinks and obesity

In 2005, Sharon Fowler and her colleagues from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio presented eight years of research data that explored the link between obesity risk and soft drinks. According to the WebMD summary of the study:

    Fowler’s team looked at seven to eight years of data on 1,550 Mexican-American and non-Hispanic white Americans aged 25 to 64. Of the 622 study participants who were of normal weight at the beginning of the study, about a third became overweight or obese.

    For regular soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:

        * 26% for up to 1/2 can each day
        * 30.4% for 1/2 to one can each day
        * 32.8% for 1 to 2 cans each day
        * 47.2% for more than 2 cans each day.

    For diet soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:

        * 36.5% for up to 1/2 can each day
        * 37.5% for 1/2 to one can each day
        * 54.5% for 1 to 2 cans each day
        * 57.1% for more than 2 cans each day.

    For each can of diet soft drink consumed each day, a person’s risk of obesity went up 41%.

Obviously, there’s a difference between correlation and causation. This study is not meant to imply that diet soda causes obesity, just to point out that diet soda consumption is a “marker” for the condition.

Metabolic syndrome

More recently, researchers have reported a correlation between diet soda and metabolic syndrome, which the Mayo Clinic describes thusly:
 

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Having just one of these conditions — increased blood pressure, elevated insulin levels, excess body fat around the waist or abnormal cholesterol levels — isn’t diagnosed as metabolic syndrome, but it does contribute to your risk of serious disease. If more than one of these conditions occur in combination, your risk is even greater.

Basically, metabolic syndrome describes risk factors for diabetes and heart disease. According to The New York Times, this recent research indicates:

The one-third who ate the most fried food increased their risk by 25 percent compared with the one-third who ate the least, and surprisingly, the risk of developing metabolic syndrome was 34 percent higher among those who drank one can of diet soda a day compared with those who drank none.

Of course, the best solution is to forego pop altogether. Diet soda leads is associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome. Regular soda is dense with calories. Water has none of these drawbacks.

I did a good job of sticking to only water for a couple of weeks, but I’ve allowed myself to slip. I find that when I do the water-only thing, I feel better, weight-loss is easier, and I make better choices all around.

Source: http://getfitslowly.com/2008/02/12/the-dangers-of-diet-soda/

Dangers of Farmed Salmon

Farmed salmon are raised in crowded net cages. This is the equivalent to an industrial feedlot in the ocean. There are many problems with salmon farms, both environmentally and health wise.
Do You Really Know What you are Buying?

It is easy to identify farmed salmon from wild salmon. It is unfortunate that I see salmon mislabeled in stores quite regularly. Often times, it is not the grocery store that is to blame, but the seafood distributer or producer providing false information. When you are paying a premium for wild salmon you should get what you are promised. Please beware that no US standard exists for organic seafood and all claims to be “all natural”, “no antibiotics administered”, “no hormones or chemicals added” are unverified.

Ocean Raised or Pen Raised?

This is a new marketing strategy being used because people are becoming more educated about the dangers and problems associated with salmon farming. Don’t be fooled. Ocean raised and pen raised means the same thing.
Health Impacts Associated with Farmed Salmon

   1. PCB’s and Contaminants
          * Studies have proven farmed salmon to be high in PCB’s and other contaminants.
          * Based on extensive cancer research, the World Health Organization, EPA and US Department of Health and Human Services consider PCB’s a probable carcinogen in humans and a known carcinogen for animals.
          * A study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found farmed salmon to be 16 times higher in PCB’s than wild salmon.
   2. Excessive Use of Antibiotics
      Color wheel for dying farmed salmon

      Color wheel for dying farmed salmon
          * It is common practice for salmon farms to use antibiotics in feed to prevent the spread of disease in crowded salmon pens.
          * Many of these antibiotics are the same ones used to treat human diseases.
          * This poses a health risk as disease microbes become resistant to antibiotic treatments.
   3. Use of colorants and dyes
          * Farmed salmon’s meat would be grey without the use of dyes.
          * Canthaxanthin, a pigment used to color farmed salmon has been linked to eye retinal problems.

What is a PCB?

    * Polychlorinated biphenyls are oily liquids or solids that have been used in coolants and lubricants.
    * The use of PCB’s was banned in 1979 because of the build up in the environment and health problems they cause.
    * PCB’s still persist in nature and farmed salmon absorb them, as well as eat PCB laden fish food.
    * Extensive research by government agencies show that PCB’s cause cancer in animals.


Environmental Problems Associated With Farmed Salmon

   1. Farmed Salmon Spread Diseases to Wild Salmon
      Juvenile salmon with lethal sea lice-courtesy Alexandra Morton

      Juvenile salmon with lethal sea lice-courtesy Alexandra Morton
          * Sea Lice, parasites, and disease from escaped farmed salmon are endangering the health of wild salmon stocks.
          * Sea Lice naturally occur with adult salmon in the ocean. However, the adult’s skin is tough enough to not be too affected by the parasites.
          * In the past, sea lice never passed from adult to juvenile salmon because the adults die before any contact with juvenile fish. Now, wild juvenile salmon must run a gauntlet of infected farmed salmon (penned at the mouth of their natal rivers and streams) before reaching the open ocean. Sea lice passed from farmed salmon are killing otherwise healthy stocks of wild salmon.
   2. Salmon Farming Pollutes the Ocean
          * Feed waste containing pesticides and antibiotics as well as fish excrement gather on the ocean floor. It is then spread out by ocean currents to surrounding coastal communities, creating destructive plankton blooms and destroying shellfish beds.
   3. Salmon Farming is Wasteful
      Waste beneath salmon farm-David Suzuki.org

      Waste beneath salmon farm-David Suzuki.org
          * It takes 3 pounds of fish to create 1 pound of farmed salmon.

Is There a Solution?

YES, farming salmon with a closed containment system would reduce many of the environmental impacts associated with farmed salmon. However, salmon farms are not implementing this method due to the costs associated with it.

Source:http://thewildsalmonco.com/about-our-fishery/dangers-of-farmed-salmon/

Dangerous Food Ingredients Are contributing to Obesity and Cancer

 All dangerous food ingredients such as artificial flavors, preservatives, and colorings should be avoided as much as possible. They all have a negative effect on a healthy lifestyle.

These are only a few of the hundreds of chemicals hiding in the foods that we eat. Yet out of these hundreds, the following may be the most dangerous.

High Fructose Corn Syrup

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), at the top of the list of dangerous food ingredients, is made by treating a large quantity of glucose (a sugar) with an enzyme that changes part of the glucose into a much sweeter fructose. HFCS is cheaper than cane sugar and it is inexpensively produced.

The American government spends billions of dollars per year subsidizing corn production from which HFCS is made. Without the fiber and other natural nutrients of fruit and vegetables, HFCS is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream.

Food manufacturers began using this dangerous food ingredient in the 1970s. Before then almost all of our sugar came from sugar beets or sugar cane. But manufacturers found out that deriving sugar from corn, especially HFCS, is much cheaper.

The per capita use of HFCS in 1970 was ½ pound. By 1997 the average American use of HFCS was an astounding 97 grams per day! This equates to 78 pounds per year! Today its use has increased tremendously, contributing to this country's rising obesity epidemic. A study published in the 2004 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that the consumption of HFCS increased 1000% from 1970 to 1990!

The product which contains the greatest number of grams of HFCS is soft drinks. It is also found in candy, ice cream, frozen yogurt, Popsicles, fruit bars, ketchup, pasta sauce, soups, and hamburger buns (this list is by no means exhaustive!)

When food manufacturers first began using HFCS, they didn't realize its negative impact on the body. It has no nutrients (it is devoid of enzymes, vitamins, and minerals.) It also leeches micronutrients from the body. That was then. But since then food manufacturers have discovered that HFCS not only make consumers fat, but it also increases their hunger tremendously.

How does it do that? HFCS does not cause the protein leptin to be released to signal the brain that your stomach is full. At the same time it doesn't suppress ghrelin, the substance that tells you that you are hungry. The result? You continue to eat. HFCS is the food and beverage manufacturers' dream come true! dangerous food ingredients

A research team tested eleven different sodas containing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and found that they each had high levels of carbonyls. Carbonyls are found in the blood of diabetics. They are thought to cause tissue damage, and play a part in complications associated with diabetes. dangerous food ingredients

Test results also show that one can of soda has 5 times as many carbonyls as diabetics have! dangerous food ingredients

High fructose corn syrup is hidden by food and beverage manufacturers under many names. Some of these names are: chicory, inulin, iso glucose, glucose-fructose syrup, and fruit fructose.
In a 24 year time span, from 1977 to 2001, America's consumption of sweetened drinks containing HFCS shot up by 135%! A study was conducted by the University of California at Davis to find out the results of HFCS on two groups of overweight and obese individuals.

Both groups were told to eat as they normally do. They also were told to drink three specially prepared beverages a day. One group was given beverages sweetened with glucose. The other was given beverages sweetened with fructose but with the identical number of calories as the glucose-sweetened drinks.

According to Kimber Stanhope, MS, RD, lead author of the study, "...the fructose subjects gained intra-abdominal fat (in the area around the abdominal cavity), whereas the glucose subjects did not."

This study included a post-prandial measurement (triglycerides were measured after eating.) The fructose group had double the levels of post-prandial triglycerides. The fructose group experienced a decrease in post-prandial triglycerides.

"Within just two weeks, the overweight men and women in the study who were assigned to drink the fructose-sweetened beverages had developed more adverse lipid profiles" (Kimber Stanhope.)

Credit : http://www.living-a-healthy-lifestyle.com/dangerous-food-ingredients.html 


Comments from Chef Marcus Guiliano:
I have always avoided corn syrup in my cooking.  In fact I have avoided white, brown and sugar in the raw as well.  These ingredients wreck havoc on our health.  The problem in that most chefs do not know how to cook without them. I do however use sweeteners, but much healthier ones.  It is hard to say that any sweetener is healthy to begin with.  So please do not take my recomendations as a license to eat as much of them as you want.  These are simply suggestions that you can use to replace the highly refined sugar in recipes.  

I use the following items in my restaurant:
Grade B Organic maple syrup
Organic Succanat from Wholesome Sweeteners
Stevia
Organic brown rice syrup
raw agave
and my favorite
dried coconut blossom sap aka palm or coconut sugar (crystals)

Have fun and experiment with them solo or combined.