Malnutrition

[Guest guest]

Malnutrition JoAnn Guest Oct 02, 2005 11:55 PDT

 

How many of these top nine foods do you consume?

Whole cow's milk

2% milk

Processed American cheese

White bread

White flour

White rolls

Refined sugars

Colas

Ground beef

A recent USDA (US Department of Agriculture) assessment of the top nine

foods consumed by Americans clearly illustrates our pattern of over

consumptive under nutrition. They consisted basically of dairy, white

flour, white sugar and ground beef! We might think that dairy foods are

a good thing; however they are full of saturated fat and, for many

people, the cause of allergies, sinus problems, ear infections, bone

loss, Type 1 diabetes, and chronic constipation. Milk is also the

number-one cause of anemia in children from intestinal blood loss. The

Federal Trade Commission recently asked the USDA to look into the

scientific basis of the claims made in the milk mustache ads. Their

panel of scientists stated the truth clearly: Milk does not enhance

sports performance, there is no evidence that it is good for your bones

or even prevents osteoporosis (and in fact, the animal protein in milk

may cause bone loss), and it is linked to prostate cancer and heart

disease, not to mention the digestive problems experienced by 75% of the

population who are lactose intolerant. And after dairy foods, the most

common foods are all sugar or quickly turn to sugar when they hit your

stomach - white bread, white flour, white rolls, refined sugars and

colas fueling the epidemic of insulin resistance. Lastly, there is

ground beef, very high in saturated fat, hormones, antibiotics and

xenobiotics as well as the occasional toxigenic E. coli! No wonder over

85% of Americans have one or more degenerative diseases by the time they

turn 65. These foods have a very low NCR, or nutrient to calorie ratio.

In other words, they are nutritionally empty calories. Believe it or

not, the more sugar you eat, the more vitamins you need to process that

sugar.

 

Beside simply low-NCR foods, we are gorging on excess calories. A recent

study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA

1999,282(16): 1579 - Caloric Imbalance Public Health) revealed that 50%

of US adults are overweight, and 22% are obese (>30lb overweight). A

recent update of that study found that in just a few years, the obesity

rates increased from 22% to 30% and the overweight population increased

from 50% to 65%. This exponential growth is frightening. Our caloric

intake from 1976 to 1996 skyrocketed. Men increased their caloric intake

by 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 doubling

their daily caloric intake. In 2000, Americans spent $110 billion on

fast food. This exceeds the amount spent on higher education, computers

or new cars. On any given day, about 25% of Americans visit a fast food

outlet and the typical American eats three burgers a week from one of

30,000 fast food outlets. [Guinness Book of World Records]

 

While our philosophy of Ultraprevention, or personalized medicine, helps

us recognize the differences among people, and the need for different

diets for different body types and genetic predispositions, we have

created some general guidelines for everyone that will work for a

lifetime of sound and intelligent eating. The fundamental omission of

modern medicine is the complete lack of awareness of how nutrition can

create health or disease. We give lip service to eating a low-fat diet

if you have heart disease, or drinking more milk if you have

osteoporosis (which in fact may contribute to it), or avoiding spicy

foods if you have reflux, but the central idea that the most important

thing 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 those

categories - carbohydrates, fats and protein, and fiber. But not all

carbohydrates are equal, nor are all proteins or all fats as the USDA

food pyramid would have us believe. To illustrate, the carbohydrates in

popcorn could not be more different in their effect on your body than

the carbohydrates in beans. Those in popcorn raise your blood sugar

dramatically, thereby increasing your risk of cancer; those in beans

slow sugar absorption and therefore reduce your risk of cancer. With

proteins, there is a difference between animal and vegetable proteins.

Excess animal protein can increase your homocysteine, cause bone loss

and acidify your blood, while vegetable proteins from nuts, legumes, and

seeds can lower homocysteine (in part because of the folic acid they

contain) and help increase bone density. Fats are also different.

Saturated fat from animal sources can increase your risk of heart

disease, while polyunsaturated omega-3 fats from fish or flax seeds can

cut the risk of sudden death in half.

 

Basically, we can separate foods into two basic categories, 1) High

quality or high-nutrient density or high NCR and 2) Poor quality or

low-nutrient density or low NCR. The Ultraprevention dietary

recommendations focus primarily on high-quality foods in each category.

Through this simple concept, a healthy eating program can be developed

that is not a diet, but a program that supports and enriches your

metabolism, immune system, detoxification, and reduces inflammation and

oxidative stress while vanquishing malnutrition. A rich diversity of

choices is available in our philosophy of the " varieties of eating

experience. " Some may need more fat, or less fat, or may have higher

protein needs, or not tolerate starchy carbohydrates. The best barometer

of what you need is how you feel. When you eat properly for your genetic

constitution and metabolism you should feel great, and when you are not

you will feel lousy. Pay attention to how the food you eat makes you

feel and experiment with different amounts of different categories of

nutrients to see how they make you feel. You are the best judge of what

works for you.

 

If you eat properly for you, your weight will become normal, your energy

will improve and often many seemingly unrelated physical complaints

would disappear. Think about it: your body can only operate with the

quality of food you provide it. In other words: junk in, junk out. Or

eat vital food and revel in your vitality.

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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