Farewell

Well, it has been a pleasure this semester writing for all of you. I've learned a lot, and I hope you have too. As it is the end of the semester, I will no longer be posting, but that doesn't mean I won't continue to eat healthfully and keep up with my workouts. I encourage all of you to do the same. I wish you the best of luck and a Merry Christmas! God Bless

In Christ,

Amelia

GMOs continued

Although there a lot of benefits to changing the genes of an organism, there are a lot of concerns that keep people from accepting this idea.

-Safety
Safety is a huge issue. Do we really know if there could be long term affects to our bodies, the plants or animals, and the world….no. We can assume that there aren’t any, but we don’t know for sure. Using plants that contain vaccines could affect our allergies or the way that antibiotics react in our bodies. Cross pollination of plants could cause a lot of damage if those plants meant for non-vaccinated production contained the vaccination.

-Economy
How can we stop a few companies from dominating sales and becoming a oligopoly in this industry? That would be very difficult since only a few companies deal with this type of technology and science. Would third world countries become mostly dependent on the larger countries that are willing to help feed them and take care of them? Possibly, so that’s not helping these other countries develop at all.

-Ethics
Many people think that it’s wrong to change the genetic make-up of plants and animals. They say that genetics have been set in place for a reason and that is something put shouldn’t be messed with. Seriously though, if we have the ability to help people and benefit the world without doing anything morally wrong, why not do it. It’s one way to help save the world.

-Reasoning
Many people are also afraid that the technologies will become prejudice. Only countries with the right resources can make GMOs and some people are afraid that their motives will be to gain wealth. The technologies may only be used by certain countries and new technologies would only be developed in the interest of those countries needs or wants.
After looking at all of these major negative points, I would actually say that the good outways the bad in this case. So many benefits can come out of changing the genes. I guess I’m a little biased though because my major is plant genetics and breeding. Oh well, you all now know where I stand.

Low-fat Holidays

The holidays are a struggling dieter’s nightmare. With carry-ins, gift exchanges, and family gatherings, it seems as if everywhere you go, you’re surrounded by delicious holiday treats (baked with love and lots and lots of calories.) My holiday weakness: cheesecake. I just can’t resist. So I found a reduced fat cheesecake recipe that I’ll be bringing to all my holiday gatherings.

Reduced Fat Peppermint Cheesecake
This light cheesecake is subtly flavored with peppermint, which makes it an ideal holiday dessert. Sprinkle some crushed candy canes on top for an extra minty flavor and crunch.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup low fat Honey Graham Cracker crumbs (4 sheets)
1 8-ounce package reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1 8-ounce package fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 egg whites
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
2-3 drops red food coloring (optional)
Mini candy canes to garnish

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a sealed plastic bag, crush cracker sheets with a rolling pin to make crumbs. Spray an 8-inch springform or loose-bottomed baking pan with nonstick spray. Cover pan base and side with foil wrap.

Press cracker crumbs on to base of pan. Bake for 8 minutes.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar together, mixing until smooth. Add egg and mix well. Beat in egg whites one at a time. Add peppermint extract and, if desired, food coloring to make a light pink color.

Pour cream cheese mixture into pan. Place cheesecake in a shallow roasting pan. Add enough hot water to cover the base of the roasting pan. The steam will help stop the cheesecake from cracking. Bake for 30-35 minutes until center is almost set. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove from pan (leaving it on the base). Cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Serve chilled.

Makes 8 servings.

Per Serving: Calories 195, Calories from Fat 73, Total Fat 8g (sat 4.4g), Cholesterol 49mg, Sodium 227mg, Carbohydrate 25g, Fiber 0.5g, Protein 5.5g

Genetically Modified Organisms

Genetically Modified Organisms or GMOs are introduced into our world more and more very day. They are plants that have genetic traits breed into them by injection or selective breeding. There are many benefits to these plants, but there are also some concerns with these plants.
For farmers, GMOs are very important. With weed resistant, drought resistant, and disease resistant plants, less herbicides and pesticides are sprayed on the crops. This saves the farmer money while increasing crop production and yield per acre.

For the buyer, food products can be processed faster since more materials are on hand and new products can be developed with a plethora of crops. The new products are the foods we eat, especially health foods, with natural additives of soy or wheat products. Many of the health foods we eat that are influenced by these crops are soy protein bars, all natural wheat breads and other bread products such as crackers. Some other genetically modified foods are some types of apples such as Red Delicious, and types of tomatoes to keep them redder longer.

There are also other benefits of GMOs for people suffering from starvation, nutrient deficiencies, and disease. For example, in Africa, young children are suffering from a Vitamin A deficiency. Plant geneticists from Purdue University developed a type of rice called Golden Rice. They increased the amount of Vitamin A by adding a gene to produce more carotenoids. The rice was shipped over and easily farmed in the difficult agriculture conditions. The problem isn’t completely solved for all of Africa, but this modified food did make a drastic difference.

With the many opportunities we have in the US, what a great way to use our resources to benefit the rest of the world!

Define "Diet"

My friend’s sister is studying to be some sort of nutritionist. For one of her projects, she got a group together to interview us and sort of have a group discussion about nutrition and dieting and what we think about it. I came to some realizations about the modern concept of dieting.

When the concept of dieting comes to mind, the logical assumption “eating less” immediately follows. When did “eating healthy” become a less important aspect of dieting? When you go on a diet, instead of cutting out the snacks, shouldn’t it be more important to make sure everything you eat is healthy? Reducing your intake of food to a bare minimum might make you lose a few pounds, but it also increases the chance of vitamin deficiency and, past a certain point, malnutrition. Dieting shouldn’t mean starving yourself, but that’s the twisted view today’s society has warped it into.

There are a lot of “fad” diets out there. Atkins, all-carb, all-protein, no-carb, dairy diet…there’s so many advertised diets out on the market today. These diets make you change your eating habits, which is good. That’s what a diet should do. But its not good to completely cut out one area of nutrition or to substantially increase another area. Atkins discourages eating fruit because of the sugar in fruit, but isn’t fruit part of a healthy diet? A no-carb diet may sound good, but doesn’t the traditionally-accepted food pyramid put wheats and grains (aka, big source of carbs) as the base of good nutrition? If a person is willing to alter their eating habits to suit one of these particular “diets,” why not set up a balanced meal routine instead?

Dieting isn’t coupled with exercise enough. If you care enough to diet, you should care enough about your overall health. Exercising would help. Lose a couple pounds, reduce stress, build muscle…while most people are concerning themselves with their starvation-diets, very few individuals realize that exercising increases health while also accomplishing that goal of losing a few pounds.

When did the core concept of dieting become so vague in today’s world? Is dieting eating less, eating healthier, eating certain food? Is it about the weight you lose or the habits you change? Is it skipping the morning snack, or is it replacing the muffin with carrot sticks? At the end of the day, I guess “diet” is defined by the individual as what makes you feel good about yourself.

Cancer

This week has been such a tough week for me. My cousin Nathan, who is only 24, has been battling cancer for about a year, and this week he is in the hospital battling for his life. He began on Monday with a long surgery where the doctors removed two tumors from his thigh/pelvic area. The doctors successfully removed those tumors, but as they explored upwards, they found tumors throughout his abdomen.

Nathan has a rare type of cancer called clear-cell sarcoma. It is very aggressive and has begun spreading through his lymphatic system. The doctors are stunned by its aggressiveness and its lack of response to chemotherapy. Treatments options seem to vary from doctor to doctor which is really frustrating to my family and me. Why is it that doctors always have differing opinions? Oh well. All I can do is pray that something works.

I went and saw Nathan today in the hospital in Indianapolis. He looks so thin and pale, almost like a skeleton, but he’s hanging in there. His story is very tragic because he was in the Navy and was training to be a Navy Seal. He had been at the top of his game, taking out submarines, and being as physically and mentally fit as ever before. Then this happens and the only question to ask is why. The answer, I will never know. All I want is for him to get better and be healed.

Everyone knows how bad cancer is, but it never really hits you until you are directly affected by it in some way. In this case, I see its destructive power and how it literally sucks the life out of its victims. The scary thing today is that you never know who it will hit. All ages are susceptible and, as in this case, it doesn’t seem to matter what type of diet a person has, healthful or not.

Cancer is a group of cells that are grow and divide without respect to normal growth limits, invade and destroy nearby tissues, and spread to other locations in the body. Almost all cancers are cause by mutations of genetic material in the body and in the US cancer is responsible for 25% of all deaths. Scary huh?