Download The Human Body Can Heal Itself!

February 17, 2012
Volume 3, Issue 4
The Human Body Can Heal Itself!
Our body is perfectly able to heal itself and stay healthy
when exposed to the right environment, including the
correct types and levels of exposure to stressors and
intakes of nutrients.
All disease and dysfunction is created from the presence
of external or internal stressors and/or malnourishment
which restrict the body in its never ending attempt for
self-maintenance.
Health, function, physical appearance and longevity
result from the body's successful endeavor for selfmaintenance, which is enabled by the absence of
pathogenic stressors, and the presence of appropriate
nourishment.
Symptoms are simply clues to functional imbalances
caused by external or internal stressors or the absence of
appropriate nourishment. Symptoms generally represent
the body's attempts at curing itself.
A person who wants to achieve and maintain natural wellness must find and eliminate the external
and internal stressors and provide appropriate nourishment to the body through behavior and diet
(lifestyle).
There is no denying that the human body needs outside help by conventional medicine to help it heal
at times. Many people tend to forget that the body has an extraordinary immune system built in to
help the body heal itself without outside intervention.
The human body was created to heal itself and many times medicines that are produced to help our
body heal, can create side effects that can cause other complications.The more an individual learns
about how the body functions, the better prepared a person can be in make decisions concerning their
overall health and quality of life.
Every decision we make can affect our body function and how our body reacts when it isn't functioning
properly. Diet, exercise, the environment and even social skills affect how our body operates and
making poor choices in these areas can cause the body's built-in healing system to be limited or even
malfunction.
To keep the human body in a well maintained state of being, we have to give our body what it requires
to rebuild itself and limit outside influences that break down our immune system. Take some time to
educate yourself on how the body operates and learn a few tips to safeguard and sustain it. You are
the only prevention your body has to keep it functioning at its highest potential.
[1]
Experts Urge Societal Control of Sugar!
Sugar should be controlled like alcohol and tobacco
to protect public health, according to a team of
UCSF researchers, who maintain in a new report
that sugar is fueling a global obesity pandemic,
contributing to 35 million deaths annually worldwide
from non-communicable diseases like diabetes,
heart disease and cancer.
Limiting the
consumption of
sugar has
challenges
beyond
educating
people about
its potential
toxicity. "We
recognize that
there are
cultural and
celebratory aspects of sugar," said Brindis, director
of UCSF's Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy
Studies. "Changing these patterns is very
complicated"
Non-communicable diseases now pose a greater
health burden worldwide than infectious diseases,
according to the United Nations. In the United
States, 75 percent of health care dollars are spent
treating these diseases and their associated
disabilities.
In the February 2 issue of Nature, Robert Lustig, MD
Laura Schmidt PhD, MSW, MPH, and Claire Brindis,
DPH, colleagues at the University of California, San
Francisco (UCSF), argue that sugar's potential for
abuse, coupled with its toxicity and pervasiveness in
the Western diet make it a primary culprit of this
worldwide health crisis.
According to Brindis, effective interventions can't
rely solely on individual change, but instead on
environmental and community-wide solutions,
similar to what has occurred with alcohol and
tobacco, that increase the likelihood of success.
This partnership of scientists trained in
endocrinology, sociology and public health took a
new look at the accumulating scientific evidence on
sugar. Such interdisciplinary liaisons underscore the
power of academic health sciences institutions like
UCSF.
The authors argue for society to shift away from
high sugar consumption, the public must be better
informed about the emerging science on sugar.
"There is an enormous gap between what we know
from science and what we practice in reality," said
Schmidt, professor of health policy at UCSF's Philip
R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies (IHPS) and
co-chair of UCSF's Clinical and Translational Science
Institute's (CTSI) Community Engagement and
Health Policy Program, which focuses on alcohol and
addiction research.
Sugar, they argue, is far from just "empty calories"
that make people fat. At the levels consumed by
most Americans, sugar changes metabolism, raises
blood pressure, critically alters the signaling of
hormones and causes significant damage to the
liver - the least understood of sugar's damages.
These health hazards largely mirror the effects of
drinking too much alcohol, which they point out in
their commentary is the distillation of sugar.
"To move the health needle, this issue needs to be
recognized as a fundamental concern at the global
level," she said.
Worldwide consumption of sugar has tripled during
the past 50 years and is viewed as a key cause of
the obesity epidemic. But obesity, Lustig, Schmidt
and Brindis argue, may just be a marker for the
damage caused by the toxic effects of too much
sugar. This would help explain why 40 percent of
people with metabolic syndrome - the key metabolic
changes that lead to diabetes, heart disease and
cancer - are not clinically obese.
The paper was made possible with funding from
UCSF's Clinical and Translational Science Institute,
UCSF's National Institutes of Health-funded program
that helps accelerate clinical and translational
research through interdisciplinary, inter-professional
and transdisciplinary work.
Many of the interventions that have reduced alcohol
and tobacco consumption can be models for
addressing the sugar problem, such as levying
special sales taxes, controlling access, and
tightening licensing requirements on vending
machines and snack bars that sell high sugar
products in schools and workplaces.
"As long as the public thinks that sugar is just
'empty calories,' we have no chance in solving this,"
said Lustig, a professor of pediatrics, in the division
of endocrinology at the UCSF Benioff Children's
Hospital and director of the Weight Assessment for
Teen and Child Health (WATCH) Program at UCSF.
"We're not talking prohibition," Schmidt said. "We're
not advocating a major imposition of the
government into people's lives. We're talking about
gentle ways to make sugar consumption slightly
less convenient, thereby moving people away from
the concentrated dose. What we want is to increase
people's choices by making foods that aren't loaded
with sugar comparatively easier and cheaper to
get."
"There are good calories and bad calories, just as
there are good fats and bad fats, good amino acids
and bad amino acids, good carbohydrates and bad
carbohydrates," Lustig said. "But sugar is toxic
beyond its calories."
[2]
Coconut Oil Touted As Alzheimer's Remedy
Approximately
5.4 million
people in the
U.S. have been
diagnosed with
Alzheimer's
disease and
that number is
expected to
increase
exponentially
as baby
boomer
generation
enters their
golden years.
There is an alternative fuel -- ketones, which cells
easily accept. Ketones are metabolized in the liver
after you eat medium chain triglycerides, found in
coconut oil.
Dr. Newport added coconut oil to her husband
Steve's diet. Just two weeks later, he took the clock
test again and demonstrated stunning
improvement.
"I thought at the time, was it just good luck? Was it
a lot of prayer? Was it the coconut oil?" she said. "I
thought, well, we're going to keep the coconut oil
going."
Three weeks later, Steve took the clock test a third
time and continued to perform better on it.
It wasn't just intellectually, he also improved
emotionally and physically.
For some
people, coconut
oil has proven to
slow the progression of Alzheimer's and may have
even prevented it.
"He was not able to run. He was able to run again,"
she recalled. "He could not read for about a year
and a half, but after two or three months he was
able to read."
One of those people is Steve Newport, whose
Alzheimer's has slowed considerably. Some of his
symptoms even reversed, thanks to the unlikely
treatment prescribed by his wife, Dr. Mary Newport,
a physician who runs a neonatology ward at a
Tampa, Fla., hospital.
"Instead of being very sluggish, not talking very
much in the morning, he would come out in the
morning with energy, talkative, and joking, and he
could find his water and his utensils," Dr. Newport
said.
She documented Steve's success in a book titled,
Alzheimer's Disease: What If There Was A Cure?
Dr. Newport received many "thank you" letters from
people whose loved ones were suffering from
Alzheimer's. Each of the letters claimed their family
member was helped after they followed Steve's diet.
Dr. Newport became determined to help her
husband after the severity of his disease was
discovered through an Alzheimer's test in which the
person being tested is asked to draw a picture of a
clock.
"He drew circles and several numbers just in a very
random pattern, didn't really look anything like a
clock," she said.
Expensive Power Punch
While coconut oil is encouraging, there's something
much more powerful.
"The doctor pulled me over to the side and said,
'You know, he's on the verge of severe Alzheimer's
at this point, he's beyond moderate," Dr. Newport
recalled.
A team of biochemists, led by Professor Kieran
Clarke at England's Oxford University, have
developed a ketone ester that packs a punch ten
times greater than coconut oil.
"So that was very, very devastating news," she said.
"It reaches quite considerably higher levels," Clarke
said. "You can get whatever levels you want
depending on how much you drink."
Dr. Newport began learning everything she could
about her husband's disease.
"It appears to be a type of diabetes of the brain and
it's a process that starts happening at least 10 or 20
years before you start having symptoms and it's
very similar to type 1 or type 2 diabetes in that you
develop a problem with insulin," she explained.
The problem is, they need millions of dollars to
mass produce it.
"It's very expensive. So we can't make very much
of it ourselves," Clarke said. "What we would like is
funding so we could scale up and make it."
Alternative Brain Fuel
"Of course there's no real profit in manufacturing
stuff like that, and so people really don't want to
fund that sort of thing," he said.
In this case, insulin problems prevent brain cells
from accepting glucose, their primary fuel. Without
it, they eventually die.
Continued on Page 4 ...
[3]
Continued From Page 3 ... Coconut Oil Touted As Alzheimer's Remedy
Coconut Oil Myths
The health benefits of coconut oil include hair care,
skin care, stress relief, maintaining cholesterol
levels, weight loss, increased immunity, proper
digestion and metabolism, relief from kidney
problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure,
diabetes, HIV and cancer, dental care, and bone
strength. These benefits of coconut oil can be
attributed to the presence of lauric acid, capric acid
and caprylic acid, and its properties such as
antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-fungal, antibacterial,
soothing, etc.
So until a high potency ketone ester is available to
the general public, coconut oil is still a good ketone
source.
Just make sure it's pure, in other words, nonhydrogenated. Avoid any hydrogenated oil, including
coconut oil, because hydrogenated oils are the same
thing as dangerous trans fats. Check the list of
ingredients for the word, "Hydrogenated."
Some people are afraid to eat coconut oil because
they think it's bad for your heart. It's very healthy.
How is Lauric Acid Used by our body?
Dr. Beverly Teter is a lipid biochemist researcher at
the University of Maryland and an expert in the area
of dietary fat.
The human body converts lauric acid into
monolaurin which is claimed to help in dealing with
viruses and bacteria causing diseases such as
herpes, influenza, cytomegalovirus, and even HIV. It
helps in fighting harmful bacteria such as listeria
monocytogenes and heliobacter pylori, and harmful
protozoa such as giardia lamblia. As a result of
these various health benefits of coconut oil, though
its exact mechanism of action was unknown, it has
been extensively used in Ayurveda, the traditional
Indian medicinal system. The Coconut Research
Center has compiled various references on scientific
research done on coconut oil.
She said that years ago, coconut oil was criticized
for raising cholesterol. Scientists have since learned
there are two kinds of cholesterol -- LDL, the bad
kind, and HDL, which is very good for you. HDL, the
good cholesterol, is the kind that coconut oil raises.
"So they put out the message that it increased
serum cholesterol," Teter explained. "The truth of
the matter is, it was helping the profile of the serum
cholesterol."
"That never has been corrected in the public press,
and I think that's the reason people have
misconceptions about it," she said.
Composition of Coconut Oil:
Coconut oil consists of more than ninety percent of
saturated fats (Don’t panic! First read to the last
word. Your opinion may change), with traces of few
unsaturated fatty acids, such as monounsaturated
fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Virgin
Coconut Oil is no different from this. Let us have a
bit detailed study of this.
Defense against Disease
Not only does coconut oil improve cholesterol levels,
Teter said the way it helps the brains of some
Alzheimer's patients can even be extended to
people with Parkinson's disease, ALS , epilepsy,
dementia, even schizophrenia and autism.
• The Saturated Fatty Acids: Most of them are
Medium Chain Triglycerides, which are supposed
to assimilate well. Lauric Acid is the chief
contributor, with more than forty percent of the
share, followed by Capric Acid, Caprylic Acid,
Myristic Acid and Palmitic.
• The Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: Linoleic Acid.
• The Monounsaturated Fatty Acids: Oleic Acid.
• The Poly-phenols: Gallic Acid, which is phenolic
acid. These poly-phenols are supposed to be
responsible for the fragrance and the taste of
Coconut Oil and Virgin Coconut Oil is rich in these
poly-phenols.
• Certain derivatives of fatty acid like Betaines,
Ethanolamide, Ethoxylates, Fatty Esters, Fatty
Polysorbates, Monoglycerides and Polyol Esters.
• Fatty Chlorides, Fatty Alcohol Sulphate and Fatty
Alcohol Ether Sulphate, all of which are
derivatives of Fatty Alcohols.
• Vitamin-E and Vitamin K and minerals such as
Iron.
Coconut oil also kills bacteria, making it a natural
antibiotic without the negative side effects. Teter
said because of that, it also helps defend against
viruses like HIV and herpes.
"The coconut oil tends to keep the bacteria down so
that if you're assaulted with a virus, your immune
system can concentrate on the virus. It doesn't
have to concentrate on 27 other bacteria that day,"
she explained.
As always, consult your doctor before making any
dietary changes and ask about the addition of
coconut oil to your diet.
YouTube Video!
Coconut Oil Touted as Alzheimer's Remedy CBN.com - YouTube
The Health Benefits of Coconut Oil
[4]
Carbs Are Killing You!
After all those years of not eating red meat and cutting back on the mayonnaise, science now tells us it’s carbs, not
fat, making Americans overweight. This interesting infographic designed by Column Five Media for Massive Health
describes in depth the way in which carbohydrates make the body store fat.
“One of the reasons we did this infographic is because we are finding through the data we are collecting via The
Eatery that people are not very good at judging the health of certain foods,” says Andrew J. Rosenthal of Massive
Heath. “One of our users was starting off each morning with a Jamba Juice fruit smoothie, thinking it was a really
healthy substitute for breakfast. Every day as he used The Eatery, he got feedback that his smoothie was not
nearly as healthy as he had rated it. He had no idea how high the sugar and carb content was. We’ve heard about
loads of “ah-ha!” moments like this particularly about carbs, when users of The Eatery learn, through a tight
feedback loop, that their decisions aren’t nearly as healthy as they thought.”
[5]
Statins Associated With Significant Increase in Diabetes Risk
According to a new
study, statins
(cholesterollowering drugs)
may significantly
increase the risk of
diabetes in
postmenopausal
women. The study
was published
online January 9 in
the Archives of
Internal Medicine by researchers at the University of
Massachusetts Medical School in Boston.
baseline, 7.0% of women were taking statins, with
30% of women taking simvastatin, 27% taking
lovastatin, 22% taking pravastatin, 12.5% taking
fluvastatin, and 8% taking atorvastatin. During the
study period, 10,242 cases of diabetes were
reported.
Statin use at baseline was associated with a 71%
increased risk of diabetes; however, after adjusting
for potential confounding variables, the risk of
diabetes associated with statin therapy dropped to
48%. The association was observed for all types of
statins. Dr. Ma noted, "The association between
diabetes risk and statin therapy was not observed
with any one type of statin, and it seems to be a
class effect."
The researchers reviewed new data from the
Women's Health Initiative (WHI), which suggested
that the risk of diabetes is higher than that noted by
previous studies; the Boston researchers reported a
48% increased risk of diabetes among the women
taking cholesterol-lowering medications.
A significantly increased risk of diabetes was
observed in Caucasian (49%), Hispanic (57%), and
Asian (78%) women. Among African Americans,
who composed 8.3% of the population studied,
there was an 18% increased diabetes risk
associated with statin use at baseline. This increase
was not statistically significant. Statin use and
diabetes risk was also observed in women across a
range of body mass indices (BMIs less than 25.0,
25.0–29.9, and greater than 30.0 kg/m2). Women
with the lowest BMI ( less than 25.0 kg/m2),
appeared to be at a higher risk of diabetes
compared with obese women; the investigators
theorized that this finding was related to hormonal
differences between the women.
"With this study, what we're seeing is that the risk
of diabetes is particularly high in elderly women,
and this risk is much larger than was observed in
another previous meta-analysis," noted senior
investigator DR Yunsheng Ma. "For doctors treating
patients, we would like them to really look at the
risk-benefit analysis, especially in different age
groups, such as older women."
Annie Culver (Mayo Clinic; Rochester, MN), a
pharmacist and lead investigator of the study, noted
that close monitoring and an individualized riskversus-benefit assessment is really a good thing, as
well as an emphasis on continued lifestyle changes."
She added that as the population ages, and because
these patients have a higher vulnerability to
diabetes anyway, monitoring for diabetes in statintreated patients becomes more important.
In an editorial, Dr. Kirsten Johansen (University of
California, San Francisco), Editor of the Archives,
noted that the increased risk of diabetes in women
without cardiovascular disease has "important
implications for the balance of risk and benefit of
statins in the setting of primary prevention in which
previous meta-analyses show no benefit on allcause mortality."
Recently published data noted the potential risk of
diabetes with statin therapy. In June, DR Kausik Ray
(St George's University; London, UK) and colleagues
published a meta-analysis of “PROVE-IT, A to Z,
TNT, IDEAL, and SEARCH.” The meta-analysis,
which is a complication of studies on a particular
topic, evaluated five trials that involved high-dose
statin therapy. The researchers reported a
significantly increased in the risk of diabetes with
higher doses of statins. Another meta-analysis
published in the journal Lancet in 2010 by DR
Naveed Sattar (University of Glasgow, UK) also
found that cholesterol-lowering medications were
associated with a 9% increased risk of diabetes.
Only 7% of women in the WHI study were taking
statins; however, currently that number would be
significantly higher, making the potential risk of
diabetes for postmenopausal women significantly
more widespread. Dr. Ma noted that physicians need
to evaluate the risk of diabetes as well as the
potential benefits of statin therapy in elderly female
patients, and start statins after lifestyle
interventions have been attempted.
YouTube Videos!
The diabetes risk from statins - YouTube
Cholesterol, Statins, The Truth Revealed! Part 1 MUST SEE! - YouTube
In the Boston study, the researchers reviewed WHI
data of 153,840 postmenopausal women aged 50–
79 years old. Information about statin use was
obtained at enrollment and three years later; the
Boston analysis includes data until 2005. At
Cholesterol, Statins, The Truth Revealed! Part 2 YouTube
[6]
Reasons to Eat Grass-Fed, Pastured and Wild Animal Products
over Grain-Fed Animal Products
1. Grass fed beef contains up to 5 times more
CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) then grain fed
beef.
the benefits of fish oil. http://www.ajcn.org/
content/70/3/560S.full.pdf+html
Grass fed beef contains much more omega-3 fatty
acid than grain fed beef. Human beings are also
meant to consume a specific ratio of omega-3 fatty
acids to omega-6 fatty acids. The typical American
diet is currently consuming somewhere between 1
to 11 and 1 to 30 (omega-3 to omega-6) and this is
hypothesized to be a major cause of modern illness.
A healthy intake of omega-3 to omega-6 should be
somewhere between 1 to 2 and 1 to 4 parts
omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids. Grass fed beef has
a fatty acid profile of about 1 to 1.5 whereas grain
fed beef is closer to 1:7.6.
You can obtain Omega-3 from plant sources (flax,
hemp) but they must first be converted to their
active components EPA and DHA in the body.
Unfortunately plant sources of Omega-3 convert
very poorly to the usable forms EPA and DHA in the
body. EPA and DHA is readily found in animal
products, making them a superior source of
omega-3s.
Why is this important? CLA is a naturally occurring
fatty acid found in meat and milk. CLA has been
shown to reduce your risk of heart disease,
decrease body fat in obese individuals and has been
linked to a reduced chance of acquiring breast
cancer. CLA has also been shown to reduce tumor
growth in rats when it is present in small amounts
in the diet. Heart disease and cancers are two of the
top killers in the United States. If we can decrease
deaths in this area we’d really be helping ourselves
out. Cheese and milk for the win!
One of the best sources of omega three fatty acids
is wild caught fish. Some people are afraid to eat
fish because of a fear of mercury. However, eating
fish is so beneficial it trumps the potential problems
associated with mercury consumption. The FDA
makes a very interesting argument that eating fish
is a whole lot safer for you then not eating fish. The
risk of succumbing to a disease by not eating fish is
greater then eating the mercury that accompanies
fish. Also, the literature shows us that eating fish is
more beneficial then taking a fish oil supplement in
raising our body omega 3 levels. So go eat some
fish.
2. Grass fed beef and dairy as well as pastured
hen’s eggs contain more omega-3 fatty acids
then its grain fed counterpart.
Just be aware that farm raised fish do not have the
same nutritional value as wild caught fish in the
same way that grass fed beef differs from grain fed
beef. Also, in July 2003 the Environmental Working
group reported that farm raised fish contains 16
times more PCBs then the wild caught variety. The
environmental protection agency states that PCBs
can cause cancer, reproductive and neurological
problems, among other things. More information on
PCBs can be found here -http://www.epa.gov/osw/
hazard/tsd/pcbs/pubs/effects.htm
3. Grass fed/pastured and organic animals
have healthy livers
Omega-3 fatty acids have gotten much media
attention lately and are associated with a myriad of
health benefits. Some benefits include a decreased
risk of heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes,
rheumatoid arthritis, renal disease, ulcerative
colitis, COPD and Crohn's disease. I won’t bore you
all with the details but if you’re interested take a
look at this big old study. Its a definitive guide to
Organic, pasture raised animals graze on what they
were biologically evolved to eat. Because of this
their livers contain safer levels of heavy metals and
other toxins when compared to grain fed meats.
Keep in mind that all meats will contain some heavy
metals regardless of source. Liver contains an
enormous amount of easily absorbable Vitamin A,
modest amounts of Vitamin D, CLA, Vitamin K2 and
Continued on Page 8 ...
[7]
Continued From Page 7 ... Reasons To Eat Grass Fed ...
some nifty nutrients not found from other food
sources like Coenzyme Q10.
of the proposed deleterious effects and decide to
supplement with vitamins A and E instead you may
want to rethink that idea. An article published in the
Vitamin D has recently been in the news because it
appears that many Americans have been becoming
deficient in vitamin D for a variety of proposed
reasons including underexposure to the sun, use of
sun blocks, suboptimal levels of vitamin D in the
diet and obesity. Vitamin D is incredibly important in
the body and has even been linked to reduced risk
of bone diseases, cancers and muscle weakness. It
is believed to have a link to multiple sclerosis, type
1 diabetes and even may have performance
enhancement benefits for sport. For more
information about the health benefits of vitamin D
check out this link. ( http://www.thorne.com/
altmedrev/.fulltext/10/2/94.PDF )
Unfortunately, due to getting less Vitamin D in our
diets and underexposure to the sun our vitamin D
levels have declined in recent years. Keep in mind
that as much as 50% of the population appears to
be deficient in Vitamin D and it may appear wise to
seek out additional sources of vitamin D in the diet.
Vitamin D is found in very few sources of food, the
main reason why we fortify our foods with it. The
best sources of dietary vitamin D are from liver,
especially fish liver and other fatty fish.
Journal of the American Medical Association looked
at 68 randomized trials and 230,000 participants to
take a look at the effect of supplemental betacarotene, vitamin A and E on mortality (deaths).
Unfortunately, the usage of vitamin A and E
supplements significantly correlated with increased
mortality! This means that taking long term vitamin
A and E supplements may lead to death earlier then
without it. Using supplemental vitamin A and E
products may not be advantageous, but we still
need vitamin A and E in our diets. Eating whole
foods from sources such as animal products seems
to fit the bill here.
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is another useful
compound that is only really found in a few select
food sources including animal liver and heart.
Coenzyme Q10 has been found to be helpful in
reducing hypertension, heart failure, as well as
decreasing your risk of atherosclerosis after a recent
heart attack. Your body naturally produces CoQ10,
but its ability to produce it declines with age (as
your risk for heart disease rises). Another
interesting factoid is that statin drugs inhibit your
body’s ability to produce CoQ10 by inhibiting the
same pathway used by the body to produce
cholesterol. Given the prevalence of statin drugs
being used in the US it might be prudent to add
some of this nutrient to our diet.
Another reason to get your nutrition from whole
foods, IE: vegetables, fruits and pastured animal
products come from a 2009 article from the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. They offer the
idea of food synergy. In other words we don’t
completely understand the complex interaction of
nutrients contained in food once they enter the
body to be digested. The nutrient mixture found in
whole foods appears to have benefits above and
beyond single nutrient supplementation that in
many cases is not fully understood yet.
With all the information that has been presented in
this article as well as the health benefits vitamins
and minerals have in the human body it makes
sense that a multivitamin would be essential to
optimal health right? Well, maybe not. In a 2009
study from the Archives of Internal Medicine
following 160,000 post menopausal women over 8
years, multivitamin supplementation had little to no
influences over common cancers (breast, ovarian,
endometrial, colorectal, lung), cardiovascular
disease, heart attack, stroke and all cause mortality.
4. Grass-fed / pastured meats are higher in
vitamins and antioxidants
Grass fed beef has been shown to contain higher
levels of vitamin A and E as well as the antioxidants
glutathione and Super Oxide Dismutase. This study
provides evidence that 50% of the US population
gets less then 50% of the RDA for vitamin A. By the
way, vitamin A and E are found in large amounts in
liver, pate anyone?
Research shows that there is up 3 times more alpha
tocopherol and 7 times more beta carotene in grass
fed beef then grain fed. Beta carotene is a precursor
to vitamin A in the human body and alphatocopherol is a heavily researched form of vitamin
E. Beta Carotene is also a well studied antioxidant.
If you are afraid to consume meat because of some
Supplementation may not be the best way to get
the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that our
bodies need. Maybe we should just be eating high
quality real food to achieve optimal health?
5. Grass fed beef has less of the saturated
fatty acids that increase cholesterol.
Continued on Page 9 ...
[8]
Continued From Page 8 ... Reasons To Eat Grass Fed ...
There is much controversy right now about whether
saturated fat causes heart disease. The literature
beef fat contains could make you rethink trimming
all the fat from your steak.
6. Grass fed dairy products contain more
vitamin K2.
Vitamin K2 is a form of vitamin K that has been
getting some very interesting attention lately. This
vitamin should not be confused with its brother
vitamin K1 which is present in certain vegetables.
K2 has been shown to decrease the risk of heart
disease as well as reducing fracture occurrence in
the elderly. Unfortunately vitamin K1 does not have
the same health benefits. Vitamin K2 is found in
cheese, eggs, butter, liver, beef, chicken liver and
fermented foods like natto. Vitamin K2 is believed to
be highest in animals able to range freely on the
pasture and eat the grass and plants around them,
although there is no research I have found t support
this position. Dr. Weston A. Price popularized this
idea.
also goes both ways. This topic is kind of like the
elephant in the room as far as nutrition topics go.
The general idea is that higher levels of saturated
fat eaten correlates to increased blood levels of
cholesterol. High blood levels of cholesterol are
theorized to cause heart disease. This is a very
simplistic view and not all types of saturated fats
raise cholesterol.
Whoa! Information overload. I think it helps to look
at some published research when you are making
the decision to decide what is good and what is bad
in your own diet. Conventional wisdom may tell us
that meat is bad but much research says the
contrary. It is to be hoped that this is some
thought-provoking and can help give you some
direction with your nutrition. I don’t believe that
marketing, politics and rumors should make up the
majority of what we know about health. Lets try to
take a more scientific approach!
Some types of saturated fat can preferentially
increase HDL (the “good” cholesterol) like lauric
acid, found predominantly in coconut. Some types
of saturated fats raise cholesterol more then others.
Cows contain the saturated fats palmitic acid,
myristic acid and stearic acid. Myristic acid has been
shown to increase cholesterol levels as well as
palmitic acid to a lesser degree. Stearic acid on the
other hand is neutral as has been shown to have no
influence on cholesterol levels. Contrary to popular
belief, fat from animals is not entirely saturated and
contains small amounts of polyunsaturated acids as
well as a hefty amount of monounsaturated fatty
acids. 30% of the fat from cows is oleic acid, the
same healthy monounsaturated fatty acid found in
olive oil. Oleic acid has been shown to decrease
cholesterol, lower blood pressure and decrease risk
of stroke. CLA is a polyunsaturated fat found in beef
fat as well with health benefits discussed earlier.
Grass fed beef has less palmitic and myristic acid
and more stearic acid then its grain fed counterpart.
This means that grass fed beef should be less
influential on cholesterol levels. Grass fed beef has
less fat in general because grass fed cows tend to
have less intramuscular fat. This means you are
getting less saturated fat per serving of beef and
the fat that you do eat has less of an effect on your
cholesterol levels. If saturated fat does affect your
risk for heart disease, eating grass fed over grain
fed beef should decrease your risk for heart disease.
In reality, the fat is where many of the beneficial
nutrients discussed previously are stored including
CLA. This along with the heart healthy oleic acid
Remember, the source of your food and what your
food eats has everything to do with your health as a
result.
[9]
Reasons Cancer Is Increasing!
Cancer rates are not rising because we’re
deficient in man-made painkillers. Cancer is
increasing because of our man-made toxic
environment.
Here’s something positive about cancer that
most people don’t know…
Cancer was almost unknown in ancient times.
Why is this good news? Because it means you
don’t need any scary science to prevent it.
In a study completed just recently and published
in the journal Nature, researchers looked at
tissue samples from hundreds of Egyptian
mummies. There should have been evidence of
cancer in all of them, according to modern
cancer statistics. Mummification would have
preserved any sign of tumors.
Instead of finding cancer in nearly every
mummy … they found only a single case. The
hundreds of other mummies showed no sign of
cancer at all.
These results would be impossible if cancer were
not an entirely modern plague. Statistically, it
could not happen.
send signals to your body to repair your DNA. If
the response is deficient, or no help comes at
all, those cells become vulnerable to cancer.
What happens today that did not happen in our
native environment is that those breaks occur a
lot more often. They’re caused by things like
environmental pollutants and chemical
ingredients in food. Our bodies haven’t adapted
to the huge increase in these man-made toxins
over a very short period.
So let me be as clear as I can: Cancer isn’t a
“normal” part of life. Toxins and chemicals are
interfering with your natural ability to defend
yourself.
The most important thing you can do is to
strengthen your cells, so they’re more diseaseresistant. That means making sure your body
has the energy and the nutrients to repair and
maintain those cells.
The three most important nutrients you need to
keep your cells strong are also the ones
chronically deficient in today’s world. They are
vitamin C, vitamin D and CoQ10.
1. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that disarms
damaging free radicals before they can attack
healthy cells and stimulate tumor growth.
We also now know that the
protective caps on the
ends of your DNA, called
telomeres, are very
sensitive to this kind of
damage. The shorter your
telomeres, the older your
cells act and the more
susceptible they are to
becoming cancerous. The
new, exciting discovery
about vitamin C is that it’s
very effective at defending
you against this process
and protecting your DNA.
It wasn’t because Egyptians didn’t live long
enough to get cancer. The mummies had
evidence of age-related problems like brittle
bones and hardened arteries.
What we should be doing today is trying to
mimic the environment we had back then.
That’s what we should be paying attention to.
Researchers from some of the largest
institutions in Texas are trying to help. They
recently revealed how cancer begins. It starts
with weakened cells.
Strands of DNA sometimes get broken through
your body’s natural processes. Your cells then
We get some vitamin C
from our food, but not
nearly enough. The foods
with the most vitamin C include dark green,
leafy vegetables, and “super-fruits” like the
acerola cherry. Also, you probably don’t think of
them this way, but peppers are the rulers of
vegetable vitamin C. Watercress is also a littleknown but rich source of vitamin C. If you
choose to supplement, try to get 1,500 mg twice
a day if you’re healthy. If you’re under much
stress, or if you are sick, you can take as much
as 20,000 mg per day.
Continued on Page 11 ...
[10]
Continued From Page 10 ... Reasons Cancer Is Increasing!
2. Low Vitamin D levels are strongly linked to
cancer. A report out of a university in
Nebraska showed that vitamin D has the
potential to lower the risk of all cancers in
women by 77 percent.
Researchers at the University of California San
Diego found you can lower your risk of breast
cancer by 50 percent, and colon cancer by more
than 65
percent, simply
by boosting
your vitamin D
levels through
sunlight, diet
or
supplements.
A Harvardsponsored
report
published in
the Journal of
the National
Cancer
Institute
revealed that
when men
raise their
vitamin D
intake, they
can lower their
overall risk of
cancer death by 29 percent, drop rates of
“digestive tract” cancers by 43 percent (throat,
stomach and colon), and reduce death rates
from these cancers by 45 percent.
plus a
combination
of other
antioxidants
and essential
fatty acids.
The entire
group had a
partial
remission of
the cancer.
Two of the
patients
received
larger doses
of CoQ10
(390 mg) and
their tumors
disappeared. In no way am I saying stop your
cancer treatment and only take CoQ10. What I
am showing you is the power of this important
nutrient against cancer.
The best way to get CoQ10 is by eating red
meat from grass-fed animals. Grain-fed meat is
not a good source of CoQ10. If you want to
supplement, the form you get is very important.
I recommend 50 mg of the ubiquinol form,
which is 8 times stronger and is better absorbed
than the old form.
The best source of vitamin D is sunshine. Your
skin produces vitamin D when the sun’s rays
shine on you. Ten to 20 minutes of sun gets you
a full day’s supply of it. To supplement with
vitamin D, make sure you take the natural form,
D3. I recommend at least 2,000 IU per day.
3. CoQ10 is one of the most overlooked
nutrients. The government doesn’t even have
a recommended daily intake for it. It’s the
fuel your cells use to make energy. That
means it’s the primary source of energy for
the immune cells that get suppressed by
cancer. CoQ10 restores their ability to fight
back and attack cancer cells. Like vitamin C,
it’s also a powerful antioxidant that blocks
free radicals from damaging your DNA.
Besides helping to prevent cancer, there are
many clinical trials in which CoQ10 helps heal
people who already have cancer. In one,
researchers in Denmark studied a group of
breast cancer patients. They gave them CoQ10,
[11]
Organic Farming
Organic farming is the process by which crops are raised using only natural methods to maintain soil fertility and to
control pests. The amount of crops produced by conventional farming methods is often larger than that of organic
farming. Conventional farming, with its heavy use of manufactured fertilizers and pesticides (agrochemicals), has a
greater negative effect on the environment. In comparison, organic farming produces healthy crops while maintaining
the quality of the soil and necessary for plant growth.
Read more: Organic Farming - humans, body, used, water, process, plants, form, energy, methods, animals, air,
effects, cause, plant, surface, Soil fertility, Managing pests http://www.scienceclarified.com/Oi-Ph/OrganicFarming.html#b#ixzz1lPwysXKk
Organic' Certification Gives Farmers A
Tough Road
No crops here have been treated with pesticides,
herbicides or chemicals of any sort. However you
can't call what's produced on Newcomb's Potomac
Vegetable Farms "organic." That word has been
tightly regulated by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture since 2002.
"We were certified organic for 13 years, before the
federal government got involved," says Newcomb,
who now calls her farm's produce "ecoganic" as a
way to encourage customers to ask how it was
grown — or, even better, come see for themselves.
"We are still doing everything the same way, but
just aren't getting certified."
Across the USA, many small-scale farmers do not
feel the need to become certified organic, even if their
method of farming would meet or exceed federal
standards. It's a phenomenon that can be credited in
part to the eat-local movement and the explosion of
farmers markets, where consumers can meet, ask
questions of and even visit the people who grow their
food. Many locavores feel they don't need a third-party
certification for something they've seen with their own
eyes.
Still, not all small farmers opt out. Take Katie Kulla of
Oakhill Organics, a 17-acre family farm outside
Portland, Ore. She and her husband, Casey, sell organic
seeds, and they must comply with USDA rules to use
the "O" word.
"Every year, I have to make the decision all again,"
Kulla says. "I don't think the restaurants we sell our
vegetables to would care at all if we were not certified.
They care about the quality."
"My customers put faith in me to provide them exactly
what I say I'm growing," says Polyface Farms' Joel
Salatin, a poultry, beef and pork farmer in Virginia's
Shenandoah Valley who was featured in the film Food
Inc. and who wrote Folks, This Isn’t Normal: A Farmer's
Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People and a Better
World. "Polyface is open to any visitor, unannounced,
24/7/365 … unescorted. That's our credibility."
Brian Leitner, executive chef and CO-owner of Nettie's
Crab Shack in San Francisco, agrees, saying the big
issues are how something is produced, where it's
produced and that it's produced sustainably: "Knowing
who is growing your product is key."
How is a non-certified-organic farmer to market a
product? Like Newcomb and her "ecoganic" crops, many
create terminology. At Polyface, Salatin has come up
with catchy terms including "salad bar beef" and
"pastured poultry." Proponents of certification would
argue that unregulated terminology leaves the
consumer uncertain.
Indeed, having credibility in the community is how
these farmers are able to make ends meet. Many do all
the farm-work themselves, while keeping the books,
selling at farmers markets and getting the word out.
Maintaining paperwork required to be USDA certified
organic is more than many can handle. Salatin says he
would need another full-time staffer.
Back in Northern Virginia, Newcomb scans her 7 acres.
"The organic certification process serves the needs of
large-scale farmers who ship their products and can't
be in touch with the people who are buying them," she
says. "When you live where your market is and sell to
your neighbors, what more could you ask for?"
Some farmers "are no longer playing the organic
licensing game due to its onerous bureaucratic
qualities," Salatin says. "It does not address many of
the important variables — like techniques for soil
fertility, weeding and employee treatment — so
charlatans receive credentials along with true-blue
producers."
YouTube Video!
Organic Farming - Amyjo Johnson speaks at Google YouTube
[12]
Obesogens: Chemicals That Pack on the Pounds!
While previous animal and test tube studies
have demonstrated the potent pound-packing
ability of these compounds, a recent human trial
conducted by Dr. Steven Perrine confirms it.
Participants in Dr. Perrine’s study lost an
average of 15 pounds over two weeks - simply
by eliminating obesogens!
Sounds easy right? Not so fast.
Even if you’re eating a low-glycemic, high
protein and healthy fat diet, while also engaging
in vigorous exercise… you may still accumulate
fat and have a difficult time burning it off.
Don’t throw in the towel and chalk it up to
heredity just yet. The real reason behind those
stubborn pounds could be toxins in your food
and environment.
Eliminating contact with obesogens is no easy
feat. That’s because these chemicals are found
everywhere – from product packaging and
cookware to lotions and beauty products… as
well as in healthy foods like fruits, vegetables,
fish and meats.
The good news is that with a little knowledge
you can do a lot to avoid obesogens and their
hormone-hampering effects. Here are twelve
simple tips to reduce or eliminate your exposure
to obesogens in 2012:
1.
Choose Organic Produce: Pesticides and
fungicides mimic the hormone, estrogen.
They also impair thyroid function and
increase fat cell growth, contributing to
weight gain. Eat only organic foods that
have not been treated with chemicals. Of
utmost importance are the “Dirty Dozen”
which contribute to 90% of our pesticide
exposure including: non organic peaches,
apples, sweet bell peppers, celery,
nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale,
lettuce, imported grapes, carrots, and pears.
2.
Say Sayaona to Soy: Soy contains daidzen
and genistein – estrogen-like compounds
that can increase fat stores and body
weight. Soy is also a crop that’s highly
contaminated with pesticides, giving you a
“double dose” of obesogens.
3.
Go Grass-fed & Pasture Raised: You already
know the nutritional superiority of “animals
raised right. Here’s another reason to
choose grass-fed and pasture-raised: Grain
and soy fed animals contain a powerful
cocktail of obesogens – from growth
hormones to PCBs and other estrogen
mimics, known to alter human hormones
and promote the storage of fat.
4.
Avoid Farm-Raised Fish: Along with being
fed soy and cornmeal, farm-raised fish are
administered a wide variety of chemical
compounds that act as hormone mimics.
Always choose wild, sustainable seafood.
5.
Ban the Cans: Can liners contain bisphenola (BPA) – one of the most potent obesogens
known. The exception to this rule are the
You see, our environmental landscape and food
supply have changed more in the last 60 years
than in the last 10,000 years of human
existence. Our bodies are exposed to more
toxins today than ever before.
Many of these toxins are obesogens. In other
words, they are chemical compounds that have
an impact on your hormones and genetics,
altering the way your body uses calories and
stores fat.
Because your endocrine (or hormonal) system is
highly sensitive and precisely tuned, it can be
easily thrown off kilter by these hormone
mimics, hijacking your body’s regulatory
systems that control body weight.
Obesogens work in three ways. They:
1.
Encourage the body to store fat and
reprogram cells to become fat cells
2.
Promote insulin resistance, causing the
pancreas to pump out of this “fat storage
hormone”
3.
Prevent the appetite-reducing hormone
leptin from being released, shutting off the
“I’m full” signal
Dr. Bruce Blumberg, professor of biology at UC
Irvine and the man who coined the phrase
“obesogens, says:
“The role of obesogens in fat accumulation
raises questions about the effectiveness of just
diet and exercise in helping people lose pounds
and maintain a proper weight”.
Continued on Page 14 ...
[13]
Continued From Page 13 ... Obeseness:
few companies that have taken the initiative
to create BPA-free can liners including Vital
Choice (sardines, salmon, etc), Eden Foods
(beans) and Native Forest (coconut milk,
fruits, veggies).
6.
7.
8.
9.
- Avoid All Plastics: Plastics contain a variety
of chemicals that impair hormone function.
Avoid plastic food storage containers,
shower curtain liners, plastic water bottles,
and plastic wrap. Make sure you never
microwave in plastic. And if you have to use
a plastic water bottle be sure to avoid those
with recycling codes #3 or #7.
- Bid Farewell to Fragrance: Laundry
detergents, dryer sheets, soaps, shampoo,
cleaning products, perfumes, lotions and
other products containing “fragrance” act as
potent endocrine disruptors. Choose natural,
sustainable options instead and boycott
artificially fragranced products for your
home and personal care needs.
- Avoid Microwave Popcorn: Popcorn is not a
healthy, low glycemic food to begin with. But
microwave bags add perflorinated
compounds (PFCs) – endocrine disruptors
known to promote tumors – to the mix. Also
be sure to avoid roasting bags and greaseresistant food packaging that also contain
PFCs.
- Choose “Edible” Beauty Care Products:
Everything that goes on your skin enters
your body. By choosing only personal care
products that have 100% natural
ingredients, you can ensure you’re not being
exposed to potent and common endocrine
disruptors including parabens, phthalates
and triclosan (found in antibacterial
products).
12. Store Foods and Filtered Water in Glass
Containers: Chemicals in plastics easily
leach into food and water, contaminating
them with hormone disruptors. Always store
your foods and fresh filtered water in inert
containers, preferably glass.
Besides keeping obesogens out of your body
starting today, it’s also important to detox from
those that have made their way in. You see,
obesogens aren’t readily eliminated by the body.
They get stored in your fat cells and drip out
their “hormonal instructions” over time in small
but highly bioactive doses… for as long as 20
years!
But you can help purge these pudge-makers by
enjoying frequent infrared saunas (scrub well
with soap afterwards!), add high quality
spirulina, chlorella and cilantro to your daily
regimen (compounds in these plant foods bind
to toxins and carry them out of the body) and
cleanse your liver with lots of clean water,
cruciferous veggies, garlic, onions and
detoxifying herbs like milk thistle.
While the weight of the obesity epidemic can be
more appropriately blamed on super-sized junk
food than on tiny chemicals, there’s no doubt
that that these compounds impact our hormonal
systems, our weight regulation mechanisms and
ultimately our long term health.
So if you’re already doing everything else right,
10. Say “NO” to Nonstick: The nonstick coating
material – PFOA – is a powerful hormone
disruptor that can leach into foods when
heated. Opt instead for ceramic-coated
nonstick cookware or cast-iron.
11. Filter Your Water: As more chemicals are
being used, our water supplies are becoming
increasingly contaminated with hormone
mimics. Be sure to use a high quality water
filter to remove toxins, disinfectants and
other municipal “additives” from your
drinking water. Alternately, opt for spring or
mineral water bottled at the source in glass
bottles. Also, because we absorb chemicals
from showers and baths, install a high
quality shower filter.
[14]
Your Diet May Be Causing Your Acne!
Acne is the scourge of adolescence. Scores of kids
begin their ascent into adulthood with the
appearance of blemishes and pimples all over their
faces and bodies.
Common antidotes like cleaning pads and
exfoliation products fill up the medicine cabinets
of bathrooms, while more severe prescriptions
such as tetracycline (a wide-spectrum antibiotic)
and creams containing benzoyl peroxide are
invoked as a last ditch attempt to keep the blight
at bay.
It’s just a part of growing up, right? Well, maybe
for modern people, but certainly not for everyone,
and definitely not for indigenous peoples living in
their traditional manner. According to Seth
Roberts:
“Several years ago I asked my friend Katharine
Milton, a Berkeley anthropologist, whether the
indigenous people she studies have acne. No, she
said, unless they eat foreign food.”
So, based on this anecdote we can begin to
suspect that diet might play a role in the
development of acne, counter to what many
dermatologists will say to their patients. My
dermatologists always told me that diet was not
an issue. Is that because they had an interest in
selling prescriptions? I hate to be cynical…
If diet is a causative factor, what foods are to
blame? Well, at the simplest we can suggest foods
which are outside of one’s personal genetic and
cultural profile. “Foreign food”, as the
anthropologist explained. For most of us, this
opens up the field to a wide range of Neolithic
foods, such as dairy, grains, and soy.
There are some studies which have sought to
explore some of the relevant food connections to
acne, not least among them being dairy. From one
study in particular, an evaluation of questionnaires
by some 47,355 women found a positive
association between the incidence of acne and the
total intake of milk and that of skim milk.
If there is a strong connection between dairy and
acne, then what is the mechanism by which it
acts?
I must admit that I have a strong personal
interest in this subject. You see, it appears that
dairy is a very strong causative factor in the
breaking out of pimples on my back and
shoulders. I was suspicious of it for years, but
after more recent repeated elimination diets and
reintroductions of diary I’m fairly certain it’s the
cause.
The most dramatic example of this was earlier this
year when I was trying out all kinds of fermented
dairy products like Greek yogurt, and cottage
cheese as part of a little experiment. Each week I
was increasingly consuming dairy of this sort till I
was sitting down and eating a large bowl of full-fat
Greek yogurt for lunch each day.
Curiously though, one day I noticed a warm pink
bump in the middle of my back. I thought it might
be some sort of benign dermato fibrosis (which I
had have removed before) but the bump seemed
to be getting bigger, and eventually became
somewhat painful to touch.
Eventually it became abscessed and I had to get it
lanced. My general practice doctor diagnosed it as
a sebaceous cyst before the lancing, but following
the procedure and finding no actual indication of a
cyst, determined that it was merely a “pimple on
steroids”. He couldn’t believe that an adult would
develop acne like that, but the evidence seemed
clear.
I stopped with the dairy for a few months and no
other problems cropped up. That is, until I decided
again to try out the Greek yogurt and sure
enough, within a week or so I had breakouts and
another couple of small warm bumps showing up
on my lower back. Worried that I might end up
down the same road again, I immediately stopped
the dairy again, and within a few weeks the
blemishes and bumps receded.
Sure, this is just an anecdote, hardly a clinical
study, but this experience has convinced me of the
potential that dairy can have for skin issues (in
some people).Keep in mind, I was eating high fat,
high quality Greek yogurt.
Curiously, there are several vectors through which
dairy can potentially cause acne. I recently
stumbled onto an excellent infographic
by Christian Wernstedt, the author of the blog
VitalObjectives.com.
Continued on Page 16 ...
[15]
Continued From Page 15 ... Your Diet may Be Causing Your Acne
Check out the flow-chart below.
I can see here, that there are several ways by
which dairy, as well as other Neolithic foods, can
cause problems. One of the central themes is gut
dysbiosis or impaired intestinal function.
In a blog post by Melissa McEwen, she expounds
upon the gut-brain-axis, a phenomenon where the
health of the gut is mirrored by that of the skin
and the overall mental and emotional health of the
individual. In short, when your intestines are in
dire straights the issues within are commonly
revealed outwardly by symptoms such as acne,
and psychologically by conditions like depression.
“Studies found that people with acne have
circulating endotoxins from gut bacteria in their
blood, which healthy controls did not have. These
endotoxins belong in the gut, not in the blood and
it’s likely they got there through abnormal
intestinal permeability. Eventually the body
develops reactions to these toxins, which have
been connected to depression and anxiety.”
Her article cited cases where milk fermented
with lactobactillus reduced acne, but in my case it
didn’t seem to provide any kind of reprieve.
Perhaps, the quantity I consumed was far more
than what was acceptable. It’s hard to say since
my “experiments” weren’t controlled for every
possible confounding variable. Still, I have not had
any more cases of these mega pimples, and I’ve
been going without yogurt and cottage cheese
since the last episode.
My take away from this experience has been that
your skin can be a valuable tool for understanding
the overall health of your body. If the eyes are the
windows to your soul, then perhaps your skin is
the vinyl siding of your house. Okay, maybe that’s
a weird analogy. It seems that our skin isn’t just
our first line of defense when we interact with the
world, it’s also one of the first causalities when our
body is under dietary assault.
It is to be hoped that as we raise awareness about
the benefits of eating ancestral and traditional
diets, we can one day realize a world where
teenagers (and even adults) don’t have to cover
up their faces over embarrassment from skin
breakouts.
[16]
PRIMAL RECIPES
Primal Pumpkin Pancakes
These Primal Pumpkin Pancakes are packed with the fat-torching trifecta of protein, fiber and healthy fats.
That's not all. They're also rich in beta-carotene and other antioxidants thanks to pumpkin and spices.
Serves 4 | Active Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
• 1/4 cup(s) canned organic pumpkin
• 1/4 cup(s) coconut milk
• 3 large organic pastured eggs
• 1/2 tsp organic vanilla extract
• 4 Tbsp Bob’s Red Mill Organic Coconut Flour
• 2 Tbsp(s) Nutiva Organic Extra-Virgin Coconut Oil
• 1/4 tsp(s) Celtic sea salt
• 1 tsp(s) Simply Organic Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1/4 tsp SweetLeaf® Stevia Extract
• 1/4 tsp(s) non-aluminum baking soda
Preparation
1.
Preheat a safe, nonstick skillet over medium-low heat.
2.
In a small bowl, mix together coconut flour, baking soda, stevia, salt and pumpkin pie spice with a
whisk.
3.
In another bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut milk, vanilla and pumpkin puree.
4.
Gradually add the coconut flour mixture to the egg mixture as you whisk the ingredients together until
well combined.
5.
Add coconut oil to the pan by teaspoons, swirling to fully coat bottom.
6.
Spoon the batter into the pan in whatever size you prefer. The batter will be thick, so gently shape
your pancakes with the spoon. Cook 1-2 minutes per side, watching carefully (Note: These do not
bubble like regular pancakes, so keep an eye on them as they cook. Check the edges to see if they're
done. Pancakes should be a deep golden with no raw batter on sides).
7.
Serve with a small drizzle of real maple syrup, grass-fed butter or ghee, chopped pecans or plain.
Bacon Wrapped Smoky Chicken Thighs
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1
4 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
2
8 slices of bacon
3
2 tsp Smoky Spice Blend
Smoky Spice Blend: Ingredients:
1
1 Tbsp chipotle powder
2
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
3
1 Tbsp onion powder (eliminate to make this FODMAP-free)
4
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
5
1 Tbsp sea salt
6
1/2 Tbsp black pepper
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375. Sprinkle the chicken thighs with 1 tsp of Smoky Spice
Blend, then wrap each one in 2 strips of bacon. Sprinkle with the remaining
Smoky Spice Blend and bake for approximately 40 minutes. Enjoy!
[17]
PRIMAL SNACKS
Chocolate Almond Butter Cups
Serves 12
Ingredients:
• 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
• 1/4 C Coconut Cream Concentrate
• ½ Tsp Vanilla Extract
• OPTIONAL: 3 Tbsp Maple Syrup, divided
• 3 Tbsp Almond Meal (use homemade if you
have it)
• 3 Tbsp Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)
• Dash of Cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp Raw Almond Butter
• Pinch of Celtic sea salt
Tools:
• a whisk
• mixing bowls
• a rubber spatula
• a plastic bag, one corner snipped off
• a mini muffin pan
• mini muffin paper liners
Preparation:
1
Melt coconut oil over a low flame and whisk in half of the coconut cream, the vanilla extract and
(optionally) 2 Tbsp of maple syrup. When that’s blended
together, whisk in the rest of the coconut cream. Once that’s
combined, whisk in almond meal, cocoa powder and
cinnamon. Pour into a paper-lined mini muffin tin just
enough to coat the bottom of each hole (this recipe made 9
for me but you can make them bigger or smaller). Place your
tin in the fridge or freezer until that sets and is hard.
2
While the first part of the cups are chilling, (optional) whisk
the almond butter with 1 Tbsp of maple syrup and a pinch of
sea salt. Then load in the almond butter into a plastic bag
and snip the tip off of the end to make a homemade pastry
bag.
3
Remove the hardened chocolate from the fridge/freezer and
continue to pipe a small amount of almond butter into the
center of each one. Be sure to allow an edge of chocolate to
show all around the peanut butter so that the rest of the
chocolate you pour in has more chocolate to bind with.
4
Pour the remaining chocolate over each almond butter dollop
until they’re covered and place back in the fridge/freezer.
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Working Out At Home
For demonstrations of each exercise just click on blue links
Keeping fit without gym access is not difficult. If anything, it is cheaper, quicker, and more simple than fussing
with memberships, traveling to and from a gym to work out, and most importantly, feeling confident enough
to do so in front of other people! If you are thinking, "What about buying your own equipment? Isn't that
expensive?" The answer is yes, considering the equipment you are likely thinking of looks like an alien probing
device that might steal your kidney while you are sleeping.
Most home workouts require no equipment at all. If you do wish to add weight-bearing exercise to your
routine, this can be accomplished simply and with little cost to you. The exercise machines we see in gyms are
certainly impressive, and if you like shiny things as much as I do, those machines are fun to look at and make
you feel cool to use. However, few of these exercise machines recreate natural movements.
For example, let's look at the bench press (which requires one of the least complicated set ups, simply
requiring a bench, a bar, weights, and something to set the bar on). How often in your daily life do you get
into a situation where you must push a relatively large amount of weight straight up from a completely
horizontal position? I expect your answer to be "not that often!"
My point is, being fit should mean being able to handle what life throws at you with physical preparedness and
efficiency, the most important aspect of which is carrying your own body weight safely. To develop this kind of
fitness we must recreate natural movements (if you are at all familiar with Crossfit, this should not be a
foreign idea). Below are a list of exercises that recreate natural movements and can be done with or without
weights and equipment, based on your preference.
1.
Air squats: if you wish to add weight, hold something with both hands against your chest. If you want to
add weight and make the movement more difficult, hold something above your head, and be careful for
goodness sake!
2.
Burpies: my definition of a burpie is the same as Crossfit's, where you start in a standing position, drop to
a plank position, jump your knees in toward your elbows so you are crouching, shoot you legs back out to
plank position, jump straight up in the air and clap your hands above your head while in the air... and that
is ONE burpie.
3.
Running
4.
Kettle bell swings: ok, so this one requires equipment and is a weight-bearing exercise by nature, but you
don't need a kettle bell to do it. You can use anything with weight that you can hang onto with both hands
and swing from between your legs in a squat to above your head and back down without it flying away.
5.
Sit-ups
6.
Pull-ups
7.
Jumping!! (straight up will do)
So here's the point: you can do any one or combination of the above listed movements) to make a killer work
out from home, or wherever you find yourself, without equipment. A quick example of how you might pair
those movements in a way in which you could measure progress would be doing 10 air squats, 10 burpies,
and running 200 meters for time. You could also do a number of rounds.
If you think you have more physical ability, you might do 3 or 4 rounds of the above mentioned sequence for
time, do so every other day in rotation with a different sequence, and compare results (hoping of course to
get faster).
If you don't believe that you can get just as fit working out at home without equipment as you can at a gym,
you will certainly believe me after trying four rounds of the sequence above as fast as you can. This type of
cross-training is quick and efficient. It's not just great for people who work out at home, but also a great
approach for those with little time or who travel a lot and must stay fit on the road. There are countless ways
to combines these movements into simple equipment-free workout routines, but remember that the key to
getting a good workout is having the proper form!
Have a great home workout!
[19]
Living a Primal Lifestyle
Listen live on Fridays
Between Noon EST and 1PM.
Follow Nico de Haan on
Show Host Nico de Haan
Living A Primal Lifestyle Links
Archived shows
Health Signals Newsletter
iTunes podcast
On tour in Michigan 2005
February 3 & 10, 2012, Living A Primal Lifestyle Episodes
Archive of Friday 02/03/12
Archive of Friday 02/10/12
[20]