MALNUTRITION

[Guest guest]

Malnutrition JoAnn Guest Oct 02, 2005 11:55 PDTHow many of these top nine foods do you consume?Whole cow's milk2% milkProcessed American cheeseWhite breadWhite flourWhite rollsRefined sugarsColasGround beefA recent USDA (US Department of Agriculture) assessment of the top ninefoods consumed by Americans clearly illustrates our pattern of overconsumptive under nutrition. They consisted basically of dairy, whiteflour, white sugar and ground beef! We might think that dairy foods area good thing; however they are full of saturated fat and, for manypeople, the cause of allergies, sinus problems, ear infections, boneloss, Type 1 diabetes, and chronic constipation. Milk is also thenumber-one cause of anemia in children from intestinal blood loss. TheFederal Trade Commission recently asked the USDA to look into thescientific basis of the claims made in the milk mustache ads. Theirpanel of scientists stated the truth clearly: Milk does not enhancesports performance, there is no evidence that it is good for your bonesor even prevents osteoporosis (and in fact, the animal protein in milkmay cause bone loss), and it is linked to prostate cancer and heartdisease, not to mention the digestive problems experienced by 75% of thepopulation who are lactose intolerant. And after dairy foods, the mostcommon foods are all sugar or quickly turn to sugar when they hit yourstomach - white bread, white flour, white rolls, refined sugars andcolas fueling the epidemic of insulin resistance. Lastly, there isground beef, very high in saturated fat, hormones, antibiotics andxenobiotics as well as the occasional toxigenic E. coli! No wonder over85% of Americans have one or more degenerative diseases by the time theyturn 65. These foods have a very low NCR, or nutrient to calorie ratio.In other words, they are nutritionally empty calories. Believe it ornot, the more sugar you eat, the more vitamins you need to process thatsugar.Beside simply low-NCR foods, we are gorging on excess calories. A recentstudy in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA1999,282(16): 1579 - Caloric Imbalance Public Health) revealed that 50%of US adults are overweight, and 22% are obese (>30lb overweight). Arecent update of that study found that in just a few years, the obesityrates increased from 22% to 30% and the overweight population increasedfrom 50% to 65%. This exponential growth is frightening. Our caloricintake from 1976 to 1996 skyrocketed. Men increased their caloric intakeby 2,239 calories a day and women increased by 1,646 calories a day.This is over and above what they were already eating, nearly doublingtheir daily caloric intake. In 2000, Americans spent $110 billion onfast food. This exceeds the amount spent on higher education, computersor new cars. On any given day, about 25% of Americans visit a fast foodoutlet and the typical American eats three burgers a week from one of30,000 fast food outlets. [Guinness Book of World Records]While our philosophy of Ultraprevention, or personalized medicine, helpsus recognize the differences among people, and the need for differentdiets for different body types and genetic predispositions, we havecreated some general guidelines for everyone that will work for alifetime of sound and intelligent eating. The fundamental omission ofmodern medicine is the complete lack of awareness of how nutrition cancreate health or disease. We give lip service to eating a low-fat dietif you have heart disease, or drinking more milk if you haveosteoporosis (which in fact may contribute to it), or avoiding spicyfoods if you have reflux, but the central idea that the most importantthing in creating a vital and well functioning body is eating vital food- food with life - is absent from medical practice.We divide foods into categories and lump all foods together into thosecategories - carbohydrates, fats and protein, and fiber. But not allcarbohydrates are equal, nor are all proteins or all fats as the USDAfood pyramid would have us believe. To illustrate, the carbohydrates inpopcorn could not be more different in their effect on your body thanthe carbohydrates in beans. Those in popcorn raise your blood sugardramatically, thereby increasing your risk of cancer; those in beansslow sugar absorption and therefore reduce your risk of cancer. Withproteins, there is a difference between animal and vegetable proteins.Excess animal protein can increase your homocysteine, cause bone lossand acidify your blood, while vegetable proteins from nuts, legumes, andseeds can lower homocysteine (in part because of the folic acid theycontain) and help increase bone density. Fats are also different.Saturated fat from animal sources can increase your risk of heartdisease, while polyunsaturated omega-3 fats from fish or flax seeds cancut the risk of sudden death in half.Basically, we can separate foods into two basic categories, 1) Highquality or high-nutrient density or high NCR and 2) Poor quality orlow-nutrient density or low NCR. The Ultraprevention dietaryrecommendations focus primarily on high-quality foods in each category.Through this simple concept, a healthy eating program can be developedthat is not a diet, but a program that supports and enriches yourmetabolism, immune system, detoxification, and reduces inflammation andoxidative stress while vanquishing malnutrition. A rich diversity ofchoices is available in our philosophy of the "varieties of eatingexperience." Some may need more fat, or less fat, or may have higherprotein needs, or not tolerate starchy carbohydrates. The best barometerof what you need is how you feel. When you eat properly for your geneticconstitution and metabolism you should feel great, and when you are notyou will feel lousy. Pay attention to how the food you eat makes youfeel and experiment with different amounts of different categories ofnutrients to see how they make you feel. You are the best judge of whatworks for you.If you eat properly for you, your weight will become normal, your energywill improve and often many seemingly unrelated physical complaintswould disappear. Think about it: your body can only operate with thequality of food you provide it. In other words: junk in, junk out. Oreat vital food and revel in your vitality.JoAnn Guestmrsjo-www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets