Science behind no grain drain

The Science of the Natural Human Diet

Our agrarian diet began from 2,000 to 10,000 years ago depending on your heritage. In evolutionary terms, this is quite recent. Think of the time of humans as one day. A hunter-gatherer diet was universal for 23 hours and 59 minutes. We switched to our current grain-based diet only in the last minute of that day.

Genetic science calculates that only 0.02% of our genes have changed in that evolutionary “blink of an eye.” So we’re still genetically equipped to eat the foods of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. The “caveman” diet is simple – lean meats, fresh fruits and vegetables. No grains and few starches.

So how did the medical establishment get the idea that red meat and fat were causing heart disease? Back in the 1950s, studies looked at the diets of third–world agrarian cultures and found that Western diets were higher in fat.

Yet these third-world countries had already radically changed their diet during their agrarian revolution. This mistake has long-since been recognized by science but other forces have perpetuated this mistaken notion.

You can’t trademark basic foods like steaks and eggs. But foods like Cheerios, Twinkies and Coke are “proprietary.” No one else can sell them. That means bigger profit margins.

Louise Light, Ed.D, the very nutritionist hired by USDA to create their food pyramid, saw that nutritional facts could not overcome the political and economic motives at work. Here are her words on the subject:

“I was disappointed and depressed that good nutrition and healthy eating were obscured by lobbyists and their allies in government. A seemingly impenetrable wall of distortion had been erected to block thinking that could interfere with the way food was made, promoted and sold.”[1]

The Worst Mistake in Nutritional History

Whenever hunter-gatherer cultures have made the switch to grains and farming, there were health consequences. In Europe, big-game hunters were an average of 6 inches taller than their farmer descendants.1 Look at what happened to Native Americans of the Ohio River valley:

“Archaeologists have excavated some 800 skeletons that paint a picture of the health changes that occurred when a hunter-gatherer culture gave way to the intensive maize farming around A. D. 1150… Compared to the hunter-gatherers who proceeded them, the farmers had a nearly 50% increase in malnutrition, a fourfold increase in iron-deficiency anemia and a threefold rise in infectious disease.”[2]

The idea that modern cultures still show this link is backed by the best science. In 1985, Boyd Eaton, MD published an article “Paleolithic Nutrition,” in the New England Journal of Medicine.[3]

They found no evidence of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic intestinal disease and most types of cancer in the hunter-gatherer cultures that still survive today. Some of these include the Hadza of Tanzania, the Kung and Kade San of the Kalahari and the Australian Aborigines, among others.

Avoid Chronic Disease by Following Your Ancestors Not Your Contemporaries

Those who follow low-fat diets – like the “Pritikin” diet – often develop a variety of problems including low energy, poor concentration, depression, weight gain and mineral deficiencies.[4] Remember Dr. Pritikin himself became depressed and committed suicide.

Often quoted to support the low-fat mistake, the real data of the Framingham Heart Study shows the opposite. Untouched by drug company interference, this ongoing study gives us the most reliable source of data for heart health. After a 40-year study, the director states, “the more saturated fat one ate… the lower the person’s serum cholesterol…”[5]

Drug makers and food processors still insist that fat is killing us – and establishment stalwarts like the American Cancer Society. Yet when the University of Maryland analyzed the data used to support the American Cancer Society’s claim, it turned out that vegetable fat consumption led to cancer. Nothing in the data suggested animal fat caused disease of any kind.[6] And studies like the one that showed that grains processed by high heat are toxic and cause death in test animals[7] have no one to champion the message.

And it’s not just refined grains. Phytic acid in whole grains binds to iron, calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc in your digestive tract and blocks their absorption.[8] Whole grains also contain enzyme inhibitors that interfere with digestion.[9]

Now You Have Choices…

Elephants and rhinos are strong and robust because they are following their natural diet. The same is true for a meat-eating lion. Our ancestors showed us our natural diet. Grains allowed us to feed more people. They continue to stave off starvation in the third world. But now, in the modern world, you have a choice.

Eat the foods you are genetically fitted to and you will lose fat, boost energy and avoid most chronic diseases of the modern world. I’ve witnessed thousands of people do it.

Energy Medicine... the future of medicine.

I have experience one of the most powerful healing tool available... yes equally as powerful as nutrition and exercise. Best thing is that it costs nothing, needs no fancy equipment and for those who are sceptical you don't even have to believe in it for it to work... it plain just works! Patients who have gone thru this with me have experienced total elimination of fears, phobias, mental blocks and negativity which our society is saturated with.

The technique is called Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT which in its simplest terms is acupuncture without needles. Chinese medicine has known for centuries that our body contains subtle energy and when a tramatic experiance happens disruptions occur to this energy. This disruption leads to energy blocks that eventuate to physical dis-ease and finally disease. EFT is an energy medicine that was developed by a church pastor... his generosity and genuine passion towards eliminate human suffering is shown though giving the manual FREE for everyone. I will be using EFT on most scoliosis sufferers due to emotional bagadge thats usually present. While it is too soon to say whether it will help with improving the curve I believe being emotional free and happy is am important step to healing. Happiness truly comes from within, not from the material things we horde. EFT brings positive energy and
for those who master it a feeling of elation that easily rivals any antidepressant or drug.

FREE EFT Manual

Magnesium: A mineral all scoliosis sufferers need to know

From recent abstract

Long-term moderate magnesium-deficient diet shows relationships
between blood pressure, inflammation and oxidant stress defense in
aging rats.

* Blache D,
* Devaux S,
* Joubert O,
* Loreau N,
* Schneider M,
* Durand P,
* Prost M,
* Gaume V,
* Adrian M,
* Laurant P,
* Berthelot A.

INSERM U 498, Biochimie des Lipoproteines, Dijon, F-21079, France;
Faculte de Medecine, Universite de Bourgogne, Dijon, F-21079, France.

Epidemiological and experimental studies have indicated a relationship
among aging, dietary Mg, inflammatory stress, and cardiovascular
disease. Our aim in the present study was to investigate possible
links between dietary Mg, oxidant stress parameters, and inflammatory
status with aging in rats. We designed a long-term study in which rats
were fed for 22 months with moderately deficient (150 mg/kg), standard
(800 mg/kg), or supplemented (3200 mg/kg) Mg diets. Comparisons were
made with young rats fed with the same diets for 1 month. Compared to
the standard and supplemented diets, the Mg-deficient diet
significantly increased blood pressure, plasma interleukin-6,
fibrinogen, and erythrocyte lysophosphatidylcholine, particularly in
aging rats, it decreased plasma albumin. The impairment of redox
status was indicated by increases in plasma thiobarbituric acid
reactive substances and oxysterols and an increased blood
susceptibility to in vitro free-radical-induced hemolysis. We
concluded that Mg deficiency induced a chronic impairment of redox
status associated with inflammation which could significantly
contribute to increased oxidized lipids and promote hypertension and
vascular disorders with aging. Extrapolating to the human situation
and given that Mg deficiency has been reported to be surprisingly
common, particularly in the elderly, Mg supplementation might be
useful as an adjuvant therapy in preventing cardiovascular disease.

Vegetable oils - Friend or Foe?

Vegetable oils such as canola oil, safflower oil, corn oil, soy oil etc. are very reactive to oxygen, and go rancid when heated even at low temperatures. Once oxidized, these fats cause free radical damage in our bodies, which has been linked to cancer, heart disease and diabetes. According to the animal research of Dr. Kenneth Carroll, "...the more polyunsaturated fats were in the diet, the more they were cancer promoting; and the more saturated fats were, the more they were cancer reducing..." Yet we are told by such organizations as the American Heart Association that these polyunsaturated oils are the healthy oils to eat and cook with. In actual fact, we were only meant to consume vegetable oils by eating the nuts and seeds that they come in; the nuts and seeds also contain the antioxidants that prevent the oxidization of the fats.

Vegetable oils are refined with solvents and heat, making them toxic and rancid. Deodorizing compounds are added to cover up the smell, and voila - they will stay on the store shelf for months looking deceptively beautiful. Even in their unrefined form, these polyunsaturated oils cannot be recommended even in salad dressings, as they are sensitive to light. Polyunsaturated vegetable oils are also most frequently turned into trans-fats, so pretty much any time you see any vegetable oils listed on an ingredient list in a packaged food or a recipe, you would be doing yourself a huge favour in the long run by not eating it. The best fats for cooking are organic pasture-fed raw butter or ghee, organic virgin coconut oil, organic, pasture-fed beef tallow, and unrefined organic olive oil (low to medium temperatures only).

Enig, Mary; Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer For Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol Bethesda Press, Silver Spring, MD, 2003.

Fallon, Sally and Enig, Mary; Nourishing Traditions, Revised 2nd Edition NewTrends Publishing Inc., Washington, D.C., 2001

Prescription Painkillers More Lethal Than Illegal Drugs

It's not surprising to learn opioid prescription painkillers -- think morphine, methadone and hydrocodone -- are more deadly than heroin or cocaine when abused, but the source of the study is: The CDC. In fact, as sales of opioids have increased, so have the number of deaths.

The numbers paint a stark picture of the problem:

Unintentional drug poisonings more than tripled between 1990-2002 to 18 percent versus 5 percent during the previous dozen years.
Deaths blamed on abusing opioid drugs between 1999-2002 exploded by 91 percent.
Opioid deaths dwarfed that of heroin (12 percent) and cocaine (22 percent).
Although accompanying comments by other researchers caution patients against being overly concerned about these numbers, fact is, prescription and over-the-counter drugs kill more people every year than those who die from illegal drug use combined. And, deaths blamed on prescription drugs tend to rise at the beginning of each month by as much as 25 percent.

If you want to treat your pain and your body safely, I urge you to review a recent article I posted about the array of options at your disposal.

USDA seeks to weaken standards for organic beef

The USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service is seeking to increase the number of substances that could be used on cows that are to be deemed organic. CattleNetwork.com has a list of all eight substances, most of which are used to combat maladies common to feedlot cattle. The list includes bismuth subsalicylate, the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol, which would be used for stomach ulcer relief, as well as poloxalene, used to keep cattle from getting bloated. Both bloating and ulcers are often the result of a corn-heavy diet that grass-eating cows aren't used to. NewsTarget.com also reports on the proposed changes, but with a bit more of a slant than CattleNetwork.

If the USDA's proposed rule passes, livestock will be treated with such chemicals as:

Atropine, a lethal belladonna extract used to treat pesticide exposure. The NOP approved the use of atropine after consulting with the EPA and FDA.

Bismuth subsalicyate, an anti-diarrhea drug used to treat ulcers. The FDA said that bismuth could be approved for use in livestock, because it is already approved for use in humans.

Butorphanol, a pre-surgical painkiller that was recommended for use by the National Organic Standards Board; but they requested that slaughter or sale of milk from the treated cow be twice as long as the FDA requirement (an extension the USDA feels is unnecessary).

Flunxin is a non-narcotic and non-steroidal drug used to treat inflammation or pyrexia. Like Butorphanol, the NOSB requested the time between use of the substance and slaughter or milking be twice what the FDA recommends and, again, the USDA felt the measure unnecessary.

Furosemide, a diuretic drug -- used to treat udder and pulmonary edema -- that the NOSB also requested have an extended period to flush out of an animal before its milk or meat is sold for consumption. The USDA said the extension was unnecessary for this drug too.

Magnesium hydroxide is a naturally occurring mineral that can be used to treat stomach troubles, constipation and acid indigestion.

Peroxyacetic/paracetic acid, which is approved as an indirect food additive by the FDA, is a sanitizer used to clean processing equipment and to disinfect animals, meat and dairy.

Poloxalene, is a synthetic stool softener that can treat bloat in cattle, and while the NOSB recommends that the substance only be approved for emergency situations, the USDA wants it to be added to feed as a preventative measure.

Why are cows so sick? Conventional cows are fed a diet full of grains and corn which are not their natural diet. As such like humans who eat excess grains, they start suffering from digestive problems. Eat only cows which are grass fed, these are incredibly health promoting and easy to find even in Singapore. Understand that organic beef if raised on organic grain feed is just as detrimental.

Stomach acid deficiency - hypochlordria

Upon a recent glance thru papers I have come across an interesting relationship between decreased stomach acids and arthritis. In one investigation, researchers studied seventy patients, half with rheumatoid arthritis, half with osteoarthritis. What they found was that most people suffering from arthritis don't have enough stomach acids. In fact 28 percent had no stomach acids at all which are vital for the digestion of minerals (such as Magnesium) and proteins.

Those suffering from mineral deficiencies, scoliosis, protein types or arthritis it would be a good idea to supplement with betaine hydrochloride for 6 months to stimulate normal stomach acid levels to improve digestion. Because it is not what you eat, but what you absorb that it difference between good health and sickness.

Chinese Hospitals Over-Prescribe Antibiotics To Generate Income

BEIJING, June 30 -- Health experts have called for more attention to be paid to the proper prescription of medicines, in particular the use of antibiotics.

"China has a very serious problem of antibiotics abuse, especially antibacterial injection," said Professor Yang Yonghong of Beijing Children's Hospital, during the International Pediatric Pharmacology Symposium currently being held in Shanghai.

"About 90 per cent of patients with common colds first use antibiotics," said Yang. Antibiotics are ineffective against viruses such as common colds.

"The improper use (of antibiotics) will result in development of drug resistance, more side effects, increased medical expenses and a huge burden for parents," said Professor Wang Daiming of Shanghai Children's Hospital of Fudan University.

Yang also revealed that resistance against the antibiotic erythromycin has increased to as high as 90 per cent among pneumococcal pneumonia patients.

During the symposium, Yang presented a nationwide survey on antibiotics consumption in five children's hospitals in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Guangzhou since 2000.

The survey showed the use of antibiotics in hospitals has continued to increase, with the misuse of antibiotics for non-infectious diseases common.

Early this year, China Association of Medicine revised the guidelines for antibiotics use in medical institutions nationwide.

In some hospitals like Shanghai Children's Hospital, antibiotics have been classified and the prescription rights are given to doctors of various levels.

However, the measure is unlikely to have much impact on antibiotics abuse as the source of the problem remains in China's medical system: Hospitals rely too much on income from selling medicines.

The survey showed that medicine sales accounted for around half of total income.

Antibiotics accounted for 43 to 50 per cent of all income from sales of Western drugs in the five hospitals.

China Daily

Calcium and Magnesium Summary

For those that dont have the time to read the article below it highlights a few important points. That regardless of health conditions and age to ratios of Ca and Mag in your blood remains the same, what changes is what is in cells (intracellular). Meaning that blood levels of Ca and Mg do not reflect deficiencies as your body will try to maintain sufficient levels in blood at all times. Also it highlights how a majority of health conditions that are associated with aging have a strong correlation with excess Ca levels as opposed to Mg levels. So eat your greens for good Calcium and Magnesium and stay away from excess Ca foods such as cheese and milk.

Calcium and Magnesium Levels Age-Related Changes and Relationship to Hypertension and Diabetes

Ward Dean, MD

Magnesium and potassium are the principal intracellular cations (positive ions), while calcium and sodium are the principal extracellular cations. Although magnesium plays a universal role in cellular biochemistry, and is critical to enzyme activation, nerve conduction, ion transport, and hundreds of other functions, little is known about the effect of age on magnesium metabolism.

Because only about 1% of magnesium is extracellular, serum magnesium levels do not accurately reflect intracellular magnesium content. Furthermore, only 10-15% of intracellular magnesium is in the free, active form.1

Age-Related Changes in Intracellular Ca/Mg Levels
Recently, a team of researchers performed a study on 103 subjects of various ages, utilizing 31P-nuclear magnetic (NMR) and 19F-NMR techniques to determine
intracellular levels of magnesium and calcium, respectively.2 The scientists analyzed the levels of calcium and magnesium, using red blood cells, drawn at 9 AM.

Characteristics of the participants in this study were as follows: Seventy-one of the subjects were less than 65-years old, and thirty-two subjects were older than 65. Thirty-seven of the subjects were “healthy normals” (eleven of whom were older than 65, and twenty-six were younger than 65). Thirty-nine were hypertensive (nine were older than 65, and thirty were younger than 65). Twenty-seven had non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) (12 were older than 65, and 15 were younger than 65).



Interestingly, the scientists found that there were no differences of serum (i.e., the liquid portion of blood, minus the red and white blood cells) levels of calcium and magnesium in any of the participants—i.e., neither age nor disease (hypertension or diabetes) had any effect on serum concentrations of these minerals.



However, younger normal subjects had lower levels of intracellular magnesium, and higher levels of intracellular calcium (Figs. 1 and 2) than the normal older subjects. Fleckenstein (1983) found similar changes in tissue calcium and magnesium levels in the aortas of humans who died at various ages. Fleckenstein demonstrated the progressive accumulation of calcium in arterial tissue, resulting in a shift of the calcium/magnesium ratio in favor of calcium (Fig. 3).3



Intracellular Mineral Levels and Disease
Significantly, subjects with hypertension or non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) had higher levels of intracellular calcium and lower levels of intracellular magnesium—even worse than the levels seen in older normal subjects (Figs. 4 and 5).



Based on these results, the authors formulated an “ionic hypothesis” in which they proposed that an intracellular profile characterized by excess calcium and depleted magnesium resulted in insulin resistance (resulting in obesity and NIDDM), hypertension, and aging.

Measuring Tissue Calcium and Magnesium Levels
The data described in this study appear to indicate that intracellular calcium and magnesium may be a useful biomarker of aging. However, as noted by the authors in this study, intracellular calcium and magnesium levels are not accurately assessed by routine blood (serum) analysis. Furthermore, the techniques utilized by the authors to gather these data are not readily available outside of major research institutes.

There are several techniques that are readily available to accomplish this, however. An innovative technique has been developed to non-invasively and fairly inexpensively (about $70) measure levels of intracellular minerals. The test involves scraping cells from the floor of the mouth with a small spatula (ice cream stick), and sending the slide to IntraCellular Diagnostics. (800-874-4804). There, scientists use scanning electron microscopy and X-ray fluorescence to determine levels of calcium and
magnesium, plus sodium, potassium, chlorine and phosphorous.

Another technique that measures tissue mineral levels is to use hair analysis (available from VRP). Although blood tests measure levels of various substances over very narrow periods of time, hair mineral levels reveal stable tissue mineral levels based on accumulation over weeks to months. Hair elemental analysis can be a source of important information for healthcare practitioners and their patients. With proper interpretation, hair analysis test results can point to hidden causes of chronic illness,
and help physicians design nutritional interventions.

Optimizing Calcium/Magnesium Balance
The observations in this study—that elevated levels of intracellular calcium, and depressed levels of intracellular magnesium—clearly indicate the contribution of this pattern to many chronic degenerative diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, obesity and aging. These findings appear to validate the calcium/magnesium balance in VRP’s multi-nutrient and multi-mineral formulas, which are generally weighted in favor of magnesium-to-calcium. The rationale for these higher magnesium-to-calcium ratios has been previously explained in detail in the Customers’ Corner in the March, 2000 issue of Vitamin Research News. (On the internet go to www.vrp.com, choose “library,” and enter “calcium” in the search engine.)

References:
1. Gupta, R.K., Gupta, P., Yushok, W.D., Rose, Z.B. Measurement of the dissociation constant of magnesium ATP of 31P-NMR and optical absorbance spectroscopy.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 1983, 253: 6172-6176.

2. Barbagallo, M., Gupta, R.K., Dominguez, L.J., and Resnick, L.M. Cellular ionic alterations with age: Relation to hypertension and diabetes. J American Geriatrics Society, 2000, 48: 1111-1116.

3. Fleckenstein, A. Calcium Antagonism in Heart and Smooth Muscle, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1983.