Seduced By Salt, Sugar and Fat

Have You Been Seduced by Salt, Sugar and Fat?Assorted Junk Food

Learn how the food giants have hooked us.

Back in 1999, a group of men who controlled America’s largest food companies attended a meeting in the Minneapolis headquarters of Pillsbury. In attendance were C.E.O.’s and presidents from Nestle, Kraft and Nabisco, General Mills and Procter & Gamble, Coco-Cola and Mars.  The agenda: the emerging obesity epidemic and how to deal with it. These men were in constant battle with each other over what they called “stomach share” – the amount of consumers that any one company’s brand could take away from their competition.

Pillsbury’s chief technical officer ran the meeting. His intent was to get these men to agree that they had gone too far in creating and marketing products that posed the greatest health concerns–foods laden with sugar, salt and fat. He and others wanted these food giants to agree to be part of the solution, not the problem, by reformulating their foods to make them healthier. By looking at today’s obesity epidemic it is quite clear that the food giants didn’t agree.

In this article, The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food, Michael Moss an investigative reporter for The NY Times, tells the story of  that meeting back in 1999 and gives you insight into how companies use salt, sugar and fat to addict us. You’ll learn why companies spend millions of dollars to find the sensory-specific satiety point, the perfect “mouth feel”, vanishing caloric density, and how to get consumers to consume more.

Once you’ve read this article, ask yourself … Just how far will corporations go to manipulate nutrition at the expense of our health to fatten their bottom line?

Blog Subscription

Cutting-Edge Health Information in your Inbox

Subscribe Now

Unsubscribe at any time

Get Great Information about your Health

  • Weekly blog posts with vital tips and warnings
  • Interesting “pass it along” health facts
  • Cutting edge natural healing techniques and advice
Blog Posts

Early Detection is the Key to Reducing Your Risk of Breast Cancer

I’m Declaring 2013 the Year of the Breasts

I just read some pretty startling news regarding breast cancer, and it’s not good. As a health professional and a woman, I am very concerned about the health issues facing us regarding breast health and breast cancer. I have been touched by this illness personally, as many of you have, too.

When I first opened my practice almost 20 years ago, breast cancer diagnosis was relatively rare. Now the American Cancer Society estimates that almost 233,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women and of those women, 40,000 will die. That is, 1 in 8 women will develop invasive breast cancer in her lifetime.  Here are some more statistics

  • 1 out of 8 of these invasive breast cancers will be found in women younger than 45 and about
  • 2 out of 3 invasive breast cancers are found in women age 55 or older.
  • The incidence of breast cancer in the U.S. rose 24% between 1973 and 1991.
  • Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, exceeded only by lung cancer.
  • A woman in 1940 had a 1 in 20 chance of contracting breast cancer. Now our risk is 1 in 8.

I don’t know about you but that is pretty scary information to me. Watch the video below to see how you can reduce your risk of ever getting breast cancer in the first place.

Blog Subscription

Cutting-Edge Health Information in your Inbox

Subscribe Now

Unsubscribe at any time

Get Great Information about your Health

  • Weekly blog posts with vital tips and warnings
  • Interesting “pass it along” health facts
  • Cutting edge natural healing techniques and advice
Blog Posts

Eat Your Fat To Lose Your Fat

Eat Your Fat To Lose Your Fat!

I want to get people to eat more fat! Well, just the healthy fats–not the bad ones. Let’s face it, some of us have been trying to follow a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet and are disappointed because it is not working. we are actually gaining more weight and making ourselves unhealthy. The best diet recommendation is to eat the right ratio of fat, protein and carbohydrates. I’m going to start this series of posts talking about fat. I’ll cover carbohydrates and proteins in later posts.

Before You Can Lose Weight Your Body Needs to Be Balanced

There are many factors that contribute to weight gain. So before I talk about fats, I want to tell you something that you may not know. If you have hormone levels that are not in balance or have some major stress on your organs and systems (could be from food or environmental allergies, for example) then no amount of “dieting” is going to make you lose weight. You need to get those issues under control first. There are some simple, painless, noninvasive tests that will determine if you have hormone imbalances or other stresses on your organs and systems.  See Fixing Your Hormones.

Now let’s talk about fat…

They're happy beacuse they eat lard

Here are some guidelines on fat. In future posts I’ll get deeper into the different types of fats and why some are good and why others are bad for you:

  • You must eat fat to be healthy. Healthy fats are found in nature, in their closest to natural, whole form:
    • Nuts and seeds
    • Avocados
    • Olives
    • Seaweed
    • Dark leafy greens
    • Corn
    • Grains, wheat, rice, barley
    • Legumes
    • Animal products
    • Dairy products
    • Coconuts
  • Low-fat, high carbohydrate diets will actually make you unhealthy and fatter.
  • Avoid all types of fat substitutes. Eat BUTTER, not some non-food formula yellow goo. Natural IS healthy, others are not. Non-organic dairy of any kind can be scary, so spring for that extra dollar per pound to get organic butter, or find bulk Amish butter (often less expensive than grocery store butter).
  • Avoid bad oils. This takes in pretty much anything you’ll find on the grocery store shelf. You can use the “bad oil” test: does it have an odor? Does it have a distinctive flavor? If NO, it’s bad. Grocery store oils start out rancid and are then cooked at 400+ degrees until they are clear and have no odor or flavor. Yummy.
  • In general, avoid oils that are packaged in clear containers. Light breaks down oils, however if the oil has been high-temperature treated (as above) then it doesn’t matter about the light.
  • Avoid foods cooked in high-temperature “mystery oil” at restaurants. If it’s pan-fried in olive oil, that might be great, but shun the deep fryer.
  • Eat a good balance of all fats: Saturated Fat, Mono Unsaturated Fat and Poly Unsaturated Fat. Most people eat way too much Omega 6 fats and not enough Omega 3 fats, at a 20:1 ratio instead of a healthy 2:1 ratio. So change your ratios, especially if you have problems with inflammation. You can up your Omega 3 intake by eating:
    • Cold water, wild caught fish (such as salmon, mackerel, herring)
    • Flax seeds (Read more about how to use flax seed and get great recipe ideas)
    • Also you can ask your health care professional about what supplements can help balance your Omega 6 and Omega 3 oils, such as Standard Process Tuna Omega Oil and Calamari Oil.  Sold by your natural health practitioner.
  • Saturated fat is NOT bad for you. The best saturated fat you can eat is cold pressed, unprocessed, unfiltered coconut oil.
  • Limit damaged fats such as those made with vegetable oils: corn, soy, safflower and canola.
  • Olive oil is a great oil, but don’t use it in high heat cooking.
  • Watch out for trans fats in processed foods. Don’t just go by the nutrition label, also check the ingredients list. If you see the words “partially hydrogenated” put that food back on the shelf! No matter what the packaging says it will contain trans fats. Some common sources of partially hydrogenated foods are:
    • Fast foods
    • Doughnuts
  • Processed foods with partially hydrogenated oils
  • Don’t ever cook with Flax seed oil. This oil is so unstable that any heat will damage it and you will lose all its health benefits.

Coming Up…

Next time, I’m going to talk more about the different types of fats and when you should eat them and when you should avoid them. So stay tuned!

Definitions

  • Saturated Fat: A fat that contains only saturated fatty acids, is solid at room temperature, found in animal products, cocoa butter, coconuts, palm kernel and avocados.
  • Mono Unsaturated: A fat found in high concentrations in safflower, canola, olive and peanuts.
  • Poly Unsaturated: a fat found in high concentrations in Flax seed, sunflower seed and sesame seed.
  • Omega 6: a polyunsaturated fat that our bodies need to function. We get plenty of Omega 6 in our diet, most people eat too much of this fat which tends to increase inflammation in the body. Oils such as soy, corn grape seed, canola, cottonseed and any mayonnaise and salad dressing made with these oils are high in Omega 6 fats. Also walnuts, sunflower seeds and pine nut are high in Omega 6
  • Omega 3: a polyunsaturated fat that our bodies need to function. Most people do not get enough Omega 3 in our diet. Good sources of Omega 3 includes, grass fed animal meets and products, cold-water fish such as salmon, sardines, herring and mackerel, seafood such as oysters and scallops, flax seed and flax seed oil.
  • Partially hydrogenated: A liquid oil that has been put through a process to make it semi-solid. This process introduces trans fats into the oil.
  • Trans fat: a very bad fat. Ingesting this fat will lower your good cholesterol and increase your bad cholesterol, which can lead to heart disease.

Blog Subscription

Cutting-Edge Health Information in your Inbox

Subscribe Now

Unsubscribe at any time

Get Great Information about your Health

  • Weekly blog posts with vital tips and warnings
  • Interesting “pass it along” health facts
  • Cutting edge natural healing techniques and advice
Blog Posts

Are You Sure You Know What an Allergy Looks Like?

Do you, a friend or family member have trouble with allergies? Sneezing is only one symptom of allergies

This article will give you a whole new viewpoint on this common health problem! You or someone you love can be  fully and accurately tested for allergies–absolutely painlessly, too! This test will let them know if they have allergies, what they’re sensitive to and what they can do to be free from allergic stress and the health problems caused by this forever.
Call us and ask how to get tested.

So what does an allergy look like? Have you been around someone with puffy red eyes, constant sneezing and they just look miserable? Did you think, “Wow, that person is really having a bad allergic reaction to something?” Those poor people suffering from allergies are easy to spot a mile away, aren’t they? But what if I told you that the majority of allergy sufferers aren’t so easy to spot? It’s true. And unfortunately many of them spend their lives suffering in silence.

  • Do you know some young person who is hyperactive, can’t stay focused or has a terrible time with school?
  • Someone who is over or under weight?
  • A child who is a very picky eater or a bed wetter?
  • Someone dealing with a chronic health issue that the doctors just can’t diagnose?

I would venture to say that you don’t normally relate these issues to allergies. However the chances are pretty high these people are having an allergic reaction to something.

Picky Eater, Hyperactive, school problems--can be signs of allergies Some children’s health problems are directly related to “silent allergies.”

We’re all too familiar with immediate allergic responses of itchy eyes, runny nose, hives, sneezing, etc. However, almost 60 million Americans suffer from allergies that don’t present these “allergic” symptoms immediately. These “hidden allergies” can be very devastating; changing someone’s quality of life drastically.

Both of these responses, however, can be handled so they are no longer a problem. But before I get into how we deal with them, let’s talk about why these responses occur.

Definition of an Allergy

An allergy is a condition of unusual sensitivity to one or more substances which may be harmless to the majority of other individuals. The allergic substance, known as an allergen, is viewed by the brain and nervous system as a threat to the body’s well-being. Therefore, for our purposes, an allergy is defined in terms of what a substance does to the communication flow in the body. When contact is made with an allergen, it disrupts the normal flow of communication through the nervous and hormone systems. Interference in communication between the brain and body occurs when a communication flow becomes blocked. This blocked flow is the first step in a chain of events which can develop into an allergic response.

All substances on this earth have energy, whether it is a living organism or a nonliving object. In the human body, these energies are either compatible or adverse. When you are exposed to a compatible energy attraction takes place–harmony occurs! When adverse energies are introduced repulsion occurs. Your body fights these adverse energies. Keep in mind, though, that you are not exposed to only one energy at a time. You are exposed to hundreds of them from everything you come into contact with daily. So while your body is trying to defend itself from an adverse energy in one area, the chances are good that there are others in other parts of your body under attack as well. If your defense fails, it can cause any weakened communication pathway to become blocked.

If you are continually subjected to adverse energies, your communication pathways remain blocked all the time. The continuous blockage causes poor body function. When the brain is not able to coordinate with the vital organs, physiological functions are impaired. Poor function of the organs due to lack of good communication can create toxic buildup. The list of health issues presented when this occurs is long, but I’ll give you some examples:

  • The network of the nervous system: poor memory, brain fog, insomnia, hyperactivity…
  • The respiratory system: shortness of breath, sinus trouble, asthma, pneumonia…
  • The circulatory system: high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, varicose veins, atherosclerosis…
  • The gastrointestinal system: inability to absorb nutrients, indigestion, over or under weight, high cholesterol, diabetes, IBS, ulcers, fatigue, body aches…
  • The urinary system: water retention, frequent urination, sluggish kidney function…
  • The reproductive system: poor sexual function, infertility, menopausal disorders, tumors, cysts…
  • The joints, muscles, ligaments: arthritis, fibromyalgia, muscle aches, spasms, joint problems, eczema, rashes, warts, rough skin…

Do You Suspect that You or Someone You Love Has Allergies?

So now you know that “typical” signs of an allergic reaction do not need to be present for someone to be allergic, and that those silent allergies are quite possibly the cause of many health problems. Can you or your loved ones be suffering from allergies? Imagine how much your or their health could improve if you knew the answer to that… and what to do about it!

So, consider this: If you or they are experiencing any of the health issues I’ve listed above, chances are very good that allergies are involved. And then ask yourself, “Are things happening that just don’t make sense to me?” Such as:

  • Symptoms are so disconnected with each other that the doctors can’t diagnose the problem.
  • Lab tests come back normal, or don’t support the complaints.
  • A situation where the normal treatment isn’t producing the expected recovery, for example, high blood pressure medicine is prescribed but blood pressure readings are still dangerously high. If you’ve read this entire article, you now have an idea why this might be!
  • The suggested medical treatment for your problem is unacceptable to you—your hyperactive child is prescribed psychotropic drugs that will only mask the problem, you are recommended for a hysterectomy, gall bladder, back surgery or drugs with dangerous side effects.

One final note that I’d like to make is that food is not the only culprit. Remember that all living and nonliving things have energy, so:

Anything under the sun, including the sun, can be an allergen.

What’s Next?

The good news is that when the communication pathways are restored, the vital organs resume their routine work. The brain and body will remove any toxic buildup through the body’s natural elimination pathways. You will get back into balance and your health issues will resolve.

Unblocking those communication pathways is one of the things we do best at Alternative Health Atlanta. We can desensitize you to the allergens that are ruining your health. That’s exciting, isn’t it? I think it is pretty awesome to see someone’s life change. So let me tell you about a couple of my patients!

Kiara – Severe Allergic Reactions

Kiara, a young woman, had severe life-threatening allergies to peanuts and shrimp most of her life– just touching them would trigger a dangerous response. She had been in the emergency room a number of times.

We helped her body to stop misidentifying those harmless items as toxic. After which, being understandably anxious, she still avoided those items at all cost. After great encouragement, she decided that at one of her visits to the clinic she would “test” to see if she truly had been desensitized to the offending items. She brought in a bag of the “nasty stuff” as she called it. Under supervision, and with epi-pen on hand, she ate the peanut and held the shrimp. To her amazement she had no reaction. She cried that day, well to be truthful we all teared up. It was very moving and exciting!

Sam – a “Troubled Youth”

Then there is Sam, who was labeled by the school district as “a troubled youth.” He had undergone a professional psychiatric evaluation and was given the labels of ADHD, bipolar, OCS and ODS. Medications were recommended. He also behaved badly at home, and his mom was at her wits end.

When he came to us he was doing poorly in school; he couldn’t sit still in class. We modified his diet and started him on an allergy desensitization program, as he was allergic to everything we tested—at least 20 of the common allergens!

A few months later in the following school year, his first semester grades showed a huge improvement! He received A’s, B’s and C’s. At the end of the second semester he had straight A’s. During his individualized education planning meeting his mom learned that he scored 133 out of 100 on his sensory processing. Mom said the school panel was baffled. He also scored at or above grade level on all other tests and his GCRCT (Georgia’s standardized testing) came back EXCEEDS in every subject. With the psychiatric re-evaluation that occurred recently all his ADHD, bipolar, OCD and ODS LABELS WERE REMOVED.

Sam went from a “troubled kid” to a highly-functioning student! Needless to say, Sam is quite happy these days and his mom is beaming with pride.

Curious to find out more about allergies?

We can help with chronic health issues. Find out if you or someone you care about has allergies and whether communication pathways have become blocked because of it. We’re making it super easy for you to do just that. All you need to do is make an appointment for an initial health evaluation:

  •  Call 770-937-9200 or
  •  Email: patientservices@alternativehealthatlanta.com

We look forward to seeing you soon.

 

Blog Subscription

Cutting-Edge Health Information in your Inbox

Subscribe Now

Unsubscribe at any time

Get Great Information about your Health

  • Weekly blog posts with vital tips and warnings
  • Interesting “pass it along” health facts
  • Cutting edge natural healing techniques and advice
Blog Posts