The Real Need For Vitamins

What is the deal with vitamins?  That's always been my thought.  I've never really been a pill taker, whether its drugs or supplements.  I've never felt the need . . but more importantly, I never really knew the need.  The history of vitamins is an interesting one.  I've sure many of us have heard of the story of sailors getting scurvy which in the mid 1700's was discovered that scurvy was helped out by eating lemons and limes.  Even though at the time they did not know what was in these citrus fruits, they just knew that certain foods helped with certain conditions.  This discovery led to a whole new world of micronutrients.

The first discovered micronutrient was Vitamin B1 also known as Thiamine.  Each new vitamin has been added to the list given letters corresponding with their time of discovery.  We now have Vitamins A - K, all an important part of our diet and health, along with minerals.  Vitamins and minerals are essential because we cannot produce them on our own (except for Vitamin D which acts more like a hormone, and also Vitamin K which can be produced by bacteria in our gut flora).  The true discovery is that if we are deficient in any of these, a whole array of health problems will occur.  Likewise, if we supply ourselves with enough certain vitamins or minerals we will surely see these health problems disappear.  Linus Pauling, a two-time Nobel Prize winner, stated, "You can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency."

All these essential vitamins and minerals are found in the natural foods we eat.  But that brings up my question. Humans have been eating food for thousands of years without needing supplements, so why do we now need to take extra vitamins in our diet today?  I would like to share with you three real needs for vitamins and minerals in our diet today.

1. We Choose Not to Eat Nutrient Rich Foods - This is the sad reality, but we are not Choosing to eat the right foods.  According to CDC, only 14% of adults and only 9% of teens are eating the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables.  Only 14%!  And that's only the recommended servings which is the minimum, which is just barely enough to prevent deficiencies.  We aren't even getting the minimum.  Our plate should be at least half vegetables and fruits - and reports show that on any given day 46% don't even eat one fruit, and 18% don't even eat one vegetable.  Hopefully taking vitamins and minerals can help with these deficiencies.  What is to blame? A little bit is the food pyramid, or the "My Plate" education.  This has focused generally more on grains than anything, with little emphasis on fruits and vegetables.  Part of the blame goes towards processed food and fast food filling our foods with sugar and fats that have little to no nutritional value.  But the real blame is ourselves.  We make these choices.  We are not properly educated, we are not adequately informed and we are bombarded by thousands of unhealthy choices . . . but it all comes down to our choice.  Some say that eating healthy is expensive.  Look around.  Look at the cars we drive, the gadgets we carry, the clothes we wear, the computers we use, and the events and entertainments we attend.  Our body is more important than any of these, and we can't even make the priority to treat it the right way.  We have chosen to fail our own health.  When we are in the hospital with disease, our clothes are going to be in our closets, our car in the driveway, and our TV sitting in our living room.  They will all be there while our health is failing because we have made that choice.  I think we, in general, need to make better priorities.
2. We Live In A Processed World - There is a list of changes in our diet over the last few decades.  The key words that pop out are Refined and Processed.  Refined simply means to take out all nutrients.  We have refined sugar, flour, rice and other items.  These are nutrition-less products that are simply empty calories which provide no nutritional benefits and can do our body great harm.  Processed means that things have been added or has been chemically changed.  Again, we have processed sugar, flour, and rice.  This is the difference between white and brown rice, or white and wheat flour.  These "white" products have been processed and refined.  It has been chemically changed, making it foreign to our body and thus can create harmful reactions.  Some products are processed for preservation.  This is done by either adding salt, saturated fats, or other additives that are harmful to our health.  But this is the world we live in.  We want food now.  Companies need to process their foods to be able to meet the demands.  They replace natural products with processed foods which lack nutrition. A beef burrito may not even be real beef, and yet has a hundred other additives to make it at least taste good. Companies choose alternative products because they are cheap and inexpensive.  They gamble your health for their profit.
3. A Depleting Soil - This is the topic I truly wanted to discuss.  Soil is soil, right?  Well, not exactly.  I found that out just recently as I tried to grow a small garden in our backyard, and nothing grew.  The soil was absolutely no good.  But this is a reality for the whole world.  In the last century the increasing populations have put a high demand on crops.  The increasing demand has depleted value in the soil.  This led to the introduction of synthetic soil.  It was an idea that solved the problem temporally.  Over time, the artificial soil has created a more acidic environment, reducing the value of the soil over all.  Pesticides and herbicides have also been introduced, harming the soil.  The plants and crops grown reflect the soil it is planted in.  If the soil is depleted in vitamins and minerals, the plant will then also be deficient.  The reality is since 1940, the value of nutrition in vegetables has decreased by about 30-40%, even as high as 76% and in fruits has decreased in nutritional value by about 20%.  The natural foods we eat today are not the same that our ancestors ate centuries ago.

It is becoming grossly apparent we are deficient in the essential nutrients that we need.  We are seeing our own "scurvy" scourge with the numerous diseases and ailments we see today.  But it can be prevented.  We need to make better choices and eat more natural, nutrient rich foods. But the need of supplementing vitamins and minerals is growing and unavoidable.  I've not saying to take every little pill.  We must first get our nutrients by the foods we eat.  Afterwards, we must be aware of the nutrients we are more deficient in, to supplement them, that we may avoid any costly and harmful effects.  I wish I had more time to discuss more in depth of which vitamins to take, but I encourage everyone to make the small and simple steps of eating healthier and taking a good multi-vitamin.  There is a real need for Vitamins for us today

Sweet As Sugar

I have made a few mentions in other posts concerning sugar and sweeteners however, in my effort to find alternatives I found a pretty good list of sugar alternatives to either stay away from or are natural and good to use in replace of regular table sugar.

So what is the big deal about sugar? When I say "sugar", I mean the white granulated table sugar we purchase and commonly use in our cooking.  Sugar is a processed and refined form of sucrose taken from a variety of natural sources.  Simply when something is refined - it pretty much means that all nutrients are taken out and when something is processed it means that it has been changed chemically. The natural sugar has been turned into an empty (nutrition-less) calorie that is frankly foreign to the body.  Sugar is a simple carbohydrate which has many effects

• Increases Triglycerides
• Promotes Dysglycemia
• Suppresses Immune Function
• Promotes Nutritional Deficiency
• Feeds Pathogens
• Promotes Cavities
• Increases Uric Acid
• Increases Blood Pressure
• Increases Cholesterol - Decreases HDL

All those are terrible effects, but what does this all mean?  Stats show that in 1750 the average person consumed 6-8 pounds of sugar per year, in 1950 the average person consumed about 120 pounds of sugar per year.  That's a dramatic increase.  Today, the average person consumes 170 pounds of sugar a year.  The reality of it all is this is the same pattern of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and ADD/ADHD - all diseases or conditions that have inclined in the last couple decades.  It is no coincidence.

Sugar is an inflammatory agent that creates harmful reactions within our body.  Usually these are small effects, but with the increase of consumption - all the little reactions adds up to a gigantic problem.  Sugar increases triglycerides and increases LDL cholesterol levels which develops into atherosclerosis and heart disease. Sugar is a preferred substrate utilized by cancer cells, promoting cancer growth.  It also decreases immune function which prevents regulation of the cancer cells.  But most importantly may be a factor in causing cancer.  The refined sugar is an empty substance to which when is broken down in our body is basically waste.  Our body has several ways to rid of waste, however, when we have more waste than we can get rid of, our body has to store it somewhere.  This waste product is stored in fat cells - thus creating more fat cells which increases obesity risks.  But this is more than just a weight issue.  These new fat cells now contain toxic and harmful waste in which if accumulated can create defective and cancerous cells.  Diabetes is an obvious concern with simple sugar consumption.  Not only does sugar increase our blood sugar levels, but fat cells can create resistance to insulin.  ADD is also an up and coming issue in our society.  There are many issues when it comes to ADD or ADHD, however sugar is surely a component.  When we intake sugar, insulin is released to reduce blood sugar levels.  What people don't realize is that insulin stays in our system for hours clearing out the sugar in our blood that can deplete our body of all energy sources making one hypoglycemic which often effects our attention and thinking processes.  As a society we feed our kids cereal, juice, pancakes, muffins, or other sugary substances - overloading their system - and send them off to school where they are wired and energized, but are forced to sit in desks all day and than after several hours the kid gets a crash when the insulin has depleted all sugar levels and now can't concentrate or pay attention - and now we have an ADD kid.  Fantastic

Sugar is no harmless substance - and for decades we have tried to come up with alternatives to avoid these harmful effects.  There are some great natural sources, but there are also some synthesized forms in which need to be avoided.  Here is a helpful list of Sweeteners to know what is a good alternative to use.  To quickly forewarn - when I say "good" alternatives doesn't mean we don't need to limit ourselves.  Too much of anything is too much -

Sweeteners to Avoid -

1. High Fructose Corn Syrup - If sugar is harmful, then High Fructose Corn Syrup is 2x worse.  Also known as corn syrup or corn sugar - the claims of being a natural source is absolutely false.  It has the same effects of table sugar, but magnified.
2. Aspartame - This is an artificial sweetener found in NutraSweet, Equal, and Canderel.  This synthesized sweetener is an excitotoxin or neurotoxin.  This chemical excites the nerves in our body (mainly in the brain) and makes it rapidly fire until it burns out.
3. Neotame - This is the magnified version of Aspartame - another excitotoxin
4. Sucralose - This is a synthesized compound commonly known as Splenda.  This chemical when broken down releases Chlorine ions which kills the bacteria in our gut.  This chemical causes dysbiosis of the gut which if accumulated can create indirectly a whole mess of issues.  Never mess with the gut.
5. Acesulfame K - Also known as Acesulfame Potassium, Ace-K, or Sunett which is often found in Sweet One or Sweet & Safe (safe? ironic)  The issue is that this product has very little or improper testing.  It is known to contain the chemical Methylene Chloride which is a carcinogen (cancer causing) and has many effects on the body, but the FDA doesn't think that it is necessary to do more research - really?
6. Saccharin - This is considered a carcinogen compound, however, the FDA has for some reason decided to remove any warning of harmful effects.  There have been several reports of allergic reactions as well
7. Cyclamates - To be honest - the effects of cyclamates have been debated.  There has been research shown to cause stomach cancer and there has been research to refute it.  Cyclamates is used in 55 countries, but is banned in the United States.  I shrug my shoulder on this one - no clue

Natural Sweeteners To Use

1. Stevia - This comes from the Stevia plant and is a natural source.  It can come in powder form or in liquid.  My experience with Stevia is that it doesn't take much to make things sweetened, just a drop or two, but the taste is lacking.  It is becoming a popular choice however for an alternative due to the fact that it is safe for diabetics - look at the link for a list of other diabetic safe sweeteners
2. Evaporated Cane Juice - The name is a little confusing as ECJ is a granulated crystal and not liquid.  It is extracted from sugarcane and is a great alternative to sugar, especially brown sugar
3. Fruit Juice - Just good old fruit juice - yum
4. Rice Syrup - Derived from cooking rice with enzymes - Brown rice has a lower glycemic index
5. Honey - Raw Organic Honey is a great substitute for sugar, especially in baking and cooking.
6. Licorice Root - This is the only natural source that has a toxicity level, however, licorice root is also used for a variety of things such as alternative medical uses so using as a sweetener, the toxicity levels is not an issue
7. Amasake - This is a Japanese form of rice syrup, using koji to break down and ferment rice
8. Vegetable Glycerin - Glycerin is a natural component to oils and fats that gets broken down in our body into Amino Acids.  It is a colorless and odorless liquid with a sweet taste used in a variety of products
9. Maple Syrup (without added sugar) - Raw, organic, or molasses is the best form.

I hope this list helps.  I don't mean to begin with a fearful intro, however, it is necessary these days to be aware.  The first step is to check ingredients and see what is being used - even if you don't think sugar is in it, it most likely is or one of those other artificial sweeteners.  Even drug companies use sweeteners  Why do companies use artificial sweeteners when there are natural sources? Simply, it's cheaper to use artificial sweeteners.  Check labels.  Also, read the package or box.  If it says diet, sugar free, or other word play - that is the hint that artificial sweeteners are used.  Most importantly, it all starts in the home.  Just cooking at home dramatically decreases sugar intake, but we can do better and create recipes with these natural alternatives.  Grab the raw honey next time you are at the store and give it a try - your body will thank you

Salads: Are All Greens Good Greens

For those who know me - especially those who knew me before attending chiropractic school, may be surprised to read a post on anything vegetable oriented (my mom would be so proud). Don't worry, I'm not brain washed.  However, when attempting a raw diet about a year ago I have gained a great appreciation for the raw and natural foods we are blessed with. When I began to realize that bell peppers are actually sweet and tasty rather than being "yucky", my health choices have changed.  I began to be more aware of what I ate and the choices I was making.  I encourage all to do the same.  Salads have become one of my favorite meals - but I have been on both ends.  I once had the idea that a salad = healthy.  I was in the mindset that all greens are good greens, I mean, all veggies are equal right?

I remember several months ago seeing man at a salad bar at a certain pizza place.  I saw his plate and to my surprise it was completely full of lettuce, piled quite high too. In a flash, that pile of lettuce was soon drenched in ranch dressing to where I couldn't see anymore green on his plate. I was shocked, but truthfully at that point I wasn't too far off when it came to my salad choices.

Salads are a great healthy choice, but a salad is truly what we make it.  Not all salads are the same, not all veggies are equal and certainly not all greens are good greens. I just wanted to take a few minutes and share some hints and advice to make a salad a healthier choice - and hopefully make all our choices a little healthier.  Much of what I will share comes from a magazine, Nutrition Action

1. Go Deep For The Greens - The greens are the basics of a salad, and is most vital we don't go stingy.  Most prepared salads or restaurant salads are filled with romaine or iceberg lettuce.  This is a marketing decision more than a health choice.  Romaine and iceberg lettuce along with its little or no nutritional value are also very cheap to supply.  The rule to go by with lettuce is the darker the better.  Dark greens are full of nutritional value.  These are items such as spinach, chard, collard greens, broccoli or kale.  Dark green leafy vegetables should be the staple and corner stone of a healthy diet.  They vary in nutritional value, but not by much.  In general, they are filled with Vitamin A, E, and K along with Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Folate, and the necessary Fiber which are vital to our building blocks of life.  I enjoy and prefer spinach and kale, but it is better to have a variety instead of one type if possible.
2. Add Color To Your Plate - This is a rule for all meals.  The more (naturally) colorful your plate is, generally the better.  This is where we add in the extra veggies.  This is the best part of the salad, to create it the way you want.  This is where we add in bell peppers, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes (I know its not a true veggie), chickpeas, and any other toppings you would like to try.  Be creative and add some color
3. Add Some Fruits - I never thought of adding fruit until I got married and my wife got creative and added apples or strawberries.  This was something to get used to, but adding fresh fruit is a great addition to a healthy meal.  Other choices are mandarin oranges, berries, grapes or mangoes.  Dried fruits like raisins and cranberries are a popular choice, but should be limited
4. Add In The Protein - Protein should only by about 5-10% of our calorie intake, but a salad is a great way to add in protein.  The most popular choices are nuts, egg whites, or grilled chicken.  Limit nuts if they are high in Sodium content.  Limit grilled chicken or other meats, animal protein should only be half  of our protein intake.  There are some other options we can choose from like sprouts and edamame and even beans.
5. Cut The Cheese - Literally - cut the cheese out.  Beyond my views of dairy products, cheese is low in nutritional content and high in calories, fat, and sodium - is it worth it?
6. Hold The Croutons - Croutons and crispy wontons are not only tasty, but are also refined flour which has no nutritional value and often high in fat content
7. Reconsider Ordering A Wrap Or Panini - Wraps and paninis make creative options, but white flour only adds empty calories
8. Consider Pre-Made Salads - Just a heads up, already made salads are more often filled with high calorie, low nutritional options.  They are also higher in sodium content.  Remember, most restaurants don't have health as a priority in their food choices. It is my belief with any meal that is made at home is the healthier option than eating out
9. Cut The Dressing In Half - Please, not the dressing, anything but the dressing. It is my personal view that Ranch was made by the gods and should be eaten with everything.  I have limited myself, but the thought of limiting ranch on my salad is hard to bare.  This is one I am going to have to consciously follow.  As a general rule cutting the dressing in half is a helpful advice.  A better advice is to make better dressing choices.  I have recently discovered Balsamic Vinaigrette.  If used by this rule, vinaigrette dressings are a healthy option with a great taste

I hope you enjoyed the list.  I thought there were some great advice and reminders.  Salads are such a great option, because they are your creation.  Have fun with it and try new things.  They can be a creative healthy choice, but can also just as easily be harmful.  Just go with the Greens and top it off with the good stuff - Enjoy!

ADHD - A letter to a mother

This a letter I have recently written to a mother in need with her 3 year old son diagnosed with ADHD:

Dear Mother

I first want to wish you and your son all the best.  I wrote down and looked up my notes on the topic and made a list of things that WILL help.  Much of what I will share came from and can correlate with a power point you can find on an open website - http://box.net/standardprocess

I would recommend that you look and read the power point yourself and to have it to keep it as a reference for you and for your son. There are some major areas of concern when it comes to ADHD, They are Neurological imbalance, Nutritional deficiency, and Allergic reactions.

Allergies: 
I think the first thing to do is to find any allergies your son may have.  These are things that are harming your son that need to be eliminated.

1. Sugar - an average child eats 150 lbs of sugar every year.  We need to eliminate our sugar intake.  This includes regular table sugar, corn sugar, high fructose corn syrup and white flour.  This includes more than just candy.  This includes cereals, juices, milk, ketchup, and dressings.  Even if it claims to be healthy, it can be loaded with sugar. It is important to read the labels and ingredients.  These sugars are refined which makes it difficult for our body to digest, is a valuable food source for bacteria and other infections, and destroys our nerve cells.

2. Food additives - companies have found ways to make food taste better and look better, unfortunately at the expense of our health. These are thins like nitrates, MSG, food dyes, and artificial sweeteners. YES, artificial sweeteners like splenda or nutrasweet.  These are things that are are sweet but claim to be diet or sugar free. Many people try to eliminate sugar by eating these sugar free foods - yet it is more harmful.  Artificial sweeteners have another name - NEUROTOXIN - because that is what they do.  They destroy our brain cells, and should be avoided.

3. Other allergies - You can get an allergy test done.  The most common childhood allergies are egg, peanut, and milk.  Dairy is often a big allergy for children. Dairy is also associated with many gut dysfunctions.  Find any other allergies that may be present and avoid them for the next little while

4. Metal Toxicities - certain heavy metals can have an effect on the brain and nervous system.  You can order a heavy metal toxicity test to see if there may be a problem.  This is best done by a hair analysis.  I have heard that Garlic is the best thing to take to rid of metals in the body.

Nutritional Support
Now that we've eliminated the issues - we now need to replace the body with proper nutrition.  Most of this should come from the foods we eat, but there are certain supplements that have a great effect on ADHD.  Add fresh fruits and vegetables in the diet.  The power point has a list of some good foods to include on your diet, but here are a few key points.

1. Drink water or no sugar added juices
2. Eat at least one fresh fruit or vegetable at every meal.
3. Most fats should be good fats - avocados, Omega-3's from fish or tuna or supplements, coconut oil, olive oil.
4. No sugar, dairy, or cereal in the morning - This is a major problem we face in our society.  We inject our kids with sugar every morning and send them off to school where they are forced to sit and listen for hours. It is important to start our mornings off right.  Oatmeal is a good breakfast sweetened with raw honey and cinnamon, or even a smoothie is a good morning meal. It also makes a good treat.  Make smoothies with fresh fruit without adding sugar.  Bananas are a good fruit to sweeten things up naturally or berries.
5. During this time - no processed foods - no foods from packages or no food from restaurants.  Fresh whole foods are so vital for proper nutrition.

Here are a few extra supplemental things to add for best support - (much of these can be found and purchased at Standard Process)

1. Bacopa Complex - Relief of nervous tension and stress, improves mental function and concentration, improves memory and learning,  - very important
2. OPC Synergy - I don't know its exact effects, but helps the Bacopa
3. DHA (Omega -3) - Improves brain function
4 Probiotics - Our gut has billions of bacteria in it - most of which are good for us.  Probiotics are the good bacteria.  Infections and allergies occur when there are very little good bacteria that allows the bad bacteria to grow.  If we include more good bacteria, it will suppress the bad creating a greater balance in our gut
5 A child's multi-vitamin - just another way to make sure your son is getting enough nutrition.

Neurological Imbalance -
This isn't so much treating the cause, but rather providing the best potential possible.  The website recommends doing the nutrition for 100 days or for 3 months. I would try it for the first month, and note any improvements.  After the first month and seeing the improvements - then I would begin including the brain balancing exercises.

1. Go see a Chiropractor - I know I am a chiropractic student, but it is vital to see a chiropractor to help the nervous system function properly and provide the best brain functioning support.  Like I said - 90% of our brain function depends on our joint motion.  A chiropractor adjusts the body to helps the joints move properly.  He can also adjust in a way to balance the brain.

2. Exercise - Get him involved in a committed activity where he is moving and exercising.  Again, motion is good for brain health.  I would strongly suggest to take away and hide the X-Box and to limit TV.  I know he may not like it, but you have to do it.

3. Brain Balancing exercises - There may be certain exercises that you or the chiropractor can do that can help balance the body and thus help balance the brain. This can be as simple as balancing on one leg or other exercises that focus on balance.

I know this may seem like a lot, but I know if you do everything possible for the first month - you will see a great improvement.  He may not like it, and it may get very frustrating at first.  We all get that way when we cleanse our bodies of toxins, but once the body adapts and is filled with the good things - there are great moments ahead.  I am here for any support and for any questions.  I am excited and anxious to hear the progress. Keep me informed.

World Diabetes Day - A Day of Hope

November 14th was World Diabetes Day- which I just happened to have a pageful of notes looking into Diabetes.  The two classes had a very different look into the subject- but one thing stood out very clear.  It is an increasing problem, and the standard care is not sufficient.  13 Million people are affected in the United States which causes 35,000 deaths annually- making it the seventh leading cause of death in the US. It is a matter that needs to be looked at. I just wanted to share a general information about diabetes mellitus- and what can be done that not many people know about.


Type 1 Diabetes-  This is often a childhood development in which insulin is not produced from the pancreas.  Insulin is important for glucose transportation into the cells.  This can be a genetic disposition or be caused be a viral infection, but most likely it is an auto-immune disease in which the body attacks certain proteins which have similar structures to the cells that produce Insulin, and therefore the cells get destroyed too.  There are certain proteins found in cows milk that can trigger the attack - showing an association with milk and juvenile diabetes.


Diabetes is very serious and hard to manage.  Often very serious complications occur, commonly neuropathy of the feet which then can lead to other conditions such as blindness, coma, and death.  In fact, doctors label it as  "Incurable"  - You really believe this is incurable? The standard care is insulin shots with a poor suggested diet that has very little effect when there are obvious alternatives that have proven to eliminate diabetes.  To get my point, you may need to read to what I am not saying more than what I am saying (Hint:  What I am not saying is the Medical Profession is a business.  What I am not saying is that there are proof of alternatives and the American Medical doesn't want to accept it.  What I am not saying is that each insulin prescribed, each oral medication taken, each beta blocker given is money in their pockets.  What I am not saying is that it is hard to let a profitable business die out)


It was just today that I thought, if it is the pancreas that has been effected- what if there was something that could help support the pancreas.  I've heard of liver support and adrenal support, it just seemed reasonable to provide support to the pancreas.  That's when I saw this website- http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FKA/is_n4_v58/ai_18178322/ I am not suggesting gymnema sylvestre exactly, but rather to show that even though a cure looks bleak- there are alternatives out there to look into that may provide an answer and more importantly- HOPE


Type 2 Diabetes - This is a less severe type that is often diagnosed later in adults.  In Type 2, there is insulin, but the receptors on the cells are resistant to it.  This type is easier to manage and not as severe, but sadly this is often mismanaged with a poor diet restriction and insulin shots.  This mistreatment from both the patient and the care provider can easily induce serious complications as well.  The standard diet given to a diabetic consists of 20% protein, 40% fat, and 40% carbs.  In your mind, I want you to circle the 40% fat- really? 40%?  the China Study http://www.hidden-diabetes-cures.com/index.html focuses more on a fat intake problem than a carbohydrate problem.  This makes sense when understanding that this isn't an insulin problem, it's a resistance problem and understanding what may cause the resistance.  Research shows that muscle lipids are associated insulin resistance- along with several studies done eliminating fat instead of carbohydates.


One book suggestion is Dr. Fuhrman's, Eat To Live.  A very recommended book.  His suggestion is not a low carb diet, but rather a high carb diet.  This doesn't make practical sense to a diabetic, but we have to understand that this isn't a carbohydrate problem, this is a fat problem.  Here is a list of a suggested diet.  The first two points are key and the rest are added additional support

1. Greens- fruits and veggies, especially the leafy green veggies are the main source of carbohydrates necessary, along with antioxidents and immune support and fiber
2. Beans- contain lignins that bind to sugar to effectively reduce blood sugar levels
3. Chromium- this takes several months to take effect, but it increases insulin sensitivity
4. Vanadyl Sulfate- also increases insulin sensitivity
5. Cinnamon- a great source to lower blood glucose levels - http://diabetes.about.com/od/whatsonthehorizon/qt/cinnamon.htm
6. Magnesium- increases carbohydrate metabolism
7. Garlic- decreases cholesterol and triglycerides
8. Gymnema Sylvestre- reduces blood sugar levels and supports the pancreas
9. Avoid refined sugars and starches and oils- we need to decrease fat
10. Exercise- A known importance to a diabetic, but it has been shown that 10 min of exercise daily helps decrease glucose insulin

One last thing I wanted to share.  There is a hope for diabetes.  It has been shown to be "curable", even Type 1, but the information isn't readily out there.  Here is a website to check out. http://www.rawfor30days.com/index4.html

Please look thru and share.  It is vital information.  This is what motivated me to try the raw diet for a week, and has helped me gain a greater appreciation and knowledge of our health choices.  Our health choices have a great power and helps us be in control of our health again.  There are some amazing results- and it is out there for us

Back 2 Health

As mentioned in the previous post, our country is plagued by some serious diseases, many in which go unnoticed before it is too late, or so it may seem.  The medical field does all it can to battle these diseases, with very little success, usually only preventing more damage at the most.  Looking at all these diseases we face, what if I told you that there was something out there that could not only reduce, but possibly cure people from these diseases?  What if I said there was something that was risk free, inexpensive, and has the ability of having a great impact?  What would you say?

The answer, or rather the solution, is Nutrition.  This is the main idea of my Blog.  Back 2 Health. As a society, and even worldwide now, we have veered away from health, primarily we have as a whole have veered away from nutrition.  Too much Sugar is being consumed.  The average american consumes 150 lbs of sugar a year.  And there is less fresh fruits and vegetables in our diets today.  I can try to find the chart, but it shows a correlation between consuming fruit and cardiac diseases.  The more fruit is eaten, the less cases of heart disease in those parts of the world.  On the chart, Americans were one of the lowest of containing fruit in their diet.  Is it no wonder that heart disease is the number one cause of death in America? But it can be prevented. Lets get back on the path, lets get back into correct nutrition.

Study shows that a person who consumes fresh fruit daily will 70% less likely die from cancer, 32% die from stroke, and 24% chance die from a heart attack.  70%?  No medication comes close to those kind of numbers.  An interesting note.  There are several components of fruit that is so beneficial, but one is folic acid.  We all know this is important for pregnancy, which prevents some birth defects, but it is essential for everyone to have.  It is also an anti-atherogenic, anti-carcinogenic, and anti-depressent as well as a lack of folic acid is associated with poor cognitive function, dementia, and even Alzheimers.

Pertaining to this, there is a health appraisal questionnaire that one can fill out.  Comparing their results to their recorded diet, a doctor in this field of nutrition can recommend changes in their diet and then retake the questionaire again after their strict diet and compare the results. From what I have seen, the results are amazing.  High risk factors drop to normal or moderate risk.  There are significant changes.  There is a website that contains this questionnaire, found at www.nutri-online1.co.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=647
I have decided to take the questionnaire myself, and then change my diet for a week or two, and compare results that I will share.  I'm kinda scared, I'll be eating a lot of plants and maybe even some fish (yuck), but I am curious to see, even for me which I feel is in generally decent health, how changing my diet can improve certain things in my body and life.  Here I go