Artificial or Not Artificial? That is the Question

Does it really matter if our foods have artificial food coloring in it? Read on and then I would love to hear what you think!

Rainbow of Colors
By Holly Hedman

The other day, a friend from church asked if anyone knew of natural food coloring. This made me stop and think for moment. I could come up with a few alternatives to artificial dyes, but that was it. So, this sent me to the computer to do some research because I wanted a decent list of items to use and how to use them since I really never thought about food dyes before. We have truly been blessed with healthy kids and for that I thank God every day, but there are many people that are not as fortunate to be free of food allergies or have children that struggle with food allergies, for this is not an easy life.

Artificial food coloring has been around since the 1950’s.

Decades ago, food manufacturers started using artificial colors, because they were more stable then natural food coloring. In fact, artificial food dyes are made from PETROLEUM (yes, I said petroleum… a by-product of crude oil.

Click Here to finish learning about why you should not eat foods with artificial food coloring!

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Making a Lifestyle Change!

My Pantry Now
Copyright by Holly Hedman

My pantry used to be filled with boxes and boxes of highly processed, highly preserved and horrible foods that no human truly should eat! We used to have a bunch of canned fruit and veggies too. I hardly ever had fresh fruit or veggies in the house, because when I did they would go bad before we ate them. Even before having kids I used to be all about easy cooking and not healthy cooking. But, that started to change after we started having kids but more so after I had our son. I weighed the most I have ever weighed… Yes, it bothered me! Prior to having kids, I was very physically active. I was a Physical Education teacher, coached and played volleyball and was also a personal trainer! I loved being at the gym for hours working out. Then we had kids. I started working out again after I had our first born but every time I would go to the gym and put her in the nursery she would get sick. I, just like other moms, don’t like having sick kids. So, NO more gym membership for me!

When we had one child it was pretty easy to put her in the stroller and go for a power walk. But when we added more, it really became difficult! The days would go by so fast and by the time I would think of exercising it was time to go to bed. Then after having our youngest, food had become comforting and I kept gaining weight. I am 6 foot tall (yes, I know, that is tall for a girl) and I could hide my weight very well with clothes. No one really knew I was almost 200 pounds… more then I weighed when I was pregnant with our last baby (whom I gain 18 pounds with). Seeing as I have hypothyroidism, I have always been careful and cautious about my weight. But sometimes, you just don’t care and eat, eat, and eat. Food comforts…

Just add 12 oz of liquid, 3 scoops of powder, shake and enjoy!

Just add 12 oz of water, milk or almond milk, 3 scoops of powder, shake and enjoy!

Finally, enough was enough and I decided that something needed to change. I couldn’t go on this way and my health is important in order to be a good mom. That is when, while we were home and visiting a good friend, I asked her about her meal replacement shakes she had been using. I was looking for something that was good and kept me full. She introduced us to Usana Health Sciences. This brought on a new way of thinking and a new way of life for our family! I started buying more fresh fruit and veggies, started cooking clean and healthy, started truly watching what I was eating and caring about what I was eating. We started taking high quality vitamins and supplements through Usana Health Sciences and also drinking their meal replacement drink called Nutrimeal. My husband and I both lost weight and truly had more energy and felt amazing! It amazes me what a good vitamin can do for you! We transformed our health and as a side affect of that we lost weight and felt great! You have a choice in life… to be healthy or not! We chose healthy because our kids depend on us to be around for a long time!

Recipe for you

One of my favorite things to eat happens to be pudding. I would make it almost all the time… from a box, until one day I found a recipe that uses avocado. I just had to try it and I was hooked!

Avocado Pudding
Copyright by Holly Hedman

This recipe is super simple with only 6 ingredients.

1 ripe avocado (soft to touch)

3 tbs of almond butter

1/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk

3 tbs of dark cocoa powder

1/4 cup of agave syrup

1 scoop of Usana’s vanilla Nutrimeal

Avocado Pudding Ingredients
Copyright by Holly Hedman

Directions

Place avocado and almond butter into food processor. Blend until creamy. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Add more almond milk till you reach the consistency you prefer. A little of this pudding goes a long way! Enjoy!

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Thanks for taking time to reading. Please feel free to share my blog with your friends and family! Also, I would love to hear how you liked the recipe. Please leave a comment below.

Healthy Home Book

Have you ever read a book that you just couldn’t put down, a book that was intriguing, grabbed your attention from the get go, easy to read and you just wanted to share it with everyone? I have, and I want to share the book with you. It doesn’t have teenage vampires, Harlequin romances or violence that may intrigue you. What this book is full of is practical accessible health advice that will help you; get a good night’s sleep, choose the right household cleaners, and figure out what products to avoid. This book is on the New York Times best seller list. The book I am talking about is The Healthy Home by Dr. Myron Wentz and his son Dave Wentz.

This book is just amazing and shocking. I love how the book is set up. It is broken down by sections of a house and starts in the bedroom and continues throughout the rest of the house… even into the garage and backyard. At the beginning of each chapter is the interview part between Donna Wallace (the interviewer) and Dr. Wentz and Dave Wentz. Then there is a little “How Toxic Is Your Home?” quiz. You can actually write your answers in the book. You write down the number associated with your answers. Then you add up your number and the total will give you your “Danger Score”. I was absolutely floored by some of the things I read in the book. Some things I never thought twice about. Here are some of the topics the book covers:

Clothing, Detergents and Fabric Softeners
Dry Cleaners
Mattresses
Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs)
How you sleep
Fresh air and opening up your windows
Chemicals put on your skin and hair, antiperspirants and tooth paste
Drugs in your cabinets
Foods in the kitchen, Diets and How you cook food
Food and Plastics
Garage toxins and chemicals on the lawn

The book has suggestions on how you can change these parts of your house and life. You don’t have to do it all at one time. But if you take baby steps towards having a Clean Green House, it won’t seem so overwhelming.

Healthy Home book

The really cool part about this book is that 100% of the proceeds from book sales are donated to a notable charitable organization called Children’s Hunger Fund (CHF). You can go to www.myhealthyhome.com/charity for more information.

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Thank you so much for taking time to read my blog! Please feel free to share my blog with your friends and family! Please leave a comment below. Have a Blessed Day!