LEMONade...

I will be the first to admit that I did not get my first class ticket aboard the healthy eating train when I had several invites to do so. Me? Give up my five cheese homemade mac and cheese, golden fried fish, and perfectly seasoned collards with smoked turkey? Trade in smothered turkey wings, gravy and rice, and cabbage with smoked meat? Let go of pizza? Hold back on the bbq ribs, grilled hot dogs, grilled cheese burgers, baked beans, and potato salad at cook outs? Insert record scratch. ARE YOU CRAZY?

Well, what has become crazy is too many visits to the doctor's office, $10,000 medical bills, extended stays at the not so Holiday Inn hospital with needles stuck in your arm. Fortunately for me, I have insurance to cover most of my medical expenses, but I couldn't help but think about those who lack the luxury. So, this and every post is not to berate you for your food choices, but to inform you about ways to save a few dollars and unncessary trips to a physician's office. I want to keep you from paying a $20 to $40 co-pay for them to tell what you already know, "Cut back on this or that."

 

If you've been following along the campaign since January, thank you so very much. If you're new to the campaign, welcome. If you don't want to hear it, I love you just the same, but please pass this along to anyone who is ready to take this ride. This blog will be updated as we journey along this campaign train to better health. Here we go...

 

Train Stop #1: Lemonade Snob Avenue (May 27, 2013)

 

"If life gives you kindey stones, make lemonade." Daniel J. DeNoon gives us this play on an old adage in his WebMD article regarding kidney stone health (http://www.webmd.com/kidney-stones/news/20060524/lemonade-helps-kidney-stones?page=2). Imagine my surprise when my urologist, Dr. K, suggested that I drink plenty of water and lemonade as a prescription to help reduce kidney stones. Uh...Okay. DeNoon calls it lemonade therapy. No problem from this gal. In the past, I was big on consuming convenient foods and beverages. Now they are in my In Case of Emergency (ICE) files. An emergency includes one of the following: 1. It's late, and I didn't take out meat to cook. 2. Uh oh! I forgot my lunch today. 3. I lost my will to cook two exits before the day ended...I just can't today. However, when it comes to lemonade, I really crave the ingredients of its names. LEMONade. Anything else is unacceptable.

 

Ingredients for Y's homemade lemonade: 6 lemons, 32 oz. water, and one and one-fourth cups of sugar or to taste (don't make syrup...chill a little).
 

Ingredients in store bought lemonade (the name is kept anonymous...just pick a brand, it likely has the same ingredients): purified water, sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), lemon juice from concentrate, lemon pulp, and natural flavors.

 

Scroll up to see my first ingredient. Count to see how far down the line the list of ingredients in the store bought brand before you see the word lemon. In addition to high levels of salt, too much fructose can encourage the formation of kidney stones.

 

There is a commercial created by www.sweetsurprise.com that supports of the use of high fructose corn syrup. The claim presents an argument that "like sugar it's fine in moderation." A Dr. R. Rutledge (this is just attribution, I don't have his credentials) posted a commentary from 3 minute AdAge (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrRqr8BaBWo) that informs viewers that most of the foods we eat from breakfast to dinner contain high fructose corn syrup (soft drinks, cereals, breads, candy bars, tomato-based sauces, processed foods, salad dressing, jams and jellies, yogurt, crackers, etc.). It's hard to moderate our intake of HFCS when its in most of our meals and beverages. I get what the Sweet Surprise campaign is suggesting, but I like to think that we can control what we consume.

 

The Mayo Clinic reports that "At this time, there's insufficient evidence to say that high-fructose corn syrup is any less healthy than other types of sweeteners. We do know, however, that too much added sugar — not just high-fructose corn syrup — can contribute unwanted calories that are linked to health problems, such as weight gain, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and high triglyceride levels. All of these boost your risk of heart disease." Even though there is no concrete evidence that links HFCS to the afforementioned health concerns, wouldn't be great to know what you consume instead of taking a chance? This is not to suggest that I NEVER consume meals or beverages that contain artificial ingredients, I am concentrating on the ingredients in LEMONade (for now...anyway). I'm still on a journey one food/beverage at a time.

 

Here's a challenge: Begin to make your own LEMONade for three weeks, then try a store or commerically produced brand to taste the difference. Report back to me with your conclusion yolondabody38@gmail.com. The proof is in the taste. LEMONade should taste like LEMONS are in it. I hope you too will become a LEMONade snob as you work toward better health. When in doubt while you're out, order water with a lemon and add sugar. :-)

 

-Y