December 16, 2024 • 44 mins
Are you aware that some of your favorite American foods are banned in other countries due to health concerns? Join Dr. Holly Thacker as she uncovers the shocking truth behind the ingredients in our diets that have led to a rise in diabetes, obesity and chronic diseases in America.
Learn about the impact of oils, sweeteners, and food dyes on your health and why some everyday items like chewing gum are treated differently around the world.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to the Speaking of Women's Health
podcast.
I'm your host, dr Holly Thacker, and I am back in our sunflower
house for a new pod, and it'son a really interesting topic,
something that's been in thenews a lot, and when I was doing
some research for this, Ithought I was, you know, pretty
(00:29):
well educated about nutrition.
I've raised three boys, I havethree grandchildren, with a
fourth on the way, and eventhough nutrition isn't really
classically taught extensivelyin medical school, I really
thought that I had really bonedup on the topic.
So as I started to investigatethis, I was really surprised
(00:52):
about what I didn't know.
So I hope you will enjoy thispodcast on food freedom and what
foods are, interestingly,banned in other countries and
maybe, concerningly, allowedhere in the United States.
And then there's a few foodsthat are banned here in the
(01:13):
United States that aren'telsewhere.
So I just want to break downthis topic today and go over
this.
You know, as Americans, we kindof take pride American pride in
our freedom, and many of us canrecite the Bill of Rights,
(01:33):
talking about our God-givenrights that are enshrined in the
United States Constitution, andso, while it's very important
to remember that, while wecherish our freedom and enjoy a
variety of food choices here inthe United States.
Other countries definitely havedifferent regulations regarding
(01:56):
food.
Some of this is due to healthreasons, which, of course, is
what I am mainly interested in.
Some of the ones are foods thatAmericans ingest regularly, and
you don't have to look aroundtoo much, not just on summer
beaches or at the mall, but justall around you.
(02:18):
We really in the United States,have an exploding diabetes
epidemic, and there's been a lotof increases in chronic disease
, not just in adults, but in ouryoungest citizens, our children
, and a lot of this is relatedto diet and physical activity.
(02:42):
So I think, now more than ever,it's important for us to look
at what we eat, and we've hadseveral podcasts on food food as
medicine, nutrition, superfoods.
So I thought it would beinteresting to go over some of
(03:02):
the foods that we see all thetime in our grocery stores you
may be serving it might be inyour pantry that are actually
banned in other countries.
Now, some foods are prohibitedin certain countries for
religious reasons, so I'm notgoing to go over any of that.
And in the United States, ofcourse, our First Amendment
(03:23):
freedom of speech includes ourreligious freedom, which is what
our country was founded on, soit's wonderful to have a
diversity of religions andpractices and people have the
right, of course, not to bereligious at all, and food does
play a big role in many culturalevents and religious events.
(03:47):
But what I really want to focuson are the banned foods that
are restricted due to concernsabout additives, substances,
chemicals, colors, and whythey're prohibited.
And should we take heed andmaybe think second about buying,
(04:10):
serving, ingesting thesefoodstuffs?
So this is everything you needto know about banned foods in
other countries that are allowedhere, and then there's some
that are, vice versa, that arebanned here, that you can get in
other countries.
Now, food can be medicine.
(04:31):
So, just like you don't want toingest the wrong medicine, an
expired medicine, the wrong dose, one that might have a
drug-drug interaction withsomething else that you're
taking, we need to be aware ofwhat foods that we're ingesting
to nourish our bodies and souls,and it's really not simply
calories in, calories out, andnot all food or calories really
(04:57):
are equal.
Now, thermodynamically,calories are calories.
Thermodynamically, calories arecalories, but there's a lot
more to this equation than that.
Now I think that many of uscertainly I include myself in
this thought oh, I know, wedon't want fast foods, we don't
(05:18):
want processed foods, we don'twant junk foods, trans fats you
know those are bad for ourhealth.
So I think that a lot of peoplethink that they have a pretty
good idea about what is goodfood and what might be something
that you really shouldn't beingesting regularly, but how
many of you are aware oflimiting or avoiding highly
processed seed oils?
(05:40):
Our functional medicinecolleagues and we've had a few
podcasts on functional medicine,and we have a lot of content on
our Speaking of Women's Healthwebsite by our wellness group,
our integrative medicine group,our allied health and our
functional medicine colleagues.
One of the blood tests thatI've seen them do for quite a
while on their patients is anomega-3 fat ratio.
(06:04):
On their patients is an omega-3fat ratio.
In fact, I'm planning to havemine done soon, because almost
every single patient I see manyof them who I know are focused
on a healthy lifestyle don'thave normal levels, and so that
indicates to me that people areingesting way more of these
inflammatory, chemicallyprocessed seed oils.
(06:26):
So we will talk a lot moreabout that Now.
I've had columns on olive oilbeing the elixir of life.
My husband and I recently havegone to purchasing olive oil
from overseas because of ourconcerns about, you know,
contamination with seed oils andsome of the products on the
(06:50):
shelf.
How many of you know that allsweeteners are not the same and
even something as simple as fooddyes may actually be
carcinogenic?
So we'll start off with alittle bit of a light topic
about a food or a substance thatwe have here in the United
(07:13):
States that is allowed but, forinstance, is not allowed in
Singapore.
China.
They ban chewing gum becausethey're valuing clean streets,
but chewing gum for medicinalreasons is actually allowed.
Now, in terms of quality ofchewing gum, certainly it can be
(07:34):
a choking hazard for youngchildren, but if you're going to
chew gum, if you like to chewgum although I personally always
thought it was just a littlebit unseemly, although I
personally always thought it wasjust a little bit unseemly it
really should be sorbitol-basedand sorbitol-based toothpastes
(07:55):
and mouthwashes and gums.
If you eat something and youdon't have access to brushing
your teeth, popping in somesorbitol-based gum can help
cleanse your teeth, but don't doit in Singapore.
Sprinkles I never was asprinkles fan.
It just just seemed likegratuitous sugar with artificial
(08:15):
colors.
It certainly never reallyappealed to me, but it's amazing
how it entrances young children, and my granddaughter, artemis,
loves sprinkles and not longago we were at one of her
friends house for a play dateand the mom was serving a
cupcake that had a little bit ofsprinkles and I scraped off the
(08:36):
sprinkles because I didn't wanther to eat them.
I just wanted her to have youknow more of the healthy
homemade muffin underneath and,oh boy, she was trying to search
out those sprinkles.
Well, I was just mortified whenI was reading that in several
countries American sprinkles arebanned because of carcinogenic
(08:59):
effects.
And if you look at a lot of thethings that are marketed to
children, that are treats thatare easily packaged in small
amounts, I haven't reallythought about this too much for
quite a while, but now I amagain because of the
grandchildren, and a lot ofthese foods are actually banned
(09:21):
in other countries.
Mac cheese, now you would thinkgood old pasta and cheese.
I had a whole column andpodcast on cheese.
We bonehead doctors whospecialize in osteoporosis like
foods rich in calcium and cheesecan be a very important part of
a diet for those that don'thave any dairy intolerances for
(09:45):
protein and calcium.
But mac cheese is banned incertain countries and in Great
Britain and other countries theAmerican sprinkles are banned.
So you will not find red, whiteand blue sprinkles from America
(10:05):
in the UK, and that's becauseFD&C red number three in the
United States containserythrosin and this additive
makes the sprinkles a verypretty colored red, but it has
been reported to lead tohyperactivity in children.
(10:28):
Now my daughter-in-law,artemis's mother, likes to bake
and she has found sprinkles thathave natural colors, without
food additives, I think atTrader Joe's or, you know, know,
one of the more health foodrelated type stores.
But even if you're in a healthfood store, they can carry a lot
(10:48):
of foods that are not healthy.
That might just appear that wayon the surface.
So back cheese.
That has to be one of Artemis'sfavorite kind of comfort foods.
But imagine my shock when Ifound out that some countries
have specifically bannedAmerican boxed mac cheese due to
(11:11):
the food dyes.
So does that mean you can'thave mac cheese?
No, it just means you need toread labels and if you're buying
a boxed pasta, if it's gotartificial colors in it, I would
not purchase it.
Now, most of us are sotime-pressed, you know, and even
(11:32):
though I think a lot of us havevery good intentions and we
really want to make things fromscratch, it can be very
time-consuming.
I was just talking to ouradministrative assistant, julie
Stahl, who was on one of ourearlier podcasts on how to get
an appointment.
Oh my goodness, I refer peopleto listen to that all the time.
Even if you're not trying toget an appointment at the
(11:54):
Cleveland Clinic, where ourCenter for Specialized Women's
Health is, anybody anywheretrying to access a busy
healthcare center, those tipsare really great.
But anyway, she has been reallyfocusing on eating whole foods
and healthy foods and taking outpreservatives and things from
(12:15):
her diet.
And the other day I saw hereating quesadilla, which looks
so good, with like some homemadesalsa and I said, wait a minute
, that might have some you know,seed oils in it.
And she's like no, no, it's allmade from scratch with all the
ingredients.
She said I don't even buy thepre-shredded cheese Because if
(12:36):
you look at the label, they puta mold inhibitor on the
pre-shredded cheese andsometimes it's coated with
different substances to make itnot stick.
So sometimes I buy shreddedcheese but I'm trying to buy
block cheese more often and justshred it myself.
Again, it is more timeconsuming, but a lot of things
(12:56):
that we just take for granted.
We think, oh, this is justAmerican cheese, this is cheddar
cheese, this is is justAmerican cheese.
This is cheddar cheese.
This is Colby cheese, goudacheese, which has K2 in it.
It may also have othersubstances in it.
Another cheese dip that isbanned in certain countries it's
one my husband likes is a conqueso cheese dip, because many
(13:20):
of them have added dye numberfive and dye yellow dye number
six, and they can be linked tosevere allergies.
Now pickles.
I love pickles and pickles canbe good for your gut microbiome.
Any kind of fermented foods areterrific, but I was shocked
(13:44):
when I looked at one of mybottles of pickles.
It had yellow dye five in it.
So I'm like, oh, not going tobe eating this.
So I have found some picklesthat are color free or some that
are just colored with thenatural spice turmeric, which
gives it some color color.
(14:04):
Now, getting back to those kidfavorite foods, I certainly had
my fair share of them as a childpop tarts, fruit loops,
skittles well, I mean, thosehaven't been in my home, you
know, for decades and decades.
But there's a lot of busyparents and kids that are picky
eaters that I am sure they feellike it's maybe not the best
(14:26):
food, but okay it's.
You know it's fine and growingchildren can have maybe more
sugar than an adult, but thesefoods are banned in many
countries because, again, of theartificial colors, primarily
the yellow five and the yellowsix being of the most concern.
That being said, there is a lotof gratuitous sugar and many
(14:48):
children will get hyperactiveafter sugar and sugar is
obviously easily metabolized.
But with the growing epidemicof diabetes, even in children, I
think gratuitous sugar foodsthat have high fructose corn
syrup added to them reallyshould be avoided.
(15:09):
Now, rare hamburgers.
Now, hamburgers are pretty muchAmerican fare, aren't they?
But rare burgers are banned insome countries due to bacterial
risk E coli.
Conversely, if you go to France, steak tartare is very popular
(15:33):
and raw or rare meatunfortunately can carry
toxoplasmosis, which is aparticular problem for
immunocompromised individualsand pregnant women.
I myself actually contractedtoxoplasmosis when I was
pregnant with my first son,stetson, the PhD who's been on
(15:54):
this podcast and is starting hisown podcast, and he'll be a
guest to talk about a lot ofdifferent anti-aging and other
interesting topics coming up.
But we were at a restaurant andit was kibini and my husband
thought it was just a vegetabledish.
No, it was raw lamb which 90%of it is infected with
(16:17):
toxoplasmosis, which can bedevastating to the growing baby
if it passes through theplacenta.
So I actually had to leave thecountry and get a medication
that's still not available inthe United States actually to
treat it.
The like family joke is you canactually get it in America.
Veterinarians can prescribe itfor pig little piglets who have
(16:40):
infections.
So we call Stetson he's a big,big eater, just like his two
daughters they're taking afterhim.
I told his wife that littleBeatrice certainly looks like
her pretty mother but she eatslike her father.
So we just tease him that sincehe was exposed to that
(17:00):
spiromycin in utero butthankfully he was born without
any infection.
But speaking about piglets,that's kind of an intro into
pork.
Now many people don't eat porkfor various reasons, sometimes
religious reasons.
My brother doesn't eat porkjust because he has seen how a
(17:22):
lot of pork is raised and itjust turns him off, even though
he's a big meat eater.
But in over a hundred countriesAmerican made pork has been
banned due to the use ofsubstances like ractopamine and
that is used.
(17:42):
Sometimes it's injected, Ithink, into pigs.
Other times it's put in theirfeed.
It's used to promote growth, tomake these fat, juicy pigs, and
these substances are notrequired to be listed on the
label, so it's not just a matterof reading the label.
So I again, just from myresearch, recently found out
(18:03):
about this and I'm like, oh mygoodness, I can't believe it.
I haven't even known about this.
I mean, for some time I've beenbuying bacon that it's raised
by farmers that don't use anyother antibiotics or other
injectables in pigs, because mygranddaughter loves bacon and
(18:27):
bacon has K2 in it, which isgood for the bones and
cardiovascular system.
It has K2, which is also knownas M7.
We have a nice little landingpage on
speakingofwomenshealthcom thatlists foods that are rich in K2,
because there's not very manyof them, and so she does enjoy
bacon, so I have been purchasing.
(18:49):
It is definitely more expensive,there's no doubt about that,
but I haven't for pork chops andmy husband loves pork chops and
he's like you've ruined thisfor me, you've ruined it for me
and I'm like no, you canactually, if you want to ingest
pork specifically, buy pork froma trusted farmer, or look for
the AGA logo and that stands forAmerican Grass-Fed Association.
(19:16):
Now I have, just for the tasteand the quality, I have been
primarily purchasing grass-fedbeef, american beef and
definitely American-grade beef,even though I think there can be
beef from other countriesthat's labeled as such but isn't
actually American beef, andbeef from certain African
(19:37):
countries, depending on how theyhandle their feed.
You know, there's potentiallysome concern for prion disease,
so I'm pretty specific aboutthat.
But I think that since 100countries have banned
American-made pork that usesthis ractopamine, it may be
(19:59):
worth avoiding.
It may be worth avoiding.
So other foods, an American foodthat's called French fries In
(20:27):
some countries any pre-processed, pre-made French fries are
banned if they containazodicarbonide, which is a
substance that's added to extendtheir shelf life.
It's also added to pasta somepastas for color and making it
pop.
The pasta pop andazodicarbonide can be harmful to
individuals diagnosed withasthma, and this substance is
(20:48):
also used in yoga mats.
So you'll see some things onthe internet called the yoga mat
chemical and how to avoidbreads and pastas with that.
Well, apparently it's used onsome pre-processed French fries
that are banned.
Now again to make homemadeFrench fries.
My husband does a pretty goodjob with that, takes a lot more
(21:09):
time and I understand how busymoms and grandmothers and single
people that are working two andthree jobs.
It can be really hard to makeall your own food, but certainly
reading labels should besomething that we teach children
as soon as they can read, to doearly on, particularly if you
(21:31):
have asthma, you know, orallergies, and I think a good
rule of thumb is to avoidpurchasing foods with
ingredients that you can'tpronounce.
I had to go practice thepronunciation of this
azodicarbonamide before Istarted this pod and you have
(21:52):
been listening to the Speakingof Women's Health podcast and I
am your host, dr Holly Thacker,the Executive Director of
Speaking of Women's Health, andwe were talking about many foods
that many of us ingest here inthe USA that are banned in other
countries and why that is, andmaybe we should be a little bit
(22:13):
more discerning, even though ofcourse, we as Americans want
food freedom and we want theability to eat foods that we
like to eat and there's a lot ofmeaning that's associated
around food.
But sometimes these things areadded because they promote the
shelf life of foods that maylast a long, long time and there
(22:37):
can be some advantages, youknow, for putting away food
extra in case there's, you know,a rainy day or you want
something to have very longshelf.
Half-lives, like my husband atChristmas, will get survival
packs to have everyone put intheir car in case they're
stranded because of bad weatheror long traffic jams, to have
(22:58):
enough water and have somesustenance.
So there may be a role forhaving some of that on hand if
necessary.
That's not going to go bad, buton a regular, daily basis I
think we should be a lot morediscerning Now.
It's definitely best to buywhole foods and to cook from
scratch, but many of us are verytime pressed and for some of of
(23:22):
us cooking is not necessarily askill that we have or one that
we enjoy.
Instant potatoes I remember afunny story.
One of my girlfriends, thefirst time that she had homemade
potatoes mashed potatoes at myhouse, she said potatoes at my
(23:45):
house.
She said do you realize thatfor several years I only thought
potatoes were smooth, becausemy mother only ever served
instant potatoes.
I had never had homemade mashedpotatoes that are naturally
lumpy.
I made a batch of mashedpotatoes the other day and it
just was all gooey and it justwasn't very good.
And so my husband looks up tofind out why that happened,
(24:06):
although after it wasrefrigerated it was just fine on
reheating.
But apparently if you cut yourpotatoes too small and you don't
start the potatoes in coolwater and then when you mix you
know your milk and your butterto mash up your potatoes if
they're not room temperature, Iguess that can promote that,
(24:26):
that chemical process.
There's really a lot of sciencethat goes along with cooking
and I know that my sons havereally enjoyed cooking shows
that are science-based, likeAlton Brown's.
So many processed foods docontain preservatives to extend
(24:47):
the shelf life, but they offerno health benefits and they can
pose some risk.
And some brands of instantpotatoes use the preservative
BHA, which is butylatedhydroxyanisole, and that is a
known carcinogen so it should beavoided.
It's also been added BHA tolots of cereals, so that's why
(25:11):
some cereals and instantpotatoes are banned in countries
but not here in the USA, andbecause so many cereals are
loaded with artificial colorsand sugar.
Because so many cereals areloaded with artificial colors
and sugar and also this BHA.
I'm glad that cereal was nevera staple, except for
(25:37):
occasionally cream of wheat orcream of rice or sometimes
oatmeal homemade in my family,but I know that a lot of
children and a lot of familiesthink that grabbing for that box
of cereal and then they get themilk in the bowl is healthy,
and it really isn't.
Sliced white bread, oh mygoodness, that is like an
American food, right, other thanmaybe mom's apple pie, which we
have some recipes on, speakingof Women's Health for apple pie
(26:00):
that you can check out.
But in many countries, americanmade white bread which contains
potassium, potassium bromateand potassium bromate apparently
is added to breads to speed upthe baking process, and
(26:21):
potassium bromate is banned inmany countries because it has
been linked to kidney damage andnervous system damage.
So anybody with kidneyimpairment should definitely
avoid excessive potassium intake, and that includes many healthy
foods like fruits andvegetables if it's end stage
kidney disease.
But there's a lot of adultswalking around with just like
(26:43):
stage two, stage three kidneyimpairment, and they're just
told to avoid nephrotoxins toomuch, motrin, advil, aspirin, et
cetera, keep their bloodpressure and weight down.
But I think something we shouldalso add is don't be ingesting
breads that have potassiumbromate in it either.
Crackers, well, certainly.
(27:06):
Cheese and crackers, I think,go great, great.
And American crackers, though,are banned in many European
countries, including Hungary,due to the heavily chemically
altered hydrogenated cotton seedoil.
Of all the seed oils, probablycotton seed oil is one of the
(27:27):
worst, but even things like cornoil and canola oil and palm oil
and sunflower I mean.
Doesn't sunflower oil, I meansunflowers we're in the
sunflower house, doesn't thatsound good?
No, it's actually not good.
Soybean oil as well.
They are chemically alteredoils.
(27:48):
So really you should definitelyopt for healthier alternatives,
including pure, cold pressedolive oil or avocado oil.
Now, coconut oil can be ingestedand it is very rich in medium
chain triglycerides.
Some people it might negativelyaffect their lipid panel, but
(28:11):
it can be ingested in moderation.
It's also a great moisturizerfor hair and face.
It's used in lots of littlebeauty routines and products.
Now, fats that come from butterand beef tallow.
They're fully saturated fats.
A lot of these chemicallyaltered polyunsaturated fats
(28:36):
which maybe years ago we weretold were so healthy and that we
should use margarine instead ofbutter.
No, they're not.
They're highly inflammatory.
So brownie mixes Many Americanbrownie fudge mixes are banned
in Europe because of thecottonseed oil and the soybean
(28:56):
oil.
But you can find them right inyour grocery store.
But there's a lot of goodrecipes that you can make
brownies without that.
You can use avocado oil, somecottage cheese and some cocoa,
add maybe a little bit of mashedbananas.
I mean, you can mix it upyourself and you don't have to
(29:19):
have a mix Soybeans.
Now, as many are embracing vegandiets, the demand for soybeans
has increased exponentially and,interestingly, increased
exponentially and interestingly,many European countries have
banned genetically modifiedsoybeans.
(29:39):
So these GMO soybeans have beenbanned in almost half the
countries in the European Unionbecause this genetic
modification has been linked tosome health concerns.
But soy protein in general canlower cholesterol and it is a
vegan protein alternative.
And certainly geneticallymodifying some foodstuffs, like
(30:01):
getting vitamin A into rice, hashelped reduce blindness.
So certainly many advancementsand alterations have allowed us
to have a lot more food, a lotmore stability, feed a lot more
people.
But unfortunately we've kind ofoverfed a lot of us and it's
(30:23):
contributed to insulinresistance and this diabesity
and elevated blood sugar.
And even if someone has normalbody weight, if they have just a
little bit of extra centraladiposity and their sugar goes
up and their blood pressure goesup, it really increases
dementia risk, heart attack,stroke, arthritis, gallbladder
(30:47):
disease.
So I really think it behoovesus to pay a lot more attention
to what we're eating MountainDew.
It's a popular United Statessoda, especially in the American
South, but it's been banned inJapan and other European
countries due to severalingredients.
(31:09):
Yellow number five coloringredients Yellow number five
color the high fructose cornsyrup.
Caffeine, which you know.
Caffeine can be beneficial forreducing pain, improving
alertness, reducing fatty liver,although children certainly
don't need to be revved up oncaffeine and other preservatives
(31:29):
.
Now, apparently, mountain Dewhas removed the brominated
vegetable oils from theirformula that was another problem
but still may have some of theother substances.
Salmon, now salmon, everybodythinks is being healthy, omega-3
, good for mood and vision andjoints and inflammation.
(31:50):
But our friends down under inAustralia and New Zealand have
banned farm-raised salmon due tothe petrochemicals used to
pinken up the salmon.
So for quite a while I'vecertainly only looked to buy
wild natural salmon.
It is expensive, though,natural salmon.
(32:19):
It is expensive though, but itis rich in omega-3 fats.
Now, seafood, just like meats,especially organ meats, can be
very high in purine, and I thinkI'll do a future column and
podcast on gout and high purineand low purine diets.
So pasta.
I always joke that my husband,who has a lot of Italian friends
he's part of the Italian men'sassociation and he has zero
(32:40):
Italian blood in him but heloves Italian food and he's a
great cook and who doesn't enjoypretty much an Italian pasta
dish.
The European Union andAustralia have banned some boxed
pastas that contain thatazo-dicarbonide, that yoga mat
(33:01):
chemical.
It's used as a bleaching agentin flour and some countries
consider it potentiallycarcinogenic.
So while that azodicarbamidemakes the color of the pasta pop
and the dough softer, thereality is that many countries
(33:22):
not the United States, not theFDA here, but many other
countries do consider it toxic.
And there is a range ofsubstances banned in Europe but
allowed in the US.
And that also includes thatpotassium bromate, which isn't
so great on the kidneys.
Titanium dioxide, which mightbe good to smear on your skin
(33:42):
for sunscreen because it'schemically inert, but not
necessarily ingest brominatedvegetable oil.
Avoid that propylparaben andthat azodicarbonide.
So please read labels andchoose wisely.
So the truth about salt, sugarand saturated fat.
(34:03):
Many folks believe thatprocessed food is unhealthy
primarily because of salt, sugarand saturated fat.
But here's the truth Salt ourbodies need sodium.
It is okay for most people inmoderation.
But not all salts are equal.
Kosher salt does not haveiodine in it.
(34:24):
We do need some iodized salt.
The pink Himalayan salt issomething I recommend to a lot
of my patients who might be lowin potassium or have
hypertension.
It's potassium-based, notsodium Sugar.
Now sugar is kind of like thenew nicotine Addictive, kind of
poisonous.
There's no such thing as anessential sugar or an essential
(34:46):
carbohydrate, but we do haveessential fatty acids omega-3
and omega-6, and we have severalessential amino acids which
make protein.
So you do need protein and youdo need fat every day in your
diet.
Now, saturated fats we do needessential fats and it is fine to
consume healthy fats like oliveoil and nuts, but we do want to
(35:14):
avoid those chemically alteredseed oils because they're very
high in those unsaturatedinflammatory fats and they have
double bonds of their fatty acidchains, unlike the saturated
fats like butter and beef tallow.
Now there is an app I waslooking at that tells you what
restaurants don't use seed oils.
(35:34):
Unfortunately, most of them doso.
If you're going to eat out, ifother people are making your
food, if you're eating a lot offood that's already pre-made or
has long shelf half-lives, mostlikely you're getting way too
much seed oil, and certainly inthe patient's labs that I'm
getting, I'm seeing that.
So substances you need to beaware of are not limited to just
(35:59):
the titanium dioxide and thepolysorbate 80 and microplastics
, you know, in terms ofingesting plastics in food, in
bottles Carboxymethylcelluloseyellow number five, blue number
one, potassium bromate, transfats, seed oils, parabens, which
(36:21):
is wax, atrazine, propyleneglycol, that azodicarbamide,
so-called yoga mat chemical andhigh fructose corn syrup.
Certain dishes do need to besweetened Honey, as long as it's
not for an infant or toddlerbecause of the concern about
botulism.
(36:41):
Local honey is better forallergies.
100% maple syrup from Vermont Isometimes use in recipes
instead of sugar.
Sometimes I'll get 100%applesauce with no added.
You know high fructose cornsyrup.
I'm always reading labels.
(37:02):
So, as we kind of wrap up, youmight ask does the United States
ban foods that other countriesdo?
Actually, yes, scottish haggisMany Scots and I've certainly
got a lot of Scots-Irish in methey love their haggis because
(37:24):
it's their national dish.
I had never even heard of this,but it's stuffed sheep lungs
and heart.
And in the United States thishas been completely banned
because the US agricultural lawbans the consumption of any
animal lung.
Raw, unpasteurized milk isbanned in Canada and it is
(37:52):
banned in some parts of theUnited States.
This is primarily because ofconcerns about Listeria and
Salmonella, but there's a lot inthe news about raw milk and
milk freedom.
Some people with Crohn'sdisease, lactose intolerance,
severe allergies.
(38:13):
There are medically some groupsof people that their gut seems
to do a lot better with all thebacteria, naturally, and the
heat of pasteurization can killcertain substances in the milk
that may have health benefits.
So more and more I'm hearingabout people trying to purchase
(38:33):
raw milk primarily because ofgut health, which I think we
have a lot to learn about themicrobiome, but I think it does
impact lots of areas of health.
I have a lot of patients askingme to send them to functional
medicine doctors, primarily todo stool assessments to see what
their bacterial count in theirgut is.
To do stool assessments to seewhat their bacterial count in
(38:56):
their gut is.
But what I would say if you'reimmunocompromised, if you're
pregnant I mean, we already tellpregnant women to avoid soft
cheeses because they're moreprone to getting listeria
infections and you really haveto check what your local and
state laws are about whether youcan purchase raw milk.
But what I tell people whodon't have the ability to
(39:20):
purchase raw milk and they'reconcerned about their gut
microbiome?
We have kefir yogurt,especially if you get the yogurt
with the active lactobacilluscolonies, especially if you get
the yogurt with the activelactobacillus colonies.
And there's lots of greatfermented foods kamichi, pickles
, sauerkraut that are beneficialfor your gut microbiome.
(39:48):
So, in general, it's best to getyour vitamins, minerals and
nutrients from whole foods anddefinitely talk to your
healthcare clinician, becausethis is just for general
information to empower you tohave important conversations
with your own individualhealthcare team.
In general, the most commonsupplements that I recommend,
even in people eating a healthydiet, is vitamin D, especially
(40:11):
for people over 40, northernclimate folks.
Next is magnesium, especiallyif you have insomnia, leg cramps
, migraine, headaches,constipation.
And getting enough magnesium, arecent study showed, may reduce
cardiovascular disease,hypertension, stroke and even
type 2 diabetes and even type 2diabetes.
(40:38):
So I have a list on our websiteon speakingofwomenshealthcom,
of magnesium rich foods and it'sgreat that we can nourish our
bodies and souls and share goodfood with our friends and family
.
If you're interested in othertopics along this line, we have
a lot on our website.
Food is medicine foods thatcould interact with medications.
(41:00):
Superfoods.
Nutrient dense foods, quercetinrich foods.
Foods high in iron lots ofwomen and children are low in
iron.
Foods high in histamine thathistamine sensitive people might
want to avoid.
Foods that contain vitamin D 16.
(41:20):
Foods high in choline great formuscle cramps and brain
development.
Biotin A lot of women takebiotin supplements and it messes
up their blood work and a lotof times doesn't help their hair
.
But there are foods that dohave biotin, which certainly can
help your nails.
Foods rich in zinc I get lotsof zinc levels on my patients
(41:42):
and I would say over half ofthem are low, even in the ones
that say that they eat meat.
Selenium if you didn't hear ourpodcast on thyroid, dr Abed was
talking about how she sometimesgets selenium levels.
That's important for thyroidfunction.
Uh, omega-3s most of us aregetting too much omega-6 and not
(42:06):
enough omega-3.
Uh, the mind diet uh,alzheimer's disease is a big
problem.
Half of women by age 85 have it.
Men also can get it, and soit's really important to protect
your brain.
And too much sugar and simplecarbs can drive diabesity,
hypertension, stroke, memoryloss, even glaucoma.
(42:31):
We have a column on food tofight fatigue and we had a fun
podcast on celebrating July 4thwith food, fun and family and
friends.
So thank you for listening andtuning into another pod.
We're so grateful for yoursupport and we hope that you'll
(42:53):
share this podcast with others.
And if you don't alreadysubscribe or follow on Apple
Podcasts, tunein Spotifywherever you listen, please
subscribe so you'll be notifiedof new podcasts, so you won't
miss any future ones.
And if you've got any questions, you can go on
(43:15):
speakingofwomenshealthcom andsend us your question.
Thanks again for listening andwe will see you next time in the
Sunflower House.
Be strong, be healthy and be incharge.
Welcome to the Speaking of Women's Health
podcast.
I'm your host, dr Holly Thacker, and I am back in our sunflower
house for a new pod, and it'son a really interesting topic,
something that's been in thenews a lot, and when I was doing
some research for this, Ithought I was, you know, pretty
(00:29):
well educated about nutrition.
I've raised three boys, I havethree grandchildren, with a
fourth on the way, and eventhough nutrition isn't really
classically taught extensivelyin medical school, I really
thought that I had really bonedup on the topic.
So as I started to investigatethis, I was really surprised
(00:52):
about what I didn't know.
So I hope you will enjoy thispodcast on food freedom and what
foods are, interestingly,banned in other countries and
maybe, concerningly, allowedhere in the United States.
And then there's a few foodsthat are banned here in the
(01:13):
United States that aren'telsewhere.
So I just want to break downthis topic today and go over
this.
You know, as Americans, we kindof take pride American pride in
our freedom, and many of us canrecite the Bill of Rights,
(01:33):
talking about our God-givenrights that are enshrined in the
United States Constitution, andso, while it's very important
to remember that, while wecherish our freedom and enjoy a
variety of food choices here inthe United States.
Other countries definitely havedifferent regulations regarding
(01:56):
food.
Some of this is due to healthreasons, which, of course, is
what I am mainly interested in.
Some of the ones are foods thatAmericans ingest regularly, and
you don't have to look aroundtoo much, not just on summer
beaches or at the mall, but justall around you.
(02:18):
We really in the United States,have an exploding diabetes
epidemic, and there's been a lotof increases in chronic disease
, not just in adults, but in ouryoungest citizens, our children
, and a lot of this is relatedto diet and physical activity.
(02:42):
So I think, now more than ever,it's important for us to look
at what we eat, and we've hadseveral podcasts on food food as
medicine, nutrition, superfoods.
So I thought it would beinteresting to go over some of
(03:02):
the foods that we see all thetime in our grocery stores you
may be serving it might be inyour pantry that are actually
banned in other countries.
Now, some foods are prohibitedin certain countries for
religious reasons, so I'm notgoing to go over any of that.
And in the United States, ofcourse, our First Amendment
(03:23):
freedom of speech includes ourreligious freedom, which is what
our country was founded on, soit's wonderful to have a
diversity of religions andpractices and people have the
right, of course, not to bereligious at all, and food does
play a big role in many culturalevents and religious events.
(03:47):
But what I really want to focuson are the banned foods that
are restricted due to concernsabout additives, substances,
chemicals, colors, and whythey're prohibited.
And should we take heed andmaybe think second about buying,
(04:10):
serving, ingesting thesefoodstuffs?
So this is everything you needto know about banned foods in
other countries that are allowedhere, and then there's some
that are, vice versa, that arebanned here, that you can get in
other countries.
Now, food can be medicine.
(04:31):
So, just like you don't want toingest the wrong medicine, an
expired medicine, the wrong dose, one that might have a
drug-drug interaction withsomething else that you're
taking, we need to be aware ofwhat foods that we're ingesting
to nourish our bodies and souls,and it's really not simply
calories in, calories out, andnot all food or calories really
(04:57):
are equal.
Now, thermodynamically,calories are calories.
Thermodynamically, calories arecalories, but there's a lot
more to this equation than that.
Now I think that many of uscertainly I include myself in
this thought oh, I know, wedon't want fast foods, we don't
(05:18):
want processed foods, we don'twant junk foods, trans fats you
know those are bad for ourhealth.
So I think that a lot of peoplethink that they have a pretty
good idea about what is goodfood and what might be something
that you really shouldn't beingesting regularly, but how
many of you are aware oflimiting or avoiding highly
processed seed oils?
(05:40):
Our functional medicinecolleagues and we've had a few
podcasts on functional medicine,and we have a lot of content on
our Speaking of Women's Healthwebsite by our wellness group,
our integrative medicine group,our allied health and our
functional medicine colleagues.
One of the blood tests thatI've seen them do for quite a
while on their patients is anomega-3 fat ratio.
(06:04):
On their patients is an omega-3fat ratio.
In fact, I'm planning to havemine done soon, because almost
every single patient I see manyof them who I know are focused
on a healthy lifestyle don'thave normal levels, and so that
indicates to me that people areingesting way more of these
inflammatory, chemicallyprocessed seed oils.
(06:26):
So we will talk a lot moreabout that Now.
I've had columns on olive oilbeing the elixir of life.
My husband and I recently havegone to purchasing olive oil
from overseas because of ourconcerns about, you know,
contamination with seed oils andsome of the products on the
(06:50):
shelf.
How many of you know that allsweeteners are not the same and
even something as simple as fooddyes may actually be
carcinogenic?
So we'll start off with alittle bit of a light topic
about a food or a substance thatwe have here in the United
(07:13):
States that is allowed but, forinstance, is not allowed in
Singapore.
China.
They ban chewing gum becausethey're valuing clean streets,
but chewing gum for medicinalreasons is actually allowed.
Now, in terms of quality ofchewing gum, certainly it can be
(07:34):
a choking hazard for youngchildren, but if you're going to
chew gum, if you like to chewgum although I personally always
thought it was just a littlebit unseemly, although I
personally always thought it wasjust a little bit unseemly it
really should be sorbitol-basedand sorbitol-based toothpastes
(07:55):
and mouthwashes and gums.
If you eat something and youdon't have access to brushing
your teeth, popping in somesorbitol-based gum can help
cleanse your teeth, but don't doit in Singapore.
Sprinkles I never was asprinkles fan.
It just just seemed likegratuitous sugar with artificial
(08:15):
colors.
It certainly never reallyappealed to me, but it's amazing
how it entrances young children, and my granddaughter, artemis,
loves sprinkles and not longago we were at one of her
friends house for a play dateand the mom was serving a
cupcake that had a little bit ofsprinkles and I scraped off the
(08:36):
sprinkles because I didn't wanther to eat them.
I just wanted her to have youknow more of the healthy
homemade muffin underneath and,oh boy, she was trying to search
out those sprinkles.
Well, I was just mortified whenI was reading that in several
countries American sprinkles arebanned because of carcinogenic
(08:59):
effects.
And if you look at a lot of thethings that are marketed to
children, that are treats thatare easily packaged in small
amounts, I haven't reallythought about this too much for
quite a while, but now I amagain because of the
grandchildren, and a lot ofthese foods are actually banned
(09:21):
in other countries.
Mac cheese, now you would thinkgood old pasta and cheese.
I had a whole column andpodcast on cheese.
We bonehead doctors whospecialize in osteoporosis like
foods rich in calcium and cheesecan be a very important part of
a diet for those that don'thave any dairy intolerances for
(09:45):
protein and calcium.
But mac cheese is banned incertain countries and in Great
Britain and other countries theAmerican sprinkles are banned.
So you will not find red, whiteand blue sprinkles from America
(10:05):
in the UK, and that's becauseFD&C red number three in the
United States containserythrosin and this additive
makes the sprinkles a verypretty colored red, but it has
been reported to lead tohyperactivity in children.
(10:28):
Now my daughter-in-law,artemis's mother, likes to bake
and she has found sprinkles thathave natural colors, without
food additives, I think atTrader Joe's or, you know, know,
one of the more health foodrelated type stores.
But even if you're in a healthfood store, they can carry a lot
(10:48):
of foods that are not healthy.
That might just appear that wayon the surface.
So back cheese.
That has to be one of Artemis'sfavorite kind of comfort foods.
But imagine my shock when Ifound out that some countries
have specifically bannedAmerican boxed mac cheese due to
(11:11):
the food dyes.
So does that mean you can'thave mac cheese?
No, it just means you need toread labels and if you're buying
a boxed pasta, if it's gotartificial colors in it, I would
not purchase it.
Now, most of us are sotime-pressed, you know, and even
(11:32):
though I think a lot of us havevery good intentions and we
really want to make things fromscratch, it can be very
time-consuming.
I was just talking to ouradministrative assistant, julie
Stahl, who was on one of ourearlier podcasts on how to get
an appointment.
Oh my goodness, I refer peopleto listen to that all the time.
Even if you're not trying toget an appointment at the
(11:54):
Cleveland Clinic, where ourCenter for Specialized Women's
Health is, anybody anywheretrying to access a busy
healthcare center, those tipsare really great.
But anyway, she has been reallyfocusing on eating whole foods
and healthy foods and taking outpreservatives and things from
(12:15):
her diet.
And the other day I saw hereating quesadilla, which looks
so good, with like some homemadesalsa and I said, wait a minute
, that might have some you know,seed oils in it.
And she's like no, no, it's allmade from scratch with all the
ingredients.
She said I don't even buy thepre-shredded cheese Because if
(12:36):
you look at the label, they puta mold inhibitor on the
pre-shredded cheese andsometimes it's coated with
different substances to make itnot stick.
So sometimes I buy shreddedcheese but I'm trying to buy
block cheese more often and justshred it myself.
Again, it is more timeconsuming, but a lot of things
(12:56):
that we just take for granted.
We think, oh, this is justAmerican cheese, this is cheddar
cheese, this is is justAmerican cheese.
This is cheddar cheese.
This is Colby cheese, goudacheese, which has K2 in it.
It may also have othersubstances in it.
Another cheese dip that isbanned in certain countries it's
one my husband likes is a conqueso cheese dip, because many
(13:20):
of them have added dye numberfive and dye yellow dye number
six, and they can be linked tosevere allergies.
Now pickles.
I love pickles and pickles canbe good for your gut microbiome.
Any kind of fermented foods areterrific, but I was shocked
(13:44):
when I looked at one of mybottles of pickles.
It had yellow dye five in it.
So I'm like, oh, not going tobe eating this.
So I have found some picklesthat are color free or some that
are just colored with thenatural spice turmeric, which
gives it some color color.
(14:04):
Now, getting back to those kidfavorite foods, I certainly had
my fair share of them as a childpop tarts, fruit loops,
skittles well, I mean, thosehaven't been in my home, you
know, for decades and decades.
But there's a lot of busyparents and kids that are picky
eaters that I am sure they feellike it's maybe not the best
(14:26):
food, but okay it's.
You know it's fine and growingchildren can have maybe more
sugar than an adult, but thesefoods are banned in many
countries because, again, of theartificial colors, primarily
the yellow five and the yellowsix being of the most concern.
That being said, there is a lotof gratuitous sugar and many
(14:48):
children will get hyperactiveafter sugar and sugar is
obviously easily metabolized.
But with the growing epidemicof diabetes, even in children, I
think gratuitous sugar foodsthat have high fructose corn
syrup added to them reallyshould be avoided.
(15:09):
Now, rare hamburgers.
Now, hamburgers are pretty muchAmerican fare, aren't they?
But rare burgers are banned insome countries due to bacterial
risk E coli.
Conversely, if you go to France, steak tartare is very popular
(15:33):
and raw or rare meatunfortunately can carry
toxoplasmosis, which is aparticular problem for
immunocompromised individualsand pregnant women.
I myself actually contractedtoxoplasmosis when I was
pregnant with my first son,stetson, the PhD who's been on
(15:54):
this podcast and is starting hisown podcast, and he'll be a
guest to talk about a lot ofdifferent anti-aging and other
interesting topics coming up.
But we were at a restaurant andit was kibini and my husband
thought it was just a vegetabledish.
No, it was raw lamb which 90%of it is infected with
(16:17):
toxoplasmosis, which can bedevastating to the growing baby
if it passes through theplacenta.
So I actually had to leave thecountry and get a medication
that's still not available inthe United States actually to
treat it.
The like family joke is you canactually get it in America.
Veterinarians can prescribe itfor pig little piglets who have
(16:40):
infections.
So we call Stetson he's a big,big eater, just like his two
daughters they're taking afterhim.
I told his wife that littleBeatrice certainly looks like
her pretty mother but she eatslike her father.
So we just tease him that sincehe was exposed to that
(17:00):
spiromycin in utero butthankfully he was born without
any infection.
But speaking about piglets,that's kind of an intro into
pork.
Now many people don't eat porkfor various reasons, sometimes
religious reasons.
My brother doesn't eat porkjust because he has seen how a
(17:22):
lot of pork is raised and itjust turns him off, even though
he's a big meat eater.
But in over a hundred countriesAmerican made pork has been
banned due to the use ofsubstances like ractopamine and
that is used.
(17:42):
Sometimes it's injected, Ithink, into pigs.
Other times it's put in theirfeed.
It's used to promote growth, tomake these fat, juicy pigs, and
these substances are notrequired to be listed on the
label, so it's not just a matterof reading the label.
So I again, just from myresearch, recently found out
(18:03):
about this and I'm like, oh mygoodness, I can't believe it.
I haven't even known about this.
I mean, for some time I've beenbuying bacon that it's raised
by farmers that don't use anyother antibiotics or other
injectables in pigs, because mygranddaughter loves bacon and
(18:27):
bacon has K2 in it, which isgood for the bones and
cardiovascular system.
It has K2, which is also knownas M7.
We have a nice little landingpage on
speakingofwomenshealthcom thatlists foods that are rich in K2,
because there's not very manyof them, and so she does enjoy
bacon, so I have been purchasing.
(18:49):
It is definitely more expensive,there's no doubt about that,
but I haven't for pork chops andmy husband loves pork chops and
he's like you've ruined thisfor me, you've ruined it for me
and I'm like no, you canactually, if you want to ingest
pork specifically, buy pork froma trusted farmer, or look for
the AGA logo and that stands forAmerican Grass-Fed Association.
(19:16):
Now I have, just for the tasteand the quality, I have been
primarily purchasing grass-fedbeef, american beef and
definitely American-grade beef,even though I think there can be
beef from other countriesthat's labeled as such but isn't
actually American beef, andbeef from certain African
(19:37):
countries, depending on how theyhandle their feed.
You know, there's potentiallysome concern for prion disease,
so I'm pretty specific aboutthat.
But I think that since 100countries have banned
American-made pork that usesthis ractopamine, it may be
(19:59):
worth avoiding.
It may be worth avoiding.
So other foods, an American foodthat's called French fries In
(20:27):
some countries any pre-processed, pre-made French fries are
banned if they containazodicarbonide, which is a
substance that's added to extendtheir shelf life.
It's also added to pasta somepastas for color and making it
pop.
The pasta pop andazodicarbonide can be harmful to
individuals diagnosed withasthma, and this substance is
(20:48):
also used in yoga mats.
So you'll see some things onthe internet called the yoga mat
chemical and how to avoidbreads and pastas with that.
Well, apparently it's used onsome pre-processed French fries
that are banned.
Now again to make homemadeFrench fries.
My husband does a pretty goodjob with that, takes a lot more
(21:09):
time and I understand how busymoms and grandmothers and single
people that are working two andthree jobs.
It can be really hard to makeall your own food, but certainly
reading labels should besomething that we teach children
as soon as they can read, to doearly on, particularly if you
(21:31):
have asthma, you know, orallergies, and I think a good
rule of thumb is to avoidpurchasing foods with
ingredients that you can'tpronounce.
I had to go practice thepronunciation of this
azodicarbonamide before Istarted this pod and you have
(21:52):
been listening to the Speakingof Women's Health podcast and I
am your host, dr Holly Thacker,the Executive Director of
Speaking of Women's Health, andwe were talking about many foods
that many of us ingest here inthe USA that are banned in other
countries and why that is, andmaybe we should be a little bit
(22:13):
more discerning, even though ofcourse, we as Americans want
food freedom and we want theability to eat foods that we
like to eat and there's a lot ofmeaning that's associated
around food.
But sometimes these things areadded because they promote the
shelf life of foods that maylast a long, long time and there
(22:37):
can be some advantages, youknow, for putting away food
extra in case there's, you know,a rainy day or you want
something to have very longshelf.
Half-lives, like my husband atChristmas, will get survival
packs to have everyone put intheir car in case they're
stranded because of bad weatheror long traffic jams, to have
(22:58):
enough water and have somesustenance.
So there may be a role forhaving some of that on hand if
necessary.
That's not going to go bad, buton a regular, daily basis I
think we should be a lot morediscerning Now.
It's definitely best to buywhole foods and to cook from
scratch, but many of us are verytime pressed and for some of of
(23:22):
us cooking is not necessarily askill that we have or one that
we enjoy.
Instant potatoes I remember afunny story.
One of my girlfriends, thefirst time that she had homemade
potatoes mashed potatoes at myhouse, she said potatoes at my
(23:45):
house.
She said do you realize thatfor several years I only thought
potatoes were smooth, becausemy mother only ever served
instant potatoes.
I had never had homemade mashedpotatoes that are naturally
lumpy.
I made a batch of mashedpotatoes the other day and it
just was all gooey and it justwasn't very good.
And so my husband looks up tofind out why that happened,
(24:06):
although after it wasrefrigerated it was just fine on
reheating.
But apparently if you cut yourpotatoes too small and you don't
start the potatoes in coolwater and then when you mix you
know your milk and your butterto mash up your potatoes if
they're not room temperature, Iguess that can promote that,
(24:26):
that chemical process.
There's really a lot of sciencethat goes along with cooking
and I know that my sons havereally enjoyed cooking shows
that are science-based, likeAlton Brown's.
So many processed foods docontain preservatives to extend
(24:47):
the shelf life, but they offerno health benefits and they can
pose some risk.
And some brands of instantpotatoes use the preservative
BHA, which is butylatedhydroxyanisole, and that is a
known carcinogen so it should beavoided.
It's also been added BHA tolots of cereals, so that's why
(25:11):
some cereals and instantpotatoes are banned in countries
but not here in the USA, andbecause so many cereals are
loaded with artificial colorsand sugar.
Because so many cereals areloaded with artificial colors
and sugar and also this BHA.
I'm glad that cereal was nevera staple, except for
(25:37):
occasionally cream of wheat orcream of rice or sometimes
oatmeal homemade in my family,but I know that a lot of
children and a lot of familiesthink that grabbing for that box
of cereal and then they get themilk in the bowl is healthy,
and it really isn't.
Sliced white bread, oh mygoodness, that is like an
American food, right, other thanmaybe mom's apple pie, which we
have some recipes on, speakingof Women's Health for apple pie
(26:00):
that you can check out.
But in many countries, americanmade white bread which contains
potassium, potassium bromateand potassium bromate apparently
is added to breads to speed upthe baking process, and
(26:21):
potassium bromate is banned inmany countries because it has
been linked to kidney damage andnervous system damage.
So anybody with kidneyimpairment should definitely
avoid excessive potassium intake, and that includes many healthy
foods like fruits andvegetables if it's end stage
kidney disease.
But there's a lot of adultswalking around with just like
(26:43):
stage two, stage three kidneyimpairment, and they're just
told to avoid nephrotoxins toomuch, motrin, advil, aspirin, et
cetera, keep their bloodpressure and weight down.
But I think something we shouldalso add is don't be ingesting
breads that have potassiumbromate in it either.
Crackers, well, certainly.
(27:06):
Cheese and crackers, I think,go great, great.
And American crackers, though,are banned in many European
countries, including Hungary,due to the heavily chemically
altered hydrogenated cotton seedoil.
Of all the seed oils, probablycotton seed oil is one of the
(27:27):
worst, but even things like cornoil and canola oil and palm oil
and sunflower I mean.
Doesn't sunflower oil, I meansunflowers we're in the
sunflower house, doesn't thatsound good?
No, it's actually not good.
Soybean oil as well.
They are chemically alteredoils.
(27:48):
So really you should definitelyopt for healthier alternatives,
including pure, cold pressedolive oil or avocado oil.
Now, coconut oil can be ingestedand it is very rich in medium
chain triglycerides.
Some people it might negativelyaffect their lipid panel, but
(28:11):
it can be ingested in moderation.
It's also a great moisturizerfor hair and face.
It's used in lots of littlebeauty routines and products.
Now, fats that come from butterand beef tallow.
They're fully saturated fats.
A lot of these chemicallyaltered polyunsaturated fats
(28:36):
which maybe years ago we weretold were so healthy and that we
should use margarine instead ofbutter.
No, they're not.
They're highly inflammatory.
So brownie mixes Many Americanbrownie fudge mixes are banned
in Europe because of thecottonseed oil and the soybean
(28:56):
oil.
But you can find them right inyour grocery store.
But there's a lot of goodrecipes that you can make
brownies without that.
You can use avocado oil, somecottage cheese and some cocoa,
add maybe a little bit of mashedbananas.
I mean, you can mix it upyourself and you don't have to
(29:19):
have a mix Soybeans.
Now, as many are embracing vegandiets, the demand for soybeans
has increased exponentially and,interestingly, increased
exponentially and interestingly,many European countries have
banned genetically modifiedsoybeans.
(29:39):
So these GMO soybeans have beenbanned in almost half the
countries in the European Unionbecause this genetic
modification has been linked tosome health concerns.
But soy protein in general canlower cholesterol and it is a
vegan protein alternative.
And certainly geneticallymodifying some foodstuffs, like
(30:01):
getting vitamin A into rice, hashelped reduce blindness.
So certainly many advancementsand alterations have allowed us
to have a lot more food, a lotmore stability, feed a lot more
people.
But unfortunately we've kind ofoverfed a lot of us and it's
(30:23):
contributed to insulinresistance and this diabesity
and elevated blood sugar.
And even if someone has normalbody weight, if they have just a
little bit of extra centraladiposity and their sugar goes
up and their blood pressure goesup, it really increases
dementia risk, heart attack,stroke, arthritis, gallbladder
(30:47):
disease.
So I really think it behoovesus to pay a lot more attention
to what we're eating MountainDew.
It's a popular United Statessoda, especially in the American
South, but it's been banned inJapan and other European
countries due to severalingredients.
(31:09):
Yellow number five coloringredients Yellow number five
color the high fructose cornsyrup.
Caffeine, which you know.
Caffeine can be beneficial forreducing pain, improving
alertness, reducing fatty liver,although children certainly
don't need to be revved up oncaffeine and other preservatives
(31:29):
.
Now, apparently, mountain Dewhas removed the brominated
vegetable oils from theirformula that was another problem
but still may have some of theother substances.
Salmon, now salmon, everybodythinks is being healthy, omega-3
, good for mood and vision andjoints and inflammation.
(31:50):
But our friends down under inAustralia and New Zealand have
banned farm-raised salmon due tothe petrochemicals used to
pinken up the salmon.
So for quite a while I'vecertainly only looked to buy
wild natural salmon.
It is expensive, though,natural salmon.
(32:19):
It is expensive though, but itis rich in omega-3 fats.
Now, seafood, just like meats,especially organ meats, can be
very high in purine, and I thinkI'll do a future column and
podcast on gout and high purineand low purine diets.
So pasta.
I always joke that my husband,who has a lot of Italian friends
he's part of the Italian men'sassociation and he has zero
(32:40):
Italian blood in him but heloves Italian food and he's a
great cook and who doesn't enjoypretty much an Italian pasta
dish.
The European Union andAustralia have banned some boxed
pastas that contain thatazo-dicarbonide, that yoga mat
(33:01):
chemical.
It's used as a bleaching agentin flour and some countries
consider it potentiallycarcinogenic.
So while that azodicarbamidemakes the color of the pasta pop
and the dough softer, thereality is that many countries
(33:22):
not the United States, not theFDA here, but many other
countries do consider it toxic.
And there is a range ofsubstances banned in Europe but
allowed in the US.
And that also includes thatpotassium bromate, which isn't
so great on the kidneys.
Titanium dioxide, which mightbe good to smear on your skin
(33:42):
for sunscreen because it'schemically inert, but not
necessarily ingest brominatedvegetable oil.
Avoid that propylparaben andthat azodicarbonide.
So please read labels andchoose wisely.
So the truth about salt, sugarand saturated fat.
(34:03):
Many folks believe thatprocessed food is unhealthy
primarily because of salt, sugarand saturated fat.
But here's the truth Salt ourbodies need sodium.
It is okay for most people inmoderation.
But not all salts are equal.
Kosher salt does not haveiodine in it.
(34:24):
We do need some iodized salt.
The pink Himalayan salt issomething I recommend to a lot
of my patients who might be lowin potassium or have
hypertension.
It's potassium-based, notsodium Sugar.
Now sugar is kind of like thenew nicotine Addictive, kind of
poisonous.
There's no such thing as anessential sugar or an essential
(34:46):
carbohydrate, but we do haveessential fatty acids omega-3
and omega-6, and we have severalessential amino acids which
make protein.
So you do need protein and youdo need fat every day in your
diet.
Now, saturated fats we do needessential fats and it is fine to
consume healthy fats like oliveoil and nuts, but we do want to
(35:14):
avoid those chemically alteredseed oils because they're very
high in those unsaturatedinflammatory fats and they have
double bonds of their fatty acidchains, unlike the saturated
fats like butter and beef tallow.
Now there is an app I waslooking at that tells you what
restaurants don't use seed oils.
(35:34):
Unfortunately, most of them doso.
If you're going to eat out, ifother people are making your
food, if you're eating a lot offood that's already pre-made or
has long shelf half-lives, mostlikely you're getting way too
much seed oil, and certainly inthe patient's labs that I'm
getting, I'm seeing that.
So substances you need to beaware of are not limited to just
(35:59):
the titanium dioxide and thepolysorbate 80 and microplastics
, you know, in terms ofingesting plastics in food, in
bottles Carboxymethylcelluloseyellow number five, blue number
one, potassium bromate, transfats, seed oils, parabens, which
(36:21):
is wax, atrazine, propyleneglycol, that azodicarbamide,
so-called yoga mat chemical andhigh fructose corn syrup.
Certain dishes do need to besweetened Honey, as long as it's
not for an infant or toddlerbecause of the concern about
botulism.
(36:41):
Local honey is better forallergies.
100% maple syrup from Vermont Isometimes use in recipes
instead of sugar.
Sometimes I'll get 100%applesauce with no added.
You know high fructose cornsyrup.
I'm always reading labels.
(37:02):
So, as we kind of wrap up, youmight ask does the United States
ban foods that other countriesdo?
Actually, yes, scottish haggisMany Scots and I've certainly
got a lot of Scots-Irish in methey love their haggis because
(37:24):
it's their national dish.
I had never even heard of this,but it's stuffed sheep lungs
and heart.
And in the United States thishas been completely banned
because the US agricultural lawbans the consumption of any
animal lung.
Raw, unpasteurized milk isbanned in Canada and it is
(37:52):
banned in some parts of theUnited States.
This is primarily because ofconcerns about Listeria and
Salmonella, but there's a lot inthe news about raw milk and
milk freedom.
Some people with Crohn'sdisease, lactose intolerance,
severe allergies.
(38:13):
There are medically some groupsof people that their gut seems
to do a lot better with all thebacteria, naturally, and the
heat of pasteurization can killcertain substances in the milk
that may have health benefits.
So more and more I'm hearingabout people trying to purchase
(38:33):
raw milk primarily because ofgut health, which I think we
have a lot to learn about themicrobiome, but I think it does
impact lots of areas of health.
I have a lot of patients askingme to send them to functional
medicine doctors, primarily todo stool assessments to see what
their bacterial count in theirgut is.
To do stool assessments to seewhat their bacterial count in
(38:56):
their gut is.
But what I would say if you'reimmunocompromised, if you're
pregnant I mean, we already tellpregnant women to avoid soft
cheeses because they're moreprone to getting listeria
infections and you really haveto check what your local and
state laws are about whether youcan purchase raw milk.
But what I tell people whodon't have the ability to
(39:20):
purchase raw milk and they'reconcerned about their gut
microbiome?
We have kefir yogurt,especially if you get the yogurt
with the active lactobacilluscolonies, especially if you get
the yogurt with the activelactobacillus colonies.
And there's lots of greatfermented foods kamichi, pickles
, sauerkraut that are beneficialfor your gut microbiome.
(39:48):
So, in general, it's best to getyour vitamins, minerals and
nutrients from whole foods anddefinitely talk to your
healthcare clinician, becausethis is just for general
information to empower you tohave important conversations
with your own individualhealthcare team.
In general, the most commonsupplements that I recommend,
even in people eating a healthydiet, is vitamin D, especially
(40:11):
for people over 40, northernclimate folks.
Next is magnesium, especiallyif you have insomnia, leg cramps
, migraine, headaches,constipation.
And getting enough magnesium, arecent study showed, may reduce
cardiovascular disease,hypertension, stroke and even
type 2 diabetes and even type 2diabetes.
(40:38):
So I have a list on our websiteon speakingofwomenshealthcom,
of magnesium rich foods and it'sgreat that we can nourish our
bodies and souls and share goodfood with our friends and family
.
If you're interested in othertopics along this line, we have
a lot on our website.
Food is medicine foods thatcould interact with medications.
(41:00):
Superfoods.
Nutrient dense foods, quercetinrich foods.
Foods high in iron lots ofwomen and children are low in
iron.
Foods high in histamine thathistamine sensitive people might
want to avoid.
Foods that contain vitamin D 16.
(41:20):
Foods high in choline great formuscle cramps and brain
development.
Biotin A lot of women takebiotin supplements and it messes
up their blood work and a lotof times doesn't help their hair
.
But there are foods that dohave biotin, which certainly can
help your nails.
Foods rich in zinc I get lotsof zinc levels on my patients
(41:42):
and I would say over half ofthem are low, even in the ones
that say that they eat meat.
Selenium if you didn't hear ourpodcast on thyroid, dr Abed was
talking about how she sometimesgets selenium levels.
That's important for thyroidfunction.
Uh, omega-3s most of us aregetting too much omega-6 and not
(42:06):
enough omega-3.
Uh, the mind diet uh,alzheimer's disease is a big
problem.
Half of women by age 85 have it.
Men also can get it, and soit's really important to protect
your brain.
And too much sugar and simplecarbs can drive diabesity,
hypertension, stroke, memoryloss, even glaucoma.
(42:31):
We have a column on food tofight fatigue and we had a fun
podcast on celebrating July 4thwith food, fun and family and
friends.
So thank you for listening andtuning into another pod.
We're so grateful for yoursupport and we hope that you'll
(42:53):
share this podcast with others.
And if you don't alreadysubscribe or follow on Apple
Podcasts, tunein Spotifywherever you listen, please
subscribe so you'll be notifiedof new podcasts, so you won't
miss any future ones.
And if you've got any questions, you can go on
(43:15):
speakingofwomenshealthcom andsend us your question.
Thanks again for listening andwe will see you next time in the
Sunflower House.
Be strong, be healthy and be incharge.
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