The first time we read the term, we were researching this article.  On the site, Center for Science in the Public Interest, the publishers proclaim:  “Shopping was easy when most food came from farms. Now, factory-made foods have made chemical additives a significant part of our diet.”

In previous articles, we discussed the Balanced Diet:  what it is, how it affects your health, your heath care and the fact that the people are consuming a “Balanced Diet” is  an illusion.  The publishers at the Center for Science in the Public interest drive the point home on their site.

To start the analysis, and If you are interested, here is a listing, from the FDA, of all the additives (3,000 in all) the FDA knows are in the NEW Standard American Diet: Chemcuisine.

The following analysis is a synopsis of our research on the subject of what most people, and their children, are consuming each day.  

Processed, Junk, and Fake Foods

Processed food is made from real food that has been put through devitalizing chemical processes and is infused with chemicals and preservatives. Beef jerky, canned tea, jam, hot dogs, and low-fat yogurt with sugar or aspartame are a few examples of processed food.

Junk foods contain very little real food. They’re made of devitalized processed food, hydrogenated fats, chemicals, and preservatives, and include anything made with refined white flour. Canned breakfast drinks, cold/sugary cereals, doughnuts, drive-through foods, and soda are examples of junk foods.

Fake foods are made primarily of chemicals, and often contain gums and sugar fillers. Examples include bacon bits, bottled salad dressing, dehydrated soups, and instant coffee.

The Energy Output Exceeds Nutritional Input.  These non-foods have one thing in common; it costs your body a great deal more to digest, absorb, and eliminate them than they offer your body in nutritional value – an extremely poor return on your investment that leaves your body sluggish and depleted.

Toxins, Poisons, Processed Food – And The Body

Our ancestors preserved foods naturally, using salt, fermentation, and sun drying. Food processing has evolved away from these simple practices into more complicated and dubious methods.

Today, food companies use nearly three thousand known additives and chemicals to process our food. Many of them can have a devastating effect on our health.

It is important to note that additives and preservatives cannot always be painted with a negative brush. The addition of vitamins to bread and milk has helped to stamp out diseases such as pellagra and rickets.

Unfortunately, the good intentions that characterized the processed food industry during the early days have now de-evolved to finding ways to cheaply process food and manipulate buyers, regardless of the detrimental affects on the health of Americans.

Today, many additives and preservatives are harmful toxic chemicals that are as problematic as the decay they are used to prevent.

Preservatives

 Perservatives are a type of additive used to help stop food from spoiling.

Nitrates and nitrites are used to preserve meats such as ham and bacon, but are known to cause asthma, nausea, vomiting, and headaches in some people in addition to allergic reactions.

The same is true for sulfites (sulfur dioxide, metabisulfites, and others, which are commonly used to prevent fungal spoilage, as well as the browning of peeled fruits and vegetables.

Sodium nitrite in some foods is capable of being converted to nitrous acid when ingested by humans. While animal testing showed that nitrous acid caused high rates of cancer, it is still in use.

Sulfur dioxide is a toxin used in dried fruits and molasses as well as to prevent brown spots on peeled fresh foods such as potatoes and apples. Sulfur dioxide bleaches out rot, hiding inferior fruits and vegetables. In the process, it destroys the vitamin B contained in produce.

Antioxidants

While antioxidants such as alpha-carotene are recommended by health specialists to prevent premature aging, some of the antioxidants used as food preservatives may be unhealthy. Contained in nearly every processed food on the market, antioxidants prevent fatty foods from spoiling when exposed to oxygen.

For example, BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) and BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) are two of the most widely used, yet controversial of all antioxidants. So alarming were the results of BHT and BHA in animal testing, that a number of countries have severely restricted their use.

Some people have difficulty metabolizing these chemicals, which is thought to result in health and behavioral problems, and hyperactivity. They cause allergic reactions, may also contribute to the development of tumors and cancer, as well as be toxic to the nervous system and liver.

In spite of these findings, the use of BHT and BHA has increased, rather than decreased, in the U.S.A.

Coloring

Each year, the American food industry uses three thousand tons of food color. Many coloring agents are derived from coal tar, and nearly all coloring is synthetic. Norway has a total ban on all products containing coal tar.

Though some artificial food dyes have been banned because they are believed to cause cancer, most dyes used today are of the artificial variety. They are also linked to allergies, asthmas, and hyperactivity.

The long list of foods and beverages in which color is altered includes butter, margarine, the skins of oranges and potatoes, popcorn, maraschino cherries, hot dogs, jellies, jellybeans, carbonated beverages, and canned strawberries and peas.

Even the chicken feed on large-scale egg farms is colored so that chickens will lay golden-yolk eggs similar to those laid by free-range chickens.

Sweeteners

Most processed foods contain sweeteners, many of which are artificial sugar substitutes containing no natural sugars, such as saccharine and aspartame.

Artificial sweeteners are linked to behavioral problems, hyperactivity, and allergies. Because saccharin was shown to increase the incidence of bladder cancer in animal testing, all foods containing this sugar substitute are required to carry a warning label.

Emulsifiers, Stabilizers, and Thickeners

These additives alter the texture of foods. Emulsifiers, for example, prevent ingredients from separating into unappealing globs in food such as mayonnaise and ice cream.

A first cousin to anti-freeze, propylene glycol is a synthetic solvent used as an emulsifier in foods. Although it is recognized as toxic to the skin and other senses, and is considered a neurological toxicant, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has deemed it generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

Flavorings

The most common food additive, flavorings – of which there are over 2000 in use – may be natural or artificial, and are usually comprised of a large number of chemicals.

Artificial flavors are linked to allergic and behavioral reactions, yet these ingredients are not required to be listed in detail as they’re generally recognized as safe.

MSG (monosodium glutamate) is a common flavor enhancer. Found to cause damage in laboratory mice, it has been banned from use in baby foods, but is still used in numerous others. It causes common allergic and behavioral reactions including headaches, dizziness, chest pains, depression, and mood swings, and is also a possible neurotoxin.

Refining

Refined flour has had the brown husk of the grain stripped away, leaving the white, refined starch that is found in white bread, white rice, pasta, cookies, and numerous other junk foods.

Without the fibrous husk, refined starches are broken down quickly into sugar and absorbed immediately into the bloodstream causing glucose levels to rise, and increasing the risk of obesity, diabetes and a host of other “not so nice” health complaints.

In contrast, whole grains – such as whole grain bread and cereals, brown rice, and barley – retain the bran surrounding the starch, so they’re absorbed more slowly into the bloodstream than refined starches. This slows sugar absorption from the intestine, and reduces the risk of consuming refined food.

Refining Destroys and Devitalizes Most of Foods’ Goodness

Healthy unsaturated fatty acids – high in food value – are lost during the milling process. Half the vitamin E is destroyed when the wheat germ and bran are removed. Refining wheat into white flour removes between 50 and 93 percent of wheat’s magnesium, zinc, chromium, manganese, and cobalt.²

Additionally, approximately 50 percent of calcium, 70 percent of phosphorus, 80 percent of iron, 50 percent of potassium, 65 percent of copper, 80 percent of thiamin, 60 percent of riboflavin, 75 percent of niacin, 50 percent of pantothenic acid, and about 50 percent of pyridoxine is lost.³

Refining sugar cane into white sugar depletes it of 99 percent of its magnesium and 93 percent of its chromium. Polishing rice removes 75 percent of its zinc and chromium.  Refined table salt has had most of the trace minerals removed during processing. It contains no sodium chloride, sugar as filler, and may even contain aluminum.⁵

Bleaching

Part of the process wheat undergoes to become the white flour in popular baked goods involves bleaching. Various chemical bleaching agents are used including oxide of nitrogen, chlorine, chloride, nitrosyl, and benzoyl peroxide mixed with a variety of chemical salts.

Chloride oxide – which catalyzes a chemical reaction that destroys beta cells in the pancreas is now being linked to diabetes.  This toxic effect is common scientific knowledge in the research community. In spite of this, the FDA still allows companies to use chloride oxide in processed food.

A Healthier Lifestyle

Eradicating every guilty pleasure in life is not the end goal here, nor is it a particularly realistic approach to making changes because everyone enjoys the occasional cheeseburger, order of fries, or bag of chips.

But if you understand the consequences of making what ought to be an occasional treat into the mainstay of your diet, you can begin to make wise choices about how many of these things you are willing to eat.

When it comes to avoiding many of the questionable – and possibly deadly – additives contained in processed foods, you’re only human after all so, taking baby steps toward change is usually the best approach.

If you can accomplish just one of these 10 steps, you’re moving in the right direction.

Try implementing one change a month …

1. As a general rule, if you don’t recognize – or can’t pronounce – the words on a label, don’t buy it, or eat it. Instead choose the real thing!

2. Avoid products containing

• Nitrates and nitrites (including sodium nitrite)
• Sulfites (including metabisulfites)
• Sulfur dioxide
• Benzoic acid (aka sodium benzoate)
• BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene)
• BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole)
• Coloring
• Coal tar
• Propylene glycol
• MSG (monosodium glutamate)
• Refined or bleached flour (i.e. whitened using chloride oxide)

3. Don’t eat partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated trans fats

4. Don’t eat products containing sugar substitutes such as saccharine and aspartame.

5. Avoid products with a long shelf life – the better they do on the shelf, the worse they are for your body.

6. Avoid products that have been “enriched“. They have been completely devitalized during processing.

7. Avoid food that has been genetically modified or engineered. Nearly all processed food contains GMOs.

8. Avoid products made with ingredients euphemistically described as “natural flavoring” or “natural coloring.”

9. Avoid products with added sugar – watch for words with “-ose” endings, such as fructose.

10. Incorporate a high quality multi-vitamin into your health regimen.

If you’ve had a history of eating products high in sugar and are concerned about diabetes, incorporate disease-fighting foods such as garlic, onion and quality Aloe vera juice into your diet. Natural phytonutrient supplements can also protect your body from the harmful effects of eating refined products that have been bleached with chloride oxide.

As you begin to eliminate processed food from your diet, and start to enjoy eating real food that has not been processed to death, you will be on your way to optimizing your health, making an investment in your body’s future and, ultimately, feeling better.

Processing Food Facts

In addition to the more than three thousand chemicals and additives in our food, preserving processes have changed beyond recognition from the simple use of vinegar, salt, and sunshine. Many processed foods are stripped bare, rendering them of little or no nutritional value.

Worse, foods are deliberately tampered with to create the desire for more. And the health effects of certain processing methods – such as the very controversial irradiation – are not yet known.

Irradiation

Irradiation is the use of x-rays or gamma radiation on food to kill bacteria mold, viruses and parasites. Unfortunately, its effects are also harmful to test animals. Those fed a diet of irradiated wheat developed increased numbers of cells with chromosome abnormalities. As well, there were unexplained stillbirths in the offspring of test rats.

So unpleasant is the mere sound of the word “irradiation” that euphemisms such as “Cold Pasteurization” and “Picowaved For Your Protection” are being used on labels because food companies fear that using the term “irradiation” may hurt sales.

Junk Food

Junk food – high in fat and sugar – is one of the leading causes for the soaring number of cases of type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and tooth decay. It is also linked to hypoglycemia and yeast overgrowth.

Did you know that cravings for processed foods are initiated by eating processed food? It’s a vicious, addictive cycle.

Food scientists know that it is necessary for certain nutrients to be present in the blood stream in order to feel full. While it is not fully understood how this process works, food companies know enough to use this knowledge to manipulate consumers into eating more by subtracting various nutrients, and adding others such as fat, sugar, and salt.

This manipulation creates a desire for processed foods – one that can never be satisfied – no matter how much of it you consume.

Natural Flavoring

“Natural flavoring” can be just about anything, from the cells of yeast extract and nucleic acid from cell chromosomes, to waste bi-products from cattle. Some reports suggest that the ingredients in so-called “natural colors” have been known to contain products as unlikely as monkey intestines; others note that some “artificial flavors” are comprised of ingredients as unappealing as minced cat.

How is it possible to determine exactly what “flavorings” are comprised of when the list of items from which they are concocted often includes a long ramble of unrecognizable chemicals?

Here is an example from the ingredient list for the strawberry flavoring in one popular fast food outlet’s strawberry milk shake.

It contains:  Amyl acetate, Amyl butyrate, Amyl valerate, Anethol, Anisyl formate, Benzyl acetate, Benzyl isobutyrate, Butyric acid, Cinnamyl isobutyrate, Cinnamyl valerate, Cognac essential oil, Diacetyl, Dipropyl ketone, Ethyl butyrate, Ethyl cinnamate, Ethyl heptanoate, Ethyl lactate, Ethyl methylphenylglycidate, Ethyl Nitrate, Ethyl propionate, Ethyl valerbate, Heliotropin, Hydroxyphrenyl-2butanone (10% solution in alcohol), A-Ionone, Isobutyl anthranilate, Isobutyl butrate, Lemon essential oil, Maltol, 4-Methylacetophenone, Methyl anthranilate, Methyl benzoate, Methyl cinnamate, Methyl heptine carbonate, Methyl naphthyl ketone, Methyl salicylate, Mint essential oil, Neroli essential oil, Nerolin, Neryl isobutyrate, Orris butter, Phenethyl alcohol, Rose, Rum ether, G-Undecalactone, Vanillin, Solvent!

And this is just the stuff in the flavoring.

 Do you want to know what’s in the “milk” part of this so-called milk shake? 

It contains:  Milk fat and nonfat milk, Sugar, Sweet whey, High-fructose corn syrup, Guar gum, Monoglycerides and diglycerides, Cellulose gum, Sodium phosphate, Carrageenan, Citric acid, E129, Artificial strawberry flavor.

MMM, MMMM!  yummy and so good for you – NOT!

Packaging

There are also concerns regarding the materials used to coat and package foods.³ The protective wax on produce such as cucumbers, peppers, and apples may trigger allergies, and can contain pesticides, fungicide sprays, or animal byproducts. Further, the plastic (vinyl chloride) some food is wrapped in is considered carcinogenic, and has been linked to immune reactions and lung shock.

Dioxin

A by-product of whitening, especially of food containers, Dioxin has become a health concern. It has been reported, for example, that certain ice creams contain high levels of dioxins, reportedly leaked into the product through the whitening used in its containers.

A known carcinogen, dioxin is associated with genetic and reproductive defects as well as learning disabilities.⁴ Dioxin exposure is a possible cause of endometriosis – a painful condition that can result in fertility problems and/or hysterectomy, as well as chronic pelvic pain and other conditions.

Conclusion

After reading this, one could conclude that the situation is hopeless.

Quite the opposite is true – because knowledge is power.  Simply use this knowledge to make different choices. 

 It makes good sense to pay attention to the food you are buying, especially if it has been processed. One thing is for certain – most of these added ingredients have nothing to do with nutrition and everything to do with increasing food sales by keeping addicted, depleted consumers coming back for more.

Besides adequate rest and moderate exercise, the fundamental nutritional thresholds must be consumed, if you have any expectation for staying healthy.  Your body needs copious amounts of: (in descending order) clean water, protein from vegetables with a limited quantity from animals, minerals, carbohydrates from whole grain, healthy fat from fish and a smattering of vitamins to stay healthy.  You can choose to consume them or take fundamental supplements to fill the gaps in your diet.

If you are experiences any of the likely complaints associated with failing to meet these thresholds, you may want to consider choosing supplements help you address your specific needs to expedite your restoration.

We’re all in this together – I’m pulling for you. (Sorry Red Green, I left out the attribution)

Notes:
1. Hanley, J.L., M.D. and Deville, N., Tired of Being Tired, Berkley Publishing Group, NY, 2001. (p. 66)
2. Wilson, Lawrence, M.D., F.I.C.B., Why Take Nutritional Supplements, article on www.drlwilson.com.
3. Hull, Janet, M.D., Bleaching agent in flour linked to diabetes, from The Idaho Observer, July 2005, cited on www.detoxprogram.net.
4. Wilson, Lawrence, M.D., F.I.C.B., Why Take Nutritional Supplements, article on www.drlwilson.com.
5. Hanley, J.L., M.D. and Deville, N., Tired of Being Tired, Berkley Publishing Group, NY, 2001. (p. 220)
6. Hull, Janet, M.D., Bleaching agent in flour linked to diabetes, from The Idaho Observer, July 2005, cited on www.detoxprogram.net.
7. Chek, Paul, excerpted from the CD/Workbook Program: You Are What You Eat! at www.chekinstitute.com.
8. The New York Nerd: Eat Fast, Die Young, April 24, 2006, at www.nynerd.com.
9. Hass, Elson M., M.D., Food Additives and Human Health, excerpted from Staying Healthy Shopper’s Guide: Feed Your Family Safely, cited on www.healthychild.com.
10. Hass, Elson M., M.D., Food Additives and Human Health, excerpted from Staying Healthy Shopper’s Guide: Feed Your Family Safely, cited on www.healthychild.com.

 

Newscasts, Talk Shows and the newest craze, “TV Doctors”, happily share their disdain for “those expensive, unnecessary concoctions” based on this idiom.

 Whether it is your doctor, your mother or your friend, who is advising you that “You’re wasting your money on those things, your food gives you everything you need. ” says so, because this paradigm is a commonly held belief.

 So, what exactly is this balanced diet that these people assume you’re eating?

Do you know?

The USDA (United State Department of Agriculture) reports it is: My Plate.  Harvard School of Public Health reports it is: The Nutrition Source.  The University of Michigan Integrative Medicine Department reports it is: The Healing Food Pyramid.

 Still confused?

I subscribe to a version of “the balanced diet”, too.  It is eating 5-7 servings of differently color, fresh vegetables, that grow above the ground, 2 – non tropical fruits, drinking 8 to10 – 8 ounce glasses of water each day, consuming a deck of cards sized serving of oily fish 3 times per week, of chicken 3 times per week and of red meat, once a week.

 Do you eat like that?

In fact, “consuming a balanced diet” is a mythical construct. – hardly anyone eats a balanced diet.  And, because this false paradigm is so prevalent, what you are eating is the last thing anyone, including doctors, ever considers when someone’s health begins to slip away.

 A recent study, reported in The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, concludes that:  “ … use of supplements significantly improved the status of several vitamins in elderly people. Due to age-related problems concerning the intake and digestion of nutrients, a moderate, regular supplementation might be a useful option for older people who are otherwise unable to satisfy their micronutrient requirements.”

 In people-speak, the study shows that if you aren’t consuming the nutrients your body needs, taking supplements can fill the gap.  The study was well constructed, peer-review and duly reported in a professional journal.

 Did you get the memo?  … No?
Did you hear a peep from the talking heads?  … No?
And, I’ll bet your _________ (doctor, friend, mother) didn’t read it either!

 Here what the memo should say:

 “If you’re not eating enough vegetables, fruit, chicken, fish, meat and drinking enough water to satisfy the minimum nutritional needs of your body or taking supplements to fill the gaps in your diet – you will get fat; and sick; and grow old too fast.”  And, regardless of your age, if you’re neglecting to feed your body properly, ditto!

 There are epidemics of degenerative diseases that:

• Threaten to overwhelm the finances of the industrialized world
• Overwhelming people and families with expense, heartache and suffering

 There are:  Telethons, Drives, Walks, Runs; Gold-Ribbon Panels; academic and pharmaceutical research and … , orgainized to:

“Wipe Out  fill in the blank
(obesity, cancer, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, respiratory disease, kidney disease or …)
In Our Lifetime” 

And yet, the numbers keep growing.

 Composing or Decomposing

The body (and all living things for that matter) possesses an orderly process that replaces worn out cells, the ability to accelerate repairs to damaged tissue (due to accidents or otherwise), to ward off infection, infestation and to energize itself.

 The process is wholly dependent on the raw materials that are garnered from the environment.   Those raw materials are the nutrients in the food you are consuming.

 This Isn’t Brain Surgery

• The raw materials are there, or they’re not. 
• The process works or it doesn’t.
• The body composes or it decomposes.

What you eat controls the equation, and you know what you’re consuming.

 The revelation of the study, reported in The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, says it all:

Do the best you can with your diet, then take fundamental supplements to fill in the gaps and, if need be, support them with supplements for any specific needs.

Conclusion

 So the next time you hear someone say, “You can get every thing you need from your food.” you know what that really means:  you should probably be taking supplements.

Quoting Red Green:  “We’re all in this together, I’m pulling for you.”

 P.S.  Please, read our BAM (Blatant Advertising Message):  NUPRO Nutraceutical Products – Advancing Beyond Vitamins™

 

 Anyone?

 Well, if you believe the statistics, about half of you will suffer and ultimately succumb to one of these.  And, if you add another leading cause of suffering and death – Allopathic errors – the number is higher.

 The exact moment when “Not Me.” becomes “Why Me?” is when your body stops sending you suggestions that things aren’t right and issues a formal complaint.

• Like the moment when you didn’t lose the 5 pounds you gained over winter
• Like the moment when the antacids you were taking for your indigestion stopped working.
• Like the moment you stopped needing the bathroom everyday.
• Like the moment your blood pressure, cholesterol, or sugar jumped off the charts.

 You received your body’s formal complaint the exact moment when you clutched that little piece of paper that contained a prescription for “managing” your condition or a referral to a specialist.

 Avoidable And, In Many Cases, Reversible

The body requires 4 actions to occur, in a particular order, along a long tube called the digestive tract.  It is open on both ends, able to resist acids and digestive juices and it supports a significant population of microbes to support the efficiency of these 4 actions.

 The 4 actions are:

1. Ingestion (eating) food that contains the threshold of nutrients
2. Elimination of wastes and toxins, in the digestive tract and inside the body as well, to make room for the new batch of nutrients
3. Digestion (breaking down food into nutrients)
4. Assimilation; which is the transport of nutrients out of the digestive tract to your tissue and cells.

 Once the nutrients arrive, the body carries out 4 functions:

1. Mend any damage to cells and tissue
2. Defend itself from external organisms and internal toxins
3. Energize itself
4. Rebuild itself  (Some estimates suggest the body totally replaces every cell every 7 years.)

 When Does” Not Me!” become “Why Me?”

Answer:  It is the exact moment when your body can longer compensate for failing to have its minimum threshold of nutrition, water, moderate exercise and/or rest.

 How to Become a NOT ME!

1. Drink at least 8 – 8 ounces of clean water everyday.
2. Exercise everyday – walk 2 blocks away and back briskly – everyday.
3. Go to bed.  Your body needs to rest.
4. Eat nutritious food and STOP skipping meals.
5. Take dietary supplements.

 There are those who contend that people don’t need supplements and that food contains all the nutrients your body needs – Hah!

1.      Processed, packaged and convenience food is a joke!  They’re nutritionally deficient and produced to make you eat more of them.

2.      “Fresh” vegetables and fruit are, for the most part: commercially grown, harvested early and transported; all of which affects their nutritional value negatively.

 Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later

You can take this to the bank:  everyone one of you, sooner or later, will experience the affects of nutritional deficiencies unless you change your ways and start filling the gaps in your diet with supplements.

 You can choose to ignore the situation or do something about it.

I recommend the later.

 There are many options to help you supplement your diets. And, as you would expect, I recommend NUPRO supplements, but there are others.

 Your 1^st choice should be supplements to help build a foundation of nutrition that supports your body.  Choose dietary supplements that can help fill the gaps in your diet.

 Next, make another choice based, not on your most recent complaint, but on the 1^st complaint that you can remember.  Often times, that 1^st issue started a cascade that landed you where you are today.  Choose dietary supplements to support that declining function.

1.  If you want to learn more, we have both an extensive on-line library of articles, published by our Professional staff, as well as an on-line resource center to connect you with leading Universities and researchers.
2. If you need personalized help, we will help you with your decisions.
3. If you choose to ignore the situation, we wish you the best of luck, you’ll need it.

 Remember:  Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results

 

Those of you who have been following our blog understand our deep appreciation for how remarkably the human body is created.

Our position regarding health is straight forward – if you take care of your body, it will take care of you.

Caring for the body is more than keeping the outside clean – it is treating the body kindly, with respect and attending to the nutritional needs that support the efficient functioning of the body that manifests in health.

 Health is path one follows; it is not a quest for a procedure, potion, lotion or pill that you initiated once your health begins to decline or falter.

Living has an inevitable end – death.  One hopes life ends in a peaceful repose; however, that is, often, not the case.

To that end, we have prepared a commentary, Keep Life Simple, for your examination, and, if you desire, links to further readings to help put you on a path that allows you to prosper in the bounty of health.

Enjoy

 

1. Pestilence
2. Famine
3. War (Since we limit our commentaries to issues of health, we won’t be commenting on the third factor – war.  This plague continues to take its unimaginable toll throughout the world.)

The advances during the 20^th Century were remarkable.

Regarding pestilence, the availability of clean water and vastly improved sanitation practices have dramatically decreased the toll of pestilence on humanity.  Plagues, like the Bubonic Plague, and water borne diseases like cholera have been relegated to history books.

Antibiotics and vaccines have significantly reduced the likelihood of dying from an infection or communicable disease.

The fear of famine has been erased from the memory of people living in the Industrialized World due to changes in transportation, farming practices, refrigeration, packaging and distribution.

We’ve Come a Long Way – Baby.

• Pestilence and famine has virtually disappeared in the lexicon of health for the Industrialized World.
• Clean water is on tap, 24 hours everyday.
• Abundant quantities of every imaginable kind of food are stocked on the shelves of the nearest Super Market, 24 hours everyday.

 Big Advertising Budgets and Pretty Labels

A study, Heart Health and Fiber Drive Consumers to Health Products, released by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and Prevention Magazine, published by Rodale Inc. is revealing.

… “About half of shoppers have bought cranberry juice, dark chocolate or almonds in the past year, probably because there have been marketing campaigns and news coverage touting the health benefits of these so-called “superfoods,” so dubbed because they contain large quantities of specific nutrients. Shoppers are also purchasing green tea (43%), pomegranate juice (25%) and Greek yogurt (21%).”

… “Certain health claims are also proving to be attractive to customers. When purchasing food, heart health (73%) is the top health claim on packaging that matters to consumers. More energy (71%), digestive health (66%) and improving mind health (65%) follow closely behind.”

But, Here’s the Rub

… “Despite this attention to healthy foods, lack of planning is trumping health in the decision-making process at the American dinner table, as 72% of shoppers decide what to have for dinner that day. When same-day decisions for dinner are made, health (52%) falls well behind taste (73%), quickness of preparation (60%) and craving (52%).”

… “Lack of meal planning is so pervasive that one-in-four shoppers (24%) decide what to have for dinner within one hour before eating.”

… “Half of shoppers say they don’t actively monitor their calorie intake on a daily basis but do make an effort not to consume too many calories at a time.”

 What’s in Your Pantry?

Are there cans, boxes and bags, with pretty labels, that taste creamy and sweet, quick and easy to prepare, that you’re hungry for when you’re shopping, or perhaps some Super Food that contains a magic bullet that you heard or have seen advertised, or are you planning to eat something you pick up on your way home?”

 Invest in Health or Pay to be Sick

You choose the food that’s in your kitchen.  And, there is a direct correlation between the food on your table and your state of health.  If you are confused about what your body needs to stay healthy, here are 4 resources to help clear up your confusion:

• We’ve published an article, How to Take Care of Your Body
• The Harvard School of Public Health published an article “What Should You Eat?”
• The University of Michigan published an easy to understand food pyramid
• The USDA published the My Plate program

You choose to endure the inconveniences of declining health or not:

• Digestive issues
• Achy joints
• Weight gain
• Hormone imbalance
• And a whole litany of other issues

You choose  to set the stage for, or endure, the symptoms of neglect or not:

• Stroke
• Heart attack
• Cardiovascular disease
• Diabetes
• Cancer

You choose to consume, or not to consume, food that respects your body.  It is a choice whether to live life to the fullest and die healthy or to suffer the indignities of failing health and dying sick.

But, before you flip the coin, you should read this report and take this health test.

In the end, staying, or becoming healthy if you’re not, boils down to 4 Simple Truths.

Is there an answer?  Yes!

• Stop doing that!  The task may seem daunting, but it is just an exercise in changing habits … in creating new ones, one habit at a time.
• Before you buy something, ask yourself:  “Will my body thank me for this later?”  If not, don’t buy it and don’t eat it!  And, for goodness sake, stop feeding your kids junk food.
• Get help.  Read and Ask Questions … Just be sure of your sources.
• Do the best you can, then, fill the gaps in your diet with supplements.  But, avoid short cuts and magic bullets.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• If you’re comfortable with choosing supplements, to fill the gaps in your diet, please consider NUPRO supplements.
• If you want or need help, we will help you.

As Red Green says:  “Remember, we’re all in this together, I’m pulling for you.”

 

 Average life expectancy is falling in many parts of the United States and for many demographic groups, most notably women, according to a study that was published Wednesday (June 15, 2011) in the journal Population Health Metrics, and conducted by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle.

 In the study, Dr. Ali Mokdad, an IHME official who is researching causal factors affecting life expectancy, listed four reasons for the trends found in the report:

1.  Poverty and lack of education
2. Access to health care
3. Quality of medical care
4. Preventable risk factors like:  obesity, untreated high blood pressure and smoking.

 The enormous increase in obesity, which has doubled in the past 30 years, from 17 percent to 34 percent of the population (editor’s note:  the real number is hovering around 80%) may be the most alarming. He points out that obesity is linked to: low incomes, education levels, lack of access to healthy food choices, particularly fresh fruit and vegetables and the dominance of fast food (editor’s note:  and packaged, processed and convenience food).

 What could you take away from this report?

1. There is a conspiracy between Big Pharma and Big Health Care to keep their profits high – at our expense – and Doctors are in on it?
2. The Teacher’s Unions have a socialist agenda to dumb down the population on matters of nutrition?
3. The US Congress is conspiring to “kill off” segments of the population to reduce the budget?
4. Big Food rents Super Market shelf space, builds fast food restaurants and convenience stores to sell packaged food to make a profit?

 Who will get the blame – this time?

 Here’s another perspective.

1. Commercialized farms and ranches grow and sell food commodities that are measured by quantity, price and appearance
2. Their largest customers are not consumers, they are food manufacturers

 Food manufacturers make their products to:

1. Appeal to customers with advertising, packaging and price
2. Create repeat business with taste and convenience
3. Stay on the shelf as long as possible to protect their investment in inventory

 There is a marketing term, “Give the Gorilla a Banana”, that means sell what people want to buy.   Commercial farms and ranches are growing and food manufacturers are making what you are buying; therefore,  … .

 Frankly, I believe the statistics – I choose not to be one, and you can too. 

 We speak with our checkbook.  We buy the best real food we can find, prepare and eat it; then, we fill in the gaps with supplements.  We’re in our mid 60’s, close to our healthy weight, without prescriptions and active.

 Our program is easy and it is working for us.  Why not try it?  It sure beats being another statistic.

 P.S.  Don’t despair if you are on the way to becoming a statistic.  You might be able to change that, too.  Read this report.

 

 Well … take it easy on me big fellas!

 If gym exercising is your deal, more power to you.  If you find solace in your time in the gym, or however you choose to “sweat”, knock yourself out!  If others choose to join you, more power to them, too.

But, you need to know that many of us don’t share your enthusiasm.

Gym exercise is not my thing.  My exercise of choice is riding horses.  For me, the experience is physical, mental and, because I compete in events with other like-minded people, social.  I particularly enjoy the therapeutic qualities of the partnership with my highly athletic partners – my quarter horses.

While there is a multitude of ways to manage weight – all of them must involve 3 things:

1. Better diet
2. Exercise that fits your schedule, ability and proclivity
3. Lifestyle choices including: sleep, rest and stress management

 When people have lost, or are losing, their ability to control their weight, one, two or all three of these components conspire to layer on the unwanted pounds and put their health at risk.

 The issue can be viewed as a balanced mathematical equation:  Diet + Moderate Exercise + Lifestyle = Healthy.

When any one, two or all of the pieces of the left side of the equation is out of balance, the result is “not healthy”.

 Of course you’ve heard or seen this before, because it is an unshakable truth with a predictable outcome.

That truth is:  the body will begin to decay when the health equation is out of balance.   The symptoms of decay, and the path they take, are predictable, too.

1. At first, it is weight gain
2. Followed by self-medicating with stimulants like caffeine and/or mood enhancers like comfort food and/or alcohol;
3. Followed by over the counter medications;
4. Followed by prescriptions for a condition that can’t be resolved – only managed;
5. Followed by a search for the “magic bullet”
6. Followed by the ultimate symptom of an imbalanced health equation – premature death.

 Of course, there’s always the issue of bad luck to consider.

People experience accidents and/or infections.  Depending on your overall health, the severity of the injury or infection and the competency of your medical doctor, accidents or infections may be bumps in the road, or not.  If you want more details regarding the conflict between Germ Theory and Pleomorphism, we have prepared a paper on the subject for your review.

 Personally, I believe that weight gain is a sign of decaying health; that this particular sign, weight gain, is brought on by disregarding the health-equation. 

And, while simply putting the equation back to balance will change things going forward, it will do little to change the systemic dysfunction caused by the prolonged imbalance.

 Weight gain may have as many 5 factors:

1. Imbalance in calories (consuming more empty calories than you burn)
2. Imbalance in nutrition (satiety and/or cravings)
3. Dysfunction in daytime metabolism (sluggishness and or alertness) and/or nighttime metabolism (sleep and/or moodiness and anxiety)
4. Irregular bowel habits
5. Producing fat cells to wall off internal acids and other toxic substances

 The penchant for identifying one culprit for weight issues is the source for frustration, and often failure, for most people choosing to lose weight. 

Typically, being overweight or obese is a combination of several or all of the factors:  diet, moderate exercise and lifestyle.

 When you change the health equation you will change the situation, going forward.  And, when you support the dysfunctional bodily systems with high quality, well-crafted dietary supplements that support healing the dysfunction(s) of weight management, or health for that matter, the dysfunctions will begin to right themselves.

 The false paradigm – there is a quick fix to address the manifestations of a dysfunctional body – is an unfulfilling, and often risky, track to follow.

On the other hand, electing to balance your health equation will pay dividends.

 In the end, it’s your life – it’s your choice.  Choose wisely

 

People who do not travel exhibit the same demographics and similar, if not the same, characteristics.

 A fair question would be “Why?”

 The answers lie in two areas: 

• lifestyle
• the paradigms that seem to regulate the choices all people make, on a daily basis.

 No one will argue that the modern lifestyle is significantly different than your grandparents or your great grandparents, depending on your age.  There are dramatic changes in diet, k-12 education (and beyond), the type and expectations of employment, family, childrearing and healthcare, to name just a few.

 Daily commuting is … a challenge … and a great source of frustration for almost everyone.  So, everyone’s day starts and ends with a bang!

 Regardless of you career choice, blue collar or white, each work day is packed with demands that, as we’ve come to accept, require sacrifices such as working late and weekends to achieve those work related demands using technology that limits or, in some cases, eliminates physical effort to accomplish the task.

 Work, for the most part, is no longer a job; it is a career that entails entry, mid and upper levels of management.  While you may not be waiting in an airport for your connection to the next big meeting, you are in your cubicle, or office, working, preparing, or awaiting, for a similar “make or break” conference … all under the watchful eye of a supervisor.

 Travelers don’t have a corner on the market for fast food, petulant teens, understanding spouses or mobile devices, either.  They’re in your life, too.

 Two income families are the norm.  Even if you’ve chosen to raise your children with one parent staying at home, your children’s school and extra-curricular activities create a schedule that is challenging or, if you have more than one child, very demanding.

 In fact, the only difference between travelers and those who stay near their home is the venue.

 Ask yourself this question:  “When was the last time you sat down, with your family, for a home cooked meal?”  And, when you did, try to recall how much of the food, on your table, came from some sort of package.

 My guess:  everything but the meat.

 The components of being overweight or obese, and declining health, can be broken down into two dominant categories:

•  Physiological:  including body metabolism, hormones and the neurological components of regulating appetite and cravings.
• Environmental:  including the abundance of convenience, package and fast high calorie foods, the prevalence of an increasingly sedentary lifestyle due to the changes in the technologies and expectations of work.

 Therein lies the explanation for why the old standby plan for losing weight, “Eating Less and Exercising More” is doomed to fail you every time you try to lose weight.  It misses ½ of the equation – the physiological component.

 And, matters could be made worse if you add dietary supplements that over-stimulate your adrenal system.  The low, medium and high stress, from the modern lifestyle, are assaulting your adrenal system – as it is.

 In fact, if you were to make an honest assessment, you can’t help but conclude:

• your diet is a mess
• you have too many responsibilities
• there aren’t enough hours in a day.

 You are, as they say, stuck between a rock and a hard spot.

 You need to find help to get out of your tough spot.

 You need to eat breakfast – toast and coffee, milk and cereal won’t cut it.  Neither of them provides enough nutrition to satisfy your body’s needs after the 8 hour fast we call sleep.  And, you won’t be so ravenous around your 1st break because your body’s nutritional needs have been met.  If you don’t have time, breakfast needs to be the best nutritional shake you can find so you can drink it on the go.

 You need something that effectively

•  supports the components of weight management
• a program that is simple to follow
• is priced so it won’t cost you an arm and a leg.

 You need help burning fat – not just calories only when you “work out”, but the same way you packed the fat away in the first place – around the clock.  It may seem easy to accomplish, but it wasn’t.  It took us 4 years.  And, so far, we’re the only ones who have figured it out.

 If you have been searching for a way, like the one you’ve just read about – take heart – it really does exist.  It is called the Enhanced Weight Management System.

 And, talk about easy, you take three pills with a shake before you start your day, three pills 20 minutes before retiring.  You can expect meaningful changes after 90 days and you will only be investing $4.00 per day.  That’s less than you can spend for a fast food breakfast.

 By the way, there is a promotion through the end of the month on the Enhanced Weight Management System – the investment drops to $3.00 per day.

 If you are interested in meaningful weight management, I highly recommend that you address the issues that are contributing to your weight gain.  I believe you will be well served by investing in the Enhanced Weight Management System – only from NUPRO.

 PS  Thanks for the note, Maria.  Your news is heartening and, you’re welcome.

3/8/11  Hiya , I have been reading your blog for some time now, and just wanted to tell you that it helped me a lot. So far I’ve lost 20 pounds. I will recommend your site to my friends.

Thanks…. Maria Slankepiller , Sweden

 

 The reason for its high rating is simple to understand if you will pause, during your next trip to the mall, to see what excess weight is doing to people.

 Recently, I had occasion to travel by air.  The trip involved three airports for both ends of the trip with, of course, layovers.   That was an eye-opener, too! 

There were 4 obvious groups of people:

1. Twenty somethings
2. Thirty somethings
3. Forty somethings
4. Fifty plus somethings.

 The difference in appearance was, for lack of a better word, astounding.  And, the obvious change, during the transition between demographics was … well, mind-boggling.

 While waiting for each next plane, my observations were:

 1.  The twenty somethings were, for the most part, thin, energetic and they appeared to be healthy.

They were constantly skipping between their “mobile devices” and laptops.  The excitement of their first job, the anticipation of the experiences of travel, new places, new people and few, if any responsibilities at home was obvious. 

To summarize, it appeared to be a low stress – high expectation experience for them.

 2.  The thirty somethings were beginning to show a little wear.

They were sporting a few extra pounds, had less bounce in each step and they appeared less healthy. 

The men’s hair and skin pallor had less radiance.  The women wore more makeup so, thanks to personal care products, it wasn’t as apparent. 

Their use of  “mobile devices” and laptops was more deliberate with what appeared to be longer, less animated conversations and sessions on their mobile devices and laptop.

The responsibilities, and demands, of their job, the past experiences of travel; places, people and the responsibilities at home, like: spouses, young children and a mortgage was obvious.

To summarize, stress was taking its toll on them.

 3.  The forty somethings looked unhealthy.

They were, for the most part, clinically obese.  Men and women alike were overhanging their belts or covering their bodies with loose fitting clothes.

Without trying to be unkind, it was obvious that they were attempting to reverse the trend that they witnessed in the mirror, everyday, with attire and overdone makeup.

The demands, and stress, of their corporate career are all too familiar.  Thick files extracted from a briefcase, reviewing reports on the laptop, putting out fires on the cell, preparing for a meeting that your boss or your people are “depending on you to pull off”, petulant teenagers, an understanding and overworked spouse, too many restaurant meals, too many bad airport meals, hotel rooms … .  Ick!  But, I digress.

To summarize, the stress, while mostly managed, is monumental.  It’s no wonder that they were diving into their briefcase for antacids, some sort of over-the-counter medication or their prescription because, the past abuses to their bodies is beginning to catch up with them.

4.   The fifty plus somethings broke into 2 groups:  those sitting in 1st class and those sitting where I sat.

Those sitting in 1st class were either incredibly lucky or they have more time, and money, to pay attention to their health … because the people who joined me appeared to be not healthy.

The people sitting with me, for the most part, looked like the time they spent neglecting their health had caught up with them.  I seem to remember reading that the average 60-year-old person is taking 6 prescriptions to manage the symptoms of their degenerating conditions of health. 

To summarize, it wasn’t that pretty!

 You’re probably asking yourself:  “What does this has to do with being overweight or obese?”

 The situation started back when you were a late twenty something – when you thought you could continue to eat like a teenager – when you first encountered the rigors of living a life of responsibilities.

It happened when those 2 to 5 pounds you gained during the holidays and winter, didn’t “just go away.” 

You may have tried something that was quick and easy.   But now, sure enough, you find yourself carrying around several years worth of … well, you know … those pounds that didn’t go away.

 Losing weight is likely the most promised, and subsequently broken, New Year’s resolution in the world. 

As previously written, trying to lose weight during winter is a fool’s mission.  Adding to this unavoidable fact, unrealistic expectations from: starvation diets, expensive, time consuming workouts at the gym or “fast-acting diet pills” will soon have you right back where you were – only, you’ll be lighter in your wallet and disappointed.

 The good news is:  spring is just around the corner and, that’s when you should start your weight loss program.

 I believe the most effective way to burn fat is to restore metabolism while you’re awake and during sleep.  (That’s how you burned away the pounds when you were 20 something). 

Therefore, in our weight loss system, we crafted in some nifty herbs to support day time and night time metabolism and to help with stress, alertness, cravings and appetite as well as helping firm up your body and support restful sleep.

 By the way, the best way to tell if the program is working is to put on something from your closet that’s a little too tight to wear in public. 

After about three weeks, put is on again. Voila, it fits!  You’ll have a new, old wardrobe. 

And, after 90 days and several visits to the archive of “cloths that are too tight to wear” in your closet, you’ll be looking for some new spiffy outfits to show off the new you.

  We will be starting a promotion for what I humbly consider our most effective weight management system beginning March 1 and continuing through the month.  You’ll save up to $30.00 for each 30 day supply you purchase.

 I voted for calling it, A New You in 90 Days.  We’ll see.  Regardless, if you intend to become the person you’ve only imagined, this is a good place to start.  And, we’ll send you a booklet to help or you can find some great tips for losing weight.  I highly recommend this approach.

 Listen to me – our marketing guys would be impressed.

 Also, we have updated our website – if you have a minute, I would appreciate your review and comments about it, too.  Sorry about all the homework!  It’s the professor in me talking.  Our website is www.nupro.net

 Next time, I’ll be writing about some nifty research about stress.

 In the meantime, I encourage you to read a past article:  Predicting Disease.  Those of you who really are committed of taking responsibility for your health, or as I see it, dying healthy, will find some interesting food for thought.  I have also prepared an internet page that tracks the stages of declining health that you might find interesting.

 Please, review them and comment.  I always look forward to your comments.

 

For years, people have been asking for a book that they can refer to for help with maintaining their health.  Frankly, putting the information into a manageable form, that would work as a reference, is a daunting task.

The first hurdle is to recognize the strongly held “rules” from which people make their decisions regarding their health.

The four most commonly held paradigms are:

• Supermarkets sell food.
• Physicians can fix any and all health complaints.
• Pharmaceutical Companies have miracle cures or are very near a breakthrough on others.
• There is a mystical potion, lotion or twig that can save them – once rules 2 and 3 fail.

The second hurdle is to overcome the false confidence on matters of their health into which people have been lulled.

After being immersed in the effort of promoting and maintaining health for nearly two decades, I can tell you that all of these commonly held beliefs are wrong.

• Supermarkets sell products – bags, cans and packages of goods for a market segment  (produce and fresh meats excluded)
• Physicians vaccinate, prescribe meds for bacterial infections, react to  emergencies and injuries and manage symptoms.
• There are no miracles – prescriptive or natural

The third hurdle is to convince people that they must take a proactive role using good judgement, diet, lifestyle and the judicious use of supplements if they intend to live their lives in the fullness of health.

For the average person, finding the time to examine these false paradigms is a victory.  Finding the courage to discard them and implement self-care is another. 

Self-care, after all, is taking responsibility for your own well-being.  The concept congers up all sorts of fear about everything they do not know about their health and the perceived risks associated with managing their most valuable asset – their health.

People are apprehensive because they fear going it alone.  They are, for the most part, unfamiliar with the myriad of resources to assist them.  The most basic of resources are:

• Health Insurance Company – wellness as well as coverages
• Nutritionist – Diet and preparation of food
• Chiropractor – Skeletal system
• Massage Therapist – Muscle and connective tissue
• Universities – Current research from their various departments
• Pharmacist – Medications:  Over the Counter and prescriptions
• Clinics – wellness and specific insights
• Hospitals – wellness and specific insights
• Health Consultants – Wellness and perspective
• The Government – FDA, USDA, NIH, CDC, etc.
• The World Wide Web – you name it!  Just watch the source.

Does this list look familiar?

It should because you visit them now.  It is a simple matter or viewing them as a service provider and an intellectual resource.  Ask them questions!

Select and use them like you would any other professional.  How hard is that?

Speaking of resources, we have put together an on-line resource.  Its purpose is to offer a perspective and strategy for managing your health.  It is a worth-while read and it is worth considerably more than you will be asked to pay – because it is free.  Click here