Eat Well to Be Well

BEWARE THESE DANGERS TO YOUR HEALTH (AND LIFE) 

Go Ask Alice

From the collection of Gary Halbert Letters...
"I don't smoke. I don't drink alcoholic beverages. I don't use recreational drugs. This has been true for years. Many, many years. In spite of all that, I recently spent 10 days in the intense, detox unit of a local hospital. I "was detoxing from a prescription drug that should never have been prescribed for me at all. In fact, in my opinion, it should not be prescribed for anyone."

"Ever."

"This medication is described as a "low-level" anti-anxiety drug. It is hugely popular."

Read more, click on the link above.

WIKIPEDIA LINKS 

What is...

Nutrition

that examines the relationship between diet and health. Dietitians are health professionals who specialize in this area of study, and are trained to provide safe, evidence-based dietary advice and interventions.

Molecular biology

Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry. Molecular biology chiefly concerns itself with understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interrelationship of DNA, RNA and protein biosynthesis and learning how these interactions are regulated.

Diabetes

The World Health Organization recognizes three main forms of diabetes mellitus: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes (occurring during pregnancy),[3] which have similar signs, symptoms, and consequences, but different causes and population distributions.

While, ultimately, all forms are due to the beta cells of the pancreas being unable to produce sufficient insulin to prevent hyperglycemia, the causes are different.[4] Type 1 diabetes is usually due to autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic beta cells. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by insulin resistance in target tissues, this causes a need for abnormally high amounts of insulin and diabetes develops when the beta cells cannot meet this demand. Gestational diabetes is similar to type 2 diabetes in that it involves insulin resistance; the hormones of pregnancy can cause insulin resistance in women genetically predisposed to developing this condition.

Healthy Diet

A healthy diet is one that helps maintain or improve health. It is important for the prevention of many chronic disease such as: obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

A healthy diet involves consuming appropriate amounts all of the food groups, including an adequate amount of water. Nutrients can be obtained from many different food, thus a healthy diet may vary widely.

Serving Size

The serving size of a food product is a confusing term, as it is found both on the Food Pyramid and on Nutrition Labels and has two related but differing meanings. The USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion sets the standards for these meanings in the United States.

Resources: 

Nutrition, Recipes, Cooking and More

Learn about holistic nutrition...

People adhere to an adequate diet in proportion to their understanding of what foods have to offer them. People who have ignored nutrition before will often develop nutritional habits with zeal after obtaining knowledge of the subject.

The foods you eat provide the raw materials for your body to produce thousands of chemical combinations necessary to regulate energy supplies, immune systems, moods, body repairs and countless other critical functions. Junk foods and refined foods short circuit your system, create masses of destructive free radicals and cause drastic shortages by wasting your nutrient supplies on damage control.

Fat is not "bad".

Fat is not "bad". We simply eat too much of it. Dietary fats are a concentrated source of food energy. They are also the source of linoleic acid, an essential nutrient, and the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. While we all need some dietary fat each day, a tablespoon is about it. Many refined foods are loaded with the worst dietary fats. Triglycerides are fats that contain saturated, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Saturated fats are fatty acids that raise blood cholesterol levels. Margarine, butter, and fats in meat and dairy products are all especially high in saturated fats. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats do not raise blood cholesterol levels.

Margarine versus Butter

Today I would like to share with you a motto that I believe in and
will help you to make healthier food choices...

The closer a food item is to its natural state, the better it would be
for you. Case in point today is, butter is better for you than
margarine.

Let's look at the reasons why:

Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it
killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the
research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to
figure out what to do with this product. It was a white substance
with no food appeal - so they added the yellow coloring and sold
it to us to use in place of butter.

Hmm... Doesn't sound right, does it?

DO YOU KNOW the difference between margarine and butter? Go Here

Whole Food Healing

Exactly how minerals should be balanced internally is a biochemical puzzle to scientists and their theories change year to year. All the minerals in your body are in a delicate, dynamic balance. If a deficiency in, say, calcium exists, other minerals will be out of balance, too. In fact without adequate magnesium, phosphorous and vitamins A, C and D, it appears that calcium cannot be absorbed at all!

A favorable mix of all known nutrients is found in a balanced whole food diet.

Studies also show that long-term supplementation with isolated vitamins (A, C, E, etc.) neither cure nor prevent serious diseases.

Clearly the safest, most effective route is to avoid nutritional extremes, and to eat the highest quality foods available, which are unprocessed, unsprayed, organically grown food. These are much superior in nutrition, taste and energy.

Diets around the world

Different cultures have preferences for different foods and eating habits. We can learn a lot from this. Let's take a look at some of these differences and their effects on health.

The Mediterranean, Japanese and Asian diets are largely plant based. They include a lot of fish in their diet and not a lot of fat. These are dietary patterns that are conducive for living longer and healthier.

However, the Japanese with their excessive salt intake are prone to calcium depletion, which damages the heart, arteries, nerves, bones, kidneys, and muscles. They also have the highest incidence in the world of stomach ulcers and cancers.

The French don't have high rates of heart disease even though they are well known for their rich, tasty foods, smoking, drinking and lack of exercise. However, they do seem to believe in moderation. They eat small meals and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Find out more about the different diets of the world and how they effect health...

3,000 Food Additives!

Over and above the chemical fertilizers and pesticides, there are over 3,000 chemical food additives in use today.

The average American consumes a full pound of them per year! Monosodium glutamate, sugar substitutes, dyes, preservatives, nitrites, emulsifiers, fillers, waxes, sprayed on vitamins made from coal tars, tenderizers, texturizers, antifreezes, hormones and antibiotics are just a few we consume in processed foods.

Find out what kind of food additives you are eating here...

Why Organic?

By choosing organic foods, you are choosing to bring more health into your life. Eating organic foods helps to build immunity, increase strength and promotes recovery from chronic conditions.

While organic food is mainstream now and can be found in nearly all grocery and health food stores, visiting Farmer's Markets is one of the best ways to find organic foods and support your local community and you'll get far fresher foods than those that have been shipped from all parts of the country.

Organically grown meats and poultries are also becoming more available.

Find out what the organic food difference is here.

The Remarkable Nut!

Nuts and seeds are fatty foods, which are typically the best sources of vitamin E, an immune enhancing antioxidant and nerve protector. They contain the largest quantity of fat of all unprocessed foods but much of it is in the form of essential fatty acids. Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, carbohydrates, and others are just a part of their remarkable properties. Looked at in total, nuts and seeds are the "spark of life, a living and perfect food". They are best consumed in small amounts. Most tonify the body and add weight and strength.

Here's the catch. Nuts and seeds lose their nutrients and become rancid once hulled or shelled. Deterioration begins immediately. Only buy them in their shells. They will last up to one year. Store hulled seeds in dark glass bottles in cold places since oil rich foods, such as seeds, combine with plastic to form plasticides.

Nutritional Truth vs Clever Mixtures of Misinformation!

The multi-billion dollar refined food industry has gained such power that it keeps people in ignorance about food quality and literally controls our health. Clever mixtures of truth, misinformation and propaganda are designed to prevent interest in whole food nutrition from interfering with enormous profits.

Unfortunately, the refined food industry also controls a vast amount of nutritional research, by giving untold millions. Much of this is valuable, but information that might harm sales goes unreported and problems where solutions could decrease profits remain uninvestigated.

Learn the nutritional truth here.

Hydrogenation... How bad is it?

What is hydrogenation?

Hydrogenation is an extremely harmful process that creates an immune damaging synthetic fat, a type of trans fatty acid that's been found to elevate blood cholesterol.

Stay away from "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" products such as in oils, margarines, shortenings, etc.

Most refined oils are solvent extracted at high heat with harsh chemicals then bleached and chemically treated to obtain colorless, tasteless oil with a long shelf life. The taste of rancidity has been removed but the harmful effects remain!

How bad are hydrogenated fats?

Poor nutrition effects the brain...

The brain is where poor nutrition is first felt. For instance, if you are deficient in iron you will feel depressed and irritable long before you develop anemia. But, if we rely on supplements, we're missing out on trace minerals and phytochemicals available to us only in whole foods. Your system works when fed properly and malfunctions when not!

Disease prevention may be a low priority to many of you right now, if you're currently "feeling healthy". You might be thinking, "what's in it for me, right now!" Well, there's plenty in it for you right here, right now. Do you want to look better, feel better, perform better, think better?

Nutrition can dramatically improve your life.

Is Your Diet an Enemy to Your Health?

Early warning signs that your diet is an enemy to your health are:

* food allergies
* indigestion
* constipation
* hemorrhoids
* high blood pressure
* weight gain
* sinus infections
* colds and flu

Taking vitamins and mineral pills will not prevent these problems. Scientists cannot formulate into pills nutrients they haven't discovered. Learn more here: Holistic Nutrition

Method of Cooking is very important!

Of your influence on food the most important is choice. The next is how you cook it.

Heating helps break down food structure so nutrients are more available. In moderate cooking few nutrients are lost and those that remain are more easily assimilated.

Excessive heat damages nutrients in food. Vitamins are extremely sensitive to heat and minerals can be drawn out of food when cooked in water.

So, What Should I Eat?

Find out here... and lots more!

Desserts: You don't have to say No!

Desserts featured all have wholesome ingredients - unrefined grains, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruit, quality sweeteners, etc. Because they have hearty ingredients with concentrated sweeteners and are well cooked, the healthy desserts here can be considered energizing and strengthening (in moderation).

Individual Paths: Food and Your Health

Changes involving what you eat take individual paths. The speed in which you look and feel better depends on your resolve and commitment, strengths and weaknesses, the difference between your previous choices of food and your new ones, and how fast or slow you implement your changes.

Think of food not in terms of dieting but in patterns of living. Think of the food you eat as a part of how you can take care of yourself.

Claims regarding specific nutrients will come and go and forever change but if you establish a healthy eating pattern of a variety of foods in moderation, the changes in information won't mean a thing. You'll be healthy and you'll stay healthy. Disregard fads and diets.

The Health Benefits of Salads...

Chlorophyll cleanses, heals, and builds the body cells. It banishes anemic conditions quickly, reduces blood pressure, and aids the heart. It frees clogged arteries, smoothes out arthritic conditions, and improves digestion. As a result of a diet rich in chlorophyll, health is improved and a happier mental outlook is experienced.

With that said, I highly recommend eating more salads! Not only with greens, though...

Diet Foods: Don't buy into the myth...

Enriched and fortified aren't the only buzzwords that don't live up to their claim either. "Light", "nonfat", "low fat" and "diet" are also misleading.

Don't believe what it says on the package. Don't buy into the myth. Basically, if the fat is missing, something has replaced it to make it taste "good". Usually it's sugar. That sugar helps perpetuate a chemical imbalance in our bodies, not to mention that it depletes nutrients stored there. This only makes us crave more.

Food Labels

Food labels on prepared and processed foods have been standardized however, what they say and what they actually mean can be different things.

This is the only tool available to help us understand what we are buying but, by no means, is it comprehensive.

Reducing the content of ingredients we are concerned about is one thing, telling us what else has been added to make up the difference in taste is another. Learn what some of the wording on food labels means here.

Articles about Nutrition

Along with my blog posts about eating well, similar to this lens, I publish articles about every two weeks about different aspects of nutrition. The first place I post them is on my blog. Stop by and have a read!

Here are a few direct links to the articles:

Consume Excess, Exude Deficiency
Life Span Show Stopper
Stroke
A Global Epidemic - Heart Disease
Prefer Nutrition to Prescriptions
Oh, but it tastes good!
It's Virus Season

50/50 Risk: Heart Disease

We all run a 50/50 risk of encountering a consequence of coronary artery disease. Nine times out of ten, it's fatty plaque building up over time that narrows an artery. While there are a number of reasons for an artery to narrow the most likely is atherosclerosis.

Nearly half of coronary deaths are of those who had no previous symptoms. Undoubtedly, however, they had excessive blood fat and cholesterol of which they were probably unaware. Both of which are preventable through whole food nutrition. Learn more about heart disease here.

Cancer afflicts 25% of Americans - including children

Approximately one-third of cancer cases are attributed to smoking, one-third to poor diet and lack of exercise, and one-third to genetic or other factors. Scientific studies suggest it takes many factors to trigger cancer and we may be able to block the development by getting in the way of just one. "Don't dig your grave with a knife and fork" and don't smoke!

Adele Davis

Learn more from nutrition author, Adele Davis.

What Exactly are Carbohydrates?

Grains, starches, pasta, breads and fruits and vegetables.

We are obsessed today with "fat free" and so we believe carbohydrates will make us build muscles faster, aid recovery from cardiovascular disease, and help us lose weight. What an amazing food group! However, there is a catch.

We are designed to eat primarily fruits and vegetables. Grains as high-density carbohydrates such as cereals, breads, and pasta are a relatively new food, historically speaking. So, the superiority of carbohydrates in our diets is actually plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, and grains in moderation. You'd have to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables to equal the carbohydrates found in the carbohydrate-dense grains, starches and pastas. You get fiber and far more nutrients from fruits and vegetables. Not that you should avoid grains, just eat them in moderation. A diet of variety is of utmost importance.

Signs of Vitamin or Mineral Deficiencies

Vitamins and minerals are needed only in small quantity but their role in health is great. Many health and nutrition authorities believe a balanced diet will provide all the vitamins and minerals needed without taking supplements. Exceptions may be pregnant women, persons with medical problems and senior citizens who do not absorb nutrients as well.

For instance: Loose teeth, bleeding gums, easy bruising is a sign of a deficiency in Vitamin C.

For other signs of deficiencies and nutrients lacking in the diet, click here...

Stroke: The most Frightening of Diseases

Unlike Alzheimer's, where you would not recall any other way of being, if you suffer a stroke you would know the alteration in your brain and be aware of your diminished capabilities. You have a stroke and you either die or survive with a disability, perhaps lingering for years without being able to take care of yourself in the smallest way. It is the unpredictable outcome that is so frightening. Your risk? One in five.

Atherosclerosis: Diet-Based condition leading to heart attacks

Atherosclerosis is a related condition to Arteriosclerosis, diet-based, and believed to lead to over a million heart attacks each year as well as other problems. Caused by deposits of cholesterol and other fatty substances accumulating on the walls of your arteries, blockages are created. Platelets may begin to adhere to these substances, known as plaque, further hindering your blood flow. When plaque clogs the coronary arteries and the carotid artery (supplying blood to your brain) serious dangers result. It is possible for an artery to be 90% blocked prior to symptoms appearing.

With a diet based on whole grains and fruits and vegetables in conjunction with mild daily exercise, nearly everyone can expect significant vascular renewal within a few weeks. In fact, reports state that most by-pass operations would be unnecessary with as few as 30 days on a high-fiber, low-fat diet. Other research indicates 97% of those on high blood pressure medication would no longer need it after simple dietary changes like these. Learn more...

Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, often develops for the same dietary extremes that cause diabetes but instead of a shortage of insulin, excess is produced. Hypoglycemia often precedes diabetes.

It is believed that at least half of the population of America has hypoglycemic symptoms. Learn more about hypoglycemia here.

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a condition in which bones become so weak they can shatter, when the spine compresses and deforms your back, when walking, sitting, lying in bed and even breathing becomes difficult - this is osteoporosis at its worst.

Rheumatic and Arthritic conditions

Rheumatic and Arthritic conditions are suffered by twenty three million Americans. Rheumatism is characterized by pain in the bones, joints, muscles, tendons or nerves, mostly in the hands, feet and arms. It is described as an autoimmune disease in which one part of the body attacks another. This includes such disorders as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, bursitis, neuritis, and sciatica. Arthritis is an umbrella term that covers more than 100 joint disorders.

Calcium deficiency problems require a balance of all minerals. Dairy products are sometimes the cause of calcic disorders, and not the cure, due to their high fat content. Foods high in oxalic acid should also be avoided - rhubarb, cranberry, plum, chard, spinach. Nightshade family vegetables - tomato, eggplant, bell peppers, and potato - also often cause problems. To find out what aggravates the problem, eliminate all for six weeks and re-introduce them to your diet one at a time with a few days between each. If symptoms of pain or swelling increase, you know what to avoid. Otherwise, all other whole foods are generally beneficial.

Mind and Spirit :: Psychodietetics

Denatured, devitalized, deficient foods may very well create denatured, devitalized, deficient lives. Depression, isolation, insecurities, fears, intense anxiety. . . Life depleting food intake becomes brain chemistry influencing thinking and emotion. Foods can drive emotions and passionate desire, emotional heat, and even social disarray.

If the results of our choices in life are intolerable - disease, pain, and mental disparity - we need only make better choices!

As your health improves you'll have fewer feelings of hopelessness and separation and gain a greater sense of belonging and unity. Stress melts away and you'll feel light, clear, easy, and content.

Learn more about psychodietics...

What a doctor said about antacids...

A doctor, lecturing on nutrition, stated that hydrochloric acid of the stomach was so valuable that law should prohibit the sale of every antacid preparation. Too little impairs protein digestion, vitamin C absorption, allows B vitamins to be destroyed and prevents minerals from reaching the blood to the extent that anemia can develop and bones crumble.

Your Brain needs Nutrition

Your brain is a three pound control center of your mind and body requiring about 20% of the blood pumping out of your heart with each and every beat. For optimal and long-term power, your brain requires a continuous stream of nutrition and oxygen. Research on how the brain endures the damaging effects of everyday life shows that attention to nutrition can increase your chances against deterioration of your brain at any age.

No cellular difference between an adult and baby whale... why?

Age is not just a chronological measurement; it is the rate at which the primary internal guardians of health - your cardiovascular and immune systems - decline.

Did you know that there is no significant cellular difference between an adult and baby whale? The adult whale suffers no cellular degeneration as it ages. In fact, there is no good scientific explanation for aging in any creature, including human beings.

Overeating is thought to be the major cause of premature aging.

Adele Davis

By the way, Adelle Davis is my absolute favorite expert and writer on nutrition.

The USDA Food Guide? Hmmm...

In all actuality, the government's guide has almost nothing to do with sound nutritional advice and everything to do with appeasing influential food producers.

Food Guide Pyramid for Children

Did you know that the FDA once approved ketchup as a vegetable to be served in schools? Interesting perspective, hmmmm...

No one dies of old age anymore...

If we allow disease to be some vague thing that happens to "other people", we will never take it seriously nor do what we can to prevent them to the best of our ability.

Remember, 65% of all diseases are preventable through sound nutrition. Your diet, the foods you choose to eat are more than just a healthy choice. It may be your life.

According to the World Health Organization, no one dies from old age anymore. All deaths are attributed to disease. But, don't make the mistake of thinking disease is reserved for "old people". Disease has no prejudice.

Adding Herbs to Your Food is a Healthy Idea

Examples:

Common Sage

Sage's first and foremost talent is in the garden and culinary uses. Used in stuffing, it aids the stomach to digest the rich foods that it is often served with. Medicinally, the volatile oils have antiseptic, astringent and irritant properties. Useful for treating sore throats, mouth irritations, and cuts and bruises.

UMIM: Healing Food Pyramid

The University of Michigan Integrative Medicine's Healing Foods Pyramid.