Killing for Profit

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Killing for Profit JoAnn Guest Aug 18, 2003 14:21 PDT

Killing for Profit

 

Who’s Worse, Tobacco Companies or Food Producers?

 

http://www.treelight.com/health/KillingForProfit.html

 

Summary

Tobacco is credited with causing cancer, but a deeper cause for lung

cancer and many other diseases of industrial civilization may lie in

modern commercial processing and refining of foods.

 

Tobacco lawsuits have established the principle that those who profit

from harmful products are responsible for the damage they cause.

 

This article explores the possibility of performing " social judo " , by

getting the tobacco industry to spearhead a revolution in the food

processing industry. (2500 words)

 

 

By Eric Armstrong

 

A " mercenary " is the term for someone who kills for profit. It is

wonderful to see society starting to hold tobacco companies accountable

for the effects of their products.

 

But it is ironic that in many parts of the world, where the diet and

living conditions differ from those that are endemic to Western

civilizations there is no such strong correlation between tobacco use

and cancer.

 

Not that I think tobacco companies should be let off the hook. Anyone

who is peddling an addictive, carcinogenic substance deserves to have

their head handed to them, financially speaking.

 

But if I was a tobacco company looking for a scapegoat, I might want to

consider drawing attention to the products of the food processing

industries.

 

This information is not particularly new. Many scientific studies have

pointed to the potential protection from cancer offered by the diet in

Asiatic cultures --

 

to the point that studies in these countries simply do not find the

correlation between smoking and cancer that exists here.

 

These studies point variously to the effect of garlic, vitamin C,

phytochemicals, and fiber.

 

The one thing they have in common is that something in the diet of

these peoples is protecting them from cancer.

But that doesn't mean it isn't possible to somehow make the right

choices in this part of the world.

 

Seven-time Nobel prize nominee Johanna Budwig has pointed to controlled

laboratory studies that demonstrate complete protection from

carcinogenic effects delivered by the essential fatty acids -- but those

critical nutrients are typically processed out of the Western,

" civilized " diet.

 

It is remarkable that these studies have received so little attention in

the popular press.

The fact is that you cannot depend on your evening news for

health-related information. Just the other night, a television

newscaster reported with a straight face the " new " information that

cholesterol has some beneficial properties, and that high cholesterol

levels do not necessarily produce disease.

 

Heck, that information is ancient, in nutrition circles. What

constitutes " news " and what constitutes real health information are, not

infrequently, different.

 

The mechanism that provides protection from cancer is even well

understood.

 

The high levels of vitamin C and phytochemicals present in the natural

foods of Asian peoples build healthy cell membranes.

 

It seems that pre-cancerous cells form all the time, but the membranes

of surrounding cell are so strong that they contain the abnormal cell,

which is then quashed by a healthy immune system.

 

But, here in the West, supplements do not deliver the same protection.

 

The other major component of healthy cell membranes -- high-quality

essential fatty acids -- are the first victims of commercial refining

methods, as are the vital enzymes that make everything work.

 

Fatty acid authority Udo Erasmus points out that when a cell membrane is

functioning optionally, it keeps out invaders.

 

It repels viruses, toxins, and even carcinogens. An unhealthy cell

membrane is " leaky " , and that is where the problems start.

 

So what is it that kills the enzymes, removes the vitamins, eliminates

the phytochemicals, and destroys the essential fatty acids in our foods?

 

 

There are many causes, ranging from the lack of organic farming methods

to the use of pesticides, antibiotics, and growth hormones in

agriculture.

 

Today, in fact, the Seattle Times reported that companies across the

country have been recycling hazardous wastes as fertilizer!

 

But the most insidious damage to our food supply comes from high-heat

industrial processing, because that damage is hidden, unadvertised, and

unknown to the average consumer.

 

There are three kinds of processing in particular that adulterate our

foods: refining, deep frying, and hydrogenation. Robert Erdmann provides

a truly horrific description of these processes.

 

Their enormously high heat produces exotic compounds that have

literally lethal consequences. Some of these compounds we know about.

 

The detrimental effects of the trans fats are widely known and

understood. But many more compounds are produced that we either don't

understand or have never heard of before, because they have never before

existed!

 

In other words, nothing in your millions of years of evolution has

prepared you for some of the things you are ingesting every day of your

life.

 

Our understanding has grown so complete, in fact, that we can use

quantum physics to see why this high-heat processing is so bad.

 

The essential fatty acids contained in the oils we consume occur in only

a very few, limited configurations.

 

Udo Erasmus has laid them all out, one after the other. There are so

few of them, diagrams for them all fit on a couple of pages in his book.

But when sufficient heat is present, a huge number of novel

configurations can result.

 

The quantum physics for the process is succinctly described in the book,

What is Life?, by Erwin Shro:dinger. [Author's note: The " o " has an

umlaut, or kumquat, or whatever it is -- two dots over it.]

 

When enough heat is produced to override the " energy threshhold " ,

completely new molecular configurations appear.

 

What is remarkable is how much processing has occurred purely in the

name of profit.

 

Oils are refined to extend their shelf life -- so they don't go rancid

by combining with oxygen.

 

But it is precisely by combining with oxygen that they carry out some

of their most important functions in the body.

 

As part of hemoglobin, it is the essential fatty acid combining with

oxygen that allows oxygen to be transported to the cell.

 

As part of the cell membrane, it is the essential fatty acid combining

with oxygen that allows oxygen to be transported into the cell, and from

there to the mitochondria.

 

When you refine the oil so it no longer combines with oxygen, you get

an oil that will last for years on the shelf, but which does absolutely

nothing whatever for you after you eat it!

 

Even so-called " cold pressed " oils are not immune to this problem. True,

they are pressed at low enough temperatures to preserve their nutrient

content (140-160 degrees, or less). But then they are refined --

literally steam-distilled -- at temperatures in excess of 500 degrees!

Truth in labeling? Hardly.

 

Worse, the bad fats can be hidden. The recipe for mayonnaise is two

cups of oil to two egg whites. And guess what oils are used: denatured,

refined oils.

 

It will " keep " on the shelf, but it won't keep you healthy.

 

Then there is deep frying -- another high-heat process with disastrous

consequences. Some restaurants proudly claim that they use only

vegetable oils. But that's even worse than using animal fats! Animal

fats are pretty much totally saturated. Saturated fats aren't great, but

you can't harm them very much either. It is the chemically active

unsaturated fats that are hurt most by deep frying -- the same

unsaturated fats that are present in the vegetable oils! If you're going

to deep fry, you're better off with animal fat. But it takes a lot to

understand that.

 

Finally, there is hydrogenation. It is hard to believe that anything

worse has ever been foisted off on an unsuspecting public and then

paraded as " healthy " .

 

The results of hydrogenation are, in fact, a plastic -- a substance with

a molecular structure akin to plastic whose effects in the body we only

dimly suspect, much less understand.

 

Some of the processes for manipulating oils are even known among

chemists as " plasticizing " .

 

The artifacts of the industrial revolution produced by refining, deep

frying, and hydrogenation are somewhat laughingly referred to as

" foods " .

 

In addition to denaturing enzymes and destroying vitamins, these methods

turn the truly essential fatty acids into a wide variety of toxic

compounds.

 

Everything from obesity and psoriasis to being hospitalized with a

life-threatening illness or degenerative disease can be traced to the

diet that contains them.

 

But there are alternatives. Organic, unrefined oils are available at

health food stores. Organic butter, free of pesticides, antibiotics, and

bovine growth hormone is available, as well. Free-range and organic

eggs, high in essential fatty acids and lecithin, can frequently be

found even in normal supermarkets.

 

It is an unfortunate fact that an extensive education in biochemical

nutrition is required to make the right choices without falling prey to

every new health food fad that comes down the pike.

 

Sadly, many of the dietary choices we make, given the options normally

available, are simply killing us.

 

It is not so much that the original intentions behind these products

were evil. Assuredly, they were all developed with the best of

intentions.

 

But with what is known today about their harmful effects and the

precise mechanisms by which they occur, to continue selling them is

nothing short of criminal.

 

So, when we go after companies that sell us harmful products, where do

we draw the line?

 

If we go after tobacco companies for selling us products that kill us

from cancer, why don't we go after the food processing industries for

selling us products that kill us from heart disease, arthritis,

diabetes, and a host of other diseases that are unknown outside of

modern industrial societies?

 

Legality is no excuse. Putting untreated toxic waste into fertilizer is

perfectly legal. Its just damn inconsiderate.

 

If I was one of the tobacco companies, I think that I would be pressing

hard to improve the Western diet -- if only to lower the downstream

costs of delivering my products.

 

I'd start by attacking high-heat refining methods and getting consumers

educated about fatty acids.

 

Then I'd take a look at how to get more organic foods into consumer's

hands -- foods without pesticides, antibiotics, and toxic wastes, foods

that are capable of sustaining life.

 

It makes sense for tobacco companies to spearhead an effort of this

kind. They have the money to undertake a massive public education

campaign, and they have a major incentive to shift blame elsewhere.

 

The result of such " social judo " (using the force of industral

civilization against itself) would be to reduce not only lung cancer,

but also the heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, other forms of cancer

and other diseases that are so prevalent in industrial societies, yet

unknown outside of it. The result would be better health for all.

 

References

 

Budwig, Dr. Johanna. Flax Oil as a True Aid Against Arthritis, Heart

Infarction, Cancer, and Other Diseases. Apple Publishing, Vancouver, BC,

CAN.

 

" When animals breathe in relatively large amounts of cigarette smoke,

i.e. benzopyrin; it is proved that cancer does occur.

In parallel tests, animals were concurrently fed with flax seed or flax

seed oil. These animals did not become ill. " (p.34..35)

 

" Animals which have been fed with solidified fats or saturated, inert

fats, eat six times as much fat and six times as much food. " (p. 22)

 

" The destruction of the light, activating, electron oxidation system is

the reason behind preserving process that treat food to make it last

longer, and change the nature of fats so they can be stored for

years....Testing on animals and humans has shown that when these

preserved [refined] fats, poor in electrons, are ingested, animals and

humans eat six times their normal amount of food. " (p. 33)

 

Note: The reason is that no fat is " pure " .

 

All fats are a mixture of saturates and unsaturates. The body just keeps

eating until the required polyunsaturates are supplied.

 

Erasmus, Udo. Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill. Alive Books, Burnaby, BC,

CAN.

 

Erasmus gives diagrams for all of the naturally occurring EFAs in just 2

pages at the beginning of his book. It is remarkable that these are

virtually the only configurations that occur in nature. (pp. 27-28)

" [As a result of industrialized processing] we obtained oils altered by

heat and chemicals. Natural nutrients in oils were converted into

substances detrimental to our health: trans- fatty acids, polymers,

cyclic compounds, aldehydes, ketones, epoxides, hydroperoxides, and

other compounds that have not yet been identified.

 

Many of these are toxic and detrimental to our body and our health even

in small quantities (see Chapter 19, Other Toxic Products).

 

The processes used to refine oils produce dozens of different new

substances by random processes that cannot be controlled. " (p. 88)

 

" Trans- fatty acids change the permeability of cell membranes. They

impair the protective barrier around cells, which is vital for keeping

cells alive and healthy.

 

This means that some molecules that would ordinarily be kept out of

cells can now get in, while some molecules which would ordinarily remain

in our cells can now get out.

 

Cell vitality would then diminish. Also, allergic reactions may result,

and immune function may be impaired. " (p. 109)

 

(For more information, visit http://www.udoerasmus.com.)

 

Erdmann, Robert, Ph.D. Fats That Can Save Your Life. Progressive Health

Publishing, Encinitas CA.

 

Dr. Erdmann gives truly hair-raising accounts of the high-heat

processing that accompanies hydrogenation (pp. 76-79) and commercial

refining methods (pp. 66-70). His short book effectively details the

harm done to the EFAs in the process.

 

Note: Even " cold pressed " oils are usually refined and then steam

distilled at temperatures in excess of 500 degrees to extend their shelf

life!

 

Finnegan, John, The Facts About Fats. Celestial Arts, Berkeley, 1993.

 

" Dr. Budwig....discovered that healthy people contained ample amounts of

the essential fatty acids and sulfur-rich proteins in their blood and

tissues, whereas people with illnesses were deficient in these vital

lipoprotein substances.

 

She also discovered that these lipoproteins [lipo- = lipid (fat) +

protein] play a critical part in the many key biochemical processes.

 

They are an essential component in the body's oxygen-transport

mechanisms and in the creation of hemoglobin. They are also the main

substance used to build the membranes in each and every cell, [italics

mine] and, as such, enhance our bodies' ability to resist and fight

disease-causing viruses, bacteria, yeasts, and parasites. " (p. 49)

 

When looked at through a microscope, a hydrogenated fat molecule looks

very much like a plastic molecule....Lipid chemists actually talk about

plasticizing oils. (p. 41)

 

Shrodinger, Erwin. What is Life? Cambridge University Press, New York,

1967.

 

This wonderful little book explains the quantum processes that produce

entirely new compounds when sufficient heat, pressure, or radioactive

bombardment exceeds the " threshold energy " required to destabilize a

molecule. (pp. 53..55)

 

" Killing fields? Toxic waste being spread as fertilizer " , by Duff Wilson

of the Seattle Times, reprinted in San Jose Mercury News, Saturday, July

5, 1997.

 

About the Author

 

Eric Armstrong has been programming and writing professionally since

before there were personal computers. His programming experience

includes AI programs, system libraries, real-time programs, and business

applications in a variety of languages. He is the author of The JBuilder

2 Bible, published by IDG Books in 1998, as well as the XML tutorial

published at http://java.sun.com/xml. For the last 30 years, off and on,

he has been researching nutritional biochemistry and exercise.

 

Personal Note: I am not a doctor. I am a computer programmer and writer

who has been student of nutrition and the body's physiologic response to

it for more than 30 years (off and on, since I first read Adelle Davis

at age 15). I have an eye for the literature and the ability to

formulate theoretical models of systems based on my literature research

and background in computer systems modeling. I have been skinny as a kid

and overweight as an adult. I've dealt with fatigue, depression,

sinusitis, anxiety attacks, and severe overtraining. I have had occasion

to experiment and find out for myself what works.

 

Copyright © by Eric Armstrong, 1999. www.TreeLight.com

 

 

Distribute freely, in its entirety, if not for profit.

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

DietaryTi-

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Transfats.html

 

 

 

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