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:

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:

• Shillington’s Total Nutrition Formula

Further Reading:

• 80% Raw Food Diet
• Is the Paleo Diet a Fraudulent Fad or the Healthiest Diet To Hit Mainstream? Could It Be Both?

Sources:

• The Height Gap – The New Yorker
• The American Diet – Stephan Guyenet
• Debunking The Paleo Diet – Christina Warinner
• Processed Foods History – Modern Pioneer Mom
• The Rise and fall of trans fat: A history of partially hydrogenated oil – LA Times
• The Ten Most Famous Fad Diets of All Time – Everyday Health

Mercury is an element (Hg on the periodic table) that is naturally found in our environment in the air, water, rocks and soil. Mercury can be found in several different forms: metallic mercury, inorganic mercury compounds, and organic mercury compounds.

Metallic mercury is also known as elemental mercury. At room temperatures, this form of mercury is a dazzling silver liquid. When heat is applied, metallic mercury becomes an odorless, invisible gas.

How does Mercury get into the Environment?

Mercury naturally occurs in our environment, but much more of it would be trapped in rocks beneath the surface if not for industrial processes. Coal-fired electricity generation, burning fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas, smelting, mining, and incineration of waste are the main contributors of mercury to the environment. Of these coal power plants account for over half of the mercury that ends up in our seafood. Mercury used to manufacture light bulbs, switches and thermometers also pollutes due to poor adherence with safe disposal.

The Bioaccumulation of Mercury in Its Most Toxic Form

Mercury is emitted to the air through burning coal and falls onto the ground and bodies of water usually by way of rain and snow. Several species of soil-dwelling anaerobic bacteria that take up sulfate convert inorganic mercury to methylmercury through their metabolic processes. This conversion is problematic from an ecological point of view, because methlymercury is more toxic and it takes much longer for organisms to eliminate it from their systems. Bacteria that contain methlymercury either excrete the mercury into water or organisms higher up the food chain consume the mercury-laden bacteria. Methylmercury then travels the waterways to the ocean.

Methylmercury in water travels up the food chain from being absorbed by phytoplankton. Phytoplankton is then eaten by zooplankton, small fish then eat zooplankton, and small fish get eaten by larger marine life and so on. Methlymercury accumulates in organisms faster than they can eliminate it. Animals consume and retain higher amounts of mercury each step up the food chain. This is why methlymercury is found in the highest amounts in large predatory fish such as tuna. This mercury biomagnification is most problematic for fish-eating wildlife such as dolphins and some whales and certainly poses a problem for us.

The Seafood Highest in Methylmercury

This is how Scientific American and their article How Does Mercury Get Into Fish rank the severity of mercury contamination in fish.

Highest in Mercury:

• Bluefin tuna
• Walleye
• King mackerel
• Marlin

Higher in Mercury:

• Bluefish
• Shark
• Swordfish
• Wild sturgeon
• Opah
• Bigeye tuna

Also of concern, but to a slightly lesser extent:

• Orange roughy
• Chilean sea bass
• Blue crab
• Lingcod
• Spanish mackerel
• Spotted seatrout
• Wahoo
• Grouper
• Snapper
• Halibut
• Tile fish
• Rock fish
• Sable fish
• Blackfin
• Albacore
• Yellowfin tuna

Seafood Lower In Methylmercury

We recommend consuming a variety of fish that have lower contamination levels:

• Anchovies
• Butterfish
• Catfish
• Clam
• Crab (Domestic)
• Crawfish/Crayfish
• Croaker (Atlantic)
• Flounder*
• Haddock (Atlantic)*
• Hake
• Herring
• Mackerel (N. Atlantic, Chub)
• Mullet
• Oyster
• Perch (Ocean)
• Plaice
• Pollock
• Salmon (Canned)**
• Salmon (Fresh)**
• Sardine
• Scallop*
• Shad (American)
• Shrimp*
• Sole (Pacific)
• Squid (Calamari)
• Tilapia
• Trout (Freshwater)
• Whitefish
• Whiting

Conclusion

Always make sure any seafood you consume are sustainably caught, not farm raised, and fresh (not “fishy” smelling). Include foods in your diet that naturally chelate heavy metals like cilantro, garlic, onions, brazil nuts, chlorella, and spirulina. Check out this recipe for a homemade multi-vitamin nutrition formula that chelates heavy metals. And read Detoxify from Heavy Metals and the first three sources below for more on detoxifying mercury.

 Recommended Supplements:

• Shillington’s Total Nutrition Formula
• Shillington’s Intestinal Detox
• Shillington’s Blood Detox
• HM Complex – Pure Encapsulations
• Basic B Complex – Thorne Research

Further Reading:

• Top 5 Foods that Detox Heavy Metals and Toxins
• 5 Reasons to Avoid Factory-Farmed Fish
• How to Detoxify from Vaccinations & Heavy Metals
• Mercury Fillings, Root Canals, Cavitations – What You Need to Know
• Oceana Company Highlight

Sources:

• How Does Mercury Get Into Fish – Scientific American
• So Where Does All That Mercury in Fish Come From? – Eco Centric
• How Does Toxic Mercury Get into Fish? – Oceanus Magazine
• Mercury in the Environment – U.S. Geological Survey

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

• Rising to the Occasion

• Side-Effects of Chronic Stress

• Stress Hormones Defined

• Positive Aspects of Stress

• It’s All In Our Heads

• It’s Good to be King

• The Fine Line Between Stimulating and Stressful

• Ease The Pain

• Apathy

• Release the Pressure and Handle Stress Better

• Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue

• Natural Remedies for Adrenal Fatigue and Chronic Stress

• Candida and Adrenal Fatigue

• Grounding for Adrenal Fatigue

• Fitness for Adrenal Fatigue

• Conclusion

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.

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.

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.

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:

• B-complex – especially B5
• Vitamin C
• Adrenal extracts

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.

Recommended Supplements:

• Total Nutrition Formula
• Adrenal Cortex – Thorne Research
• Stress B Complex – Thorne-Research
• Shillington’s Female Energy Formula
• Shillington’s Male Formula
• Thyrocsin Thyroid Support – Thorne Research

Further Reading:

• Natural Remedies for Adrenal Fatigue
• Understand Hypothyroidism – Prevention and Natural Remedies
• Mental Health, Physical Health & B Vitamins – Nature’s Valium
• 10 Things You Can Do To Have More Energy
• Is Coffee Healthy?
• How to Kill Candida and Balance the Your Inner Ecosystem
• Earthing, Grounding
• How to Breathe
• Yoga – A Beginner’s Guide
• Make Your Immune System Bulletproof with These Natural-Remedies

Sources:

• Can Stress Actually Kill You? – ASAP Science
• Kelly McGonigal: How To Make Stress Your Friend – Ted Talks
• The Science of Stress – National Geographic
• Long Term Effects of Stress on The Body – Gina Kloes
• 90:10 The Single Most Important Thing You Can Do – Dr. Mike Evans
• Adrenaline, Cortisol, Norepinephrine: The Three Major Hormones Explained – Huff Post Healthy Living
• The Physiology of Stress: Cortisol and the Hypothalami˚c-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis –Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science
• Corticotrophin-releasing hormone – You and Your Hormones
• 75 Signs, Symptoms and Alerts of Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome – Dr. Lam

You’re getting older. You’ve earned those wrinkles along with every gray hair on your head. You’ve done a lot of living, but you’ve decided you’d like to stick around for many more years. The thing is, you’d like the coming years to be quality years – happy, healthy years.

Vibrant health is within your reach, regardless of your age. It’s time to take stock and decide what changes you need to make in your life in order to create the future you desire.

Make yourself the priority

First and foremost, it’s time to put yourself first. Chances are you may have been the last on the list for most of your adult life. While this is not true for all women, we have certainly been socialized to take care of our boyfriends, husbands, and children long before we take care of ourselves.

The children are grown. It’s your turn.

Sleep well and often

Sleep is essential for the body and the mind. Sleep experts say we need less sleep as we age – an average of seven hours rather than eight. But they also say everyone is different. You may need nine hours or ten. Find out how much sleep you need by catching up on your sleep and then allowing yourself to wake naturally. And if you can, allow yourself the luxury of napping.

Find an exercise (or two or three) that you like and do them often

If you do not exercise now, it’s time to start. Yes, you can take up running. But why not start with walking? Or turn up the stereo and dance. Swimming is great and so is yoga. But regardless of the exercise or exercises you choose to incorporate into your daily life, do a few get-ups every day.

Get-ups are aptly named. Basically, you lie down on the floor, flat on your back, then you roll over to one side and get up. Each time you get up, roll to the alternate side and use the alternate leg. This deceptively simple exercise uses lots of different muscles and keeps you limber. Too many older Americans couldn’t get up off the floor if they fell. Don’t be one of them.

Eat a truly healthy diet and get the nutrients you need

In order to achieve vibrant health, you must eat a truly healthy diet. A truly healthy diet is a whole foods diet, a plant-based diet, more vegetables than fruit. A full 80% of you diet should be fresh, raw, organic produce. This is how you get the most nutrition out of your food. Focus on a wide variety of nutrient dense foods. Also, make sure your diet includes omega 3 fatty acids. Flax seed oil, combination omega 3 oils, fish oil…choose one or several and make an omega 3 oil a daily part of your diet. Drink lots of pure, clean water.

Eliminate all artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, MSG, trans fats, and GMOs. In other words, toss the processed foods. You don’t need to eat from cans or boxes. It’s not real food. Get off processed sugar – completely. It destroys your immune system. Avoid caffeine. And if you’re willing to go all the way, get off dairy and gluten, too. You will be amazed at the difference in the way you feel.

Learn about alternative medicine and healthy supplements

Conventional medicine does not treat the cause of disease, it treats the symptoms while creating more disease. Learn about alternative medicine but begin with the knowledge that your diet is the basis of your health. There are supplements and vitamins that may help you, but do not assume that all are created equal. There is a huge difference between synthetic vitamins and whole food vitamins. Purchase your vitamins and supplements from trusted sources.

If you are suffering from any disease, heal your gut. If You Are Sick Chances Are Candida Is the Foundation of Your Illness is a must read.

To make your own nutrition powder bursting with vitamins and minerals, check out Total Nutrition – How to Make Your Own…. Add this powder to a smoothie once a day and you will definitely give your nutrition a boost.

To learn more about healthy eating read the 80% Raw Food Diet. Though you don’t need to drink a gallon a day, check out Inexpensive Easy Detox – The One Gallon Challenge. Between cranberry lemonade, lots of raw produce, and elimination of toxic foods from your diet, your body will naturally detox and you will find renewed health and vigor.

Everyone wants to get more than they paid for. Who doesn’t like a bargain? Unfortunately, recent testing of 164 dollar store products found that the little extras they’re offering are toxic chemicals like toxic metals, phthalates, BPAs, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic.

Healthystuff, an organization that researches toxic chemicals in everyday products, teamed with the Campaign for Healthier Solutions to release this report, which found over 81% of the products tested from retailers like Dollar Tree and Dollar General had a troubling level of at least one hazardous chemical.

With the majority of dollar store customers unable to afford to shop elsewhere, will these findings change the way the dollar stores do business? Or will they continue to take advantage of people who feel they don’t have a choice?

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut

Can You Trust Big Business?

Walmart is the first corporation you think of when you think of big business that caters to lower-income people and families. That dollar store hidden in a strip mall doesn’t even seem to be on the same level. Don’t be fooled – dollar stores are big business and they’re getting bigger. Dollar Tree has 4,900 stores and with their tentative acquisition of Family Dollar has potentially added 8000 more stores. In contrast, Walmart had only 4,399 locations in the United States at the end of last year.

The four stores that had products tested in this study (Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and 99 Cents Only) have combined sales of over 36 million. This is big business, and it seems like dollar stores are more concerned with profiting from cheaply made, toxic items than providing consumers with safe products.

Related: Many Hand-me-down Plastic Toys Are Toxic for Kids

Healthystuff found widespread causes for alarm in their tests of dollar store products. In addition to the 81% of items that were found to contain concerning levels of one hazardous chemical, a little less than half (49%) of the items tested had two or more hazardous toxins at concerning levels.

PVC was found in 38% of items tested and 32% had high levels of pthalates, a group of chemicals found to cause birth defects, diabetes, and cancer as well as other health issues. Forty percent of sales at these dollar stores are food products. Too often, lower income people choose these items due to their affordability, not knowing about the presence of cancer-causing BPAs or other chemicals.

Recommended: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Who Does This Effect?

So who’s shopping at here? Who are the dollar stores hurting with their lack of regulations on toxic chemicals? Thanks to the recent recession, the pool of customers who do their shopping at the dollar store has increased. The number of Americans living below the poverty level increased by 40%, and as more people find themselves living paycheck to paycheck, these cheap, just-for-right now products have more appeal. Dollar stores also rely on their widespread store locations. Convenience is a big deal to consumers, and that’s another thing that attracts people to dollar stores.

Recommended: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

The Results and What You Can Do

Now that these tests are out there, the onus is on the dollar stores to do something. Removing the chemicals from their products would, of course, be the best-case scenario.

The Campaign for Healthier Solutions is calling on dollar stores nationwide to remove children’s products with lead and phthalates and adopting chemical management policies that will identify, share, and remove chemicals. You can also check your state and local policies requiring discount stores to disclose hazardous materials and make efforts to switch to less toxic, safer alternatives.

If you’re using toxic cleaning products, see Clean Your Home Cheaply and Easily Without Toxic Chemicals – DIY. Also, check outHow to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors.

Recommended Supplements:

• HM Complex – Pure Encapsulations
• Total Nutrition Formula
• Shillington’s Echinacea+
• MicroDefense – Pure Encapsulations
• Black radish
• Vitamin D
• Shillington’s Blood Detox

Further Reading:

• Make Your Immune System Bulletproof with These Natural Remedies
• Garlic – The Most Amazing Herb On The Planet
• Total Nutrition – Make your own Homemade Multivitamin and Mineral Formula
• Doc Shillington’s Total Body Cleanse
• 80% Raw Food Diet

Sources:

• 81 Percent Of Dollar Store Products Tested Contain Chemicals Linked To Learning Disabilities, Cancer and Serious Illnesses – Truth Theory
• Walmart Is in BIG Trouble as Family Dollar and Dollar Tree Merge – The Street
• Battle for Poor Shoppers Fuels Dollar-Store Deal – The Wall Street Journal

In the dead of winter, the Minnesota State Legislature isn’t letting the snow keep them from reintroducing legislation to label GMOs. At the end of January, HF 351 and SF 335 were proposed in both the House and the Senate. While the state has proposed legislation that would disclose the presence of GMO ingredients to consumers by January of 2017, support for GMO labeling in the state has grown at a fantastic rate. After seeing the Oregon initiative to label GMOs defeated by a mere 812 votes, activists across Minnesota are pushing even more to make sure they get the support they need to pass these bills and let GMO companies know that we want to know what is in our food.

No More GMOs!

Natural News has reported before on the initiatives Minnesotans have been taking to protect themselves from Monsanto toxins. Last December, Minnesota educators started a plan to phase GMOs out of school lunches instead using things like organic squash and hot dogs made from grass fed beef. A month earlier, they had GMO awareness day, distributing information on the lack of proper testing for GMOs and their links to allergies, cancer, autoimmune disorders, and other diseases. Educators took the initiative to distribute flyers to parents detailing the negative effects of GMOs on developing children. The Minnesota state legislature has also proposed bills from both the Senate and the House supporting informed purchasing in the past.

Massive Public Support

Even though bills to labels GMOs have been proposed and defeated before, the local support for these two bills is strong in Minnesota. Polls across the nation have found that the majority of Americans want to know about genetically engineered ingredients in their food. Minnesota is no different. Activists from Minnesota’s Right to Know organization have expanded the number of co-authors on both bills and met with over 45 legislators in their quest to get these bills passed. Local news outlets in St. Paul are reporting on the large number of people who showed up to the first Capitol hearing of this bill. Local businesses are also receiving requests from customers asking that they label their products, and that they support bills like this that will allow for informed purchasing.

Big Business Poses a Threat

While the Minnesota’s Farmer’s Union have also voiced support for these bills, there is always the possibility of Monsanto and others throwing a monkey wrench in these plans. Large agricultural corporations like Hormel, Land o’ Lakes, and General Mills are based in Minnesota. Collectively they spent millions of dollars opposing the labeling of GMOs in California. With plenty of time between now and the informational hearing on these bills in April, Monsanto and these other corporations have plenty of time to spread misinformation and lies to Minnesota voters in an attempt to protect their profits.

Show Your Support

If you or any of your loved ones are in Minnesota, let them know that they can make a difference in the campaign to know what’s in our food. Here are some things that you can do to support these bills. Email or call members of the Minnesota congress. Even if you don’t live in Minnesota, they need to know that this bill could be an important first step in labeling GMOs and boosting the health of our nation. Passing these bills will defiantly affect the rest of the United States, and they need to know that they could be part of history.

You can also support the Minnesota Right to Know campaign on Facebook or Twitter. They have up to date notifications on the bills, are organizing opportunities to speak with members of congress, and have volunteer information available for those who want to get involved. They also have a list of local businesses who support labeling genetically engineered products. By supporting these retailers, you vote with your dollars. Let companies in Minnesota know that the more likely they are to let you make informed shopping decisions, the more likely you are to support them.

Recommended Supplements (These supplements help detoxify GMOs):

• Shillington’s Total Nutrition Formula
• FloraMend Prime Probiotic – Thorne Research
• Fundamental Sulfur Powder (MSM Powder) – Douglas Labs
• Shillington’s Intestinal Cleanse Formula
• Shillington’s Intestinal Detox

Further Reading:

• How to Avoid GMOs
• Foods That Are GMO
• The Difference Between Heirlooms, Hybrids, and GMOs
• The Unspoken Link Between GM-Foods and Cancer
• GMO-Bananas are Going Into Human Trials

Sources:

• Right To Know MN
• Minnesota’s New GMO Labeling Bill Could Change Everything For Monsanto – Natural Society

A teenage boy is admitted to a mental hospital. He screams in fear, begging to be saved from the thousands of spiders climbing up the wall – spiders no one else can see.

A middle-aged woman is anemic.

An elderly man is depressed.

A young woman dreads her monthly cycle, knowing she will become moody or angry – mood swings so severe they may jeopardize her relationship or her job.

What do all of these people have in common? They are all suffering from a B vitamin deficiency.

The B vitamins are a group of water-soluble vitamins crucial to many of the metabolic processes in the body. All eight B vitamins, or several of them, are often found together in a particular food- a helpful occurrence since many of the B vitamins work together.

The B vitamins are: B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine), B7 (biotin), B9 (folate or folic acid), and B12 (cyanocobalamin).

B vitamins help carbohydrates break down to glucose and they aid in the breakdown of fats and proteins. Without them, we would not have fuel for any tissues in the body. They are absolutely essential for neurotransmitters and nerve tissue. They help our bodies form red blood cells. B9 and B12 are required for normal fetal development during pregnancy.

B vitamin deficiencies run the gamut from decreased energy all the way through to acute psychosis or death. Every bodily function requires B vitamins or the glucose it provides.

The best source of any vitamins is food. B vitamins are found in the following foods.

Foods High in B1

Asparagus, Brussels sprouts, green peas, beet greens, spinach, sweet potatoes, navy beans, black beans, pinto beans, lima beans, kidney beans, lentils, peanuts, unpolished rice, barley, oats, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, watermelon, oranges, and liver.

Foods High in B2

Beet greens, spinach, asparagus, crimini mushrooms, collard greens, sweet potatoes, green peas, eggs, turkey, tempeh, sardines, and tuna.

Foods High in B3

Asparagus, crimini mushrooms, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green peas, tuna, chicken, turkey, salmon, lamb, beef, sardines, shrimp, peanuts, sunflower seeds, brown rice, and barley.

Foods High in B5

Avocado, crimini and shitake mushrooms, sweet potatoes, green peas.

Foods High in B6

Sweet potatoes, potatoes, spinach, cabbage, turnip greens, garlic, winter squash, bok choy, bell peppers, avocado, green peas, tuna, chicken, turkey, beef, salmon, lentils, lima beans, pinto beans, bananas, and sunflower seeds.

Foods High in B7

Sweet potatoes, onions tomatoes, carrots, oats, peanuts, almonds, walnuts, eggs, salmon, and bananas.

Foods High in B9

Asparagus, spinach, turnip greens, broccoli, Romaine lettuce, bok choy, cauliflower, green peas, avocados, leeks, fennel, summer squash, Brussels sprouts, lentils, pinto; garbanzo; black; navy; and kidney beans, papaya, and quinoa.

Foods High in B12

Sardines, salmon, tuna, cod, lamb, shrimp, scallops, beef, yogurt, and milk.

It can be difficult to meet the daily requirement of B12 if you are a vegetarian or vegan, or if you are elderly. It is also more difficult for anyone suffering from digestive diseases that inhibit absorption such as celiac disease.

Conclusion

If you do choose to supplement with B vitamins, it is important to take a full B complex. Taking one or more B vitamin over an extended period of time can cause deficiencies in other B vitamins.

Remember a healthy diet is one that consists of 80% raw, fresh, organic produce – more vegetables than fruits along with healthy omega 3 fats. To properly absorb and assimilate B vitamins, you must have balanced healthy fats in the body and a healthy gut that’s not overrun with Candida. Check out Balance Your Ecosystem.

Recommended Supplements:

• B-Complex #12 – Thorne Research
• Shillington’s Total Nutrition Formula
• B Vitamins

Sources:

• Vitamin B Deficiency and Developmental Disorders 
• The Fascinating Bacteria in our Gut, and How it Affects Our Whole Lives
• Mental Health, Physical Health & B Vitamins – Nature’s Valium