This is probably one of the most difficult things for most people to do. There are a large number of criteria that most people look toward in the selection process. Many are in fact important, but none can come close to the most important aspect of medical treatment, knowledge of nutrition. ANY physician that refuses to recognize the relationship between what we eat, and how healthy we are, should be taken out of consideration.
Serious disease that are directly related to diet, (and lack of exercise as well) are responsible for 3 out of 4 deaths in America today. (Factoid) The lack of nutrition training for doctors is ridiculous. Most medical schools require one semester of basic nutrition. Many require none. The AMA, (and well let's face it, the FDA as well) do not EVER want to show that there is a link between diet, and health. If they did, then 75% of their business would be GONE! Most people can heal themselves just by altering their lifestyle, eating habits, and moving around.
The reason for today's post results from conversations with family, and friends. Let's just say that I am a big man, I am overweight, and not very healthy, overall. There are certain extenuating circumstances regarding my health (black mold, MRSA infection from hospital, long-term Avascular Necrosis, recurrent pulmonary embolii, and just having survived modern medicine's best efforts to kill me) but I am surrounded by persons that are of a health situation that is of their own making. When questioned, they tell me things like their doctor has told them that eating carrots is bad as it carrots are full of sugar. Diet soda is a good alternative to sugar soda. Potatoes are a bad choice for a diet, and the big one, meats are good. REALLY! Yes, I am informed by a number of people that these are the things that their doctor tells them, when taking time to talk to them. Of course, doctors rarely take time to talk to patients. As most of us have found, doctors take a standard tact as dictated by the AMA guidelines for treatment. Basic info puts you into a number of columns based on your symptoms. Treatment is then a guesswork plan based on AMA guidelines regarding those symptoms alone, and have little to do with what your specific needs might possibly be based on your individual lifestyle, and body type.
One of the things that scares me is that doctors everywhere still recommend that their patients drink diet soda. Aspartame is a known toxin, is interferes with the body's actual ability to recognize that it is full and to stop eating, and the stuff breaks down into methanol, and ultimately formaldehyde. The destruction that this stuff induces within the body are well documented, and horrific. Any doctor that suggests that someone drinks this known poison should be barred from practicing medicine. Any doctor that tells you that processed foods, white bread, white rice, a high protein diet consisting of supermarket meats and processed meats like bacon, sandwich meats, and any with high nitrite or sodium content are good for you; should be barred from practicing medicine. Any doctor that tells you that sitting in a chair all day is ok, and that you should drop weight before starting an exercixe program; should be barred from practicing medicine. Any doctor that tells you that ANY vegetable is not a good thing to add to your diet, should be barred from practicing medicine. And yes, potatoes are good for you, fries are not. Sour cream is not a condiment, neither is supermarket ketchup. AND, if a doctor tells you that high fructose corn syrup and products made with it are okay, then they should be BARRED from practicing medicine.
If you are ever unfortunate to experience a hospital stay, then your recovery will be based on your participation, as hospitals do not ever attempt to follow any sort of dietary plan that would in any way be considered healthy. The SAD, Standard American Diet is practiced by nutritional counseling in every hospital in America. Using outdated (and outlandish) concepts of nutritional requirements. Just try to get things like REAL whole grain products (brown rice is considered taboo), unpasteurized yogurt, or for that matter, yogurt that doesn't contain High Fructose Corn Syrup poison. Everything coming out of hospital cafeterias is laden with additives, made with processed basics like bleached and bromated white flour, white rice, potato flakes, and let's be real, the packet of honey you get for your hot tea has HFCS as the first ingredient, then honey. Eating food like this, will not in any way make you recover. No wonder so many people that enter hospitals, leave with greater problems than they went in with. Me included, I now have MRSA, antibiotic resistant bacterial infection that believe me, is so far, impossible to get rid of. And contracted in a hospital.
So, what do you do? Ask questions. Ask your doctor what he thinks of diet soda. Whole grains. Supermarket meat. Salt. If you are unfortunate to go to a hospital, have friends and family bring you your meals, or at least make sure you eat the basics only. Good luck with your searches for a doctor that has any training or understanding on the relationship of health and diet, it isn't taught, and more importantly, it isn't even backed by the AMA.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Supplements are BAD for you!
Well, according to the FDA. Well, sort of, actually big pharmaceutical companies want to make Americans think that supplements are bad, new drugs, are GOOD! Even drugs that are being developed using the same technology that supplement companies have used to simplify the way the human body absorbs and metabolizes Vitamin B6. Medicure, one such big pharma company has petitioned the FDA to stop non pharma companies from using vitamin based technology. In their petition they ask:
"Pharmaceutical companies developing new drugs must be protected from companies that may seek to market the ingredients in those drugs as dietary supplements. The marketing of such products has the potential to undermine the incentive for the development of new drugs because many people may choose to purchase the supplements rather than the drugs."
Really?
I have talked about this in the past. I used to take coumadin, a compound that was used as a rat poison. It is a blood thinner. It has horriffic side effects. Now, newer drugs such as Plavix are on the market. Plavix reduced the risk of stroke in patients down to 6.78 per 100,000 people. Then, I found that taking one baby aspirin a day would drop the risk of stroke to 6.97 per 100,000 people. Aspirin, a dime. Plavix, six bucks a pill. Yet, now that doctors are allowed to prescribe Plavix for anyone at risk for stroke or any blood clotting event, the money is just pouring in. A bunch of deaths and a few lawsuits are as well, but let's be realistic, they are just the cost of doing multi-billion dollar business.
Supplements though, they are a bit different from drugs. Most of them are natural. I mean I can go out to the desert and find plants called Mormon Tea that will provide me with a decent dose of epinephrine, which the FDA banned a few years ago. And that one probably was a good reason to ban, a lot of idiots out there looking for the "Magic Beans" for weight loss, sports performance, and just to get high, were overdosing on the purified stuff. But of course we know that never happens for prescription drugs, so banning was a good idea. The main part of the FDA program though is the threats that they are putting out there to vitamin and supplement manufacturers that claim certain health benefits from taking any specific vitamin or supplement. Anytime a manufacturer lists any benefit to a person taking their product, such as anti inflammatory, anti diahretic, anti anything, then the FDA considers that as a MEDICAL claim and supplements are not and cannot be considered medicines. Even though willow bark contains natural aspirin, and a whole list of other natural herbs and things are the actual basis of a number of modern drugs, suppliers of willow bark can't claim that it will relieve pain or reduce inflammation without invoking the MASSIVE ire of the regulatory agency that has been tasked with keeping Americans healthy.
The FDA has never actually had the welfare of plain old American citizens as part of their initiative for some time now. Big business has been the driving force for nearly all of policy decisions since the sixties. Back in 1958 director George P. Larrick, in a move heralded by the burgeoning agribusiness industry, instituted the program of GRAS. Generally Recognized As Safe. And on the list, he added cyclamates. The first of many additives that even with inadequate testing, were approved and placed on the GRAS list so that profits could be made. And George went on later to be a rather high paid CONSULTANT to agribusiness. The first of many to make the transition. And the list of poisons on the GRAS just keeps getting bigger as well. Aspartame, Canola, Erythritol, BHT, BHA, oh sheesh, a whole bunch of stuff that has been shown to not be healthy stuff. And the really fun part is that the GRAS list does not anywhere contain stevia. Stevia is that wonderful plant that tastes sweet, but has no sugar. For years, it could only be sold as a supplement, the FDA would not allow its use as a sweetener, and therefore any claims on the labeling of any stevia product was dealt with harshly by the FDA. However, now there are 4 separate steviol glycoside derivatives on the GRAS list for agribusiness to make money on. I believe that I have went over this before on this blog on the Truvia entry how the Coke patent for making their version of refined stevia has over 40 steps in it and uses some rather harsh chemicals (stevia substitute) and yet the same wonderful FDA that won't allow the word "Sweetener" on labels of unprocessed stevia leaves allows the term "ALL NATURAL" to be used on that horrific treasure trove of chemicals in the processed stevia.
There are going to be a lot of changes in the supplement business in the near future. The FDA is already cracking down and soon many other manufacturers will feel the full wrath the FDA will rain down on them for the simple act of trying to sell healthy products. Fruitfast, a company that markets Cherry juice, was COMMANDED by the FDA to stop producing their product, because they labeled it as helpful for gout, which it is. (Cherry)
Only a matter of time and there will not be any vitamins on the store shelves, nor supplements that aren't made by big pharma companies and the cost of these things that will probably contain all sorts of residues of dangerous chemicals will be exorbitant. And it will all be at the behest of the wonderful FDA helping big business make billions and billions, and keeping that revolving door of employment open so more and more heads of departments can get high paying jobs in big pharma and agribusiness. All bow to the almighty buck.
"Pharmaceutical companies developing new drugs must be protected from companies that may seek to market the ingredients in those drugs as dietary supplements. The marketing of such products has the potential to undermine the incentive for the development of new drugs because many people may choose to purchase the supplements rather than the drugs."
Really?
I have talked about this in the past. I used to take coumadin, a compound that was used as a rat poison. It is a blood thinner. It has horriffic side effects. Now, newer drugs such as Plavix are on the market. Plavix reduced the risk of stroke in patients down to 6.78 per 100,000 people. Then, I found that taking one baby aspirin a day would drop the risk of stroke to 6.97 per 100,000 people. Aspirin, a dime. Plavix, six bucks a pill. Yet, now that doctors are allowed to prescribe Plavix for anyone at risk for stroke or any blood clotting event, the money is just pouring in. A bunch of deaths and a few lawsuits are as well, but let's be realistic, they are just the cost of doing multi-billion dollar business.
Supplements though, they are a bit different from drugs. Most of them are natural. I mean I can go out to the desert and find plants called Mormon Tea that will provide me with a decent dose of epinephrine, which the FDA banned a few years ago. And that one probably was a good reason to ban, a lot of idiots out there looking for the "Magic Beans" for weight loss, sports performance, and just to get high, were overdosing on the purified stuff. But of course we know that never happens for prescription drugs, so banning was a good idea. The main part of the FDA program though is the threats that they are putting out there to vitamin and supplement manufacturers that claim certain health benefits from taking any specific vitamin or supplement. Anytime a manufacturer lists any benefit to a person taking their product, such as anti inflammatory, anti diahretic, anti anything, then the FDA considers that as a MEDICAL claim and supplements are not and cannot be considered medicines. Even though willow bark contains natural aspirin, and a whole list of other natural herbs and things are the actual basis of a number of modern drugs, suppliers of willow bark can't claim that it will relieve pain or reduce inflammation without invoking the MASSIVE ire of the regulatory agency that has been tasked with keeping Americans healthy.
The FDA has never actually had the welfare of plain old American citizens as part of their initiative for some time now. Big business has been the driving force for nearly all of policy decisions since the sixties. Back in 1958 director George P. Larrick, in a move heralded by the burgeoning agribusiness industry, instituted the program of GRAS. Generally Recognized As Safe. And on the list, he added cyclamates. The first of many additives that even with inadequate testing, were approved and placed on the GRAS list so that profits could be made. And George went on later to be a rather high paid CONSULTANT to agribusiness. The first of many to make the transition. And the list of poisons on the GRAS just keeps getting bigger as well. Aspartame, Canola, Erythritol, BHT, BHA, oh sheesh, a whole bunch of stuff that has been shown to not be healthy stuff. And the really fun part is that the GRAS list does not anywhere contain stevia. Stevia is that wonderful plant that tastes sweet, but has no sugar. For years, it could only be sold as a supplement, the FDA would not allow its use as a sweetener, and therefore any claims on the labeling of any stevia product was dealt with harshly by the FDA. However, now there are 4 separate steviol glycoside derivatives on the GRAS list for agribusiness to make money on. I believe that I have went over this before on this blog on the Truvia entry how the Coke patent for making their version of refined stevia has over 40 steps in it and uses some rather harsh chemicals (stevia substitute) and yet the same wonderful FDA that won't allow the word "Sweetener" on labels of unprocessed stevia leaves allows the term "ALL NATURAL" to be used on that horrific treasure trove of chemicals in the processed stevia.
There are going to be a lot of changes in the supplement business in the near future. The FDA is already cracking down and soon many other manufacturers will feel the full wrath the FDA will rain down on them for the simple act of trying to sell healthy products. Fruitfast, a company that markets Cherry juice, was COMMANDED by the FDA to stop producing their product, because they labeled it as helpful for gout, which it is. (Cherry)
Only a matter of time and there will not be any vitamins on the store shelves, nor supplements that aren't made by big pharma companies and the cost of these things that will probably contain all sorts of residues of dangerous chemicals will be exorbitant. And it will all be at the behest of the wonderful FDA helping big business make billions and billions, and keeping that revolving door of employment open so more and more heads of departments can get high paying jobs in big pharma and agribusiness. All bow to the almighty buck.
Monday, December 24, 2012
I'm wrong, and I'm learning.
Yup, it's true, I, a man, am admitting that I am wrong about something. I would still be married if my ex would admit to such a thing. But let's move on. What I am wrong about is whole grains and the role that they play in human physiology. WHAT!!!!! Yes, it is true, I am amending my stand about whole grains and how a diet in whole grains is both healthful and beneficial for virtually every known health problem out there.
I'm not saying whole grains are bad, I am saying that I have learned a lot these past few days and have done a lot of research into how to improve the already healthy diet of whole grains even more by doing some simple steps in the preparation of the grains themselves. These simple procedures GREATLY increase the available nutrient absorption and allow for the grains to rise to the top of the food pyramid as the transporters of nature's bounty of vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and healthy fats. Did I leave anything out, not really, I think that grains deserve to be at the top of the nutrient dense food list. The problem is that most grains contain something called phytic acid in the bran layer of the grain. This phytic acid is what actually is there blocking the absorption of a lot of the minerals and vitamins. It actually binds up with many of them and thus reduces the nutritional content. Heat breaks down much of the phytic acid, and that is why baked bread has a lot of nutritive value. But, during all of my research into Celiac for my previous article, I learned how to get rid of most of the phytic acid not just in wheat for making bread, but also for my other favorite grain, brown rice.
I have heard of Ezekial bread before, but the stuff that I had someone bring to me from Whole Foods was coarse, dense, and rather nasty in texture. It is a sprouted grain bread. When grains are sprouted, then the phytic acid breaks down and allows the nutrients in the grain to be more readily absorbed. The same thing happens when grains are soaked in water for a day, or in the case of corn. for a couple weeks. So from what I have learned, if I soak my brown rice overnight, it becomes even more of the super food than it is without soaking. We all know that soaking helps out legumes, I honestly had no idea it also worked for grains. Hey, live and learn. I do learn things everyday and I do, admit when I am wrong. Back to wheat, if you soak wheat in water overnight, then put it into a jar used to sprout it, in a couple days, you have sprouted wheat. Here is where things vary and recipes as to what to do with the grain differ depending on who you talk to. I think that the heavy bread I tasted was made with this soft sprouted wheat and other grains that are then just put into a blender and ground up into a paste. Then bread is made with that. There are a lot of recipes on the "net" using Vitamix, blenders of all sorts and different grains. Then there is also the other method, where the grains are then put into a dehydrator and dried. Then the dry grain is ground in a grain mill just as usual and you get a much finer grain texture and therefore a finer crumb in the final bread product as well. This of course is my chosen method as I have all the equipment to do that.
If any of you have any knowledge of brewing, then the process might be pretty familiar to you. It is called malting. What happens is that the starches in the grains begin to convert into malt sugars in a natural process that allows the germ to have at the ready, all the energy available for it to grow. When we do the same thing, sprouting the grains, we are mechanically doing a process that nature has perfected. And son of a gun, if it doesn't make it taste better as well.
There is another method of making bread that I have in fact used before, and have even wrote about here on this blog in the past. It is a technique that works to make a better, lighter, fluffier textured bread, and now I have found out that it also allows the natural phytase enzymes to activate and to breakdown the phytic acid and thus frees up the nutrients locked within. This technique is long term rising. It basically is like soaking, the grains are ground, then mixed with liquid and left to sit and soak overnight. A sponge can be made with some yeast, water and flour; then allowed to grow overnight. The phytic acid is reduced, and the bread feels better, tastes better, and is better for you. Sheesh, all this time I was just being lazy and letting it sit overnight and yet I was making the bread healthier than I ever thought.
I do learn. I do make errors, and learn from them. And I admit when I am wrong. But not today, whole grain products are good for you. And now I learned how to make them better.
Good eating to you.
I'm not saying whole grains are bad, I am saying that I have learned a lot these past few days and have done a lot of research into how to improve the already healthy diet of whole grains even more by doing some simple steps in the preparation of the grains themselves. These simple procedures GREATLY increase the available nutrient absorption and allow for the grains to rise to the top of the food pyramid as the transporters of nature's bounty of vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and healthy fats. Did I leave anything out, not really, I think that grains deserve to be at the top of the nutrient dense food list. The problem is that most grains contain something called phytic acid in the bran layer of the grain. This phytic acid is what actually is there blocking the absorption of a lot of the minerals and vitamins. It actually binds up with many of them and thus reduces the nutritional content. Heat breaks down much of the phytic acid, and that is why baked bread has a lot of nutritive value. But, during all of my research into Celiac for my previous article, I learned how to get rid of most of the phytic acid not just in wheat for making bread, but also for my other favorite grain, brown rice.
I have heard of Ezekial bread before, but the stuff that I had someone bring to me from Whole Foods was coarse, dense, and rather nasty in texture. It is a sprouted grain bread. When grains are sprouted, then the phytic acid breaks down and allows the nutrients in the grain to be more readily absorbed. The same thing happens when grains are soaked in water for a day, or in the case of corn. for a couple weeks. So from what I have learned, if I soak my brown rice overnight, it becomes even more of the super food than it is without soaking. We all know that soaking helps out legumes, I honestly had no idea it also worked for grains. Hey, live and learn. I do learn things everyday and I do, admit when I am wrong. Back to wheat, if you soak wheat in water overnight, then put it into a jar used to sprout it, in a couple days, you have sprouted wheat. Here is where things vary and recipes as to what to do with the grain differ depending on who you talk to. I think that the heavy bread I tasted was made with this soft sprouted wheat and other grains that are then just put into a blender and ground up into a paste. Then bread is made with that. There are a lot of recipes on the "net" using Vitamix, blenders of all sorts and different grains. Then there is also the other method, where the grains are then put into a dehydrator and dried. Then the dry grain is ground in a grain mill just as usual and you get a much finer grain texture and therefore a finer crumb in the final bread product as well. This of course is my chosen method as I have all the equipment to do that.
If any of you have any knowledge of brewing, then the process might be pretty familiar to you. It is called malting. What happens is that the starches in the grains begin to convert into malt sugars in a natural process that allows the germ to have at the ready, all the energy available for it to grow. When we do the same thing, sprouting the grains, we are mechanically doing a process that nature has perfected. And son of a gun, if it doesn't make it taste better as well.
There is another method of making bread that I have in fact used before, and have even wrote about here on this blog in the past. It is a technique that works to make a better, lighter, fluffier textured bread, and now I have found out that it also allows the natural phytase enzymes to activate and to breakdown the phytic acid and thus frees up the nutrients locked within. This technique is long term rising. It basically is like soaking, the grains are ground, then mixed with liquid and left to sit and soak overnight. A sponge can be made with some yeast, water and flour; then allowed to grow overnight. The phytic acid is reduced, and the bread feels better, tastes better, and is better for you. Sheesh, all this time I was just being lazy and letting it sit overnight and yet I was making the bread healthier than I ever thought.
I do learn. I do make errors, and learn from them. And I admit when I am wrong. But not today, whole grain products are good for you. And now I learned how to make them better.
Good eating to you.
Celiac and the untold possibilities
Not so long ago I when I was selling pasta and teaching healthy cooking at my store in Austin, I did receive a few requests and questions about Celiac. And also a lot of requests to make gluten free pasta. It sure seems as though the gluten free rage has become huge and more and more people are wanting to remove gluten from their diets so they can live a healthy life. I only wish that it was all true and that everyone that gave up gluten would live a better life. Research is dispelling a lot of the mystery around Celiac and the Celiac Hype as I call it. If you go to Celiac.com and read their information, you will see how the numbers of people that have Celiac have risen dramatically over the past thirty years. From what was diagnosed to be 1 in over 500 to now being 1 in 133 people having Celiac. That is quite a few. But where are they getting those numbers, as every other website has differing numbers. And it is true that the incidence of Celiac in those of Northern European descent may be that high, but in the general population, it is about 1 in 2,500. (Scienceblog) There seems to be a discrepancy in numbers here. Part of it is the method of measurement. The Celiac people use the blood test for Tissue transglutimase antibody to determine if a person has Celiac. The truth is that presence of the ttg antibody does not in fact mean a person has Celiac. The only positive way to determine if a person has it is to perform a tissue biopsy of the small intestine to see if there is damage. Ttg intibody shows a person to have a propensity for Celiac, not the actual disease itself. (Testing) The Celiac people use the propensity for having a disease is a lot like saying I can get a woman pregnant, therefore all pregnant women have been impregnated by me.
The problems that are there for me are that research is showing that people with the propensity for Celiac are coming down with actual Celiac in greater numbers, and at later ages than originally thought. Meaning that it is not a childhood onset disease, but one where human beings that have a genetic marker that forms a specific protein MAY develop an autoimmune disease that is heightened in the presence of gluten. (Scienceblog) So why is this happening? And also, in a related thread of thought, why is it that so many people out there claim to have symptoms of gluten intolerance? Are they related, and in fact related to Celiac? To me, I believe that the increase in the numbers of age related onset of actual Celiac, as well as the incidence of gluten intolerance are because of the human body's inability to process toxins and additives put into processed foods. There has to be a trigger that causes people having the markers to suddenly begin to exhibit full blown Celiac. Science rages on, and more research will be done to determine what it is that occurs and the actual processes involved.
When I was teaching at my store, some of the people that wanted the gluten free pasta, and also wanted to attend my gluten free bread baking classes, told me about their gluten intolerance problems. I always ask, what did you eat that produced those specific symptoms? The usual answers were always the same, bread. Again, my questions are direct and an attempt to narrow down the problem, what kind of bread, what was on the bread, what else did you eat at the same time as the bread. Most people tell me the same thing, I don't know, bread. Sheesh. Commercial bread has a whole host of toxins added to it, L-cysteine, chlorine, potassium bromate, sodium steryl lactalate, azodicarbonide, sodium metabisulfide, and worst of all, tons of hydrogenated fats and high fructose corn syrup. I truly in my heart, believe that more people have allergic reactions to these chemicals than ever have to gluten. Coupled with what people eat within the bread itself, they consume a huge chemical storehouse of toxins. By that I mean that the simple chicken sandwich from the fast food place is chock full of stuff that is frighteningly toxic. Commercial chicken, coated with salmonella and the associated toxins from their waste that accumulate when improperly stored, the coatings on the chicken, the mayo, ketchup or sauces that contain huge amounts of HFCS, a veritable cornucopia of chemicals and additives, and lastly, lettuce that is processed and packaged then held in storage and shipped all over the country. The numbers of produce items recalled by the FDA for salmonella or lysteria contamination is incredible. (food recalls) This FDA site is updated daily with food recalls. So taking all that into account, it is not surprising that people get a tummy ache when they consume bread. And then blame it all on gluten intolerance.
I don't want anyone to think that I am in anyway being disparaging to all of those people of Northern European descent that have actual Celiac disease. And there are also a number of other people out there that have been shown to have Celiac and are of other heritages. This is in fact a problem. However, I feel that the Celiac Foundation is showing these huge numbers in order to garner ever more financing for research. Not a bad thing actually, the Feds have shown themselves to be rather poor guardians of the revenue they collect. But to continue to promote Celiac as the cause of so many unrelated symptoms of a degenerative food supply is wrong. People everywhere are removing gluten from their diets and thinking that this will cure all that ails them without ever looking at their overall intake of the SAD as the cause of their problems. SAD = Standard American Diet. And as the SAD grows and spreads to countries all over the world the problems continue to grow, cancers, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, ADD, ADHD, mental health problems, and a whole host of other problems and diseases grow in proportion to the acceptance of the SAD.
Look at what you buy. Look at what you eat. Make healthy choices. Living a long disease free life should be the right of every person, don't let big business take that away from you for their scrambling to make extra profit at the expense of your health.
The problems that are there for me are that research is showing that people with the propensity for Celiac are coming down with actual Celiac in greater numbers, and at later ages than originally thought. Meaning that it is not a childhood onset disease, but one where human beings that have a genetic marker that forms a specific protein MAY develop an autoimmune disease that is heightened in the presence of gluten. (Scienceblog) So why is this happening? And also, in a related thread of thought, why is it that so many people out there claim to have symptoms of gluten intolerance? Are they related, and in fact related to Celiac? To me, I believe that the increase in the numbers of age related onset of actual Celiac, as well as the incidence of gluten intolerance are because of the human body's inability to process toxins and additives put into processed foods. There has to be a trigger that causes people having the markers to suddenly begin to exhibit full blown Celiac. Science rages on, and more research will be done to determine what it is that occurs and the actual processes involved.
When I was teaching at my store, some of the people that wanted the gluten free pasta, and also wanted to attend my gluten free bread baking classes, told me about their gluten intolerance problems. I always ask, what did you eat that produced those specific symptoms? The usual answers were always the same, bread. Again, my questions are direct and an attempt to narrow down the problem, what kind of bread, what was on the bread, what else did you eat at the same time as the bread. Most people tell me the same thing, I don't know, bread. Sheesh. Commercial bread has a whole host of toxins added to it, L-cysteine, chlorine, potassium bromate, sodium steryl lactalate, azodicarbonide, sodium metabisulfide, and worst of all, tons of hydrogenated fats and high fructose corn syrup. I truly in my heart, believe that more people have allergic reactions to these chemicals than ever have to gluten. Coupled with what people eat within the bread itself, they consume a huge chemical storehouse of toxins. By that I mean that the simple chicken sandwich from the fast food place is chock full of stuff that is frighteningly toxic. Commercial chicken, coated with salmonella and the associated toxins from their waste that accumulate when improperly stored, the coatings on the chicken, the mayo, ketchup or sauces that contain huge amounts of HFCS, a veritable cornucopia of chemicals and additives, and lastly, lettuce that is processed and packaged then held in storage and shipped all over the country. The numbers of produce items recalled by the FDA for salmonella or lysteria contamination is incredible. (food recalls) This FDA site is updated daily with food recalls. So taking all that into account, it is not surprising that people get a tummy ache when they consume bread. And then blame it all on gluten intolerance.
I don't want anyone to think that I am in anyway being disparaging to all of those people of Northern European descent that have actual Celiac disease. And there are also a number of other people out there that have been shown to have Celiac and are of other heritages. This is in fact a problem. However, I feel that the Celiac Foundation is showing these huge numbers in order to garner ever more financing for research. Not a bad thing actually, the Feds have shown themselves to be rather poor guardians of the revenue they collect. But to continue to promote Celiac as the cause of so many unrelated symptoms of a degenerative food supply is wrong. People everywhere are removing gluten from their diets and thinking that this will cure all that ails them without ever looking at their overall intake of the SAD as the cause of their problems. SAD = Standard American Diet. And as the SAD grows and spreads to countries all over the world the problems continue to grow, cancers, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, ADD, ADHD, mental health problems, and a whole host of other problems and diseases grow in proportion to the acceptance of the SAD.
Look at what you buy. Look at what you eat. Make healthy choices. Living a long disease free life should be the right of every person, don't let big business take that away from you for their scrambling to make extra profit at the expense of your health.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Ode to a Cheerio, deception and awakening.
I
think that at times people that deceive others on a regular basis have
no concept of what they do and how it affects the real world, and people
in it. Let’s take a look at that. It makes more sense when we look at real world examples,
ones that shows so well just how insulated from reality leaders of
agribusinesses actually are. First, I am talking about Cheerios. Yep, hard to
believe, but those little round “O’s “ that virtually every parent has
used to help their child develop eye hand coordination,
are in fact not the cute little wholesome and nutritious morsels that
the bigwigs at General Mills believe, or perhaps, want us to believe.
The real world eye awakening took place at the beginning of December
when General Mills set up a Facebook page in the
hopes that millions of consumers would go to the site and log their own
personal thoughts about how wonderful Cheerios have been for them
personally. The whole deal sort of backfired when less than
forty-eight hours of the Facebook app going live to take
comments and for consumers to draw their favorite little sayings using
the Cheerios background; there appeared, totally unexpected by
management, over a hundred thousand complaints about General Mills use
of Genetically Modified products in the manufacture
of Cheerios. And many were just out and out condemnation of General
Mills for the company stand on defeating the California law that would
require labeling of all Genetically Modified foods. Forty-eight hours.
Over one hundred thousand complaints. Wow. I think that was a shock to management.
But
then what do you do when you know that you are deceiving your
customers, you know the products that the company that you are leader of
are not what you purport them to be? How do you justify looking in the
mirror every morning when the products that you make are PACKED with
sugar, which is made from Genetically Modified sugar beets, corn starch,
which again, is all Genetically Modified, and neither of which can in
any way be considered part of a healthy diet
for children. Again, money makes any possible guilt invisible.
Cheerios is and has been a staple in American households for
generations. The company bigwigs must still believe that their place is
sacrosanct, unassailable. How wrong they are finding that
to be. I don’t know how many boxes of the stuff they sell annually,
but I bet their market share is dropping. That is why they began this
campaign on the internet. To get public opinion supporting their
products, and capitalize on it.
Let's take a look at a small scale example, my ex wife. My ex has no scruples at all. And back in 08 when we decided to no longer be a married couple, she offered to buy the Pasta Business from me. Ok, I was fine with that. At that time we had been buying pasta from a guy in Tempe Arizona shipping it to Austin and putting our own labels on it. Not illegal, in fact it is called co-packing. Actually a big part of the food industry. Who do you think makes the off brand Cheerios in the bags on the bottom shelf of the cereal aisle? Well General Mills does, usually with the same or close to the same ingredients. Packed for the generic market. Same principal. However, when at court for the divorce, the ex told me she didn't feel like she should pay me anything for the resale business, and so told the judge the business was of no value and didn't have to pay me. I'm not a dummy, I told the judge it had value and offered to buy it from her. The judge was pleased, I was pleased, the ex, was not. I bought all new equipment to manufacture my own brand of pasta and did so quite successfully for several years. In the meantime, the ex needed to sell pasta and sought other packers. There is a company in Ohio that makes an okay product. They just use eggs and powdered vegetables. The ex started to buy their product, slapped her labels on them and never once thought to add eggs to the ingredients. And in an effort to try to outsell me, (we did some of the same events) she would then tell customers that she used to own my business, but wanted to make a better product and now made her pasta with all organic ingredients. How can she look herself in the mirror when everything you do is an out and out attempt to deceive the consumers?
I don't know the answers, I mean really, how can I, a humble old man with integrity ever begin to understand how the quest for ever more money makes a person do things that are questionably legal, honest or even wholesome? It is beyond me, my mind doesn't work that way.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Chef Roy is unlucky number 13
So Chef Roy, if you really only eat good healthy food, take all of those supplements, avoid all the poisons and toxins you talk about here on your blog; then why are you sick all the time? Man, a really good question. I think that is one that has no specific answer, it just has to do with me being unlucky, in the wrong place at the wrong time and suffering the consequences of that misfortune. I suppose that for me, life began when my mother met my father and they decided to further the human race by starting a family. My mother, whom I respected and loved, did me an injustice by marrying a common man and not a rich one. I have never forgiven her for that, she took away from us children the silver spoon that so many people feel is the magic beans of life that would provide for them an unending and stress-free life of luxury and endless gratification. Oh well, I was, after three siblings, conceived. My mother then in late June went to the new, at that time, St. Joseph's Hospital to deliver me. She delighted in telling me the story that I was the thirteenth baby born in that new facility. Sigh, not a great start for me. And all done under a huge deception on my mother's part. She chose the pretense of Christianity with which to perpetrate her fraud. The actual details are not all known to me, but I have found that my mother, coming from German Jewish parents that came to America in the 1890's to escape the pogroms against the Jews, never practiced their religion here in order to avoid any form of recognition. I firmly believe that my father went to his grave not knowing that he was married to someone that his upbringing would never have allowed him to acknowledge as even being, well, of equal in humanity. My father was a bigot in the extreme sense. Poor mother, a cute little Jewish girl in the den of the lion trying desperately to raise her unlucky broken children.
So I made it through the major problems of youth and the teenage years, drank too much in my early twenties, went overboard and in 1976 gave up weed, booze, meat and white flour. Married the woman that I fell in love with on first sight, raised a young son, and in 1992 bought a house out at 103rd Avenue and Camelback road. At that time, it was on a golf course, surrounded by fields of corn. That first winter they planted broccoli and cauliflower. The next summer, they planted cotton. Cotton is about the dirtiest crop ever. They spray Agent Orange on it so it will drop its leaves and they can harvest the cotton bolls with big vacuum harvesters. When running them, the cloud of toxic dust hovers everywhere. For 5 years each autumn my childhood asthma became horrific and I was in danger of losing my job because of illness. I finally moved to Mesa and got better.
I guess now would be a good time to add that I have totaled three vehicles in my life. Every one of them ended up with me not able to sue anyone for the accident. Sigh, just not lucky.
Then in 2002 my wife decided to trade me in for a new model, and as she said she had never dated anyone other than me, anyone would work. I on the other hand, married the first woman to say yes to me. Big mistake. Oh well, she wanted me to move to Austin TX, and so I did. Our lives changed dramatically and I grew exponentially there in the happiest place on earth. As we grew apart in many ways, I no longer possessed the one trait she required in a mate, obedience! So we parted ways, and that was in fact, a good thing. Except, I moved into an apartment with black mold in it. Didn't know it at first, just got sick. And then got sicker. Went to a holistic allergy specialist and he did allergy tests, and blood hormone levels. I was suffering from low testosterone. Or so he said, I didn't have the usual problems associated with that condition. In the meantime, I was so sick that I was on massive doses of steroids, both oral and intravenous, and such massive doses cause Avascular Necrosis. Death of the joints. Oh well, as my many doctors told me, at least I was able to breathe. I did for a while take a testosterone cream, and then developed blood clots in my lungs. (NOW, a known side effect) So, more steroids and the rat poison, coumadin as a blood thinner. By the time we found the mold in the apartment, the damage was done, and I had impacted sinuses, needed a hip replacement, degenerative death of most of my joints, and my cat died from sinus and breathing problems as well.
Got one hip done, and moved into an apartment where I met the most beautiful maiden in the world. She and I became quite close, but within a year, she was offered a huge promotion and ended up in Seattle. To this day we are good friends and talk and/or text all the time. I miss her. She was a spark of sanity in my life. After a while, I went to the hospital to get the roto-rooter sinus surgery and guess what, I now have MRSA, apparently I picked that up in the hospital when getting the hip done. A whole new set of problems there. I don't know, maybe that is what caused the loss of the ability to feel hot or cold. That one I don't think we will ever know, but I do know that as my sinuses were impacted with an antibiotic resistant bacterial infection that I am finding cannot be gotten rid of, my sense of smell and then taste disappeared. Here I was, a man trying to make a living manufacturing the world's most flavorful pasta, and I never tasted any of my products. I developed all the recipes based on the Beethoven method of creativity. I knew what it should taste like, so I tried a recipe, asked others if they liked it, and if they did, used it.
But in an effort to improve my health, I sold the store, moved to Arizona as doctors thought that the VERY high concentration of airborne mold was irritating my lungs to the point that it continued to cause horrific problems. Didn't work, even after moving to Arizona, I continue to be plagued by sinus problems (MRSA NEVER goes away) and recurring pneumonia, asthma problems and lack of money caused by inability to get good insurance.
So, yes, it seems that I do indeed eat well, take supplements, and am sick all the time. I am the quintessential number thirteen. Unlucky in life,............
So I made it through the major problems of youth and the teenage years, drank too much in my early twenties, went overboard and in 1976 gave up weed, booze, meat and white flour. Married the woman that I fell in love with on first sight, raised a young son, and in 1992 bought a house out at 103rd Avenue and Camelback road. At that time, it was on a golf course, surrounded by fields of corn. That first winter they planted broccoli and cauliflower. The next summer, they planted cotton. Cotton is about the dirtiest crop ever. They spray Agent Orange on it so it will drop its leaves and they can harvest the cotton bolls with big vacuum harvesters. When running them, the cloud of toxic dust hovers everywhere. For 5 years each autumn my childhood asthma became horrific and I was in danger of losing my job because of illness. I finally moved to Mesa and got better.
I guess now would be a good time to add that I have totaled three vehicles in my life. Every one of them ended up with me not able to sue anyone for the accident. Sigh, just not lucky.
Then in 2002 my wife decided to trade me in for a new model, and as she said she had never dated anyone other than me, anyone would work. I on the other hand, married the first woman to say yes to me. Big mistake. Oh well, she wanted me to move to Austin TX, and so I did. Our lives changed dramatically and I grew exponentially there in the happiest place on earth. As we grew apart in many ways, I no longer possessed the one trait she required in a mate, obedience! So we parted ways, and that was in fact, a good thing. Except, I moved into an apartment with black mold in it. Didn't know it at first, just got sick. And then got sicker. Went to a holistic allergy specialist and he did allergy tests, and blood hormone levels. I was suffering from low testosterone. Or so he said, I didn't have the usual problems associated with that condition. In the meantime, I was so sick that I was on massive doses of steroids, both oral and intravenous, and such massive doses cause Avascular Necrosis. Death of the joints. Oh well, as my many doctors told me, at least I was able to breathe. I did for a while take a testosterone cream, and then developed blood clots in my lungs. (NOW, a known side effect) So, more steroids and the rat poison, coumadin as a blood thinner. By the time we found the mold in the apartment, the damage was done, and I had impacted sinuses, needed a hip replacement, degenerative death of most of my joints, and my cat died from sinus and breathing problems as well.
Got one hip done, and moved into an apartment where I met the most beautiful maiden in the world. She and I became quite close, but within a year, she was offered a huge promotion and ended up in Seattle. To this day we are good friends and talk and/or text all the time. I miss her. She was a spark of sanity in my life. After a while, I went to the hospital to get the roto-rooter sinus surgery and guess what, I now have MRSA, apparently I picked that up in the hospital when getting the hip done. A whole new set of problems there. I don't know, maybe that is what caused the loss of the ability to feel hot or cold. That one I don't think we will ever know, but I do know that as my sinuses were impacted with an antibiotic resistant bacterial infection that I am finding cannot be gotten rid of, my sense of smell and then taste disappeared. Here I was, a man trying to make a living manufacturing the world's most flavorful pasta, and I never tasted any of my products. I developed all the recipes based on the Beethoven method of creativity. I knew what it should taste like, so I tried a recipe, asked others if they liked it, and if they did, used it.
But in an effort to improve my health, I sold the store, moved to Arizona as doctors thought that the VERY high concentration of airborne mold was irritating my lungs to the point that it continued to cause horrific problems. Didn't work, even after moving to Arizona, I continue to be plagued by sinus problems (MRSA NEVER goes away) and recurring pneumonia, asthma problems and lack of money caused by inability to get good insurance.
So, yes, it seems that I do indeed eat well, take supplements, and am sick all the time. I am the quintessential number thirteen. Unlucky in life,............
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Sandy Hook, tragedy that may affect far more than ever thought possible
Watching the TV and attempting to imagine the horror of having to deal with the aftermath of the carnage dealt out to children, teachers and a parent by a troubled young man. I am unable to, it is just such a tragedy. But sides are already drawn on both sides of the issue, and Facebook is filled with opinions about how guns didn't kill them all, a gunMAN did, or the troubled youth could not have done this without access to the weaponry. And et, al, ad infinitum. Every one wants to ensure that this never happens again. As do I of course, but I also want to propose another problem, one that doesn't get any press, and yet may indeed be the underlying problem altogether.
SAD, the Standard American Diet. We here in America fill our bodies with processed foods devoid of actual nutrition and packed with additives and toxins along with heavy metals and all contribute to altered mental and physical conditions that make young people that were loners like this man into potential ticking time bombs. I hope that the coroner's report comes out and is made public, and that proper attention is made to it. Will we find in the toxicology that there were heavy metals like mercury present? Was his sugar incompletely controlled and his hormone levels screwed up? Did he slam down ten or more Mountain Dews every day as so many youths in America do?
What will happen if these things are shown to be part of the autopsy findings. These and so many more. I think that we, as Americans, need to look long and hard at what is going on with the nutrition of our youth. The horrific side effects of long term consumption of foods with heavy metals, toxic additives, high fructose corn poison, antibiotic residues, pesticide, herbicides, insecticides and a whole array of cumulative poisons all singly and in our society, in conjunction with each other, all begin to manifest themselves in behaviors that lead to this exact tragedy. Look at my blog from last week about HFCS -- TRAGEDY-- And see the list of behavioral traits that are caused by the SAD and are so prevalent in American youth today.
I have tried to look up the toxicology results for Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris and have been unable to find them online. I get the autopsy reports, and in there the remarks were made about sending out specific samples for toxicology. Yet the results are elusive. There are mentions of anti depressants, but no actual results. And do they even check for heavy metal contamination? Toxic residues? Pesticide residue? They should. The question of course is whether or not they will check because at this time no one has ever thought to connect nutrition to behavioral changes. It is all too easy to blame gun control, parental control or lack of, discipline, schools, bullies, or anything else other than what in fact may be the real cause. And one that would undermine the very foundation of our existence, the SAD.
SAD, the Standard American Diet. We here in America fill our bodies with processed foods devoid of actual nutrition and packed with additives and toxins along with heavy metals and all contribute to altered mental and physical conditions that make young people that were loners like this man into potential ticking time bombs. I hope that the coroner's report comes out and is made public, and that proper attention is made to it. Will we find in the toxicology that there were heavy metals like mercury present? Was his sugar incompletely controlled and his hormone levels screwed up? Did he slam down ten or more Mountain Dews every day as so many youths in America do?
What will happen if these things are shown to be part of the autopsy findings. These and so many more. I think that we, as Americans, need to look long and hard at what is going on with the nutrition of our youth. The horrific side effects of long term consumption of foods with heavy metals, toxic additives, high fructose corn poison, antibiotic residues, pesticide, herbicides, insecticides and a whole array of cumulative poisons all singly and in our society, in conjunction with each other, all begin to manifest themselves in behaviors that lead to this exact tragedy. Look at my blog from last week about HFCS -- TRAGEDY-- And see the list of behavioral traits that are caused by the SAD and are so prevalent in American youth today.
I have tried to look up the toxicology results for Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris and have been unable to find them online. I get the autopsy reports, and in there the remarks were made about sending out specific samples for toxicology. Yet the results are elusive. There are mentions of anti depressants, but no actual results. And do they even check for heavy metal contamination? Toxic residues? Pesticide residue? They should. The question of course is whether or not they will check because at this time no one has ever thought to connect nutrition to behavioral changes. It is all too easy to blame gun control, parental control or lack of, discipline, schools, bullies, or anything else other than what in fact may be the real cause. And one that would undermine the very foundation of our existence, the SAD.
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