Health Resources

Whole Grains Council: The Whole Grain Council offers tremendous health resources about whole grains, where to buy them and the importance of eating whole grains.

USDA Nutrient Database– Of all the health resources, this is one that you have to explore. A government database that enables you to look up the nutritional value of goods and food products. An excellent health resource.

What is in The Food You Eat Database: Sponsored by Nutrition.gov, this organization has very helpful health resources that enable you to  input a food and find the nutritional value for that food and specific quantity size. This database includes 13,000 common foods that Americans eat.

Worlds Healthiest Food: This web site is a jewel of health resources; packed with fabulous information on just about every food you can imagine. They have compiled a list of the world’s healthiest foods, and explain in great detail why; including several studies in each article.

Nutrition.Gov: This comprehensive site includes government health resources on just about every topic that you could imagine.

Obesity in America: This site is full of health resources and information about the growing problem of obesity in both adults and kids. Eating whole grain baked treats is a wonderful way to help prevent obesity.

Food Safety Health Resources:

Food Safety News: The Food Safety News has excellent health resources that you can  subscribe to by e-amil. You will be notified when there are any issues with additives, food recalls, or other health food safety issues.

Center for Science in the Public Interest: This wonderful organization is one of the leaders in being the “food police.” With valuable health resources that are available to the public, they are a valuable watchdog for chemicals being put in our foods, restaurants that are serving foods that harm people’s health and the promotion of nutritional labeling.

Women’s Health Resource:

Women’s Health Matters: This site includes excellent women’s health resources about  health news and information that relate to women.

Kid’s Health Resource:

Kids Health: Kid’s health has excellent health resources about children. I particularly like the fact that the articles and information are segmented into three different target areas for either parents, kids and teens. I think it is wonderful to give our youth tools where they can do their own resource on health in a fashion that is of interest to them.

Fruits and Vegetables Health Resources:

Buy Organic Fruits and Vegetables from Local Farmers Through a “CSA”

CSA Directory of the U.S: Health resources are so helpful in letting us know where to shop and where not to shop. This site will help you find local places to buy  healthy organic fruits and vegetables. CSA’s are a wonderful approach to take.

CSAs are  rapidly growing across the country enabling people to be able to buy organic fruitsDad’s Coconut Chocolate Chip Scones and vegetables from their local farmers. This helps the local farmers because they middleman is cut out, and the CSA members receive the health benefits of getting local, organic foods that are in season. This wonderful health resource enables you to search and find the CSA opportunities in your local area.

Whole Food Natural Sweetener Health Resources:

Wilderness Family Naturals: A family run company that has tremendous integrity in only providing the highest quality of natural products  including:

• Raw Agave
• Coconut sap sugar
• Raw honey
• Muscovado sugar
• Blackstrap Molasses.

Wholesome Sweeteners: A wonderful company that only buys products  that are “Fair Trade.”  Fair Trade means that partners are paid directly for what they harvest with no middleman. This supports the local farmers and local communities.

My favorite products from Wholesome Sweeteners is the  following:

• Organic Sucanat; a product that is difficult to find in many stores across the country.

Maple Sugar and Maple Syrup: If you are looking for 100% pure maple syrup, you can find this at most grocery stores. If you are looking for maple sugar or organic maple syrup, this is often difficult to find. This company has great health resources for everything maple.

Health Benefits of Honey: If you are interested in learning WHY raw honey is healthy for you, this site has wonderful health resources packed with excellent information about every aspect of honey. How it can heal, why it is good for you and ideas of how to cook with it.

Whole Grain Flours, Brans, Flaxseed & Meals Health Resources:

King Arthur Flour– King Arthur sells top quality whole grain flours that you can buy at many of the large grocery stores. If you are looking for their speciality flours; most of these are only sold online. King Arthur flour also offers cooking classes that travel around the U.S. and they have a wonderful community program in which they go to schools and teach kids how to bake bread and valuables health resources they offer online. The give the proceeds away to people who need it.

Bob’s Red Mill: Bobs Red Mill not only offers high quality whole grain flour, but they have  a lot of variety. If you are looking for any type of interesting new whole grain flour, chances are high that Bob’s Red Mill carries it.

TIP: When buying flour, you can save a lot of money buying in bulk online. Freeze all your whole grain flours, as they will easily become rancid if you leave them out. You can use your whole grain flours directly from the freezer to your baking pan, and then freeze again. There is no defrosting that is needed.

Raw Nut Health Resources:

Bragga Organic Farms: Located in Central California, Braga Organic Farms sell high quality raw nuts. I love their packaging also. You can either buy nuts in large bags, or they come in smaller bags, which are great to have in the refrigerator for salads, picnics and lunches. I have been buying their raw unsalted nuts from them for about 2 years and have been very happy with the quality of the product.

NOTE: Nuts go rancid very quickly. I store all of my nuts in the freezer until I use them.

Kitchen Tool Resources:

Kitchen Aid: This product is invaluable for anyone interested in healthy baking, or any type of baking. This valuable kitchen tool makes baking so quick and easy, and your product comes out so much better. I never would have become interested in baking if I didn’t start baking with a Kitchen Aid.

You can buy this online and I have sometimes seen at Costco.

Vita-Mix: This is more than a blender. When my kids were infants I wanted to make home made baby food. I tried so many different types of blenders and products that were specifically meant to make baby food. It was very frustrating.  Then I purchased a Vit-mix, and all of a sudden it was EASY to puree foods and made baby food.

In regards to healthy baking, the Vita-mix is wonderful for making home made baby food, making smoothies, or pureeing fruit to put in your baked goods. I use this all the time and can’t say enough about this product.

Cleaning Product Health Resources:

Bio Green Clean: I LOVE this cleaning product. I am very picky about using any cleaning products in my home. I usually stick to vinegar and water until I found Bio Green Clean. This product is 100% plant derived and does an amazing job of  cleaning everything from toilets, floors, kitchen counters and walls.  The best part….it is natural. It does not have an odor when you use it, and the company says it is so safe that if animals or kids ingested it, the product wouldn’t harm them. (Don’t try this please!)

Bio Green Clean advertises the following benefits:

• 100% Plant Derived
• 100% Hypoallergenic!
• NO Harsh Chemicals
• NO Dyes or Colors
• NO Artificial Ingredients
• NO Perfumes or Fragrances
• NO Chemical Residue
• NO Animal Testing
• NO Peroxide
• NO Ammonia
• NO Bleach

Glass Storage Containers Versus Plastic Health Resources:

Snapware: I LOVE using glass storage containers versus plastic. Glass is healthier to use than plastic, it is dishwasher safe and you can put them in the freezer or the refrigerator. Once you start using glass storage containers, you will wonder why you ever used plastic.

I don’t like to use any plastic to store food in either the freezer or the refrigerator. I tried several different types of glass containers, and Snap ware is my favorite. You can purchase online, or at Costco.

Blogs I Love:

Keeper of The Home: A Christian inspired blog about how to live healthy for home makers. Great tips on everything from healthy cooking, home making, child rearing and choosing healthy products for your home.

Nourishing Gourmet: Kimi Haris offers a wonderful blog about healthy eating. She also offers many healthy eating recipes that are very unique and interesting.