Yet Another Reason Not to Support the Heart and Stroke Foundation

Sarah Polley has pulled her name from a short movie she shot for The Heart and Stroke Foundation.  Polley agreed to make the movie, believing that she was supporting the foundation and its work.  When she later learned that the movie short, due to air during the Academy Awards, would be used to promote one of the Heart and Stroke Foundation's major sponsors, Becel margarine, Polley removed her name from the project.

Right, you read that correctly.  The Heart and Stroke Foundation is working with Unilever, Becel's parent company, to tell us what to eat to keep our hearts in tip-top shape.  Margarine.  Unilever has emphasized the 'heart healthy' effects of Becel because, they say, it has no trans fats.  What they don't talk about is what is in there: a plastic tub full of modified palm oils, genetically modified organisms in the highly sprayed canola and sunflower oils which are rancid to begin with, monoglycerides to smoosh it all up together, and some artificial flavour (MSG).

Heart and Stroke Foundation: Eat more margarine it plumps our bottom line is good for you.

So, Unilever and The Heart and Stroke Foundation want us to believe that a vat of rancid, bleached, GMO, pesticide laden, artificially coloured oils that have been "modified" are what our bodies were designed for. This is the stuff that our bodies, in all of their magnificent complexity, use to build our bones, run our immune systems, use as fuel to think, move, and grow? It's just common sense that this can not be so. Well, common sense and a load of science.

Way to go, Sarah!

Further reading:

• If you're purchasing store bought ice-cream, you may want to do some investigating into what's really in there.  If it's made by Unilever, expect GMO fish proteins. You may be surprised by how many brands of ice-cream Unilever actually claims.
• Corporate Watch takes a peek at what Unilever is up to.
• They may technically label it "trans fat free", but it's just a label.  They're still altering these fats to get them to do what they want - last a long time and fool your taste buds.  Interesterification to the rescue! Seriously, there is nothing that man can do to improve a food when it hits the manufacturing plant.  Those of us in the natural health world knew about trans-fats decades before it became a buzz word and the health agencies decided to start letting the cat out of the bag.  Stick to food the way it was grown or raised, with no processing (minimal, traditional processing is fine, I'm talking about the refined products we see filling our grocery store shelves), and you really can't go wrong.
• It's a Butter Vs. Margarine Showdown over at the Whole Health Source corral.
• Butter is Better.

Ghee-lish

Ghee is a clarified butter void of any milk solids or water. More importantly, ghee is absolutely delicious. I've been making ghee for years now and I'm sure that I would be unable to cook in the style I'm used to without it. It adds a rich, nutty taste to vegetables, sauces, and baking. If you have anyone in your family that has problems with the milk proteins in butter, you may likely find that ghee is digested well. I have found that I can easily use ghee, even though I am intolerant to dairy products. It's worth trying.

Ghee is used daily in Indian and South Asian homes. It's very easy to make. The beauty of ghee is that it's a saturated fat which means that it's stable to cook with at higher temperatures. (If you would like to read further on the right types of fats to cook with, this is a good starting point.)

I sometimes mix our ghee with organic, extra-virgin coconut oil.  We use it as a spread on bread, to bake with (using a 1:1 ratio with any butter called for), on popcorn (gloriously delicious!), and to cook with. In fact, this is the only fat I cook with aside from goose or duck fat.  I usually make a big supply of ghee every two weeks.  If you make it correctly, getting all of the water and milk solids out of the ghee in the cooking process, it will not have to be refrigerated.  

Ghee

What you need:

1. Organic, unsalted butter, raw if you can get it (use as much as you want, I usually buy 8 blocks at a time)
   
2. Sieve
3. Cheesecloth
4. Jars, butter dishes, or whatever you want to store the ghee in

What you do:

1. Put the butter in a deep, heavy pot. If you have enameled, cast iron cookware that will hold it, use it.  If not, whatever you have that is heavy and big enough will do. 
2. Bring the butter to a boil and then quickly reduce to low heat. You want the butter to be lightly simmering, a few bubbles here and there.
3. You will notice some foam on top of the butter.  If there's a lot of foam, you can skim a little off, taking care to not disturb the butter.
4. It usually takes anywhere from 20-45 minutes for the ghee to be ready. A golden crust will form on the top of the liquid. The liquid will be a deeper, golden yellow colour. You will notice a different smell - deep and rich, almost 'nutty'. The liquid should look clear below the crust. 
5. Place the cheesecloth in a sieve over a bowl. Pour the ghee through the cheesecloth slowly (be careful, it's really hot). Pour the filtered ghee into clean jars, butter dishes, or any other vessel you want to store it in. Let it sit at room temperature to cool off before putting the lids on.