Is Coffee Good For You?

One popular study suggests moderate coffee consumption (three to five cups a day) diminishes risks for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.¹ Another study states coffee has several metabolic effects that could reduce the risk of gallstone formation.² Many coffee advocates speak of enhanced brain function and athletic performance. And perhaps the most common argument for consuming the substance more people are addicted to than any other is its antioxidant content. But not all studies on coffee are positive. There is a study that links coffee consumption to reduced incidents of breast cancer, but also states it may result in shrinking women’s breasts and enlarging men’s breasts if three or more cups are consumed per day.³ While some studies would disagree, many studies suggest diminishing health benefits and increased risk with greater consumption.^4,5 At OLM, we believe there are much better ways to prevent and cure Alzheimer’s disease and dementia than drinking coffee. A healthy diet will prevent these age-related diseases, and chelation therapy can cure them. Gallstones are also a sign of overall poor health and poor diet. Enhanced brain function and athletic performance can be attributed to caffeine intake, but its effects are fleeting. Like any drug, caffeine works great at first, but sooner or later more and more caffeine is required for you to function at the same level. As with any stimulant, you are better off in the long run without it. As far as antioxidants are concerned, if cocaine were high in antioxidants, that wouldn’t make it healthy. While coffee is high in antioxidants,⁶ there are plenty of other ways to get antioxidants. And while studies have suggested that coffee consumption may reduce the risk of heart disease due to the antioxidants, another study suggests that coffee leads to heart disease.⁷ So, is coffee healthy, or unhealthy? One concern we at OLM have is the pH. Coffee is low-acid, with a pH between 4.5 and 6. While citrus juices are significantly more acidic, alternative health practitioners usually tell you coffee has more of an acidifying affect on the body than any fruits or fruit juices. Regardless of the pH level, the most significant concern we have with coffee is the sugar and/or fake sugar, and the cream and/or fake creamer people put into their coffee. There also may be a significant difference between fresh ground bean coffee and instant coffee. While we did not find studies comparing the two and their health benefits, we typically don’t trust refined processed and/or packaged foods.

References:

Editor’s Note

When I drink coffee, I get a headache in the back of my head near my neck and my kidneys hurt almost immediately. I never developed much of a taste for coffee, but I know for a fact that it is not good for me. I also believe that coffee can be very hard on the kidneys causing diarrhea, kidney stones, and urinary tract infections. It’s also bad for your central nervous system (that’s why some people get those headaches). When advising people on their health, I always recommend cutting out coffee. But if you do choose to drink coffee, avoid the junk most people put into it. Drink it black or sweetened with raw sugar.

Spinach

Spinach is one of the greatest super foods. It is a rich source of Vitamins A, B2, B6, C, E and K; magnesium; manganese; folate; iron; calcium; potassium; folic acid; copper; phosphorous; zinc; niacin; selenium; and omega-3 fatty acids. It contains good levels of protein, is packed with phytonutrients (potent substances that have been shown to fight cancer), and contains lutein, which studies have shown protects against macular degeneration and cataracts. It also contains a carotenoid called neoxanthin, which has been shown to lower incidence of breast cancer in women, and prostate cancer in men. The folate content in spinach is beneficial for protection against heart disease. High levels of folate help neutralize the harmful effects of homocysteine, which raises the risks of both heart disease and stroke. The high levels of calcium and vitamin K can reduce the risk of osteoporosis in women. Spinach is so packed with nutrients, it is highly recommended for pregnant women. It is also a powerful anti-inflammatory, so it is excellent for arthritis sufferers. Though spinach is also a good source of iron, it is nowhere near as good as most people think. This is due to an error made by Dr. E. von Wolf, who originally classified the nutrient value of spinach in 1870. Unfortunately, in his notes he misplaced a decimal point and thus spinach was thought to have 10 times its actual iron content. The mistake wasn’t discovered for 70 odd years. However, iron aside, not many foods can pack all that punch. Spinach is related to chard, beets and sorrel, and comes in many different varieties. If you are lucky enough to live near an Asian supermarket, you should try swamp spinach (also known as kangkong). This variety is just as beneficial as the conventional supermarket ones, but is quite a lot cheaper since it does not need to be cultivated. It comes in big bunches and looks a little like long, thin pak choi. It is eaten all over Asia. The more common varieties you will find in the supermarkets are:

Smooth Flat Leaf

This variety usually comes washed and ready to eat. It is excellent eaten raw in salads and wilted to serve as a garnish.

Semi-Savoy

Crinkly edged yet similar to a light cabbage leaf, this variety lends itself to being used as a side of green vegetables with a meal or tossed into a stir fry at the very last minute for a few seconds.

Savoy

This variety is the hardiest and is best suited for shredding and adding to bold soups such as Ribollita or Pistou. It needs a good washing as the wrinkles in the leaves gather a lot of grit and soil. Whichever type of spinach you use or whatever the dish for which you use it, there is one fundamental basic to using spinach. If you are cooking with it, you must not cook it longer than 20-30 seconds. In restaurants, this is known as “al minuto”, which means “to the minute”. If you don’t exceed this then you will have bright, vibrant, tasty spinach with lots of colour and texture. However, if you cook it for too long you will end up with mushy, bitter-tasting brown sludge that will have all the appeal of tinned spinach! The first recorded instances of spinach being consumed as a vegetable date back to 7th century China, long before it became popular in the courts of Europe. It was particularly popular amongst the Italian aristocracy, Catherine de Medici (the Medicis were a very powerful medieval family in Florence in the Middle Ages) was so fond of spinach that when she married the king of France, she brought her own chefs to cook it the way she liked it. Since then dishes served on a bed of spinach have been known as “a la Florentine.” As far as vegetables go, nutritionally speaking, spinach is hard to beat. Wilted in a wok, in a little olive oil or butter, with black pepper and a little grated nutmeg… what’s not to like?

Spinach and Chickpea Spanish Tortilla

There are so many great things you can say about this dish! Pulses are packed full of protein and are rich in folates. Spinach is probably one of the healthiest foods around; it contains practically every vitamin and mineral.

Quick and easy to make, this is a wonderful evening meal for those in a rush, or an ideal lunch to eat out in the garden.

The ‘Tortilla’ title sometimes confuses people. In Spain a tortilla is not a floury wrap but a thick omelette that is cut up into slices and served as tapas.

Of course, all ingredients should be organic whenever possible!

Ingredients:

1 Small Onion Finely Chopped
2-3 Cloves Garlic Finely Chopped
1 Small Red Chili Finely Chopped
4 oz Chickpeas (Ready Cooked or Tinned)
4 oz Baby Spinach Leaves Washed
6 Large Eggs
Handful Chopped Parsley
Pinch Ground Cumin
Pinch Cayenne Pepper
Salt and Pepper

Method:

In a non-stick fry pan or heavy skillet, sauté the onion, garlic, and chili in a littleolive oil for a couple of minutes until soft.
Add the spinach leaves to the onion mixture along with the chickpeas and sauté for a couple more minutes until the spinach has wilted.
Sprinkle in the seasonings and the parsley.
Whisk up the eggs in a bowl, then pour over the chickpea mixture in the fry pan and roll around to get an even thickness. Cook over a low heat on the stove then finish off under a grill, or bake the whole skillet in a moderate oven until set.
Slide out onto a plate, cut into wedges, and serve with a nice tossed salad and red slaw for a health-packed 10-minute meal!

Raw Spinach Basil Soup Recipe

4 cups water
1 bunch spinach (chopped to fit in blender)
½ bunch basil (or about 2 cups loosely packed)
¼ small red onion
1 med cucumber
1 med tomato
2 stalks celery
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ cup olive oil
1 med clove garlic
1 tsp sea salt
Pinch of cayenne optional

Blend until smooth

All ingredients should be organic when ever possible!

Sugar and Testosterone

Just say the words gonads, testosterone or any of the unprintable slang associated with testicles, sex, and male virility and you’ll get a laugh or at least amused looks. Now, say those words again, but in a context that says, “You’re going to lose that capability, son,” and watch what happens. The collective scream you hear is shrill enough to replace the air raid sirens America abandoned in the 1980s.

New research so fresh that it hasn’t yet appeared in a journal article says flat out that eating sugar reduces testosterone levels in the blood by up to 25 percent across the board. The researchers found 74 men at Massachusetts General Hospital with a range of tolerances to glucose (42 normal blood sugar, 23 impaired glucose tolerance “prediabetic” and 9 actually with Type-2 Diabetes) and gave them 75g of a glucose solution. In many cases, the effect lasted at least 2 hours after ingestion and affected all types of men in the study. Of 66 men listed as having normal testosterone levels in a fasting state before the test, 10 developed a hypogonadal (low testosterone) state at some point during the two hours of the test.ⁱ

The actual intent of the research funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Diabetes Association was to refine testing methods for low testosterone levels. Current methodology says to test the man in the morning on two different days and get an average reading to see if the man is truly hypogondal or if the low testosterone will pick up later. So far, no one has said that a man should fast before taking the blood test—until now.

The link between sugar, insulin, obesity, diabetes, the metabolic syndrome and testosterone levels had been touched on in other research that has come out recently. Only these researchers worked backwards relative to this new study; they took people with known elements of the metabolic syndrome (diabetes, obesity, and heart disease) and tested their testosterone levels. Many subjects had low testosterone.

In recent research conducted in Berlin, the conclusion read in part “Lower total testosterone and sex-hormone-binding-globulin (SHBG) predict a higher incidence of the metabolic syndrome…Administration of testosterone to hypogondal men reverses the unfavorable risk profile for the development of diabetes and atherosclerosis.”ⁱⁱ

In Finland where similar research is regularly conducted the researchers came up with this gem: “Low total testosterone and SHBG levels independently predict development of the metabolic syndrome and diabetes in middle-aged men. Thus, hypoandrogenism (hypogondal) is an early marker for disturbances in insulin and glucose metabolism that may progress to the metabolic syndrome or frank diabetes.” ⁱⁱⁱ

It seems that these previous studies were waiting for someone else to have a “The Emperor Seems Naked” moment and try out the inverse of their results in which you give sugar to mostly healthy people and see what happens. No longer should low testosterone be considered just a symptom of the metabolic syndrome, but as what both are…a result of too much sugar in our diet.

We at Nancy Appleton Books have already touched on sugar causing the metabolic syndrome in previous articles like 140 Reasons Why Sugar Ruins Your Health. In it we make simple declarative statements about many of sugar’s ill effects:

Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose.iv
Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.viii
Sugar can lead to obesity.v
Sugar can cause heart disease.vii
Sugar can cause metabolic
syndrome.viii

One way sugar lowers testosterone is through its effect on the adrenal glands.ix
Sugar taxes the adrenal glands and these glands interrelate with the sex hormone glands (testes and ovaries) that produce testosterone and estrogen.^x

These ailments listed above are elements of and highly associated with the metabolic syndrome, which we have linked to the excessive intake of sugar. The research in Massachusetts says that sugar causes low testosterone. Similar research around the world says that low testosterone is highly associated with the various elements of the metabolic syndrome. So how many times do we have to enjoy the circular logic before we simply say that sugar causes both the low testosterone and the ailments in the metabolic syndrome? Put more simply, sugar kills in a multitude of ways and this one affects men where they really live, in the bedroom.

Miracle Berry

The miracle berry or miracle fruit is a little red berry that changes the way our taste buds respond to acids. When a berry is chewed, the tongue becomes coated with a protein called miraculin. Miraculin alters the taste buds for 30 minutes to two hours causing lemon juice to taste sweet and goat cheese tastes like cheesecake. Even Tabasco sauce tastes like a sugar glaze.

Miracle fruit is not new. West African tribes have been eating these berries for hundreds of years and they have been known by the West for nearly 300 years.

In the 1970s the Miralin Company tried to bring miracle fruit products to the U.S. market. Initial conversations with the FDA were favorable for approving miracle fruit under the GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) Category, the category used by the FDA for foods that have a long history of being eaten with no deleterious side effects. Since miracle berries had been eaten for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, they clearly met the requirements for this approval. But as the time neared for the FDA’s final ruling, strange events occurred. Miralin employees reported they were followed home by strange cars. Their offices were photographed. Files were stolen in a break-in. Anonymous articles were printed in a Jamaican newspaper (where the company owned berry farms) bashing the company and the product. Within weeks Miralin’s request for GRAS status was denied. The Miralin Company never did succeed in bringing miracle fruit products to market. Due to the FDA ruling, the company folded. The FDA denies the claim that pressure from the artificial sweetener companies or the sugar industry led to their unfavorable ruling.

Today the miracle berry is once again gaining attention. Freeze dried tablets and fresh berries can be purchased through the Internet. Fresh berries sell for $2.00-$2.50 each and have a short shelf life. Freeze dried tables sell for around $15.00 for a pack of 18.

If these prices are too steep, consider growing your own. Miracle berry plants are an attractive leafy evergreen with shiny leaves, which can be grown in frost-free climates as well as indoors. If planted in the right soil and carefully tended, they will bear fruit within three years.

So, if you’re interested in taste-tripping, include miracle berries and a taste-treat buffet for your next party.

Dandelions

Often considered a pesky weed, dandelions have become an underappreciated, yet highly nutritious, perennial plant. Dandelion’s scientific name is Taraxacum Officinale, which roughly translated means the “official remedy for disorders.” Dandelion leaves (along with the roots and flowers) have enjoyed a long history as a highly regarded folk remedy throughout the world. Dandelion was used in Europe to treat boils, fevers, eye disorders, diarrhea, edema, liver congestion, digestive complaints and skin disorders. Chinese used it mainly for breast, liver and digestive disorders. In India, Russia and other parts of the world, it was used as a general liver tonic. Legend has it that even the people of Atlantis relied on dandelion as a food and nutritive tonic.

Originally from Europe, dandelions were brought to America by early colonists. Healers on the early American frontier often recommended dandelion greens as a rejuvenating springtime tonic because of its high nutrient content and vast healing properties. Today, the dandelion is beginning to see a resurgence in appreciation among the general population, and for good cause! Dandelion leaves are a rich source of many vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, C, E, D, K, the range of B vitamins, calcium, iron, potassium, zinc, and magnesium. They are higher in beta-carotene than carrots and have more iron and calcium than spinach. According to scientific analysis, a one-cup serving has more vitamin A than most supplements and as much calcium as half a glass of milk. As if this wasn’t enough, the greens are also a natural source of omega-3 and 6 essential fatty acids.

The healing properties of dandelion greens center primarily around the digestive organs. As a bitter green, dandelion helps support digestion by encouraging the production of digestive enzymes and stomach juices. It has a mild diuretic effect, improving the way kidneys cleanse the blood and recycle nutrients. However, unlike over-the-counter or prescription diuretics, it doesn’t leach potassium. Dandelion greens are a rich source of chlorophyll (the green pigment that helps plants turn sunlight into energy), which helps to promote the growth of beneficial intestinal flora. Their digestive-stimulating, blood-cleansing, kidney-improving properties also make dandelion greens beneficial for clearing up skin issues and reducing swelling and inflammation.

Although this “official remedy for disorders” is available year-round, its peak season is April and May. The easiest way to get your hands on some is to purchase a fresh bundle at your local grocer or farmers market. But if you decide to give foraging a go, keep in mind that the greens are best picked when they are young and tender, before the flowers have bloomed.

Dandelion leaves have a bitter and tangy flavor that is a great addition to salads. They are also delicious quickly steamed then sautéed with garlic and olive oil. Older leaves tend to be a little tougher and should be cooked longer in soups or stews. To prepare dandelion greens simply wash them under cold water to remove any dirt and trim the bottom where the leaves were picked. Then toss into your salad, soup, stir fry, or sauté pan! purify the blood and