Category Archives: Healthy Eating

Why This Common Cooking Oil is a Cancer Nightmare

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Cancer-Nightmare-Oils

 A Von Butz in Cancer 101, Cancer Causes, Foods, Nutrition

 

In 1956, a major cooking oil company published a series of magazine advertisements claiming that “fried foods become light foods” when vegetable oil is used in place of butter or lard. The clear message to health-savvy homemakers was that vegetable oil was a low-calorie solution to the more traditional fats they were cooking with. Millions of well-meaning cooks took the bait and made the switch, thinking their families would be better off as a result.

Fast-forward 60 years and this cooking oil marketing blitz was evidently an industry success. Vegetable oils continue to remain the go-to fat used in fried and processed foods. Marketers are still claiming that they’re better for human health than animal fats because they contain no cholesterol and aren’t saturated. But what does the latest science have to say about this vegetable oil madness?

French fries in a deep fryer closeupIn a nutshell: all that “golden goodness” being dumped into deep fryers, drizzled on salads, and poured into frying pans isn’t exactly the health boon that industrial processors have long claimed it is. So-called “heart healthy” cooking oils (i.e. soy, canola (rapeseed), cottonseed, sunflower, and corn) just so happen to be among the leading causes of heart disease and cancer in America today. Most consumers have no idea that they’re being duped.

History of this Cooking Oil Exposes it as Toxic Waste

The chemical industry and popular media have long hyped vegetable oil as the “healthy” choice for dietary fat. This is primarily because it’s cheap to produce and generates sizeable revenues for the corporations that make it. The alleged health benefits of vegetable oil as a cooking oil are minimal at best. And after more than 100 years of use in the food supply we are now seeing the dire consequences of this deception − rampant chronic disease.

The origins of vegetable oil and how it came to be the standard fat used in American food preparation are disturbing, to say the least. According to the critically acclaimed book The Happiness Diet, it all began with global consumer product giant Procter & Gamble (P&G). P&G convinced the American public to abandon the use of animal fats in favor of its own industrially-processed vegetable oil.

When William Procter and James Gamble teamed up and began manufacturing soap from cottonseeds during their company’s infancy, they realized that this process generated a lot of waste in the form of cottonseed oil. This oil would eventually be peddled off as a “nutritious food,” though it has virtually no nutritional value at all. In its raw form it’s actually a toxin that some countries use as a form of male birth control.

A crafty array of marketing tactics combined with aggressive sample distribution eventually landed this cooking oil into millions of homes and restaurants throughout America. Though this feat took considerable time and effort, the transformation of this industrial waste from filth to food was a success, and the rest is history.

A piece published in Science Monthly succinctly sums up how cottonseed oil, and vegetable oils

at large, went from noxious waste to common cooking oil:

“What was garbage in 1860 was fertilizer in 1870, cattle feed in 1880, and table food and many things else in 1890.”

Vegetable Oil is Extremely Unhealthy, and Here’s Why

So what’s the big deal? If vegetable oil supposedly helps lower cholesterol and prevent artery hardening, does it really matter where it comes from or how it came to be standard fare in the American palate? Not so fast. Here are a few dirty facts about vegetable oil that you may not know:

You Should stop using vegetable oil.

1) Vegetable oils are often rancid due to heavy processing and oxidation
A combination of high heat, pressure, and chemical solvents is used to extract vegetable oils from plants, exposing them to an incredible amount of air and light. When this occurs, these oils oxidize and become rancid, as well as lose many or all of their healing antioxidants. This renders them toxic and inflammatory.

2) Many vegetable oils undergo hydrogenation, which turns them into trans fats
In order to create a desirable consistency and texture for use in baking and other forms of cooking, vegetable oils are often hydrogenated to make them “creamier” and solid at room temperature. Hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated vegetable oils are essentially trans fats that interfere with the body’s normal metabolism of nutrients, leading to health conditions such as:

  • Gastrointestinal disease
  • Immune system damage
  • Liver disorders
  • Atherosclerosis
  • Diabetes
  • Obesity
  • Cancer

The hydrogenation process might make vegetable oils last longer on the shelf, but consuming them has repeatedly been shown in the scientific literature to induce many forms of cancer. One study out of Vanderbilt University found that trans fat consumption is associated with an increased risk of death. Not only from heart disease but from all causes, meaning these oils are generally toxic to human health.

3) Vegetable oils are associated with cancers of the colon, breast, and more
Researchers in Europe discovered several years back that trans fat intake can increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer nearly twofold. Similar case studies have demonstrated trans fat intake as a major risk factor for colon and other forms of cancer as well.

What Cooking Oils ARE Good for You?

So what’s the solution? Reverting back to the animal fats of old is a surefire way to avoid the pitfalls of vegetable oil consumption. If you don’t consume animal products, be sure to use healthy saturated fats such as palm and coconut oil. Contrary to popular belief, saturated fats aren’t responsible for clogging your arteries and promoting heart disease − vegetable oils are!

“Unsaturated fat makes up 74% of the fat that is found in clogged arteries, and more than half of that is polyunsaturated fat,” explains Dr. Josh Axe, a leading expert in progressive health and nutrition.

The best oils you can use for cooking, as extensively corroborated by the renowned Weston A. Price Foundation, include:

  • Butter (preferably grass-fed butter that is darker yellow in color)
  • Tallow and suet from both beef and lamb (pastured with no hormones or antibiotics)
  • Lard from pigs (pastured with no hormones or antibiotics)
  • Chicken, goose, and duck fat (pastured with no hormones or antibiotics)
  • Coconut, palm, and palm kernel oils

The important point is, the oil you use should be COLD PRESSED or filtered, NOT refined.

Stay Healthy Always!

Magnesium as Weight Loss Support?

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 Angela Buhri

Minerals and microelements

Recently we hear a lot about magnesium. Since I am taking natural magnesium on a regular basis my health has drastically increased in several regards. But how about weight loss? Can it really support your weight loss process?

So I decided to give that mineral a closer look. And what I got to learn so far sounds very promising.

To begin with, the older you are the less your body can utilize magnesium from food and the larger amounts you need to supplement.

Here are some facts about magnesium:

  • Magnesium helps the body with basic functions of the nerves, what is crucial these days with the increasing electromagnetic pollution through cell phones.
  • Not only nerves, but also muscles and other organs need magnesium for proper function. Very good news for us is the fact that magnesium also makes better use of all nutrients for sufficient digestion and it helps the body to better process the food you consume. This can definitely help you maintain a healthier weight.
  • If you have a blood sugar problem, magnesium might at least be part of the solution since it plays an important role in regulating your blood sugar levels. According to a 2013 study in the Journal of Nutrition, a high intake of magnesium has been linked to lower glucose and insulin levels. Both of them control fat and weight gain.
  • British researchers found in another study that supplementing magnesium can help reduce water retention and relieve bloating during the menstrual cycle.
  • Younger people can achieve weight loss simply by adding magnesium-rich food to their daily diet. Fruits, green leafy vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds, fish, meat and dairy products are all rich in magnesium. Of course the food has to be fresh from the market or the farm. The older you get, a healthy diet may not be enough and you may need to supplement magnesium.
  • Magnesium is a contributing factor in balancing your metabolism and providing the body with energy, which makes exercising easier and the fat-burning process faster and more effective. It helps the body synthesize proteins, carbs and fats and you need less food to be full and satisfied.
  • Another tremendous benefit of that mineral is that it allows the body to convert blood glucose into energy effectively what plays a major role in your body’s insulin function. That way supplementing magnesium alone can help to apply healthier eating habits.
  • A deficiency in magnesium leads to a loss of energy and fatigue, just to name a few side effects. This again reduces the motivation to work out and exercise. Healthy amounts of magnesium make you feel better emotionally and physically. You find it easier to eat properly for better weight maintenance.
  • When your magnesium levels are low, you feel more exhausted and you crave any kind of food.
  • Magnesium can even reduce anxiety and stress…both can cause increased hunger and appetite. While under stress, your body stores more fat, making it difficult to lose weight. According to Dr. Carolyn Dean magnesium neutralizes the effects of stress.

Products rich in magnesium on wooden spoons.

Whatever nutrient you lack, your body begins to crave it. Since most of us have un-learned to listen to their body, lack of vital nutrients often show in form of cravings for sugary and unhealthy foods. Hardly anybody craves magnesium per se, unless you regularly supplement it so that your body had the chance to get used to and distinguish it from other nutrients.

Of course as one of my long-time readers you already understand that all this only works if you strictly stick to whole foods. Processed foods have not only lost most of their nutrients (including magnesium), but also contain lots of additives and toxins that contribute to weight gain.

Therefore, when weight is an issue, there is only one option: eat natural, healthy, organic produce and, depending on your age, you may want to add some extra magnesium. For faster and easier weight loss, both internal and external use is recommended. You can purchase a natural magnesium salt from the Dead Sea and regularly take a bath with Epsom salt.

Is Your Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Real or an Imposter?

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Stephen Sinatra, MD

Authentic extra-virgin olive oil is an anti-aging superfood loaded with healthy fats and antioxidants. It is one of nature’s greatest gifts – pure, healthy and alive. Unfortunately, finding real extra-virgin olive oil may be harder than you think. It has come to light that many olive oils labeled “extra-virgin” actually contain altered, imposter oils.

  • Olive oil purported to originate from Italy – often did not. A good deal of the oils sold as “Italian” were actually oils from Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia.
  • Some extra-virgin olive oils were diluted with oils of lesser quality, such as soybean oil.
  • Color and flavor of oils were manipulated with beta-carotene (affects taste) and chlorophyll (alters color).
  • Highly altered oils of multi-country origin were labeled “Extra-Virgin” or “Packed in Italy” or “Imported from Italy”.
  • 69% of imported “extra-virgin” oil did not meet the criteria in one study.
  • Authorities have made attempts at regulation; however, there are few legal repercussions for the producers of fraudulent oils.

Additionally, a 2010 Brazilian study (see Alves) described the situation thusly: “Extra-virgin (EV), the finest and most expensive among all the olive oil grades, is often adulterated by the cheapest and lowest quality ordinary (ON) olive oil.” In 2013, olive oil topped the list of foods most prone to fraudulent practices, according to a draft report of the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (see Butler). The risk list was based on research findings, police records, and industry consultations.

What You Need to Know When Shopping for Real Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

After much olive oil research, I’d like to share some advice that can help make you a smarter consumer and find the authentic extra virgin olive oil you want. First and foremost, make sure you buy extra-virgin oil. I also suggest doing the following:

  • Look for a harvest date on the label and choose a product with a current year harvest.
  • The oil should be cloudy, not clear. This indicates the olives have been crushed and the oil still contains valuable phytonutrients.
  • Check the label for the source of the olives – country, state, and province – and for unique certification, such as DOP in Italy (DOP means all phases of production, processing, and preparation are traditionally conducted in the certified area) and COOC (California Olive Oil Council) certification.  
  • Be wary about imported products because of the shipping time and exposure to heat, and concern about quality control. Most products come to the U.S. by boat. Time and heat are critical factors that can affect freshness.
  • Always store in a dark bottle, a metal container, or other packaging that blocks light. Keep in a cool cabinet, away from light and heat. No need to refrigerate.
  • Use your olive oil smartly. In the kitchen I generally use extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling amply onto vegetables and salads – you can also use it for cooking at low temperatures for short periods of time, such as sautéing. For cooking in general, I recommend coconut oil, a saturated fat least vulnerable to oxidative deterioration from heat.

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Benefits of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

People often ask me, is extra virgin olive oil healthy? To which I reply, It’s a superfood! I’ve come to believe this after reading research study upon research study demonstrating the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil.  Full of healthy compounds, olive oil plays a paramount nutritional and health role as an “All-star” of the Mediterranean diet. When you seek out authentic extra-virgin olive oil, you are getting the highest concentration of healthy compounds due to the careful production of this finest grade of olive oil. Real extra-virgin olive oil is produced by means of cold-pressing the olive fruit. This technique protects the fruits nutrients and antioxidants which can be destroyed if oil is extracted by means of heat or solvents – processes that may be used in the production of lesser grade oils. The resulting cold-pressed oil is rich in nutrients and antioxidants.

Food for Thought – Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Is a Fruit Juice!

Ultimately, few people associate real extra-virgin olive oil with what it essentially is: a fruit juice. Chock-full of health compounds like polyphenols and antioxidants, there is no comparison for golden, rich, authentic extra-virgin olive oil. Remember, like all fruit products, the fresher the better and to obtain the highest quality, it is best to get it from a local source. Try to avoid oils that have taken long trips around the world, especially when you are unsure if the label claims are accurate. Try varieties produced right here in the U.S. such as those from Sonoma Valley and seek out brands that carry the trusted COOC certification. Last but not least – enjoy drizzling your way to health!

Image courtesy Dr Hyman

Mindful Eating 101 – A Beginner’s Guide

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Wondering About FoodMindful eating is a technique that helps you gain control over your eating habits. It has been shown to cause weight loss, reduce binge eating and help you feel better.

This article explains what mindful eating is, how it works and what you need to do to get started.

What is Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating is based on mindfulness, a Buddhist concept.

It is a form of meditation that helps you recognize and cope with your emotions and physical sensations . It has helped treat many conditions, including eating disorders, depression, anxiety and various food-related behaviors.

Mindful eating is about using mindfulness to reach a state of full attention to your experiences, cravings and physical cues when eating.

Fundamentally, mindful eating involves:

  • Eating slowly and without distraction.
  • Listening to physical hunger cues and eating only until you’re full.
  • Distinguishing between actual hunger and non-hunger triggers for eating.
  • Engaging your senses by noticing colors, smells, sounds, textures and tastes.
  • Learning to cope with guilt and anxiety about food.
  • Eating to maintain overall health and well-being.
  • Noticing the effects food has on your feelings and figure.
  • Appreciating your food.

These things allow you to replace automatic thoughts and reactions with more conscious, healthier responses.

Why Should You Try Mindful Eating?

Eating has become a mindless act, often done quickly. This can be problematic, since it actually takes the brain up to 20 minutes to realize you’re full. If you eat too fast, the fullness signal may not arrive until you’ve already eaten too much. This is very common in binge eating. By eating mindfully, you restore your attention and slow down, making eating an intentional act instead of an automatic one.

 Mindful eating helps you distinguish between emotional and physical hunger. It also increases your awareness of food-related triggers, and gives you the freedom to choose your response to them.

Mindful Eating and Weight Loss

Weight Scale

It is a well-known fact that most weight loss programs don’t work in the long term.

Around 85% of obese individuals who lose weight return to or exceed their initial weight within a few years . Binge eating, emotional eating, external eating and eating in response to food cravings have been linked to weight gain and weight regain after successful weight loss.

Chronic exposure to stress may also play a large role in overeating and the development of obesity.

The vast majority of studies agree that mindful eating helps you lose weight by changing eating behaviors and reducing stress. A 6-week group seminar on mindful eating among obese individuals resulted in an average weight loss of 9 lbs (4 kg) during the seminar and the 12-week follow-up period).

By changing the way you think about food, the negative feelings that may be associated with eating are replaced with awareness, improved self-control and positive emotions .

When unwanted eating behaviors are addressed, the chances of long-term weight loss success are increased.

Mindful Eating and Binge Eating

Junk Food

Binge eating involves eating a large amount of food in a short amount of time, mindlessly and without control. It has been linked to eating disorders and weight gain, and one study showed that almost 70% of binge eaters are obese.

Interestingly, mindful eating has been shown to drastically reduce the severity and frequency of binge eating.

One study found that after a 6-week group intervention in obese women, binge eating episodes decreased from 4 to 1.5 times per week. The severity of each episode also decreased.

Mindful Eating and Unhealthy Eating Behaviors

In addition to being an effective treatment for binge eating, mindful eating methods have also been shown to reduce:

  • Emotional eating: Eating in response to certain emotions.
  • External eating: Eating in response to environmental food-related cues, such as the sight or smell of food).

Unhealthy eating behaviors like these are the most commonly reported problems among obese individuals.

Mindful eating gives you the skills you need to deal with these impulses. It puts you in charge of your responses, instead of you acting on them without thought.

How To Practice Mindful Eating

Mindful Eating Burger
There are many simple ways to get started, some of which can have powerful benefits :

  • Eat more slowly and don’t rush your meals.
  • Chew thoroughly.
  • Eliminate distractions by turning off the TV and putting down your phone.
  • Eat in silence or enjoy conversation with people you care for
  • Focus on how the food makes you feel.
  • Stop eating when you’re full.
  • Ask yourself why you’re eating. Are you actually hungry? Is it healthy?

To begin with, it is a good idea to pick one meal per day, to focus on these points.

Once you’ve got the hang of this, mindfulness will become more natural. Then you can focus on implementing these habits into more meals.

Mindful eating takes practice. Try to eat more slowly, chew thoroughly, remove distractions and stop eating when you’re full.

Where to Find More Information
  • Amazon: Many good books on mindful eating are available on Amazon.
  • Web resources: This website lists 50 mindful eating web resources.
  • Videos: This is a short video introduction to mindful eating.
  • Meditating: Here is a short meditation to help manage food cravings.
  • Workshops: Mindful eating seminars are located around the world and online.
Take Home Message

Mindful eating is a powerful tool to regain control of your eating.

If you have failed with conventional “diets” in the past, then this is definitely something you should try.

Simple. Eat well. Stay Healthy.

7 Ways Probiotics DETOXIFY Your Body

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7 Ways Probiotics Help You To DETOXIFY Your Health

You’ve probably heard the buzz already about the many health benefits of probiotics, a word which literally translates to: pro- “for” + biotics “life” — FOR LIFE.  But did you know that these remarkable commensal microorganisms, which outnumber our bodily cells 10 to 1, and contribute over 95% of our body’s total genetic information, also break down highly toxic manmade chemicals which your body is either incapable, or only partially capable, of defending itself from?

Learn about some of the amazing ways in which ‘good bacteria’ help to detoxify chemicals within our body:

  • Bisphenol A: This ubiquitous toxicant — linked to over 40 diseases — found in anything from thermal printer receipts, paper money, canned food liners, dental composites, and of course plastics, is a powerful endocrine disrupter now found in everyone’s bodies. Remarkably, two common probiotic strains, Bifidobacterium breve and Lactobacillus casei, have been found in animal research to help the body detoxify it by reducing the intestinal absorption of bisphenol A through facilitating increased excretion. The animals receiving probiotic treatment were found to have 2.4 times higher excretion of Bisphenol A in their feces, suggesting probiotic supplementation could be of significant benefit to humans as well.
  • Pesticides: Probiotic strains from the traditional Korean fermented cabbage dish known as kimchi have been identified to degrade a variety of organophosphorous pesticides such as chlorpyrifos, coumaphos, diazinon, methylparathion, and parathion. These nifty organisms actually use these exceedingly hard to break down chemicals as sources of carbon and phosphorous – ‘food’! – and were found to break down the pesticide 83.3% after 3 days and degraded it completely by day 9.  While this test tube study likely does not reflect exactly what happens in our gut when we ingest both chlorpyrifos and Kimchi, it is provocative, and may indicate there is some protective effects in the gut.
  • Heavy Metals: Lactobacillus bacteria found in food have been looked at as a potential adjunct agent for reducing metal toxicity in humans.
  • Cancerous Food Preservatives: Another kimchi study found it contained a strain of bacteria capable of breaking down sodium nitrate, a naturally and artificially occurring chemical (used from anything to rocket fuel and gunpowder) linked to a variety of chronic degenerative diseases, including cancer.  A recent study found that four lactobacillus strains where capable of breaking this toxic byproduct down by up to 50%.
  • Perchlorate – perchlorate is an ingredient in jet fuel and fireworks that widely contaminates the environment and our food. Sadly, even organic food has been found concentrate high levels of this toxicant, making it exceedingly difficult to avoid exposure. It is now found in disturbing concentrations in breast milk and urine, and is a well-known endocrine disrupter capable of blocking the iodine receptor in the thyroid, resulting in hypothyroidism and concomitant neurological dysfunction.  A recent study found that the beneficial bacterial strain known as Bifidobacterium Bifidum is capable of degrading perchlorate, and that breast fed infants appear to have lower levels than infant formula fed babies due to the breast milk bacteria’s ability to degrade perchlorate through the perchlorate reductase pathway.
  • Heterocylic Amines: Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HCA) are compounds formed when meat is cooked at high temperatures of 150-300 degrees C, and are extremely mutagenic (damage the DNA). Lactobacillus strains have been identified that significantly reduce the genotoxicity of theses compounds.
  • Toxic Foods: While not normally considered a ‘toxin,’ wheat contains a series of proteins that we do not have the genomic capability to produce enzymes to degrade. When these undigested proteins – and there are over 23,000 that have been identified in the wheat proteome – enter into the blood, they can wreak havoc on our health. Recent research has found that our body has dozens of strains of bacteria that are capable of breaking down glutinous proteins and therefore reduce its antigenicity and toxicity.

It is simple to Stay Healthy.