Wednesday, June 15, 2011

REI Health Fair & Expo July 9, 2011 Clock Tower Resort in Rockford, IL

See you at the health fair                                       

By Richard S. Gubbe
People can find answers that will help them reach their goals for a healthier lifestyle from both conventional and complementary medicine through local and regional businesses at health fairs this summer and fall.
Reiki Energy International will hold its second annual REI Health Fair & Expo at the Clock Tower Resort on Saturday, July 9, to be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Wallingford Center.
The REI Health Fair and Expo will feature more than 65 heath-conscious exhibitors showcasing healthy services and products as well as offering symposiums on current health issues. The free fair will include local and national businesses and is designed to build awareness of healthy-living opportunities in our community.
The symposiums will be held in a separate meeting room throughout the day and will include the topics of "Herbs and Healthy Cooking," "Organic Gardening," "Reiki" and "Preventative Health."
In-Kind sponsors already secured for the REI Health Fair & Expo include The Rock River Times, the four Nutrition Works health care stores in the Rock River Valley, Maverick Media and WNTA Radio, The Rockton Inn, Beth Ann Weis Salon & Spa and The Clock Tower Resort. Last year's vendor space was sold out.
Vendor fees for businesses start at $50. For vendor applications, visit: www.reikienergyinternational.org for call (815) 398-6326.
This event will feature the largest number of vendors offered for a health fair in this region in a convergence of Eastern and Western modalities representing the latest products, technologies and services. The event will provide a platform for clinical and complementary medicine, health care outlets and products and services that currently are available in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Included in the 2010 fair were regional health care facilities, nutritional businesses, drink companies and fitness centers, as well as massage therapists, Reiki masters, holistic chiropractors and other health care practitioners.
There will be a free wellness night Tuesday, June 14 from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Aldeen Golf Club in Rockford. The Aldeen Men's golf Association will hold its annual "Take Aim At Your Health" night at the Rockford Park District's Aldeen Golf Club and Practice Centre, 1902 Reed Farm Road in Rockford. The event features health and wellness information designed to improve play on and off the golf course. There will be wellness screenings, testing and assessments, chair massage and numerous golf-related activities. Refreshments will be available. Call (815) 282-4653 for info.
Wind Ride Herb Farm will hold it annual Herb, Garden and Wellness Faire from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. June 25. The fair is held outdoors in rural Caledonia. Call Liz Fiorenza at (815) 885-1444 for info. Wind Ridge, located at 466 Quail Trap Road in Caledonia, features more than 400 varieties of medicinal and culinary herbs. Wind Ridge produces all natural products without dyes, preservatives or additives.
The Janet Wattles Mental Health Fair will be held Oct. 1 at CherryVale Mall. This event features vendors at tables throughout the mall during the day. Last year's fair drew a variety of businesses and organizations. Janet Wattles also is hosting a talk on Reiki Energy Healing on June 1 at 6 p.m. at their Mildred Berry Center. Call (815) 968-9300 for info.

Richard Gubbe is an award-winning journalist, public relations specialist and Reiki Master Teacher. He is a longtime Rockford resident who has taught preventative health, visualization and Reiki at Rock Valley College since 2003.www.meatgrindersnow.com

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Seven (7) Steps to Healthier Cooking

   I was asked to provide an easy step-by-step way to prepare foods to cook in a healthier way.  Since no specific foods are part of the request, I will include protein such as fish, pork, and beef.  I will include vegetables as it's own special category as it is as healthy as anyone can expect anyone else to eat or prepare foods.  I write this because you will never see anyone who consumes primarily vegetables as typically having a problem with their weight from eating vegetables.  Maybe a challenge for protein due to lacking knowledge, but not from gaining weight from vegetables. 1. Use a Food Chopper for Vegetables, made from Iron, Stainless Steel or Aluminum. Before you chop or cut your veggies, wash them and wash them if you can with filtered water. Purchase Organic if you can afford,  ff not try a farmers market or buy locally whenever possible and still wash all vegetables first before any cooking or food preparation begins.   2.   If you prefer, yes you can still eat vegetables prepared with Oils.  Specifically, you should always use Olive Oil and in some cases Peanut Oil.  But, always  choose Olive Oil as it does have benefits that can lessen the concerns of the Fats included.  Again, Fry in a Wok, Stainless Steel, Iron, Anodized or Aluminum Pan as to avoid the Teflon at all costs.
   I will now detail fruits.  Fruits are always wonderful for many of the same reasons that vegetables are and even many more.  Fruits again like vegetable contain those wonderful anti-oxidants that benefit our bodies in a number of ways that far out-way some of the negative perceptions coming from fructose.  Fructose is another of many types of processed sugars.  It is derived from fruits and vegetables.  Unfortunately, the processes involved in getting fruit to fructose is quite unhealthy as "agricultural business or ag-business for short became involved in the 1070's and 1980's and turned what could have and should have been a healthy sweetener into a processed food-product capable of far more negatives to the human race than currently identified. (Dozens of hazards are currently identified.)
3.   When preparing fruits to eat, wash them, peel them when you can, cut or chop them with a Food Chopper.  4.  Juicers, Power-Juicers, and Juice-Extractors are excellent appliances providing ways to create wonderful tasting and very healthy juices without the added and processed sugars sold without product listing guidelines mandatory in other food groups.  Juicers deserve their own step as they eliminate many processed products from store-bought and non-Organic Juices.
       Again, buy organic if you can financially swing-it, buy locally whenever possible as this can decrease the amounts of pesticides used for growing.   I asked Jennifer Cunningham M.D, an Endocrinologist her thought as to why companies get away without labeling added sugars to Orange and other juices and her was "Juice is a Carbohydrate and as a 'Carb' it digests fairly quickly to glucose anyway so that must be how this occurs."
5.   Meat, as in Beef & Pork; first wash it with water, filtered when possible, second cut with a knife to trim and reduce the fat.  If the Meat is Organic or even Grass-Fed,  you will not need to trim any fat as the fat content is naturally reduced.  There is no marbled-look to Grass Fed Beef or Organic meat that occurs from pigs and cows being feed processed corn and corn products.  Also, the fat contains healthy Omega-3 Fatty Acids avoiding the need for supplements.  After trimming the fat, rinse the meat again to remove  bacteria from packaging.
6.   When the meat is ready than you are ready to use a Meat Slicer, Meat Chopper, or a Meat Grinder that are made from Iron, Stainless Steel or Aluminum. www.meatgrindersnow.vom  These metal products are easier to clean and are far more sanitary to prepare foods for cooking than products containing plastics and/or Teflon (which is a  form of plastic). 
7.   I save my personal favorite for the final step as a matter of pride. Yes, I will put this in writing:
"Save the Best for Last!"
Fish and Shellfish, whether it is Salt or Freshwater, alway try to purchase "Wild-Caught" as well as try to avoid Fish that are not "Self-Sustainable."  Just as I wrote with every other food group, always clean your fish with water.  Filtered water if/when possible, an do this rinsing liberally.  Avoid fish with a strong "fishy" smell that you find unpleasant at all.  If it does not small positive in the store, it will be worse at home.  Grinding Fish of all kinds leaves you with many options for cooking.  Using Olive Oil to Fry or Broil works well and Spices like Dill and Basil can enhance the flavor immensely.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Healthy Food Preparation

After years of using various plastic-based small or smaller kitchen appliances, information now points to using aluminum or stainless steel as best to prepare and cook.   Kitchen appliances made Stainless Steel and Aluminum both major appliances of  America  now are "The healthy products to cook and prepare food" according to various publications such as____________________________________/