Just curious how many of you out there try to avoid high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils (as well as any other "scientific" ingredients; i.e. modified food starches or inverted sugars) in your food.

I've been reading up recently on the potential hazards these types of substances can pose to your health, and it's pretty scary. I've started a crusade to rid my diet of them as well as my family's (at least the HFCS and hydrogenated oils).

I'm not gonna get too extreme and avoid it 100% but I do plan to drastically reduce our exposure to them. I'll still be eating out at restaurants and ordering what I want but what I cook / eat at home will change.

I'm also trying to reduce my intake of white pastas and rice, and instead consuming more 100% wheat products, brown rice, quinoa, etc.

Figured I'd start this thread to see if there are others out there that are on the same path and maybe it can turn into a healthy recipe sharing thread. I downloaded a bunch of brown rice / quinoa recipes the other day and am excited to try some of them.

Or...maybe I'm the only nutjob interested in this and the thread will slowly fade to the bottom of the page

 

since starting a training program and watching what I put into my body, ie: no high fructose, no hydrogenated oils, I've lost 25 pounds.
from 180lbs to 155 since September of 2013.
the last two months, I have not been to gym and I'm still maintaining my 155lb weight because of what i do and do not eat.

 

Jstn eats a lottadik though...

 

Okay, serious response...no, hadn't paid attention but that's pretty impressive! I need to look into eliminating that too...just hope I don't have to cut out pizza and burgers and beer!

 

MmmMmmMmmmmmmmmm protein

 

gonna need a lotta jeremy's to not die of starvation, unfortunately...

 

i dont follow the paleo diet, but I take some ideas from it.
for example; paleo tacos are awesome!!! instead of a flour or corn shell, I use a piece of lettuce as a wrap. fill it with your taco fixin, and voila!

 

Damn Justn, that's impressive! Keep it up man!

Rockstar, here are a couple of interesting articles that will get you thinking.

Why Hydrogenated Oils Should be Avoided at All Costs

5 Reasons High Fructose Corn Syrup Will Kill You
*We are consuming HFCS and sugar in pharmacologic quantities never before experienced in human history–140 pounds a year versus 20 teaspoons a year 10,000 years ago.

There's a reason diabetes, obesity, cancer, and heart disease (among others) have exponentially increased over the years and it's mostly (at least IMO) about what's put in our food supply...and conveniently hidden on the back of the package in the list of ingredients. Hell, you remember the ban on trans fats...well anything with partially hydrogenated oils still has them. The issue is that as long as it's 0.5g or less per serving the product package can still claim zero trans fat. They get around it by making serving sizes very small..

I've always eaten what I wanted and never had a problem with weight but now that I'm a father it's about more than that.

 

Fantastic...thanks, man...I'll read up!

 

No problem man

 

I honestly eat very little processed food. What I do eat, I try to make sure it has as few ingredients as possible, generally eliminating anything with HFCS, etc... I also try to limit my refined sugar intake altogether (short chain carbs). Do I consume SOME? Sure. But I look at the BBQ sauce bottle and if it has HFCS as an ingredient, I pass. Same with Spaghetti sauce, etc. I try to make as much of this stuff from scratch as I can though. I may still put some sugar in, but I know it's cane sugar, brown sugar, honey, etc...

 

great goal!

at first, it wasnt about the weight loss for me.
it was more making myself feel better.
sugar made me depressed. I linked it to sugar on my own, after eating a carton of ice cream and realizing the next day that my mood sucked.
plus, bouts of exercising raises endorphins...
and you know where im going with this.

the weight loss is a side effect of eating healthy!!

 

Yep...Gotta read those labels..There are a couple of ice creams out there that are natural..No HFC...(unlike regular ice cream) Getting enough water is really important as well..

 

What you're negating to mention is the massive increase in puss you've seen since losing the weight. Let's face it, that's the best motivator.

Funny you mention ice cream...that's the one thing I feel like I can have a few scoops of that immediately makes my teeth feel funny and the next day, I feel pudgy. I thought it was all in my head since I can't get fat overnight...and then I'd feel depressed for doing it, but figured it was just because of the behavior, not the chemical make up. I mainly notice the mood swings and desire for a nap after eating carbs and sugars though, that's for sure.

 

Ive seen the coconut ice creams, butt are too expensive, and I'd rather just sacrifice ice cream all together.
thanks for throwing that suggestion out!

 

When I reduced the simple carbs in my diet, my energy level swings completely leveled off. I very rarely (if ever) have that "post meal drowsiness" that i hated. Portion control also plays into that a bit...

With treat items like ice cream that I eat super rarely, I don't care. I figure for the once a month or less that I eat ice cream/frozen yogurt, I will take it full strength and with all the chemicals, etc..

Someone asked me once at a restaurant if I wanted the turkey bacon instead of the regular. For as often as I actually consume bacon, HELL NO I WANT THE REAL STUFF! I mean, once every few months a serving of real (insert binge food here) is not going to have a very profound effect on most people but the effect of treating yourself to it will be very great.

 

^^^Wholeheartedly agree, Stog

 

That's also what I'm working towards...reducing my intake of processed foods and when I do eat them ensuring there are minimal ingredients.

It's amazing how changing your diet has so many more effects than just weight loss! I read some blogs about people noticing changes in their skin / hair and less headaches / diarrhea.

I'm also w/ Stogie though in that I don't want to completely eliminate the bad stuff from my diet...just greatly reduce how much I eat it. But if there are some healthier foods that taste close I'll try them (thanks for the ice cream tip Italiano).

 

My wife makes me use coconut oil whenever she is around but I use evoo any other time

Interested in your recipes when you make them

 

Honestly, evoo is so good for you and healthy, there is no real reason to use coconut oil other than it may be "better"...

Some of the stuff is a fad, like coconut water. Other stuff, that has been proven and used for hundreds of years (evoo) I will gladly consume.

 

Beezle - I'll definitely post up the recipes that I make and like! Below are the links to the articles that I got them from...just in case there are some you may like that I didn't save and thus won't try.

Brown Rice Recipes

Quinoa Recipes

I had to google what EVOO stood for, haha. I use olive oil more than any other when cooking but I'm pretty sure the bottle I currently have is just regular, or pure...not extra virgin. I'm gonna have to look into the differences.

 

I haven't eliminated anything completely but as a general rule I try to buy stuff that has less crap in it. Some random things it's hard to avoid but for the last 6 months I've basically avoided sugar/simple carbs (and with a little more exercise and watching portions) dropped 40+ lbs and feel way more energetic. I try to avoid HFCS and trans fats cause I have a 2 year old so he pretty much eats what I eat now so if I want him eating right I have to stick to it too, other than when he points to my beer/whiskey and calls it daddy's juice. When feasible I try to buy organic too, at least for the stuff I know he's gonna eat.

 

x 2 for sure. I eliminated processed foods and cut crap carbs from my died and the difference was crazy. I increased fat from eggs avocados milk etc and dropped weight and felt great. Real food isn't bad for you. Hard part was limiting booze but overall just that switch made a huge difference with energy and fitness.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by 350

I try to avoid HFCS and trans fats cause I have a 2 year old so he pretty much eats what I eat now so if I want him eating right I have to stick to it too

That is EXACTLY what started me on this kick. My daughter has a peanut allergy too so she only eats what we make at home. If we go to a restaurant we bring her food with us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by subinf

I increased fat from eggs avocados milk etc and dropped weight and felt great. Real food isn't bad for you.

Yeah, the healthy fats are good. I eat a lot of avocado and have recently been eating more of a heart healthy nut mix (plus the EVOO mentioned above). It's nice cause it keeps me full much longer than the crap I used to snack on.


So I've been cooking a lot of different dishes lately and figured I'd share some of my favorites so far (from the links in post #21).

Black Beans and Brown Rice
*Not sure it's the best idea to drain and rinse the beans, and not sure how they got the color in the picture by doing that. Next time I'm putting the entire can in.

Broccoli-Rice Bake
*This one was good but a little bland. You may want to add a little more salt. It's also probably best as a side dish and not the main course.

Zesty Chicken and Rice Skillet
*This was my favorite so far, and my picky wife even loved it.

Quinoa Salad with Artichokes and Parsley
*This was was a very different dish, but I dug it. My wife and daughter weren't fans though.

Breakfast Quinoa
*This is another one of my favorites. I left out the coconut flakes and used bananas in it the first time and blueberries the next...both were awesome!

Herbed Brown Rice with Mushrooms
*I'm making this one tonight along with some baked chicken, will let you know how it turns out.

 

Those look good. I've had quinoa once unknowingly but never thought about it with bfast

 

^^^ Me neither, but with the coconut milk, brown sugar, and fresh fruit it makes a hell of a breakfast. It keeps you full a bit longer too since it's high in protein (for a grain). I will say though the servings are way off in the recipe. You get about half of what it says.

 

oh, for breakfast EVERY morning, I have a bowl of steel cut oats, that I prepare at the beginning of each week.

I think this is one of the most important meals/food to eat in the morning.
it gives you long lasting energy and has protein and fibers.
it does get tiring to eat EVERY morning, But i dont think of it as "mMmmmMMmMM this is good" I just think of it as Fuel that my body needs.

 

I only eat mcdonalds and fried chicken. I get all my groceries from walmart. Organic foods are just a marketing scam to take your money. Who needs hormone injections or antibiotics from a doctor when I can get them just eating my chicken. Whether or not you get cancer is solely up to G*d. Start praying and going to church more and all your problems will fix themselves.

Praise jesus

 

I couldn't agree more that breakfast is a very important meal. Props to you for doing it right...even though you don't exactly love doing it.

I used to pretty much do different cereals or PB toast for breakfast most mornings (I can't do the same thing everyday), but lately I've been doing smoothies on the days I work out (almond, soy, or 1% milk with a banana, strawberries or blueberries, organic old fashioned oats, a scoop of natural PB, and some whey protein) and on the other days I do oatmeal or the quinoa. I've always been a breakfast guy and get hungry pretty quickly if I go without.

I've read that your meals should actually decrease in size as the day goes on, with breakfast being the biggest and dinner being the smallest...most people do the opposite though.

 

makes sense.
when you're sleeping, you're fasting.
when you wake up you want to break away from that fast, hence the name breakfast.

 

Interesting, never thought of it like that.

On the flip side I've also heard you don't want to go to bed hungry b/c it slows down your metabolism since your body isn't working to digest food for @ 8 hours. I get stuck at times when I have a light dinner but then end up hungry shortly after. I will usually try to do a snack high in protein and low in carbs if that happens (like greek yogurt).

 

I try to eat steel cut oats every weekend, normally too busy on week days so I eat a protein bar (high fiber too). I'll admit I never ate a full bowl of oatmeal until I was 25, I always thought regular oatmeal was too grueling, steel cut makes it a little less boring since it has some texture.

 

So, I had to google WTF a steel cut oat was...pretty interesting. I'll likely incorporate this into my diet.

The difference between rolled and steel cut oats is that while both contain whole grain oats, they are processed differently. Rolled oats are steamed, rolled, steamed again and toasted, ending up as thin flakes. Steel cut oats are made from oat kernels that have been chopped into thick pieces.

I recommend choosing steel cut (Irish) oats over rolled oats because they digest more slowly than rolled ones. Like all other grains in whole or cracked form, steel cut oats rank lower on the glycemic index than rolled oats. The reason is that it takes longer for digestive enzymes to reach the starch inside the thicker pieces, slowing down its conversion to sugar.

Link to article

*Just for my future reference:
I make a batch of steel cut oats in the slow cooker on Sunday to get me through the week. 1 cup oats, about 1/2 teaspoon salt, 4 cups water. Cook on low for 4-5 hours, then split it up into 4 servings. It reheats well in the microwave; 1 minute on high, stir it really well, add some water, probably a couple tablespoons (it's kind of rubbery without the extra water), another minute in the microwave, stir again, add cinnamon and a teaspoon of brown sugar, maybe handful of whatever fruit you like.

 

i make a week in advance. 5 bowls.
I use a rice cooker. because I'm
the rice cooker cooks it in 30 mins. you'll have to play around with time and heat. the first time i made it, it sucked.
with practice, i found out how long to cook it for the consistency I like. I pack it in little Tupperware containers. and I eat it before I go to work, every morning.

add whatever you would like to make it taste however you want.

also, you dont have to heat it. could just soak it in water over night, and it will be like a cereal in the morning.

 

another thing; the "irish" oats that come in a box gets expensive quick.

if you have a spouts or another organic whole foods store, they sell the oats in bulk. and you can just bag up how much you want.

cheaper than buying the box stuff.

 

I didn't see Quaker steel cut til recently, it's about half the cost of the stuff in the metal can, haven't tried it yet but it's on my shelf.

 

I avoid HFCS like the plague. I've also tried to avoid sugary foods/drinks. I drink water 95% of the time.

 

Oats...

Get a mini $10 slow cooker from target. Go to sprouts get some get good bulk steel cut. And get some dried fruits cherries, raisins, cranberries, blueberries...whatever.

Put it in the slow cooker the night before. You can add a little brown sugar, too, if you want...and bam, nice warm oatmeal with fruit.

 

I was never a huge soda/sugar drink person but in my effort to limit my beer consumption I've jumped on the kombucha wagon. It is an interesting alternative.