28 replies to this topic

[vaporjourney]

For one, most people here will recommend you eat some sprouted-grain bread, which I think runs for about $6 a loaf, which is pretty ridiculous. I've yet to drop this low and start spending double what I currently spend for bread. Some people will tell you that you can eat Whole Grain breads, which is what I do. Still can't tell if they are making my face worse or not. You just need to eat tons of chicken or fish, rice, fruit, and veggies. I'm still struggling with finding good foods to eat...good luck.

[Whatsup]

You could eat fruits , vegetables, seeds, nuts, rice, beans, soup all without bread

[Minnym0use]

For one, most people here will recommend you eat some sprouted-grain bread, which I think runs for about $6 a loaf, which is pretty ridiculous.  I've yet to drop this low and start spending double what I currently spend for bread.  Some people will tell you that you can eat Whole Grain breads, which is what I do.  Still can't tell if they are making my face worse or not.  You just need to eat tons of chicken or fish, rice, fruit, and veggies.  I'm still struggling with finding good foods to eat...good luck.

I pay half that cost.

[Productjunkie]

I eat Brownberry low carb bread. 6 carbs per slice plus 3 grams of fiber. Tastes better if you toast it.

[cjb]

I pay $2.89 for a loaf of Ezekial sprouted grain bread... no yeast, no sugars. That's as much as any "whole grain" loaf would cost. I suppose I could get Wonderbread for cheaper, but I'll pass.

[blackbirdbeatle]

? I get 100% whole garin breads, 12 grains, Winnipeg Rye, etc... with no sugar and some have no gluten(Obviously no wheat), for 1.00-1.50 a loaf(Large loafs). I can get them at health food stores, co-ops, large stores like Safeway, Sobeys etc... I can get them at my hometown bakery for much less but this is what I pay for in the city.

I'm from Canada as well and we pay more for everything so I don't understand how you guys pay so much. DO you mail order bread(How can you not like it fresh that morning)? DO you just shop at overpriced health food stores?

[cjb]

Consider yourself lucky, then BBB. I've never seen Winnipeg Rye. I don't mail order any food. I get it at a co op. But even if I buy fresh baked at the farmer's market or at a bakery, it still costs at least $2. We do have some great organic bakeries here, but none that make sprouted grain bread, which seems to be all I can tolerate. Which city do you live in, BBB?

[BronzeSurfer2]

Some soup with veggies? Or a side of cut fruit.

[SweetJade1980]

? I get 100% whole garin breads, 12 grains, Winnipeg Rye,  etc... with no sugar and some have no gluten(Obviously no wheat), for 1.00-1.50 a loaf(Large loafs). I can get them at health food stores, co-ops, large stores like Safeway, Sobeys etc... I can get them at my hometown bakery for much less but this is what I pay for in the city.

I'm from Canada as well and we pay more for everything so I don't understand how you guys pay so much. DO you mail order bread(How can you not like it fresh that morning)? DO you just shop at overpriced health food stores?

LOL, that's the thing. Canada it seems is more health concious than the U.S. is. You have a lot of healthy or healthier options at more affordable prices than we do. Although it may also have to do with your location, but I guess that's why you don't understand why it's so hard for most of us over here to eat "healthy", especially something as simple as store bought bread. I've only become recently aware of Co-Ops, CSAs, & Health Food Stores but I don't have access to much of it. One health food store is 30min away the other is 1 hour, neither of which are very large or affordable. I did have the opportunity to sign up with one of 2 CSAs, but again they are 1 hour away from me (would have picked up after class every week), but this season's pickup days conflicted with my work schedule.

We already know that your soft drinks usually don't contain HFCS, but what about your other goods? Breads, you say that grocery store bread has no sugar or only what you get from a market, bakery or health food store? Over here, sugar is added to most bread products as are trans fats. I had to teach a class on IR and decided to go to the several grocery stores so I could give them a list of foods that they could eat that followed general healthy criteria. 100% whole grain or sprouted and absolutely no HFCS or Trans Fats, but I had to bend on added sugars like Cane Juice or Honey when it came to breads otherwise there were only like 2 brands (fresh artisan breads) they could eat. I also tried do it with the Salad dressings but that was futile, as it is with most flavored/seasoning/marinade type condiments, but did come up with quite a few Pasta Sauces that didn't have any sugar in them. Not surprising at all was that the major brands one would see in a magazine or commericial were usually excluded from my list. Unfortunately, over here sugar is added to nearly everything. I don't know, but is that how it is over there for certain foods? This is kinda random, but does your ketchup have sugar in it too?

Thanxs

[blackbirdbeatle]

There's sugar in our breads, just not all. It's certainly easy to walk into Safeway and get about 12 different kinds of in store baked breads, about 4 of which have no sugar and many other have sugar as the 8th ingredient (I usually buy breads with various grains in them).

Perhaps people like their bread with no sugar, as it tastes more wholesome(I like sourdough for this reason). It's good with soups, italian food and such.

As for trans fats, our governmnet recently banned them and they are starting to phase them out of all foods up here. Cookies, brownies, all that pre packaged food, it all will be trans fat free. Fast food joints will all have trans fats phased out. Of course some thigns like dairy and meats have naturally occuring trans fats the rule will be though no added trans fats, either in Canada or anywhere else and shipped to Canada as a finished product.

I don't know what a CSA is. Our Co-op is as big as safeway(Bigger in many cases) and there are like 5 in our city.

Our heinz does have liquid sugar. 3rd ingredient. Many of our products have sugar in them. From a insulin response standpoint, most all carbs other than veggies(Includes brown rice, fruits, etc...) cause a large insulin response as does protein like meats, fich, and eggs (Lentils are bad for this because they are high in protein and carbs). Taking that into consideration, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. The fats may help reduce the response but I don't want to live off of veggies, nor is it sustainable.


Ya, our soda doesn't have HFCS in it. For that reason whenever we go to our cabin in the states we drink diet or bring our own as the difference in taste is like night and day. I can actually finish a can of coke up here without getting sick.

Other than that our products are the same as yours(Well our meat and dairy don't have growth hormones and much of our beef is raised on prairie grass).

As far as sugar goes we are pretty much the same as you, except less HFCS. The reason there is a diabetic and obesity epidemic now is not because of all our sugary foods. We consume the same amount of sugar and calories as we did 30,40 years ago, we have replaced exercise with sitting around. It's already changed so much since I was little as we were way more active, playing soccer even in the Canadian winter. Nowadays many kids are lazy, as are the adults. What does that tell you about the importantce of exercise on IR?

[SweetJade1980]

There's sugar in our breads, just not all. It's certainly easy to walk into Safeway and get about 12 different kinds of in store baked breads, about 4 of which have no sugar and many other have sugar as the 8th ingredient (I usually buy breads with various grains in them).

Perhaps people like their bread with no sugar, as it tastes more wholesome(I like sourdough for this reason). It's good with soups, italian food and such.

As for trans fats, our governmnet recently banned them and they are starting to phase them out of all foods up here. Cookies, brownies, all that pre packaged food, it all will be trans fat free. Fast food joints will all have trans fats phased out. Of course some thigns like dairy and meats have naturally occuring trans fats the rule will be though no added trans fats, either in Canada or anywhere else and shipped to Canada as a finished product.

I don't know what a CSA is. Our Co-op is as big as safeway(Bigger in many cases) and there are like 5 in our city.

Our heinz does have liquid sugar. 3rd ingredient. Many of our products have sugar in them. From a insulin response standpoint, most all carbs other than veggies(Includes brown rice, fruits, etc...) cause a large insulin response as does protein like meats, fich, and eggs (Lentils are bad for this because they are high in protein and carbs). Taking that into consideration, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. The fats may help reduce the response but I don't want to live off of veggies, nor is it sustainable.
Ya, our soda doesn't have HFCS in it. For that reason whenever we go to our cabin in the states we drink diet or bring our own as the difference in taste is like night and day. I can actually finish a can of coke up here without getting sick.

Other than that our products are the same as yours(Well our meat and dairy don't have growth hormones and much of our beef is raised on prairie grass).

As far as sugar goes we are pretty much the same as you, except less HFCS. The reason there is a diabetic and obesity epidemic now is not because of all our sugary foods. We consume the same amount of sugar and calories as we did 30,40 years ago, we have replaced exercise with sitting around. It's already changed so much since I was little as we were way more active, playing soccer even in the Canadian winter. Nowadays many kids are lazy, as are the adults. What does that tell you about the importantce of exercise on IR?

Thanks for clarifying that for me. I do agree that lack of exericise contributes to obesity, IR, along with other health problems. I was talking to my friend the other day and she exercises daily now and she used to be very active in high school, but when she hit college she dropped most physical activity and very slowly she started to gain weight. She was never overweight though, but she was a few sizes larger than she was in high school and than she is now. See for her it was weight, acne was never an issue except for the one yearly zit she would get on her nose if she didn't catch it in time and perform some little trick on it. I guess she thought about what she was doing and she said that the only real difference was that she started exercising (soccer, running, gym) again.

I also believe that our diets play a role too. I've talked to other women, inlcuding my friends and they tell me that they've lost 5 - 10 lbs just by dropping the sodas and nothing else. I've got one friend, he exercises and all, but pistachios (related to cashews & mangos) break him out, otherwise he's got clear skin. Yet he's always looking to cut a few lbs (he's slim enough I think) and so he'll bug me occassionally, honestly or jokingly, about going gluten free.

Personally, I don't know if going GF was what did it or if it was just because I dropped a lot of the dairy, added sugars, and trans fats that are associated with the bread products over. I do believe that wheat or gluten itself can be problematic, but because most members here didn't go 100% whole grain or sprouted grain with no added sugars, trans fats, or dairy in the bread most of us aren't 100% certain about this. However I can say that I'm very sensitive to added sugars of almost any kind (not certain about brown rice syrup). It may or may not have anything to do with the lack of fiber, but as little as 4g of sugar/sucrose (thats like 1 or 2 jelly beans) will break me out. This doesn't happen when I eat whole foods like certain GF grains, vegetables, and most fruits, and certain seeds. That's why I don't take any of those indexes too seriously because, unless we are just talking about added sugar, I don't experience problems otherwise. Of course, I've still got 1% left so maybe it's due to me not exercising enough, not eating enough vegetables, not food combing, or due to candida that I've still got. However, for the moment, the only thing I'm thinking about currently changing dietwise based on the II are my consumption of potatos. Of course that means that I've got to replace it with something healthier and I'm thinking of dabbling in some GF Quinoa & Buckwheat, so we shall see if that helps any.

[ritzvin]

Everything I eat contains some amount of bread for example pizza, hamburgers, tortas(mexican hamburger basiclly) penut butter jelly sandwhich and the list goes on and on..... what can I eat thats somewhat healthy and doesnt have bread in it or as a side order?(olive garden salad bread sticks )

no one said you had to eat the breadsticks. (ok -- I can never resist them either, and bread makes me feel really bloated too).

For breakfast, I usually have eggs and canadian bacon or bacon. I usually have a salad (with either grilled chicken or shrimp - god bless the burger king on campus) for lunch; and a dinner consisting of: meat (fried/sauteed/partly steamed in an electric skillet); frozen veggies (such as a bag of stirfry veggies or green beans or something like that, microwaved); and another side of some salad greens.

[ritzvin]

However, for the moment, the only thing I'm thinking about currently changing dietwise based on the II are my consumption of potatos. 

I usually avoid potatoes, since they also make me bloated. (I love bread and potatoes, but my body doesn't).

[ritzvin]

We already know that your soft drinks usually don't contain HFCS, but what about your other goods?  Breads, you say that grocery store bread has no sugar or only what you get from a market, bakery or health food store?  Over here, sugar is added to most bread products as are trans fats.  I had to teach a class on IR and decided to go to the several grocery stores so I could give them a list of foods that they could eat that followed general healthy criteria.  100% whole grain or sprouted and absolutely no HFCS or Trans Fats, but I had to bend on added sugars like Cane Juice or Honey when it came to breads otherwise there were only like 2 brands (fresh artisan breads) they could eat. 

Thanxs

I remember when I still ate bread.... I had to cave and settle on whole grain bread that at least kept the sugars/HFCS at less than the 3rd ingredient - and that still left me at only 1 loaf (it was some company's "low carb" bread). I've never seen whole grain bread come out of a bakery here. I don't even remember ever seeing a fresh loaf of even wheat bread. I do remember getting an awesome multigrain bread once when I was visiting family in Barrie (Ontario) - I think they thought we (the american relatives) were nuts for going on and on about how great the bread was.

[cjb]

As for trans fats, our governmnet recently banned them and they are starting to phase them out of all foods up here. Cookies, brownies, all that pre packaged food, it all will be trans fat free. Fast food joints will all have trans fats phased out. Of course some thigns like dairy and meats have naturally occuring trans fats the rule will be though no added trans fats, either in Canada or anywhere else and shipped to Canada as a finished product.

I don't know what a CSA is. Our Co-op is as big as safeway(Bigger in many cases) and there are like 5 in our city.

I remember hearing that the Canadian gov't was banning transfats. I think that made me want to move there even more than when bush got re-elected.

CSA=Community Supported Agriculture. You buy a share from a farmer for a season's worth of veggies and get a weekly box of whatever's growing.

[blackbirdbeatle]

Oh, half my extended family are farmers so.... I can also tell you that the farmers are making a killing from these people (Unless you get the veggies dirt cheap). Maybe I should tell my relatives to do this.

[cjb]

Oh, half my extended family are farmers so.... I can also tell you that the farmers are making a killing from these people (Unless you get the veggies dirt cheap). Maybe I should tell my relatives to do this.

Well, I've worked on organic farms (still do, but not full time) and can't, by any stretch of the imagination, say that any of the farmers are making a "killing." If they were, believe me, I would not be in school right now, I'd be farming. Be even if they were making a mint, I'd say GOOD! Farmers should make a killing. Growing food is about the noblist job on earth, IMO.
You should tell your relatives to do it. It's a good deal for farmers because they can sell produce up front. Most farms have different plans; family-size, half share, student-share, whatever, and range in price from maybe $250-450 for a season, usually May or June-October here in the Pacific NW. One lady I worked for itemized the boxes each week against market prices to make sure her CSA folks were getting a bargain. Many have options, like pickling cukes, or boxes of fruit, whatever, or the farmers will email weekly options. We used to have a flower bouquet option, and we'd put recipes in the weekly box. I never came across a customer who thought they were being ripped off. They were always excited to get their boxes. I think it's a great way to get people involved with their farm community, connected to their food, and EATING THEIR VEGETABLES. Sorry to go off. CSAs are a good thing.

[blackbirdbeatle]

1. Only a few crops make a lot of money. I agree though that farming is noble and they should make more money. It's hard work for the months that they are farming and in the winter most are working on their equipment(A used combine costs like $100,000), or they are working another job.

2. They aren't doing CSA out of the goodness of thier hearts, they are doing it because they can make a lot more money. They aren't dealing with 4 intermediaries as many produce farmers have to, they are selling right to the customers who are paying competitive prices to the supermarket, if a bit lower. The farmer gets the difference that would normally go to all the intermediaries. Even better if they get the city folk to come out and tend to their little plot or whatever. Just means that the land is getting pampered, and it's a clever way to do it because the farmer reaps the long term rewards of rich topsoil and the city people thinks it's great working the land (Cheap labour is always welcome). Unless this isn't part of a CSA.

You'd be surprised at how much a ton of any produce costs to grow compared to what you pay for your little basket each week.

[cjb]

Of course they're doing it so they can make more money. That's why anyone in business does anything. Many are doing it because it KEEPS them in business. The county I live in and the one just to the south of us have the most organic farms per land area in the US. It's CSAs and the farmers' markets that keep them alive. Like you say, cut out the middlemen.
Haha, not many, if any, of the customers come out to do any work. That's not really part of the deal in most cases. Most have money and that's why they can do the share thing. Poor people, like me, go out and there and work and get veggies that way.

I know how much it costs to grow vegetables, disversified crops anyway, I don't know anything about monoculture. I've done the numbers, and I've been involved in the bookkeeping.