Friday, March 14, 2014

A Healthy Snack?



For some reason Spirit wants me to write this. So I am.

CoCo Orange Mango Happy Squeeze vs. Pomegranite Lifeway Kefir:

  • I am a label reader. The first says, on the front (and you know you should only read the BACK!!) 'good source of calcium and magnesium' and '2/3 cup of fruit' and USDA Organic.  On the back there is a WARNING: CAPS PRESENT CHOKING HAZARD. KEEP CAP AWAY FROM CHILDREN. Choking always gets my attention; I can't help it, I'm an anesthesiologist and keeping the airway open is my specialty. The good thing is this snack is vegan, and vegetarian by default. It's about three mouthfuls of product in one pouch, at ninety calories. It's low sodium. And only one gram of fiber. What caught my attention is seventeen grams of sugars! It's from the organic pear juice concentrate...The calcium is fifteen percent USRDA, Magnesium ten percent, Vitamin A eight percent, and Vitamin C one hundred fifty percent (it's supplemented as ascorbic acid, most likely to preserve fruit). I was disappointed at how 'unnatural' this 'natural' snack is, especially at one dollar fifty a pouch. (Total volume is 99 grams--it's sold by weight--or 3.5 oz)
  • The kefir, on the other hand, has the same twenty grams of sugar in eight ounces (240 ml)--so actually the product is less concentrated sweet than the coconut milk. The calories are one hundred forty, but eleven grams of protein and thirty percent of USRDA for calcium are in it too. It is not vegan, but is vegetarian and also is probiotic. It is also kosher, gluten-free, and made with renewable energy (wind).  It also is USDA Organic.
  • I had them both <3
Go RAW Real Live Apricot Bar vs. Organic Dried Turkish Apricots
  • both on front are USDA Organic
  • The Raw bar is very small, only twelve grams (recall one gram is the weight of one small paper clip). It's three bites, and has fifty calories. Except for the one hundred milligrams of Omega 3 fatty acids, two grams fiber, six grams sugar, one gram protein, and ninety milligrams potassium (3% Daily Value USRDA). Everything else was less. It is vegan and gluten free.
  • The actual dried apricots are vegan, raw, and gluten free. One serving is only eighty calories, and you get twenty-eight grams--more than twice the bulk of the Raw bar. There is three grams of fiber, eleven grams of sugar, and one gram of protein. The highest nutrient value is iron (4% Daily Value).
  • I had them both. <3
Alka H2O
This is naturally alkaline artesian water--from the ground in Puerto Rico. The pH is 9.5. The bottle is BPA free.  The purpose of alkalinizing the body is to 'neutralize the effect of free radicals and their associated acidity of the body due to modern foods.) As a physician, I know what the kidneys do, and that is maintain homeostasis in pH. The lungs and the kidneys work together to maintain pH of the bloodstream within the optimum levels for all enzymes to function. When there is lung disease, the kidneys compensate, and vice-versa--to approximate a normal pH. I need to do some more looking in to alkalization. I have heard that some cancers do not grow well in a mildly alkaline environment. Your body is in pretty tight equilibrium at 7.40--I know, I've taken the blood gases of my patients my whole career...perhaps I can sit next to a nephrologist one day at lunch next week and find out the real story behind all of this! <3


Aloha and Mahalos,
Namaste,
Peace,

Reiki Doc