GUEST POST FROM MISKHA THOMAS- and what has been going on in Gita's Kitchen these days.

Dear friends and readers, here is another wonderful and interesting article from Miskha Thomas. Her article definitely changed my perspective about zinc deficiency and supplementation. I was very much aware of the necessity of zinc supplementation for my kids to maintain their immunity but along the way I just forgot how much this is important for adults too. A big thanks to Miskha for such an eye-opening post.

Are You Getting Healthy Nutrients from Your Food? Read This and Find Out!
Are you or any of your family members suffering from nutritional deficiency or vitamin deficiency?

Believe it or not, this is a common dilemma that many people struggle with today. The good news is that there is a simple way to reverse vitamin deficiency, and that is to consume wholesome, nutritious foods.

The problem is that not all food sources are as healthy as they seem to be. For example, many people today often settle for fast foods and junk foods that are easily available but loaded with unhealthy artificial sweeteners and chemical additives. There are even “health” foods that claim to be nutritious but are in fact dangerous to your health!

As much as possible, you must strive to consume organic foods that come from natural and local sources. But how will you know if the foods you’re consuming are healthy or not?

Fact: Most Foods Lose Their Nutrients BEFORE They Reach Your Table
Have you ever given thought to how your food is produced, and what it goes through before it reaches your supermarket shelves? Most people are aware that foods are harvested, shipped, and then packed in crates, but the truth is the degradation of foods happens even before that.

For example, conventional farming uses a wide variety of chemical pesticides and fertilizers that can be absorbed by fruits and vegetables, which, in turn, you absorb. Meanwhile, poultry, pork and beef are often injected with hormones that “speed up” their growth and “boost” their production of milk and eggs. When you consume these foods, you also absorb these potentially-harmful hormones.

It doesn’t stop there. You also deplete the nutrients in your food when you cook and prepare it. Microwaving, frying, baking, or charbroiling food damages its valuable nutrients. Many people are also prone to overcooking their foods, which is a bad practice, since this not only damages the nutrients but also creates harmful toxins that you can ingest.

If you want to consume your foods with most of the nutrients intact, your best options would be to boil, steam, or poach them.

Eight Guidelines for REAL Healthful Food
If you are striving to improve the quality of your food and make sure you’re getting all the vitamins and minerals you need, you must look for these eight guidelines whenever you’re shopping for food:
1. Grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides
2. Is free of antibiotics, added growth hormones, or other drugs
3. Are not genetically-modified (GM) or genetically engineered (GE)
4. Is free of artificial ingredients and preservatives
5. Fresh. When choosing between wilted organic produce or fresh conventional produce, choose the latter.
6. Is not factory-farmed or did not come from a confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs)
7. Grown with the laws of nature in mind (this means that the animals are given their native diets and have free-range access to the outdoors)
8. Grown in a sustainable way (uses minimal amounts of water, protects the soil from burnout, and uses animal waste as natural fertilizer)

Every time you go out to buy foods, make sure you keep in mind these eight guidelines. They will help ensure that you are choosing optimally healthy food products that will benefit your health and help you avoid nutrient deficiency.

Zinc Deficiency: A Growing Problem in Today’s Modern World
One particular nutrient deficiency that affects many people today is zinc deficiency. According to research, almost two billion people suffer from this problem. In the United States alone, almost 12 percent of the population is in danger of becoming zinc-deficient. What makes this alarming is that many of them are not aware that they have this problem! Zinc deficiency symptoms are often mistaken for other types of diseases.

The ideal way to get zinc is by consuming foods like:
• Animal liver
• Spinach and sea vegetables
• Crimini mushrooms
• Beef
• Pumpkin seeds
• Oysters
• Beans
• Raw milk and cheese

Again, when buying these foods to combat zinc deficiency, make sure you adhere to the guidelines above to make sure that you’re maximizing the amount of zinc and other nutrients that you’re getting.

About the Author
Mishka Thomas is a fitness instructor based in Los Angeles, California. After being a strict vegetarian for five years, she started consuming meat and other animal products again two years ago, after her doctor warned her about her risk of zinc deficiency. When not busy with her full-time work, Mishka loves to read books about zinc supplement, and go surfing.

PS:
Thanks to my friends who have been constantly mailing me regarding my whereabouts and why am I publishing so many guest posts these days, here are the answers :) Our babies are now 21 months and getting close to their second birthday, we still can’t believe how time flies so fast and these two were the preemies that we bought home. They keep me busy all the time and my days are spent by taking care of their demanding needs, cleaning up after “I can eat it myself messes”, taking them to playschool, again evening walks and play area etc….so it is pretty much centered around their activities starting from morning routine to reading books or “sthory” at night :). We still find it surprising to realize how much two little ones can make such a mess and give mommy a hard time and I am still looking for the charger of my sweeper, which no one has yet confessed to where they have hidden it. My social life is at rock bottom, since I hardly get to the phone or mobile these days and sometimes I have to search for them and find them at the weirdest places. Life has taken a different turn and we are enjoying this phase and living every moment of it.

Regarding my blog posts, my camera is broken and we are still trying to fix it. I know this sounds like “the dog ate my homework” kind of thing, but what can you do when you have 4 naughty toddlers (my sister’s kids and mine) in the house together for 2 weeks? Karthik (my sis’s naughty boy) climbed up on a chair along with my baby girl Krithika while my son Aryaa and Mridini (my sis’s sweet baby girl) were watching and they just threw the camera onto the floor :(….so Gita’s Kitchen will soon return to regular blogging as soon as we get a new camera ;)