Coca Cola and Cargill would like to change that so stevia can become the sweetener du jour in processed foods and beverages. Cargill's truvia is currently on shelves in New York as a test run and will soon be available at stores nationwide as a natural alternative to artificial sweeteners (aka splenda and others).

The LA Times has an interesting piece on the safety concerns. It seems the earlier studies are "outdated" and the latest evidence shows little concern for harm. Many countries allow stevia in their products already. I am sure many Americans would prefer something like stevia in processed foods because of aversions to artificial sweeteners or the preference for "natural".

From the LA Times:

The eight studies published in Food and Chemical Toxicology last month went even further. One report showed no reproductive toxicity in rats exposed to the sweetener for two generations, and two human studies showed that 1,000 mg of rebaudioside A per day was safe for healthy adults as well as those with Type 2 diabetes. Rebaudioside A (dubbed Rebiana by Coca-Cola and Cargill) is "safe for human consumption," three of the study authors wrote. They did not report on stevioside.

full text here

So it seems there is scientific support for safety of rebiana, but hold the stevioside for now. If you would like to see the studies yourself, follow this link. Of course, the deal with research is that study results contradict each other for years and that's how real evidence builds. And pesky bias (as unintentional as it may be) exists - especially when researchers want to keep funding coming in. Researchers! Back me up on this...

Please post other links if you can download the studies for free from another website.

The bottom line: it is a personal decision if you want to use splenda or truvia or plain old sugar or honey or agave nectar... or... yada yada. But the bigger picture is always more important. If you are eating mostly healthy, whole foods (fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts, legumes, lean protein foods, and whole grains) then there is little room left for the other stuff that might have rebiana added. Not a real reason to worry. However, if your cereal, bread, yogurt, oatmeal, diet sodas and other beverages, etc. etc. have it and these foods are overpowering the whole, natural foods... shift the focus on changing your overall diet and don't worry about the kind of sweetener. You'll consume less of it because you changed your diet. You'll be better off.

Bacterial growth is inhibited, helping prevent colds, flu and dental problems.

Studies show stevia aids in lowering blood pressure.

Soothes stomach upset and improves digestive function.

Helps prevent tooth decay.

Sugar gets slipped into almost all processed and convenience food and using stevia where possible may help re-balance the conventional western diet of today.

__________

How Sugar Destroys
Human Health
By Dr. Cindy Clayton
8-21-8

Sugar is addictive and is a low grade poison like any other addictive substance.
Refined sugar in particular provides only "empty" calories and lacks natural nutrients which are present at least in some degree in the whole sugar beet or whole sugar cane.
Such sugar is a refined and therefore incomplete carbohydrate. The body cannot utilize refined carbohydrate that has been depleted of all the proteins, vitamins and minerals that make a complete carbohydrate.
Eating sugar is worse than not eating anything because to digest, detoxify and eliminate it, the body tissues must give up precious vitamins and minerals which are vital to cellular health. Deficiencies occur and cells grow weak ­ causing the tissues and organs they compose to become weak and your health to deteriorate.
Additionally, the body's attempt to use incomplete carbohydrate results in the formation of toxic substances such as pyruvic acid and abnormal molecules containing five carbon atoms. Pyruvic acid accumulates in the brain and nervous system causing all manner of problems. The abnormal molecules accumulate in the red blood cells causing a different set of problems.
These toxic substances interfere with the respiration of the body's cells. The cells cannot get sufficient oxygen to survive and to function normally. In time, some of the cells die off and are no longer replaced.
These permanent cell deaths leave missing areas that interfere with the function of parts of the body, its nervous system and organs and this is the beginning of degenerative disease.
Excess sugar of ANY kind swells the liver and is then changed to fatty acids and deposited as fat in areas of the body like belly and thighs etc. and finally in the vital organs which slow down and can't function as they need to and the entire body is then severely effected with deteriorated function and health.
In addition to these destructive effects, sugar of ANY kind makes the blood and body tissues acid which is perfect for the development, survival and breeding of harmful germs and viruses. You need to keep your body tissues and blood alkaline so germs and viruses will not take hold and breed and result in you becoming quite sick. You can't keep your tissue and blood alkaline if you are eating sugar of ANY kind.
Withdrawal from sugar must be done gradually while giving the body large quantities of the substances that sugar steals from body tissues.
The first step to cutting out sugar is to throw away all refined sugar and to refuse to buy any refined sugar - and to replace it with only unrefined organic sugar.
Next, if the foods you are eating and the drinks you are habitually drinking contain sugar then gradually cut down on them and switch to healthy food and drink.
If you drink 4 sodas each day, start by cutting down to 3 each day for a few days and then to 2 each day - then to one and finally don't put this liquid sugar-poison in your body at all. Cut out cookies. the same way.
Man-made artificial, chemical-sweeteners are not safe and are toxic to nerve cells and tissue cells in varying degrees, causing head aches, perception oddities and other physical problems that get worse and more permanent the longer the artificial sweeteners are used ­ so do not switch to those.
The next step in withdrawal from sugar is to gradually replace all sugar with only pure Stevia Leaf Sweetener. Stevia is a totally natural herb with no calories and no adverse effects on the body. (A tiny amount of Stevia is needed or the sweetness is so extreme it tastes a little bitter.)
While withdrawing from sugar and afterwards the doctor or technician may require that you take generous amounts of liquid minerals, potassium tablets and liquid vitamins or other supplements.

Source: http://www.rense.com/general83/hum.htm

Inara loved it. Seriously, she couldn't get enough! What a silly kid!

Personally, I think I still prefer less gardeny tasting beverages, but it was time to get over myself branch out.

My favorite smoothie concoction of late has been my Banana Split Green Smoothie. Here's the recipe:

• two branches of kale
• half to a whole avocado
• milk
• frozen strawberries
• frozen bananas
• powdered kelp
• frozen pineapple chunks
• cocoa powder
• big spoonful of peanut butter

So delicious! I think I'm going to go make one now!

What's your favorite smoothie combination thus far?

that's the color green of my breakfast smoothie today, btw.

El Príncipe de Gales arremete contra los cultivos transgénicos

El Príncipe Carlos de Inglaterra , al menos colabora con sus opiniones y obras , en que la sociedad inglesa conozca los peligros de los Transgénicos y evolucione hacia una alimentación mas sana como fuente de salud.

En cambio nuestro Príncipe de Asturias y para mi vergüenza, Señor de Balaguer, dilapidando nuestro presupuesto y viviendo alegremente la vida .

Seguro que el y su familia no comen transgénicos y les importa un rábano las opiniones de su correligionario , Carlos de Inglaterra.

Me consta que en la cocina de la Casa Real se prefieren alimentos ecológicos.

Que lastima que el resto del Pueblo nos los tengamos que mirar a distancia.

En el enlace adjunto encontraran la entrevista al Pincipe Carlos de Inglaterra concedida al periódico The Daily Telegraph

http://www.finanzas.com/noticias/empresas/2008-08-13/33103_principe-gales-arremete-contra-cultivos.html

A PEPSICO, empresa dona da Pepsi, lança esse mês nos EUA, sua nova bebida zero calorias. A Sobe Life Water. O primeiro refrigerante a conter PureVia em sua formula.

Como é novidade, deixa eu explicar:
O PureVia é um novo adoçante, que também será lançado neste mês, criado pela Whole Earth Sweetener Company, a base de Stevia, uma planta que cresce em algumas partes aqui da America do Sul, incluíndo nossa terra-que-tem-palmeiras-onde-canta-o-sabiá.

A Stevia é particularmente conhecida por seus componentes doces, entre eles o utilizado para a fabricação do PureVia, que é mais de 200 vezes mais doce e menos calórico do que o açúcar.

Nascido de uma parceria entre a Pepsico e Whole Earth Sweetener Company, a Sobe Life Water se apresentará em diversos sabores: tropical-romã, laranja-tangerina, morango-kiwi e outros.

Veja abaixo alguns dos muitos vídeos desenvolvidos para a bebida. Entre eles, os do SuperBowl XLII.

I have a very strong and unrelenting sweet tooth, and sweets of any kind were the biggest problem I had in actually reducing to and maintaining my desired goal weight. If I had a glass of iced tea and used sugar to sweeten with, it would take 10 teaspoons full to get it right. I had no will power when it came to eating cookies, candy, cake, pie, pudding, etc. It was nothing for me to sit down with a bag of Pecan Sandies and eat the whole bag without even thinking about it until there wasn't any more. That's how bad I was and that posed my biggest problem, so I resorted to sweeteners years ago. I quit using saccharin when it was found to be harmful, quit using Sweet-n-Low when I found out it had saccharin in it, quit using Nutra-Sweet when I found out it had very harmful chemicals in it, and then came along Splenda. Splenda - a product made from the sugar itself. How could that be bad for you? WOW! it seems that Splenda is every bit as bad as all the others, maybe even worse. Dr. James Bowen, who suffered from the poisoning of aspartame which is Nutra-Sweet also found himself at the mercy of Splenda and his research revealed - well, let me quote a little bit from his article on Splenda:

"........Splenda/sucralose is simply chlorinated sugar; a chlorocarbon. Common chlorocarbons include carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethelene and methylene chloride, all deadly. Chlorine is nature's Doberman attack dog, a highly excitable, ferocious atomic element employed as a biocide in bleach, disinfectants, insecticide, WWI poison gas and hydrochloric acid.

"Sucralose is a molecule of sugar chemically manipulated to surrender three hydroxyl groups (hydrogen + oxygen) and replace them with three chlorine atoms. Natural sugar is a hydrocarbon built around 12 carbon atoms. When turned into Splenda it becomes a chlorocarbon, in the family of Chlorodane, Lindane and DDT....."

Now what? What is a person to do when all the artificial sweeteners seem to be so unhealthy - keep using them? Well, that is what I did, because I thought that it was probably better than the sugar and I was wrong. However, during this time period, I learned how to control my cravings and listen to my body and quit eating when I was satisfied. I could walk away from a dessert without even finishing it, and I could stop at two cookies and not eat the whole bag, and I could therefore rationalize that because I was eating so little sweet stuff, a few chemicals wouldn't bother me, and besides, I was having no adverse effects.

When Stevia was brought to my attention as a safe, natural, non chemical herb that you could use to sweeten foods, I started using it. It was good and took so little to actually sweeten anything. I did find that if I used too much, it would cause a bitter taste and that the powder was not as easily dissolved as the liquid. But a few drops of the liquid in any beverage or food was just enough to give me the sweetness I desired. For some reason, the FDA will not allow Stevia to be called a "sweetener", but has to be considered an herb or food supplement and cannot be sold commercially as a sweetener. For more information on Stevia, just "google" it in and you can learn all about it. It definitely has solved my problem of "How do I sweeten my drinks and food without harmful effects such as toxicity or becoming overweight" If you haven't tried Stevia yet, you can find it in any health food store and I would recommend getting the liquid for beverages, but the powder is great for baking.

Think Thin Thoughts

Adinear

Coca-Cola last year announced a partnership with US conglomerate Cargill to create a stevia-based product called Truvia, but PepsiCo has beaten its rival to market with its version, PureVia.

Both are hoping to capitalise on growing concern over food additives, preservatives, and artificial sweeteners often found in diet drinks, such as aspartame.

http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/836688/Coke-Pepsi-race-market-herbal-sugar/

I did not start on Saturday, we had an event to attend and decided to make it the last day to eat up some last bit of fruit lying around. Oh, and there was this piece of cheesecake, Margarita's yeah they were invited too. I have a lingering feeling there was more, but to read it might be torture. My Sunday weigh in was 218.6 which is going to be my official SBD starting weight. This is two pounds more than the start of the fitness plan 7 weeks ago. Well, have no fear, this was mostly due to poor eating from the knowledge we were slapping on the cuffs over the weekend. And, my weigh in this morning was 216.6, so apparently it wasn't that much badness. I think I will hit 210 before the end of week 1, just based on how quickly it went last time I started the SBD. I was initially concerned the working out would keep the weight up. It certainly has lately every day I work out hard I seem to weigh slightly more the next morning and then following the rest day go back to where I was. So I worked out about as hard as I have yet yesterday and still got the giant weight loss boost with the SBD so now I am thinking it is going to drop off faster not slower with the working out. My only concern left is how tired this is going to make me. We shall see.

Swimming

We did not do all the exercise on Saturday, so I just did the 600 yards swimming. We got there late and had that event to attend. I seriously worked out good yesterday to make up for missing on Sunday. I did 800 yards swimming, 12 laps in groups of 4 and 20 in groups of 2. I was swimming each pair of laps in 1 minute and then resting between. I tried various techniques and watched how other people were swimming. There was this girl, on some swim team, that was practicing. She was changing her breathing patterns instead of 3-3-3-3 like anyplace that talks about it says you should do, she was tossing in a 2 here and there, and the longer the swimming got the more twos. So This is my first evidence that I am not just some sort of a aberration and this breathing thing might get to others as well. I was able to do the groups of four only because I tried to breath on the same side more. I get real tired and was even having trouble switching back to the other side so it was 3-2-2-3-2-2-2 which is just about enough to get from one end of the pool to the other. It takes more concentration on the arm pulls to make sure that the breathing doesn't screw them up and waste energy. I count between 19 and 21 pulls for each length and am pushing off underwater to right where the flags sit for the backstroke warning that the wall is coming. I think I will start adding some groups of 6 in next time and breath as often as I need. I need to average 30-33-36-39-42-or 45 seconds a lap to get 10-15 minutes time for 500 yards. I am swimming almost all of my laps at 25-30 seconds, but then I need rest. If I breath more but swim slower I might be able to get myself to slow down to say 39 or 42 seconds and then not need to rest. The most efficient way to do the exercise is to use a steady pace, so with the race in less than 3 weeks now I had better start practicing this. It sure seems like dropping the time from 42 to 39 wouldn't be a big deal but that drops you from 13 to 12 minutes over the 500 yards, so it is.  

Elliptical

I did 45 minutes on the elliptical and hit 3.5 miles at 41:40. I was doing the interval where the cross-ramp would raise itself up instead of the resistance getting harder. The whole time the resistance was on 8. So these miles were not just standard miles comparable to a flat run. These miles are just under 13 minutes, but then it is on the elliptical machine so who knows how this relates. I am planning on going out to a trail and marking off 1.75 miles with my bike then doing it to see how running on the street compares to all this practicing on the treadmill and elliptical trainer. I seriously hope it is going to be easier. I have always been using the treadmill with a slope and the elliptical at a high resistance so that it would be. I will be bummed out if I failed to make it hard enough to simulate the street.

Weights

So After 600 yards Saturday and 800 yards of swimming Sunday and 4.25 miles on the elliptical after the cool down period was added, what is a guy to do? Jump right into the weights of course. This was, as you might imagine, brutal. I did the leg exercises, and felt the pain in my arms from all the swimming the last two days and figured I would let them off the hook. The whole workout Sunday was just around 1100 calories. 400-660-100 for the swimming-elliptical-weights. If I skipped the weights and added a bike ride, and reduced the swimming distance I would be doing the triathlon and burning about 1650 calories, 250-800-600. I am to the point where I can do the whole thing without some gargantuan effort. I can do each exercise to the length of the race or more and have energy left to do more. The hardest part will be running right after getting off the bike. I think I will do that soon just to see how bad it really is.

Stevia

I did not sweeten the tea correctly cause it tasted like diet tea with the steviva powder. At first I thought it was the stevia, but I rememebr having trouble in the begining when making up the recipe. Chai tea has so many spices you absolutely have to sweeten it enough or it tastes terrible. When I finally realized I had the recipe down except for enough sugar it seemed like I was adding too much. I would never add 3 teaspoons of sugar to a cup of coffee so it seemed like too much. I tried the Zevia soft drink and am not happy with the taste of the cola, the orange is better but still. I made oatmeal, with the steel cut oats one day and it sucked as well. I did try another shot at the oatmeal and chai tea with and managed to make it taste better so I should be able to figure it out once I get another couple of cracks at it. I did not try it for any baking yet and now can't for a couple of weeks until I get to phase 2.

Overall it is very sweet and does not have all that much aftertaste but enough to tell that it is not sugar. I tried it the first day when I got back from my bike ride. I was opening the package and dug out the teeny tiny spoon to measure servings. I got powder all over and decided to taste it straight. It was intensely sweet and had an aftertaste in a large portion. You know how your lips get that filmy sticky layer on them when you work out hard and start to dehydrate, well that is how I was when I tasted the stevia and the power got all over my lips. Over the next couple hours I kept getting a sweet taste when I licked my lips. It was like a sweet ghost was visiting me cause all of a sudden sweetness BAM for no reason. It was kind of cool. It was such a small amount there was no aftertaste. This leads me to believe that some company will be adding stevia to their lip balm soon. That will be good stuff.

So don't take my complaining of an aftertaste too strongly. I can't say that I have tried it recently but taking a spoonful of granulated sugar and popping it in my mouth would probably result in me complaining in one way or another too. It is just a detectable difference, nothing to get too excited about. I can also taste a difference in brown sugar. I will keep reporting when I find a useful way to use the stuff.

Wie vertragen sich Veganismus und Festivalbesuche?

Ich bin eigentlich ein großer Freund des Auswärts-irgendwo-irgendwas-essens. Mit meinem veganen Selbstversuch hat sich das natürlich erstmal erledigt. Zum Juicy Beats 13 in Dortmund wollte ich trotzdem unbedingt (namentlich ja sogar für Frutarier geeignet ;)). Wermutstropfen: Nahrungsmittel in weiser Voraussicht besser mitnehmen. Wer weiß schon mit absoluter Sicherheit, ob Fritten vegan sind?

Aber Überraschung: Vor der Himbeer-Bühne treffe ich auf einen Stand mit Kartoffelpfanne, Kichererbsen, Couscous und Teigtaschen. Gefragt, gekauft: "Ei oder Milch?" - "Nee, außer den Teigtaschen hier ist das alles vegan." Woohoo! Außer der Kartoffelpfanne waren die Preise wie bei den anderen Ständen, und lecker war's. Leider gab's kein Namensschildchen oder so, daher kein Link zum Anbieter.

Auch auf Festivals, fernab von Supermarkt, Reformhaus oder gefülltem Hauskühlschrank kann man also vegan ziemlich gut überleben. Alkoholfrei war Dank massiven Idiotenandrangs etwas schwieriger.

Frage des Tages: Ob Bahnfahren wohl vegan ist?

Tag 3.

Sonntag ist Frühstückstag mit meinem Freund, dem ultimativen Allergiker (Fisch, Nüsse (nicht Mandeln!), Soja, ungekochtes (nicht gegartes!) Steinobst, Nussfrüchte (z.B. Erdbeeren, Lychee), Äpfel, Hülsenfrüchte, Weintrauben, Rotwein (nicht Weißwein!) ... ich glaube, das waren alle.) Allergiker & Testveganerin beim Frühstück - bleibt da noch was an Schnittmenge?

Ich löffel meinen Yofu mit Leinsamen und esse Brot mit Erdnussbutter - Yofu ist übrigens weitaus leckerer, als ich mir das vorgestellt hatte. Mein Freund isst lecker Oliven (iih), Brot mit Margarine und Marmelade. Tee schmeckt ja generell auch ungesüßt oder mit Stevia-Tabs, yummy yummy. Aber mein Grüntee Zitrone mit Honig fehlt mir dennoch, und meinen Soya Macchiato muss ich leider allein trinken ... Klappt also ganz gut, aber an gemeinsamen Futtermöglichkeiten bleibt außer Brot, Obst und Gemüse nicht mehr viel.

Und sonst?

Außerdem muss ich mich mal daran machen, meine kosmetischen Produkte weiter zu begutachten ... Meine bisherige Lieblingscreme (erhältlich leider nur über Connections in Ohrid, Mazedonien) ist leider auf Honigbasis und damit unvegan wie nur was. Weitere Inhaltsstoffe kann ich nicht beurteilen, weil die erstens klitzeklein gedruckt sind und ich zweites kein Mazedonisch spreche. Dennoch immerhin tierversuchsfrei, weil Genehmigungen und gesetzliche Auflagen zur Verträglichkeit in Mazedonien niemanden kümmern. Immerhin habe ich auf der Positivliste des Deutschen Tierschutzbundes einen Laden in Köln gefunden - natürlich im Bildungsbürgerviertel am anderen Ende der Stadt, aber gut. Den werde ich mir die Tage mal ansehen. Vorher muss ich aber unbedingt mal den dm um die Ecke auskundschaften. Kann doch nicht sein, dass man im normalen Drogeriemarkt kein veganes oder wenigstens tierversuchsfreies Zeug bekommt.

Marijuana is allegedly a gateway drug.  And of course, people who abuse drugs are sometimes desperate souls who will do anything, even commit murder, to get their next high.  So smoking pot, even recreationally** is treated as a serious crime requiring probation, incarceration and intensive treatment.

Actually I do understand why and its pretty messed up.  Thanks to the food industry and pressure on the government from mega corporations like Archer Daniels Midland and Coca-Cola, foreign sugar has high tariffs slapped on it when its imported for straight sale on the grocery shelf or added to all the processed food/junk we eat here.

Americans pay over twice as much for sugar as other countries because of these tariffs.  HFCS has also come to be loved by corporations because its easier to move around.

Here is the part I really don't get: why is High Fructose Corn Syrup in some products at all. For instance, the chicken from the other night- I used bread crumbs from a cannister.  Didn't even occur to me to check for HFCS. But there it was, along with corn syrup and sugar.  Come on! Its bread crumbs for pete's sake!  Today, I dumped them out and bought some Panko crumbs.  They do still have "less than 2% of the the following: sugar, ...." but no HFCS.  Next time I need regular bread crumbs, I'll just make them- lightly toast (or let it dry out for a few hours) a couple slices of bread, tear in to pieces and whirl around in the blender or food processer to desired consistency.  And yes, I do make sure my bread is free of HFCS.

High Fructose Corn Syrup has been linked, by numerous studies, to the increase in obesity in this country.  And this country is getting fatter and more unhealthy all the time.  Of course we should exercise more and probably eat less in general.  But what to do about this insidious addiction?  Because studies are showing that even the use of artificial sugar substitutes does nothing to stop your body's craving for sweeter and sweetest.  In fact it can make things worse!  And if you are now putting HFCS in everything, even not sweet foods what does that do to our inherent sweet tooth?  You needed that sweet-loving sensitivity back in caveman days when sweet tasting plants were probably safer to eat than bitter or hot ones. But now?

Vernors was originally sweetened with stevia from 1866 to 1991. Then the FDA banned stevia in 1991 and the company replaced stevia in their drinks with HFCS.  I'm not a huge Vernors fan unless I have a stomach ache but this really saddens me. Vernors is the oldest soft drink in America and it was invented right here in Michigan!  If you aren't familiar: Vernors is ginger ale.

I didn't know stevia had been banned, since I recently bought some.  Apparently it must be marketed as a dietary supplement. Odd that I found it in the baking aisle, hmm.  It seems there was an anonymous complaint made to the FDA in 1991 and they tagged the product as an "unsafe food additive."  Despite numerous requests the FDA has never divulged the source of the complaint.
Especially interesting is the fact that Coca-Cola and Cargill have worked together on a stevia-derived sugar substitute and are in the process of getting FDA approval for that (as of 2007).   This patented chemically-derived substitute could be seen in your supermarket soon, filling your sodas and your twinkies and your breadcrumbs (probably).

But Stevia, the all-natural, naturally occuring (i.e. no patent necessary), grown and used for centuries in South America without ill effect, found to be not harmful by a massive World Health Organization comparative study, might actually improve insulin resistance and reduce the risk of diabetes stevia?   Oh that is still banned in food.

I should probably point out that I'm on page 3 (yes, page three) of Food Politics by Marion Nestle and I'm already pissed off.  Its going to be a fun week reading this one, while also reading about defamation to help my law-school boy.  When I'm done, I should pretty much know exactly what I can and can't say on this blog!

**um, something I don't actually do- smoking in general just brings back some bad childhood memories no matter what leafy substance we are talking about.

The tall one on the left is Stevia rebaudiana, a great alternative sweetener. The golden colored leaves in the back right is Oregano (Origanum aureum). On the right side (a little hard to spot without clicking through to a larger image) is Dill (Anethum graveolens). In the front is Italian Parsley (Petroselinum crispum). And finally, in the front left is Curry (Helichrysum italicum). The local nursery that I purchased these from had a great selection of herbs and it was difficult to narrow my choice down to these five.

Each one has unique foliage. The Stevia has fuzzy, slightly serrated, oval leaves. The Oregano has small golden smooth (but not glossy) leaves that, due to their color, are very striking. The Dill is dark green and has finely divided foliage like Fennel (which, curiously enough, is only related through the Apiaceae family, not by genus). The Italian Parsley (also called Flat-leaf Parsley) has larger dark-green shiny leaves. The Curry plant is very different with tiny, whitish, leaves. It’s got the shape of Rosemary (only miniature) and skin that’s somewhere between Lavender and Dusty Miller. Here it is up close.

Although the leaves do smell like curry, Helichrysum italicum is not not used to season curries.

Here’s a close up of the Oregano.

I’ll confess that I haven’t put this plant to much culinary use but the foliage sure brightens up this container.

I also haven’t used the Stevia much yet (although we do use several Stevia products in our household). I have confirmed on several occasions thought that the leaves are in fact very sweet tasting. Here’s a shot of the Stevia up close.

In the vegetable garden there's a bed with a well-established clump of Fennel. Our son, who will eat any vegetable as long as it is picked and eaten in the garden, frequently grabs a handful to snack on. Because of it's height and dark color it helps provide some nice structure in the veggie patch. Here's a photo of what it's up to now.

For some reason nothing seems to grow very well in the bed with the Fennel except for a large clump of Sage (I'm pretty sure it's Salvia officinalis). I would be quite happy with it even if it never flowered because the foliage is quite handsome.

Other plants in our Southern Oregon garden that would normally be classified as herbs include Lavender, Rosemary, Thyme, Basil, and some self-sown Feverfew (at least I think that's what it is).

What herbs do you grow in your garden? Which one is your favorite?

Over the weekend I got a new best time again for the 500 and 100 yards of swimming, 14:37 and 1:55. So for those keeping track this is only 3 seconds and 6 seconds better, respectively, but this was after I did my toughest workout yet. I do the swimming last out of convenience, which just has to be dropping my times a bit. I burned 405 calories in 30 minutes on the adaptive motion precor, then did my weights. This adaptive motion thing, if you haven't seen it, is very strange looking. It reminds me of one of those machines you strap into and then start walking around looking a tad robotish. But the ones from the movies that are big enough to pick up cars and stuff (yeah that is right the science fiction ones). So, it is like an elliptical, but your stride length is variable, you can go all out strides or you can do like you are climbing up stairs. I felt like I had a little too much weight on the front of my feet and one foot even started to get numb so I don't think I will be using it much, I try and get a fast stride and the best I could do was about 110 per minute. With the eliptical I can push it and get to 140 and holding at 120 is about the same as 100 on the adaptive motion thing as far as percieved effort is concerned. I find these machines very easy to work out hard and keep the heart rate up. So it will help me with the cardio improvements I am looking for, but obviously I will need to incorporate some real treadmill and pavement if I am going to get practice for the triathlon.

South Beach Diet

I have it set now. I will commit. (You thought I never would didn't you?) I will be going on the SBD phase 1 this Saturday for 1 week for sure and if I don't get too tired then will extend it to 2 weeks. Once finished with phase 1 then I will move to phase 2, then I will stay on the SBD phase 2 until my triathlon. So I am commiting to 3 weeks at this point in time. I hope to get some weight off to make the triathlon a bit easier. I have no idea how much I will lose while working out at the same time. I would imagine that it won't be quite as fast as before only because it was probably water and muscle before. This is the real SBD test with workouts as far as I am concerned.

Stevia Update

So I got an email from Sweetleaf back that answered some of my questions. So I will share that. See my post and the comments I added if you are not familiar with what I am refering to. Sweetleaf stevia is not a crude extract, although it seems as though it would vary some by plant quality. This is what they told me:

Our new sweetener product is called SweetLeaf Sweetener and is 98-99% pure sweet glycosides, of which 40.5% to 70% are rebaudioside A. There are many different sweet glycosides and even various rebaudiosides; “Reb A” tends to be the sweetest in the context of the other glycosides in its natural state. Our processing also includes the removal of the leaf elements that give bitterness, which allows the fresh sweet taste of the glycosides, including Reb A, to come through more purely and vibrantly.

Our Sweetener extract is produced very differently from our dietary supplement, although the dietary supplement has been a fine product and the stevia leader in the marketplace. In the sweetener, only purified water touches the stevia leaves in extraction. Our new Sweetener has achieved the GRAS(Generally Recognized as Safe) designation by adhering to the highest standards set forth for safety and purity in plant constituents and processing for stevia by all scientific monitoring bodies worldwide. Ours is the first and to date only GRAS stevia sweetener. There is no aftertaste; there is only a sweet, enjoyable taste. We do not need to add any ingredient to the extract to make it taste better. We do add a pro-biotic natural soluble fiber to the packets as a carrier to make it easier to use. People tend to use too much with the pure extract. And the fiber is good for you, too.

Cargill/Coca-Cola product, Truvia, as well as Sweatleaf is GRAS by the FDA now. Generally recognized as Safe (GRAS) means they can sell it as a sweetener, put it in drinks, whatever they want. So we are going to see a lot of it in the coming months. It will take a few months to get people to notice this new sweetener is available as an alternative though. It is still not in my neck of the woods on the shelves.

So the one item now that I am greatly interested in is the bulking up agent they use to make it easier to use and measure. Truvia is using erythritol, while sweatleaf is using a pro-biotic natural soluable fiber. Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that does not have the same side effects of other sugar alcohols that cause trouble in the large intestines because it is absorbed before it gets there. Here is an excerpt from an abstract:

Erythritol administered orally to humans was rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and quantitatively excreted in the urine without undergoing metabolic change. At high oral doses, urinary excretion accounted for approximately 90% of the administered dose with minimal amounts appearing in the faeces. A comparison of the human and animal data indicated a high degree of similarity in the metabolism of erythritol and this finding supports the use of the animal species used to evaluate the safety of erythritol for human consumption. It can be concluded, based on the available studies that erythritol did not produce evidence of toxicity. 

Erythritol is a sweetener itself, it is just less sweet than sugar. The combination of a sweetener that is not as strong as sugar makes some sense as a bulking agent as long as the alcohol sugar does not cause trouble. 

The pro-biotic soluable fiber that sweetleaf uses sounds like a good idea to me. It is soluable so it will disolve into drinks, and this is the same type of fiber that people buy on it's own and take as a health benefit, so it seems to make good sense to add it to a product that is trying to be a healthy sweetener.

I will reserve any further comments on which one is better until I have the ability to taste some of this stuff. I ordered a trick HD video camera and this stevia last week, so if the UPS guy drives by my house not leaving me anything and I see him, he may get attacked. I am seriously jonesing for these things to show up.

Yeah right? Would that be your response?

OK first let's define artificial sweetener as not being sugar or fructose. That is something that gets that taste bud to fire off with way fewer calories if not zero, this can still be a natural compound found in nature. The trick of artificial sweeteners is when you hear about how many time sweeter the stuff is than sugar. The press acts like it is a magical quality, but it just means you need that much less of the product to fire off the those persnickety taste buds. The way that "artificial sweeteners" work is that they do one of two things during digestion, first they are not digestable so they pass through the body hence zero calories, or second there is such a small amount that the caloric intake total is small.

As an example, Aspartame is 200 time sweeter than sugar which is of the second variety because it is digested. There is so little needed that they beef up the packet with: dextrose with maltodextrine, so you can actually see what you are using. Try measuring out 1/200th of a teaspoon for your coffee and see if you don't agree that bulking it up is a good idea. So now, I was a little leary about my previous revalation that Aspartame actually broke down to methanol, that is wood alcohol used for drag racing fuel and is poisoness. But now I am confident in what I found. Right here on the equal websiteit tells you that it breaks down to methanol. They of course try and cover up the fact it is a big deal by saying it is naturally found in meats and fruits, but I have a sneaking suspicion that you would have to eat something like 42 steaks to get the same amount from 3 cans of soda. I will search for that at some point, but sadly, not right now. Because this post is about Stevia (You had no idea did you).

What is Stevia? It is a genus of plants, someone said related to the daisy family, and there are about 150 such plants in the genus. But we are interested in one in particular. It is a bush that grows native in South America called Stevia Rebaudiana. It has been used in yerba mate drinks and medicinal drinks for centuries by the native people in Pauraguay and Brazil. The leaves when used as a sweetener are 30-45 times sweeter than sugar. Some scientists decided to study it and found that there are two glycosides that are causing the sweetness. They were named stevioside and rebaudioside.

For those of us that don't know what the heck a glycoside is, it is a compound that is made up of a sugar molecule and another part. The purpose in nature is to store that other part (some chemical that performs a specific task) until needed later. The sugar and it hold on tight to each other and the chemical, when needed for its job, is released by introducing it to an enzyme which breaks off the sugar part and lets the chemical do its thing. This is natures way of saying, ok this chemical here might do some bad things to part of the body/plant/whatever so lets make sure it is locked up where it can do no harm until we get it where we need it. The nice thing about them is that we don't have the enzyme that breaks it apart so we don't digest it and the chemical remains locked up along with the sugar, but lucky us the molecule fires off those sweet taste buds like nobodies business. When setvioside is extracted it has 300 times the sweetness of sugar. So it needs to be bulked up so it is easy to measure. There are two companies, Coca-cola and Cargill, that have an FDA application in to get this stuff approved. They will brand it as Rebiana and call it Truvia and hope to have it available in 2009, they even set up a website for it . So as for the name to compare to something meaningful here are the equivalents:

Nutrasweet / Equal / Aspartame
~
Rebiana / Truvia / rebaudioside A

Now the thing about this stuff is that they are claiming that rebaudioside A is the best tasting component of the stevia plant. There are many other companies that are selling stevioside or crude extracts as a dietary supplement. The Crude extracts from the plant apparently have a medicinal taste and this will be sold and called "stevia plant extract" or something to that effect. The pure stevioside is available when it is refined and not sold as the crude form, and it can also be found bulked up with other things like soluable fiber for example. According to Coca-Cola even the pure stevioside is not the best tasting though they have something to sell me. Other's selling the stevia describe it's sweetening as something that is slower to come on but lasts longer, to me that tells you something is up. I wouldn't think you have to describe sweet to anyone so I am a bit leary of taste here. So the main issue with stevia is going to be to come up with good tasting version, maybe certain extracts will do the trick, like Coca-Cola is doing, or maybe it will only work as they add their own little bit of flavor. I will be trying some and will update once I do.

Here is what I bought for $36 with shipping to try it out:
Item: 101 - Steviva 1.3 OZ. WT. in 8.0 OZ Bottle / Quantity: 1
Item: 102 - Steviva Blend 1 lb. Bag / Quantity: 1

Now for the fun part. Government regulation is always fun. You can buy it as a dietary supplement and it is legal to do so in the US (I just did it so it better be legal). The reason being that it is natural like many of the herbs and plants so can legally buy and sell this one is no different, it just can't be labeled as a sweetener. You can even grow your own plants and use the leaves or other extractions yourself. Now the fun part I was talking about is there are many countries where it is being used already. Japan has been using it for 30 years. It's what they use in their diet Coke right now. That's right 30 years. In fact, Coca-Cola when they announced their own version of sweetener they are trying to get approved by the FDA, said they are developing their own drinks to use it and sell them in the 12 countries that already allow it to be used as a sweetener. If it is in their Diet coke in Japan already I would say it is going well.

Once approved I think we are going to see this stuff everywhere. It is already being exported from China and you know they can ramp up production for the US in just 1 year if that, so we come online and there is already a lot out there available it should hit the markets fast.

Now for a little more science, here is the report from the European Commission. The crude extract of the plant contains 8 diterpene glycosides:

stevioside,
steviolbioside,
rebaudiosides (A,B,C,D,E) and
dulcoside A

Because of their amounts found in the plant and their high multiples of sweetness as compared to sugar, only stevioside and rebaudioside A are considered to give the sweet taste when a crude extract is tasted. The problem is that different studies are being done, so although there is a lot of testing going on many times it is only part of the plant. Either a crude extract is studied or the two important parts stevioside and rebaudioside A are tested alone.

So what is a diterpene?  Diterpenes are a specific type of terpene that are composed of 4 isoprene units, anything that is made of isoprene units ( C5H8 ) is a terpene. C20H32 would be part of the chemical symbol for a diterpene. Terpenes are very common in the world and are parts of most all plants and animals. For example, Vitamin A is a diterpene. Terpenes are commonly found to be the key part of essential oils as well. So the stuff is common (even though all the chemical sounding names might seem scary) and we just need to find out if it is safe for humans to consume. I could not find a study that has not been overturned with further studies to show that it is unsafe. So although that doesn't mean it is safe for sure, the early signal is in that this stuff is going to be the holy grail of the artificial sweetener world. And by early I mean, yeah Japan has been using it for 30 years and people in Paraguay and Brazil for hundreds of years. If there were a long term problem associated with it's use we should be hearing about it in Japan any day now.

Like I said I will report what I find with the stevioside I just bought. I expect that is will have a bitter slightly bitter aftertase, although not like I might find in a crude extract which I did not buy and have not tried. I am excited to be able to drink my low-cal chai tea once again...

Buenas noticias para los diabéticos , la STEVIA legalizada

Hace unos días la JEFCA , organismo dependiente de la OMS y la FAO ha autorizado definitivamente para todo el mundo el consumo de Stevia como alimento seguro http://www.abc.com.py/articulos.php?fec=2008-07-04&pid=429981

Lo triste del caso es que Coca Cola Y Cargill que hace un año habían patentado su uso para 24 aplicaciones alimentarías van ha hacerse con el mercado mundial de los edulcorantes con un producto de Stevia sin ninguna propiedad medicinal para la diabetes y otras enfermedades. Parece ser que durante unos años han estado investigando para modificar genéticamente la planta de Stevia, para que solo produzca uno de los dos azúcares , el Rebaudiósido , en vez de producir Steviósido que es el azúcar que comporta regulación de los niveles de glucosa en los diabéticos , entre otras propiedades para otras enfermedades.
Si esto se acaba confirmando nos dará idea de la maldad de estas empresas que solo piensan en patentar , lo que hasta hace poco combatían y encima modifican el producto para que la Mafia Farmacéutica pueda seguir rentabilizando al máximo las insulinas transgénicas y otros medicamentos .Esto nos da una idea de los grandes intereses convergentes de todas estas grandes empresas.
En Estados Unidos al menos, ya a partir de ahora va a ser legal el consumo de la Stevia en todas las formas , dando eso si, ventaja a esos dos monstruos económicos ( Coca Cola y Cargill) al permitirles lanzar su producto casi antes de que la FDA ( Agencia de Seguridad Alimentaría Americana anunciara su uso masivo como aditivo alimentario.

Mas crudo lo tenemos en Europa , donde las presiones de la industria Farmacéutica sobre la EFSA ( Agencia de Seguridad Alimentaría Europea ) son muy fuertes y no creo que ha corto plazo legalice su uso a pesar de que la OMS Y la FAO ya lo hayan hecho.

Como siempre tendrá que ser la Sociedad desde abajo que empuje a nuestras influenciables administraciones , denunciando a la clase política corrupta que permite estas actuaciones mafiosas.
En este sentido recomiendo la lectura de las declaraciones de Richard J. Roberts en la Vanguardia donde denuncia estas prácticas mafiosas de muchas industrias farmacéuticas.
http://joseppamies.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/el-farmaco-que-cura-del-todo-no-es-rentable/

Do you want to run an extra 15 miles this week?  OK, maybe if you are on this site you are a Tri junky and you wouldn’t mind, but that is a lot of extra, useless calories you don’t need to worry about.  So, you know where I am going with this don’t you?  Stop eating the sugar, it’s not worth it. 

So, what if you are still hooked on your morning coffee as I am, and can’t stand the taste without some kind of sweetener?  No it’s not the chemical laden, lab created options that are out there.  It’s a simple product called “stevia”.  This is a natural plant derivative that has been used for years in Japan, and that originated in South America.  It is safe for diabetics, (LINK) it has about 10 calories per pound, so it is almost zero calories in the small amounts used, since its 10 times more potent than sugar, however, it is the one product that scares the hell out of the sweetener industry! 

The FDA has claimed there are no long term studies to prove Stevia is safe for you, even though its use dates back to 1899 when Dr. Moises Santiago, Director of the College of Agriculture in Asunsion, Paraguay was the first to extract the sweetener from its plant form, and its history can be traced back to the Guarani Indians who inhabited what is now Paraguay.  By the 1800’s Stevia was widely used in Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay as a sweetener.  Currently it is the most used non-sugar sweeter used in Japan and it is widely used through out Asia.  But in 1995 the FDA in the US would only allow Stevia to be market as a dietary supplement, and will not allow it to be labeled as a food “additive”.

So, where can you find it?  Most health food stores and vitamin stores have it. But I have found it at several of my local grocery stores.  It comes in packets, spoon able or even liquid forms.  What can you do with it?  My first use was to replace the two or three spoons of sugar I heaped into my coffee each morning.  But beware, I use about a quarter teaspoon in a cup of coffee.  But Stevia can be used for baking, and cooking just as sugar.

Want to run an extra 15 miles this week or do you want to try something new?  I leave it up to you.

Check out this video on sugar substitutes from nutritionaustin.com

Coca-Cola gaat over op natuurlijke zoetstoffen

Coca-Cola vervangt de kunstmatige zoetstoffen in zijn suikervrije producten door een natuurlijke zoetstof. Het gaat om een stof afkomstig uit de stevia-plant, die in Europa verboden is.

De zoetstof die Coca-Cola nu gaat gebruiken, is afkomstig van de stevia-plant. De stevia komt in het wild voor in het hoogland tussen Brazilië en Paraguay. De plant wordt daar door de oorspronkelijke bewoners al eeuwenlang gebruikt als onder meer zoetmiddel voor thee. In Japan wordt steviaconcentraat al gebruikt als zoetstof voor frisdranken. In Europa en de Verenigde Staten is toepassing van stevia in geconcentreerde vorm in levensmiddelen echter niet toegestaan. Het zou slecht voor de gezondheid zijn.

Coca-Cola heeft er vertrouwen in dat het verbod in Europa en Amerika niet lang meer standhoudt. Met behulp van 'stevige wetenschappelijke dossiers' kan het bedrijf aantonen dat het gebruik van de stevia-plant een verrijking van de markt en een veilig en hoogstaand product is.

bron: trouw