Be Careful Eating These Foods

If you've been led to believe that peanut butter, almonds and spinach are good for you, today's email might shock you and is important to read, because these 3 healthy foods could be contributing to health problems in your body. 

Let's take a quick look at why...

1. Peanut butter

While peanut butter does contain a small amount of protein and vitamins/minerals, the cons outweigh the pros on this food.

First of all, peanuts contain one of the highest concentrations of aflatoxin, which is a mold toxin that is created in peanuts due to storage in moist conditions.

Peanut butter is also very high in inflammatory omega-6 fats and due to the processing of peanut butter, those omega 6 fats are in a harmful oxidized state.

Most people already get too much omega 6 fats from vegetable oils (soy, corn, canola, etc), and this contributes to insulin resistance, heart disease, brain inflammation, cancer, and lots more health problems, since most people are currently eating 5-10x more omega-6 fats than we should be eating in a healthy diet.

Lastly, peanut butter also contains medium amounts of oxalates, which are plant-based antinutrients that when consumed in excess can contribute to kidney stones, thyroid and gut problems, joint problems and more.

We'll talk more about oxalates in the next food...

2. Spinach

Spinach is promoted as a healthy green, but contains FAR more downsides than good sides. Spinach is one of the highest oxalate foods that's commonly eaten by modern humans (in addition to beet greens, beets, almonds, and other veggies and nuts).

The amount of oxalates in a serving of spinach is extremely high, up to 600 mg in a normal sized bowl.

The "safe" amount of oxalates in a daily diet according to world renowned oxalate expert Sally Norton should be between 100-200 mg per day total to avoid a lot of the health problems caused by high oxalate plants.

So, you can see how concerning spinach is with the extremely high oxalate levels.

As mentioned above, eating too much oxalates too frequently can cause serious issues such as kidney stones, thyroid problems, gut damage, skin issues, and joint pain.

In fact, some people have even gotten "oxalate poisoning" by eating green smoothies too often and had to go to the ER for kidney failure.

3. Almonds

Although almonds and almond milk are marketed as healthy, they also contain many downsides, including all of the negatives mentioned above about too much omega 6 fats and too much oxalates.

They're probably ok in your diet occasionally, but I personally avoid eating almonds too often because of these issues with excess oxalates and omega 6 fats. 

Roasted Chicken Drumsticks & Red Potatoes with Mojo Sauce

Roasted Chicken Drumsticks & Red Potatoes with Mojo Sauce

This meal is super cheap to make and it's really easy!

Ingredients:

5 Chicken drumsticks

(skin removed)

1 pound red potatoes

(leave whole and wash)

2 tablespoons of canola oil

1 teaspoon of sea salt (divided)

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2/3 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice

3 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lime juice

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

5 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

2. Toss chicken and potatoes in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper: layout in single layer on cooking sheet. Bake, turning once halfway through and thermometer reads 165

30-35 minutes

3. While that is baking in the oven, combine orange juice, lime juice, 2 tablespoons cilantro, garlic, cumin, onion powder, oregano, the remaining tablespoon of oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper

in a blender or food processor

Transfer to a small saucepan: bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat and maintain a simmer, continue to cook for 8-10 minutes

4. Serve each portion of chicken and potatoes with 2 tablespoons of sauce

I served this with organic green beans, tossed with a lemon zest and sliced almonds :)

Lemon Zest Green Beans

Ingredients:

2 pounds green beans, ends trimmed
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons smart balance butter
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup of sliced almonds

Directions

Blanch green beans in a large stock pot of well salted boiling water until bright green in color and tender crisp, roughly 2 minutes. Drain and shock in a bowl of ice water to stop from cooking.

Heat a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and the butter. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the beans and continue to saute until coated in the butter and heated through, about 5 minutes. Add lemon zest and season with salt and pepper.