HomeBlend Gourmet Blog

Diets That Work

Today on NBC (03/14/07), they touched on Stanford University’s study on diets that work. They took the most popular diets and put about 300 women on these different diets to see which ones worked the best. On average, the Atkins diet participants lost 10 pounds in a years time, the rest, on average, 3 to 6 pounds.
What they didn’t ask is if they tested the participants to see what diet they would do better at in losing weight.
You see, every body type is different, so you react differently to foods.
Say for example you take someone with a genetic background that regularly consumes complex carbs, but not heavy animal protein. You take take someone like that, put them on a high complex carb, no fat, no red meat diet, and they will drop weight without doing exercise. They drop a ton of weight with exercise.
You can take someone with heavy fat and red meat diet, put them on a no fat, no carb diet, and they will drop weight without exercise. With exercise, the weight will peal off.
Then you have those that can’t lose weight on low calories…these people have to have their thyroid tested as well as taking into consideration their genetic background. Stimulate their thyroid with medium chained fats, low protein and low carbohydrate along with moderate exercise, and they will lose weight.
Losing weight is a science and a lifestyle, difficult at best, for the lay person to guess what will work for them.
If you want to lose weight, see what made you gain the weight and eliminate it from your diet. Count you calories and exercise.
Think about what your background is and follow the regional diet from that area. If you are a “mutt” look into all your genetics and experiment with those foods. Check your weight in a week and see if you have gained a pound or lost a pound. If you’ve lost, then stay on that regional food, and please make sure that is really “regional” and not processed at all! Processed food is like eating foods that has been already chewed and broken down in stomach acid and put on your plate for you to eat. It hits your blood and liver running! Stay with made from scratch foods, the vegetables and fruits from that region that are fresh and meats regularly made in those foods in moderations.
Thanks for the Rant!
d

Vitamins are bad for you?

Who thought this one up? On the Today Show this morning, 03/21/07, they discussed (Joy Bauer and Matt Lauer) a JAMA study on how vitamins can increase mortality (death).
First of all, the study was a combination of a lot of old studies done that were inconclusive.
Second, I would have to question what companies or organizations authorized the studies and why, if there were underlying means as to why the study was done, ie, to discredit proper nutrition, diet and exercise in place of medicines or pharmaceuticals, I would say the studies were biased and irrelevant.
And Third, any scientist will tell you that when you do a raw study like this, the components of this study need to be accurate, and your variables need to be know. With this data, it was all over the place and highly suspect.
I was told by someone the other day that massive amounts of vitamin c were really bad for you…really, is that why when Dr. Linus Pauling (The founder of Orthomolecular Medicine) was diagnosed with Cancer, he began taking massive amounts of vitamin c IV and lived to be a ripe old age, never being encumbered by the cancer again?
Everyone keeps saying, “Always talk to your doctor” about your nutrition or supplements. Why?-Doctors don’t have any more education in the field of biochemistry or nutrition then the average college grad. Nurses have to be more schooled in nutrition and alternative medicine then doctors here in the US!
I would recommend what I have always recommended. Anything you take to fix a condition, chronic or acute, herb, food, or supplement, prescription or over-the-counter…is a medicine. You take medicines with caution, any medicine, and you monitor your condition you take the medicine for. If the condition clears up and doesn’t come back, then you should stop taking the medicine. Even vitamins are not life long! Some vitamins after taking them for so long, can become toxic to the body…try changing your diet! There was once a great philosopher that said, “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food”.

Splenda is Chorine!!!

For the first time, on national TV, on a news show, a renowned Food Critic talking about alternative sweeteners said that “Splenda is not sugar, it’s Chlorine. The News Anchor was shocked and asked “what does that mean for McNeil and their advertising?” The Food Critic said, “The FTC and FDA will finally make Splenda take the ‘made from sugar’ off their labels, but as far as sales are concerned, I don’t think that people will stop using it”
All right people, WAKE UP!!! Do you wonder why Alzheimer’s is at an all time high?….Because people are crazy if they use these Chemically altered sweeteners.
Experts have said it…Food Critics have said it…Biochemists have said it…Splenda is trichlorogalactosesucrose…break it down for your self! three molecules of chlorine people, Splenda is Chlorine…the stuff that makes your hair brittle and off colored and does a bunch of damage to your nerves.
Since McNeil brought this stuff into the US, biochemists have been pushing caution to the food industry and no one would listen. You have a generation of children growing up on this stuff now, and the future will not look good because of the chemical influences. Splenda is everywhere, foods you don’t expect to have the stuff in there has it in there!
The only thing known to take the massive amounts of chlorine out of the system, is another chemical agent that causes “anal leakage”, not a pleasant treatment.
Just don’t use Splenda, don’t drink or buy anything with Splenda in it and get off chemical sweeteners completely!

Health of the School Systems

In this day and age, every thing is about the bottom line, including our kids health and education.

Here in Idaho, like most states, every child that attended public school is worth a certain amount of money to the school district per day. That’s why they have to be in session for so many days in a school year, to make their budget. It doesn’t have anything to do with how our kids are educated or what advantages they can be given, just with how much money taking your kids in can get the school district.
It’s like putting our kids in day care and hoping that they come out learning something useful for their future when they are 18.
If our children go to a public school, and put their time in everyday, and still come out, not knowing how to calculate simple math, structure a simple sentence or read a “Dick and Jane” book, the public schools are not sanctioned or punished for this, we as parents are and they still ask for more and more money every year.
If the public school system is suppose to be providing a service which we pay for, with tax payer money, then why is the US falling behind in education?
Maybe that’s why “Homeschooling” is becoming so popular. How is it that a stay at home mom or dad, usually without the teaching credentials, can educate their children in less time, with less equipment, and get better results on ACT/SAT scores? Maybe it would be better for the US government to allow tax credits for families to educate their children at home. It would save the tax payers millions a year to have their children home schooled or put in a home schooled environment with other kids that are being home schooled.
And now, we come to the issue of Health.
I have a daughter that is a perfectionist. Because she is a perfectionist, she stresses out about her performance and grades. She is highly creative and very motivated and when grades fall below an A, she freaks out!
Because she is so stressed during the school year, she suffers from a few conditions.
First of all, she has allergies, not to anything ordinary, but she has cold-air Hives, a condition that flares up when the weather changes from Fall to Winter and then again from Winter to Spring. She blows up like a puffer-fish and gets hives all over. She has to be medicated or her tongue swells up and she has to go to the hospital.
She has allergies, so, she has chronic sinus problems, just like her paternal grandfather. Because she has allergies and sinus problems, she gets chronic Migraine headaches. Again, she has to be medicated in order to treat her.
Anyone that has broken out in hives or has suffered from the pain of a sinus infection or that has had Migraine headaches knows that these things can reduce function to a minimum, and that is in an adult. We are talking about a 15-16 year old girl.
The school district that we were in, allowed so many absences, but were totally excused with a doctors note.
Now, in this school district (Bonneville School District 93, Idaho Falls, Idaho), they are not totally excused unless they have a note from a hospital!
Now I understand that our old school district would not accept a doctor or dental note from a student if that doctor or dentist was the students parent, that was fair…but a school district not excusing a health problem at all, and telling the student that if they were sick more than 5 times during a semester(4 months) they would lose their credits is deplorable! Basically what they are saying is, “your student is worth money to us every day they come, so regardless of the safety issues, you will bring your child to school and let them suffer here even if they are sick or in pain!”

The health and safety of our children is much more important than the school districts money. This school district discriminates against those students that are disabled chronically or acutely.
Here is another problem…
My son, Spencer throughout his school years, took classes that would put him at an advantage when he applied for college.
Apparently, he took to many core courses, and only needed two classes to graduate the fall of 2006. Bonneville School District 93 required him to attend school all day long, in order for them to receive their money. The didn’t offer any college classes like the last school district that we were in, so his day was spent being mainly idle. His last semester, he took his last class, but instead of letting this young man go and get a full time job to help pay for college tuition coming up, he was required to stay 3/4 of the day in order for the school district to get their money out of him. They wouldn’t not allow him to take both the classes in the fall and graduate early so that he could get into spring classes in college, because then, they wouldn’t get their money.
I am asking everyone that is concerned with these types of issues, to write me a line of support to allow students who have valid health excuses taken off the transcripts to insure that these students have advantages in their health situations and academic situations so that I can pass them along to the Idaho State Superintendent of Schools and the Bonneville School District 93 Superintendent.

write me at homeblend@gmail.com Subject: School Health
thanks
d

Working with Warren Barigian

Currently, my new project has been working on a book with the famed Vocal Coach to the stars, Warren Barigian. As a vocal coach myself, and someone that studies the voice and how it relates to health, this has been an enjoyable journey. The method’s that Warren uses called Vocal Bio Matrix is similar to the Ancient Religion and Healing methods of the Samoan people and those from Ancient Easter Island, called “Mana”. Growing up with this modality of healing, the chants, the pressure points, the diet and the herbs, I understand this mode of healing very well, and having someone like Warren put his twist on my culture has been awesome!
I will let you know how the project is going from time to time…in the meantime, if you are interested in “healing arts”, be sure to check out my ebook for simple methods of treatment that work.
Thanks
d

FDA wants Prescription Groceries-Doctor, Can I Eat?

This is in regards to Docket No. 2006D-0480: “Draft Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration”.
Because it is common knowledge that all foods break down into chemical components in the human system, be they protein, carbohydrate, fat or phyto-nutrient, all consumables have functional properties, including snacks, beverages and candy. Is it the proposal of the FDA, who can’t even regulate produce to the point of reasonable safety, who’s funding has been cut to the point that they do not have the inspectors to insure the safety of the public, that this government organization regulate guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products when they can’t handle what is on their plate before them? To regulate all food products, chickens eaten because Chondroitin is contained there, to regulate all green vegetables, because soluble fiber and nutrients are contained there, to regulate fruit, because flavonoids are contained there, to regulate the consumption of fish, because Omega Oils are contained there, to regulate beef because it contains iron, to regulate milk and other dairy products, because it contains calcium and Vitamin D. to regulate water intake, because it can act as a diuretic and clean out the liver and kidneys? Are you going to come into our yards and our gardens too to make sure that we can’t grow our own food and be self sufficient too? This proposal is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen, to try to regulate food because it’s a drug…yeah, food is a drug, it keeps us all alive…we should be worried about getting enough food to those who don’t have any then to worry about regulating how much we can buy or grow. This proposal is an exercise in futility and something that a government entity who doesn’t have the budget to do their job correctly now has no business entertaining. The amount of companies that would have to go to court in order to stay alive, the amount of farms that would have to go under because of regulation would be detrimental and staggering to a nation that values our economic status. How many jobs would be lost because the cost of the products would go up because of Government intervention, again.
The bottom line is going to be money, not health, the public knows that, and I am not going to allow my tax money to go to an agency that is wanting to regulate what I can and can’t eat because it’s good for me.
thank you,
D.S. Epperson
HomeBlend Gourment, LLC
Functional Food Specialists

The Future of Health Care in America

This week-end my daughter came home from school and ran into my office yelling about how I had to help a friend of hers.
After I calmed her down, I asked what the problem was.
Her friend is 16 years old and needed a root canal. She had been in a lot of pain and the parents finally took her into a dentist.
The dentist told the parents that the molar was infected and that the child needed to have a root canal and a crown put in.
The parents couldn’t afford the treatment, so the dentist put the child on Penicillin and hydocodone for pain. After a couple of weeks of pain, the parents finally decided to have the tooth pulled.
A molar removed, before the wisdom teeth have come in, is going to cause some problems in the bite later on. My daughter asked me to make something for the pain and so that she wouldn’t have to have her tooth pulled. Of course, because of legal constraints, I had to sit my daughter down and tell her that just because I have the knowledge to help someone, doesn’t mean that the government is going to allow me to help!
She was upset that her friend had to suffer so much pain, and that there was no way to help her through this.
Isn’t that how the world is made up now?
My hands are tied, and for those doctors, vets and others with the knowledge to help who can’t because organizations will have their licenses revoked, it’s a shame.
I had a friend who was a family doctor. He wanted to be the old time doctor who would make house calls and treat even those that couldn’t afford it. Here in Idaho, there is a stipulation about doctors treating patients without payment, it’s not allowed.
So, after the clinic would officially close, he would open up the back door, and his friend, a doctor of veterinary medicine would assist him in his treatment. He would leave the clinic open till 11:00pm so that he could treat people who didn’t have money for a doctor. They got their medicine in sample form, and they would get their follow ups after hours.
Where did all these doctors go? The way of the attorney’s. You know what? If state law makers would have put stipulations in the Good Samaritan laws, that would have helped. If a doctor was treating a patient for free, because the patient couldn’t pay for treatment, then the Doctor should be free from any lawsuits at all. You shouldn’t be pinged for trying to do the right thing.
There aren’t to many people in the US that have health benefits now, and that should point Health Care in the right direction. If traditional medicine is going to survive, then it’s going to have to step up to the plate in some fashion or manner.

Thanks
d

Cooking At Home

I guess I’m weird when I get into the kitchen. There are just some things I can not do without…Madagascar Vanilla, extracted into a special blend for my baking. Himalayan Salt, White Truffle Oil, and the wines, the wines have to be a certain type and taste to go in my sauces. I am not a chef, but I grew up with a French Cuisine chef, a German Cuisine Chef, a French Pastry Chef and a Chocolatier. I learned a lot, and although I didn’t want to be a Chef, I grew up to be a chemist, which is about the same thing. People use to rave about my Uncles pastries, they would travel across states in the 1960’s to buy his cakes and pastries. My Grandmother would have people stand outside her kitchen to taste her German Food from the restaurant. My brother was a French Cuisine Chef and use to cook for us all the time at home, trying out new flavors and recipes before going into the “kitchen” to work and my Father was a Chocolatier, going up against Godiva in a world-wide competition and winning with his Polynesian Confections.
Like I said, my father was a Chocolatier, so I grew up with chocolate in the house all the time. I learned how to crush the beans and get real chocolate. My father always used the best ingredients for all his projects, as did my other relatives. They all had their quirks and demands that gave their dishes unforgettable and hard to figure out. I had some friends, when I was growing up, that came from Italy. They taught me how to make Italian Sauces and pastas, and now, I get people that come to my home and ask…"what is that flavor? It is wonderful but I can’t figure out what it is.” The recipe might be the same as the one that they use, but my ingredients are always different.
I have a Spice rack, that probably doesn’t look normal, I know my friends come in a just gasp. They look at every bottle and say…"what do you use this for, and why do you pay so much for it?”
Because who ever eats what I prepare needs to know that I cared to put the very finest ingredients into what I do…especially my family.
Do we eat this way every day? Yes, we eat this way every day…and subsequently, my children and my husband have become the worst food critics in the world.
Flavor and satisfaction mean the world to them, they don’t eat fast food, unless it’s made fresh and hand made with great ingredients (which means it’s not very fast).
I grow an herb garden around my house every year and treat my herbs with tender loving care just because, those will be going into the belly of my children sooner or later.
I also raise geese. I feed my geese a special diet, laced with fresh herbs, because I know that when it comes time for Christmas, those geese will nourish the very reason I am alive and I want it to be spectacular for them to consume.
I do the same with Chickens, Beef, Fish…yes, all have a very special diet, for their health and for the taste of the end result.
I was putting together my kitchen shopping list and saw all of my tools and spices when I cook and was re-stocking when I thought I’d come out and blog about ingredients.
I can’t tell you how much it means to get the finest ingredients for your cooking, and to demand the finest ingredients for your table when you eat. Don’t you deserve it?
I had a Chef tell me the other day, that he hates using Aspartame and Splenda in any of his dishes. He said that he felt it ruined his cakes and how they tasted and presented. Our SugarBlend is the finest ingredients and not only are they gourmet ingredients designed for professional chefs and the results they demand, but it’s also functional, so he said that when they used SugarBlend, they got great results in the kitchen, and the patients got great results in their blood work, no other sweetener has been able to do that in all the time that he had been a professional chef.
Ingredients do make a difference.
If you live in a place that doesn’t have professional places to shop (Idaho Falls Idaho has very few Certified Chefs of any kind!), you may be able to go to TJMax or Ross, if you have them, and browse through their food section. Sometimes, they have nice things for the kitchen, but you really have to look. On Line is also a good place to go, if you want to wait.
The best thing to do is to stock your pantry and then check your ingredients every week to make sure you don’t run out. I have a special room in my house in which I dry my herbs and prepare ingredients for my kitchen, but not everyone want to make that kind of commitment to food, so just make sure that the ingredients you are buying are fresh and the ultimate in quality.
Thanks for letting me rant!!!
d

Really Low Glycemic!