GMO Science – Understanding How GMOs Are Created, and What Prominent Scientists Are Saying

According to the World Health Organization, GMOs are “Organisms in which the genetic material has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally.”

Genetically modified organisms are organisms built with genes from more than one species. The process involves laboratories and scientists followed by regulators, lawyers and lobbyists. There is nothing natural about it. So when biotech argues that the techniques for creating GMO crops are just like traditional crop breeding techniques, those statements are blatantly false.

The First Frankenfoods

One of the first GMO crops to be put on the market was Bt-corn. Bt-corn was made a few decades ago by combining the genes of a bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis, with the DNA of corn. This genetic modification was engineered to create corn that produces pesticide. Every cell now produces a new protein never before seen in corn, the Bt endotoxin or Bt protein. The toxin is produced in sufficient quantities to kill insects.

The Bt protein or Bt endotoxin must be ingested in order for it to kill. After ingestion, the Bt protein binds to the insect’s digestive tract. It can no longer feed, and in a matter of hours its gut breaks down, and bacteria from its digestive tract flood the insect’s body. It dies of septicemia, eaten from within.

The Bt toxin has been found in human blood and in pregnant women and their fetuses. This means that these toxins are not only making their way into our bodies, our bodies are not fully eliminating them.

Other examples of GMOs include adding a gene from a fish into tomatoes and strawberries to protect them from freezing. Goats have been injected with spider genes in order to produce milk that contains proteins more durable than Kevlar. Also rice has been injected with human genes to manufacture pharmaceuticals.

Methods to Create GMOs

Genetically modifying plants and animals are typically created using one of three methods: the gene gun, the plasmid method, and the vector method.

Gene Gun

The gene gun literally shoots genetic material into the targeted cells. Genetic modification using the gene gun begins with either a young plant, or with cells grown in a culture. The gene gun, using specially prepared bullets, bombards the cultured cells or the young plant. The bullets are coated with microscopic gold or tungsten particles that contain segments of DNA. Once the microscopic particles are inside the nucleus of cells, the DNA can merge into the genes of the young plant or the genes of the cells in a tissue culture.

It is interesting to note that the young plant (now called a chimera) will retain most of its physical characteristics, but the plant grown from a cell culture may grow to look very different from the original plant.

The Plasmid Method

The plasmid method, the most common method, uses bacteria to modify an organism. Plasmids are a type of DNA found in bacteria. The process involves bathing the plasmids in enzymes, encoding the bacteria for antibiotic resistance, and then fusing the plasmids into target bacteria. The culture is then treated with antibiotics that kill all of the unmodified bacteria.

The Vector Method

The vector method uses a modified virus to alter the genes of the target cells. The genes to be modified or removed are isolated. The virus is altered to be less destructive and to carry the genetic payload. The virus then infects the target cells with altered genes. The infection modifies the cells’ genetic structure. As the cells multiply, all copies of the cells will express the modified genes.

Artificial Selection Vs. GMOs

Biotech argues that genetically modifying food is no different than artificial selection. Irrefutably, both processes change the genes of plants and animals.

But artificial selection and natural selection carry genes within populations that are constrained by species. Genetically modified foods have no such constraints. Genes from different species are put together to make new organisms. Let’s take a closer look at artificial selection.

What is Artificial Selection

Artificial selection is a process by which natural evolutionary processes are altered by human intervention. Current estimates place the beginning of life at 3 ½ to 4 billion years ago. This long time span is what accounts for the rich diversity of life on Earth. More than 99.9% of all species that have existed on this planet are now extinct. Of those that remain, the plants and animals most useful to us have been domesticated. Instead of survival of the fittest, think survival of the friendliest and survival of the most nutritious and delicious. With our help, the evolution of these plants and animals was put on fast forward.

Through artificial selection (also called artificial breeding) we have bred plants and animals that are in almost all cases so different from their wild counterparts as to be unrecognizable.

Wild carrots, and wild lettuce are, by today’s standards, inedible. Wild carrots produce natural pesticides, which are good for carrots and bad for us, so we bred that trait out of carrots. Wild carrots also provide fewer calories, and less nutrition than their domesticated counterparts. Wild lettuce contains latex. As you might have guessed, latex tastes horrible, and it irritates our digestive tract.

The main limitation of selective breeding is that the organisms to be bred must be closely related, usually of the same species. If not of the same species, they must be very closely related and share a recent common ancestor, such as dogs and wolves, or wild boars and pigs. Attempts to breed more distant relations such as horses and donkeys or lions and tigers usually produce sterile offspring, or no offspring at all. (A mule is bred from a male donkey and a female horse. A hinny is bred from a female donkey and a male horse. Less commonly known, a liger is an animal bred from a male lion and a female tiger. The progeny of a female lion and a male tiger is called a tigon.)

This radical alteration of plants and animals has been going on for a long time. Selective breeding has a proven track record. It isn’t perfect, and agronomists still have a lot to learn to learn in order to improve upon it, but we have been doing it for thousands of years. Without the domestication of plants and animals we could not support our population, not nationally and definitely not globally.

The changes made to domesticated plants and animals over time do alter genes. Desired traits are selected and undesirable traits are selected against. To say this modifies genes is semantically correct, but so does natural selection, but it is not the same thing as genetic modification.

Despite this limitation, it is incredible what can be achieved via artificial selection. We can produce purple potatoes, black tomatoes, yellow watermelon, over 300 breeds of dogs, and more than 800 breeds of cows. Heirloom fruits and vegetables, commercial cultivars, and hybrids have all been realized through artificial selection.

The GMO Debate and Prominent Scientists

Neil Degrasse Tyson argues that all foods are genetically modified, and that people have an irrational fear of these new foods. Bill Nye echoes the same sentiments. Both have begun publicly supporting GMOs. Neither individuals are experts on genetics, nutrition, health, or biology. Dr. Tyson is an accomplished astrophysicist. Bill Nye earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. Both individuals studied under Carl Sagan, and the late Carl Sagan had something very different to say about genetic engineering.

“Fortunately, we do not know, or at least do not yet know…how to assemble alternative sequences of nucleotides…to make alternative kinds of human beings. In the future, we might well be able to put nucleotides together…in any desired sequence…to produce human characteristics we think desirable. A disquieting and awesome prospect.” – Carl Sagan

“Biology is more like history than it is like physics. You have to know the past to understand the present. There is no predictive theory of biology just as there is no predictive theory of history. The reason is the same both subjects are still too complicated for us.” – Carl Sagan

A Geneticist Weighs In – David Suzuki

David Suzuki agrees that biology and genetics (a subfield of biology), are unpredictable. He doesn’t think that GMOs have been adequately tested, and he says that biotech has put us all in great experiment by prematurely introducing GMOs to the food supply.

“The problem is this: geneticists follow the inheritance of genes in what we call a vertical fashion. You breed a male and a female. You follow their offspring. You breed them. You follow it on down, within a species. What biotechnology allows us to do is to take genes from this organism and move it, what we call horizontally, into a totally unrelated species. …What biotechnology allows us to do is to switch genes from one to the other without the biological constraints.” -David Suzuki

“The problem is this you see, it’s very, very bad science. We assume that the principles governing the inheritance of genes vertically applies when you move genes laterally or horizontally. There is absolutely no reason to make that conclusion. We have to do more experimentation.” – David Suzuki

Biotech claims that they are thousands of studies proving the safety of GMOs. Many short-term studies, up to 90 days, do show their products are safe. Many long-term studies, show a very different outcome.

Dr. Goodall’s Informed Opinion

Before Jane Goodall’s work our definition of mankind was “man the toolmaker.” Dr. Goodall has made many important scientific discoveries. She proved that chimpanzees use tools, that they eat meat, and that they have a complex social system. She is a highly respected scientist.

She is well informed on GMOs, so her opinion of them is not borne of ignorance. Dr. Goodall has publically accused GMO supporters of fraud, and says that they are the ones who are “anti science”. She has warned Britain and Europe not to lower GM safeguards, and she has condemned politicians for endorsing “Frankenstein food.”

“I pursued nature to her hiding-places. Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil, as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave, or tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay?” Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

When the GMO Studies Are Not Funded By Industry…

A two-year study in France has shown that rats didn’t get cancer in the first 90 days of being fed GMO corn, they began to get cancer after four months. The journal, which published the study, retracted it.

The scientists stand by their results, and they believe that the editorial appointment of Richard Goodman, a former Monsanto employee, is the reason behind the retraction. The study has been criticized for what kind of rats was used, but these are the same kind of rats used in many Monsanto studies.

There have also been long-term studies that show disruption of reproduction due to GMOs with low fertility and high infant death rates in rats and mice.

And while articles will state that there is no evidence, even anecdotal evidence of disease or problems due to GMO livestock feed, this is another lie. Farmers have complained about their animals’ poor health and sterility due to GMO feed.

GMO Contamination

Biotech said they could contain GMOs, but this was another lie. GMOs contaminate other varieties by cross-pollination. This contamination typically comes from natural sources. Birds, insects, wind, and weather can carry pollen or seeds from GMO crops many miles to other farmer’s fields. When this happens, if the farmer isn’t growing the same GMO crop, he isn’t considered the victim, he is often sued for patent violation. The usual procedure is a settlement agreement that forces the farmer into silence.

GMO wheat was not approved by the FDA, but a field of GMO wheat was found in Montana, well after the GMO crop was ordered to be destroyed.

The South Korean government bans the cultivation of GMO crops, but GMOs have been found growing in their country; especially along shipping routes. South Korea imports animal feed, and they import GMO crops, but they do prohibit growing GMOs. Now they have no choice; GMOs are growing themselves.

Many countries have banned the cultivation of GMOs, and most countries require GMOs to be clearly labeled. Canada and the U.S. do not currently require GMO labeling, except in a few states. There is currently a bill called the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act, which would eliminate state’s rights to label GMOs.

The Labeling Double-Standard

Biotech has opposed GMO labeling for consumers, but they are certainly pro-labeling when it comes to their seeds. When farmers buy their seed, they extensively label it, and they explain the many restrictions placed on their seeds. One of the restrictions is that farmers are prohibited from growing non-GMO crops alongside GMO crops, making it impossible to compare yields. Biotech claims GMOs increase yield, but this is another lie as proven by crop yields across the world.

One of the more common genetic modifications renders a plant immune to Round Up. This allows the farmer to spray Round Up in large amounts all over his or her field to kill weeds. Unfortunately, this process has resulted in Round Up resistant weeds, and it increases herbicide residues in the crops. Recently, the World Health Organization said the widespread use of Round Up is a main cause of the rising cancer rates worldwide.

How To Avoid GMOs

Avoiding GMOs won’t be easy for most people who eat prepackaged, processed foods. The NON-GMO project verified label is helpful. It means the ingredients are 99% GMO free. Organic also means 99% GMO free. More than 80% of processed foods contain GMO ingredients. If you buy processed foods, buy organic.

Trader Joe’s sells GMO foods, though their name brand items do not contain them.

Whole Foods talks a good game, but so far they have done nothing except provide some organic options. Exclusively organic restaurants are few and far between, and unfortunately, almost any other restaurant will be serving GMO food. The most common GMOs are canola oil, soy (including milk and oil), corn (including high fructose corn syrup), cottonseed oil, zucchini, yellow squash, papaya, aspartame (which is produced from genetically modified bacteria) and sugar (from sugar beets).

Conclusion

Despite what biotech would have you believe, it is not unscientific to reject GMOs. The rest of the world is not too keen on genetically modified foods, and the scientific community is divided on the issue. The majority of scientists appear to support GMO technology, but there is a lot of money involved in supporting it and nothing but hardship for those who dare oppose it. Many scientists are harshly criticized, censored, and have their funding disappear if they are critical of biotechnology.

Censorship has no place in science, and in order for science to thrive, scientific inquiry must be given free reign. If allowed, science is ultimately self-correcting, but not when scientists are coerced into supporting commercial interests before science. This is exactly what is happening.

The belief that GMOs are harmful to human health certainly has scientific validity. Despite what biotech companies would have us believe, we evolved to eat food, not chemicals. We evolved to eat organisms that came from the earth, not organisms that came from a laboratory.

What We Can Do About It

In a free society, it should be easier to opt out of this GMO experiment. We should have the right to choose what we put into our bodies and not have it chosen for us.

We can vote with our dollars, but not when we are kept in the dark.

Please contact your representative and senators (also check out How To Contact Congress) now and let them know you want to see all GMO foods labeled. Ask them to vote against the Food Safety and Labeling Act, which would deny states the right to require GMO labeling.

 

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Is the Paleo Diet a Fraudulent Fad or the Healthiest Diet to Hit Mainstream? Could It Be Both?

Paleo Diet’s Origins

The paleo diet has been around for more than forty years, but recently, it has enjoyed resurgence in popularity. At present, it is one of the most popular diet trends in America.

This comeback in popularity is due in part to its new supporters, including the Crossfit movement and Hollywood celebrities like Megan Fox, Jessica Biel, Miley Cyrus, and Matthew McConaughey.

Dr. Loren Cordain is one of the original researchers and authors backing the Paleo diet. His work in evolutionary medicine led him to believe that our early ancestors, homo sapiens, ate diets consisting mostly of meat (55% or more) though this claim has little to no grounding in archaeological research.

The first book modeled after this concept was written in the1970s. These books popularized the movement.

  • The Stone Age Diet
  • The Paelo Diet “Lose weight…eating the food you were designed to eat”
  • The Primal Blueprint “Reprogram your genes…maximum longevity”
  • The New Evolution Diet “Evolution Diet”
  • NeaderThin “Eat like a caveman”

Paleo Diet Recommendations – Eating Like a Caveman

The Paleo diet argues that modern diets make us very ill, and in order to improve our health, we need to eat a diet that more closely resembles the diet that our Paleolithic ancestors ate from 2 ½ million years ago to 10,000 years ago.

Paleo diets vary somewhat from book to book. The overall concept is the same, though there is some variation in what foods are to be avoided. Recommendations regarding meat consumption differ as well.

In many ways, the paleo diet is the exact opposite of the USDA’s food pyramid; the original government guidelines for a healthy diet. Paleo diets say fats are okay, but grains are not. In a paleo pyramid, meat makes up the base. Starchy vegetables and grains that make up the top of the pyramid are the foods to be avoided or minimized.

Many paleo followers hold to the belief that through the majority of human history we were primarily meat eaters. In truth, we ate more plants than meat.

Paleo Diets Recommendations

  • Meats & eggs,
  • Seafood & fish
  • Seeds & nuts
  • Leafy greens
  • Regional produce
  • Tubers such as sweet potatoes and yams (In moderation)

Only grass-fed or free-range meat and wild caught seafood are recommended due to the fact that grain-fed animals and farmed fish are less healthy than animals fed their natural diet.

Other Prohibited Foods

  • All processed foods
  • Dairy
  • Grains (no wheat, no pasta, no cereals)
  • No sugars, no fructose, or grain sweeteners
  • No beans

Most of the paleo diets exclude oils that are extracted through the use of chemicals or other unnatural means.

Since grains and processed foods are forbidden, the diet is naturally gluten free. Paleo dieters strongly recommend that everyone avoid gluten. They argue that nearly everyone is gluten intolerant.

Paleo diets avoid calorie counting. Proponents claim that Paleo foods are more nutritious and filling, so people are less likely to overeat, thus there is no need to count calories.

Paleo proponents claim the paleo diet reduces inflammation, lowers blood pressure, reduces oxidative stress, and provides increased protection against neurodegenerative diseases. Paleo proponents also stand behind the Paleo diet as a treatment for diabetes. The diet is said to reduce glucose and insulin levels.

Paleo Diet’s Lack Of Authenticity

Although it is a great idea to emulate the diet of our ancestors to improve our health, it is not possible to eat exactly like our ancestors did even 20,000 years ago, much less 2 million years ago. The majority of plants and animals that made up early man’s diet are either long extinct or are so different as to be unrecognizable.

In many cases, harmful or undesirable characteristics have been bred out of our domesticated plants. Wild foods are often full of substances to deter predation. Some plants produce natural pesticides, others have thorns, and many produce toxic substances of all kinds. The process of domestication of plants minimizes or eliminates negative or undesirable traits. It also increases desirable traits. Domestication has increased nutrient levels, calories, and digestibility. It has also improved the efficiency of cultivating these plants both through increased practicality and productivity.

Though most of the changes in our food crops are beneficial, there are also plants and animals that have been declining in quality. GMO fruits, vegetables, and dairy; mercury laden, polluted, and radiated seafood; and factory raised livestock are far more toxic and less nutritious than their organic counterparts. All conventionally raised produce is less nutritious than organic produce.

The Real Paleo Diet

Human beings have been able to survive in a variety of climates. There are some indigenous populations, such as people living in arctic areas, who ate a lot of meat because they had limited access to plant resources. In areas where more plants were available, comparatively more plants were eaten. And many plants are unique to a region. People used the resources available to them to survive. These factors alone make it clear that there was not one paleo diet, but many. What they ate in common was a diet filled with whole, fresh, organic foods.

Also, a fact rarely emphasized in the paleo diet is that our ancestors ate organ meats and bone marrow. Bone marrow was a good source of easily assimilated calcium. Bone stock and bone marrow are not commonly eaten in modern day cuisine, though many health advocates have recently recommended them.

Foraging For Produce

In order to eat a true paleo diet, we would have to return to foraging for food. Unfortunately, time is not the only negative factor involved.

Some edible plants have poisonous look-alikes. One mistake with mushrooms, or berries, or some other type of wild plant could prove fatal. Some plants are only to be eaten in small amounts, because when consumed in large amounts, they can be harmful. Another serious obstacle to everyone adopting a foraging lifestyle is that the world’s ecosystems could not withstand 7 billion people abruptly switching over to hunting and gathering. There are simply too many of us for that to work. Our species still must utilize a more intensive guided approach to producing our food, such as gardening, farming, and aquaculture.

There are many truisms to the Paleo approach. We should attempt to emulate the diet of our ancestors, at least in regards to the big picture. A paleo diet had lower grain and carbohydrate consumption, more protein, and more fiber, than modern diets. Paleo diets were made up of fresh foods, many of them raw. On the downside, real paleo diets were actually less diverse, and less healthy than the best diet available to us today.

A diverse, fresh, organic, 80% raw, plant-based diet is the healthiest diet. A full 80% of your diet should consist of fresh, raw, organic produce – more vegetables than fruit. Your diet should also include omega 3 fatty acids (fish oil, flax seed oil, or an oil blend) as well as other healthy fats such as olive oil and coconut oil. Seeds and nuts should be soaked to release enzymes. All meat should be organic and beef should be grass fed. Remember, when you are eating at the top of the food chain, you are essentially eating whatever that animal ate. If you eat a diseased malnourish animal that was fed GMO grains and shot full of antibiotics and growth hormones, will it benefit you and your health?

To truly be healthy, avoid all processed foods. Do not eat artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. No BHA, BHT, MSG, or GMOs. No trans fats. No processed sugar. Limit caffeine.

There is a benefit to the paleo diet mindset. We do need to return to eating natural unadulterated foods. Just keep that 80% raw fresh produce in mind if your ultimate goal is true health and vitality. Check out the 80% Raw Food Diet and learn how to make your own Total Nutrition Powder for a nutritional boost of vitamins and minerals.

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The Way We Used To Eat – The Real Paleo Diet

Without a doubt, our food used to be very different than the food we eat today. Our prehistoric diet consisted of fresh fruit, wild vegetables, roots, wild herbs, nuts, seeds, honey, some wild grains, seafood, and meat. We, as well as our primate antecedents that came before us, evolved to thrive on this plant based diet.

For literally millions of years, we consumed a diet rich in nutrients, low in toxins, high in fiber, and rich in fats. As good as that diet was, it wasn’t ideal. Many prehistoric foods had naturally occurring toxins in them and were lower in nutrients than the best foods available today. Plus, humans were restricted to the foods available in the area they foraged.

In modern times, we can improve upon our prehistoric diet, provided the core concept resembles the same ratios of macronutrients. These ratios of nutrients changed dramatically for the first time, ten thousand years ago when we adopted agriculture. It was then that our diet, and our society, changed forever.

Agriculture spread from one society to another, gradually becoming the dominant subsistence strategy. Farming further reduced variety and increased grains, a change that resulted in a significant decline in health. There is a lot of evidence to support the notion that a high carbohydrate diet, especially when compounded over generations, has a dramatically detrimental effect on human health and vitality. This decline in health can be seen across time and across many cultures.

The average Spanish conquistador was dwarfed in size by the average North American Native American. Spaniards ate a diet high in carbohydrates and low in protein, with limited fruits and vegetables. Native Americans of North America consumed many plants, some fruits and nuts, wild game, some carbohydrates (mostly from squash and corn), and for many tribes, plenty of seafood. The natives in North America could look down on the Spaniards by as much as a half a foot.

South American Natives and Mexican natives are and were significantly smaller in stature than their Northern counterparts. South American Natives relied on agriculture. With farming came a denser population whose diet focused on grains, leading to much higher carbohydrate consumption and less access to meat, nuts, herbs, and vegetables.

The effect that diet has on size is fascinating. Many people attribute genetics to differences in size. Among individuals with a similar diet, this is true. But between populations, like the American population and the Mexican population, diet, over generations, greatly contributes to the average difference in size. Although the effect diet has on size is very interesting, diet has many more profound effects on all aspects of health. Differences in diet lead to different diseases.

Many experts predict that our current population will not live as long as previous generations. Diabetes, heart disease, strokes, hypertension, kidney disease, and obesity are all on the rise, and these diseases are predicted to noticeably shorten the American lifespan. But the story of the American diet doesn’t end there. Our diet did not go from the best in the world to one of the worst overnight, and it won’t go back to the best quickly, either. To understand where we are going, and how diet affects us, it is helpful to understand where we have been and how our diet has affected us in the past.

Freedom has long been lauded as the reason why so many Europeans crossed the ocean. Though religious freedom was certainly a factor, food was probably the bigger incentive. During the time period when Europeans were first settling America, Europe was a very crowded continent. Farming opportunities for European settlers in America were the best in the world. Europeans came in droves to realize the American dream, the dream of being able to feed one’s family, to live in abundance, an abundance of food. It was a modest dream to be sure, but when you can’t feed your family or your family is fed in a substandard manner, it is a dream worth great risk and sacrifice to achieve.

Within generations, a profound difference in size and prosperity emerged between Americans and their European counterparts. This difference in size can still be seen today, but the size gap between Americans and Europeans during modern times is disappearing.

In the early 1800s, most Americans lived on or near farms. Foods were restricted by seasonal availability, and cooking was done on an open hearth, a labor-intensive method.

In 1820, the cast iron stove was introduced. For Americans living in the 1800s this was as timesaving as a microwave is versus a modern day oven. Unlike a microwave, a cast iron stove didn’t eradicate nutrients anymore than the previous cooking method did, it just saved time.

In 1892, the U.S. government collected height and weight data on a representative sample of U.S. men. In white males aged 40-69 years old, obesity was estimated to have been at 4%.

From that time to modern times, a number of changes happened to our food supply, including how food is prepared, how it is produced, its availability, and what foods we choose to eat.

These are some of the changes:

  • 1910s – Hydrogenated (trans fats) were introduced into the food supply
  • 1920s – Gas and electric stoves became common
  • 1920s – Refrigerators became common
  • 1920s – Canned foods and frozen foods were introduced

In the early 1900s, foods like Nathan’s Hot Dogs, Oreo Cookies, Wonder Bread, Yoo-Hoo, Wheaties, Kool-Aid, VanCamp’s Canned Pork and Beans, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were introduced into the American diet and became very popular.

Trans fats dramatically extend the shelf life of foods. Proctor & Gamble learned methods for hydrogenating cottonseed oil from a German scientist. This fat was originally intended for soap, but it resembled lard, so Proctor & Gamble successfully marketed it as Crisco. (The name comes from crystallized cottonseed oil.)

New technologies not only allowed for easy storage of food, they also allowed for a more diverse diet, a diet less beholden to seasonal availability. For the sake of convenience, many more ready- to-eat foods were developed. Refrigeration technology did not just change the foods in the home, it changed the foods available in stores and restaurants as well. And refrigerated train cars, in use since the 1840s, allowed for shipping foods long distances.

Refrigeration and electricity created a technological platform from which commercialized food became more commonplace. This change is important because it is not as profitable for commercially prepared food to be healthy as it is for it to simply taste good and have a long shelf life. It is easier and more profitable for food manufacturers to misrepresent their foods as healthy, than it is for them to actually be healthy.

Consider these ads:

Sugar Ads

This misrepresentation is achieved by focusing on a few upsides to commercially prepared foods while blatantly ignoring the numerous downsides. Food manufacturers don’t attempt to convince us how great sugar is anymore. Their methods have grown more sophisticated. For instance, “fat free” while loaded with sugar; zero trans fat, when high in other fats; “all natural,” when genetically modified; made with real blueberries, when everything else was made in a lab; and my personal favorite, “fortified with vitamins & minerals,” which means this Frankenfood is so dead that in order for it to have any nutrition at all, the manufacturer had to add the cheapest, most unnatural vitamins and minerals known to man.

A Changing Food Budget

In 1889, 93% of all food spending was for food consumed at home. In 2009, only 51% of all food spending was spent on food to be consumed at home. Of the food purchased to be consumed at home, much of it was highly processed and commercially prepared.

Changing Activity Levels

While the standard American diet drastically changed, so did the physical activity levels of the average American. Two hundred years ago, most professions were physically demanding and exercise was a way of life. Over time, this has dramatically changed. Some Americans exercise a few times a week, but it is common for many to never exercise at all.

Obviously, this has had profound effects on American health.

Trading one Disease for Another

The first alarms were sounded in the late 1970s. A senate committee pushed its “Dietary Goals for the United States” urging Americans to eat less fat. It was thought that red meat, eggs, and dairy were killing us.

By the 1980s, nearly a million Americans were dying of heart disease each year.

Again, Americans were told to eat less fat and eat more carbohydrates. These recommendations were built into a monument and lauded to the public as the salvation for American health: The Food Pyramid.

The Food Pyramid recommended carbohydrates as the staple of a healthy diet. Fat was a killer, or so we were led to believe, therefore recommendations for fat intake were drastically reduced. A $150 million dollar study, which pushed the same message, came fast on the heels of these recommendations. The study said to eat less fat and avoid foods high in cholesterol in order to reduce your risk of heart disease.

Americans followed this advice and consumption of grains and sugar rose. Americans are now sicker than before. Deaths from heart disease have dropped a bit, but obesity and diabetes rose dramatically.

Whole milk has been banned from most of our public schools, but strawberry milk, chocolate milk, and soda machines are usually available. Whole plain yogurt is usually difficult to find in a grocery store, but low fat, sugar filled, artificially flavored, artificially colored options are everywhere. The prevailing belief is that these low fat options are healthier, even when loaded with sweeteners, than whole milk.

Though deaths from heart disease have declined, cardiovascular disease remains the nation’s number # 1 killer. According to Time Magazine, diabetes has increased 166% from 1980 to 2012. The low-fat trend was directed toward lowering cholesterol. And yet, few realize that high fructose corn syrup, found in nearly every processed food, is today’s leading cause of high cholesterol.

A Downward Trend

In every measurable way, Americans are in worse health than ever before. It is widely predicted that our lifespan is shortening; the generations that came before us will outlive us, and we are likely to outlive the generations that succeed us.

Most Americans simply want to lose weight, but some aspire to be healthier as well. For either goal or both goals, many Americans have lost confidence in government guidelines and have begun to look for other diets to follow. In the absence of sound advice from the government, many have turned elsewhere for ways to lose weight or to improve their health.

This has led to waves of diet fads, diets that rise and fall in popularity. These are some of the more popular diets:

  • The Pritikin diet
  • The Atkins diet
  • The Gluten Free diet
  • The South Beach diet
  • The Mediterranean diet
  • Weight Watchers
  • The Zone Diet
  • Volumetrics
  • Raw Food Diet
  • NutriSystem
  • Macrobiotic Diet
  • The Paleo Diet

Many of the diets have been designed and championed by doctors.

The Pritikin diet basically echoes government recommendations, with less meat. The South Beach diet is very similar, with fewer carbs and more lean meats like fish and poultry. The Atkins diet is a protein-based weight loss plan that is low in nutrition and very unhealthy. It has been called a nutritionist’s nightmare. The gluten free diet works best if there is a reason for one to avoid gluten. Otherwise, unless one cuts back on carbs, it is unlikely to be beneficial to anyone trying to lose weight. Weight Watchers stresses eat what you want but in moderation and constantly count calories.

The Mediterranean diet is a seafood, wine, veggie, and whole grain weight loss plan similar to South Beach. The Zone diet suggests a rigid focus on macronutrients in regards to protein, carbs, and fat. Nutrisystem is the ultimate have someone else do it for you plan with all meals pre made and pre measured. Volumetrics promotes a focus on fruits and vegetables. Because of their fiber content, they make you feel more full. The raw food diet allows for unlimited raw vegan food.

These were among the most popular diets. Many diet fads were highly restrictive, absurd, dangerous, and downright scary like the grapefruit diet, the cabbage soup diet, the vinegar diet, and the liquid diet. Other approaches included the T.V. frozen dinner diet and even a Twinkie diet. The most dangerous and harmful diets were the diets that weren’t even based on food like the cigarette diet (whenever you’re hungry, just smoke), the eat sweets before a meal diet, or, even more crazy, the tapeworm diet, the baby food diet (substitute some of your meals with baby food), and worst of all the cotton ball diet, which recommended that you actually eat cotton balls dipped in juice. This is a choking hazard and can cause intestinal blockages, both of which can kill you. It was crazy, but these were all diets were practiced by some Americans.

Despite the variety of diets, popular and obscure, safe and dangerous, on average, Americans are fatter than ever before. Most Americans eat slightly less red meat and eat more lean meat, but they eat more sugar and more highly processed and refined foods. The CDC predicts that by 2030 up to 42% of the U.S. population will be obese, and 11% will be severely obese.

Experts do not agree on the health effect of grains and sweets. In Georgia, the only cereals WIC will pay for are cereals that contain some kind of sugar – corn sugar, sugar cane, or sugar from beets. Fruit juice sweetened and unsweetened cereals are considered health food and are not eligible for purchase under the program.

Over time, some foods have gone up in demand, while others have fallen in popularity. Sugar consumption from sugar cane has dropped 35% while corn based sweeteners (mostly high fructose corn syrup) consumption has risen by 8,853%. It’s not that Americans choose to eat corn syrup, they choose to eat processed foods, and high fructose corn syrup is added to nearly every processed food.

The current government guidelines are only a little different than the original food pyramid. The current recommendations are still high in grains, but the recommendation for fruits and vegetables is higher.

Conclusion

We recommend a diverse, whole food, plant-based diet. A full 80% of your diet should consist of raw, fresh, organic produce – more vegetables than fruits. Meats should be organic. Nuts and seeds should be soaked or sprouted. Grains should be limited and gluten should be avoided if any illness is present. Dairy should be organic and raw or limited. Omega 3 fatty acids from flaxseed oil, fish oil, or a blended oil and oily fish should be added to your diet. Clean water is also essential.

You should avoid all artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives; MSG; high fructose corn syrup; trans fats; and GMOs. Seriously limit or eliminate all processed sugar.

For more information about a truly healthy diet, read the 80% Raw Food Diet. Boost your nutrition with increased vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, learn how to make your own Total Nutrition Powder.

Recommended Supplements:
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Sources:


Understanding Stress, Chronic Stress, and Adrenal Fatigue

Stress is nothing new; it has been with us since time began. In its most basic incarnation, we are stressed when we are threatened and faced with fight or flight. In modern times, we need stress to focus our mind and to sharpen our wits. Stress helped to give us the edge we needed to survive. Large amounts of stress hormones (like cortisol and adrenaline) can enable us to do amazing things, feats beyond what we could do under any other circumstances.

Contents

Under the rush of life or death circumstances, our perception of time slows down. We become hyper-focused upon our goals, blocking out all other distractions. Relevant sounds become more prominent, irrelevant noise less so. Reflexes sharpen, and our reaction time improves. Pain is diminished, and we gain strength beyond measure. In those times, the world snaps into focus, and in the rush of the moment, we can reach beyond human limitations.

When it’s life or death, we can do amazing things.

There is a lot to be learned about how this process takes place in our bodies, and science has not yet teased apart all the steps of this complex phenomena. Ethical restraints prevent scientists from recreating life or death circumstances for study. But throughout the years, many people have been witness to extraordinary acts by those in the heat of the moment.

Rising to the Occasion

It was the primal response to danger that enabled Tom Boyle Jr. to do what would otherwise have been impossible. Sitting in traffic, Tom and his wife witnessed a gruesome spectacle. Sparks sprayed from beneath a car ahead of them as it drug 18-year-old Kyle Holtrust and his bicycle, his flesh being torn open along the road. After 20 to 30 feet, the driver finally came to a stop, and Tom Boyle leapt into action.

The bicyclist was pinned beneath the frame of his bike and a 3,000 lb. Camaro. Kyle screamed in agony, pounding the side of the car with his free hand. In that moment, Boyle reached under the frame of the 3,000 lb. car and lifted it off of Kyle. The driver of the car then pulled Kyle to safety. After an amazing 45 seconds of holding the car, Boyle set it back down. Boyle doesn’t deny that it was the extreme stress of the moment that made the difference “There’s no way I could lift that car right now.”

When it’s life or death, we can do amazing things. Other stories similar to this one are easy to find. A Canadian mother, Maureen Lee, used only her bare hands to throw a cougar off of her 3 yr. old daughter. Understandably, the cougar was terrified of her hysterical strength and ran away.

Angela Cavallo lifted a 1964 Chevrolet Impala off of her son after it fell off of the jacks and onto him. Angela held the car long enough for others to arrive and to put the car back onto the jacks. Lydia Angyiou attacked a polar bear that was threatening her son and another boy. While the boys ran for help, Lydia managed to engage the bear in physical combat long enough for help to arrive. Help came in the form of a neighbor armed with a gun. He shot the bear four times, ending the fight. Surprisingly, Lydia’s wounds were minor. This is the kind of stress that we are biochemically equipped to handle.

Unfortunately chronic stress can lead to all kinds of poor health outcomes

Life is expected to be stressful, and we are designed to rise to the occasion. But we are designed for extreme stress. In today’s modern world, extreme stress rarely happens. The kind of stressors that we encounter today are usually more of the low-level, ongoing variety like relationship troubles, financial difficulties, and abrasive bosses. Our bodies are not well equipped to handle long term, chronic stress. Ongoing stress can bring on a multitude of diseases and send us to an early grave.

It’s true; stress can kill you. The Japanese call this Karoshi, which means death from overwork. But it is the stress from work that kills us, not the work itself. That is, the stress and lack of sleep from overwork, which further adds to our stress.

Stomach ulcers were the first disease linked to chronic stress. It took many more years of research to learn that many diseases are linked to chronic stress.

The old saying, “Whatever doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger,” may not hold true when it comes to chronic stress.

Health Problems With Excessive Stress Hormones

  • Acne
  • Addictions
  • Anxiety
  • Alzheimer’s
  • Bone Loss
  • Cancer (due to reduced immune system)
  • Depression
  • Diabetes
  • Digestive problems
  • Heart disease (stress actually creates plaque in the arteries)
  • Infertility
  • Inflammation
  • Impaired immunity
  • Insulin resistance
  • Hypertension (high blood pressure)
  • Hyperglycemia (high blood sugar)
  • Metabolic syndrome
  • Memory and concentration impairment
  • Osteoporosis
  • Reduced libido
  • Senile dementia
  • Sexual Dysfunction
  • Stomach Ulcers
  • Strokes
  • Weight gain (stress encourages fat to be retained in the body, especially around the abdomen)

Unfortunately chronic stress can lead to all kinds of poor health outcomes, not just the problems listed above.

More Side-Effects of Chronic Stress

Mice subjected to chronic stress had smaller brains, fewer connections formed in their brains, and fewer brain cells. The areas of the brain associated with learning and memory were particularly affected.

Chronic stress kills human brain cells as well, and it has also been shown to lower I.Q. When we are stressed, our ability to use our higher-level thinking (our frontal lobes) is disrupted, as well as our ability to access memories.

Chronic stress may shorten telomeres. Telomeres are at the ends of our DNA strands. Every time a cell divides, telomeres are slightly shortened by the cell’s division. So by further shortening our telomeres, chronic stress can shorten your lifespan and make you age faster. Centenarians tend to possess two common traits: long telomeres and a low-stress approach to life.

Scientific understanding of the stress response has improved a great deal in recent years, but there is still a lot science does not yet fully understand. Physiological changes brought on by stress are very complex. What we do know is that when we are stressed our body releases adrenaline, endorphins, fibrinogen, norepinephrine, corticotrophin, cortisol, and vasopressin, and we have a working knowledge of the changes in the body that are brought on by these substances.

Stress Hormones Defined

Adrenaline is also known as the fight or flight hormone. Adrenaline gives you an instant surge of energy, and it focuses your attention to immediate threats. Adrenaline directs blood flow to our arms and legs. Heart rate and respiration quicken, and we may start sweating. Adrenaline is released from the adrenal glands after the brain sends a warning of imminent danger.

Corticotrophin’s primary function is to drive the release of other stress hormones. Corticotrophin also suppresses appetite, improves memory (even as other stress hormones dampen memory), increases overall anxiety, and it focuses attention. Corticotrophin also plays an important role in inflammation. Corticotrophin is produced in small quantities by white blood cells and in larger quantities by the hypothalamus.

Endorphins are released in times of stress to act as a natural painkiller. Many people report not feeling any pain from injuries until after the threat to life or limb has passed. By numbing our sense of pain, we are able to push ourselves further than we otherwise could, straining muscles and pushing past injuries to do what is needed.

Fibrinogen is a protein that aids in blood clotting, providing some protection against excessive bleeding. Fibrinogen is also why high levels of stress forms plaque on the arteries.

When your boss tells you that his or her job is more stressful than yours they’re probably lying…

Norepinephrine is a hormone that is very similar to adrenaline. It makes you very alert, more responsive and invigorated. It also diverts blood from the skin, the digestive tract, and other non-essential areas, shifting more blood to your muscles. This can further aid in any fighting or fleeing that you may need to do. The adrenal glands and the brain produce norepinephrine.

Although norepinephrine might seem redundant considering that adrenaline (which is also called epinephrine) mirrors its affects; it actually works as a back up and as a compliment to adrenaline. If your adrenal glands are not working well, you can still get a solid dose of norepinephrine from your brain.

Vasopressin is also known as the antidiuretic hormone or arginine vasopressin. This hormone causes reabsorption of water by the kidneys, which concentrates our urine. This is why we are less likely to think about trips to the bathroom in highly stressful situations. It also induces something called vasoconstriction, which is the constriction of blood vessels. This raises our blood pressure. Vasopressin is produced by the hypothalamus, then stored and later secreted by the pituitary gland.

Cortisol has been nicknamed the “stress hormone.” It is, in fact, not the stress hormone, but one of many. Cortisol does a lot of good things for us. It aids in metabolism and many other bodily functions. Under stressful situations, cortisol takes a little longer than the other stress hormones to kick in. It is meant to provide us with sustained energy over a longer period of time.

Stress hormones are some of the heavy lifters that helped Tom Boyle leverage the Camaro off of Kyle. This ability to respond to extreme circumstances with extreme measures is undoubtedly one of the upsides of having stress hormones. There are other benefits to stress hormones as well.

Positive Aspects of Stress

“He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.” – Edmund Burke

Stress can make you feel alive. It is this rush of stress hormones that give us that thrill when we are watching action movies or horror movies. Our bodies release stress hormones when we are watching sports and when we are playing games like paintball, laser tag, and video games. Some amount of stress is good, healthy, and invigorating. It can make us feel more “in the moment”.

Another upside to stress is its ability to act as an effective motivator. Ever heard that old adage, “I work best under pressure”? The right amount of stress sharpens our focus. The right amount of stress coupled with an optimistic outlook hones athletic performance. Under the right circumstances, stress can be our ally.

The difference between good stress and bad stress is mostly how we perceive the circumstances. The majority of people think of stress as something that happens to them, from external factors, like one too many straws that broke the camel’s back. This idea of one too many is often extended to those in mental institutions and prisons, as we ask, “What was the last thing that made those people snap?”

The idea of too much, too many, is a good model for physical stress. Bridges, houses, and buildings are all built to withstand a certain amount of physical stress. When subjected to too much stress at once or too much stress over an extended period of time, the structures collapse.

It’s All In Our Heads

Emotional stress doesn’t need to affect the body in the same way. All of our stress passes through our minds before it goes on to affect our bodies. Our thinking about stress either magnifies our stress or dampens it. Many of us think of our jobs as stressful, our boss as stressful, or traffic as stressful. Although some occupations are more stressful than others, we can mitigate the intensity of our stress by changing the way we think about it. Being stuck in traffic isn’t fun either, but we can all take a deep breath and listen to enjoyable music instead of obsessing about how much time we’re wasting looking at the sea of brake lights ahead. It is the way we react to these situations, the way we think about them, that makes them so stressful.

Many people thrive under stress, while others do not. Usually the difference is in perception, but it also helps when events are seen as being somewhat under their control. For many, powerlessness amplifies stress exponentially.

It’s Good to be King

Where you are in your corporate hierarchy also matters a great deal. When your boss tells you that his or her job is more stressful than yours they’re probably lying – if not to you, then at least to themselves. Numerous studies have shown that stress is lower at the top of corporate structures, not the other way around. The higher rank someone is, the less stress they endure and the longer they live. Rank does indeed have its privileges.

The Fine Line Between Stimulating and Stressful

Those who do well under stress also do not wallow in negative events. As an example, lawyers and doctors have stressful occupations. The difference between a lawyer or a physician coping well with their stressful careers lies in part with their ability to leave their job at work and not take the stress home with them. To those who thrive in stressful jobs, their jobs are rarely all that stressful-because they don’t perceive them to be that way. To them their job is challenging.

The right kind of stress is stimulation. The good kind is that thrill we get from a rollercoaster ride, the rush we get from a good horror movie, or the exhilaration we get from watching a sports game. Even in these examples, the way we perceive the stress is key.

Take sports for instance. It’s possible to become too emotionally involved in sports, even as a spectator. Sports fans have a way of feeling both the triumphs and failures of their favorite teams. Taken too far, this can be unhealthy.

In one study, researchers tracked the health outcomes of soccer fans. The Dutch fans of the European Cup Soccer game were devastated by their teams’ loss. The Dutch fans risk of heart attack increased by 50% shortly following the game.

So stress can take a lot out of us. Evolved out of dire necessity stress hormones divert energy away from reproduction, tissue repair, digestion, anything non-critical. Our bodies’ design is to worry about these things later, if there is a later. This can allow us to do incredible things, when life or death is at stake.

Ease The Pain

When stress is ongoing, it hurts our health and it takes away from our quality of life. Looking for a way to cope, many people try to self medicate when they are chronically stressed. Drug use and alcohol abuse are commonly used to cope with stress. We recommend turning to vitamins or supplements instead. A good B complex vitamin, tryptophan, and supplements for the adrenal glands are very effective without such harmful side effects. See Natural Remedies for Adrenal Fatigue below.

There are other adaptive ways to foster resilience. Caring and compassion create resistance to stress. Connecting with others and sharing a laugh are powerful ways to mitigate the harmful affects of stress.

Oxytocin is the body’s natural antidote to stress. Known as the cuddle hormone, it has anti-inflammatory properties and promotes healing, especially for cardiovascular damage.

Positive emotions also spur on the enzyme telomerase, an enzyme that can actually repair telomeres.

Apathy

Some amount of stress is actually good for us, and without some stress, boredom sets in. The key to coping with stress is to see hardships as challenges. If you can view some stress as helpful, it mimics the biological changes induced by joy and courage. The trick is to change your perception of stress from a negative thing to a positive motivator.

My favorite analogy about stress being helpful comes from Dr. Mike Evans. He describes optimal stress as keeping stress high but not too high. Perceive current events as relevant, but not overwhelming and manage it like a bicycle tire. Give it enough pressure to keep rolling, but not so much it explodes if you hit a bump in the road.

Release the Pressure and Handle Stress Better

When you feel close to that breaking point, there are a number of techniques you can use to bring the pressure back down to optimal levels. These include some of the old standbys like deep breathing, exercise, humor, meditation, spending time in natural surroundings, and sharing your troubles with your friends.

Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue

Chronic stress, stress managed poorly, poor sleep quality, and addictions lead to adrenal fatigue. When dealing with chronic stress, the adrenals are being severely taxed.

Adrenal fatigue is a collection of symptoms, known as a syndrome, that results when the adrenal glands function below the necessary level. Most commonly associated with intense or prolonged stress, it can also arise during or after acute or chronic infections, especially respiratory infections such as influenza, bronchitis or pneumonia. As the name suggests, its paramount symptom is fatigue that is not relieved by sleep, but it is not a readily identifiable entity like measles or a growth on the end of your finger. You may look and act relatively normal with adrenal fatigue and may not have any obvious signs of physical illness, yet you live with a general sense of unwellness, tiredness or “gray” feelings. People experiencing adrenal fatigue often have to use coffee, colas and other stimulants to get going in the morning and to prop themselves up during the day.” – What is Adrenal Fatigue?

Life is much harder when someone suffers from adrenal fatigue. When the adrenals aren’t working, the whole body isn’t working. The body does its best to make up for under-functioning adrenal glands, but it does so at a price.

Symptoms include:

  • ADHD
  • Anxiety
  • Balding lower legs
  • Body fat accumulation
  • Brainfog
  • Breast cancer
  • Chemical sensitivities to paint, fingernail polish, plastics
  • Chronic fatigue syndrome
  • Coffee, tea, or energy drinks addiction
  • Cold hands and feet
  • Constipation
  • Cravings for salty or sugary foods, alcohol, caffeine, high protein
  • Dark circles under eyes that does not go away with rest
  • Dependence on sunglasses
  • Depression
  • Dry skin
  • Dysmenorrhea advancing to amenorrhea
  • Electrolyte imbalance
  • EMF sensitivity, including cell phone and computer monitors
  • Endometriosis
  • Exercise helps first, but then feels worse
  • Feeling “wired” and unable to relax
  • Feeling of adrenaline rushes in the body
  • Feeling tired in the afternoon between 3:00 and 5:00 pm
  • Fibrocystic breast disease
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Grave’s disease
  • Hair falling, randomly or alopecia
  • Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
  • Heart palpitations
  • High or low blood pressure
  • Hollow cheeks
  • Hormonal moodiness, bad PMS
  • Hyper activity
  • Hypoglycemia symptoms, though lab results normal
  • Inability to handle stress
  • Inability to take in simple carbohydrate
  • Insomnia
  • Irritable bowel syndrome, with more constipation then diarrhea
  • Irritable under stress
  • Joint pain
  • Kidney health issues
  • Legs that feel heavy
  • Lines in fingernails
  • Lines in fingertips
  • Loss of healthy facial skin tone color
  • Low back pain
  • Low energy
  • Low libido
  • Low thyroid function, hypothyroidism
  • Muscle mass loss
  • Muscle pain
  • Numbness and tingling in extremities bilaterally
  • Ovarian cysts
  • Pale lips
  • Panic attacks
  • Polycystic ovarian syndrome
  • Poor emotional and coping ability
  • Post partum fatigue and depression
  • Premature aging skin
  • Premature menopause
  • Psoriasis
  • Recurrent miscarriages during first trimester
  • Short of breath
  • Systemic Candida
  • Temperature intolerance
  • Tinnitus (chorionic ringing in the ear)
  • Unable to get pregnant
  • Unexplained back or knee pain
  • Uterine fibroids
  • Vertigo
  • Wake up in the middle of the night
  • Weak immune response

Natural Remedies for Adrenal Fatigue and Chronic Stress

Adrenal fatigue can be treated naturally with herbs and supplements, but diet and good habits have to be in place. Bad habits need to be removed (caffeine, alcohol, smoking anything). The gut and thyroid need to be healed as well. 

The following herbs are used to treat adrenal fatigue:

  • Licorice
  • Rhodiola
  • Shisandra
  • Holy Basil
  • Ashwagandha root
  • Astragalus
  • Ginseng Root

The following vitamins and supplements are helpful in treating adrenal fatigue:

Candida and Adrenal Fatigue

Candida is the number one cause of poor health in our country. An overabundance of Candida will eventually cause adrenal fatigue (along with many other problems). If you’re experiencing adrenal fatigue, cut out stimulants completely. No more coffee. Clean the intestines.

Grounding for Adrenal Fatigue

Get outside and get grounded. Learn how to breathe! And take up yoga or meditation, preferably outside and barefoot.

Fitness for Adrenal Fatigue

Don’t push yourself too hard, but do exercise. Exercise is good for the thyroid and the adrenals. Any exercise from yoga to high intensity interval training (HIIT) will help you normalize your energy levels. But be careful with intensive training. If you have severe thyroid or adrenal problems, intense exercise could be dangerous. Once your body and your adrenals are responding to detoxification and proper nutrition, HIIT can radically accelerate the thyroid and adrenals’ improvement.

For long-term health, mix it up and add variety to your exercise routine.

Conclusion

The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another” – Dr. William James

If you feel that your life is stressful, and there’s no avoiding stress, you’re right. Stress is unavoidable. Life has a way of giving us ups and downs, and worse still, life has a way of kicking us when we’re down. We’ve all been there – when things couldn’t possibly get worse and then they do.

We all have choices to make. How are you going to take care of your body? Will you eat the healthiest diet possible? Will you exercise? Will you get enough sleep? How are you going to react to life’s inevitable setbacks?

These choices are actually life and death choices. This may sound melodramatic, but it is true. Poor nutrition, lack of sleep, little to no exercise and giving in to negative emotions will send us to an early grave. We have a choice in the way we live life, and our choices become our reality.

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Foods That Promote Candida Overgrowth and Lead To Leaky Gut Syndrome

Sugars

Any and all sugars feed yeast. On the other hand, all whole foods contain sugars, and every creature needs sugar to survive, including us. The trick is to eat the unrefined sugars in whole foods that have other nutrients bound to them, like fruit instead of fruit juices.

Most everyone is looking for a healthy sweetener. If you’re suffering from an overgrowth of Candida, no sugar is good sugar. Stevia can be used as a sweetener if the pancreas is working well, but stevia can cause problems to those who have blood sugar issues.

Believe it or not, these “healthy” sugars are not so healthy:

  • Agave nectar
  • Coconut sugar
  • Maple syrup
  • Brown rice syrup
  • Sugar cane juice
  • Sugar in the raw

That’s the short list. In order to heal the gut, sugars need to go.

Refined Foods

Breads, pastas, chips, flours, and other refined foods are out. Whole foods are in.

Juices

Sweet juices are just another form of refined sugar. Fresh pressed juice has lots of nutrition, but they don’t have fiber. All sweet juices feed yeast including beet and carrot juice. Vegetables that are not sweet, lemons, limes, and herbs like ginger and turmeric, make juices that do not feed yeast. Instead, they kill yeast.

Grains and Glutinous Foods

Gluten cannot be properly digested if you have an overabundance of Candida. Gluten sets up perfect conditions for parasites to thrive in the gut. Even worse, when the gut is permeated by Candida, gluten protein molecules can enter the bloodstream and cause an antihistamine, inflammation response.

When the gut is not healthy, any and all grains are more difficult to digest. This is why the Paleo diet that’s been so popular lately is known for healing the gut.

Fruits

Grapes, dates, figs, pineapple, and other very sweet fruits have lots of terrific health benefits, but they are so high in sugars they need to be avoided until the gut heals. With very bad Candida overgrowth, all sweet fruits should be avoided or severely limited for a week or two.

Processed Meats and Pork

Processed meats contain nitrates and other preservatives and artificial colors that kill beneficial flora, which allows Candida to flourish. They also typically contain dextrose or other sugars.

Pork contains retroviruses that survive cooking and may be harmful to those with a weakened digestive system. In addition, conventionally raised animals (non-organic) are typically feed genetically modified foods that should be avoided as well.

GMOs

GMOs kill beneficial flora, just like many of them destroy the gut in insects. But Candida doesn’t mind, and neither do other parasites or very opportunistic and dangerous viruses and bacteria. GMOs slowly destroy the whole digestive system.

Dairy products

Dairy is high in sugar and, therefore, should be avoided for Candida sufferers unless it has powerful probiotics that pass through stomach acid. Incidentally, when a baby has diaper rash, it is almost always Candida, due to formula or because the mother has Candida overgrowth, and the baby is drinking her milk. With healthy mother’s milk, the probiotics in the milk easily pass the baby’s weaker stomach acid and reach the intestinal tract. With adults, while raw milk from healthy animals or humans is better for us, is easier to digest, and does not feed infection to the same degree as pasteurized milk, it still feeds Candida in adults due to the fact that our stomach acid kills the weaker probiotics found in milk.

Alcohol

Alcohol destroys healthy gut flora and damages gut tissue, leaving behind the perfect home for Candida.

Chemicals

Chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, artificial colors, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives all at least hinder, if not destroy, healthy gut bacteria.

Peanuts, Pistachios, Cashews

Peanuts, pistachios, and cashews are often contaminated with fungi. It is best to avoid them while ridding your body of Candida.

Conclusion

Basically, your diet needs to be as healthy as possible while omitting sweet fruits and vegetables until your Candida overgrowth is gone. The healthiest diet is the 80% Raw Food Diet. Just withhold the foods listed above until your gut is healed.

And to learn more about natural means to kill Candida and heal your gut, readBest Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections  and Gluten Intolerance, Wheat Allergies, and Celiac Disease – It’s More Complicated Than You Think

Recommended Supplements:
Further Reading:


6 Antioxidant-rich Foods for Good Health

Antioxidants are natural substances that offer protection against cell damage. In addition, they help fight free radicals, highly reactive molecules that can damage your healthy cells, DNA, and protein. In fact, free radical damage can lead to cancer. Fruits and vegetables are good sources of antioxidants. Adding antioxidant-rich foods to your diet can be beneficial for your health.

Apples

Apples are a good source of antioxidant flavonoids. Flavonoids offer protection to plants against ultraviolet light and pathogens. In addition, these compounds impart color to flowers and fruits. According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2002, flavonoid intake is associated with a lower risk of chronic diseases. There are many simple ways to include apples in your diet. Give a fruity appeal to your omelet by adding apples. Grate apples and add to waffles or pancakes. You can also toss a few slices on your oatmeal.

Onions

In addition to providing flavor, onions provide health-promoting nutrients such as calcium, vitamin C, iron, dietary fiber, and folic acid. Furthermore, onions contain the flavonoid quercetin. According to the National Onion Association, studies have demonstrated that eating onions may help reduce the risk of certain diseases. Consumption of onions may help prevent gastric ulcers by inhibiting the growth of Helicobacter pylori, a microorganism responsible for causing ulcers. To reap its benefits, add sauteed chopped onions to any vegetable dish. You can also top your plain rice with onions and sesame seeds.

Strawberries

Deliciously sweet strawberries possess a strong antioxidant capacity. A study published in the journal “Food Chemistry” found that eating strawberries regularly can boost blood antioxidant levels and prevent chronic diseases. Also, these soft red fruits help maintain healthy eyes and skin. Flavonoids present in strawberries help fight free radical formation, thereby reducing the risk of dementia, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. You can enjoy strawberries as an afternoon snack or toss a handful in your morning cereal.

Eggplant

Eggplant contains chlorogenic acid that exhibits very strong antioxidant activity. According to the researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, chlorogenic acid in eggplant not only helps fight free radicals, it also helps lower cholesterol. The compound can prevent cells from changing into cancer cells. To reap the benefits, add eggplant cubes to your curry sauce and serve over brown rice. Top your pizza with eggplant cubes.

Kiwi

Kiwi is packed with two vital antioxidants: vitamin A and vitamin E. Both of these vitamins help keep free radical damage at bay. Eating kiwis can help keep your blood pressure under control. By incorporating kiwis into your diet, you can give your immune system a boost. Fiber found in the fruit helps in the digestion of food. You can enjoy kiwi in many ways. Use it in fruit tarts. Make a chilled soup by blending cantaloupe and kiwifruit together. You can also add the fruit to tossed green salads.

Blackberries

According to The Berry Health Benefits Network, blackberries are rich in vitamin C, ellagic acid, and fiber. Studies have shown that these nutrients help in decreasing the risk of certain cancers. A phenolic compound, ellagic acid has antiviral, anticarcinogen, and antibacterial properties. Furthermore, blackberries have the highest antioxidant levels of all fruits. You can use blackberries in jellies and jams. Mix them into plain yogurts or make a blackberry milkshake by blending blackberries with low-fat vanilla ice cream.

Conclusion

Adding antioxidant-rich foods to your diet will enhance your ability to fight disease. Also, make sure to lead a healthy lifestyle by exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, avoiding smoking, and minimizing alcohol consumption. Unhealthy lifestyle habits can increase the formation of disease-causing free radicals.

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Foods To Avoid With Gluten Intolerance or Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease in which the body reacts to the protein found in gluten in a unique way. With most food allergies, people experience a reaction immediately or within minutes of consuming the offending substance. For those with celiac disease, a reaction occurs up to 72 hours later and could be extreme or largely go unnoticed, which can confuse and delay an accurate diagnosis.

T cells attack the lining of the small intestine in response to gluten being passed through the digestive tract. Over time, villi in the small intestine are damaged beyond repair, severely inhibiting the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from food.

Symptoms

There are over 300 known symptoms of celiac disease. The more common symptoms are listed below.

  • Abdominal bloating and pain
  • ADHD
  • Anemia
  • Arthritis
  • Anxiety
  • Bone pain
  • Bedwetting
  • Chronic fatigue
  • Constipation
  • Delayed growth and puberty
  • Depression
  • Diarrhea
  • Eczema
  • Failure to thrive
  • Infertility
  • Irritability
  • Irregular menstrual periods
  • Joint pain
  • Malnutrition
  • Migraines
  • Miscarriages
  • Osteoporosis
  • Persistent canker sores
  • Rashes
  • Seizures
  • Tingling sensation or numbness in hands or feet
  • Unusually foul-smelling stool, blood or undigested foods in stool
  • Unexplained weight loss
  • Vomiting

Diet Is the Only Known Treatment

The treatment for sufferers of celiac disease is to avoid gluten entirely, to eat a completely gluten-free diet. The FDA does not require food manufacturers to list gluten on their labels. Wheat is required to be clearly labeled, but gluten is not. The following foods contain gluten:

  • Wheat
  • Barley
  • Bulgur
  • Couscous
  • Durum
  • Einkorn
  • Emmer
  • Farina
  • Farro
  • Kamut
  • Malt
  • Mir
  • Oats (unless labeled gluten free oats- oats are often contaminated)
  • Rye
  • Seitan
  • Semolina
  • Spelt
  • Triticale

Gluten is commonly found in breads, bread crumbs, baked goods, beer, biscuits, brewer’s yeast, brown rice syrup (often made with barley enzymes), cereals, communion wafers, crepes, croutons, dextrin, flour tortillas, food coloring, food starch, French toast, granola, gravies, herbal teas, malt vinegar, marinades, sauces, pancakes, pastas, roux, salad dressing, soup, soy sauce, starch, stuffing, waffles, and wine. Any processed food made in a facility that also processes foods with gluten may be contaminated.

Other non-food items that may not be gluten free include:

  • Lipbalm, lipgloss, lipstick
  • Supplements
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Vitamin and mineral pills
  • Over the counter medications
  • Playdough (some kids will eat copious amounts of the stuff when playing with it)

This list is not meant to be comprehensive. Many processed foods contain gluten, and unless the package says certified gluten free, it probably isn’t. Many items that one might think are gluten free like corn flakes and rice cereal use malt or barley extract as a sweetener. Restaurants that do not offer gluten-free menus cannot guarantee that their food is gluten free. And sadly, many that do offer gluten-free choices contaminate the food while preparing it.

Conclusion

Celiac disease is a very serious condition that requires strict dietary changes in order to heal the gut and properly digest the nutrients in food. Celiac disease is now recognized as either a pre-curser or a companion disease to many other autoimmune diseases. We highly recommend that anyone with any autoimmune disease completely remove gluten from their diet and concentrate on healing the gut. Be sure to check out Gluten, Candida, Leaky Gut Syndrome, and Autoimmune Diseases.

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