Water Fluoridation in Israel – Is Health Minister German’s new policy a good thing?

Health minister Yael German recently signed legislation making water fluoridation in Israel optional and not mandatory for each municipality (except in very low population localities), to take affect within a year.

Today’s Jerusalem Post English edition carries a very biased article by Judy Siegel,  Professors slam change to water fluoridation policy, which discusses two academics’ (from the Hebrew University Dental School’s Department of Community Dentistry) rebuke of this new policy. While German cites the ability of fluoride to cause harm to the health of the chronically ill and to pregnant women, apparently Siegel could find no one else with this point of view.

In her article she quotes the professors, Harold Sgan-Cohen and Jonathan Mann, who promote fluoridation of water as having across the board confirmation that it is

“the most efficient, cheapest and safest measure of dental health promotion that reaches across the socio-economic spectrum.”

They also discuss  the U.S. policy to fluoridate water saying:

“It is clear that if there were even just a small hint of harm, U.S. fluoridation of drinking water would be halted.”

She also reports that U.S. Surgeon-General Regina Benjamin officially endorsed community water fluoridation just this past Monday, and that the UK which doesn’t fluoridate their water presumably does not do so, because, according to

“An authoritative source in the British Medical Journal… the most sensible, intelligent, well-informed people here in the UK think fluoridation of the water is a very sensible idea but a very vocal minority of cranks have campaigned against it for so long and so vociferously that all attempts to introduce it here [except in the West Midlands] have come to nothing.”

I would argue that across the board acceptance of ingesting fluoride as being safe is without merit. Even the FDA mandated label warnings on toothpaste in the USA warning of the dangers to children of swallowing the toothpaste.

I also take issue with the fact that the U.S. would halt fluoridation if there was even a small hint of harm. One only has to look at the Vioxx debacle where people died as a result of taking this medication, yet it took several years for the FDA to require that it be discontinued.  And the FDA, pharmaceutical companies, and big business have revolving doors, whereby employees rotate between the FDA and big business.  I’m quoting here from The Huffington Post article: FDA Promotes Unsafe Milk Due to Industry Pressure, however the same information and more can be readily found on numerous sites.

“[Miller] wrote the FDA’s opinion on why milk from [rbGH]-treated cows should not be labeled. However, before coming to FDA, Dr. Margaret Miller was working for the Monsanto company as a researcher on [rbGH]. At the time she wrote the FDA opinion on labeling, she was still publishing papers with Monsanto scientists on [rbGH]. It appears to us that this is a direct conflict of interest to have in any way Dr. Miller working on [rbGH].”

As for the UK – I seriously doubt that only a “few cranks” don’t believe fluoridating water is a good idea and are holding up the works.

I just sent this Letter to the Editor to the Jerusalem Post:

Regarding your article: Hebrew University professors slam change to water fluoridation policy – Thursday, April 23, page 8

Dear Sir,

I, for one, would like to applaud Health Minister Yael German’s decision to make fluoridation of water optional. I agree that it is wrong to medicate an entire population for the (possible) benefit of a very few members while putting many others at risk. There are significantly greater risks to dental health from ingesting sugary drinks and refined products, which pull calcium and minerals from teeth and bones which, if addressed, would go a long way to improving dental and general health nationwide.

Although it may seem that there is unanimous agreement over the safety of fluoride in the U.S., your readers may be surprised to know that tubes of American toothpaste have the following FDA mandated warnings:

“Keep out of the reach of children under 6 years of age. If more than used for brushing is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away.
Children 2 – 6 years: Use only a pea sized amount and supervise child’s brushing and rinsing (to minimize swallowing).
Children under 2 years: Ask a dentist or physician”

If it is not safe for children to swallow this small amount of toothpaste, why is it safe for them to swallow presumably more fluoride from drinking water?

For more information see here and here.

The first article I referenced shows the toothpaste label warnings; the second article explains why there is waning support for fluoride supplementation and the dangers to children of ingesting fluoride toothpaste include acute poisoning with visits to the emergency room, skin rashes, and impaired glucose metabolism (which can result in diabetes and obesity):

Perhaps the most important, yet most overlooked, risk from excessive ingestion of fluoride toothpaste, is the impact it can have on blood glucose and insulin levels. In the 1980s, researchers at the University of Indiana reported that rats receiving acute, but relatively small, doses (0.5 mg/kg) of fluoride, had significantly higher glucose levels in their blood, and decreased levels of insulin. (Shahed 1986; Whitford 1987b). Since that time, numerous studies have repeated this finding (in both animals and humans) at doses which many children routinely ingest from fluoride toothpaste. It is now estimated, for example, that blood fluoride levels of just 95 ppb produce an increase in glucose levels and a decrease in insulin. (Menoyo 2005). Strikingly, this level is routinely exceeded by about 5 to 10% of children using fluoride toothpaste (particularly those living in fluoridated communities).

Watch this eye-opening video Professional Perspectives on Water Fluoridation to find out why most European countries do not fluoridate their water and what the medical professionals really say about the toxicity and numerous health dangers of fluoridated water.

I again applaud Health Minister Yael German’s new legislation regarding fluoridating water. I can only hope that most municipalities will halt it as soon as possible, even if only as a cost-saving measure. Enough with politics and bad science.

April 29, 2013: The above Letter to the Editor appeared in today’s Jerusalem Post.

Related articles

• Impact of fluoride on neurological development in children
• Associations Between Fluorosis of Permanent Incisors and Fluoride Intake From Infant
• Formula, Other Dietary Sources and Dentifrice During Early Childhood
• Water Fluoridation and Cancer Risk
• Fluoridation by country
• USA admits adding fluoride to water is damaging teeth and has been a big experiment

Choosing healthy fats and oils: what you need to know – part 2 of 3

In part 1 I explained that according to our biochemistry we need to consume  monounsaturated fats like olive oil and saturated animal and  tropical fats  – coconut and palm oils rather than polyunsaturated oils and that, in fact, as demonstrated by the “Israeli Paradox, the polyunsaturated vegetable oils we are told to use are actually detrimental to our health. I also discussed the health benefits inherent in extra virgin olive oil including why olive oil and/or saturated fat is necessary in order to obtain the full nutritional value of your salads.

Olive Oil fraud – health and kashrut concerns

Ancient olive oil production
Turkey

Just as harvesting quality grapes and producing wine is a complex operation, so too is the harvesting of olives and production of good quality olive oil to ensure that the oil tastes good and contains optimal nutritional components. Unfortunately the olive oil industry is fraught with deception and fraud. Often times soy oil or nut oils are substituted for olive oil with coloring and a small amount of olive oil added for taste or low quality olive oil is deodorized and mixed with a bit of extra virgin olive oil for taste. Even thousands of years ago, olive oil fraud was a problem! In fact, the Romans clearly labeled each bottle of olive oil, noting the quality of the oil and origin and sealing it as a guarantee of authenticity and quality when it reached its destination.

An article by Ariel Zilber featured in the  December 7, 2012 issue of the Jerusalem Post Metro section, entitled “A slippery slope”, discusses the Israeli olive oil industry and notes that some producers/bottlers in Israel may include foreign oil in what is labeled as Israeli oil to remain competitive given the glut of low-quality oils that flood the market at cheap prices.  Like  producers of high quality extra virgin olive oils in other countries, Israeli producers are having a hard time staying in business and making ends meets due to what is deemed unfair competition from companies selling substandard oils as extra virgin. The Israeli Health Ministry has warned (here and here) about problems in Israel  with companies attempting to sell sub-par olive oil or substituting with seed oils and selling them as olive oil. The Israeli Rabbinate has issued notices about fraudulent kosher certification on olive oils and as recently as November 2012, Jerusalem Kosher News published a Chanuka Olive Oil Alert.

Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff of Yeshiva Beit El wrote a very interesting article two years ago, entitled Olive Oil Concerns, in which he reviews the use of olive oil in the Beit Hamikdash, methods of pressing the olives, health benefits of olive oil, and concerns about olive oil adulteration not only today, but also as discussed in the Gemara (Avodah Zarah 36a) and by the Rama over a thousand years later (Shu”t HaRama # 53, 54).  In his article, Rabbi Kaganoff discusses the important differences in standards that kashrut agencies employ today to guard against the possibility of olive oil adulteration. And he very astutely concludes that “this information is highly useful not only from a kashrus perspective, but also from the perspective of someone purchasing extra virgin or virgin olive oil who wants a guarantee that they are getting the health benefits they are paying for.”

A few tips for  buying quality olive oil:

You do not have to remain at the mercy of the bottlers; if you know what to look for when purchasing olive oil you can be pretty sure that what you are getting is the real thing. If you would like to become a real olive oil aficionado, you can learn to sip different olive oils to detect their qualities in a manner very similarly to how one tastes wine. Since this is not practical for most of us, here is what to look for:

• Oil should come in dark glass bottles to protect against light.
• Don’t worry about color. Good oils come in all shades, from green to gold to pale straw.
• Buy oil labelled “extra virgin,” since other categories have undergone chemical refinement, lost many of their health benefits, and may contain traces of chemicals and other contaminants.
• If you see olive oil labeled as pomace oil, it is basically (to put it bluntly) re-purposed waste from the olive oil refining process. It may sound fancy, but it is not.
• The acidity content on the label is also an indication of quality – the lower the better. Anything over 0.8% is lacking in quality; however, even that percentage is considered too high.
• Try to buy oils only from this year’s harvest – look for bottles with a date of harvest. Otherwise, look at the “best by” date which should be not more than two years after an oil was bottled (but even that may be too long since there is no way of knowing how long the oil sat till it was bottled).
• Buy a quantity that you’ll use up quickly.
• The flavor and aroma of extra virgin oils have a marked fruitiness reminiscent of fresh olives and some level of bitterness and pepperiness. Good quality oil will have a pleasant taste and clean sensation and you should feel a “burn” at the back of your throat when you’ve swallowed the oil plain (neat).Tom Mueller, in his book  Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (an enjoyable and enlightening read) explains that “… the oil’s healthful properties are directly proportional to the strength of its flavors, aromas, and other sensory characteristics. If an oil doesn’t sting at the back of the throat, it contains little or no oleocanthal (an anti-inflammatory). If it isn’t bitter, it’s low in tocopherol (vitamin E – which would also help prevent the bottled oil from oxidizing) and squalene. If it isn’t velvety in texture then it’s missing hydroxtyrosol.” (p104).

• If you put some olive oil on your skin and the smell does not go away after a few minutes then it is not olive oil.

Quality olive oil is not inexpensive, but you are buying a product with significant health benefits that has been carefully harvested and processed. Beware of oils that are too cheap because they are probably not the real thing. We make sure to buy organic olive oil as it is an additional guarantee that what it says on the label is actually what is in the bottle.

Our bottle of prize-winning olive oil from Live Organic

There are many award-winning Israeli olive oils and the bottle of extra virgin olive oil that I have at home now, from  Live Organic, according to the label (note the round seal with the pitcher in the middle), received an award from the TERRAOLIVO 2012 International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition. It also has a seal of quality and authenticity as an Israeli olive oil from the Moetzet Hazetim that includes a unique number. I also purchased the Meshek Achiya brand of olive oil which has the same uniquely numbered seal but without the Terraolivo award. Live brand has an acidity of 0.4% and Meshek Achiya of up to 0.5%. I purchased both on sale (at different times) at the Organic Market, which is owned by Shufersal. They are both kosher for Pesach, certified kosher by the Chug Chatam Sofer and each has a local certification as well. Meshek Achiya also has OK-P kosher certification. (My understanding is that only one certifying agency is present and assures the other agencies that the product is reflective of their standards as well.) To find out more about Israeli producers of quality olive oil the Israeli Olive Oil Club (in Hebrew) is a good site to go to. I haven’t opened and tried the Meshak Achiya olive oil yet, but I did feel that “burn” at the back of my throat with the Live brand.

All in all, I think it’s best to buy domestic olive oils when possible to be more assured that it is an authentic and quality oil. (In the U.S. one can find quality olive oils from California.) Unlike wine that improves with age, olive oil starts degrading after it’s produced so quality oil produced and bottled in your own country will most likely be fresher and retain more of its health/nutritional components than oil that sat in a tanker as it made its way from foreign shores.

One caveat: Olive oil should not be the only oil or fat used since we also need the nutrients found exclusively in animal fats; too much monounsaturated fat without a balance of saturated fats can cause health problems.

Interested in becoming an “Olive Oil Expert”? If so, the New Olive Oil Certification course at Hebrew University may be for you.

No-Mayo Coleslaw

Try out this great recipe for coleslaw that I found at pbs.org. It was prepared by food blogger Marc Matsumoto who explains why he prefers his coleslaw without mayo in a full blog post on the Fresh Tastes blog.

He uses olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice instead of mayonnaise. You can substitute white wine vinegar or fresh lime juice  for the lemon juice, if you prefer. I buy organic limes when in season, squeeze the juice, freeze in an ice-cube tray, and then store in a baggy. If using vinegar I would recommend adjusting the proportions to start, so that you have about 1/4 the amount of vinegar as oil. Not only is this healthier than using mayo made from soy oil, it tastes great, and you avoid the  risk of spoilage that coleslaw with mayonnaise has. You can also use this as a starting point and get creative. We enjoy it so much that it actually disappears very quickly.

Ingredients

• 1/4 small red cabbage
• 1/2 small green cabbage
• 1/2 carrot, shredded
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Remove any tough outer leaves from the cabbage.
2. Trim the core and any tough stems from the cabbage and thinly slice.
3. Add to a bowl with the shredded carrot, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, honey, salt and black pepper. Toss to combine.
4. Serve this right away for more of a salad, or store it in the fridge overnight for a slaw that’s more pickled.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Garlic Oil

I would also like to thank our dear friends Shoshana and Scott for introducing us to Garlic Oil at their Shabbos table. Since then we have been enjoying olive oil with chopped garlic in it on our challah.  Very often it’s actually olive oil in our chopped garlic!  (Of course, it’s enjoyable during the week, too.) Much better and healthier than the garlic bread I used to make or buy (many years ago) with powdered garlic.

To your health!

Click here for Part 1
Part 3 coming soon!

Additional Sources and For More Information:
How to tell if your olive oil is the real thing
Buyer’s Guide to Olive Oil in North America (contains a lot of general information about buying olive oil – not just for North Americans)
Olive Oil Times
Truth in Olive Oil
Israelis warned about fake ‘festive’ olive oil
Israeli Olive Oil Club (in Hebrew)

Choosing healthy fats and oils: what you need to know – part 1 of 3

Traditional way of making coconut oil using an ox-powered mill in Seychelles

One of the first things we did on our journey to better health was to get rid of the polyunsaturated vegetable fats we had been using in favor of monounsaturated fats like olive oil,  and saturated animal and  tropical fats — coconut and palm oils. Politics and profit, we learned, play a big role in what’s considered correct  nutrition — to the point that the polyunsaturated fats we had been told were healthy are in fact problematic, and vice versa. Not only is it difficult to account for all the variables in a nutritional study, but results of scientific studies can be manipulated to show the desired outcome, particularly when business is paying for the trials, as is often the case. And opposing voices can be effectively silenced (or at least subdued).*

This information was mind boggling at first. Not only was there a lot to digest, but it was hard to get our heads around the fact that what we’d been hearing and reading was not true. Could it really be that we, and the rest of society, had been misled and lied to?  However, reading the information presented, including the structure of the different types of fat molecules and how the body uses them left us no choice but to get rid of the corn, soy, cottonseed, safflower, and other polyunsaturated oils we had been using. And one day we even got rid of the canola oil.

In The Skinny on Fats, Mary G. Enig, PhD and Sally Fallon explain in detail the properties of common oils and fats. Contrary to “popular wisdom”, our bodies depend upon a good supply of natural fats. (Emphasis is mine.)

• Saturated fatty acids constitute at least 50% of the cell membranes. They are what gives our cells necessary stiffness and integrity.
• They play a vital role in the health of our bones. For calcium to be effectively incorporated into the skeletal structure, at least 50% of the dietary fats should be saturated.
• They lower Lp(a), a substance in the blood that indicates proneness to heart disease. They protect the liver from alcohol and other toxins, such as Tylenol.
• They enhance the immune system.
• They are needed for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids. Elongated omega-3 fatty acids are better retained in the tissues when the diet is rich in saturated fats.
• Saturated 18-carbon stearic acid and 16-carbon palmitic acid are the preferred foods for the heart, which is why the fat around the heart muscle is highly saturated. The heart draws on this reserve of fat in times of stress.
• Short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids have important antimicrobial properties. They protect us against harmful microorganisms in the digestive tract.

From Wikipedia commons

As a result, we stopped removing the skin and fat from chicken (including not skimming the fat off chicken soup), stopped looking for lean cuts of meat, and started buying full fat milk and dairy products. We buy coconut oil and palm oil as well.

One of the casualties of our war against unhealthy food was bottled salad dressings; we began using olive oil and vinegar (red wine and white wine) or fresh-squeezed lemon juice with our salads. Today I also include some sea salt and, depending on what’s available in my kitchen, a variety of dried and/or fresh herbs.

Enig and Fallon also explain that olive oil is a monounsaturated fat which contains a variety of healthful properties:

Olive oil is a rich source of antioxidants, relieves the pain and inflammation of arthritis, normalizes blood fats and cholesterol, stimulates strong gallbladder contractions and is known for increasing longevity. Olive oil can be used for sautéing at moderate temperatures and is a perfect base for salad dressings.

Not only does salad dressing enhance the flavor of veggies, it is also necessary so that we can utilize the fat soluble vitamins contained in those vegetables! An article by Chris Masterjohn in the Winter 2012 issue of Wise Traditions  (a publication of the Weston A. Price Foundation), entitled Nutritional Adjuncts to the Fat-Soluble Vitamins, explains that:

In order to absorb fat-soluble vitamins from our food, we need to eat fat. Human studies show that both the amount and type of fat are important. For example, one study showed that absorption of beta-carotene from a salad with no added fat was close to zero. The addition of a low fat dressing made from canola oil increased absorption, but a high-fat dressing was much more effective. Canola oil, however, is far from ideal. Studies in rats show that absorption of carotenoids is much higher with olive oil than with corn oil.

Similarly, studies in humans show that consuming beta-carotene with beef tallow rather than sunflower oil increases the amount we absorb from 11 to 17 percent. The reason for this is unknown, but it may be that oils rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids promote the oxidative destruction of fat-soluble vitamins in the intestines before we are able to absorb them. Thus the more fat we eat, and the lower those fats are in polyunsaturated fatty acids, the more fat-soluble vitamins we absorb.

Masterjohn further explains that in addition to fat, we also need adequate levels of magnesium and zinc, two minerals that many of us are deficient in, to utilize of these vitamins. Adding high magnesium seeds and nuts to your salad, such as pumpkin, squash, sesame and sunflower seeds, brazil nuts and almonds will increase your ability to absorb and utilize fat soluble vitamins, as will the inclusion of peppers and tomatoes. There are many more foods that contain magnesium but the most abundant sources are seeds, whole grains, nuts, and vegetables. Fruits and some fish are also good sources. Meat and refined grains contain little to none.

The greatest kosher sources of zinc are red meat, liver, and cheese. Although zinc (at much lower levels) is found in plants and grains; it is absorbed much better from meat than from plant products. Grains must be soaked before cooking because of the presence of phytates which bind zinc and other minerals, making them unavailable for use in the body. To learn how to properly soak grains see my article Thick and hearty oatmeal – the Real Deal.

What happens when we have too much polyunsaturated fat in our system? Aside from just not being healthful, polyunsaturated oils are problematic for a number of reasons:

(1)    When the diet contains an excess of polyunsaturated fatty acids, these replace saturated fatty acids in the cell membrane, so that the cell walls actually become flabby. When this happens, cholesterol from the blood is “driven” into the tissues to give them structural integrity. This is why serum cholesterol levels may go down temporarily when we replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated oils in the diet.

(2)    Polyunsaturated oils are predominantly made up of omega-6 fatty acids which create a serious  omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid imbalance in the body that can interfere with production of important prostaglandins. This disruption can result in increased tendency to form blood clots, inflammation, high blood pressure, irritation of the digestive tract, depressed immune function, sterility, cell proliferation, cancer and weight gain.

(3)    Polyunsaturated oils are usually extracted through a chemical process using dangerous solvents like hexane which can make their way into the final product. The high heat at which they are processed also makes them turn rancid (oxidize) very quickly.

(4)    Polyunsaturated oil can cause diabetes and heart disease. A shocking report on Israeli health and polyunsaturate consumption was discussed by THAT PALEO GUY in his blog post Are diets high in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids unhealthy? The report in the Israeli Journal of Medical Science, 1996 Nov;32(11):1134-43, comes from the Department of Membrane Research and Biophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel and is entitled Diet and disease–the Israeli paradox: possible dangers of a high omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid diet .  From the abstract:

In fact, Israeli Jews may be regarded as a population-based dietary experiment of the effect of a high omega-6 PUFA diet, a diet that until recently was widely recommended. Despite such national habits,paradoxically a high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and obesity-all diseases that are associated with hyperinsulinemia (HI) and insulin resistance (IR), and grouped together as the insulin resistance syndrome or syndrome X.

Tim Smith explains, in Our Deadly Diabetes Deception, why eliminating polyunsaturated oils (and for a time, all oils) from his diet enabled him to cure himself of diabetes:

“The biggest culprit, however, seems to be polyunsaturated oil. [13] Studies have shown that when polyunsaturated fats from the diet are incorporated into cellular structure, the cell’s ability to bind with insulin decreases, thus lowering their ability to get glucose. [14] In other words, the “locks” on the cells which open the door for glucose to enter degrade when too much polyunsaturated oil is consumed in the diet. Insulin is then unable to open the door.

Other studies and sites which point out the relationship between polyunsaturates and heart disease include:

• The University of British Columbia: Findings link polyunsaturated fat to heart health risk
• The British Medical Journal:  Study raises questions about dietary fats and heart disease guidance
• Weston A. Price Foundation in
  Caustic Commentary in the section “Pass the Saturated Fat” and
  The Skinny on Fats in the section on Canola Oil

Although we do have a need for some polyunsaturated fat in our body, it is at a much smaller proportion than what we are currently consuming. In fact, animal fats do contain some polyunsaturated fats – at the level which our body actually needs.

To your health!

 * Science, Pseudoscience, Nutritional Epidemiology, and Meat
The Lipid Hypothesis
THINCS: The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

Additional Sources and For More Information:
The Importance of Saturated Fats for Biological Functions
Taking the Fear Out of Eating Fat
Zinc – Health Professional Fact Sheet
Some oily (and other) tips and great latkas for Chanukah.

Eating a Weston Price diet in Israel – Is it possible?

Life in all its splendor is Mother Nature obeyed.
–Weston A. Price, DDS

Would we be able to maintain our traditional and wholesome diet based on the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) guidelines in Israel? Would we be able to find the unprocessed, natural, and organic foods that we had come to enjoy after switching from the Standard American Diet (SAD) to the healthier Weston Price diet ten years earlier?  We were concerned. The WAPF diet was keeping us, thank G-d, in good health and we wanted it to stay that way.  Having easy access to more natural products than a yishuv makolet (community grocery store) would offer and close proximity to health food stores were, therefore, important considerations for us when checking out communities pre-aliyah.

In the States we had figured it all out. We frequented three or four local stores where we knew we could buy most everything we needed. In supermarkets and health food stores we purchased organic butter, labeled as such; “rbst hormone free” kosher cheeses; sour cream and cottage cheese without modified food starch and other additives; reasonably priced omega 3 or free range eggs, a variety of organic vegetables, wild-caught fish identified as such, and unprocessed coconut oil and (solid white) palm oil, among other products which we used. At first we bought the pasteurized milk  labeled as “rbst free” but we later found a source for raw milk (not always easy to find depending on where you live), access to both organic poultry and beef and other natural food products online or in specialty stores. In general, we had a pretty good idea of what could be purchased and where, were familiar with the brands and products that fit our criteria, and understood (or at least we believed so) what it was we were buying.

When we made aliyah, changing country and culture, we attempted to find what we needed all over again. It didn’t take too long for us to realize that procuring some of the products we were looking for was going to be more challenging than we imagined. (I blogged about the challenges of having to learn how to live your day-to-day life all over again in my post A greener in Israel in my other blog: In A Good Place – Thoughts about life in the Holy Land). Beset by problems of language (my Hebrew being more biblical than modern), a plethora of E-numbers with which we were not familiar as part of the ingredient list (no shortcuts with E-numbers in the U.S.; full ingredient names were required) since we carefully check ingredients of just about all products we buy, and overwhelmed by general acclimatization issues, we conceded that it would take some time till we were able to figure it all out again.  To my great pleasure, however, after a bit of sleuthing in the supermarkets my husband did find one of the items that was of great importance to us – yellow butter from pastured cows; white colored butter from cows which are not pastured lack nutrients. You can read all about it in my post How yellow my butter on my blog In A Good Place – Thoughts about life in the Holy Land.

As time has gone by and we’ve become more acclimated to Israel and our community, we found that we could eat a fairly good Weston Price diet here (contingent upon cost and accessibility/location of products). We have been able to buy more of the foods we were looking for, or at least know that they can be had in Israel. Discovering a number of kindred souls here, including Weston Price “fans”, who like me, are searching for butter from pasture-fed cows, raw milk, organic veggies, and interested in fermenting foods, has also helped.

Lately, I have been contacting food companies and organic food organizations here in Israel to get more information about the foods that are available and what it is exactly, that we are eating.

I decided to find out more about the quality of the butter from the four different European companies we found whose butter is imported to Israel. I checked out the company websites and made a few calls, too. Here is what I found out so far:

The President brand butter* comes from the Normandy region in France. Their website made no mention of the origin of the milk used in their butter so I called their U.S. office. The individual there told me that there were no hormones/antibiotics given to the cows and as far as pasturing – although he couldn’t give me a definitive answer, he did say that only the U.S. doesn’t pasture its cows. I guess he never met an Israeli cow!

When I originally checked, the Lurpack (Danish) butter website (be careful to buy the butter and not the spread)  mentioned that the milk used is mostly but not exclusively from pastured cows since some of the dairies are too far from the pastures. I cannot find this information again and online comments are mixed as to whether or not their cows are grass-fed with some commenting that its light color (which is still darker than Israel’s T’nuva butter) is an indicator that the cows are mostly grain fed. Someone else found that using organic butter from grass fed cows produced better quality ghee than Lurpak butter did; another site listed the ingredients of Lurpak ghee as being partially from pastured butter (the rest was palm oil). One commenter thought that by law European cows have to be grass-fed and Lurpak is considered by some to be good quality butter. A query about this on their Facebook page resulted in a request to email the company.  Maybe I will email them too.

We found Champion brand here once. It’s Irish butter and knowing that Ireland has lots of lush green land, we figured it is probably from pastured cows. A color check revealed a deeper yellow color than we saw in the other butters we bought. A friend’s information and internet search confirmed that the Irish Champion brand butter that is imported here is the same as Kerrygold brand Irish butter marketed in other countries (see here); it comes from pastured cows and is considered to be high quality butter. Kerrygold’s F&Q section on their website states the following:

The vast majority of an Irish cow’s diet is from rich, natural grass which grows abundantly in Ireland. We endeavor to work in harmony with nature in the care and feeding of our cows.

Ireland’s location on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean gives it a temperate climate, not too hot and not too cold and with regular rainfall which is the perfect weather for growing grass.

Approximately 2/3 of the land in Ireland is used for farming and agriculture and 80% of this land is used to grow grass. This grass gives the Irish countryside its green colour and is the basis for the description of Ireland as the Emerald Isle. This abundant supply of fresh grass is also what makes the Irish dairy industry and Irish dairy products unique.

Irish dairy cows graze on fresh grass in pastures all day long for up to 312 days a year. In fact, Irish cows graze outdoors on grass for longer than almost every country in the world.

During the winter, when grasses stop growing, Irish cows are fed dried grass (known as silage). This grass is grown throughout the year, cut fresh and stored to be used when the winter comes. Cows in Ireland calve (give birth) in the spring and are therefore outdoors, grazing on green grass when they are producing milk. After calving, cows are provided with supplementary feed to help restore protein and nurture them through this period.

The majority of our cows’ supplementary feed is locally grown crops such as wheat and barley. As a small island, Ireland does not have enough land available to grow certain crops locally; therefore a number of crops are imported.

These imported crops comply fully with strict European and Irish legislative requirements on labeling and traceability.

Pastured Cows – Ireland

As far as genetically modified (GM) feed is concerned they explain:

Our ongoing discussions with the grain and dairy industry have established that of this approximately 10% grain/supplements, approximately 20 to 25% may be from GM sources. This means that approximately 3% of a cow’s total typical annual diet may be from GM sources.

GM is a relatively new issue in an Irish context. We are taking an active role in exploring the potential and challenges around using GM free grain in the Irish dairy industry. Supplementary feeds are important for the health of the animals. They are used to give the cows a healthy and balanced blend of nutrients, providing them with protein, energy and fiber.

We can confirm that Kerrygold butter and cheese do not contain GM ingredients.

For the last few months we have been buying Makabi brand butter.  They sell two different butters (beurre) which come from 2 different regions in France – Normandy and Poitou-Charentes. When I called Makabi’s Israeli office, the gentleman told me that he thought the latter was a bit better quality; however it seems that I was the only one who ever asked them if the cows were pastured and no one in the office knew. I was referred to the French website which also made no mention of how they took care of their cows (my husband, who can speak French, checked it for me). He also sent an email to the company, but we never received an answer. Considering that these regions of France are known for their excellent pasture land, I feel it safe to assume that the cows are (predominantly) pastured.

So it seems that, with the possible exception of Lurpak, these butters are made from milk by mostly pastured cows and, in consonance with European standards, are free of growth hormones and antibiotics.

I will tell you more about what I have discovered about other foods in following posts.

I am planning on starting a Weston Price Chapter here and am in the process of putting together a source list for organic, raw, and natural foods in Israel. Please comment and let me know what you have found in Israel and where, what you are buying from abroad, and what you are doing without. Please let me know of any farms, stores, companies, etc., that would be appropriate to include so I can prepare a comprehensive guide that we could all benefit from. **

I would also like to hear of your interest in Weston Price and/or a natural foods diet and what you would hope a chapter in Israel could help you with.

*President brand butter originally had kosher certification from a Swiss rabbi and upon inquiry we were told that the certification was reliable. President butter was pulled from the shelves of one supermarket several months ago by the store’s mashgiach. When I called a few weeks ago to find out whether we could buy it again or not, I was told that they were still inquiring. Noticing that President had changed its kosher supervision to the Triangle K and Israeli Rabbinate, I assume that the mashgiach is concerned about why the original rabbi stopped supervising it.

** As of now the database resides on my yahoo group. I hope to include it on this site when it is more fully developed. In the meantime, please help me fill it up by joining my  Nourishing Israel yahoo group and adding your sources for natural food products to it. Please also add to the alternative practitioner database I started there, as well.

Also of interest:
The untold story of butter
Why butter is better
Is all butter created equal?

Thick and hearty oatmeal – the Real Deal

Some good advice from Quaker Oats Facebook Page

When we started our quest for better health a number of years ago, one of the many products we stopped buying was instant oatmeal. Instead we began buying plain rolled oats and soaking them overnight. Soaking in acidulated water breaks down the phytates and enzyme inhibitors – anti-nutrients found in grains, seeds, and legumes – thereby increasing its food value and making it more digestible. We put a cup or two of oats, a cup or two of water (equal to the amount of oats), and a couple of tablespoons of yogurt (you can use lemon juice, whey, buttermilk, or kefir instead) in a pot that’s left to soak on the stovetop or counter (no fire) overnight. In the morning we add another cup or two of water*, bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer for about five minutes, stirring occasionally or using a heat diffuser so it doesn’t burn on bottom, and voila! With a bit of minimal preparation and time we have a pot of thick and hearty oatmeal.

Oats (Photo credit: Farmanac)

Each family member adds his/her choice of flavorings, fruits, etc, into the oatmeal to make a nutritious meal. Some often put unheated honey or pure maple syrup into their oatmeal. I like adding to mine yellow butter from pastured cows, about a tablespoon of coconut oil (for its health benefits, not taste) and sea salt. Besides tasting great and providing vitamins, the fat from the butter slows the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream (oats, being a carbohydrate, are composed of chains of glucose (sugar) molecules which are broken down during digestion). Fat is also essential for the absorption of some vitamins and minerals.

I was recently watching a video on properly preparing oatmeal by Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist. One of the benefits she mentioned to soaking oats was that you  have a more filling food than if you hadn’t soaked them, so you don’t need to eat as much. I know that we figure about a half a cup of raw oats for each filling bowl of oatmeal, but this was the first time I had really thought about that in comparison to the satiety of a bowl of instant oatmeal. Checking the Quaker website, I found it hard to compare the two since  instant oatmeal packet sizes vary depending on type and variety which, from what I could see, is anywhere from from .98 ozs to 1.58 ozs.   The website does explain the difference between  instant oats and regular steel cut or rolled oats – instant oats  are rolled thinner and cut smaller. I weighed a  half cup of regular oats – it’s about 1.5 ozs. So, considering the small size of many packets and making allowance for the dehydrated fruits and other additives they contain, there is really not much food or nourishment to be had. In fact,  when we were using the instant cereal my son often had two packets since one was not filling and I often walked away less than satisfied after one packet as well. Since it is really fast and simple to soak oatmeal overnight and cook it up in the morning, the “convenience” of instant oatmeal is really illusory; it is no bargain health-wise or money-wise.

Buying oats when we first came to Israel was a bit of an experience. We were floored when told that oats are called “qvaker” here because, after all, Quaker is the name of a company that makes oatmeal, not the name of the food. In my olah chadasha naiveté, I thought that someone needed to educate Israelis about this! However it really is no different than saying “Kleenex” when you mean tissue, using the word “Xerox” when you want to make a photocopy, or even saying Sanka years ago when you meant decaf coffee. (I once did this in England and realized afterward that since this was an American idiom the waiter probably thought I was saying Thank You!) If you’re like me and can’t bring yourself to ask for “qvaker” you can ask for shebolet shual which is the correct Hebrew word for oats. No matter what you call it, please make sure you skip over the instant oatmeal, even if it’s on sale, because plain rolled or steel cut oats are actually the real deal!

What will you be feeding your family?

* The rule of thumb for adding water to cook grains is twice as much water as the amount of grains. Of course, you could always add a little more water if you like your oatmeal thinner.

Join me in my quest for superior nutrition and better health

FOLLOW NOURISHING ISRAEL VIA EMAIL Click on the field to the right to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Please do comment. I’m always happy to know what my readers are thinking.

I’m feeling a little poll-ish.

Want to know what your friends eat for breakfast? So do I.

Please mosey on over to the side bar and  fill out the appropriate poll.

There’s one for those who are living in Israel and one for those living outside of Israel.

If you fill out other, please leave a comment as to what else you’re serving for breakfast.

Thanks.

 

Some oily (and other) tips and great latkas for Chanukah

from https://www.facebook.com/TheJerusalemPost

Gastronomy is at least as important as ritual when it comes to the holidays. We are all anticipating the delicious latkas (vegetable pancakes) and sufganiyot (donuts) that are customary Chanukah fare. However, since we still want keep our waistlines and health in check, I have a few tips for you.

♦ Cut back on the carbs. Carbohydrates are what really help to put on the pounds. Simply put, carbohydrates are starches, polysaccharides, made up of glucose (sugar) molecules. Carbohydrates break down into glucose in the digestive system; too much glucose released too quickly into the bloodstream causes an insulin rush as the pancreas tries to get the excess sugar out of your bloodstream. What cannot be immediately utilized for energy, gets stored as fat in your cells in the form of triglycerides.

So, rather than loading up on sufganiyot (have one or two whole grain ones if you must), you are better off enjoying latkas, non-potato latkas in particular, since potatoes are carbohydrates as well.  Now I’m not going to tell you to avoid potato latkas entirely, I will  have some too, but it would be good to have a combination of different types, if you are having them more than once during the holiday.  If you do have potato latkas during a milichig/chalavi meal, choose sour cream over applesauce as an accompaniment. For a fleishig/besari meal you are probably already eating a meal with fat.  Fats take longer to digest than carbohydrates, so by eating the two together, glucose is released into your bloodstream at a slower rate.

♦ ♦ Switch from polyunsaturated oils to healthier options.* In general, there are three major problems with consuming polyunsaturated oils.
1) They are very high in omega-6 fatty acids (about 50%) and extremely low in omega-3 fatty acids (soy oil being an exception). To function properly, we need these polyunsaturated fatty acids in a ratio of 1.5% omega-3 to 2.5% omega-6.
2) Our intake of polyunsaturates should only be about 4% of our caloric intake, however, we are consuming as much as 30% of our calories as polyunsaturates.
3) Polyunsaturated oils become oxidized or rancid when subjected to heat forming free radicals which cause much damage in the body.  Polyunsaturated oils which are not cold-pressed are subject to high heat and chemicals in order to extract the oil.

Canola oil, considered one of the healthiest of all the vegetable oils because it has a better balance of omega 6 to omega-3 fatty acids, is also not a healthy oil to use. Canola oil (rapeseed oil) has been bred to reduce the amount of erucic acid it contains (which is unfit for human consumption) to levels which are considered safe. Its high sulfur content causes it to go rancid very easily;  the deodorizing process transforms the omega-3 fatty acids into trans fats; and there is evidence that canola oil creates a deficiency in vitamin E, as well. It is also a genetically modified crop.

The best, most stable, and healthiest oils to use when frying are olive oil, at moderate temperatures, peanut oil and sesame oil occasionally since they are stable when heated but high in omega 6 fatty acids, and palm oil and coconut oil which are not only very healthy (I’ll blog about that another time) but are also very stable when heated.  Flax-seed oil which, because of its high omega-3 fatty acid content (a good remedy for the omega-6 to omega-3 imbalance most of us have), should not be heated and always kept in the refrigerator.  It is best consumed in small amounts.  Animal fats and butter are also good choices for cooking and frying.

With the exception of flax-seed oil, the above all contain medium to high percentages of saturated fats as well. Saturated fats are very necessary as they fill many roles in the body. They are critical to maintaining the stiffness and  integrity of our cell walls; are needed to incorporate calcium into our bones; help us properly utilize omega-3 fatty acids; protect the liver from toxins; and more. Our over over-consumption of polyunsaturated oils and their inherent imbalance of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids unfavorably alters our biochemistry, leaving us prone to disease and illness.

♦ ♦♦ Heat up the pan very well before frying to cut back on the amount of oil needed. I noticed several years back that the pancakes that I fried last came off the pan more easily than the ones I did first. The only difference between the earlier and later batches was how hot the pan was, having had the opportunity to heat up more while I was frying. So I started making sure that the pan is well heated before I start. When it’s ready I pour a little oil in (probably about a tablespoon for a 10 inch pan) , spread it around, and then drop in my batter by spoonfuls. If it needs to be scraped off the pan, leave it alone. It is not ready. Flip the latka or take it out of the pan when it feels firm enough to lift off with a spatula. I do add more olive oil when necessary, but in really small amounts. Olive oil is rich in antioxidants and the safest vegetable oil to use when cooking, but it has long-chain fatty acids which, in excess, can contribute to the buildup of body fat.

I made two zucchini latka recipes. The first one, a takeoff on the Mashed Zucchini Salad recipe from The Book of Jewish Food, by Claudia Roden, included zucchini, onion, salt, lemon juice, and coriander. It was good; we all enjoyed it. However, the second one I made, Sweet Potato and Zucchini Latkes with Creamy Chipotle Lime Dipping Sauce  from the Happy Good Time blogwas a real winner. Yes, sweet potato is a carbohydrate too, but by adding the zucchini, it becomes a lower carbohydrate option. I didn’t fry the onion in advance and did not make the dipping sauce. We did not miss either, but you are free to try.

The ingredients I used:

• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 cups peeled and grated sweet potato
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin organic olive oil to start, adding as necessary
• 1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 medium eggs (that’s the size I had in the house)
• 1/3 cup spelt flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

I used a hand-held grater. It was pretty quick and easy with less mess and easier clean up than if I had used the food processor. If you are making a larger batch, however, the food processor is quicker. Mix the zucchini and sweet potato together with the salt, put into a colander and let drain. The salt removes the excess liquid so the latkas are not wet. I actually put in all the salt at this point and did not add any more afterwards. After about half an hour I pressed out any remaining liquid, mix in the other ingredients, and dropped by spoonful into the frying pan, tapping them down so they are wider with more surface area being directly heated.

Of course these can be made without the flour and baking powder. They will probably not hold together as well, but the taste should still be great.

Chag Chanukah sameach.

* Information about oils and fats can be found on the Weston A. Price Foundation website: The Oiling of America  and The Skinny on Fats.

My Healthy Cholent Alternative

I decided after last Shabbat that I didn’t want to make cholent again. We had just eaten it for the first time in several months at the behest of my daughter (I don’t make it when the weather is hot) and I was reminded once again of the reasons why I don’t always enjoy this gastronomic specialty – it is not especially kind to one’s digestive tract. That big stew of beans, vegetables, and possibly meat (we usually make ours pareve) can be gas provoking and the heavy offering sits in my stomach for way too long.

However, I didn’t want to do away with “cholent” completely. There’s something very nice and comforting about that hot bowl of cholent on a Shabbat afternoon and a type of solidarity with other Jewish families who are also sitting down to a similar meal. For many it’s an observance of ritual, tradition. Or just having a great meal every Shabbat.

L – R: raw Quinoa, Lentils, Barley

So, for this Shabbat I put together a cholent made of similar ingredients that would have a cholent-like taste and texture that I could leave on the stove overnight, but without the beans. I was so pleased that it came out just as I had hoped. The lentils gave it the bean-like taste and the barley gave it the “gelatinous” texture. I now have a new and, cholent purists please forgive me, better Shabbat offering.

Here’s my recipe for you to enjoy. I made a large stockpot full but you can cut back or increase the amounts depending on the number of people you are feeding and how much you want left for during the week.

Quinoa Cholent

Quinoa Cholent

1 cup each (equal amounts) of organic quinoa, barley, and lentils (mine were brown)
1 large onion chopped
Several carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
Sea salt to taste

Stew meat or flanken – We enjoyed it immensely without meat but were in agreement that this would be just as good (if not better) with some meat in it so feel free to add meat if you like.

1. Soak the quinoa, barley, and lentils in filtered water with lemon juice for several hours or overnight to remove the anti-nutrient phytates and enzyme inhibitors.
2. Using a large strainer, drain the quinoa, barley, and lentils and rinse well under running water.
3. Put vegetables, quinoa, barley, and lentils into the pot, add sea salt, and cover with water. Make sure that you have sufficient water so that it will still be liquidy even after the quinoa and barley absorb water.
4. Bring to the boil, lower the heat, and simmer till the grains and vegetables (and meat) are thoroughly cooked.
5. Put on the blech/plata before Shabbat and let the flavors and textures blend overnight.

Notes:

1. For those of us who plan more than a day in advance, it’s possible to increase the nutritional value of the quinoa, barley, and lentils by sprouting them beforehand.
2. I did not add potatoes which are customary in cholent since I didn’t see the need to add an additional starch. We did not miss the potatoes.
3. Quinoa is a particularly nutrient-rich food, considered by early Peruvians to be a “sacred food”;  they called it  chisaya mama or ”mother of all grains”.

B’tay’avon – Enjoy!

Almond sprouting update

Unshelled (left) and shelled (right) almonds (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As I mentioned I would in my initial post, I tried sprouting a bunch of almonds which we purchased from Eden Teva as ostensibly “raw”  and presumably from Israel and/or Egypt. When sprouting, after soaking for a day (see my sprouting instructions), I usually just rinse the legumes or nuts/seeds once in the morning for the next  two or three days until little sprouts appear. Unfortunately, after about three they still hadn’t sprouted and figuring I’d give them some more time (just in case) I let them sit over Shabbat (without any rinsing, of course). By the time Shabbat was over, they were moldy.  Yuck!

However, thanks to Seree, I have become a little more educated about almonds in Israel and am happy to pass on this information to you. She says:

Usually Israeli almonds are smaller than American almonds, and, if they’re bought IN THE SHELL [the brown dried shell] there’s a better possibility of them not having been treated yet in any way. To the best of my knowledge, you can’t really know for sure if shelled almonds are Israeli or not. Anything shelled in closed packages on a supermarket shelf is absolutely a no-go.

Often in the open air markets you’ll find unshelled almonds at good prices.  Then you can also really see the difference in size between imports and local.  In particular, Arabs growing almonds tend not to want to invest much money in producing them, so they don’t generally treat them with pesticides, etc.  I get mine in Mahaneh Yehuda in Jerusalem, or Shuq Hacarmel in Tel Aviv, but I think any good open air market will have them.

This requires shelling of course…. and here, in Israel, it’s also easy to sun-dry them.  I sun-dry the almonds, after first soaking them, by placing them in one layer on a big oven tray, then slipping the entire tray into a pillowslip so that I can put it outside without worrying that birds, bugs, and flying insects can come in contact with them in any way.

To Your Health!