A few days ago, I noticed that the color and texture of commercial catsup has changed. It no longer clings to the sides of the bottle as it empties and where there is bit of a smear, it is translucent. If some of the sauce winds up outside the bottle after a picnic, it no longer turns an unsightly dark brown color. My curiosity has been so stirred up, that I squeezed ketchup onto a white plate to see how long it would take to turn brown. It is day 4 and is still bright red. Hmmm. Can this be good?
Energize! has certainly been working for me in the last few months (with all of the other repatterning sessions!) as new reading material crosses my desk, changing my views on food.
Increasingly the type and quality of food we eat is recognized as important to our overall health, well being and energy level. Now health and science writer Sondra Kornblatt, in her book “A Better Brain At Any Age -the Holistic Way to Improve Your Memory, Reduce Stress, and Sharpen Your Wits” includes a whole chapter on the effect of food on your brain and has suggestions on what to eat to improve your brain. Her book is a handy one to have if you have ever experienced a day of ‘brain fog’ as she has any number of things to try to improve brain functions. A change in food choices for example, can make all the difference. Here is a sampling of brain healthy food choice suggestions from Kornblatts book:
VEGETABLES:
- Avocados
- Greens, such as spinach, kale, or collards,
- sweet potatoes
- broccoli, or cabbage,
FRUITS:
-Blueberries
-Strawberries
-Berries of any kind for their anti-oxidant properties
- pomegranate juice
SPICES: – turmeric, a whiff of cinnamon, saffron and sage
Now add this list to your new awareness, that real food (not processed, not food smashed down and re-programmed with vitamins added etc.) is much better for you than processed food. Processed food has a molecular structure that our bodies were never meant to handle – at least not over a life time. Over a life time, processed food is being implicated in heart disease, type II diabetes, and other diseases.
Back to my catsup experiment – with a little online research, I found out that it is now made with liquid sugar which means in part it has corn syrup in it or fructose so that it can stay longer on a grocery shelf. This is the stuff that dissolves instantly in the blood stream and goes directly to the brain with the message “we are still hungry”. It only takes a tablespoon to trigger that message in the brain and does so within seconds.
In the old days, catsup was made with tomatoes and sugar. Evidence of it’s real food nature, is that It clung to the sides of the jar in clumps of red. It turned brown with oxidization if not used quickly enough or left on the outside of the bottle. It did not have a long term shelf life. It was as far as condiment can be considered- a real food.
A healthy food choice for catsup could be to try making your own (check out www.Gourmet.com ‘ s recipe search), or look for an organic catsup with no corn syrup or liquid sugar. It won’t have a long shelf life but will be a healthier food choice.
Post Script – Check out a recent article on the subject of ketchup at Gourment.com
http://www.gourmet.com/food/2009/05/ketchup-recipes-chefs
