August 19, 2005

Thanks to everyone who commented and asked how my non-dairy adventure is going. It is now officially not an adventure, but a way of life. It has been 11 months since I had any kind of dairy and I couldn't be happier. Someone asked in a comment how long it was before I saw an improvement in acne after going dairy-free. It took a few months to clear my system of years of dairy. I stopped breaking out in cystic acne right away, but still had smaller spots before my period. These days, I don't even break out before my period. I've also added a lot more fruit and vegetables to my diet and am eating mostly organic.

I wanted to comment on this crime the dairy industry has been perpetuating on the American people. They say eating 3 servings of dairy per day will help you lose weight. I think I commented on this before ... how this is just a transparent ploy to get people to buy more dairy products. Unfortunately, many people buy into these kinds of things.

Well, researchers are now questioning those claims. A few weeks ago, a news story broke all over the mainstream media (Boston Globe article) that questions the statements made by the dairy industry regarding dairy and weight loss.

Of course, they tip-toe around the subject, saying dairy may aid in weight loss because they don't want to offend their friends in the dairy industry who spend so many advertising dollars.

The bottom line is this: you don't need to eat dairy products in order to lose weight. You just need to eat reasonable portions, stay away from fast food, and exercise. It's pretty simple. We don't need to spend more money on processed dairy products.

Apparently, thanks to pressure from the PMRC, Kraft Foods has agreed to stop using the "dairy aids in weight loss" message in their advertising.

It's progress.

Posted by Anna at 03:33 AM | Comments (4)

May 02, 2005

I'm one of those weird people who loves tofu. I don't just tolerate it. The great thing about tofu is it takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it with. I usually sautee it with olive oil, garlic, onions, and a dash of soy sauce, which gives it a golden brown color and good flavor. The soy sauce is key because it adds saltiness. When stir-frying tofu, use the extra-firm variety because the softer versions will break up when you stir them and you'll have something that looks like cottage cheese (yuck!). I make stir fry so often that I hardly ever experiment with other ways of cooking with tofu, but I'm going to make some baked cajun tofu sandwiches this week and will report back on the results!

Posted by Anna at 04:13 PM | Comments (6)

April 11, 2005

There are plenty of vegetarian restaurants in California but not many that offer organic produce. For instance, there is a vegetarian restaurant near me that serves really tasty, cheap food but uses the cheapest ingredients possible and nothing is organic. They do good business because it's the only veg place in the vicinity. I know I'd be willing to pay more if they'd switch to organic ingredients and others probably would as well. I'm becoming increasingly paranoid about pesticides on produce after reading several stories about a link to Parkinson's disease and excessive pesticide consumption.

Is it too much to ask to be able to buy food that isn't sprayed with fifty carcinogens? I just want to eat a fresh, wholesome strawberry, but it's really hard to do that without also getting a dose of malathion.

I want to go out for dinner without coming home with a neurological disorder. I want to find a restaurant I can go to with family and friends on a regular basis, where we can eat, drink and be merry without getting toxic overload and maybe even have some organic wine. Am I asking too much? Are we doomed to live in a toxic world just because organic produce isn't "cost effective" for most restaurants? Maybe if consumers begin requesting organic produce restaurant owners will get the hint and start offering one or two organic menu items.
In the meantime, can anyone recommend any organic restaurants in California?

Posted by Anna at 03:44 PM | Comments (2)