Campaign to change nutrition labels

I'm glad that the nutrition label has had some changes. When I was little, it was hardly readable. Its nice they made the print larger, and that trans fats are added to the picture. However, I would change a few very important things.

First off, I now believe the most important thing on the label is not the nutrition facts chart at all but the ingredients listing! I think the main thing to ask before eating is: is this real food?

Second, calories is right at the top of the chart, but focusing too much on calories loses sight of the fact that the chemicals put into diet sodas and low-fat foods often makes us more prone to weight gain than the actual fat and sugar it replaces.

Then on the actual chart, I think the Total Fat section should be expanded to include:
Omega 6 fatty acids
Omega 3 fatty acids and its component DHA (these are essential for brain function, and we have no clue how much we're getting- do they want to raise U.S. test scores, or what?) The ratio of omega 3s to omega 6s in our diet is very important. At the turn of the century, they were eating more correctly, at about a 1:2 ratio. That ratio today is about 1:46. Omega 3s can be found in coldwater fish, primarily, fish capsules (keep refrigerated), walnuts, flax, also in grass-fed red meats and cage-free vegetarian-fed hen eggs. If it were labeled, we'd all see where it is! It'd be nice if all meats were labeled, period, with nutrition facts, but expanded to include omega-3 measurements.
Trans fats should be in milligrams instead of grams so there's no more deceptive labeling and
conjugated linoleic acid could be on there, too.

And, very importantly, the amount of post-production free glutamic acid present (see MSG) should be labeled, in grams, to the third decimal place. See more on this issue at Natural Health Care Products. There are lots of health risks from MSG consumption, and we have no idea how much we're eating.

Maybe post-production lead and arsenic should be labeled, too. Of course, that probably varies in production from month to month.

GMO definitely should be on the label, as well as irradiation. I think that's a consumer's right, yet the producers have vehemently decided for us that its not necessary, to prevent consumers being scared off from their product. Seriously! Its all about the money! Besides, how many people read labels anyway? Chill! People will still eat it anyway, label or no label, sadly.

What really should be jumping out at us to buy at the grocery store (fruits and vegetables!) don't even generally have a nutrition label. I wonder if we'd be amazed at the nutrition found in them (or lack thereof by growing and shipping practices), and want to buy them all up. The way our labels are set up, it destroys all the benefits of fruits and veggies; for example, I have a plastic baggie sitting on the counter stating calories, serving size, carbohydrates, fat, protein, and sodium, of common fruits and vegetables. Looking at it, it just doesn't make sense. No wonder there's so much confusion about nutrition. If we're comparing only those four components it almost makes celery equal to a salty soup. Should I avoid avocados, pears, and bananas because they're highest in calories, and start eating lots of cabbage, iceburg lettuce, cucumbers, and cauliflower? Ridiculous. I realize our food labels make no sense.

Currently on the label are macronutrients which include protein, fats, carbohydrates, (and water), and then micronutrients, which are vitamins, minerals, (and good bacteria). Sometimes I look at labels, and wonder how I'm even getting any vitamins and minerals (except in the case of fortified foods). Isn't it crazy how the nutrients are almost always 0% or 2%? If you're real lucky it may have 4% or 6% daily value. (My applesauce had 100% vitamin C, which I was surprised of. Then, I switched brands and realized it was all just the ascorbic acid added; my applesauce now has just 4% DV vitamin C and 8% iron.) I also wonder if there is ever a >1% DV in a food, is it always on the label? (You know... how its common to skip most and just put Vitamins C, A, Iron, and calcium?)

Beyond this, though, (note: its just a fantasy) but there's even more to put on the nutrition label. Heard of phytonutrients? Bioflavinoids? Antioxidants? Enzymes? Coenzymes? Cofactors? Amino acids? There are even some healthy properties of our food that science doesn't even know what they are yet, just knows they're there.

WIC

WIC is a national food program designed to benefit infants, children, and pregnant or nursing women by giving them checks for specific food items at registered stores. Its not meant to provide all the food that low-income children or expecting women need, but to supplement meager incomes with healthy foods in hopes of improving overall nutrition.

I first noticed WIC food choices were rather interesting about 3 years ago. The items that first struck me as odd were peanut butter and tuna fish. The foods available to buy on the check are pretty limited, and why peanut butter was selected was odd to me. Most children are advised not to eat peanut products until age two because of the risk of allergies.

Tuna fish is on pregnant women's checks, yet, the amount is right at the limit of a pregnant woman's recommended intake of tuna, assuming she's rationing a can per week and not eating more than one. I was told that peanut butter is a great source of protein. Tuna as well, and its high in omega 3s which are essential especially for developing infants. But, why does WIC warn about high mercury consumption, and then have it as a WIC item?

The other available foods through WIC are (See Federal online listing or Washington State specific brochure):

• Select cold cereals
• Milk
• eggs
• fruit juice
• dried beans
• dried beans or peanut butter
• canned meats
  
• cheese
• fruit and vegetable choices
• whole grain choices
  
• soy beverages
• infant formula, cereal, and baby food
  

I won't even go into the quantities of foods that are on the checks, its just weird sometimes, like 1 quart of milk or two separate one pounds of cheese, but lets talk more about the health of these products. Here's Washington WIC:

Select cereals Kix, Special K, Cheerios, Wheat Rice or Corn Chex, Grape-Nuts, Grape-Nut Flakes, Cream of Wheat, Life; I thought it was all great, increasing whole grain consumption. I've lately learned a little about cold cereals, and that due to the level of heat of production, whole grain cereals like Wheaties and Cheerios result in higher insulin spikes than even straight sugar. The high heat also destroys many nutrients, and "creates toxic elements that have caused rapid death in test animals," yet the FDA approves the use of words like cancer and heart-health promoting on the box. (Barbee, 117)
Milk Well, I've learned raw milk from grass-fed cows beats all, including increasing omega 3s, but raw milk isn't allowed. Nor is goats milk, which is fit for those that can't digest cow's milk. Homogenizing milk (all supermarket brands) makes xanthine oxidase (which damages arterial walls) more absorbed in humans. (Read Politically Incorrect Nutrition.) The growth hormone rBST which has been linked to cancer and weakened immune, and is also important to avoid. In Washington state, rBST-free are readily available and labeled.
In the second year of life, children are given whole milk, which fats help in "brain development." At 2 years of age, they are then switched to anything but whole milk. Are we supposed to believe that the brain instantly doesn't need those fats for development anymore, and "dieting" should be higher priority? Low fat, reduced fat, and skim often have milk solids added which increases free glutamic acid.
eggs Organic eggs aren't allowed, which are higher in omega 3s, but I wonder if advertised vegetarian-fed "cage-free" eggs are, which also have higher levels of omega 3 fatty acids and DHA, essential for brain function. If they're not, I'm sure WIC would change if they realized more omega 3s would be available.
fruit juice This is one of the worst. Sure, it gives vitamins, and it comes from fruit, right? Well, its best fresh made at home. Pasteurization of packaged juice destroys a lot of the enzymes and other nutrients. Just sitting on the shelf, it loses nutrients. Its basically just a sugar drink. It also comes in a plastic bottle- BPA threat? or, tin can- aluminum threat?
WIC offers so much juice. Juice is one of the major sources of sugar in children's diets, right next to soda, according to Behavior and Nutrition. Dentists advise not giving these juices in sippy cups for all-day sipping, which leads to tooth decay, as well as hyperactivity, insulin resistance, and further down the road, type II diabetes. Boxed juice also contains lead, but big deal; so does much of our food.
dried beans Sounds good. They give out a cookbook of bean recipes to expand our world of beans. Cheap, great food storage food :), and they say "baby's love beans."
dried beans or peanut butter Who's really going to choose $1 worth of free beans over $3 worth of free peanut butter, even if it is allergenic? Avoid trans fats by buying 100% natural (Adam's) peanut butter.
canned meats Tuna: contains mercury, but excellent for omega 3s.
cheese Great. Gotta love this one. Just trying to switch over to raw milk cheese, rBST free, from grass-fed cows, and annatto coloring isn't great for us, nor are enzymes.
fruit and vegetable choices They just barely started this. Much needed.
whole grain choices choose corn tortillas, bulgur, oatmeal, brown rice, or 100% whole grain bread (all if its the right weight). Many dough conditioners, additives, and preservatives, aren't good for us. Bread is best homemade.
soy beverages, tofu Soy is not a complete protein; also, unfermented soy products can lead to hyperthyroidism
infant formula, cereal, and baby food Infant formula and baby foods often have hidden MSG and/or BPA. Most people I know have an excess of baby foods and cereals from WIC that they never used.

So, overall, is WIC helping or hurting? I'm not anti-government-choosing-for-us what we eat, so its not Twinkies and Ho-hos, especially when we've got an obesity epidemic and we're undergoing universal healthcare. I think WIC is pretty helpful in many ways (whole grains, fruits and veggies). A real problem is just our food system in general, so how can you blame WIC when its got poor food to choose from?

But, money is voting power, and whoever decides what WIC can and cannot buy has a lot of power to choose a lot of votes in our food supply, for good or ill. What really kills me is the bottled fruit juice and the no-raw no-goats now no-organic milk, and, well, you can see what else I wrote above about the other items.

Alkaline foods

I was first introduced to the idea of eating alkaline foods reading Politically Correct Nutrition, but didn't quite understand the significance. Kevin Tudreau states it is a natural remedy; the more alkaline we are the better able we will be to fight off disease. The more acid our bodies are, the more susceptible to illness we becomes.

Here's a list of alkaline foods from energize.com. However, here's another list from rense.com which contradicts it, at least for lentils, so(?).

Clean Up Your Diet by Max Tomlinson lists "asparagus, onions, parsley, broccoli, garlic, okra, squash, green beans, celery, lettuces, sweet potatoes, zucchini, lemons, limes, grapefruits, mangoes, papayas, figs, kiwis, apples, pears, and all kinds of melon" as alkalizing foods.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple Cider Vinegar is good for many things. This post goes out to my husband who is a huge advocate.

Apple Cider Vinegar should be unadulterated and selected to contain "The Mother" to get the best benefit. Kevin Tudreau in his book Natural Cures makes clear that the FDA strictly enforces its law that "only a drug can treat, prevent, or cure a disease," in order to destroy natural, unpatentable cures' ability to interfere with the sale of highly profitable patented drugs. This point comes home when I look at the back of our apple cider vinegar bottle, which states lots of benefits, but "The comments here are not evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease." The reason they have to put that on the back of the bottle is that if they did claim it could do any of the above, they would be selling "drugs" without a license, and could potentially be put in jail or receive other retaliation by the FDA.

Here's what it says: Hippocrates, called the Father of Medicine, first prescribed it as a remedy in 400 B.C. (Ironic that the Father of Medicine prescribed it but it cannot even be claimed to help disease today.) They offer a book on the remedies and recipes of vinegar by sending $12 to Appleseed Orchards PO Box 1340 Sebastopol, CA 95473. Works as a disinfectant for things such as phones and computers so dangerous chemicals aren't on our hands and fingers, whiffing it helps with sniffles and stuffed noses, it repels insects, removes rust, whitens dingy socks, loosens hardened paint brushes, stops poison oak itch, and cleans shower mildew.

My husband's favorite use of it is to drink it diluted when he feels a cold or flu coming on. It changes the body's PH to prevent disease. My favorite use is taking a bath in it; its the best thing for a yeast infection even above over the counter meds and eating plain yogurts. Drinking lots of water is also helpful.

Parenting

"Dr. Mech suggests that parents stop being 'wimps' with their children's demands for junk food. He has treated children with seizures, depression, eating disorders, etc., whose symptoms completely disappeared when parents got tough about what they ate. He blames "unparented kids" and excitotoxins for delinquent, frustrated kids with "attitude". The lack of being models for "impulse control" by parents and culture, sets kids up for ADD and failure. Parents let other people and the media teach behavior which can sometimes reinforce disrespect for elders and the acceptance of violence. Add excitotoxins and you have explosive kids. How can we be examples of delayed gratification if we have lost touch with it?

He called MSG the first "gateway drug". This kind of drug leads to other drugs due to its ability to diminish impulse control at a very early age. Schools have caved in on fast foods for our children. Few serve untainted lunches anymore. He has little patience for parents and educators who say, "But it's the only thing they will eat" in reference to processed j junk foods. He disdains what he labels "Toxic Food Manufacturers (TFM's) who say, "Snack foods are important to the American diet." He criticizes doctors who are so quick to use drugs to treat children and adults for conditions (often behavioral) caused by excitotoxins. He claims that funding by drug companies compels doctors to prescribe more and more medicines. He also said 'Don't believe doctors who tell you that you or your child will probably always be on drugs.'" (Anglesey, 63)

Sacred Planet

Entertainment quality: 4 stars
Educational quality: 4 stars
Quality footage: 5 stars

This movie is a must see (Nat, James, Mom, Dad). It is healing for the soul. It would count as your yoga for the day. I like the way this is presented, and I think it speaks volumes, better than The Corporation, Speaking Freely, Homo Toxicus, Daily Bread, etc., to get the point across: where to find real wealth.

WSU Art

We went to see the artwork of Matthew Leiker "World of Mateo" at WSU's Museum of Art yesterday. It was fun. His website World of Mateo.com unfortunately doesn't display his donut shop or carwash. But contrast his artwork, which makes consumerism look fun, clean, and carefree, with the WSU art exhibit displayed at the Seattle Pacific Science Center in January 2010, and you get a quite different perspective. Chris Jordan's work is called "Running the Numbers."

How to Survive an Earthquake

See "How to Survive an Earthquake" by Doug Copp, Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the
American Rescue Team International (ARTI), and United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years. Lie in the Fetal position next to a large object but not under it, as it will get crushed, but the ceiling will be supported by the large crushed object and create a space. For example, lay in the fetal position next to your car, bed, or in the aisles at school between the desks. Avoid stairs and doorways, and its best to be near the perimeter of the building so you can escape once the earthquake is over.

The Corporation

The Corporation. Available at Washington State University library (search for "the corporation dvd achbar") and through Netflix.

Aluminum

Kudos to my husband for picking out Rumford baking powder. He said he was so glad when it said right on the front "aluminum free." It made it so easy. Aluminum is a brain toxin, I don't know why it would be added as an ingredient to our food. Its bad enough that in the processing of food it may collect lots of aluminum.

I first noticed aluminum in our food when I read the back of my salt box. I had just assumed salt would be safe for food storage, but it actually contained sodium silicoaluminate as the second ingredient, along with dextrose, and sodium bicarbonate (which obviously may also contain aluminum), all of which I'd rather not be eating.

We opted for Morton table salt, which has just salt and "Calcium Silicate" (an anti-caking agent). Unfortunately, its not iodized, and I have no idea what calcium silicate is.

In soy infant formulas, "Liquid soy products, often produced in aluminum tanks, contain 50 to 100 times more aluminum than breast milk (in addition to high levels of cadmium). The high manganese content of soy formula has already been implicated in harming the infant brain."

"There are several studies linking aluminum with fluoride, showing that aluminum is absorbed more completely in the presence of fluoride. The aluminum in the brains of test animals doubles when accompanied by fluoride, resulting in brain tangles (amyloid deposits). Fluoride is neurotoxic by itself, but becomes many times more toxic when combined with aluminum." This makes drinking soda particularly dangerous, as soda contains fluoridated water.

I bought my husband an aluminum water bottle (the trend to avoid BPA) after he bought me a stainless steel one at ShopKo. I think I'll have to upgrade his.

Disposable aluminum pans, commonly used for freezer meals or potlucks, may corrode in contact with acidic foods such as tomato sauces. So, use sparingly or for short durations with acidic foods.

Developing Brains II

Fetuses exposed to high levels of MSG won't appear to have birth defects. The affects will come much later on in development, perhaps decades later.


See developing brains first post

John Perkins Speaking Freely

This movie put a lot of the pieces of the puzzle together for me. Whereas the world was kind of confusing to me, its now in perspective. Foreign aid, third world poverty, and immigration laws.

Toothpaste and Shampoo

Brand names from Debby's book for MSG free products:

Detergent All Free and Clear and Biokleen Free and Clear detergent
Shampoo Shampoo for color treated hair is milder, but avoid hydrolyzed proteins (wheat, silk, milk, soy) if listed
Soap Clearly Natural unscented glycerine soap for skin and hair
Dr. Bronner's soaps and liquid castile for shampoo (the soap can be used to brush teeth)
Dove soap for sensitive skin- no perfume or dyes
Toothpaste Baking soda, Homeodent
Deoderant Sure Original, plain baking soda

Polyunsaturated fats

"Unrefined polyunsaturated oils in small amounts can help provide us with some of the essential omega-6 fatty acids our bodies require. A better source for these essential fats would be vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and grains. The public, however, is consuming way too many polyunsaturated oils like corn, safflower, sunflower, cottonseed, and soy. Too many of these fats can upset the balance they must keep with the omega-3 fatty acids, contributing to a number of problems including immune system dysfunction; damage to the liver, reproductive organs, and lungs; digestive disorders; depressed learning ability; impaired growth, and weight gain.

"Polyunsaturated oils are easily oxidized, making them a source of free radicals, which injure the arteries and create a situation that cholesterol tries to remedy. Not only does cholesterol attempt to repair the lesions created by free radical damage, it may be helping to prevent such damage in the first place by acting as a potent antioxidant."

"High intake of polyunsaturated oils weakens cellular membranes. When this occurs, cholessterol comes to the rescue. Additional cholesterol enters teh cell membrane in order to stabilize and restore proper cellular function. In the process, cholesterol is drawn from the bloodstream, thereby lowering serum levels temporarily." This is sometimes misinterpreted that polyunsaturated fats are heart healthy. "In fact, it appears that cholesterol is simply trying to repair the damage done by high levels of polyunsaturated oils. These fats were not common many decades ago when heart disease and certain other chronic diseases were rare." (taken from Politically Incorrect Nutrition by Michael Barbee, C.D.C., p 22)

Anecdotal (disease) Evidence of MSG

Is this MSG thing for real? Are we really being poisoned? The evidence keeps stacking up. I wanted to show here that we're getting astronomically more sick. See stories of those that recover from various symptoms by eliminating MSG from their diet here.

The amount of MSG in our food doubles every 10 years.

ADHD has increased 500% since 1991.

Deaths from ALS have increased 4-fold in 50 years.

The rise in asthma was 42% in the US from 1982 – 1992. The death rate rose 40% from 1982-1991.

Mortality rates for atrial fibrillation have almost doubled since 1993.

In Canada from 1995- 2000 visits to doctors for depression rose 36% in just 6 years. Also, since 1996 prescriptions to treat depression increased 63%. China, a large consumer of MSG, accounts for 42% of all suicides in the world.

Autism has increased astronomically, so that baby boys now have a 1 in 96 chance of having autism.

See these statistics here.

Fluoride makes news

Disclose.tv - Doctor Exposes Fluoride as Poison Video
See video

Real Milk

I called Moscow Food Co-op, to see if they knew where to get raw milk. They said their milk comes from Spokane, we discussed how we didn't really know of any local dairies, and she said that raw milk is legal in Idaho, but no one is certified to sell it yet. She suggested I google real milk. Found a web site: realmilk.com
I didn't see anything local. Thank goodness we're moving.

Autism

2007 Autism/Glutamate Report
"The biggest news about autism in 30 years"
by Nikhil Swaminathan at Scientific American.com

"A February 2007 news release has validated what we have been suggesting for years. A Canadian team has lead research that has involved 120 scientists from 19 countries and 50 institutions. Studied were the genetic codes of 1168 families, each of which had at least two autistic sufferers. In the analysis, researchers implicated the gene neurexin 1 on chromosome 2, and a sequence on chromosome 11. They code for glutamate synapses and receptors and transport proteins that deal directly with glutamate's use as a neurotransmitter. The study mentions gluamate's role in wiring the brain during early fetal development and its ability to elevate neuronal activity. Neurexin 1 is specifically believed to be involved in glutamate synapses. A combination of mutations in any of these genes could contribute to the likelihood of being born with autism. Competing theories linking autism to environmental factors persist. One such theory that the report mentioned, linked mercury in childhood vaccines. In a recent e-mail from Jack Samuels discussing these new findings with me, he said, "While everyone is looking for a connection of mercury to autism, the following referenced article should have encouraged scientists to look for a possible connection of the ever increasing use of free glutamic acid (MSG) in our food supply.": Paschner et al. ("Methylmercury alters glutamate transport in astrocytes." Neurochem Int. Aug-Sep, 200; 37 (23): 199-206). It states, "In the absence of glutamate, neurons are unaffected by acute exposure to mercury... Co-application of nontoxic concentrations of methylmercury and glutamate leads to typical appearance of neuronal lesions associated with excitotoxic stimulation (Matyha and Albrecht 1993.)" Although ethylmercury was used in some vaccines, it is Jacks' understanding that it would have the same effect as methylmercury. Glutamate was present in many childhood vaccines where mercury was also present. I agree with Jack Samuels when he says, 'One must ask if autism is directly related to genetic defect (above) or if a predisposition for autism is inherited, a predisposition that is activated due to the ever increasing amount of processed free glutamic acid and aspartame that pregnant women are exposed to.' Keep in mind, in the last 10 years, the number of diagnosed cases of autism has increased ten-fold. And as Carol Hoernlein posted on our board at www.msgmyth.com, many autistic children share many of the symptoms we (MSG reactive individuals) suffer. "Twenty percent have epilepsy. Many have food sensitivieties, hyperactivity, sensitivity to light, sound, pain. They throw tantrums, have digestive distress.' This comes as vindication after decades of being told that MSG (glutamate) sensitivity was 'all in our heads.' We look forward to more research and answers with excitement and hope." (Anglesey, Battling the "MSG Myth", p 60).
See theory of autism flow chartMy kids liked watching this movie, and I learned how debilitating autism is. Its horrendous! This movie shows dedicated and talented people trying to make the best for those with autism, and tells many families' stories, and the sad stress autism is on marriages.

Vegetable oil

See video "heart healthy" oils are really rancid oils. Recommended to use cold pressed olive oil or coconut oil.

Dr. Blaylock, M.D. from Excitotoxins (p 230): "The majority of fats in the American diet consist of what are called omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. This includes the essential fatty acids linoleic and linolenic acids, which are high in corn, cotton, soya, safflower, and sunflower oils. While the popular trend, initiated by the American Heart Association, promotes the use of polyunsaturated oils, there is growing evidence that these oils promote the generation of "bad" as well as "good" eicosanoids. In fact, there is significant evidence that these oils may actually promote arteriosclerosis, and therefore, coronary artery disease and strokes."

Cancer mortality rates have risen along with the increase in vegetable oil consumption. SOme of the blame for cancer must rest with teh free radicals that are created by the heating, deodorizing, and refining of vegetable oils, which are stripped of most of their protective vitamin E in the process.

A significant risk factor for developing heart disease is high levels of a substance in the blood called lipoprotein(a). This Lp(a) is a 'sticky' variant of LDL cholesterol and appears to help form arterial plaques. Saturated fat lowers levels of this damaging substance while consumption of trans fat raises the amount of Lp(a) in the blood. Cell membranes simply prefer saturated fat, but through their advertising, promoters of the vegetable oil industry have tried to convince us otherwise. A high consumption of polyunsaturated fats, however, has long been connected to the development of cancer and heart disease.

Conjugated Linoleic Acid

Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) is found not only in beef fat, but in lamb, buffalo, and ruminants, whole milk, cheese, and butter. Studies show that consumption of raw milk, yogurt, and buttermilk reduces the risk of breast cancer. Women with breast cancer have lower CLA levels in their blood than those without this disease. CLA inhibits the growth of human breast cancer cells, malignant melanoma, colorectal, and lung cancer cells, and animal studies suggest it lowers LDL, resulting in less atherosclerosis and being good for the heart.

Avoiding CLA may be a factor contributing to obesity. "It has been established that eating essential fatty acids helps the body metabolize other fats more efficiently, thereby contributing to weight loss. Yes, eating the right fats help you lose weight. CLA inhibits fat cells from getting fatter. Human studies have shown that consuming moderate amounts of CLA for three months without dieting resulted in as much as a 20 percent loss of body fat. Apparently, CLA affects fat metabolism by interfering with the activity of fat-regulating hormone, leptin, and possibly by increasing insulin sensitivity." (Barbee, p34) It can manage type-2 diabetes by lowering blood sugar levels and reducing body weight. CLA can also stimulate the development of muscle tissue, besides ridding the body of fat, thus body builders take CLA suplements. There is also substantive evidence that CLA is antioxidant.

Unfortunately, good quality CLA is hard to come by in our current food system. Grain-fed beef, Bovine Growth Hormone, skim-, low-fat, and homogenization are to blame.

"Cattle-raising practices over the years have yielded meat that is contaminated with hormones and antibiotics, as well as pesticide residue from the grains fed to the animals. Today's typical beef contains an unnatural, overabundance of the omega-6 fatty acids. Not only that, animals fed hay and grains have a much lower CLA content. Ruminants have digestive tracts that convert the linoleic acid in food they eat into CLA, and when their food is green grass, the CLA content of the meat, or the milk, is many times higher. Grain-fed beef today is deficient not only in CLA but also in the healthy omega 3-fatty acids. Therefore, a search for organically raised beef is well worth the effort, particularly if the animals are allowed to graze." Buffalo meat is also good; they are not fed hormones and eat plenty of grass. (Barbee, p35)

The growth hormone rBST creates higher levels of a specific protein linked to cancer, enhances diabetes in people prone to the disease, and weakens the immune system in humans. It also makes more antibiotics necessary for the cows. Pasteurization destroys many protective health promoting nutrients. Homogenizing milk causes humans to absorb xanthine oxidase, which causes heart disease by damaging the arterial walls (raw milk is best, if it can safely be done). Taking the fat out of milk reduces CLA content, and, obviously, so does drinking soy milk instead of cow milk.

FoodMatters

FoodMatters: You are What You Eat is basically the nutritionists take on the world of modern medicine. See www.foodmatters.tv. It "uncoveres the trillion dollar worldwide 'Sickness Industry', and exposes a growing body of scientific evidence proving that nutritional therapy can be more effective, more economical, less harmful and less invasive than most conventional medical treatments."

Medical Doctors' lack of training in nutrition clip

Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About

I'm reading this book right now, Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About, by Kevin Trudeau, and its really good. Its amazing how corporate money is totally leading our lives. Read more about his book at the end of my detox post.

Presidents of the church say that learning how herbs and other natural remedies can cure us is a part of provident living. Aren't there over 4,000+ to learn? That's a lot to catch up on, especially when we've been so handicapped to just take drugs and not learn anything.

See War on Alternative Health Care and Nutrition.

Good Fat Bad Fat

Ah ha ha ha ha... So I get to do what we're not supposed to do, and demonize our food. Fat has been confusing me the past few weeks, so I read more (and made this chart myself). I wish fat were as simple as "saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, trans," but its not that simple. There are so many names and components to fat!

Essential for health: Omega-3 fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid, DHA

Good, but eat in moderation: Omega-6 fatty acids (don't eat vegetable oil, just get this from whole foods), saturated fat, olive oil, coconut oil

Bad: Trans fat (hydrogenated oils), rancid oils (ie. vegetable oil, toxic to our bodies), olestra, animal fat (stores all the chemicals ingested by the animals)

Omega 3-fatty acids the ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 fatty acids is very important. Today we are eating at a ratio of about 1:46, whereas a hundred years ago it was about 1:2 (much better). (read more) Omega 3s are essential for brain function.
DHA A component of Omega 3-fatty acids. Very important for brain function. A deficiency can cause the brain to rebuild itself incorrectly within two weeks. Watch the beginning of this seminar which discusses DHA, and read about Omega 3-fatty acids.
Omega 6-fatty acids found naturally in vegetables and other foods
coconut oil noneatherosclerotic: doesn't clog arteries. Antimicrobial agent and boosts the immune system. Kevin Trudreau states that eating a spoonful each morning made his pants looser and looser on him until they didn't fit anymore.
olive oil monounsaturated fats like olive oil appear to inhibit the oxidation of LDL cholesterol (Barbee, 23)
vegetable oils (read more)
full fat dairy products Good. Read Conjugated Linoleic Acid
Conjugated Linoleic Acid (read more)
Saturated fat Saturated fats are most stable. Fats exposed to oxygen, light, or temperature, normally have the molecules break down. Once it breaks down, the more toxic and rancid it will be.
Polyunsaturated fat
Monounsaturated fat
Trans fat (partially hydrogenated oil, hydrogenated oil) (read more) found in margarine, cake mixes, cookies, crackers, chips, peanut butters, pastries. Good for storage, shipping, processing. Made in a lab by adding hydrogen back into fat, which makes them more stable. Studies show cardiovascular diseased, because molecule is kind of kinked which clogs arteries. Not legal in Canada and many other parts of the world.
Animal fat
Olestra Great little food chemistry invention for providing shelf-item foods, which inhibits fat absorption, but also inhibits vitamin absorption as well.
High Oleic oil
Rancid oils Packaged vegetable oils. I will have to do further research on how or if we damage oils in our own kitchen, possibly, even olive and coconut oils if at too high a heat.

Cholesterol is not a fat, but read more comments about it here. Dietary cholesterol is not actually something to be avoided, nor high cholesterol in general which is good for cell repair and a functioning reproductive system. Oxidized cholesterol is to be avoided and will cause heart disease. Oxidized cholesterol is in dry milk and powdered eggs among other things.

Additionally, Barbee states in his book that the fats that were found layered in arterial walls was 30% saturated, but 70% polyunsaturated- the (quote) "good for your heart" fats. Remember, too, that homogenized milk is made of molecules that scars the arterial walls.

So, surprise! Is that totally against all conventional wisdom?
High Fat vs. Low fat diets testimonial

Detox

In the past I've had the philosophy "A little dirt won't hurt," ie., what doesn't kill me will only make me stronger: Bring it on! All my learning about the poisons we're exposed to, and how they affect our health, though, leads me want to detox. I Googled it briefly, and this is what I found.

How to detox:

Our body naturally detoxes using: 1. Pee 2. Poo 3. breathing (deep breathing exercises?) 4. sweat (as in exercise or using a hot sauna) - That's good news. So, drinking a lot of water helps detox. Unfortunately, pure water is hard to come by, unless filtered or distilled from fluoride, chlorine, and other heavy metals. Fiber naturally helps move bowels. There's also pills to help (Dr. cleanse, nutura) and enemas. See the Gerson coffee bean enema used on cancer patients.

5. Using a special diet of commonly non-allergenic foods and lots of organic fruits and vegetables. We don't want to add anything new (pesticides, herbicides) to the body to add to the burden, and get the nutrients in from fruits and veggies to aid in detox. Using a green leafy vegetable can be a detox. (Also good news. Easy enough. Sounds kind of whimpy, though, if the government already recommends 3 a week.) See which vegetables are green leafy.

Here's a few diets:
Maximized Living-developed detox diet
Metacafe
MSG detox diet to see if you're sensitive to MSG.Video Jug
Clean Up Your Diet by Max Tomlinson (see below)

Here's two videos on detoxing (very good) by the psychtruth clinic from Dr. Bellonzi (describes how and why to cleanse) plus a second video. Avoid extreme detox plans out there!

Additionally, in the case of mercury or lead toxicity there's chelation therapy.

Once we are detoxed, in order to prevent wrecking what we've just achieved, its good to kind of stay in this range of eating, close to these diets. But detoxing is usually a short-term diet that you can come off of. Its also important to avoid use of heavy chemicals in cleaners, on our lawns, in our cookware, wherever they're found.

6. Many toxins are excreted from our body to our tongue, so scraping the tongue when one first gets up with a wooden popsicle stick helps to detox.

My landlady says that ion foot bath detox works, as do specific brand of shoe inserts (see 1, 2, 3). Sounds crazy, huh? Her daughter in law was relieved of back pain and fatigue. Then, there's pure organic unfiltered apple cider vinegar, and lemons, too.

What am I specifically looking to detox from? The environmental toxins aluminum, lead, mercury, cadmium, fluoride, MSG, aspartame, pesticides, herbicides, industrial solvents, food dyes, and excessive vaccinations (see end of Behavior and Nutrition video). "All of these play an important role in brain toxicity, brain function, and your behavior" says Dr. Blaylock. I don't know if just a diet will expel all of these, or if it takes chelation therapy in the case of heavy metals. Additionally, estrogens in the environment are difficult to avoid; I doubt they're able to be removed, just avoided. We have lots of estrogens introduced to our environment through modern production such as BPA, PCBs, and pthalates.

Of course besides bodily detox, its also vital to spiritually detox. (See video)
Kevin Trudeau states that the words we say, the things we watch on TV, all contribute to our ability to combat disease. These things can build up more toxins in our system. Many times stress relief can be a very effective cure, even for cancer.

Update: July 3
I didn't even realize while writing this that I had a detox diet plan right on my shelf. This book is wonderful, complete with a daily menu and recipes for detoxing over a weekend, in a week, or doing a one-month diet, for either a digestion, energy, ailment, or overall cleanse. Clean Up Your Diet by Max Tomlinson is available at Neill Public Library.

Update July 9, 2010:
Kevin Trudeau in his book "Natural Cures" lists seven cleanses to do:
1. a colon cleanse (start with this)
2 a liver/gall bladder cleanse (then this)
2. a kidney/bladder cleanse
4. a heavy metal cleanse
5. a parasite cleanse
6. a Candida yeast cleanse (read Lifeforce or visit www.lifeforceplan.com)
7. a whole body cleanse
Find out about these cleanses by visiting the local health food store or searching the internet.

Saturated Fats

Truth about saturated fats video.


Is God Stupid? video clip

"Saturated fat- purported to be very bad for us- is in fact extremely important in maintaining the health of the cell membrane, which is comprised of at least 50 percent saturated fatty acids. Saturated fats are also needed for the proper utilization of the essential fatty acids, like the omega 3s, the consumption of which has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attacks.

"Saturated fats attempt to normalize cholesterol levels. When saturated fat does raise total cholesterol levels, it has been shown to raise the good HDL in the process. In addition to that, and as we have seen from the Framingham study, consumption of saturated fat, a substance absolutely essential to cellular health, lowers a number of markers used by physicians to determine the risk of coronary heart disease.

"Excess saturated fat, however, can be a problem due to its tendency to make platelets sticky, causing them to aggregate. This could be trouble for cardiovascular system if the high amounts of saturated fat are not kept in check by limiting sugar and by increasing fiber. An adequate intake of vitamin C and the essential fats like the omega-3s from fish and flax can also help the general population counteract eh effects of excess saturated fat.

"It appears that saturated fat, like cholesterol, isn't the culprit it has been made out to be after all. A recent study of 2000 subjects on a low saturated fat diet for two years showed no reduction in the recurrence of colon tumor precursors. Another 6-year study of 40,000 middle aged American men showed no link between saturated fat and heart disease. In animal studies as well, saturated fat helped to prevent strokes, not cause them. To say that saturated fat causes heart disease is, as numerous researchers are beginning to point out to us: 'Wrong.'" (from Politically Incorrect Nutrition by Michael Barbee, C.D.C, p 26)

A significant risk factor for developing heart disease is high levels of a substance in the blood called lipoprotein(a). This Lp(a) is a 'sticky' variant of LDL cholesterol and appears to help form arterial plaques. Saturated fat lowers levels of this damaging substance while consumption of trans fat raises the amount of Lp(a) in the blood. Cell membranes simply prefer saturated fat, but through their advertising, promoters of the vegetable oil industry have tried to convince us otherwise. A high consumption of polyunsaturated fats, however, has long been connected to the development of cancer and heart disease.

America: the Land of Plenty

Dear Mr. President,

My people are starving! We have a shortage of real food! My husband and my family are beside ourselves about what to eat! Our food is full of high fructose corn syrup, food dyes, sugar, MSG, aspartame, fluoride, often of little nutritional value. Add to that GMO foods, pesticides, herbicides, and homogenized milk. Our people are sick, and their bodies are suffer from food reactions of rage, ADHD, depression, obesity, headaches, fibromyalgia, etc., etc., etc. We're filling the prisons and popping more pills than ever. You'd think we were a third world country instead of "developed" with the way kids are "deficient" (by government standards) in so many essential vitamins and minerals, over half in vitamin A and iron, and people are still contracting scurvy.

Sure, at home I can avoid these things by reading labels, but what if I am ever sent into a rest home, with the typical American diet high in all these dangers? What about when I get sent to a hospital, or heaven forbid a prison, and served the same hazards on my plate? What about patients that go in for brain surgery, returning with a brain that is feeble and more susceptible to glutamate toxicity, and unwittingly administered a liquid diet full of excitotoxins? Worse yet, what am I going to do about about sending my kids to public school?

Heads should roll in our aristocratic elite, namely, the "glutes," the FDA (who appointed these guys anyway?), the FTC, corporate "food" entities, chemical and biotech producers, Big Pharm, and all the big business lobbyists, who shortchange real information about health and are spending big bucks everywhere keeping us sick. They're sucking the life out of the servant class, making us sick and resorting to drugs, which leads to further problems and more drugs and money. To the Guillotine!

President Obama:

So, you say MSG is making you sick, eh? Isn't that just an essential amino acid?

Well, you know, we don't recite, "We the people," for nothing; you can't expect the people in Washington to do all the work for you. Keep blogging and hope people forward the information as they find fit to their friends. Some will go along, others won't. It would also be a good idea to write local leaders and state governments, and the producers of food.

Look at the case of trans fats and BPA. The FDA really didn't do anything about it until public opinion practically forced it to do its work. Once public is educated and people start talking, then you have a little more leverage over big business. Otherwise, its just going to rule this nation. (Believe me, I know; got paid $200,000 just yesterday from another drug company.) [j/k]

We care about you, and we want our people to have the best schools, best healthcare, best criminal justice. America is a world leader in a global economy! So, you say the people are starving? Hmm, perhaps, we should let them eat cake?

Me: Very insightful, Mr. President. We do have an obesity problem in this country, but perhaps cake is just the trick. Thanks for the insight, and perhaps we won't starve after all... as,

Homemade pudding doesn't call for sodium caseinateI've never seen a recipe for ice cream that called for carageenan,
and homemade chocolate syrup doesn't have Xanthan gum added to thicken and prevent separation, and
homemade granola doesn't have whey protein concentrate.I'd never want to eat a store-bought cake again, but perhaps homemade would be alright.

...We just need to grow (and demand) more healthy food!

An Abundance of Food

We rented Fantastic Mr. Fox, and it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. My second grade teacher Mrs. Askins read us the book, which was wonderful, but this movie just wasn't entertaining even though it cracked lots of jokes. I did enjoy Meryl Streep's lines (Mr. Fox's wife) taming her unruly husband.



Mr. Fox is a chicken robber who is cornered underground by his enemies, farmers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, until the end of the movie where he finally escapes by the skin of his teeth, and then serendipitously raids the ginormous Boggis, Bunce, and Bean supermarket store, as though he's mastered his enemies.

"Do another toast, Dad," says his son.

"Okay. Let's see. They say all foxes are slightly allergic to linoleum. But it's cool to the paw. Try it. They say our tree [their home which was dug up] may never grow back. But, one day, something will.

"Yes, these crackles are made out of synthetic goose, ...and these Giblets come from artificial squab. And even these apples look fake...but at least they've got stars on them.

"I guess my point is we'll eat tonight, and we'll eat together, and even in this not particularly flattering light, you are without a doubt, the five-and-a-half most wonderful wild animals I've ever met in my life.

"So let's raise our boxes. To our...survival!

"How was that?"

"That was a good toast." -His closing lines
(Best shot I could get of the store is just a glimpse in the above video clip).

So, my point: was he really moving up in the world by trading in his chicken stealing days for raiding the Boggis, Bunce, and Bean supermarket store? (Waah!) Hello, heart disease. I feel that the sentiments he shared on that momentous night are what most people are feeling deep inside across this great land. "This might be fake food, but this is livin'."

The superfoods guru of FoodMatters believes we should be having the best food in the world. Instead of demanding good food people would rather spend money on rent or other luxuries. Food, Inc. producers states we average spending about 9% of our income on food in the U.S., which is measly. (For our family its a lot bigger chunk than 9%!)

Others believe that our modern technology has helped the world meet the demands of a growing population; but watch John Perkins Speaking Freely, Supersize Me, Food, Inc., Fed Up! or King Corn to see our food supply is not what it could be. Greed (from businesses and industry) will never supply us with good food. Quite the contrary, what has Monsanto given us? Soybeans, GM corn, tons of pesticides and herbicides, rBST growth hormone? Sounds like a bunch of poison to me, illegal dumping aside.

Calorie Count

I made a resolve that if I was paying $450/year on internet, I was going to get the most out of it. There's so much available. I also wondered how I was doing on my caloric intake, and I found a great on-line tool called Calorie Count. There are other similar websites out there which may even be better.

I'd never had an interest in counting calories before, but despite my strong-held belief that eating the right foods and being in tune with your body will control caloric intake (from How to Lower Your Fat Thermostat), I remembered my cross-country coach saying "Don't work against yourself. Don't be doing this great workout and go home and eat lousy." I was running 45 minutes 3 days a week and it was still hard to budge the scale. (Additionally, did you know that eating in excess is correlated with cancer and tumors?) Was I eating too much? I tried Calorie Count to find out.

Calorie Count is a great on-line tool with a database of nutritional information for many common and name-brand foods. Counting calories is the biggest pain in the world, and it still is with this tool, but made slightly easier. It keeps an on-line log for you, so no more trying to find your notebook or that piece of paper; its all saved in cyberspace. It also does analysis, estimates your normal caloric burn and you can add what exercise you've done that day to add to calories burned. Additionally, calorie count provides an on-line community in which being a participant will set you up with friends, readings, and success stories to support weight-loss efforts.


Some tips I found useful:

Do not use a very low calorie diet. A typical active young woman should not go under 1700 calories. Very low calorie diets trigger the body to go into a hibernation mode and to be more stingy with energy thus storing more fat. Creating a caloric deficit of about 500 calories a day should be good, and will create a healthy, slow weight loss.

Foods that are high in calories such as rice, cheese, and peanut butter should be measured. Use a measuring cup or spoon. I found it useful to cut my cheese into 1 oz. cubes right (16 equally-sized cubes for one pound of cheese) when I opened it, and put it in a plastic baggie. Guessing on these items could mean being 100-200 calories off each, and that's enough to throw the record way off.

There's a common saying: calories in, calories out; meaning, creating a caloric deficit will result in a proportional loss in weight, and a caloric excess results in a proportional weight gain. It isn't that simple, which goes against the very object of using Calorie Count, but I'm sure counting calories has good properties, too.

Seriously! I just watched a girl in Fat: What No One is Telling You that is on a treadmill 3 hours a day! She was obese and is battling to maintain her weight, but that is a huge chunk out of her life to have to do each day. I highly doubt people in other countries are on the treadmill as much as we are.

This video shows ways that can alter weight that are not connected to calories:

Don't skip meals, or fast

Eat Breakfast

Get enough sleep

Eat on a low glycemic index

Exercise-> Burn weight while in rest, even sleeping

Hormone therapy RCH

Conjugated Linoleic Acid

Not a simple equation of calories in, calories out, although exercise will help

Killer at Large: Why Obesity is America's Greatest Threat

I told my husband I really liked watching this documentary. It was exciting enough, interesting enough, and intellectually stimulating. He said a movie about being fat just didn't interest him. I can understand; it just seems kind of hopeless. I highly recommend watching this movie, though; it is so thought provoking. They show how terrorism is dwarfed by the deaths and expenses we have from within. We need to get involved with our government instead of being victim of it. Watch movie trailer with surgeon general of the United States.
This is another, not as entertaining, video about being fat. It actually contains some of the same scenes as Killer at Large, but doesn't go into the politics as much and goes more into the emotions behind obesity and the physiology of it. It always comes to: obesity is complex, and its going to be a different solution for different people.

Dr. Blaylock seminar

Watch this video on the deceptions and dangers of MSG. Its one hour long, so not a quickie. Great date movie! Well stated and intellectual; uses lots of science. For those that want the truth. This is the video on excitotoxins.

Cholesterol

"'The public is so brainwashed, that many people believe that the lower your cholesterol, the healthier you will be or the longer you will live. Nothing could be further from the truth... The cholesterol cartel of drug companies, manufacturers of low-fat foods, blood-testing devices and others with huge vested financial interests have waged a highly successful promotional campaign. Their power is so great that they have infiltrated medical and government regulatory agencies that would normally protect us from such unsubstantiated dogma.'" -Professor Rosch, former President of the New York State Society of International Medicine, quoted in Barbee

Maintaining healthy cholesterol: Exercise "very fit athletes are known to ahve high HDL readings. Even moderate exercise like walking creates healthy changes in the body which, in turn, appear to create a demand for frewer of the dense LDL cholesterol particles."

Tips (Barbee, p31):
There is clinical evidence that stress reduction helps lower cholesterol levels.

Avoid all foods containing partially hydrogenated oils. Limit sugar. Excessive amounts can raise cholesterol.

Start adding healthy omega 3s to the diet from fish, flax, walnuts, and olive oil. For cooking at high heat, use organic coconut, sesame, or rice bran oils.

Drink water. Its the easiest way to protect the heart.

The idea that cholesterol is bad for us comes from a study in 1924 done on bunnies. They were fed cholesterol and their arteries were clogged and they died. The problems with the studies were 1. The cholesterol they were eating was already damaged (oxidized and not fresh) and 2. bunnies are vegetarians and have no way of dealing with dietary cholesterol.

"We need cholesterol to keep our cells healthy, to help create the sex hormones, and to make sure the brain and nervous system function properly. Cholesterol is an important component of every cell. The liver acts like a cholesterol thermostat, controlling how much is in the bloodstream at a given time. What has largely been hidden is the fact that, if for some reason there is not enough cholesterol supplied to the brain, people are more likely to suffer depression, exhibit aggressive behavior, and have higher suicide rates." (This in Barbee's book, with references)

"Very low cholesterol levels are indeed dangerous. Low cholesterol levels are equated with a greater risk of dying from cancer. In terms of heart disease, there is no greater risk at cholesterol levels of 300 than at 180. But some research indicates that the "all-cause" death rate is higher in individuals with cholesterol levels lower than 180."

Cholesterol plays the role of healer. If the task is too big for the role cholesterol attempts to play, and if a person succumbs to heart disease, we wrongly blame the cholesterol instead of focusing on the other factors related to developing this disease. Saturated fat and cholesterol should not be feared.

Cholesterol is needed to synthesize sunlight into vitamin D. If the body gets inadequate sunlight, cholesterol levels rise. Plenty of sunlight normalizes cholesterol levels.

"Abundant amounts of fruits and vegetables will help to prevent oxidative damage to the arteries and also help to keep the cholesterol and fats carried by the LDL from becoming oxidized." LDL is highly subject to oxidization, but vitamin E can prevent this from occuring.

"Avoid cholesterol that has already been oxidized outisde the body: dried or powdered milk and eggs. Also on the 'to avoid' list are the processed meats. Fresh sources of cholesterol-rich foods are fine. Remember, it's the processed, oxidized, chemical-laden, cholesterol-rich foods that are a problem.

"High levels of homocystein can contribute not only to heart disease but to osteoporosis as well. There even appears to be a link between elevated levels of homocystein and Alzheimer's disease. In most cases, this substance can be kept in check with a diet supplying plenty of vitamins B6 (potatoes, bananas, liver, turkey, lentils, wheat bran, cabbage, milk, eggs, cantaloupe) and B12 (eggs, dairy, beef, fish, poultry), folic acid (leafy greens, beans, citrus, beets, meat, carrots, whole wheat) and choline (some fo the best sources for cholinea re egg yolks, lecithin, and fish).

"Low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets-particularly those which include large amounts of refined carbohydrates- are also implicated in causing heart disease. The high-carb diets pushed on the public for so many years by numerous health authorities tend to create insulin resistance, whereas a high-fat diet does not. The body's increased production of insulin not only puta a strian on the panceras, but the exess inslulin appeasr to generate greater levels of heart-damaging homocysteine.

"Fatal heart attacks were cut in half in a group drinking more water.

High levels of cholesterol in the bloodstream are not the cause of heart disease. About half of all those having heart attacks have cholesterol readings that are normal or below normal.

FDA

Trans fats

"Trans fats have been implicated in higher risks of developing both heart disease and cancer. The list of problems associated with the consumption of trans fats, unfortunately, is not a short one: heart disease, obesity (by increasing the size of the fat cells), diabetes, low birth weight, allergies, asthma, and immunte dysfunction." (Barbee, p26)

"For years the FDA turned a blind eye to [the fact that trans fat disrupts cellular function and interferes with the use of essential fatty acids in the body], although recently they have begrudgingly decided that food labels will soon have to include trans fat in the estimation of total fat content. Why not ban it instead of just warning us? One would think the edible oil industry has the same clout as the tobacco companies.... This is a product suspected of causing death. Breast cancer rates are directly tied to trans fats, which are found in 'partially hydrogenated vegetable oil'... Government regulations permit products to be labeled as 'all natural' even if they have trans fats added to them in the form of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. But the trans fats found in these oils do not behave like the trans fats that occur naturally in small amounts in certain animal foods like milk. Natural trans fats are converted to beneficial conjugated linoleic acid or to energy. To say that the partially hydrogenated oil added to countless food products is 'natural' is more than a little deceitful." (Barbee, p29)

Bovine Growth Hormone

"It is clear that this added hormone harms the cows, but what about the people who drink their milk? The FDA, which gave approval to rBGH in 1993, said that Monsanto's product was no different from the natural BGH already present in cow's milk and that it would have no specific impact on humans. Untrue. BGH acts as a growth hormone only in cows, we were told; the extra hormones in milk from injected cows would not be absorbed in the bloodstream. False, again.

"The problem for people may not be the rBGH per se, but rather what it does inside the cow: rBGH creates elevated levels of another hormone called IGF-1 (insulinlike growth factor), which occurs naturally in the human bodya nd is useful for a variety of metabolic functions. One study showed a sixfold increase of IGF-1 in milk form cows injected with rBGH. Elevated amounts of IGF-1, however, are of great concern. It must be remembered that hormones are unlike many drugs in that they are esxtrememly powderful in small amounts and can set up an entrire chain of events in the human body. The IGF-1 from milk is identical to that found in humans iand is not destroyed by pasteurization; nor is it destroyed in the human stomach. It is absorbed into the bloodstream, thereby raisnng levels of this potent hormone, which causes cells to divide. THe concern, of course, is with high amoutns of IGF-1 and its ability to promote cancer.

Monsanto has been very concerned about the public's reaction and possible mistrust of their new cow drug. And so it is no surprise that former Monsanto employee, who was rehired byh the company after hsi tenure at he FDA, was respobsible for writing regulations prohibiting food lables taht would tell consumers whether or not they were getting rBGS- treated products. Monsanto itself got into the act in 1994 by suing two milk processors for trying to label their proudcts "BGH free," and was reported to have sent out about 2000 warning letters to other diary processors and retailers.

Watch about Monsanto and Health Canada, and Fox TV in Tampa.

"The British journal Lancet reported a sevenfold increase in the risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women with the highest levels of IGF-1 in their blood. The publication Science reported a fourfold increased risk of prostate cancer in men with elevated levels of IGF-1, even though these levels were within the normal range. This growth hormone has also been implicated in cancers of the lung and colon. It is interesteing to note that elevated levels of IGF-1 are also caused by consumption of fluoride and soy protein. British researchers have cautioned agsint consuming substances that incrase concentrations of IGF-1 because of "the increasing evidence of the risk of cancer."

Dr. Michael Hansen, a researcher at the Consumer Union in New York, believes that hte risk of polyps and tumors from iGF-1 in treated milk, along with an inadequate or improper evaluation of its safety by the FDA is enough to pull rBGH off the market. In fact, every other country in the world prohibits its use. The IGF-1 in treated milk is absorbed in teh GI tract and is more bioactive than that in regular milk; these properties are enhanced by pasteurization.

Dr. Samuel S. Epstein at the University of Illinois in Chicago is an expert on the environmetnal causes of cancer and has frequently been called upon to give expert testimony before Congress. He cliams that the IGF-1 from rBGH-treated milk may well promote cancer of the breast and colon. He adds, "In short, with the active complicity of the FDA, the entire nation is being subjected to an experiment... it (rBGH) poses a major potential public health risk for the entire U.S. population. With the clear health risks to cows and the potential for rBGH to cause human tumors, how could the FDA have ever granted approval to market this drug? Did the long period of testing on animals before approval reveal no risks at all? Well, the FDA has kept these details under wraps.

You see, a key 90- day study on 30 rats conducted by Monsanto, which convinced the FDA to approve their drug, has never been made public- or even made availabe to the independent scientifific community.

No MSG cookbooks

Any cookbook will likely have MSG-free recipes in it, you just have to know what you're looking for. Its nice to have one that you can trust, though, and we checked out Battling the MSG Myth: A Survival Guide and Cookbook by Debby Anglesey through WSU interlibrary loan. Available for $21 at msgmyth.com. She has delicious recipes in here, and there is so much additional knowledge you have to know to avoid MSG, not just reading labels, and you can get it from her book. She does still have recipes with a lot of sugar, which is also hazardous to our health, but I love how she sneaks shredded carrots and other veggies in her main entrees. Its a pretty complete book for anything you'd want to make from salad dressings to sauces to candy, and contains education all about the MSG myth and shopping tips.
Debby's not the only one that has written a cookbook. Here's another one called No MSG For Me by Lisa Kramer, available in many locales on the web.

Trans Fats

In our local Women's Conference at church four or so years ago, one speaker addressed us about nutrition. I remember her telling us about trans fats, and how they were terrible things to avoid; they make rats dumb and fat, unable to use their heads to get themselves through mazes. She said trans fats give items a long shelf life, so producers love to use them, and they're in everything: crackers, chips, etc., and I later learned in shortening, peanut butter, and lots of our goods with flour in them like breakfast bars and cake mixes. She said that they weren't on the nutrition label yet, but shortly it would be required, and in the mean time to read ingredient labels for partially hydrogenated oils and to avoid them.

Well, time passed, and trans fats became labeled. All the things I had been taught contained trans fats had "zero" trans fat on the label. I have only found one product in all of my existence that said it had "trace amounts of trans fat," but still zero trans fat. I was so confused. Everything I knew about trans fat became fuzzy to me, I couldn't even write about it until just a week or two ago.

Apparently, zero does not mean zero in Washington D.C., and there is deception in our food labels. Watch "Deceptive food labels" video.

It is still true that trans fats are not good for us, and basically they're hydrogenated oils. I have no idea how producers are saying their products have zero trans fat, because its in everything. I'm looking at my can of Crisco right now, and it says zero trans fat. It has 1. soybean oil 2. fully hydrogenated oil (is that okay?) 3. partially hydrogenated oil (the culprit), and then on to lots of other things I'd rather not eat such as TBHQ and citric acid which is probably derived from corn. So, how could this be, zero trans fat?

Anyways, I would think it wise look for and to avoid the partially hydrogenated oils. Doctors and dieticians advise it. Trans fats "disrupt cellular function and interfere with the use of essential fatty acids in the body... Breast cancer rates are directly tied to trans fat consumption (Barbee, p29)." "Trans fats [partially hydrogenated vegetable oils] have been implicated in higher risks of developing both heart disease and cancer. The list of problems associated with the consumption of trans fats, unfortunately, is not a short one: heart disease, obesity (by increasing the size of the fat cells), diabetes, low birth weight, allergies, asthma, and immunte dysfunction(Barbee, p26)."

Trans fats are created "by the deoderization process designed to mask vegetable oil rancidity or throught eh hydrogenatoin process to maek the oil firm, and are found today in countless baked an d processed ofoods They were identified as unhealthy as far back as 1958," says Barbee. "A recent report at The National Academy of Science's Institue of Medicine concluded that the safe amount of trans fat in our food is 'zero'."

Now, the clincher: trans fat is touted as a great way to avoid "saturated fats". Thus, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), (which I quoted in "12 food additives to avoid," as not to be fully trusted (I was right!)) with all good intentions tried to interfere with McDonalds to reduce their use of saturated fats on french fries. Thus, now McDonald's french fries are slathered in hydrogenated oils which plummets fry health value to a food of death, and the thing is, saturated fat isn't even something to avoid; the American Heart Association has us all misinformed. Read Julie & Julia!

CSPI was aghast with all the saturated fat on theater popcorn, and now that's full of trans fat, too, in place of the healthy coconut oil! CPSI acknowledged: 'Until the early 1900s, if you wanted a solid fat for your pie crust, you had to choose between lard, butter, or beef tallow. In 1911, Procter and Gamble changed all that when it introduced Crisco, a shortening made by hydrogenating a liquid oil (cottonseed)." It is a mystery why CSPI couldn't put two and two together and see that it was at this very time in our history that heart disease rates began to climb. Healthy, natural animal fats were replaced with polyunsaturated and hydrogenated oils (Barbee)."A Harvard University study showed higher intakes o ftrans fats in those who developed heart diseas.

A significant risk factor for developing heart disease is high levels of a substance in the blood called lipoprotein(a). This Lp(a) is a 'sticky' variant of LDL cholesterol and appears to help form arterial plaques. Saturated fat lowers levels of this damaging substance while consumption of trans fat raises the amount of Lp(a) in the blood. Cell membranes simply prefer saturated fat, but through their advertising, promoters of the vegetable oil industry have tried to convince us otherwise. A high consumption of polyunsaturated fats, however, has long been connected to the development of cancer and heart disease.

The Dutch government has banned the sale of margarine containing trans fats. Government regulations [in the U.S.] permit products to be labeled as "all natural" even if they have trans fats added to them in the form of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. The trans fats found in these oils do not behave like the trans fats that occur naturally in small amounts in certain animal foods like milk. Natural trans fats are converted to benefiecial conjugated linoleic acid or to energy. To say that the partially hydrogenated oil added to countless food products is 'natural' is more than a little deceitful. ...It is foreign and toxic.

Update July 24, 2010:
So, watching this video by nutritionist Rhadia Gleis, I think I understand that the hydrogenation process used to make fats stable goes a little flukey sometimes and creates trans fat. So, I guess that's how something made completely of hydrogenated components (such as shortening) can have only a little trans fat in it. Its just a percentage that goes haywire in the chemical process. The recommended intake of trans fat is zero trans fat (as it is zero for lead, BPA, etc.). However, I think even though all our labels say zero trans fat it doesn't mean it doesn't have it. As one person states "zero in Washington [D.C.] doesn't mean zero."