The Best Kept Secret

The two main families of essential fatty acids are Omega-3 [n3] and Omega-6 [n6]. They surround the trillions of cells in the body and, together, their job is to help us stay healthy. As one expert put it, " What do brains and Humming Birds have in common? They are both loaded with DHA, the longest, most desaturated Omega-3 required for photosynthesis and thinking."

One way both essential fats help to keep us healthy is to provide the means to combat acute inflammation. This ability has been "programmed" into our DNA since the Paleolithic era. The two Omegas have worked efficiently together for centuries in a ratio of 1:1 i.e., 1 part Omega-6 to one part Omega-3.

Those ratios have changed over the years so that now we are seeing ratios of 10:1 to 20:1 in favor of Omega-6. According to Susan Allport in her book  The Queen of Fats, "The per capita consumption of Omega-3  fat has remained fairly constant over the years whereas the consumption of Omega-6 seed fats is swamping our diet and tissues.

What happened? Our American diet has changed. It is now top heavy with the fats of seeds and beef raised in concentrated feed lots. Both are Omega-6 dense. Chemically, the two essential fats compete with one another for the conversion enzymes required to make their end products. Because Omega-6 fats can be in the ratio as high as 20:1. the Omega-3s get shut out.

Omega-3 and Omega-6 oils are both involved in making what are called prostaglandins. They are enlisted to fight acute inflammation. The problem is this. Omega-6 makes inflammatory prostaglandins. Omega-3 prostaglandins are neutral. When Omega-3 fats are shut out by Omega-6 fats, we can be confronted with chronic inflammation. 

Dr. Christiane Northrup writes that, "Cellular inflammation is the basis for all the most common degenerative diseases that plague the majority of our population..." 

Dr. Susan M. lark adds,"Inflammation contributes to more pain, disease, and disability than any other condition. unfortunately, many people unwittingly eat foods that greatly contribute to inflammation."  

We should heed the advice of the doctors and eat more Omega-3 dense foods. However, we should pay even more attention to reducing or eliminating the Omega-6 dense foods in our diet. 

 

 

How Sweet it is!

High fructose corn syrup is really sweet and relatively cheap. Many scientists now believe that it is a major cause of overweight in our people. It is made from corn which is abundant in our country and ubiquitous in processed foods.

Some are calling it the ultimate fast food. It seems that the enzymes required to break it down may respond by becoming overactive which can lead to weight gain.
Fructose enzymes turn fructose into energy. The more fructose containing foods you eat each day, the more fructose enzymes you manufacture. That, according to the experts, is not good for your waist line and overall health.

Some contend that eating too much HFCS [ High Fructose Corn Syrup ] causes an accumulation of abdominal fat, which doctors describe as the most harmful kind. It also escapes the attention of the bodies appetite control mechanisms and allows us to load up on the calories. We continue eating when we would otherwise stop. The fructose has tricked us into eating more than our body needs. Highly regarded Dr. Andrew Weil says unequivocally that, " High Fructose Corn Syrup is definitely bad for you and it's also bad for the planet and I believe it is a major driver of the obesity epidemic."

Not everyone agrees that HFCS is a major cause of obesity in our country. The American Corn Growers Association sure doesn't. They claim HFCS is no worse than regular sugar, Although they want to change the name to corn sugar. The USFDA has it on the GRAS list [ Generally Recognized as Safe ] which doesn't make it less fattening. The American Medical Association [AMA] says that more independent research is needed [ the operative word here is independent]. And the Mayo Clinic says that the research is evolving.

None the less, this is incontrovertible: The extra calories provided by cheap corn and corn derivatives in the early 1970s created about 200 extra calories of energy per day per person. We didn't ignore them, we ate them. That's equivalent to 10 pounds per person per year. By 1985 all sugar consumed by Americans had risen from 128 pounds per year to 158 pounds per year. Did we just decide as a society one day to eat more sugar?

If we were to construct a graph showing the rise in obesity from 1970 through today, and we simultaneously plotted the track of the use of HFCS, it would be no surprise [ or accident ] that the two tracks coincided. According to Michael Pollan we have taken about 539 million bushels of annual corn harvest and turned it into 17.5 billion pounds of high fructose corn syrup.

In his best selling book The Sugar Fix, Dr. Richard J. Johnson says that, " What you don't know about fructose and HFCS could kill you. Cutting back on the fructose in your diet could save your life and shrink your waistline. Table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup [HFCS]-the primary sources of fructose-are staples of our food supply, and are even found in foods that aren't necessarily sweet, like breads, soups, ketchup, and salad dressing. These sweeteners are linked to health problems such as obesity, diabetes, and joint and abdominal pain. They may also increase your risk of liver and kidney disease, premature aging. and certain types of cancer."

Free Radicals-Particles With an Attitude

Free radicals are rogue molecules of oxygen that can be harmful because they have the ability to attack and damage our cells. They are oxygen molecules with an electron missing and they are highly reactive. They occur everywhere in nature. A blast of free radicals can be generated by

Toxic chemicals
Pesticides
Smoke [ cigarettes ]
Pollution
Infections
Sunburn
Burnt and fried foods

And, lets not overlook one of the more common ways to generate free radicals i.e., by the normal digestion of food. We are bombarded from the time we are born. The free radicals are all around us and we are exposed on a routine basis. The quandary is this; we need free radicals to sustain life. At the right time and place they are normal and desirable especially in the process that produces energy in the course of food oxidation. They can aid in detoxifying harmful substances and they can also play vital role in helping the immune system fight disease.

The body has a defense mechanism in the form of free radical scavengers called antioxidants, When you are in a state of wellness, the body has an ample supply of scavengers that keep the tissues from being damaged. The body can soak up and eliminate these potentially dangerous substances providing it has a supply of antioxidants.

Remember, when you eating a diet based on "live" foods, you have ACEs up your sleeve to fight the radicals i.e. Vitamins A,C,E and Selenium.

* Vitamin A Good sources: carrots, collard greens, kale, sweet potatoes, parsley, spinach, mustard greens, mangoes, Hubbard squash, cantaloupe, apricots, and broccoli.

* Vitamin C Good sources: peppers, kale, parsley, collard greens, turnip greens, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, strawberries, papayas, spinach, oranges, lemon juice, grapefruit, turnips, mangoes, asparagus, cantaloupes, and green beans.

* Vitamin E Good sources: expeller pressed polyunsaturated vegetable oil, seeds, nuts, whole grains, asparagus, avocados, berries, green leafy vegetables and tomatoes..

* Selenium Works with vitamin E. Good sources: wheat germ, Brazil nuts, barley, whole grain wheat bread, bran, oats, brown rice, turnips, and orange juice.

These are not the only foods in which these nutrients are found. this is not intended to be medical advice. If you have any questions, check with your doctor or nurse practitioner

Bewildering

There is a central contradiction between nutrition theory and practice today. One one hand, our advice concerning the health benefits of a diet based largely on whole, live natural foods has not changed in more then fifty years and it is constantly supported by ongoing science. On the other hand, many people seem to be confused about what they are supposed to eat to stay healthy. When considering this contradiction, we should be aware of the role the food industry plays in creating an environment conducive to overeating animal based and highly processed foods.

For thousands of years, human body weight stayed stable. Throughout adulthood, those who came before us generally consumed no more than the food needed to stay alive. With rare exceptions, their body weight neither rose or fell by any significant amount. We were given a perfect biological system which reflected the wisdom of the body at work. Then, around 1980, things began to change.

We live in an age of industrial food with its numberless fast food outlets and supermarkets. Industrial food companies, not unlike cigarette , pharmaceutical and car companies, routinely place the needs of stockholders and the need for making profits above those of the consumer. They lobby congress to eliminate regulations and press regulatory agencies to not enforce those regulations that are on the books. Annually they spend billions of dollars on direct media advertising and its a sad commentary that much of it is aimed at children.

In his book The End of Overeating, Dr. David a Kessler points out that the business of food is to create highly rewarding stimuli and he quoted a high-level industry executive, who asked to remain anonymous, who said that," Higher sugar, fat, and salt make you want to eat more. They make a food compelling and indulgent. They make it high in hedonic value which gives us pleasure." Dr. Kessler also asked." Do you design food specifically to be high hedonic?" to which the executive replied,"Oh, absolutely. We try to bring as much of that into the equation as possible." "As we do this", says Dr. Kessler, " The food industry becomes the manipulator of the consumer's minds and desires."

Food companies, when they are not filing lawsuits about regulations they don't like, co-opt food and nutrition experts by supporting organizations and research while expanding sales by marketing directly to children and other groups whether or not the products are likely to improve people's diet. These practices are legal. Whether they are ethical is another matter. Much of what they do lobbying, marketing, engaging the services of "nutrition experts", is conducted out of the public view. Lobbying records are too often subject to confidentiality agreements.

The subliminal nature of food and beverage advertising is a tribute to its ubiquity as well as to the sophistication of the agencies that produce it. They spend billions of dollars annually on direct media advertising in magazines, radio, newspapers, television and billboards. Most of the billions are used to promote highly processed, elaborately packaged and "dead foods." Little, if any, is spent advertising "live" food like fruits,,vegetables, and grains. No wonder that so many people are bewildered