Subject: Eat Intelligently, Avoid Malnutrition.

[Guest guest]

Eat intelligently, avoid malnutrition.

 

http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/04/1818063.php

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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.

 

These foods consist mainly of dairy, white flour, white sugar and

ground beef! We may believe that dairy foods are beneficial,

however they contain excessive saturated fat and are, 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 state 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 eventually cause bone loss) and is linked to

prostate cancer and heart disease, not to mention the digestive

problemsexperienced by 75% of the population who are lactose

intolerant.

 

After dairy foods, the most common foods consist primarily of sugar

or quickly turn to sugar when they hit your stomach - white bread,

white flour, white rolls, refined sugars and colas fuel 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. All of 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 excessive 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 (this in

actuality may worsen it)

or avoiding spicy foods if you have reflux, but the central idea

that the mostimportant 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 are equal and

not all proteins are high in fats as the USDA food pyramid would

have us believe.

 

To illustrate, for example the carbohydrates in popcorn affect your

body quite differently than the carbohydrates in cooked dried beans.

 

Those in popcorn raise your blood sugar dramatically, thereby

increasing your risk of diabetes and cancer; those in dried beans

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

proteins, there is a similar difference between animal and vegetable

proteins. Excessive animal protein has the potential to increase

your homocysteine levels, cause bone loss and acidify your blood,

while vegetable proteins from nuts,

legumes, and seeds can lower homocysteine ( partially due to the

folic acid they contain) and help increase bone density as well.

 

Basically, we can separate foods into two main 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, reduces

inflammation and oxidative stress while also vanquishing

malnutrition. A rich diversity of

choices is available in our philosophy of various individual eating

experiences. Some may need more fat or less fat, or may have higher

protein needs, or not be able to 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 your own indiviual needs, your weight will

become normal, yourenergy will improve and often many seemingly

unrelated physical complaints will disappear. Think about it: your

body can only operate with the quality of food you provide. In other

words: junk in, junk out, garbage in, garbage out, yadayadayada....

 

Eat vital food and revel in vitality!!

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

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