FDA Concedes Raw Milk Across State Lines OK for Personal Consumption

However, let’s put to rest all the chatter about the ”natural”  sweeteners  and artificial sweeteners that may sound as if they are actually good for you or okay to ingest.

Let’s start with the artificial sweeteners:

SWEET’N LOW (SACCHARINE/CYCLAMATE)–Here’s theme that is recurring – Perform laboratory tests using toxic hazardous chemicals,  spill it on your hand, taste it, give it a name and use it in processed foods as a sweetener!  Sounds like the “Crisco” model!

Saccharin - In 1879 researchers were at Johns Hopkins University were working on toluene derivatives. Toluene is produced in the process of making gasoline from crude oil and in making coke from coal.  Exposure to high levels can cause unconsciousness and even death according to the U.S. Government’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry under the classification of hazardous.

One of the researchers spilled some of the toluene derivative on his hand while doing his research that day and later that night while at dinner noticed that his food tasted oddly sweet.  He traced the taste back to the chemicals he was researching that day and named the substance “saccharin” after the word saccharide, which means complex sugar.

Saccharin–a toluene derivative?  A Derivative of the same toluene used to make nail polish, rubber, paint, and paint thinners, etc., just to add no calorie sweetener to food?  Seriously?

Cyclamate – In 1937 a graduate student from the University of Illinois was trying to synthesize fever reducing drugs in the lab.  He laid his cigarette down on a lab bench and when he took another puff he discovered the sweet taste of cyclamate from the antipyretic drugs he had on his fingers.

Sweet’N Low was originally the first powdered no calorie sweetener and blended 10:1 ratio of cyclamate to saccharine.  After all of the disputes over cyclamates, Sweet’N Low today is a blend of saccharin and dextrose.

SUCRALOSE SPLENDA): Splenda was invented by scientists trying to find a better pesticide. One Scientist said to the other , “test it,” but the other scientist thought he said “TASTE II” and so he did and found that it was sweet.

A very dangerous new chemical — because in order to make sucralose, chlorine is added to sugar!  Research by the Sucralose Toxicity Information Center showed that years of sucralose use can lead to serious compromise of the immune system and neurological disorders.

Splenda is only “made from sugar” because they took a sugar molecule and substituted three of its atoms with chlorine. Chlorine when ingested in your body turns to methanol then in turn gets absorbed as formaldehyde.  Isn’t that interesting?  Formaldehyde–that’s for embalming, right?  Just think you can preserve yourself while you kill yourself!

“The manufacturer’s own short-term studies showed that very high doses of sucralose (far beyond what would be expected in an ordinary diet) caused shrunken thymus glands, enlarged livers, and kidney disorders in rodents. A more recent study also shows that Splenda significantly decreases beneficial gut flora.

As a side note, more than 90% of my clients have compromised guts (intestines).  Whether parasites, candida, toxicity, or poor bowel function, your health does begin in the gut.  In fact, at least 80% of your immune system is in your intestines!  Why would you want to do anything to compromise that?

“But in this case, the FDA decided that because these studies weren’t based on human test animals, they were not conclusive. Of course, rats had been chosen for the testing specifically because they metabolize sucralose more like humans than any other animal used for testing.

In other words, the FDA has tried to have it both ways — they accepted the manufacturer’s studies on rats because the manufacturer had shown that rats and humans metabolize the sweetener in similar ways, but shrugged off the safety concerns on the grounds that rats and humans are different.”

Sucralose has been implicated as a possible migraine trigger, for example. Self-reported adverse reactions to Splenda or sucralose collected by the Sucralose Toxicity Information Center include skin rashes/flushing, panic-like agitation, dizziness and numbness, diarrhea, swelling, muscle aches, headaches, intestinal cramping, bladder issues, and stomach pain. These show up at one end of the spectrum — in the people who have an allergy or sensitivity to the sucralose molecule. But no one can say to what degree consuming Splenda affects the rest of us, and there are no long-term studies in humans with large numbers of subjects to say one way or the other if it’s safe for everyone.

ASPARTAME (NUTRI-SWEET, EQUAL)

Aspartate (main ingredient in Nutrisweet/Equal) in simplistic terms, causes the brain neurons to constantly fire – that’s why it’s called an excitotoxin – these neurons actually keep firing and are literally excited to death.

Aspartame is so much sweeter than sugar that frequent consumption can lead people to actually consume more calories.  I’ve always said, “fat people drink diet-coke!” The truth is… “phenylalanine and aspartic acid, the amino acids which make up the bulk of aspartame, are known to rapidly stimulate the release of insulin and leptin, which are hormones that signal the body to store fat…”  Sweet Deception by Dr. Mercola

Glutamate (MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, Glutamaic acid, etc.)is also an amino acid and does exactly the same thing as Aspartate with respect to brain cells.  “Likewise, exposing neurons to glutamate or aspartate can induce paired helical filaments very similar to those seen in naturally occurring Alzheimer’s disease…” (Excitotoxins, The Taste That Kills by Russell L. Blaylock, MD)

Sadly in a child’s brain, the constant firing of neurons and death of brain cells causes irreversible damage!

“Aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. Many of these reactions are very serious including seizures and death.(1) A few of the 90 different documented symptoms listed in the report as being caused by aspartame include: Headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, and joint pain.

According to researchers and physicians studying the adverse effects of aspartame, the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or worsened by ingesting of aspartame:(2) Brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, parkinson’s disease, alzheimer’s, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, fibromyalgia, and diabetes…”  Mercola

Don’t you just wonder why people keep drinking toxic chemicals every time you see someone drinking a diet soda??? They are better off with HFCF!!!!

NEOTAME – Monsanto developed a new version of aspartame which is 72 times sweeter than aspartame and called neotame.  Neotame is chemically related aspartame and is 7 to 13 thousand times sweeter than sugar, stable at high heat and not broken down in the body into the amino acid phenylalanine.  Neotame is aspartame plus 3-di-methyl-butyl, which is on the EPA’s list of most hazardous chemicals.  Wow!  What an improvement over aspartame!  I just bet that it is being used in processed foods under some mysterious ingredient name…

SUGAR ALCOHOLS – XYLOTOL, MANNITOL, SORBITOL, MALTITOL, ISOMALT, LACTITOL, TAGATOSE ERYTHITOL-Sugar alcohols are found naturally in low levels in some raw fruits and vegetables and don’t cause problems in their raw state.

However, the sugar alcohols (Polyols) manufactured are quite different in the way the body reacts to them.  Most sugar alcohols are not considered GRAS (generally regarded as safe) under food and beverage law, but are allowed under the American cosmetic, flavor, and pharmaceutical regulations. They can cause the following adverse side effects at only 1½ teaspoons per day and some polyols have been linked directly to malignant tumor activity:

Bloating

Gastrointestinal distress

Diarrhea

Anal leakage

These symptoms are particularly dangereous in infants, children, diabetics, hyperinsulinemics of hypoglycemic, pregnamt women, seniors and many other health compromised people.

Don’t sugar alcohols sound too good to be true?  You would think it’s a miracle sugar substitute in all the hype.  From Dr. Mercola in Sweet Deception,  “… However, even though sugar alcohols do not raise your blood sugar levels as much as table sugar, they do raise them.
Sugar alcohols can also be converted to fat, and may contribute to an increase in blood triglyceride levels and weight gain.  The exception to this rule is erythritol, which does not appear to raise blood sugars, but unfortunately also has inferior sweetening power.”

Studies have shown that of the sugar alcohols xylitol is probably the best because of the health benefits associated with it, such as the benefit of preventing tooth decay and ear infections, however, it is still a manufactured,  manipulated product.

Let’s face it – sugar is sugar and the food industry is constantly trying to “candy-coat”  the fact that sugar is still sugar, no matter what you call it and it still is and always will be very harmful to the body.

SUGAR - Table sugar, cane sugar, etc. is made of 50% glucose and 50% fructose.  It is recognized by the body as a simple sugar, and it can deal with it, albeit it is stressful to deal with but it does nonetheless.  Too much sugar can lead to diabetes, which will lead to heart disease, renal disease, pripheral vascular disease, diabetic retinitis (blindness), diabetic peripheral neuropathy , etc.

FRUCTOSE – It’s natural sugar found in fruits, right?  So it should be okay to use as a sugar replacement.  WRONG!  Any type of fructose is very dangerous – it essentially sends the message to the liver to store fat.  That’s why we eat fruit in season and with some type of a fat for a buffer.  The fruit is complete with fiber as well as the fructose.  Please see my earlier blog, Fruit will make you Fat. Remember, fructose raises triglyceride levels and lowers HDL levels among other things.

FRUCTO-OLIGOSACCHARIDES (FOS) – a type of soluable fiber and is not very sweet and is usually mixed with other more intense sweeteners.  Since it is indigestible, it can cause digestive distress including gas and bloating when eaten excessively.

Sadly, because of the misleading labeling in  the health foods industry, generally when you see FOS on the label it’s probably really fructose mislabeled in order to deceive you into believing the product is sugar free.

HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP – We all know it is bad, and to reiterate, in addition to being genetically modified corn, it is anywhere from 42% to 45% glucose and 55% – 58/% fructose. The acid enzyme procedure used to manufacture it aside, your body doesn’t readily recognize the new structure, and that’s where the mayhem  begins—that extra punch of fructose.

AGAVE NECTAR – Can be 55 percent to 90 percent fructose, depending on brand!

In spite of manufacturer’s claims, most agave “nectar” is not made from the sap of the yucca or agave plant but from its pineapple-like root bulb[i]. The root has a complex carbohydrate called inulin, which is made up of fructose molecules.

The process which many, if not most, agave producers use to convert this inulin into “nectar” is VERY similar to the process by which cornstarch is converted into HFCS1.

Though processing methods can differ among manufacturers, most commercially available agave is converted into fructose-rich syrup using genetically modified enzymes and a chemically intensive process involving caustic acids, clarifiers, and filtration chemicals [ii]. Here is a partial list of the chemicals many producers use:

• Activated charcoal
• Cationic and ionic resins
• Sulfuric and/or hydrofluoric acid
• Dicalite
• Clarimex
• Inulin enzymes
• Fructozyme

How natural does this sound?

Anyway, of the “good” agave syrups here’s a breakdown of three:

Fructose is Fructose, People!

GLUCOSE- (dextrose) – You can get dextrose for about $1 a pound at the health food store.   It does not affect the liver the way fructose does.  Glucose does not cause insulin resistance or trick your body into persistant hunger the way fructose does.

Except for individuals with full blown- diabetes, glucose does not trigger harmful metabolic changes!  It is okay to use sparingly, and is only about 70% as sweet as sucrose so you’ll end up using a bit more of it for the same amount of sweetness, making it slightly more expensive than sucrose—but still well worth it for your health as it has ZERO grams of fructose.  You need to get from reputable source, as it is can be a corn derivative and you want to make sure it is not genetically modified.

Remember, glucose can be used directly by every cell in your body and as such is far safer than the metabolic poison fructose.

HONEY –  Don’t be fooled and misled – honey packs a punch in that it can contain as much as fructose or more than HFCS.

MOLASSES – has a high fructose content, though not as much as honey.   Molasses has 5.5 grams of fructose per 1 tablespoon and honey for same amount is 8.8 grams of fructose!  If you are trying to keep your total daily fructose consumption down at 25, this is pretty high at 1 tablespoon!

PURE MAPLE SUGAR SYRUP,–By composition, this sugar is about 90% sucrose (remember sucrose is 50% glucose 50% fructose), the remainder consisting of variable amounts of glucose and fructose.  Extreme caution should be taken when choosing a maple syrup, using brands that are  organic or guaranteed not to use formaldehyde .  Formaldehyde is used in the production of mose commercial brands of pure maple syrup!

FRUIT  JUICE CONCENTRATE, ETC. – When I see these sweeteners, I cringe –concentrated fructose as main component. The juice is particularly bad because it is almost pure concentrated fructose without the benefit of the fiber of the fruit!  How is that healthy?

BROWN RICE SYRUP – made by fermenting brown rice with chemical enzymes, followed by centrifuging, filtering and purifying to a dextrose consistency.  As you can imagine, all nutrition has been stripped and it is mostly maltose with half the sweetness of sugar.

LO HAN KUO – fruit of the momordica grosvenori, a plant in the cucumber and melon family the extracts of which can be 250 time sweeter than sugar and tastes like black licorice.

Lo Han has been used for centuries I Traditional Chinese Medicine to improve skin conditions, sore throats, coughs, purifying the blood and regulating the digestive tract.  Lo Han is actually processed less than stevia, can be heated, can control food and sugar cravings, and like stevia has no calories or sugar.

STEVIA – Stevia rebaudiana A plant whose leaves when dried are very sweet—up to 300 times as sweet as sugar.  It is a genus of about 240 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family and native to tropical and subtropical regions from western North America to South America.

Stevia gives almost no glycemic response and has been used in Japan for decades.  The US banned Stevia in the early 1990s unless labeled as a supplement, but in 2008 approved rebaudioside A extrct as a food additive.

From Wikipedia, “In terms of weight fraction, the four major steviol glycosides found in the stevia plant tissue are:

• 5–10% stevioside (250–300X of sugar)
• 2–4% rebaudioside A — most sweet (350–450X of sugar) and least bitter
• 1–2% rebaudioside C
• ½–1% dulcoside A.

Rebaudioside B, D, and E may also be present in minute quantities; however, it is suspected that rebaudioside B is a byproduct of the isolation technique. ^[2] The two majority compounds stevioside and rebaudioside, primarily responsible for the sweet taste of stevia leaves, were first isolated by two French chemists in 1931…

Rebiana is the trade name^[4] for a zero-calorie sweetener containing mainly rebaudioside A (also called Reb A).^[5] Truvia is the consumer brand for Rebiana marketed by Cargill and developed jointly with The Coca-Cola Company.^[6] PureVia is PepsiCo‘s brand of Reb A sweetener. Enliten is Corn Products International‘s brand of Reb A sweetener.”

Stevia is the preferred sweetener to use, but only in the natural “supplement” form, not isolated, manipulated and manufactured by a company as cited above!

DATE SUGAR – dehydrated dates ground into powder and is 85% sucrose.  See maple syrup above.

SUCCANT AND TURBINADO SUGARS –  Succant is a contraction of “Sucre de canne naturel”, which was introduced by Pronatec in 1978 and is a brand name for whole cane sugar. Unlike refined and processed white sugar, Sucanat retains its molasses content; it is essentially pure dried sugar cane juice. The juice is extracted by mechanical processes, heated and cooled at which point the small brown grainy crystals are formed.

Sucanat may be confused with turbinado sugar; however, the two are fundamentally different. Turbinado sugar contains only a trace amount of its original molasses content, making it similar to refined sugar except with a golden color and a hint of molasses flavor. Sucanat, on the other hand, retains its full molasses content and flavor, thus making it, as stated above, pure dried cane juice. Its grainy form also contrasts with the clear, crystalline form of turbinado.  BUT IT IS STILL SUGAR!

I think that when you look at the pros and cons of the choices of sweeteners, the best choices are self-evident.

Resources:

Mercola.com

The sugar fix, Dr. Richard Johnson

Douglassreport.com

Wikipedia.com

Sweet Deception, by Dr. James Mercola

Excitotoxins, the Taste that Kills by Dr. Russell Blaylock

Janet Stuck is a Doctor of Naturopathy, Certified Nutritional Counselor, Certified Wellness Nutritional Counselor, Master Herbologist and Certified Natural Health Professional. Janet writes for

www.LiberationWellnessBlog.com and her website www.onestopherbshop.net.

Just Water?

I’ve been taking an unexpected journey on the healing path.  A few years ago, a woman suggested I check out Kangen water and I didn’t because I got the sense from this person that she was just trying to recruit me.  So, I made a mental note but moved on.  After all, I’d found a natural, whole food supplement that had greatly improved the quality of my life, was finally prescription-free, and I had been learning about the drawbacks of drinking too much water.  Real food, purposeful fasting, and proper supplementation seemed to be the most important building blocks in my new foundation of good health.  Surely I didn’t have to worry about proper hydration or detoxification and healing.  Surely I was already learning about these things, I thought.  I had no idea!

Well, my husband started bringing this kangen water home with him and my reaction was, “Hey I want to try it too!”  He told me to expect detoxification and to drink it consistently.  Little did I know that a few months later I would find myself at the gym without my water.  At the time I thought I’d probably break-down and drink some water there.  Uh-uh.  Out of the question!  I was also driving 50 miles round trip twice a week to get enough for us and a friend of mine who was recovering from a fight with cancer.

Kangen is a Japanese word that means “return to source”.  It is not just ionized and alkaline, but the molecules are microclustered (about 6 together instead of 2 or 3 times that with tap or bottled waters) to actually penetrate the cell membranes to cleanse and hydrate properly.  Another positive attribute is it’s extremely high anti-oxidant value upon drawing the water.  So why was I personally going to all this effort to drink it?  Well, the water was the only thing I changed in my diet and eating habits.  The result for me personally has been(over 7-8 months) a continuing cleansing and detoxification that goes through stages—I’m still going through it, but the most astonishing thing has been that I almost never got sick through cold and flu season with 2 small children.  I’ve heard many remarkable, nearly miraculous healing stories, but for me this was the real point where I could not deny an enormous benefit.  My very expensive supplement goes twice as far, as well, insofar as its effectiveness and necessary daily amount are concerned.  So, right there it’s saved me $150 a month, which to me is neither here nor there where my health is concerned.  I feel a clarity of mind and spirit which I haven’t felt before. 

I got this water for free.  Enagic is the company that makes the machines that work the magic.  Yes, there are ionizers that are ½ as much money but you cannot clean them and they usually need replacement after 2 years, whereas Enagic has been making these machines for over 30 years and the machines last from 15-25 years if you take care of them properly.  Another bit of mis-information I had was that you have to spend $4000 to get a machine.  Well, we got our water for free for months before we decided to buy one, and the machines start at $1280 and go up to, for the large-capacity unit for restaurants and spas, $5900.  That’s a lot of surgical-grade platinum, though!  The company offers generous financing so the price is really not that enormous of an issue.  Each machine is hand made by one technician in the Osaka factory.  There are no outsourced materials or parts, either.  You get what you pay for.  It’s for your health.  A cheap imitation can actually be dangerous—and then you’re still out a lot of money!

While I was getting the water from my friends I went to a demonstration to learn more.  This is very important—in fact it’s where I gained access to a wealth of information, medical, historical, and scientific that I would not have otherwise known.  As always, with your health, it’s important to be as well-informed as possible.  When I could actually see the properties of this water demonstrated before me, and the properties of other waters and also soda, I was not only amazed but I could understand and confirm my actual experiences with it.  It was helpful to be able to ask questions of other people who had been drinking it for a long time. 

I am reporting about this because I didn’t realize that I was not properly hydrated!   I’d be very thirsty after a long run and would often feel sick after drinking water, not to mention bloated.  This is not the case now at all.  When I do a small fast I find myself incredibly refreshed throughout.  I have not met anyone who drinks this water who would be willing to go a day without it if they didn’t have to.  So, I’ve found foundation block #4, and that would be water.  Our bodies are comprised of water, mostly; why wouldn’t it be important after all? 

 For more information online, go to www.checkoutkangen.com, which is not associated with any distributor, or www.enagic.com.  My personal site is www.xanetplanet.info, which explores more the various household applications of the water.  The machine makes acidic waters, which disinfect without toxic chemicals, and strong kangen water (highly alkaline) which you don’t drink, but will emulsify oil and dirt effectively, and so forth. 

For info about their use in Japanese hospitals, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvsDXjA4dzg   This is shocking but definitely worth seeing.

Many blessings on your healing journey, and of course,

Keep thinking for yourselves!

It is those “very low levels” that can be most damaging as you can read from the following excerpt. 

There is an herbal product that I recommend to my clients that contains “food” for the thyroid; dulse, kelp and irish moss.  I use it for both under and active thyroid conditions and you will read references to these ingredients below.

The following article came from the DNR web site.  I felt it best to just copy it so that none of the information would be watered down or omitted.  You can acces the site through my web site www.1stopherbshop.com for further information or contact me directly.

Janet Stuck is a Doctor of Naturopathy, Certified Nutritional Counselor, Certified Wellness Nutritional Counselor, Master Herbologist and Certified Natural Health Professional. Janet writes for  www.LiberationWellnessBlog.com and her website www.onestopherbshop.net.

Last week when I blogged about the new vegan propaganda movie called Forks Over Knives coming in May, I received well over 100 comments mostly from vegans who wanted to defend their chosen nutritional plan although I didn’t really criticize it or the film in my post. But “Jill in Chicago” wanted to defend Whole Foods and their “Healthy Eating Specialist” position against being characterized as vegan-promoting. Here’s what she wrote:

The focus of Whole Foods’ Health Starts Here program is not to eat a vegan diet, but to eat whole, unprocessed foods. I am currently in the midst of a Health Starts Here 28-Day Health Challenge, and the Healthy Eating Specialist who is assisting the group does not discourage meat and dairy consumption. The idea is to eat less of them.

That’s all well and good and I certainly wish Jill the best as she pursues her own weight and health goals with whatever diet she is choosing to follow. To me it’s all about finding the plan that will work for you, following it exactly, and then continuing to do that for the rest of your life. But what about those people who don’t know which plan is right for them? Is there a way to get a customized nutrition plan that will help them determine what their diet should look like? Whole Foods seems to think so through their partnership with Eat Right America doing direct marketing with the customers of their stores encouraging them to take a survey to see how to eat optimally for your health. What Whole Foods customer wouldn’t be interested in something like that? One of my readers forwarded an e-mail she received from a friend of hers who wanted to pass along this “amazing offer” from Whole Foods giving away “FREE customized nutrition plans to get you started or keep you motivated on your health journey.”

Gee, how nice is that? All you gotta do is go to the “Eat Right America Challenge” web site, enter or obtain an access code, fill out a survey about your eating, exercise and lifestyle habits as well as you health and they’ll spit you out the perfect diet just for you, including a personalized 28-day nutrition and eating plan that they say “really is a great resource…to Whole Foods Market customers.” They encourage people who take this survey to come back in to visit Whole Foods after you receive your diet plan to consult with the “Health Starts Here” station to speak with the “Healthy Eating Specialist” about learning more about “your path to a healthier life.” Don’t you just love how syrupy sweet and innocent they make this all sound? It’s a lot more dastardly than these unsuspecting Whole Foods customers even know!

So what’s the real deal here? I wanted to find out and share this with you so your friends, family and co-workers don’t get suckered into thinking this is a legitimate way to know which diet is right for them (if you want to have a REAL test done to determine the correct nutritional makeup of your diet for you based on how your body metabolizes food and nutrients, then you might consider getting the FitTest done from GetYourHealthTested.com). Maybe what they conclude about the kind of diet you should be eating is right for you…maybe not. But this survey is not based on anything scientific methodology regarding your specific situation. It’s deliberately meant to mislead you into thinking what you are currently doing is causing harm to your health and that there is only one solution to preventing your health from getting worse than it is. As you can imagine, the basis for the questions asked in this survey heavily leans on conventional wisdom about the relationship of consuming animal-based fats and proteins to developing heart disease, obesity, cancer, diabetes and other chronic diseases and the supposed virtues of consuming plant-based foods as a way to obtain optimal health. Let’s take a look at what it was like for me to take this survey for myself plugging in information about my diet and lifestyle.

I began by visiting the Challenge web site where they welcomed and congratulated me for taking “the first step toward a healthier more nutritious lifestyle” through my own “Personal Nutrition Report”:

The survey started off by asking me some basic demographic information about who I am in a “detailed assessment designed to accurately predict your health future.” Eat Right America is described as “a cause, a passionate desire to enable America’s families to live a life of ‘true’ health.” They do this by promising the results of their survey will give you a “personally-designed, nutrition prescription, that can dramatically extend your life expectancy and lower your risk of life-threatening diseases.” Wow, sounds like they’ve found the Fountain Of Youth miracle cure-all for all of life’s health woes. We shall see. They then asked questions about the current state of my health and what my typical diet looks like:

Two things stood out to me about the diet portion of the survey–they put eggs in with white meat and there was no designation for “grass-fed” or “pastured” foods. So any red meat consumption listed on the survey could be grain-fed or grass-fed. It obviously didn’t matter to them whether you consumed higher-quality meats or not (an it’s only gonna get even worse in a moment, though). I made it through the 15-minute survey so I could receive my own “Nutrition Prescription customized for Jimmy Moore”–they made it just for me (yeah right!):

You get a form letter from Dr. Scott Stoll who is a member of the Whole Foods Medical Board who explains that the “solution we have created for you is easy to understand, simple and fun for you and your family to adopt, and represents a proven methodology that is guaranteed to deliver the results you desire.” WOW! What in the world could this miracle of all miracles be that will end my weight and health struggles forever? They then explain about what the “Nutrition Prescription” is all about discussing the implementation of the “Nutritarian Lifestyle” from vegan physician Dr. Joel Fuhrman juxtaposed with the typical Standard American Diet and why this new way to eat is allegedly better for you. They even show you a graph of what your current diet looks like compared with SAD:

I think it’s interesting they lump meat and dairy together in the same category and apparently list foods like bacon in the “Processed Foods” section. Do you think they put things like tofu and skim milk in with the “Processed Foods” when they are both OBVIOUSLY highly-processed? I wouldn’t bet the house on it. Continuing through my personal assessment, the news only got worse. I was chastised for consuming too much red meat, animal products, and full-fat dairy while eschewing whole grains and more vegetables. They point to my diet as the reason why my health is at great risk for disease:

For several pages, I receive a lecture on why my cholesterol is too high which puts me at risk for a heart attack (I’ve previously explained in this post that cholesterol testing is a lot more sophisticated these days than ever before and that measuring particle size is much more relevant than LDL or total cholesterol). They claim my LDL (explained as “the most accurate determinant of risk” of coronary artery disease) should be below 80 mg/dl to “maximize reversal” of heart disease, but there was nary a mention of HDL “good” cholesterol in the equation. Additionally, they use the body mass index (BMI) to determine the obesity of an individual stating that it “is a fairly reliable indicator of body fat for most people.” The say my BMI at 251 pounds on my 6’3″ body frame puts me at a “significantly increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.” Oh, now isn’t that nice? They’ve got a rude awakening coming when none of this actually happens to me as they’re trying scaremonger these poor Whole Foods customers into thinking they have to eat a vegan diet. Oh yes, that sticky little detail is coming up soon. But first they need to continue to put the fear of God in me about my current health before they swoop in to the rescue with their miracle plan to save me:

They say I’m at a “very high risk” of sudden cardiac death if I don’t “take action immediately” despite the fact that my heart scan score in 2009 showed zero calcium buildup in my arteries. My risk of stroke is also “very high” because they think blood clots will happen because of my diet. And with a fasting blood glucose score of 83, they still put me at “significant risk” for getting diabetes because I’m not eating and exercising the way they think I should be. They weren’t finished yet piling on more warnings about what my current diet is doing to my risks for developing cancer and osteoporosis (this is actually starting to get funny if they weren’t so serious about it):

So I’m at “high risk” for developing cancer because of my eating and fitness choices and they will help me “identify those choices” that will be better for me. HA! Then with my bone health, it’s the same song and dance. What I’m doing right now ain’t good enough–but there’s something better that we think (hope and pray to God) you’ll like…or something like that. What exactly are the culprits in my devastatingly, hanging-by-a-thread health right now? Let’s take a look:

My full-fat dairy loving, caffeinated tea guzzling, saturated fat-laden meat eating, and salted food consumption is what they think is killing me. Gee, if these are all of the problems with my diet right now, then why am I in the best health of my entire life? Why do I feel so good if I’m just one bunless bacon cheeseburger away from saying so long to this world? And how did eating so “unhealthy” bring my weight down by triple digits, get me off of three prescription medications for good, and have me doing things I would have never thought possible just a few years back? I, of course, know better and have all the confidence in the world about my healthy low-carb lifestyle. But what about those people who take this survey and believe it’s the gospel truth? They read this and think, “Oh my God, what can I do to stop this devastation from happening to me?” Enter the Eat Right America eating plan:

They try to convince you this is a good thing by stating at the top of the page that this is all about “Nutrition Excellence & Health” and then proceed to explain what they mean by that. To become a “Nutritarian,” all you have to do is eat lots of fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds, cut down on your animal-based food consumption opting for “healthier options in this food group” (hmmm, lemme guess–ones that are lower in saturated fat?) and eat much less of foods that are “empty of nutrients or toxic” like refined sugars, white flour, processed foods and fast food. On the final point, I think we can agree, but Dr. Fuhrman is hung up on meat being such an unhealthy part of any diet plan. He sees meat in the same vein as low-carbers look at high-fructose corn syrup. It must be avoided as much as possible except for maybe the once-in-a-while “treat.” That’s nothing more than utter nonsense and ignorance. What exactly does the Nutritarian Food Pyramid look like? Check it out for yourself:

What a bassackwards food pyramid this is! Equating eggs and meat with processed foods and sweets is being intellectually dishonest. Sure, those non-starchy vegetables are an excellent addition to any diet (including a low-carb one), but why the damnation of foods that are equal in their nutrient density to veggies such as red meat, fish, eggs, oils, and the like? There’s no explanation for this other than the insinuation that consuming these foods that contain saturated fat will lead to serious health consequences down the road. But there is no evidence supporting such a claim. Even still, here comes the kicker–”My Personalized Eating Plan” according to the great purveyors of nutritional truth and wisdom at Whole Foods:

And THERE IT IS! All of this nonsense about how horrible my health is, what the dietary “cause” of my health decline is, what a good diet should look like and all the rest was nothing more than a setup for this moment. The diet they are recommending that I begin eating immediately to overturn the issues associated with my “poor” diet is one that is 96% plants, 3% meat and dairy, and 2% processed foods/snacks. REALLY?!

While technically this isn’t a vegan diet because there are very small amounts of meat allowed on this plan, it might as well be. Meat isn’t a condiment to me–it’s the lifeblood of a healthy low-carb lifestyle change that has given me vibrant health like nothing else I’ve ever done before. I don’t need to consume 96% of my calories from plant sources which includes high-carb whole grains, beans, fruits and all the rest. I’m doing just fine livin’ la vida low-carb. Can I tell you how much this angers me that they would try to pull something so incredibly deceiving to people who will likely buy into it hook, line and sinker? This is disgusting because there is no education about the wonderful nutrients contained in meats or the health consequences for some people who consume carbohydrate-rich foods. That to me is ethically wrong to deliberately withhold information from the consumer that could help them make the most informed decision about their health.

They require a 28-day pledge to doing the following: eating at least one large salad, at least a half-cup of beans/legumes, at least three fresh fruits, at least one ounce of raw nuts/seeds, and at least one large double-sized serving of steamed green vegetables on a daily basis while avoiding the “most harmful food habits” that include eating barbequed, processed meats or commercial red meat, fried foods, full-fat dairy like cheese and butter, soft drinks of all kinds both diet and sugary, and white flour. It sure sounds a whole lot like a vegan diet to me with all of those restrictions on what can be consumed on this diet. They also say to chunk any foods that contain over 200mg sodium per serving and to use a blender to liquify your vegetables to drink. Oh, but they help you come off of your “meat habit” (as Dr. Neal Barnard described it in my podcast interview with him last year) beginning in Day 8 of this 28-Day plan:

Isn’t it interesting how they took great pains to explain that this meal plan isn’t vegan, but then pushed the need to “reduce your intake of animal foods” from your diet? If meat is part of being a “Nutritarian” as they claim, then what’s this concept of “your desire for animal foods (will) diminish over time?” Meat is most certainly NOT a condiment in a healthy diet no matter what Dr. Fuhrman and his lackeys at Whole Foods wants you to believe. Meat is where the REAL nutrition is found and you’re depriving your body of some incredible health benefits by trying to eliminate it from your diet completely. Just ask Lierre Keith or Denise Minger.

By Day 15, they encourage you to “change the focus of your meal from meat to vegetables” and they assure you will get plenty of protein by consuming greens, beans, nuts and seeds. The gradual move to eating “less meat” is in full force by week three of the plan and it reaches the climax by the time you enter the final week of the 28-Day Challenge when “you are eating much less animal foods,” oils, milk/dairy products, sugar, coffee/tea and caffeine, and a whole lot more veggies, fruit, beans, nuts and seeds. Lest you think none of this survey really has anything at all to do with Whole Foods, then you would be sorely mistaken:

Yes, you too can become a “Nutritarian” nerd by hopping in your car and driving to your nearest Whole Fools…Whole Paycheck…er, I mean Whole Foods Market to pick up these books, CDs and DVDs to provide you more vegan-based propaganda to fool you into thinking this is the best option for your health. This partnership Whole Foods has made with the vegan diet is intentional and should ostracize any customer who chooses to eat an animal-based diet. That includes virtually every Paleo and low-carb dieter on the planet. If you ask me, a company that is THIS invested in promoting a dietary agenda like this doesn’t deserve the support of people who disagree with it. They’ve drawn a line in the sand and dug in their heels on trying to make this “Nutritarian” diet the ONLY way for Whole Foods customers to get healthy. We should vote with our dollars about what we think about this and send Whole Foods executives a clear message: YOU’RE NOT PUSHING A VEGAN AGENDA DOWN OUR THROATS!

Jimmy Moore is the popular blogger, podcaster and author of Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb who lost 180 pounds on the Atkins diet in 2004 and quickly established himself as a highly influential layperson in the field of health and nutrition. His wildly successful Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Blog has been educating, encouraging and inspiring readers since 2005 and his accompanying iTunes podcast The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore is one of the most listened to health broadcasts online today featuring hundreds of enchanting interviews with the leading voices in the world of diet and healthy living! Jimmy’s latest book compiling all the knowledge he has learned along his journey is called 21 Life Lessons From Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb: How The Health Low-Carb Lifestyle Changed Everything I Thought I Knew. He lives in Spartanburg, SC with his beautiful wife Christine and their four crazy cats!

Concern on Saturday led to a short-term run on iodine in Finland, but according to reports, supplies were replenished by Sunday.  There were reports in Sweden that worried consumers were inquiring about iodine supplements but no increased sales were noted.

The west coast of the United States may be feel the effects of any meltdown and release of radiation in Japan.  Agence-France Presse reports that California is closely monitoring the efforts to contain leaks and that experts have suggested that any radioactive cloud would likely be blown out across the Pacific toward the west coast of the U.S.

While there is currently no threat to the U.S., the question arises as to whether residents should supplement with iodine as a precaution.

Iodine is required by the thyroid to produce hormones which regulate all major metabolic functions. In addition to thyroid hormone, iodine is also required for production of other hormones and supports a healthy immune system. It is not produced by the body and must be derived from dietary sources or supplements.

Radioactive iodine may be released into the environment as a result of a nuclear meltdown.  Individuals who are iodine deficient are at an increased risk of developing radiation-induced thyroid cancer because their thyroid will accumulate more of the radioactive version of the chemical element.

High doses of potassium iodide (50-100mg for adults) administered within 48 hours before or eight hours after radiation exposure can significantly reduce the thyroid’s accumulation of radioactive iodine and decrease the risk of thyroid cancer.

Those who are not iodine deficient will fare better in the event of an exposure.  Normally your body contains approximately 20 to 30 mg of iodine mostly stored in your thyroid gland.  Signs of iodine deficiency include goiter and hypothyroidism (which leads to weight gain and fatigue among other symptoms).

However, it is possible to overdose on iodine supplements and amounts exceeding one gram may cause burning in the mouth, throat and stomach, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weak pulse, and even coma.

On the other hand, it would be very difficult to take in too much dietary iodine.  Most Americans get their iodine from iodized table salt.  Iodine occurs naturally sea vegetables such as seaweed, kelp and kombu which are excellent sources, as are shellfish and saltwater fish.  Other very good sources include yogurt, cow’s milk, eggs, poultry, mozzarella cheese and strawberries.  These are all good choices to support your thyroid health.

Click Here to learn how to test yourself at home for iodine deficiency.