Processed Food Land: Taco Bell "Meat"

If you haven't seen the headlines today, someone is suing Taco Bell for faulty advertising when it comes to the meat in their tacos. The class-action suit alleges that the "seasoned ground beef" has too many ingredients that aren't beef in it to be called beef. In fact, they're saying it's less than 35% beef.

When I saw the news I thought, "Wait. Didn't we already all know that stuff wasn't exactly beef?"

The Vancouver Sun's Breakdown of the Suit

Putting all those extra things in the "seasoned ground beef" lowers costs (it's sort of like extending a sauce by adding water) and keeps it "fresh" for extended periods of time. If that less than 35% statement is correct though, I have to say... I don't think it can be called beef then. That would be like if two pieces of spinach fell onto a plate of half a rotisserie chicken with a side of corn and we called it a salad.

Author Michael Pollan has suggested before that if a food item you buy at the store has a rather lengthy ingredient list (I believe he says longer than 6 items) and they're things your grandmother wouldn't recognize as ingredients, then perhaps you should reconsider eating that food.

Elle and I ate Taco Bell from time to time as kids. In fact, we ate soft tortilla tacos at the same kitchen table in her parents' house on a couple of occasions. I think even back then though we knew it wasn't really completely ground beef. It didn't quite taste the same as what our mothers made. But it was exciting because we got in a car and someone quickly handed food through a magical window to whomever was driving - not because it tasted particularly good.

We were actually just talking about this a couple of months ago and there is no way we'd chose to eat that now. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who think this lawsuit is silly, but my hope is that it'll draw more people's attention to what it is they're actually eating - regardless of where they're buying it.

To read more about today's "beef" headline including the ingredients of the processed food in question:
This is What Really Hides in Taco Bell's "Beef" (Gizmodo)
A beef with Taco Bell: When is Meat Not Really Meat? (Vancouver Sun)

There's also about 1,000 articles if you type in "Taco Bell Beef" on Google News.

Exercise... For How Long?

A while ago Elle wrote about her take on why you need to exercise. I figured it was high time I weighed with my approach since I definitely agree it's a good idea for your overall health.

photo from battsimon on flickr

I know there are several studies out there that say how long you have to work out in order to "get a good workout" or "see any results".

A March 2010 Los Angeles Times article said

The 60-minute-a-day recommendation, released online Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., is aimed at women of normal weight who don't want to diet but do want to avoid gaining weight over time. Most Americans gain about 1.5 pounds a year between age 25 and 55.

But the issue of how much exercise is required to maintain a normal weight is far from settled. Other exercise experts say that an average of 35 minutes a day, seven days a week, is probably sufficient. But that's still a lot of exercise.

The study referred to in that article says the 2008 federal recommendation was 150 minutes a week.

Another study published in the Journal of Physiology and featured on CNN also in March of 2010 says

... doing short-duration, high-intensity training sessions may be just as effective as longer duration, less intense exercise. Simply put, you can do your workout in just 20 minutes and still see the benefits.

And in June of 2010 USA Today profiled yet another study (this time out of Massachusetts General Hospital) saying

"Ten minutes of exercise has at least an hour of effects on your body," says Gerszten, who found some of the metabolic changes that began after 10 minutes on the treadmill still were measurable 60 minutes after people cooled down.

It's a lot to try to keep straight - even in this small sampling.

In my experience, ten minutes is always better than nothing. On days that I only have ten minutes to do any sort of workout, I feel better than on days where I decide I'm too busy or too tired or what-have-you. Of course working out for a longer amount of time further enhances these benefits, but after only ten minutes I feel stronger, refreshed, and ready to take on whatever's next in my day.

In fact, any day that I'm able to move around a fair amount (instead of being pretty much confined to a chair for eight hours) I feel better - even if it's just walking around. But I feel even better if I've had some dedicated exercise time. That setting aside of time helps settle my mind and keep me focused on one thing instead of my thoughts zooming around to all the things I have to do or whatever may be bothering me, etc. It's calming.

So now you know the minimum amount of time I think is good to exercise a day. Coming up soon, I'll be sharing my experiences on what activities to do.

©2011 Memo To My Health. Please do not republish our content without notifying us and getting permission.

The Kind Diet: A Book Review and Some Thoughts on Cheese

The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide To Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet is a 2009 book by actress Alicia Silverstone about her journey to veganism, the paths she suggests if you're interested in becoming vegan and some recipes she enjoys.

The paths include one for Flirts (for those looking to cut down their meat-eating and find plant alternatives), Vegans (those already not eating dairy products, meat (including fish), or eggs), and Superheroes (vegan plus eliminating white flour, white sugar, alcohol, caffeine, and any artificial sweeteners and eating only fruits and vegetables that are low in natural sugars).

I picked up this book in the late spring of 2010 with no intention of becoming vegan. I was just interested in what Silverstone had to say. Was there anything I could apply to my life or was it a lifestyle that could only be supported by wealth and other resources outside the common person's reach?

I have to say the first one. I definitely learned some new things when reading The Kind Diet that has helped me build up my own understanding of food. For instance, before my initial reading, I didn't know that dairy was addictive. But it totally makes sense. Once I started on a piece of cheese it was often difficult to stop. Even though I've always had digestive issues with dairy, I could tolerate small amounts of cheese but I'd have to remember to listen to my body over the craving to keep eating that darn cheese.

"Milk contains casein which breaks down in the body to become casomorphins (as in morphine). Casomorphins have an opiate effect on your body and-like all good opiates-make you feel relaxed and happy. Casein is even more concentrated in cheese, which explains why people are very, very protective of their cheese." - The Kind Diet, page 35

I rarely eat cheese now. I haven't bought it myself in over two months and in that time I've only eaten it if it's already in something someone's made. I've definitely broken the addiction and my digestive system thanks me.

As interesting as some of what Silverstone has to say is how she says it. I've read other books about veganism before that are harsh, try to upset you or gross you out and/or are condescending. But Silverstone's tone throughout the book is really as the title suggests - kind. She's had access to people in the medical field as well as did research herself and she presents it all in a real personable manner.

Most importantly she uses the word diet in this book in the sense that what you eat plays into your overall health. This is not some quick-win, unsustainable weight-loss gimmick (even though Silverstone recounts that she started to see pounds come off in a matter of weeks when she made significant changes to her diet).

One conflict that did concern me in the book was her cautions about and use of soy. She mentions that soy contains phytoestrogens and in small quantities they can have a positive effect but excess amounts may interfere with fertility, reproductive development in males and exacerbate thyroid problems. Yet there seems to be soy-products in an awful lot of her recipes. Elle first introduced me to the idea that there is such a thing as too much soy. But the question remains of how much is too much? So I don't know if the soy in The Kind Diet recipes is too much, but it seems like a lot for someone who is wary about excess amounts.

As for the recipes... I was really excited to try them. You can definitely integrate vegan recipes into your life even if you aren't a full-blown vegan. The ingredients for the recipes I chose to try first weren't the easiest to find. I had to visit a few health food stores and a grocery store that specializes in Japanese food. The hard-to-find (for me) ingredients included wakame, brown rice mochi, miso, dandelion leaves, and daikon. And to top it off, I didn't like any of the first three recipes I tried - definitely disappointing. They were weird consistencies mainly and/or I didn't like the taste (I already don't eat a lot of sugar or fat so I know that wasn't the problem).

I haven't given up yet. There's still a few recipes of hers I'd like to try. And I've found other vegan recipes in other places since that I like. Recently Silverstone's website, The Kind Life, has expanded and made easier-to-access the recipe section. So feel free to head over there and try one yourself.

It seems like Alicia Silverstone's journey to change the way she eats was mainly due to her concerns as an animal lover as well as about planetary resources and feeling better/losing weight were happy side effects. She's found what works for her. And she's written an interesting book about it that's even pretty to look at too. Props to her.

©2011 Memo To My Health. Please do not republish our content without notifying us and getting permission.

Return Memo (to My Health)

A year ago Elle and I kicked off this blog. We had no idea what 2010 had in store for us, but we knew we were both committed to being healthy. The year threw a lot at both of us - both good and not so good. Our commitment didn't change. We both have kept reading, researching, and trying - it just hasn't all made its way to the blog yet.

We put a lot of thought into what we share here. We have several posts in draft stage as we look into the subject of those posts more. And I know we both have ideas for several more memos that we haven't even started. Hopefully this year we both will have a little more time to write here.

I know I personally have felt a renewed need to pursue this blog in the last several weeks. One woman told me she wants to live healthily and feel good but with a news story on bad-for-you chemicals in makeup made her ready to throw in the towel. How was she supposed to keep all this information straight? Wouldn't it be easier to just not know?

I've met several other people who are also overwhelmed by all the information out there - not to mention that so much of it seems conflicting. (I know I sometimes feel the same way.) I've been told that all this health stuff is way too confusing.

So this is for all of them. I will do what I can to share what I've learned and make it easy to understand. I know Elle would like everyone to be able to improve their well-being as well.

So thanks for stopping by and considering what we have to say. The decisions on what to do are still up to you. We hope you feel better. Happy New Year.