Welcome to Healthy Food Talk

Posted on December 12, 2011 by healthyfoodtalk

“You are a product of what you feed your body and mind.”

Michelle Bond, owner of Healthy Food Talk, is a Board Certified Nutritional Consultant and Holistic Health Practitioner who teaches you how to feel good. She works with you alone or with your health care provider to develop a customized nutritional and lifestyle program incorporating alternative health care and holistic nutrition to help you reach your health goals. Whether you are recovering from illness, trying to prevent illness or just want to be as healthy as you can, Michelle can help you.

She has made it her mission to educate others on how food is medicine and what really is in the foods you eat.

Contact Michelle today and get a FREE 15 minute consultation as a first-time client. “We will talk for 15 minutes where you can get a chance to get to know me and express your issues and goals. I will give you an overview of how I can help you succeed and reach your goals!”

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What I Really Do…

  • I bring hope to people that they can restore and maintain their health in a manner that is non harming to themselves and the environment. Our current healthcare system is very expensive and in many cases inadequate. I bring hope to people that they have otherchoices for their healthcare.
  • I teach people how to feel great through simple and easy to implement processes.
  • I awaken people to a new way of thinking and living that can sustain them for the rest of their lives.

Are you wondering if a lifestyle change with the help of alternative health care and nutritional consulting can improve your quality of life? Read what Mary had to say:

“Three years ago I had breast cancer. After my surgery and radiation treatments, I did my research and I realized that a concentration in nutrition could prevent cancer cells from growing into tumors. But I didn’t really know the road to take to nutritional well-being. That’s when I found Michelle. She provided a day-to-day nutritional guideline to nutrients that were best able to prevent cancer cell growth and she checked in with me to make sure I stayed on my path. To this day I continue with her nutritional health program to help keep me on the right path to excellent nutrition. I’ve been cancer free for three years! …”
– Mary Edwards-Frank – Manhattan Beach, CA

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What The @#!? Is That

SPLENDA

Feature Food Of The Month

DINO KALE
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What’s Up With Paula Deen?

Posted on April 4, 2012 by healthyfoodtalk

I love and admire Paula Deen. Really, I do. I mean how can I not. She is from the South and a self taught cook just like me. She overcame a debilitating phobia to become a successful restauranteur and famous Food Network star. She is courageous and has a very strong work ethic. Unfortunately, the high fat, high processed foods and sugar diet she sells is a major player in her type 2 diabetes diagnosis. It is very symptomatic of what is wrong with the “all American diet”. Her recipes are gluttony at its finest.

WATCH MORE HERE

I admit that I have on a couple of occasions tried a few of her recipes out of curiosity. She makes the food look so good. Well, I have to report that I didn’t like any of them. It was too much sugar and  too much fat. I could feel my teeth rotting out and my arteries clogging up in every bite. I prefer foods that don’t need to be masked with a lot of sugar and fat. To me the taste of a juicy organic vine ripened heirloom tomato from the local farmers market is way better and sweeter than a brownie topped with whipped cream and powder sugar. I prefer to eat a succulent fatty piece of wild Alaskan salmon or black cod than fried butter any day. To me those foods are more real tasting and clean. I like the way I feel after eating them, energized and healthy instead of fat and lethargic.

I feel sorry for her because I think she is being led down a very dangerous path being the spokes person for the drug Victoza and saying you can eat high sugar, high fat and processed foods in moderation. Moderation?! Is she talking maybe once a year or once a day? Let’s say you eat these foods only once a month. You will certainately  start to ween yourself off of them because you will give your body a chance to detox and your tastes will change. You won’t think they are so great and wonder what you saw in them in the first place. I am not saying eating them once a month is O.K., I just wonder what she classifies as moderation.

Since a lot of people look up to her, this path can not only have a negative impact on balancing her own blood sugar imbalance but also on America’s obesity and diabetes epidemic . When the truth comes out, people won’t think of her as a symbol of hope but as a symbol of what is wrong with American diets. Actually she could become the poster child for what is the root cause of these two epidemics – processed high fat food and sugar addiction. We as Americans are addicted to oil, debt and, yes, food. Why else would we be so obese? Paula says you can eat her recipes in moderation and that she never intended on people eating like that all the time. I don’t buy that. Like a true addict she is in denial.

According to Dr. Mercola, Type 2 diabetes is totally preventable. He says it is caused by a diet high in sugar, refined carbohydrates and unhealthy fats. This diet throws the body out of balance and leads to improper leptin signaling and insulin resistance. This can only be controlled by a proper nutritious diet and exercise program. It can not be cured by drugs and/or insulin. ( http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/01/30/celebrity-chef-paula-deen-gets-diabetes-from-her-own-cooking.aspx )

Now, lets look at the drug Victoza produced by Novo Nordisk and see its precautions. This is straight off its website:

“In animal studies, Victoza® caused thyroid tumors—including thyroid cancer—in some rats and mice. It is not known whether Victoza® causes thyroid tumors or a type of thyroid cancer called medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) in people which may be fatal if not detected and treated early. Do not use Victoza® if you or any of your family members have a history of MTC or if you have Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2 (MEN 2). While taking Victoza®, tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, hoarseness, trouble swallowing, or shortness of breath. These may be symptoms of thyroid cancer.

Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) may be severe and lead to death. Before taking Victoza®, tell your doctor if you have had pancreatitis, gallstones, a history of alcoholism, or high blood triglyceride levels since these medical conditions make you more likely to get pancreatitis.

Stop taking Victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have pain in your stomach area that is severe and will not go away, occurs with or without vomiting, or is felt going from your stomach area through to your back. These may be symptoms of pancreatitis.

Victoza® may cause nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea leading to dehydration, which may cause kidney failure. This can happen in people who have never had kidney problems before. Drinking plenty of fluids may reduce your chance of dehydration.

The most common side effects with Victoza® include headache, nausea, and diarrhea. Nausea is most common when first starting Victoza®, but decreases over time in most people. Immune system related reactions, including hives, were more common in people treated with Victoza® compared to people treated with other diabetes drugs in medical studies.”

Seriously! I hope she doesn’t get cancer, pancreatitis or kidney failure.

Paula, please for your own sake and your many fans, wake up and smell the roses. You would do yourself and your fans a big favor if you would clean up your diet, make simple lifestyle changes and stop promoting a drug that is very harmful to your health.

You are such a beautiful woman and are in a position to do so much good for so many people. Take your diabetes and learn how to truly become healthy. Then go out and teach that to others. Really bring hope to people. Hope that they can too live a full life after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.

By the way, I don’t think you deserved the bad rap from Anthony. I’ve seen his show too and believe me, he is no shining example of healthy diets and living.

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Splenda: What The @#!? Is That

Posted on April 3, 2012 by healthyfoodtalk

Splenda is an artificial sweetener that the manufacturer says is safe for diabetics to use. It has no calories so the manufacturer would like for you to think it is good for losing weight or to prevent weight gain.

First of all, Splenda is not natural and it is not organic. It is a processed product. I would not go so far as to call it a food because it doesn’t have any nutrients in it. It’s main ingredients are dextrose, maltodextrin and sucralose. Dextrose is a simple sugar. Maltodextrin is manufactured from a starch, mainly corn in the U.S. There’s no guarantee that the corn is not GMO corn. Sucralose is converted sugar. The process involves replacing 3 hydrogen – oxygen groups of sugar molecules with 3 chlorine atoms.  So when you consume Splenda, you are consuming the toxin, chlorine.

While the company claims Splenda is totally safe for everyone to consume, even children and pregnant women, there are some studies that say otherwise. The studies say it can suppress beneficial bacteria and affect the bioavailability of nutrients.

Artificial sweeteners do not help you lose weight. In fact they make you gain weight by stimulating your taste for more sugar and processed foods. Therefore, you tend to eat more to satisfy that craving. They can also cause you to retain fluids, creating bloat. In nature, sweet tasting foods have nutrients that your body needs. Artificial sweeteners have none of these nutrients and add absolutely nothing to your diet. They are not found in nature and therefore should not be consumed.

Diabetics are better served talking to their doctors about eating healthy, whole, low sugar foods such as vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes and low sugar fruits. Apples and pears come to mind. These foods have nutrients your body needs to balance itself and satisfy your hunger. Also, ask your doctor about using Stevia in place of sugar, honey, molasses, and maple syrup to sweeten your foods and in baking. It is a natural sweetener from the sunflower family (Asteraceae) and has very little effect on blood glucose. Make sure it is pure Stevia from Stevia rebaudiana and not some processed versions like Truvia or PureVia, which have very little Stevia in them. Stevia is also known as sweet leaf, sweetleaf and sugar leaf.

In a campaign to try to cash in on the health movement, Splenda has come out with Splenda essentials. You can now get Splenda with fiber, B vitamins and antioxidants. Don’t be fooled. These products aren’t good for you. They are artificial. The body has a hard time processing and breaking down artificial ingredients. They usually end up becoming toxins that your body stores. You are much better served getting your fiber, B vitamins and antioxidants from organic foods found in nature!

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Dino Kale: Feature Food Of The Month

Posted on April 3, 2012 by healthyfoodtalk

Dino Kale is packed with powerful nutrients like vitamin K and vitamin C, which help your body absorbed Calcium. It is high in beta carotene, the plant version of vitamin A. It is a hearty green that can keep in the refrigerator for about 10 days. Although to get all the nutrients you might want to eat it sooner. Some people like to eat it raw in a salad but I prefer it cooked as it can be a little difficult to chew raw. It is wonderful sauteed in a little grape seed oil and finished off with fresh garlic. If you prefer, it can be braised in a little chicken broth or water. It is a wonderful addition to many soups. I especially like it in my Potato, Kale and Leek soup where it adds another note of flavor to a rich and satisfying dish.

Featured Recipe: Potato, Kale and Leek Soup – CLICK HERE

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Potato, Kale and Leek Soup

Posted on April 3, 2012 by healthyfoodtalk

All ingredients are organic…

  • Grape seed Oil
  • 2 Cups of chopped leeks (white and light green parts only)
  • 4 Cups peeled and bite sized chopped potatoes
  • 2 Cups chopped Kale with stems removed
  • 4 Cups or more of chicken stock or water if you are a vegetarian
  • 2 teaspoons of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 Cup of heavy cream

In a soup pan, over medium low heat, saute the leeks in a 2 count measure of grape seed oil until translucent not brown. Add the potatoes, kale, salt and pepper and enough chicken stock or water to cover the potatoes. If you want thinner soup then add more liquid. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender. About 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool for a few minutes. Either with a potato masher or emulsion blender, break down the potatoes until they are the consistency you would like. I prefer mine a little chunky. Stir in the cream and adjust the seasonings. This soup can be served hot or chilled.

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Getting Healthy for the New Year with Alternative Health Care and Nutritional Consulting: An Interview Featured on Cal Coast Web Design

Posted on December 16, 2011 by healthyfoodtalk

I recently got the opportunity to chat with the staff at Cal Coast Web Design about helping them get healthy for the New Year with alternative health care methods and nutritional consulting.

It was a great time, so we decided to do a quick interview about Healthy Food Talk and how our services come together to help people change their lives forever!

We talked about food, healthy living, meditation, healing the mind and body, and more! Please go check it out and be sure to share the interview with anyone who might be looking to make a significant change this year!

Click here to read the interview “Getting Healthy for the New Year with Alternative Health Care and Nutritional Consulting”.

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Vedic Astrology: Its Relationship to Western Astrology and How It Can Help Us

Posted on July 20, 2011 by healthyfoodtalk

People in the United States are most familiar with Western Astrology because it is the form of astrology used to interpret the Zodiac Signs in newspapers and magazines. And don’t forget the pick up line used in the 60’s and 70’s “What’s your sign?” What they were referring to is your Sun sign in Western Astrology. Since I am a Vedic Astrologer, I often get asked what that is and how is it different from Western Astrology. Also, people are curious about how it can be used as a tool to help them lead happier healthier lives. I hope this will help to explain what Vedic Astrology is, its relationship to Western Astrology and how it can help us.

Vedic astrology or Jyotish means the science of light. It is through the light of the stars that you can see your life’s destiny and understand your karma and purpose. This knowledge was handed down to the sages of India over 5,000 ears ago with its roots coming from the Vedantas (the oldest spiritual scriptures in India). With this information, the sages could council people and help them with their lives. If an unfavorable event was going to occur then remedial measures would be recommended to help that person get through or preempt that event all together. Very little has changed through the years and Jyotish is still used as a tool to help people.

Jyotish uses the sidereal zodiac and Western Astrology uses the tropical zodiac. The zodiac is the path of the stars that encircle the Earth and through which the Sun appears to move. The tropical zodiac is based on the orientation of the Earth to the Sun not the stars. The tropical zodiac’s starting point every year is the place of the Sun on the first day of spring. This is within the first degree of Aries.

The sidereal zodiac is based on the planet’s actual relationship to the constellations of the fixed stars. As a result, its signs are identical with the fixed stars. The Earth’s rotational axis moves slowly in a circular motion so the point where the Sun crosses the celestial equator each year never returns to its starting place. The tropical zodiac does not take this procession into account. From the Earth’s prospective, these fixed stars move backward approximately one degree every 72 years. This doesn’t make much difference over one lifetime, but over many centuries the sidereal and tropical zodiacs have moved apart. Currently the difference between them is approximately 24 to 25 degrees. The sidereal zodiac’s starting point is 6 degrees 09 minutes of Pisces.

Vedic Astrology is sometimes called predictive astrology. It analyses the karmas of the soul and how those karmas will unfold in a person’s life. Tropical astrology focuses more on the personalities of individuals and how they will play out. It recognizes the sidereal method and believes it to be of value for longer time periods, but not necessarily for the individual charts.

Vedic Astrology puts more emphasis on the rising sign and where the Moon is located at the time of birth than does Western Astrology. It focuses on the Sun, which stays in a sign for 30 days. Therefore, Jyotish is believed to have more tools for prediction than the Western System. The rising sign is the sign that was coming up over the horizon at your time of birth. This changes about every 2 hours. The Moon stays in a sign for about 2 and 1/2 days. During this time it will travel through about 2 and 1/3 houses of the Moon called Nakshatras. There are a total of 27 Nakshatras each with its different influences on the individual. This is the reason why not all Virgos or Scorpios, etc. are the same.

Both systems are valid. It just depends on your point of view which system you prefer. Historically, many people believed the sidereal system came first because the way the stars were actually positioned in the sky was the way the stars were observed and interpreted. They feel the tropical, more abstract zodiac was derived from the sidereal method.

I am what is called a Neo-Vedic Jyotish Astrologer. This type of astrologer uses Vedic Astrology combined with elements of Western Astrology. We do not disregard the energies of the outer planets (Uranus, Pluto and Neptune) as they can have a profound and important influence on a person’s life.

Jyotish has been around for thousands of years. There are more Jyotish Astrologers in the world than there are Western Astrologers. The degree of accuracy in predictions and the remedial measures to help people with difficult times have kept this form of astrology alive and well.

Vedic Astrology helps us to:

  • Reach our highest potential by bringing well-being and happiness.
  • Understand all aspects of ourselves – talents, strengths, weaknesses and destiny.
  • See what we can do to improve our lives and ourselves.
  • Become conscious about who we are and why we do what we do.
  • Know our purpose and make sure we are headed in the right direction.
  • Enjoy prosperity by knowing when the time is right to make moves for the most advantageous outcomes.

So as you can see, Vedic Astrology can be used as a very powerful tool in helping us lead a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

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Parsley: Feature Food Of The Month

Posted on July 19, 2011 by healthyfoodtalk

parsley

Parsley is most commonly used as a garnish and its health benefits are often ignored. It can be used medicinally as a diuretic, to ease flatulence and colic pains and to stimulate the menstrual process. Therefore, do not use it medicinally if you are pregnant.

Parsley is very high in the following nutrients:

  • Potassium – for muscle strength and contraction and to maintain blood pressure.
  • Calcium – for strong bones and teeth, to reduce muscle cramps and to promote healthy nerves, heart and skin.
  • Vitamin K – for the control of blood clotting.
  • Vitamin C – for the formation of collagen, blood vessel health and an anti-oxidant.

So the next time you see a sprig of parsley on your plate, go on ahead and eat it. Its taste is fresh and clean. Some people even believe that it freshens the breath. You can toss it into salads, soups and sauces. Experiment with it and your body and taste buds will thank you.

Check out the recipe for PARSLEY RELISH and enjoy.

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Parsley Relish

Posted on July 19, 2011 by healthyfoodtalk

Note: All ingredients should be organic as much as possible.

  • ½ cup of coarsely chopped parsley leaves
  • 1 Tablespoon of minced red onion or any other sweet onion
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 Tablespoon coarsely chopped capers
  • 2 Teaspoons of brine from the capers
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients into a bowl. For a healthier version, use over eggs instead of hollandaise sauce when making eggs Benedict. It is delicious sprinkled over roasted or baked fish, chicken and pork.

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Guar Gum: What The @#!? Is That

Posted on June 9, 2011 by healthyfoodtalk

Primarily grown in India and Pakistan for use as cow feed it now has many other uses. India is the largest exporter of guar gum and in 2007 there was a recall for contamination with excessive levels of dioxins.

It is used as a water thickener, emulsifier, stabilizer and ice crystal growth retarder.
There are many industries that use it such as textile, paper, explosives, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, oil and gas drilling, mining, medical institutions and the biggest one – the food industry.

In the late 1980’s it was used in “over the counter” weight loss aides but in the early 1990’s the FDA recalled these products. The guar gum was binding with the fluids in the stomach and swelling, producing a mass that would give a satisfying full feeling. However, this mass caused dangerous intestinal and duodenal blockages leading to 10 users having to be hospitalized and 1 death. It is now used in small amounts in processed foods as a thickener and binder.

If you are trying to eat as healthy as you possibly can, then it would be best to try to avoid this ingredient as much as possible. You don’t need to add it to any of your home cooked foods. However, if you have a very hectic schedule and don’t have time to cook all your meals, then make sure you are only getting organic guar gum in organic foods. That way you will be sure you are not getting unwanted pesticides, herbicides and other unwanted chemicals with it.

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