Allison Staker

My daughter came home from school recently and told me her health teacher had counseled the class to avoid avocados and nuts because they contained fat and fat was 'bad'.  Unfortunately, this is a common and persistent misconception.  Since the 1960's, all fat has been blamed for numerous health problems, and until recently, almost universally maligned.  We now know that far from 'bad', fat is essential to physical and mental health - it is which fats you consume that matters and makes all the difference.

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For the last 40 years cholesterol in the diet has been vilified as the root of all dietary evils - and the cause of such problems as heart disease, clogged arteries and obesity.  The problem with this is that very few actual studies show any causative connection - and the more studies that come out and the longer the cholesterol connection is studied, it is showing what many people have known all along - that cholesterol in the diet has little causative correlation to heart disease.  This information is finally being recognized by medical doctors and the mass media.

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Everyone has them.  An apparent sudden need for a homemade chocolate chip cookie, bowl of ice cream with caramel sauce, or a big slice of blueberry pie.  Cravings - especially the ones for something sweet - can be surprisingly strong - especially if you are tired, hungry, stressed or emotionally worn down.   A sweet taste is a quick hit to the brain's pleasure center, and sugar physically can become a real addiction - replacing balance in the body with a quick short term solution that has long term undesirable effects. 

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Most of us have heard of the hormone insulin, the glycemic index and how sugar affects the chemistry of your body. Insulin's primary job is to keep blood sugar levels stable by transporting sugar calories to the muscle cells to be used as energy or to the liver to be stored as short term energy in the form of glycogen. If those muscle cells are not being used, or already have enough fuel in them, and the liver is always full (from eating too often), those calories go directly to fat storage.

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Here are some great no-white-flour, no-refined-sugar, no-refined-oil BREAKFAST ideas!! Eating healthy can also be really delicious!!

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