Chasers Juice

Chasers Juice Revolution!
Generally once fruit is juiced the oxidation process begins and the juice loses its freshness and begins to lose its nutritional value.  Cleanses:

Beginners Revolution Cleanse

This combination of juices features electrolyte enhancing, hydrating and nutritionally balanced mixes. Designed to keep your immune system operating at peak performance!

1 Day $49.99      2 Day $94.99      3 Day $139.99

JUICE 1   –   Lemon, Cayenne Pepper, Filtered Water
JUICE 2   –   Pineapple, Green Apple, Lemon, Mint
JUICE 3   –   Grapefuit, Mint
JUICE 4   –   Cucumber, Pineapple, Lemon, Coconut Water
JUICE 5   –   Cucumber, Apple, Lemon, Ginger, Cayenne
JUICE 6   –   Apple, Lemon, Extra Ginger, Cayenne


Intermediate Revolution Cleanse

A perfect pairing of juices for first-time cleansers. Stay hydrated and refreshed with these nutritionally balanced juices.

1 Day $59       2 Day $114.99      3 Day $164.99

JUICE 1   –   Apple, Cinnamon
JUICE 2   –   Pineapple, Pear, Ginger, Mint
JUICE 3   –   Kale, Spinach, Romaine, Parsley, Cucumber, Celery, Apple, Lemon, Ginger
JUICE 4   –   Pineapple, Green Apple, Lemon, Mint
JUICE 5   –   Strawberry, Apple, Lime
JUICE 6   –   Chocolate, Almond Milk


Chasers Greens Revolution 3 Day Cleanse ($184.99)

This cleanse was designed to promote a gentle alkaline shift in your body. Packed full with Kale, Spinach and other wonderful green goodies, this cleanse will leave you glowing!

JUICE 1   –   Kale, Spinach, Romaine, Parsley, Cucumber, Celery
JUICE 2   –   Kale, Spinach, Romaine, Parsley, Cucumber, Celery, Apple, Lemon
JUICE 3   –   Kale, Spinach, Romaine, Parsley, Cucumber, Celery, Apple, Lemon, Ginger
JUICE 4   –   Cucumber, Celery, Watercress, Lemon, Ginger, Cayenne
JUICE 5   –   Cucumber, Apple, Lemon, Ginger, Cayenne
CHLOROPHYLL H20   –   Coconut Water, Wheatgrass


Chasers Revolution 3 Day Cleanse ($184.99)

A wonderful cleanse for a person who considers themselves to be juice-savvy. Each juice has been hand-selected for it’s nutritional potency and cleansing power!



Retail:

Taking Care of Business

A blend of super greens: spinach, celery, kale, mixed with beet, lemon and ginger.
Do we need to say more? Your body will love you!

Kick Start My Heart 

Blueberries, acai berries, pomegranate, apple  and mint.
Let’s just say energy, recharge and balance – it’s going to make you feel amazing

Start Me Up

Agave, maple syrup and lemon.
The best of both worlds with cayenne and chili pepper; this will make things activated.

Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’

Pineapple, coconut water and wheat grass.
This is fun – recharge, rehydrate, and help cure any hangover

Looking Into the Light

The sweetness of a hot sunny day in July!
This mixture is of cashew, agave, maple syrup, vanilla bean and cinnamon. It’s simply divine!

Wheatgrass

One week (7-1oz bottles) $19.95
Bulk (1-12oz bottle) $29.99
Dehydrated (225g) $7.25

Everyone knows what a “Best Before” date is- that little guide on your food or drinks that lets you know when its going to go bad. Generally, we expect things we buy to be good at least a week..maybe two; sometimes three or more depending on what it is, but the point is we trust it. What we need to remember however, and always keep in mind is what we’re buying, how long the date is or should be, and what that means about the product.



Firstly, it’s important to know though that “Best Before” and “Use By” dates are different, and mean different things.  “Best Before” implies that product will be in its best condition before that time period, but it may be okay for 24-48 hours after that; sometimes even longer.  A “Use By” date means that day is it, it’s spoiled beyond that and shouldn’t be eaten.



Some consumer juices have an unopened shelf life of 10 days, and are good for another 7-10 beyond the day that you open them, bringing it to a total of 20 days- now that’s a long time! Generally once fruit is juiced the oxidation process begins and the juice loses its freshness and begins to lose its nutritional value. The same juice brands also add “no preservatives” to their juices.

When it comes to “fresh” juices that offer a 20 day expiration period, as consumers we should pause and think of what “fresh” means after almost three weeks, and how “natural” that product must be if it maintains that long.  How can this fruit juice without any preservatives last almost three weeks, when the shelf life of a cut piece of orange or apple (I use cut here because just as with juicing, you expose the fruit to the oxidation process) is only 3-4 days?


If you are a juice lover, and want as much nutritional impact as you can get from each ounce of juice, truly the best way to ensure that is buying a juicer of your own. Processors, blenders and even magic bullets act as great tools to get high quality fruit juice of your own, and drinking it right after juicing ensures all the nutrients will still be there.  The best part is you can get them from most kitchen good stores.

Inflated expiration dates with products labelled as “fresh” and “natural” should alert you that something may not be as it seems. Next time you’re in the aisle checking the date on your next carton of juice, pause and think about where its come from, how long it must take to get to the shelf, and how long that product still says it’s good for. Once more than a week, from juicing till consumption has passed, that “fresh” label begins to lose its clout.  That’s why all Chasers Juice products have a shelf life of a week or less.  It’s also why we start juicing early every morning, to make all our juices fresh to order for delivery to you the same day.



How Long Do Oranges Last?

The shelf life of oranges, like most other fresh fruit or fresh vegetables is variable because most have no sell by date, use by date, or best before date. Since there is no printed date and it's difficult to tell how long the fruit has been on the grocery shelf prior to purchase, the only date you can go by is the purchased date or date picked (if you are lucky enough to pick your own fresh fruit). There are two main varieties of oranges; Navel which are best for eating, and Valencia which are best for juice. Because of their relatively low cost, long Shelf Life, easy portability and extremely high concentration of antioxidents, vitamin C and fiber oranges are one of the most popular fruits around. So, how long do oranges last? When properly stored, some of the more popular expiration dates of oranges can be found below.

Oranges Expiration Date

Fresh/Cut ; On Counter;(Inside Refrigerator)
Fresh Oranges; last for 2-3 Weeks;(1-2 Months)
Cut Oranges; last for Same Day; (1-2 Days)

Of course, all foods last for a shorter period of time if they are not stored properly. Sometimes when they are packaged in a large bag or box it is labeled with the date the oranges were packed into the container. This date can be used to calculate the eat by date.

How to tell if Oranges are bad, rotten or spoiled?

Practicing proper hygiene and food safety techniques will help prevent foodborne illness.

Although not a perfect test, your senses are usually the most reliable instruments to tell if your oranges have gone bad beyond the shelf life. Some common traits of bad oranges are a soft texture and some discoloration. The soft spot is moist and develops a mold, usually white in color at first. Bad oranges, just like bad orange juice and other fruit juices, will have a distinct sour smell and taste.

There are, of course, certain health risks associated with spoiled foods so always remember to practice food safety and enjoy your foods before their shelf life has expired!

How to store Oranges to extend their shelf life?

You can help oranges stay fresh longer by storing them in your refrigerator drawer. Once oranges are prepared, they should be stored in a tightly closed container to keep out moisture and other contaminants.

Some benefits of proper food storage include eating healthier, cutting food costs and helping the environment by avoiding waste.

Interesting facts about Oranges:

Most oranges in North America come from Florida and California
Navel oranges are named so because they have a belly button opposite the stem. The bigger the navel, the sweeter the orange.
Valencia oranges turn orange when ripe, but then can turn green again as they re-absorb chlorophyll when remaining on the tree during warm weather (but they're still ripe).

How to use extra before your Oranges go bad?

Make orange juice! Cut and squeeze the oranges into a glass or container, then refrigerate and drink within a day.
Peel the oranges and put into a Vitamix with some bananas, canned pineapple, fruit juice and ice for a great smoothie.
Peel and separate the oranges and toss them into a container of chocolate yogurt.

How long are Oranges good for when prepared in a dish?


How long do oranges last? That depends. How long do bananas last? In general, oranges last only as long as the quickest expiring ingredient in the recipe.



How Long Do Bananas Last?

How long do bananas last? The shelf life of bananas is difficult to determine because there is no sell by date, use by date or best before date attached anywhere to bananas. For eat by date purposes we must use the date the bananas were purchased. Bananas are often referred to as "nature's perfect food" since they contain many essential vitamins and minerals, like potassium, and come neatly wrapped in their own protective container. For more on the health benefits of bananas, check banana health benefits.

Bananas can range from a bright green color to the perfect yellow to already developing a brown spotted skin in the grocery store and people have different preferences as to which stage is the perfectly ripe one.


So, how long do bananas last? When properly stored, the shelf life of bananas beyond the purchase date is approximately...

Bananas Expiration Date

Fresh Bananas left and last for ; 
On Counter,2-7 Days;
Inside Refrigerator, 2- 9 Days; 
Inside Freezer 2-3 months.


How to tell if Bananas are bad, rotten or spoiled?

Practicing proper hygiene and food safety techniques will help prevent food borne illness.

Fresh bananas will first get brown spots and then get soft and turn completely brown and leak liquid when they have gone bad. If left out long enough they will eventually turn black and grow mold. Bananas are usually shipped green since they develop better color, texture, aroma and sweet taste after being harvested. Placing bananas near other fruit will cause the other fruits to also ripen faster.

Another problem you may experience with having fresh fruit on the counter is the sudden presence of fruit flies. Fruit Flies are tiny little flies that just hover around your fresh fruit basket. So, how do you get rid of fruit flies? To get rid of fruit flies, place a bowl of water with a teaspoon of vinegar in it next to the fruit basket at night. In the morning, all the fruit flies will have taken their final swim in the bowl.

There are, of course, certain health risks associated with spoiled foods so always remember to practice food safety and enjoy your foods before their shelf life has expired!

How to store Bananas to extend their shelf life?

Bananas ripen at room temperature, so to stunt the ripening process bananas can be placed in the refrigerator. To extend the shelf life of bananas at room temperature, place plastic wrap tightly around the stem of the bunch. Bananas can also be frozen, but the texture will change.

If you find your bananas have turned brown, try our banana bread recipe.

Some benefits of proper food storage include eating healthier, cutting food costs and helping the environment by avoiding waste.

How long are Bananas good for when prepared in a dish?


How long do bananas last? That depends. How long do coconuts last? In general, bananas last only as long as the quickest expiring ingredient in the recipe.

Our mission

We believe that drinking water is the healthiest way to hydrate.

Our Mission

Our mission is to raise public awareness of healthy hydration, and encourage sustainable healthy hydration habits, by sharing scientific research, educational materials and practical tools.
Nutritional advice typically focuses on food intake. Yet, the quantity and quality of the fluids we drink every day can have a significant impact on our well-being and long-term health. Therefore, one of our primary challenges is to communicate the fundamental need for healthcare policymakers and practitioners to proactively provide healthy hydration advice.

Need for action

In the context of the development of obesity worldwide and the development of kidney disease, there is a need to develop prevention approaches. Among other healthy lifestyle measures, drinking an adequate amount of water every day can significantly contribute to maintaining good heath. We believe there is a need to increase awareness on the scientific evidence supporting the need and the benefits of drinking enough water each day and to educate all stakeholders. This is precisely what the Hydration for Health initiative aims to achieve:

• People need to be made more aware of the current worldwide obesity ‘epidemic’ and its implications for future health
• Healthcare professionals should be encouraged to talk with colleagues and patients about the importance of encouraging water intake, particularly in children
• Guidelines, particularly those covering hydration and health, should be made available for healthcare professionals to discuss with patients
• Consumption of water in preference to other beverages should be highlighted as a simple step towards healthier hydration

1. Professor Max Lafontan is a principal investigator at the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm).
Prof. Lafontan obtained a PhD and a Doctorat-es-Sciences thesis from University Paul Sabatier (Toulouse, France) in 1979. He was appointed as assistant-professor in 1970 and as associate-professor of Animal Physiology in 1979. In 1985, he moved to Inserm as principal investigator and from 1988-2002, headed the Inserm Unit 317 (Adrenergic Regulations and Metabolic Adaptations) and the Institute Louis Bugnard Research Centre from 1990-1997.
His original team contributed to the identification of human fat cell alpha2-adrenergic and neuropeptide Y receptors and to the definition of the molecular determinants of the interplay between beta- and alpha2-adrenergic receptor mediated-events in fat cells of various species. The pioneering observation of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) production by fat cells has been at the origin of the identification of a new adipocyte secretion (i.e., autotaxin, a lysophospholipase involved in LPA production). The discovery of the original role of Atrial Natriuretic peptides (ANP) in the control of lipolysis and lipid mobilization in humans in 2000 has opened an unsuspected field of research which is still under intensive exploration.

Prof. Lafontan was a Council Member and President of the French Association for the Study of Obesity (AFERO) and Council Member of the European Association for the Study of 0besity (EASO). He was awarded the Friederich Wasserman Award of EASO in 2003 for his research activity in the field of adipose tissue metabolism and obesity.

2. David Haslam graduated from St. Thomas’ Hospital Medical School in 1985 with a MB BS. He is a full-time GP with a special interest in obesity and cardiometabolic disease, a Physician in obesity medicine at the Centre for Obesity Research at Luton & Dunstable Hospital, Professor in obesity sciences at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, and Chairman of the National Obesity Forum in the UK.

Prof. Haslam took charge of formulating guidelines for adult obesity management in primary care, and produced the first primary care guidelines for the management of childhood obesity with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
A visiting lecturer at Chester University and visiting Fellow at the Postgraduate Medical School of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, Prof Haslam is also a trustee and former chair of the ‘Foundations’ charity and co-founder of European Obesity Day 2010, supported by the European Parliament.

Prof Haslam has published numerous articles in journals and papers and speaks regularly, at an international level, on obesity and obesity-related diseases.

His books include 'Your Questions Answered - Obesity', ‘Fat, Gluttony and Sloth, Obesity in Literature, Art and Medicine’ with Fiona Haslam, and ‘The Obesity Epidemic and its Management’ with Terry Maquire.

3. Hardinsyah is Professor of the Faculty of Human Ecology (FEMA) Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), President of the Indonesian Food and Nutrition Society (PERGIZI PANGAN), and President of the CSR Society of Indonesia (AP-CSR Indonesia). Having received his Bachelor and Master degrees from IPB, majoring in community nutrition, Professor Hardinsyah was awarded his PhD in Nutrition and Food from University of Queensland, Australia and was a visiting scholar at Cornell University in the United States. Previously he was the Dean of FEMA IPB, Director for the Collaboration of IPB, Executive Director of the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy Studies IPB, Head of Department of Community Nutrition and Family Resources IPB, and Vice President of the Indonesian Society of Nutrition.

His current research includes the epidemiology of dehydration, malnutrition, food insecurity and poverty. Professor Hardinsyah is actively involved in a number of national task forces on food, nutrition and community empowerment.

4. Professor Jean-Francois Duhamel is Chief of Paediatrics at the Medical University Hospital of Caen. He is a corresponding member of the National Academy of Medicine and competent with the AFSSA. He is the author of "Acute dehydration of newborns and infants" published in 2003 by John Libbey Eurotext.

5. Dr. Barquera is a medical surgeon from the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico City with graduate MS and PhD degrees from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston MA. He has been a consultant for WHO, PAHO, IFPRI and the IAAE in the fields of nutrition, obesity and chronic diseases. He is co-author of diverse books and scientific papers such as the Third Report on the World Nutrition Situation of United Nations, the Mexican Nutrition Survey (1999), the Mexican Health Survey (2000) and the Mexican Health and Nutrition Survey (2006) reports. In 2003 he was a member of the team that received the Fred L. Soper award to the excellence in health literature for an article characterizing the obesity and nutrition transition situation in Mexico. Currently Dr. Barquera is president of the nutrition board of professors at the Mexican School of Public Health and Director of the Nutritional Epidemiology Division at the Nutrition and Health Research Center. He is member of the advisory board in chronic diseases and diet for the Ministry of health and has been recognized as National Investigator by the Mexican National Council of Science and Technology.

6. Lawrence E. Armstrong, Ph.D., FACSM, is a Professor at the University of Connecticut’s Human Performance Laboratory with joint appointments in the Nutritional Sciences Department and the Department of Physiology & Neurobiology. He presently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Exercise Metabolism, Thermal Physiology, Exercise Physiology, Scientific Presentations, and Physiological Responses to Stressful Environments.  His research interests include the effects of mild dehydration with water replacement on cognitive performance, water-salt balance during exercise in hot environments, human temperature regulation, physiological effects of caffeine, and dietary interventions (i.e., low salt diets, glucose-electrolyte solutions) as they apply to laborers, athletes and military personnel. He serves as an Editorial Review Board Member for the International Journal of Sport Nutrition & Exercise Metabolism, and the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.  He has authored/coauthored over 145 peer-reviewed scientific articles and published the book ‘Performing in Extreme Environments (2000)’; in 2003, he edited the book ‘Exertional Heat Illnesses’.  He formerly held the position of Research Physiologist, Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, MA.  Dr. Armstrong is a present member of the Danone Research Scientific Advisory Board; past member of the U.S. National Research Council, Institute of Medicine, Committee on Military Nutrition Research; past member of the Board of Trustees of the American College of Sports Medicine; and a Past-President of the ACSM New England Chapter. 

Chapter 7 VITAMINS, MINERALS, AND PHYTOCHEMICALS

Chapter 7

VITAMINS, MINERALS, AND PHYTOCHEMICALS

Why We Need To Supplement

You often hear doctors say that there's no need to supplement if you eat a balanced diet. If only that were true. Unfortunately, the food we eat today is not the same as the food we ate 50-100 years ago. We have to compensate for the loss of "value" in our food.

>It takes 80 cups of today's supermarket spinach to give you the same iron you'd get from just one cup of spinach grown 50 years ago.

>According to a Rutgers University study, it now takes 19 ears of corn to equal the nutritional value of just one ear of corn grown in 1940.

>There is less than half the protein in today's wheat as in the wheat our grandparents ate.

>Much of our soil is so depleted that our farm crops depend ENTIRELY on the chemical fertilizers they are fed to grow. That means that most of the food we eat is devoid of virtually all the trace minerals we need for survival.


>And on and on. 

  When you think about it, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what's happened. We've exchanged quality for quantity . You can't keep increasing your yield per acre, at the same time steadily depleting your soil year after year, and not expect to lose something in the process. And what's been lost is the quality of our food.

   Organic vs Non-Organic 

   As we've just seen, most of the food sold in our supermarkets is nutritionally compromised. Part of the solution lies in organic foods, which hearken back to the more nutritionally beneficial
foods of 50 years ago. Consider the following comparisons between organic and conventionally grown food.

> Organic snap beans have 30 times the manganese, 22 times the iron, and 23 times the copper of the conventionally grown variety.

> Organic cabbage has 4 times the calcium and 4 times the potassium of the cabbage you buy in the supermarket.

> Organic lettuce is 5 times higher in calcium, 50 times higher in iron, and 170 times higher in manganese.

> Organic tomatoes are 12 times higher in magnesium, 68 times higher in manganese, and almost 2,000 times higher in iron.

    And then there's the difference between organic and super organic. Super organic, when you can find it, has on average, twice the nutritional value of standard organic (which, as we've already
seen, has several times the food value of conventionally grown food). To give you a sense of the extent of these differences, consider:

> Conventional farms use no compost at all in the growing of their crops. Instead, they rely on chemical fertilizers that have a limited range of nutrients—just what the plant requires to grow, which is why they are so deficient in the nutrients that people need.
(And of course, we won't even talk about taste.)

>The average organic farm uses about 3-5 tons of organic matter/compost per acre per year.

>The average super organic farm will use upwards of 100 tons of organic matter per acre per year.

   Nutritional Stress

   A second factor we have to consider is nutritional stress. We're just exposed to far more environmental and pollution stresses than our bodies were ever designed to handle—more than the human body has ever before been required to handle in the history of the world. Even if you were able to consume an all-organic, optimized diet, it takes far more of the protective phytochemicals that food provides than we can possibly get in our diets—even if the food we ate was of the highest quality. Our bodies were never designed to handle:

  High levels of radiation from dental x-rays and high-altitude airplane flights.

  Organo-phosphate nerve-gas pesticide residues.

  Totally artificial fats (hydrogenated oils, trans-fatty acids, and homogenized fat)
  
High levels of refined sugar (with the average American now consuming over 137 pounds a year)

  A totally fiberless white flour diet (including, breads, pastas, cakes, pop tarts, pastries, tortillas, etc.)

  Constant exposure to disruptive electromagnetic fields

  Chlorines and fluorides in our water

  Continued, unrelenting, high-stress jobs and living situations.

  The bottom line is that if you live in any industrialized country in the world today, you must supplement to maintain your health—to reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, degenerative diseases
of all kinds, retard the aging process, and protect against toxic injury.

  And What Do We Supplement With?

  Before we can actually determine which supplements we need to take, we need to take a quick look at the fundamentals of nutrition.

  Proteins, Fats, and Carbohydrates

  For many people, this is where their nutritional knowledge begins and ends. They count calories and compare ratios of fat calories to total calories. In most hospitals, the sole concern of the certified nutritionists who prepare hospital "food" is putting together a proper balance of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. As you will soon learn, this is tantamount to nutritional insanity.

> Proteins are essential for the growth and repair of all body tissue. Proteins are made of amino acids, some of which your body can produce by itself, and some of which must be included in your diet.

   A great deal is made about the need for protein, but the fact is our protein requirements are not really very large and are easy to fill. To figure out your protein requirement, just divide your weight in half. That's your daily protein requirement in grams. If you want to rough that out in ounces, it works out to about 30 grams per ounce. In other words, if you weigh 150 pounds, you need 75 grams (2 1/2
ounces) of protein a day.

    Theoretically, milk is a top-rated protein, but in reality it's not. As we've already discussed, it messes up the pH which results in incomplete digestion. Meat and fish are fine. Eggs are too. Surprisingly, though, some of the best sources are actually vegetarian. Spirulina and chlorella are both not only higher in actual percentage of protein (60-80% vs 20-25% for animal sources) but also in terms of bioavailablity.

> Fats are the ultimate energy storage system. Your body stores fat for long-term energy use. Think of bears who live off their fat for months at a time while they hibernate. On the other hand, if you're eating every day, your body doesn't really need to store fat for future use. Nevertheless, certain fats are essential for life and health.

   Essential Fatty Acids, or EFA's, are among the approximately 50-70 nutrients that have been "identified" as necessary to sustain human life and good health. Unlike saturated fats, EFA's remain liquid at body temperature and, because of their bent shape, they do not dissolve into each other and clog our arteries.

   In point of fact, all fats are actually fatty acids, consisting of one part fat (which is not water soluble) and one part acid (which is). What makes Omega-3 (the kingof EFA's), Omega-6[1], and Omega-9 so important is that not only are they good for you—they are, in fact, essential. And what's more, your body can't produce
them, which means you must get them in your diet. However, due to the extreme sensitivity of EFA's to light and oxygen, they have been removed from virtually all processed foods so that the foods have a longer shelf life.

   The sad fact is that our lack of the key EFA's has been linked to many of today's diseases and afflictions including hair loss, lack of energy, skin problems, heart and circulatory problems, and all of the immune disorders (including arthritis).

   The reason EFA's are so important is that they are the main components of all cellular membranes—inside and out—where they protect against viruses, bacteria, and allergens. They are the key building blocks of all fats and oils, both in our foods and in our bodies. They play a key role in the construction and maintenance of nerve cells and the hormone-like substances called prostaglandins and help decrease cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood.

   The bottom line is that essential fatty acids are vital to our health. They quite literally are the primary healing agents in the body and according to some estimates, as many as 90% of all people are deficient in at least one of them.

> Carbohydrates are the body's short-term energy foods. Simple carbohydrates, such as sugar and white flour are utilized by the body in a matter of minutes. Complex carbohydrates take time to break down and are, therefore, utilized over a matter of hours.

  The best carbohydrates are fresh fruits and vegetables—pure and simple. Buy organic. Wash thoroughly.

[1 Actually, Omega-6 (which is found in almost all of the refined oils we buy in the supermarket) we do get in our diet—too much in fact, which presents its own health problems.]

    Minerals

    Your body is actually made mostly of minerals and water. As it turns out, your overall health is determined far more by minerals than proteins, fats, carbohydrates, or even vitamins. Calcium, for example, is not only used to build strong bones and teeth, but is present in every single cell in the body and is instrumental in the transporting of nutrients in and out of those cells.

   Want some iron? Why not grind down a nail and eat the shavings. Want some calcium? Why not do what the Three Stooges do and shuck some oysters, throw the meat away, and eat the shells. Sound silly? Well what do you think is in most of the vitamin pills you buy?

  Well then, how about this as an alternative? Want some iron? How about eating some beets. Want some calcium? How about ground sesame seeds or collard greens or carrot juice?

  The bottom line is that your body can't handle straight minerals. They carry an electric charge which is opposite that of your intestinal wall so that they stick to the wall and can't pass through. Once stuck to the intestinal wall, they are "pushed" along and out of the body. In the end, you absorb only about 3-5% of the straight minerals you consume. Many supplement makers use chelation to mask the electric charge (thereby tricking your body into absorbing the minerals).

    On the other hand, plants pull minerals straight out of the ground, and then biologically transform them into the very substance of the plant itself. Not surprisingly, your body likes this form of mineral better.

     Trace Minerals

     For years, trace minerals were virtually ignored when it came to nutrition. In fact, in the early days of vitamin/mineral supplements, it was rare to even find them included. Since then, however, primarily due to discoveries made in the large-scale raising of cattle, hogs, and chickens, we have learned that trace minerals are among the most important components of good health—and even
life itself.

   A full complement of the 72-84 trace elements is essential for optimum health.

     Vitamins

    The dictionary defines a vitamin as "an organic compound naturally occurring in plant and animal tissue and that is essential in small amounts for the control of metabolic processes." A simpler
definition is that vitamins are co-enzymes whose primary role is to help your body's enzymes do their job.[1] When vitamins are available in limited amounts, enzyme reactions are inhibited.

[1 For example, the enzyme responsible for breaking down alcohol, alcohol dehydrogenase, uses vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) as its co-factor.]

    Phytochemicals

    Phytochemicals are the hot "new" discoveries in nutritional science. They include things such as sulforaphane from broccoli, resveratrol from grapes, and lycopene from tomatoes. Another
way of looking at phytochemicals is simply as vitamins and antioxidants in the process of being discovered. This is not necessarily a quick process. It took 50 years for Vitamin E to be
declared a vitamin after it was discovered.

   It's Not That Simple

   You would think that supplementation would be pretty easy. Figure out just where people are likely to be deficient, then make a pill that supplements for those suspected deficiencies—sort of a
one-a-day multiple-vitamin kind of thing. Determining the best supplement to take would then be a simple job of reading the label.

  Unfortunately, it's not that simple. There are actually several problems.

1. Natural and synthetic vitamins are not necessarily the same thing.

2. In nature, nutrients do not exist in isolation; they exist in nutrient complexes. And as it turns out, our bodies require the complexes, not the isolates.

   Natural vs Synthetic

Actually, vitamins can be classified as either totally natural, co-natural, or synthetic.

  Totally Natural 

Very few vitamins that you buy are totally natural. Why? Quite simply, cost. Direct extraction of vitamins from foods is prohibitively expensive. For example, acerola cherries, the best natural source of vitamin C, contain only 1 percent of vitamin C by weight. Most supplements that list acerola cherries as their vitamin C source contain only a small percentage of vitamin C from the
cherries—the rest is synthesized vitamin C.

    Co-natural

   Co-natural vitamins are derived from vegetable and animal sources through the use of solvent extraction, distillation, hydrolysis, or crystallization—but, by definition, haven't undergone any conversion or chemical alteration during the extraction process.

   Synthetic

   Synthetic vitamins can be derived from either natural or chemical sources. What makes them synthetic is that they undergo a process of "conversion," either as a result of the extraction process or as the result of pure chemical buildup.[1]
Synthetics are, at best, about 50% as effective as natural vitamins and may actually suppress the body's ability to absorb the natural portion of the vitamin.

    What You Actually Get in the Store

   Many commercial-grade vitamin and mineral concentrates are synthesized by the large pharmaceutical and chemical companies from the same starting material that they make their drugs from (coal tar, wood pulp, petroleum products, animal byproducts, waste and fecal matter, ground rocks, stones, shells, and metal.)

> Most Vitamin B-12 (cobalamine) is made from activated sewage sludge—and then stabilized with cyanide (thus becoming, cyanocobalamine)


 > Most vitamin D is made from irradiated oil

 > The bulk of all vitamin E is produced in the labs at Kodak[2]

> Niacinamide is made by boiling sulfur in the presence of asbestos
Supplemental calcium, for the most part, is either mined from the earth, ground from old bones, or made by grinding up oyster shells

   Another surprise is that the term organic, when applied to supplements, does not mean the same thing as it does with food. For supplements, all the word organic means is that the molecule
contains at least one carbon atom (as in organic chemistry). In other words, a supplement can be labeled 100% organic and not be natural at all.

   Many so-called natural vitamins have synthetics added to "increase potency," or to standardize the amount in a capsule or batch. Many vitamins also add a synthetic salt form of the vitamin to increase stability. These synthetics are easily identified by the terms acetate, bitartrate, chloride, gluconate, hydrochloride, nitrate, and succinate.

     The Bigger Problem

    Modern medicine refuses to define the human body as a holistic entity, but rather as a grouping
of separate parts and pieces. Not surprisingly, that same paradigm has been applied to nutrition.
In other words, modern nutrition is based on the concept that key nutrients can be identified
and isolated. Unfortunately, the reality is quite different.

[1 Light passing through a natural vitamin always bends to the right due to its molecular rotation. Synthetic vitamins behave differently. That same ray of light splits into two parts when passing through a synthetic—one part bending to the right (d for dexorotary), the other to the left (l for levorotary). A natural vitamin E fraction, for example, is easily identified by the "d-alpha-tocopherol." the synthetic by "dl-alpha-tocopherol." (Incidentally, the body can't use the l-form of vitamin E, and the l-form may even inhibit the d-form from entering cell membranes.)]

[2 Kodak, Hoffman La Roche, etc]


> Fifteen years ago, vitamin C (ascorbic acid) was all the rage. Then, suddenly, after years of people scarfing down ascorbic acid, it was discovered that your body really couldn't absorb ascorbic acid very well unless the bioflavonoids, hesperidin, and rutin
were present. So, suddenly, all vitamin C was sold WITH the bioflavonoids, hesperidin, and rutin. Then it was discovered that you really couldn't absorb vitamin C very well (even if the bioflavonoids, hesperidin, and rutin were present) unless calcium was also present. So again, suddenly, all vitamin C was sold WITH calcium. Two questions that any thoughtful person might want to ask are:

  What value were people getting all those years they were consuming just ascorbic acid?

  Was there any source for vitamin C available for all those years that packed ascorbic acid with its bioflavonoids and calcium? And the answer is: of course! Oranges package the whole deal together. Grapefruits package the whole deal together. Acerola cherries package the whole deal together. Nature packages the whole
deal together! Several years ago, Beta Carotene was "discovered." Suddenly, Beta Carotene supplements were everywhere. At first the press was touting the anti-cancer properties of Beta Carotene. Then they were touting other studies that proved that it didn't prevent
cancer.[1]
 Then, forget Beta Carotene; suddenly, everyone was touting another carotenoid, lycopene. Lycopene prevents prostate cancer. Then there was Lutein, also a carotenoid.
Lutein prevents macular degeneration. But once again, if we turn to nature, we see that nature already packed all of these things together in a complex. The seaweed, Dunaliella salina, for example, contains all of the popular carotenoids plus a whole slew of others, such as Alpha carotene and Zeaxanthin. Carrots, for that matter,
contain approximately 400 different carotenoids in addition to Beta Carotene, and many of those carotenoids are far more powerful than Beta Carotene.

  A third example is the mineral chromium. Over the past few years, the synthetic versions of chromium, chromium picolinate and chromium polynicotinate, have been all the rage. They're even promoted as being "better" than the original, but as it turns out,
that's not entirely true. In its natural state, chromium comes packed with a whole complex of substances called GTF (glucose tolerance factor), which, among other things, protects against diabetes. Chromium picolinate and chromium polynicotinate, because they are isolates, do not contain GTF.

   I could go on and on giving examples, such as the B vitamins and vitamin E, where science has continually come up short in identifying the key factors that make it all work. The bottom line,
though, is that in nature, vitamins do not exist in isolation; they exist in complexes.

   And here's a final thought for you. Although it is conceivable that science may someday identify all of the key nutrients contained in nature so that we don't keep finding out what nutrients we forgot to include, it is an impossibility that science will ever identify how all of these nutrients interact with and support each other. The mathematical possibilities are just too immense.

[1 Both negative studies evaluated a synthetic Beta Carotene. For what it's worth, almost all of the Beta Carotene on the market today is an isolated synthetic made from acetylene gas. Yummy!]

   In the end, we will find that there are literally thousands of nutrients that our bodies require to remainhealthy,[1]
and the possibilities for the synergistic interaction of all of these nutrients is astronomical.

How Much To Take For Each

In the early 1940s a program was established to determine the Minimum Daily Requirement (MDR) you would need of each essential nutrient to prevent the onset of disease. Testing was
simple. Withhold a certain nutrient (let's say vitamin C) until disease (in this case, scurvy) appeared. At that point, the appropriate nutrient was introduced back into the diet until the disease disappeared. The amount that it took to make the disease go away was the MDR. The RDA(Recommended Daily Allowance) was then established as a small percentage(to allow a safety margin) above the MDR. Recently, RDA was replaced by the term DV (Daily Value), and even more recently by the term RDI (Recommended Dietary Intake).

   The problem with this whole approach is that it deals only with short-term deficiencies. What are the long term implications (10, 20, 30 years down the line) of nutritional deficiency? The answer
is now becoming apparent for all but the blind to see: an epidemic of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, etc. And what makes it all even more ludicrous, is that as pathetically low as the RDA/DV/RDI is a USDA government survey of 21,500 people found that not one single person consumed 100% of the US RDA, from the foods they ate.

     General Recommendations

    Overall Supplement

   So the question remains, what's the best overall (one-a-day kind of thing) supplement? The best way to look at the question of an overall supplement is to break it into three categories: Optimum,
Acceptable, and Avoid At All Costs.

   Optimum

   > One good choice is to use concentrated "food-based" vitamin complexes. Such supplements will contain concentrated forms of liver, yeast, and wheat germ for example.

   > Another good option is to use "food-grown" supplements. Instead of being chemically manufactured, food-grown supplements are cultivated using a live bio-dynamic growing process. Literally, by growing nutritional yeast in a "super-dense nutrient-broth," you end up with a "living" vitamin/mineral complex that is comprised of a highly complex interlocking system of vitamins, enzymes, minerals, active bio-flavonoid groups, microproteins, complex carbohydrates, and countless other naturally occurring food constituents.

> A third alternative is a superfood combination that contains things like spirulina, chlorella,flower pollen, nutritional yeast, wheat grass, barley grass, powdered beets, etc.

[1 As I've already mentioned, there are some 400 carotenoids that have been identified. Each day there are new phytochemicals, not to mention whole new classes of phytochemicals, being identified. And new antioxidants are being identified, almost daily it seems
to provide a full complement of vitamins and minerals. The actual amount of vitamins and minerals you get will be less than in other options, but the bioavailability will be good.]

  Watch out for fillers. Superfoods are expensive, and many manufacturers cheat their formulas down by adding large amounts of things such as low-grade rice bran and lecithin.[1]
 Also, it's important to make sure that your superfood provides
good sources for the B vitamins and for vitamin D.

  For many years, it was thought that edible seaweeds, fermented soya foods, and spirulina contained high levels of B12. They don't. What they contain are B12 analogues (chemical lookalikes) which your body cannot use. You'll need another source of B12.

  Recent studies have found that more than half of all people have too little vitamin D in their bodies. The big surprise was that 1/3 of those who were deficient were taking vitamin D supplements. Make sure your superfood provides adequate amounts of vitamin D—and get some sunlight on your body.

> Probably the best choice, however, is to use "food-formed" supplements. Instead of being chemically manufactured, food-formed supplements are cultivated using a live biodynamic growing process. Literally, by growing nutritional yeast in a "super-dense nutrient-broth," you end up with a "living" vitamin/mineral complex that is comprised of a highly complex interlocking system of: vitamins, enzymes, minerals, active bioflavonoid groups, microproteins, complex carbohydrates,and countless other naturally
occurring food constituents.
  
    Acceptable

  It's possible to find high-quality vitamin/mineral supplements at the health food store that use only co-natural vitamins and no synthetics. The problem with supplements based on co-naturals is that they can never be complete. What co-naturals are useful for is "spiking up" a supplement based on one of our Optimum options. An example would be a "food-based" supplement augmented with co-natural vitamins E and C.

     Avoid At All Costs

   > Supplements made in whole, or part, from synthetics are not an option. At their best, they are only 50% as effective as a natural vitamin.At their worst, they actually may carry harmful side effects.

    Essential Fatty Acids

  Since the Omega-3 EFA's have been removed from virtually all of the foods we normally eat, supplementation is essential. The best sources for EFA's are:

[1 Don't get me wrong. These are not bad things; they're just not nutrient dense. Their primary value is that they're relatively inexpensive.]

 >  If you're taking your daily dose of ground flaxseed as recommended in Chapter 3, you will be getting all of the alpha-linolenic acid you need. Otherwise, you will want to
supplement with 1-2 tablespoons daily of organic, cold-pressed, high-lignan flaxseed oil.

> Borage oil is more potent and less expensive than evening primrose or black current oil and is the best choice for gamma linolenic acid.

> Fish oil provides DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid).

   Recently a variation of a long-chain fatty acid cetyl ester called Omega-9+™ has been discovered. Although not yet officially designated an Essential Fatty Acid, supplementation with this
fatty acid has shown a remarkable ability to reprogram the immune system, relieve pain, reverse the effects of arthritis, and relieve the symptoms of a whole host of diseases.

    Trace Minerals

   There are now many good sources of trace minerals available. You will see them described as "colloidal minerals" or "ionic minerals" or "sea minerals." Take your pick and use one. Trace mineral deficiency is epidemic in America because of the poor quality of our diets. Supplementation is essential. 
Note: you will find it almost impossible to get the trace minerals you need in an overall supplement. Trace minerals are hard to absorb unless they are in a "liquid" form that the body can use.

    Phytonutrients

  At the moment, the best source is still real food. Foods you will want to include in your diet include things such as:
>Soy products of all kinds for the genistein and the isoflavones

>Broccoli, brussel sprouts, and kale for the sulforaphane

>Garlic and onions for the allyl sulfides

>Red grapes (including seeds) for the proanthocyanidins and the resveratrol

>Green tea for the polyphenols

Chapter 6 DIET, THE SLOW KILLER

Chapter 6 

DIET, THE SLOW KILLER

Once, you've cleaned out and repaired your food processing and waste removal system, you're ready to begin the process of rebuilding your body. Keep in mind that your body is rebuilding itself all the time. The actual life cycle of a blood cell, for example, is approximately four months. That means you end up replacing your entire blood supply every 120 days. The question is: what
will determine the quality of that blood? What are you going to be building that new blood from—Cocoa Puffs and beer?

  Understand, it's not only your blood, but every cell and organ in your body that's being replaced. For the most part, you get an entirely new body every seven years. It doesn't take a genius
to realize that the better your nutrition, the better "quality" your new body will have.

Unfortunately, it's not so simple. Any attempt to optimize the nutrition we take into our bodies must address five key problem areas.

The Five Problem Areas

1. The Question of Meat

2. Milk. It Doesn't Necessarily Do a Body Good

3. Plastic Fats

4. Refined to Death

5. What's the Big Deal about Organic (which will be covered in Chapter 7)

1. The Question Of Meat

Probably no topic has been more discussed (and is more confusing) than what constitutes the optimum diet. There's the:

Caveman diet
The blood-type diet
The Hi-carbo diet
The Low-carbo diet
The High-protein diet
The Low-protein diet
The Steak Lover's diet
The Vegetarian diet
The Vegan (or pure vegetarian) diet
The Hollywood diet
The Scarsdale diet
The Twinkie diet
etc.

Heck, I'm getting confused just writing them down. So let's step back, take an objective view of the situation, and do a little reality check.

Let's begin by cutting through all of the nonsense and just taking a look at what kinds of food our bodies were designed to handle—then figure out what that means for us today. And the best
way to do that is by first identifying the key characteristics of our "eating and digestive" systems, then seeing which animals we match up with and what they eat. The key "indicators" that we're
going to look at are:

The teeth
The stomach
The length of the digestive tract

The Human Eating Machine


>Teeth. All of our teeth are nearly of the same height. Our canines are projected only a small amount, and our molars are broad-topped

>Stomach. The human stomach is slightly elongated, approximating the shape of a kidney bean

>Digestive tract. The average adult has a digestive tract (measured from mouth to anus) of about 30-33 feet long. This means that the ratio of the length of a person's digestive tract as compared to their height (also measured from mouth to anus) is approximately
10-12 times the length of their body.

Carnivores, the Meat Eaters: Lions, Tigers, Etc.

The first thing you notice about carnivores is that their teeth are nothing like those found in humans. They have huge canines for striking and seizing prey, pointed incisors for removing meat
from bones, and molars and premolars with cusps for shredding muscle fiber. In carnivores, the teeth of the upper jaw slide past the outside of the lower jaw so that prey is caught in a vicelike grip. In general, carnivores don't chew much; mostly, they just tear chunks off and swallowing them whole.

  An examination of the carnivore intestinal tract reveals a short (relative to the length of their body) bowel for fast transit of waste out of the body[1]. (The actual length of the carnivore bowel is
approximately 3 to 5 times the length of the body—measured from mouth to anus—a ratio less than half that found in humans.)

  Most of the digestive process occurs in the carnivore's stomach (which is a round, sackshaped, simple structure with a very high concentration of acid salts for digesting animal muscle and bone). Food usually remains for days at a time in a carnivore's stomach while it is digested (to a large extent) by enzymes present in the RAW meat itself (a process called autolytic digestion). In addition, carnivores are adapted to process huge amounts of food at a time (up to 25% of their body weight or more), then eat nothing for days at a time.

  Again, this doesn't sound very much like us.

Herbivores, the Plant Eaters: Cows, Deer, Etc.

  Herbivores have sharp chisel-shaped incisors for cutting, no upper incisors in some cases, and small incisor-like canines. Their diastema molars and premolars are flattened with ridges. Their
teeth and upper jaw meet the lower jaw so that lateral movement of the lower jaw produces the ...

[1 Fast transit of waste for carnivores is important for two reasons. One, the faster the transit, the less opportunity
for parasites to take hold. Two, meat tends to putrefy in the intestinal tract. Fast transit, therefore, limits exposure

to the byproducts of putrefaction.]

...grinding actions to break down plant materials. In herbivores, the incisors are dominant, the canines usually depressed, and the molars broad-topped.

  As for the herbivore bowel, it usually runs almost 8 times longer than a carnivores (20 to 28 times the length of the body, from mouth to anus) since, unlike meat, plant matter is not prone to
putrefaction, thus rendering quick elimination moot.

  Herbivores also tend to have extended, compound stomachs.

  Again, not much like us.

  Omnivores (Roots, Berries, Meat, Etc.): Bears, Wild Pigs, Etc.

  No animal is really adapted to eat all things; but if any animal comes close, it would have to be the bear. Typical foods consumed by bears include: ants, bees, seeds, roots, nuts, berries, insect
larvae such as grubs, and even flowers. Some meat, of course, is eaten by bears including rodents, fish, deer, pigs and lambs.[1]
 Grizzlies and Alaskan brown bears are well-known salmon eaters. And of course, anyone who has read Winnie the Pooh knows that many bears relish honey.

  Other than the ants and grubs and rodents, the bear diet sounds a lot like the typical American diet; and, it's for this reason that many people conclude that the natural human diet is that of an omnivore. But remember, we're stepping back and taking a look physiologically where we fit in, and on those counts, we don't match the omnivores.

  The biggest difference is in the teeth. Omnivores have the sharp canines of the carnivore AND the pronounced incisors of the herbivore. They also have molars that are BOTH pointed and
broad-topped.

  That's not even close to a human set of teeth.

Frugivores, Fruit and Nut Eaters: Gorillas, Etc.

  In the frugivore, all the teeth are nearly of the same height. The canines are little projected and the molars are broad-topped. (Sound familiar?) Unlike the carnivore jaw, which as we have seen is vertically mobile for biting or tearing, the jaw of the typical frugivore is laterally mobile to allow for chewing.

  As for the bowel of the frugivore, it runs about 10 to 12 times the length of the body from mouth to anus—the same as found in the human body.

  The stomach of the frugivore is typically long and extended—a complex structure—containing 1/10 of the acidic salts and pepsin found in a carnivore's stomach. Again, the same as in us.

  So, here we have our match, but what does it mean? Are we restricted to fruits and nuts?

[1 Polar bears feed almost exclusively on seals and an occasional human; but then, what vegetation is there for them to eat in the frozen wastes of the Arctic.]

   No. In fact, the frugivores we most closely resemble, the wild chimpanzees, periodically do indeed eat live insects and raw meat. Among the great apes (the gorilla,[1]the orangutan, the bonobo,
and the chimpanzee) and ourselves, only humans and chimpanzees[2] hunt and eat meat on a frequent
basis. But make no mistake, chimpanzees are largely fruit eaters, and meat comprises only
about 3% of their diet—far, far less than is found in the typical American diet.

   So Should We, or Should We Not, Eat Meat?

   Is a vegetarian diet automatically better?

   No. In fact, depending on blood type, some people actually do better when they include meat in their diet. Other factors in our diet affect our health to a much greater degree than whether or not we eat meat.

   So??

   The bottom line is that eating small amounts of meat, chicken, or fish probably comes down mostly to a personal choice. If you choose to, you can eat 3 oz a day, or less, of meat without any
significant health problems—with the following provisos:

  Keep the amount small—3 ounces a day or less.

>Heavy consumption of meat significantly compromises beneficial bacteria in the colon resulting in a 1,000% increase in the levels of harmful bacteria in the colon and a concomitant 90% drop in the levels of the beneficial bacteria as measured in fecal matter.

>High consumption of meat also tends to push the body's pH levels into the acidic range, which as you'll see in Chapter 12 presents major health risks including cancer and osteoporosis.

>Epidemiological studies at Harvard Medical School showed that, "Men who eat red meat as a main dish five or more times a week have four times the risk of colon cancer than men who eat red meat less than once a month." They are also "more than twice as likely to get prostate cancer."

[1 Gorillas have never been observed hunting or feeding on any animals other than invertebrates such as termites and ants.]


[2 Wild chimps love fresh baby monkey meat.]

   If you're going to eat meat, buy only organic meat to avoid exposure to the wholerange of chemicals,[1]growth hormones, and parasites present in beef and chicken, or the high levels of toxic metals present in most fish. If it isn't available locally, pressure
your supermarket to carry it as an option.

2. What About Dairy?

   The average American typically eats close to 600 pounds of dairy products a year, which makes it the single largest component of their diet. Unfortunately, this may not be as healthy asthe milk ads you see on TV would lead you to believe. Even if the cow's milk you get is free of chemicals, growth hormones, allergenic proteins, blood, pus, antibiotics, bacteria, and viruses typically found in milk, you still have major problems. Cow's milk is not designed for people. For one thing, it has 20 times the casein of human milk.[2]
 (Human milk is designed to take an infant from 8 pounds to 40 pounds in 18 months. Cow's milk is designed to take a calf from 90 pounds to 1,000 pounds in about 24 months. Although they are both white, mother's milk and cow's milk are totally different beverages.) And for that matter, the cow's milk you buy in the store and the cow's milk that comes from a cow are not similar substances.

> First, homogenized milk is not natural and presents serious health risks. The theory behind homogenization sounds simple: break up the fat particles in milk until they are so small that they stay suspended in the milk and don't rise to the top and form the
layer of cream that used to be the trademark of all bottles of milk. Unfortunately, there's a side effect to this process. Once you make the fat particles so small that they don't rise, you've also made them so small that they easily get absorbed into the body and clog your arteries.

> Second, there's the problem of the growth hormone used in dairy cows to increase milk production. This growth hormone, called bovine-somatotropin3(BST), was developed by Monsanto. It was supposed to be identical to the actual growth hormone found in cows, and in fact, as part of their 55,000 page application to the FDA, Monsanto submitted a chart identifying the 191 amino acids contained in BST showing that they absolutely matched the amino acid chain found in natural growth hormone.
Unfortunately, it seems, the application is inaccurate. The problem occurs at amino acid #144, which was supposed to be lysine in both the natural growth hormone and in Monsanto's BST. As it turns out, it isn't. In the July 1994, issue of Protein Science(3:1089-97, 1994), Bernard Violand, a Monsanto scientist published evidence that
amino acid #144 in Monsanto's growth hormone is, in fact, epsilon-N-acetyllysine, a freak substance. Whoops! Ah, but then you probably think that once this problem...

[1 Just as an example, over 90% of today's chickens are fed arsenic compounds. And while we're on the subject of chickens, it's probably worth mentioning that according to a government study, over 90% of the chickens sold in this country are infected with leukosis (chicken cancer). As for those chickens with too much cancerous tissue to be sold, well . . . they're destroyed, ground up, and fed back to the chickens that we ultimately buy and eat!]

[2 The high levels of casein are just one of several reasons that humans do not digest milk proteins very well, leading to numerous allergic reactions and high levels of mucous in our noses and bowels. Incidentally, Elmer's® glue is made from cow's milk casein; that's why you see Elsie the cow on each bottle of Elmer's® glue.]


[3 Also called rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone).]

...came to light, totally nullifying the Monsanto application, that BST was recalled.
Nope, not in the United States![1]

   And then there's the fact that the body digests milk (any milk) differently once gastric juices begin to flow (at around 18-20 months old). Before gastric juices flow, milk is alkaline and non-mucous forming in the body; but once gastric juices enter the picture, they turn the milk acid, forming mucous, causing sinus problems, allergies, colds, etc. That's why every animal except man weans its young off milk! Think about that for a moment.

  In addition to all of that, milk has been implicated in:
>Heart disease[2]
>Cancer[3]—particularly breast cancer
>Diabetes[4]
>Allergies and colds
>Colitis
>Colic and earaches in young children

   And finally, milk has played a major role in the development of the "super bacteria" that have recently emerged to plague our health. How? In 1990, the USDA allowed the dairy industry to increase the one part per hundred-million antibiotic residue standard for milk by 10,000% to one part per million. The problem is that at this level of constant intake, the antibiotics actually destroy the probiotic colonies normally found in the intestinal tract, which then allows harmful bacteria to flourish and develop resistance to a whole range of antibiotics.[5]

   If you must have dairy, use organic. Avoid homogenized milk at all costs. Also, there are a number of grain and rice-based milk alternatives; some of which are spectacular.

[1 The FDA gave its approval for the sale of Monsanto's BST product back in 1993, but in Canada and the European Union, BST remains uapproved because of strong circumstantial evidence that it may promote cancer in cows and humans. Understand, this change in one amino acid is not insignificant. The replacement of one amino acid can change the configuration of a protein significantly; and configuration determines the properties and effects of a protein. Although the chemically detectable difference between true BGH and Monsanto's BST creation may be slight, the effects of the two hormones on the human body may be quite different indeed.]
[2 If you do drink milk, it is essential that you take a folic acid supplement to neutralize the xanthine oxidase found in milk. Xanthine oxidase, which attacks the arteries, is a major factor in heart disease. Interestingly enough, this problem seems only to occur with homgenized milk. When non-homogenized milk is consummed, the body excretes the xanthine oxidase.]
[3 It's worth noting that 60% of America's dairy cows are infected with the leukemia virus.]
[4 One particular protein, beta-caseine, found in cow's milk, can literally trick the immune system into attacking and destroying the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas.]

[5 There are 52 different kinds of antibiotics and 59 bioactive hormones found in milk.

   Note: milk is often pitched as a great source of calcium. It is not. Yes, it has a high calcium content, but the body is able to utilize very little of it; and, in fact, because of the way the body deals with milk, consumption of milk actually leaches calcium from the bones.[1] If you have any doubt about this, just consider the fact that Americans are among the highest consumers of dairy in the world, eating an average of 600 pounds of dairy a year per person—and yet we have one of the highest incidences of osteoporosis in the civilized world!

   3. Unnatural Fats: The Number 1 Dietary Problem

  Food manufacturers love hydrogenated oils because hydrogenation makes those oils thicker, creamier, and more appetizing to the consumer. Unfortunately, hydrogenation also saturates the oils' fatty acids, changing them into trans-fatty acids. Trans-fatty acids are the number one killer in our diets, and a major contributor to:

>Cancer

>Heart Disease

>Diabetes

   Hydrogenated (and partially hydrogenated) oils are absolutely unnecessary and have no place in your diet or in any of the foods you eat. The number one dietary prescription from this chapter
is to totally eliminate all hydrogenated oils from your diet. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as it sounds. Food manufacturers have put them in almost every food they manufacture. The good
news is that if enough people refuse to buy foods that contain trans-fatty acid oils, manufacturers will stop putting them in their foods.

   You also want to eliminate refined oils and manufactured polyunsaturated oils from your diet. What oils are good? Virtually any raw natural oil is good. Olive oil is the best. Use lots of extra
virgin olive oil in your cooking. Surprisingly, butter is cool—provided that you can get butter that doesn't contain antibiotics and bovine growth hormone and all the rest of the nonsense that many
dairy farmers use.

  "Wait a second! Isn't butter high in saturated fat?" Absolutely, and let's put that bugaboo to rest. Natural saturated fats in moderation are not a problem. They do not raise cholesterol levels. They do not lead to heart disease. In fact, there is actually a diet that helps people lose weight, and lower cholesterol levels while eating as much meat and eggs and natural saturated fat as they like.[2]
 The two reasons this diet works are (1) natural saturated fats do
not cause heart problems, and (2) all versions of this diet call for the elimination of snack foods, processed foods, sugared foods, foods containing any trans-fatty acids, and foods high on the glycemic index.

[1 It is a myth that we need milk for calcium. There are many far superior sources of calcium—such as sesame seeds. The problem with milk is that because of its high acidity, your body needs to buffer it with even more internal calcium than you get from the milk itself. Also, the 10 to 1 ratio of calcium to magnesium found in milk is insanely high and devastating to the body.]

[2 I've already discussed my concerns with too much meat in the diet; nevertheless, these programs do demonstrate the health-building power of just eliminating the bad things from our diet.]

 4. Refined Carbohydrates: The Number 2 Dietary Problem

   This includes all refined and processed foods, including:

>Everything made with white flour

>White rice

>Cold cereals

>Most hot cereals

>Most snack foods

>All sugar foods, including cakes, candies, and soda pop[1]

   They negatively affect the body in a number of ways. They are all acid forming in the body, which we'll talk more about in Chapter 12. They are all converted to triglycerides in the body and
stored as fat. And they all rank high on the glycemic index (with no redeeming nutritional value such as the fruits and vegetables that are also high on the glycemic index).

The Glycemic Index

   The glycemic index, and identifying high-glycemic foods, is one of the hot areas of nutritional science right now. Not to make light of it, it is an extremely important dietary consideration, but with one huge HOWEVER. First, though, a quick discussion of the glycemic index.

   Diabetics have been using the glycemic index for years to help in controlling their insulin levels. Quite simply, foods that adversely affect blood sugar by elevating insulin levels are termed "high glycemic" foods, and foods that do not elevate insulin levels are "low glycemic." High glycemic foods can:

>Cause your body to store fat

>Make you fatigued

>Cause your brain to go "fuzzy"

>Lead to heart problems such as elevated LDL cholesterol levels and high blood pressure

   Obviously, these are conditions to be avoided. High glycemic foods that cause elevated insulin levels and the concomitant problems I just mentioned include:

Bananas

Raisins ...

[1 Soda pop, particularly colas, may be the single worst "food" ever invented. First, soda contains approximately 1 teaspoon of sugar per ounce of soda. (Aspartame is even worse—once having been considered by the military for possible use as a battlefield neurotoxin.) That works out to about 12 teaspoons per can, or 32 teaspoons per Big Gulp. Many sodas, particularly colas, are high in phosphoric acid, which leaches calcium out of your body at an astounding rate. And all sodas "feature" CO2 bubbles, which when you think about it, is the body's main waste product!]

... Carrots

Potatoes

Corn

Breads, cereals, pastas, and rice of all kinds

Virtually all snack foods

Sugars of all kinds and soda pop

   Earlier, I mentioned that there was a big HOWEVER to the glycemic index. What is that however? It's called chewing. If you chew your food well enough, the saliva neutralizes almost all of the glycemic response. So how much do you need to chew your food?

   There's an old saying that says, "You should drink your solids and chew your liquids." What that means is that you should chew the dry food you eat until it turns to liquid in your mouth (about 40 chews per mouthful), and that you should swish liquids back and forth in your mouth (chew them as it were) an equal number of times.

   As we've already discussed when we talked about refined foods, you should give up snack foods and refined flour products and sugar sweetened foods for a number of reasons. On the other
hand, for most people, if chewed enough, it's still okay to eat all of the fresh fruits and vegetables you want—even if they are high on the glycemic index.

   General Recommendations

>Diet. Clean up your act.

 Eliminate as much of the processed and cooked food from your diet as possible. Instead of canned or frozen, eat fresh.

 Eliminate as much of the refined flours, grains, and sugars as possible. Instead of white bread, eat REAL whole wheat. Instead of cake and ice cream for dessert,
eat fruit.

 Replace low-value foods such as potatoes and iceberg lettuce with high value foods such as sweet potatoes and almost any of the richly colored vegetables (particularly, spinach, brussels sprouts, broccoli, and beets).[1]

  As much as possible, eliminate all snack foods and fast foods. Replace with prunes (no kidding, an extremely powerful antioxidant), raisins, and all of the berries.

  Eliminate all hydrogenated oils and trans-fatty acids. Replace with olive oil and fresh butter.

[1 For those with arthritis, it might be useful to forego vegetables from the nightshade family, including: tomatoes,

spinach, and eggplant.]

     Cut back on the quantity of meat, pork,[1]chicken, and dairy in your diet. And make sure that what you do consume is organic.[2]
 Fish, of course, is okay—okay that is, if you can be sure it's free of heavy metals and toxins and hormonal "modifications."

> So what does that leave you? Actually thousands of choices. Virtually, everything that we've talked about eliminating is easily replaced with a healthier version. If you can't find the organic meats and dairy you want, or the whole grain foods you're looking for, talk to your supermarket. In most cases, they will get it if you ask.

>Of course, if someone is in an advanced state of illness, they better clean up their act TOTALLY, and eat no meat and no cooked food. In fact, ideally, they should go on a raw juice fast[3]—at least, until they get well. Once you're well, you can bake up a potato, or grill yourself a nice piece of organic beef (if that's your bent).

>The bottom line is that the worse you eat, the more often you will need to cleanse and detox and make use of supplements.

   So After All That, What Do I Eat?

   At one time, I was totally vegetarian, primarily for ethical reasons. Anyone who has any awareness of how cattle, poultry, and pigs are treated in our modern "superfarms," must think twice about consuming products produced by this system. It is incredibly cruel.
Unfortunately, after years of speaking engagements in numerous places around the world, I got tired of eating iceberg lettuce with second-rate Italian dressing for lunch, and white rice and dead vegetables for dinner. I broke down and started eating small amounts of chicken and fish.

   My diet now consists of:

>Fresh juices, superfoods, and ground flaxseed (see next chapter) for breakfast.

>Large fresh salads with a variety of greens and vegetables4
 with the occasional small piece of chicken or fish for lunch.

>Dinner is light. Sometimes a bowl of slow cooked whole-grain cereal so the enzymes are still active. Sometimes a small bowl of soup. Sometimes fresh fruit, etc.

[1 And no, pork is not "the other white meat." In fact, it's probably one of the more indigestible meats.]
[2 Incidentally, pesticide levels are far more concentrated in the animal flesh and dairy we eat than in the fruits and vegetables sprayed with those pesticides. Think about it for a moment. The animals consume these pesticides day after day, steadily concentrating all of the pesticides they eat through their entire lives in their flesh. The bottom line is that the higher up the food chain you go, the more concentrated the pesticides are. A cow eats hundreds of pounds of clover to make a few gallons of milk—concentrating the pesticide in that milk. Then again, it takes 21 pounds of milk to make 1 pound of butter, and 10 pounds of milk to make 1 lb of cheese—concentrating the pesticides even more.]
[3 See Chapter 13.]

[4 Sometimes I'll substitute a plate of lightly steamed or baked vegetables for the salad.]

 > On the other hand, I still have an occasional slice of pizza. When I was young, I'd eat pizza 2-3 times a week. Now it's once a month. And more often than I should, I still indulge a sweet tooth and have dessert.