Liberation Wellness » Food Addiction

Raw Milk Is A-Okay!

Kevin Brown — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:52:24 +0000

FDA Concedes Raw Milk Across State Lines OK for Personal Consumption

FDA CONCEDES RAW MILK ACROSS STATE LINES OK FOR PERSONAL CONSUMPTION

But continues to broadcast misinformation about unpasteurized dairy

Washington, DC ( November 17, 2011)—In a statement issued on November 1, concurrent with a raw milk freedom rally held outside FDA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, the agency conceded that it “has never taken, nor does it intend to take, enforcement action against an individual who purchased and transported raw milk across state lines solely for his or her own personal consumption” [www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/MilkSafety/ucm277854.htm]. This statement reverses FDA’s prior position in which the agency reserved the option of taking action against individual consumers crossing state lines with raw milk. Federal regulation 21 CFR § 1240.61 prohibits the introduction of raw milk for human consumption into interstate commerce.

A caravan of moms brought raw milk across state lines on November 1 and served it to rally participants in front of FDA headquarters.

“Unfortunately, FDA’s announcement allowing individuals to transport raw milk across state lines is filled with the same misinformation that the agency has spread in the past,” says Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, an organization that sponsors A Campaign for Real Milk, aimed at universal access to clean raw milk. “FDA continues to insist that raw milk is dangerous, when even the agency’s own exaggerated list of outbreaks shows that raw milk is safer than other foods.”

“FDA lists outbreaks associated with raw cheese, produced in less than sanitary conditions, as ‘outbreaks caused by raw milk,’ thereby inflating the number of illnesses associated with raw milk,” says Fallon Morell. “The actual number of illnesses associated (but not necessarily proved) with raw milk is about forty-two per year, which makes raw milk a very safe food given the large number of raw milk consumers. No deaths have been associated with raw milk during the past twelve years, but three people have died from tainted pasteurized milk.”

FDA insists that raw milk drinkers constitute less than 1 percent of the population. Yet a 2007 government survey found that about 3 percent of the population consumes raw milk, or about nine million people. This number is likely to be higher today as raw milk consumption is growing rapidly. Even in the state of Maryland, where raw milk sales are illegal, over 3 percent of respondents stated that they drank raw milk. “This milk is coming from Pennsylvania, where raw milk sales are legal,” says Pete Kennedy, president of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, “to the great detriment of Maryland farmers.” According to Kennedy, hundreds of thousands of dollars of farm sales each year flow from Maryland to Pennsylvania.

The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund is currently representing citizens challenging the interstate ban on raw milk in an Iowa federal district court .

According to Fallon Morell, “FDA continues to insist that no science exists to substantiate the nutritional and health benefits of raw milk, yet we now have five European studies, published in peer reviewed journals, showing that raw milk provides powerful protection against asthma and allergies. And there is copious scientific research showing that pasteurization of milk denatures and diminishes the effectiveness of enzymes and vitamins in the milk.”

Moreover, raw milk is designed to build the immune system—the components that do this are denatured by the heat process of pasteurization. FDA claims that the elderly, the immune-compromised, children and pregnant women especially should avoid raw milk. “These are the very people who need it the most,” says Fallon Morell.

The Weston A. Price Foundation is a nutrition education non-profit with 550 local chapters worldwide, and close to 13,000 members. The organization works to educate the public about the health benefits of unprocessed milk from grass-based dairies through its Campaign for Real Milk, http://realmilk.com.

Fasting Challenge Update

Maureen Diaz — Wed, 04 May 2011 18:05:31 +0000

Last week I shared with you my intention to go on a week-long fast. Well, I accomplished what I set out to do and now I’d like to fill you in on the details.

The first few days were the hardest of course. I had allowed myself an “out” after 3 days in case I felt the need, but indeed by the end of day 2 I knew I would go on from there. I made it through the entire week on only water with fresh lemon, tea with milk & cream, milk fresh from the cow (2 cups the mornings of the last days), and beet kvass. Having consulted with an experienced friend I chose not to consume any supplements, as this may inhibit deep cleansing (the body will use these nutrients rather than reaching deeply within cells to break down stored nutrients which would then also release toxins).

I broke my fast on Sunday with a small amount of scrambled egg, yogurt, soup made with chicken stock, and a loaded salad (I had dreamed about it all week )

Lessons Learned

One thing I will remember for the next time is that it is important to rest while fasting. This time around I was not able to do so and there were a few times when rest would have been very helpful. For instance, on day 2 I made a 6 hour round trip drive with my 3 youngest kids to purchase plants for our garden. It wasn’t something that could be postponed as the time to go was now, but I can not begin to tell you how difficult this was. Fasting, especially in the early stages, causes one to be fatigued both mentally and physically. Try driving for 3 straight hours in either direction and keeping up with 3 talkative, energetic little ones while trying to process information and make important decisions! The trip home was the most difficult because I was so overwhelmed with fatigue that it was necessary to make an unscheduled stop and drink a cup of coffee. This was enough to get me home as it wakened my mind sufficiently to keep my eyes, and brain, open; but it was not part of my “meal plan” for the week and so I was disappointed.

Along these lines, exercise does not fit in well during a period of fasting either (although somehow Jimmy managed to keep up with his usual routine). In the beginning I was able to do a 1 mile walk/run and spend most of a day working hard in the garden (planting some 800 plants from the aforementioned trip). I kept up with mucking the barn each day as well, but by mid-week it became difficult to carry my bucket of milk up 2 flights of stairs and into the kitchen. Obviously I did not get in any additional exercise.

And the coffee enemas? While a distasteful subject to many, I found these to be very helpful. They made me feel much better and super charged the cleansing process. I would highly recommend you consider giving this a try, and know that it will be part of my regiment any time I feel the need to expunge toxins from my body.

The most important thing learned from this experience is that I have power over food! Yes, I can control what goes into my mouth! Of course with the high fat/moderate protein/low carb intake that I am accustomed to I do not usually have a problem with unhealthy cravings. But at times there still is the desire to eat more than I should, when I should not, or things that are not good for me. These are only problems when I am very hungry or have not eaten enough fat or protein, so when fasting of course any of these things will be tempting. But I learned that I had within myself enough will power to say, “No!”, even when making food for my family. The hardest was passing up kettle corn on day 5, or shortbread which the kids had baked on day 6; but not a morsel passed my lips because by that point it had become almost second nature to just ignore the thought of eating anything!

Did I lose weight? Not much really, but that wasn’t my goal in doing this. Eight pounds worked their way off my frame and I am just determined now to keep it off and continue the downward trend.

Final Thoughts

Overall I found this a deeply satisfying experience, and one which I will continue periodically in the future. There will be few changes in my approach, mainly that I will try to structure my days in such a way that I can rest. I plan on doing monthly 3 day fasts in addition to my weekly 24 hours mini-fasts and will save the lengthier cleansing for times when I feel the need.

If you’ve considered fasting in the past, I would encourage you to do so. Even if only for a few days, it is well worth the effort!

Maureen Diaz is a homeschooling mother of 9, a Weston A Price Foundation Chapter Leader & educator, & producer of 3 cooking DVD’s including her latest, Liberation Wellness Home Cooking. You may learn more about these products and order from her website, www.nourishingtraditionalcook.com

A Fasting Challenge

Maureen Diaz — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 00:22:48 +0000

I was inspired last week by Jimmy Moore’s article describing his fast. Like him, I had only managed 24 hour fasts in the past, and had always intended to do more. Also like Jimmy, I am a lover of food; real food, good food in particular! And so I never seemed to quite get around to denying myself the pleasure of my daily eggs & butter, raw cream or cheese, or grass-fed burger, for more than a day. But after reading Jimmy’s post I figured, “Hey! If he can do it, I can do it!” Thus after mulling over the particulars the weekend, I decided to start this week, today in fact! But I am doing things slightly different.

First, I am starting out with 3 days but am hoping to stretch it to a full week. Does this leave me a convenient out? Well, perhaps, but I am really intending to continue past the 3 day mark and get into days 5, 6, & 7 for the accelerated benefits that a fast of this length can provide. But I’ve a lot to accomplish this week and next, so if I just feel too weak and yucky after 3 days I at least want to have the “out” if needed.

My approach to what will be “allowed” into my body is also somewhat different from Jimmy’s. For instance, no diet sodas (or other) for me! No neurotoxins, no phosphorous acid to rob my body (bones in particular) of minerals. And also no bouillon cubes. Jimmy, shame on you; you should know better than this!!! Isn’t the point of the fast to clear your body of toxic sludge? Why put more of it in there?! (And no, those little artificially-flavored MSG-laden cubes do not provide electrolytes!)

I will not continue with my supplemental coconut oil simply because I want my body to access for energy solely what is already there, stored around my middle. And in the process those storage cells will be releasing needed minerals and electrolytes, as well as toxins. I’m not even sure that I will take my much respected fermented cod liver oil. Perhaps later in the week. What do you think?

The plan is to do 3 days of only water with fresh lemon juice, and my teas (black & herbal) with stevia & raw milk/cream. The tea is my crutch, like Jimmy’s soda only wayhealthier! Additionally I will have a glass of fermented beet kvass each day, as this is a powerful internal cleanser and rebuilder. It has already been nearly 24 hours since I have eaten anything and this is all I have had

I make my own, but in a pinch Zukay is great!

After 3 days if I feel the need I will allow myself bone broth (again, not commercial bouillon/broth). This is healing, therapeutic, and provides enough easily assimilated nutrition to keep me going for a long time. I will also have cultured raw cream available so that I can have a spoonful 3 times a day if desired. This will also help inoculate my cleansing gut with beneficial microbes which will in turn aid the “housecleaning”!

One more facet to my plan is rather distasteful to most, but very important: coffee enemas. While in little use these days, coffee enemas were in times past a standard of care. This will help push my liver to throw off and purge stored toxins, which is what I am really going for! Weight loss will be embraced as well, but I realize that the reality of a fast is that you are shedding more water initially, than fat.

Exercise is something which has been lacking over the winter, but I plan to continue increasing or at least maintain what I am currently doing: jogging/walking (intermittent intensity) 1+ mile 3-4 times a week, and dancercize 2-3 times a week. Additionally I remain physically active with mucking a barn and running up 2 flights of steps everyday as the need arises (in other words, I don’t send my children on my errands!)

After completing the fast I know that it is important to ease back into eating solid foods, so I will do so with raw, non-starchy vegetables, bone broth, and lightly cooked meat.

I hope you guys can all cheer me on in this endeavor, and that some will join in with me. Let me know if you are fasting and how it is going, and I’ll keep everyone posted on my own progress!

And Jimmy: hey, thanks for the inspiration!

Maureen Diaz is a homeschooling mother of 9, a WAPF chapter leader, and a certified LW Nutritionist. She also has produced 3 cooking DVD’s including her latest, Liberation Wellness Home Cooking. Check out & order her DVD’s on her website, www.nourishingtraditionalcook.com

10 Sure Fire Steps to “Let’s Get Fat!”

Morley Robbins — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 21:05:22 +0000

What?!?… Yes, you read that right. Let’s get fat!

Come on; let’s take a playful pass at our national obsession with “losing weight” and look at it from a contrasting point of view. Let’s explore: “What do I need to do to make sure that I gain weight?” The research is actually quite compelling, but chances are you may have missed it, so here’s a refresher course on ten proven steps you can take in your daily routine to maximize your fat gain, as much as possible.

1. Start your day with a cup of coffee, the bigger the better: This is actually very cool. Caffeine sends an “alarm” signal to your brain that you’re under attack! Actually, what it does do is override the Adrenal glands to make sure that there’s enough blood sugar to start the day. And what it will also guarantee is that your blood sugar levels will become really low (a.k.a. hypoglycemia), so be sure to eat something sweet with that cup of Joe, that way you’ll ensure a false sense of security, as well as a false sense of energy. Better yet, this daily routine will add to your growing Adrenal fatigue and help make sure that you can’t possibly generate energy without artificial stimulants in your daily diet (i.e. caffeine and simple carbs).

2. Do not eat any protein in the morning: One of the best ways to get fat is to absolutely flood your body with carbs – the simpler, the better. If you introduce protein into your breakfast, it only slows down your body’s ability to deal with all that carb-based sugar, as well as all that Insulin raging through your body seeking to store all that excess sugar. Whenever possible, do what you can to cause the greatest spike in your blood sugar (and subsequently your levels of Insulin) as this will ensure that you develop Insulin Resistance which will guarantee optimal fat storage and really help you pack on the pounds. Don’t worry about how this happens – just do it! And after you do this long enough, it will be a true “sweet surprise” to your waistline and your wardrobe.

3. Be sure to eat a lot of small meals throughout the day: Truth be known, our bodies are designed for surviving starvation. But over the last 50 years in America, we have cast our Paleolithic heritage goodbye and are now able to eat 24/7 – it’s the very best thing you can do under this protocol. In addition, this eating strategy is a proven way to clog up an overworked Liver by never letting it rest. What you truly don’t want if you’re trying to put on “max fat” is allow your Liver to detoxify the challenging ingredients from all your meals, not to mention the 80,000 environmental chemicals. Graze whenever and wherever possible. If necessary, keep that nursery rhyme humming in the background: “Good, better, best – never let the Liver rest!” Giving your Liver more time in between meals is the worst thing you could possibly do if you want to make it on Biggest Gainer! Remember, isn’t that what our diet is all about…

4. Seek out food additives “designed” to cause weight gain: Be sure to fill your cupboards — and your stomachs — with products that contain as much of the following three food additives as possible:

a. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG): Now, don’t be fooled into thinking that this can only be found at Chinese restaurants. Relax, it’s everywhere in the American food system. What makes it more fun is that it’s disguised under names like: “hydrolyzed protein,” “autolyzed yeast,” “calcium caseinate,” “magnesium glutamate,””textured protein,” and 35 other names you don’t know about. You get the idea… Have fun finding it and putting as much of this excitotoxin into your tummy as you can stand. The amazing part about this additive is that it tweaks your Hypothalamus (it’s in the center of your brain…) into letting you eat more and more and more. No cause for alarm, relax, it’s automatic.
b. Aspartame: This, too, is an amazing product for packing on the pounds. Despite what you may think, the FDA actually rejected this food additive for 16 years, until President Bush, Sr. (the one who was a member of Yale’s Skull & Crossbones Society…) took office. Until this past year, it was manufactured by that most trusted chemical corporation, Monsanto; is sold as “NutraSweet” & “Equal;” and is found in countless food products. It might as well be called “NutraFat!” It’s unparalleled in its ability to also trick your brain (yup, you guessed it, it’s that Hypothalamus thing, again…) into weight gain mode and has demonstrated its fatso effectiveness in countless research studies – at least those not sponsored by Monsanto.
c. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS): Now, this is the granddaddy of all fat stimulating additives. Rush to the store to buy all the sodas, cake mixes, breakfast cereals, candies, cough syrups, sauces, etc. that you can afford. The best part about it and the main reason why it’s everywhere – it’s so incredibly cheap to make! Consequently, it won’t cost you too much as you focus on ”Let’s Get Fat!” And the fact that the Corn Refiners Association now wants to rename it: “Corn Sugars” only guarantees that you’ll buy more foods with it under a new name — you’ll never know what you’re eating then.

5. Discipline yourself to a “low-fat” diet. Your body has a natural ability to burn fat. Not to worry, this metabolic pathway works like a muscle: “use it or lose it.” The fastest way to lose it is to eliminate fat from your diet. This guarantees that your body will lose its fat burning ability at a cellular level, and thus preserve as much adipose tissue (a.k.a. fat) as possible on your ever-expanding chassis. And the best part about this dietary strategy — there’s only so much protein that you can eat in a day. Consequently, the balance of your calories must come from carbs – absolutely locking in the Insulin Resistance (noted in #2 above) and thus assuring your weight gain takes place, almost effortlessly. If you remember nothing else, please remember this: “low-fat” means “high-carb” – it’s a lock, and the research is compelling, despite what you have been told otherwise.

6. Focus on foods “designed” to cause inflammation: At its essence, fat is the body’s way of protecting you from ALL the toxins in your diet and/or your environment. The more toxins in your diet and the more offensive they are, the more fat you absolutely need. To remain vigilant, visualize your body as a raging ball of fire. Be sure to eat plenty of the following foods to ensure that this inflammation is at its peak throughout your body:

a. Foods that are highly processed & refined. Be sure to look for products that come in a box, a can, or a white lunch bag – these are the best!
b. Foods that still have trans-fats. Wherever possible, be sure to select foods that have the word: “Hydrogenated” or “Partially Hydrogenated” on them. Margarine is a favorite, but relax, you’ll find trans fats everywhere even though they were banned 15 years ago.
c. Foods that have an outrageous amount of Omega-6 Fatty Acids. These are best found in most, if not all, of the industrialized vegetable oils. Make sure that they come in a clear bottle as this will ensure a greater likelihood of the oil being rancid, which only adds to the likelihood of it causing more inflammation. The best examples for this “food group” are: Corn Oil, Soybean Oil, Canola Oil, Safflower Oil, or Cottonseed Oil. Btw, the Baby Boomers have a distinct advantage here — you all grew up on Crystallized Cottonseed Oil, which was sold many years ago as CRISCO…
d. Foods that contain Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Now this is a bit more difficult due to the FDA barring any labels on these foods (again, brought to you by President Bush, Sr. — good ol’ Skull & Crossbones…) Nonetheless, be on the lookout for any produce that has an “8” on the little white sticker or buy only processed food (again, think “box,” “can,” or “frozen”) that has corn, soybean, canola or cottonseed as a main ingredient. These four genetically modified staples now constitute about 80% of the foods we eat as Americans, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find GMOs. Remember, if your food has the Non-GMO Label on the product — put it back! You are only delaying your weight gain by succumbing to organic foods, and spending a fortune in the process. Btw, the latest research with rats has now proven that even with minute amounts of pesticide (a known toxin) in their diet, these laboratory critters become obese. How cool is that?!?… Now to put your mind to rest, when you’re eating GMOs, like Bt Corn or Bt Soy, you’re actually eating pesticide – that’s what “Bt” is code for. And one last dimension, as an added bonus, this eating strategy also works wonders if your goal is to become sterile, but I’ll save that for another post.

7. Plan your biggest and most nutrient dense meal, for as late in the night as possible. You probably already know this (given that you’re committed to “pounding” yourself), but this is actually how Sumo wrestlers achieve their extraordinary weight gains. And who doesn’t want to go toe-to-toe with those guys? The timing (Late!)and the size (Super!)of this meal is a necessity given our plan to overwhelm our digestive system, and again, compromise our liver’s ability to do its critical job. Remember, the more time you give that Liver before bedtime, the more effective it can be in storing all that glucose and detoxifying your system of the toxins – there’s no way, I mean “no weigh…” (Please, pardon the pun…) Bring your liver to its knees, so you can guarantee that you will, as well.

8. Limit your sleep each and every night. Now this is really important. Stay up as late as you can every night possible. Watch David Letterman, get engrossed in thriller movies or just surf the web for as long as your eyes can stand the toothpicks. The less sleep you get, the better. Please don’t tell anyone, but while you’re sleeping, you actually burn fat to provide energy to keep all your countless metabolic processes going. But given that we shut down that fat-burning pathway (see #5 above), we don’t need to worry about that, now do we? And as an added bonus, be sure to sleep with a light on – this will totally confuse your body. In effect, this will make you have a low appetite in the morning, but a high one at night, thus ensuring success with both #2 and #7 above – isn’t this cool how it’s all coming into focus? Just do your part to prevent any true restorative sleep, thereby keeping your body on alert at all times. And btw, if you find you’re always waking up between 1-3 am, well that means one of two things: 1) either your Liver is working way too hard, or 2) you went to bed way too early!

9. Spend as much of your food dollar in restaurants, preferably “Quick Service” ones: As a nation, we currently spend 50% of our food dollar outside the home – that’s about $2,500/person. A little known secret: if you would spend just a few thousand more, you, too, could own the Crave It! Study sponsored by McCormick Spice Co. (2001) Contained in it will be a guaranteed process for “enhancing” your food to ensure maximum visits and thereby, maximum weight gains for patrons. This process makes food “Hyperpalatable,” and with an amazing mixture sugar, fat, and salt, as well as other food additives (see #4 & #6 above), you will learn how to tweak your “hedonic hotspot” also located in your brain (this time it’s the Nucleus Accumbens – neighbor to the Hypothalamus). Once the “hotspot” gets compromised, you’ll never feel satiated, and you will keep coming back for more and more and more food. You can’t help it – you have just become a victim to the central wiring of our brain: the cue-urge-reward-habit cycle that fuels ALL addictions. And best of all, the added bonus to this step: you lose total control over the foods that are going into your body. This is your failsafe strategy: Eat out >>> Get fat… Trust me, it works like a charm. Try it regularly, and let that food eatertainment industry stimulate you to your ever expanding core.

10. And finally, do not, under any circumstance, exercise: Don’t even think about it! What are you trying to do? If you exercise, you’ll only build more muscle and then there’ll be that many more places (i.e. muscle cells) to store all that excess glucose. Now, I’m only going to say this once more, the less muscle, the more Insulin Resistance. And the more Insulin Resistance, the more your body is forced to store that “food” as fat. Insulin Resistance guarantees a faster and greater weight gain. OK? Remember, lose it – don’t use it! So let’s lose as much muscle as possible to ensure optimal fat storage and weight gain. And best of all, if you really harness yourself to #2 and # 5 above, refined foods will absolutely melt in your mouth – you won’t even have to expend all that needless energy chewing your food. How’s that for a true winning step to our getting fatty strategy.

So there you have it! A sure fired, 10-step program to maximize your fat gain. Why I’m so confident, I’ll even guarantee it!

And for those of you who think I’ve totally lost my mind, relax. I’ve just decided it’s time to inject some levity into the relentless din of dietary recommendations seeking to address the nation’s most pressing chronic illness: Obesity. This condition is absolutely out of control across the country and it reflects the abominable state of our food system, our complete lack of commitment to real, restorative food, as well as our unwillingness as a nation to believe the simple truths about what foods, and what food additives, actually cause the creation of or the burning of fat.

A sobering statistic: in the time it took you to read this article (~15 min), 12.5 people died from Obesity-related diseases in America. (Please, let that sink in for a moment – that’s one very 72 seconds…) Even more sobering is the accelerated rate of this condition in infants and children… A rather bleak future, unless we wake up from our processed food stupor and come to our senses about our individual and collective responsibility to reverse these easily correctable dietary trends.

Now, take a deep breath… we’re almost done, but this is the most important part. If you “master” all ten of the steps outlined above, and I’m deadly serious now, it will very likely assure you of becoming what is called Leptin Resistant. What in the world is that, you ask? Well it’s relatively “new” on the research scene (~1994), but Leptin Resistance has now been identified as the leading cause of our ever increasing waist lines, and is repeatedly being shown to be the underlying force behind the growing tsunami of chronic disease crippling America.

Truth be known, Leptin is your body’s master hormone, and is produced by your fat cells, of all places. And much to everyone’s surprise, it keeps the Hypothalamus and all its many, many homeostatic processes running properly. (Btw, the Hypothalamus is the “Intel chip” running your body’s countless metabolic and bodily functions!)

The proper functioning of this critical part of your brain is absolutely affected by the foods, and especially the food additives, that we eat each and every day. And for those of you who are thinking: “Well, there’s no way I’m Leptin Resistant…” Here’s the acid test: Do you have any noticeable fat on your bod? If so, you’re more than likely Leptin Resistant. What this means is that the signaling between your Hypothalamus, your Liver, and your fat cells is blocked likely due to excess sugars in your diet, the “communication” is likely dysregulated, and as a result, your body is forced to store more and more of your food energy as fat — and that’s a fact! To think and eat otherwise is to buck three million years of programming in that “Intel Chip” running your body…

If I could wave a magic wand, my wish would be to have you truly understand the absurdity of following steps #2 and #5 and the devastation that this excess sugar is having in our bodies. Each year, the average American consumes 160 pounds of refined sugar, coupled with 50 pounds of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), and another 20 pounds of artificial sweeteners, to boot. And yet, we profess innocence. I’m well aware of the fact that YOU don’t add it to your food, trust me, it is absolutely being done for you and to you. The biggest impact from this annual binge of sugar consumption — it’s wreaking havoc with our Insulin production, and consequently is the primary dietary culprit in the accelerated rise in chronic disease – far, far worse than the saturated fat you’re so terrified of eating! Continued use of excess sugars in our foods is a crime against humanity and we are all innocent bystanders – it’s high time we “Just say ‘No!’ “

Now, for those of you who would like to stop this ever growing madness and learn how to de-engineer each and every one of these 10 steps, and thus avoid the devastating challenge of Leptin Resistance, please contact me as noted below. We have a proven process and several programs designed to make sure you are able to: 1) let go of the dietary mythology slowly killing Americans, 2) learn how to “let go of fat,” and 3) learn how to keep it off.

Give us a call… What have you got to lose?!?…

A votre santé!

Morley M. Robbins
“Health Futurist”
wellness@chiropractic1st.com
847.922.8061 (M)

Frito-Lay Pretends To Care About Health With Their 2011 ‘All-Natural’ Marketing Campaign

Jimmy Moore — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 23:42:01 +0000

Today I’m gonna hit on one of my biggest pet peeves about the modern-day health culture we live in that absolutely drives me bonkers. Have you noticed just how brazen so many food companies have become in recent years in an attempt to improve their much-deserved “junk food” image by making blatant health claims about their products that are completely meaningless? It’s as if they are pulling out all the stops in their efforts to pull the wool over the eyes of common sense thinking so they can bamboozle the consumer into making a purchase under false pretenses. My wife Christine and I exposed this dastardly marketing agenda of the food manufacturers last summer with our 10-part “Health Claims Gone Wild” YouTube video series. And yet major food manufacturers like Frito-Lay have stepped up their efforts in 2011 to help boost the sales of their chips which have seen a decline in sales in recent years (ostensibly because people are being more mindful of their carbohydrate intake–thank you Dr. Atkins).

Frito-Lay pledged in 2010 to make over half of their product line “healthier” by removing the MSG, artificial colors and flavors, as well as most of the salt in their products which include Lay’s potato chips, Sun Chips, Tostido’s, and more. Additionally, they’re cutting the fat in these products by 40 percent with a goal of making the saturated fat content of all of their products less than 1 gram per serving. The president and CEO of Frito-Lay Al Carey made the following statement at this news conference that exemplifies why I’m so jaded about the future of health in the United States: “My objective is in three years that all of our products will be either ‘better for you’ or ‘good for you.’”

Now I’m sure Mr. Carey was well-meaning when he said this, but can anyone else see the irony of it all? We’re talking about potato chips here and the way they propose to make them “better for you” or “good for you” has everything to do with reducing the salt and fat in them. But does this make them healthier for the consumer? I think not. In fact, I remember back in the 1980s when Lay’s had a famous television commercial featuring NBA legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Larry Bird making a bet that “you can’t eat just one.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRzcjw9l6xo

The theme song of the marketing back then was, “No one can eat just one.” Man how times have changed! In 2011, the consumer is attempting to be more health-conscious and Frito-Lay is now transitioning their efforts in this regard to meet that growing demand with a brand new series of television commercials attempting to paint the picture that their chip products are somehow “better” by featuring the voiceover acting skills of Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights, Early Edition). If you’ve been watching television at all in the past couple of months, then surely you’ve seen these:

FRITO-LAY “CHEF” COMMERCIAL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2093wkKQEg

FRITO-LAY “ANTHEM” COMMERCIAL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho-FVukWUPQ

FRITO-LAY “QUALITY” COMMERCIAL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SyKF2-yjsc

“We make them natural…you make them fun.” Cutesy tagline, right? But did anyone else catch the slick marketing slight-of-hand in these ads? I guess because my life is so dedicated to the subject of health and nutrition that this stuff is more obvious to me than most people. But the average Joe and Jane sitting at home watching the boob tube might watch any of those commercials and say, “Hey, they’re making those ‘all-natural’ chips healthier and by hand. I need to go get me some of them there chips the next time I go to the grocery store since I’m trying to lose weight and be healthy.” Sound preposterous? Maybe to you and me, but not to the people who still think salt and dietary fat are the problem with weight and health. And that’s why this new campaign from Frito-Lay is so insidious. Just because these chips are “all-natural,” that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily good or healthy for you. BAMBOOZLED!

Admittedly, back in my low-fat dieting days I happily went to my local Subway restaurant to get my low-fat turkey sub without mayonnaise and made it a combo meal with a bag of Sun Chips and a Diet Coke. The Sun Chips were and are still promoted as healthy because they have whole grains in them and are low in fat. And I even tried some of the now infamous Lay’s WOW potato chips with the fake fat olestra which resulted in some not-so-desirable gastrointestinal side effects. I fell for the low-fat marketing scheme that is now befalling a whole new wave of consumers with this effort by Frito-Lay to move towards the “natural” branding of their products. Here’s a CBS News story about the dramatic change in focus by Frito-Lay in 2011.

Did you catch that in the CBS story? They can’t make Cheetos or Doritos without artificial ingredients! Sheez, that’s quite telling…but they’re working on it. Oh joy! And I don’t mean to sound ugly or anything, but did you see what that Chief Marketing Officer for Frito-Lay Ann Mukherjee looked like?

I’m empathetic with anyone who struggles with their weight, but it does appear that the person directly responsible for marketing at Frito-Lay desperately needs to find better information about what is causing her own weight struggles. Unfortunately, if they think it’s the fat and salt causing the problems then they are sorely mistaken. But that’s EXACTLY what they’re doing as Frito-Lay Registered Dietitian and Nutrition Scientist Danielle Dalheim brags about in this promo video pushing “sensible snacking” with Frito-Lay chips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhcINatFL88

Our chips are not cooked in saturated fats–”the bad fats”–and instead we use monounsaturated vegetable oil fats. Incredible! Again, the average consumer doesn’t know any better that these “choices” aren’t even close to being ideal for anyone attempting to eat a healthy diet. And yet that’s how they’re being marketed with this new “Naturally Delicious” advertising push. You’ll get a better feel for what Frito-Lay thinks “healthy” snacking is all about in this Q&A section on their web site dedicated to explaining it all in great detail. From demonizing saturated fats, promoting the “calories in, calories out” mantra, claiming their products are real food, worrying about salt as if it’s some health hazard, pushing MORE snacking as a means for losing weight, and finding a reason for virtually everyone to buy their chips. Well, after taking a look at the nutritional info on some of their new “All Natural” branded chips that are supposed to be the healthiest, I’ll never be buying this stuff again for the rest of my life:

TOSTIDOS ALL NATURAL SCOOPS

What’s bad about it: Made with starchy corn (maybe genetically modified, too!) and cooked in omega-6 loaded vegetable fats with a whopping 19g carbohydrate for the one-ounce serving size of chips. Who do you know that just eats ONE ounce of potato chips? Me neither! Betcha can’t eat just one serving!

LAY’S ALL NATURAL GARDEN TOMATO & BASIL

What’s bad about it: Besides being made with the very starchy potato and then cooked in omega-6-rich vegetable oils, the seasoning has sugar, brown sugar and dextrose in it and the ingredients show there’s also nonfat milk in this chip. Sugar, sugar and more sugar–OH MY! So is that supposed to be part of what makes it “all-natural?”

LAY’S ALL NATURAL BARBECUE

What’s bad about it: In addition to the potatoes and vegetable oils, did you catch what they put in the BBQ seasoning that’s anything but “all-natural?” It’s this innocent-sounding ingredient called “corn sugar” that you might know better as high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). They can change the name of the ingredient, but that doesn’t change what it is!

LAY’S ALL NATURAL CLASSIC

What’s bad about it: This one passes the Michael Pollan “5 ingredients or less” test since it only has three ingredients in it. But look at what those three ingredients are: potatoes (starchy carbs), vegetable oils (inflammatory omega-6 fats), and salt (probably man-made and not the more natural sea salt). This gives you a one-ounce snack that provides a total of 15g carbohydrate and not much nutritionally for you. How can they sucker people into thinking this is “healthy” with a straight face?

I could go on with Tostidos All Natural Multigrain, Rold Gold All Natural Everything Bagel Pretzels, Sun Chips All Natural Garden Salsa, Sun Chips All Natural Original, and Sun Chips All Natural Harvest Cheddar. No matter what Frito-Lay tries to say about their revamped potato chip line-up, I’ve gotta call a spade a spade–this stuff is pure unadulterated junk garbage that doesn’t even deserve to be called “food.” Anyone who buys into this ploy by them that they’re eating “better” or “healthier” with these new products is merely fooling themselves. There’s nothing redeeming about consuming this as sustenance for your body and the sooner you stop eating them the better. That’s the cold hard truth and something people need to hear. You cannot be healthy when you make Frito-Lay chips a regular part of your diet. Period.

I don’t expect food companies like Frito-Lay to stop attempting to fool the general public into thinking they actually care about the health of their consumers. That’s not their job. Their job is to sell more products and they’ll pretend to care about your health just to get into your pocketbook for your hard-earned cash. But people who genuinely care about health should vote with that same pocketbook by NOT buying this junk food and instead opting to funnel your food budget dollars towards more genuinely nutritious real foods such as grass-fed beef, pastured eggs, and organic, locally-grown non-starchy vegetables, for example. Think about all the money that’s been wasted on Frito-Lay chips over the years at $3 per bag. For the price of two bags, you could have gotten at least a pound of grass-fed beef or a couple dozen fresh local eggs from a farmer.

We make choices every single day about how we feed ourselves and our family. Isn’t it time we chose better rather than being fooled into thinking the big food companies care about your health? For more information on locating a local farmer near you, visit EatWild.com. Let’s send food companies like Frito-Lay a message that rings loud and clear: WE DON’T WANT WHAT YOU’RE SELLING IF IT’S GONNA KEEP UP FAT AND UNHEALTHY! Now let’s put words into action.

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!

Low-Carb News & Health Headlines For February 2011

Jimmy Moore — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 22:14:23 +0000

One of the pleasures of doing my job of blogging and podcasting about the healthy low-carb lifestyle is my constant daily exposure to all the health media that exists today. Just type in “health” in a Google search and you’ll find over 1.5 billion results in less than a second. “Diet” gives you another 278 million results and even “low-carb” garners over 9 million. Information is everywhere at our fingertips, but trying to cut through it all can be overwhelming for a lot of people. Who can you trust? What can you believe is accurate versus who’s just trying to sell me something to make a buck?

I admit it’s not and easy task trying to figure it all out, but there’s one thing I always do to help remind myself about what is most important–if what is being shared in a magazine article, newspaper column, or television report doesn’t match up with what I know to be true based on the facts as I know them, then I’m immediately skeptical and will do my own investigation. Too often people become trustworthy of others by buying into a health headline as the gospel truth without doing their own due diligence to verify that what they are saying is true. One of my readers e-mailed me about this yesterday stating his theory that we’ve lost the “skill of critical thinking” because of our inadequate public education (he recommended the book The Underground History of American Public Education for evidence of this).

Perhaps that’s somewhat true that as a culture we’d rather be told what to believe rather than spending the time to investigate it ourselves. Or maybe our lives have become so encompassed in just doing the day to day stuff of life that we can’t possibly try to go behind everything we read somewhere, hear on the radio or watch on television to make sure it’s right. Regardless of our reasons for being this way, I do think we have a responsibility to question any source of information that seems out of place or that doesn’t make sense based on our own life’s experiences. It’s why I try to read any low-carb news and health headline looking at it through the prism of what has made me who I am. Even if I agree with the information presented in a news story about health, I try to double check everything and make sure it is on the up and up. Don’t take my word for it–see for yourself if what I’m sharing matches up with what you know to be true and act accordingly. It’s this rebirth of cognitive thinking that will help bring low-carb nutrition to the forefront again.

Here are some low-carb news & health headlines for February 2011 to help get you started:

Have you seen what they’re doing in Canada to promote healthy living this year? The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is pushing a project called Live Right Now designed to help show how “Canadians can live a healthier lifestyle.” Well, there’s nothing wrong with that, right? Not exactly. You see, one of the new television shows they are pumping out to the public is called Village on a Diet featuring the people of Taylor, British Columbia attempting to change their lifestyle with the help of a dietitian, a chef, a psychologist, two personal trainers and a medical doctor. It all sounds innocent enough. But as this brilliant opinion piece from Margaret Wente explains, this show just “pretends that all you need to lose weight is a lot more exercise, a healthier diet and a dose of good old-fashioned will power.” In other words, it’s The Biggest Loser redux (see for yourself in this promo video). One of my Canadian readers noted that “these poor people in this village are being subjected to a high carb (near vegetarian) diet. The chef is preparing meals with chick peas, tofu, etc. and several people are complaining because they’re not losing weight.” It’s tragic! A BETTER exhibition of how a Canadian community could lose weight and get healthy effortlessly is the 2008 CBC Newsworld documentary My Big Fat Diet from filmmaker Mary Bissell and low-carb researcher Dr. Jay Wortman. We certainly need a lot more projects like this one instead of more high-carb, low-fat diets combined with the exercise-’til-you-drop approach. Take a look at Dr. Wortman’s reaction to Village On A Diet.

I found this column on Everyday Health outlining the “8 Keys To Low-Carb Eating” which was kinda interesting. There were some pretty good tips like “all carbs are not equal,” “eat protein at every meal,” and “avoid processed food…especially those that contain high-fructose corn syrup.” But there was also a lot of really bad advice like “limit saturated…fats, such as butter, animal fats,” “don’t cut out…all breads or dessert,” and “do some sort of exercise, such as walking, every day.” While I’m sure this column derived from Woman’s Day means well with the advice given, it’s just too conflicting with what we know to be accurate for people who are livin’ la vida low-carb.

Have you heard about this study on a potential “cure” for Type 1 diabetes from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center? By eliminating or greatly diminishing the role of glucagon, it controls high blood sugar levels in Type 1 diabetics without the need for insulin which is currently the primary way to treat it. While this is exciting research, it is only focused on mice and is questionable whether these findings can be extrapolated to humans. But according to the report on this study in ScienceDaily, it appears that glucagon plays a much greater role in this than insulin. This is something worth paying more attention to as more research is conducted.

I absolutely love and adore Dana Carpender because she’s not afraid to tell you exactly what she thinks about her own personal low-carb lifestyle–and that even includes explaining “Why I’m Not A Purist.” You go Dana! I’ve long been subjected to the smug sneers and judgment of people who think my diet should look a certain way over the years and that if I do it any differently than what they call for that I’m not a genuine low-carber. It’s absurd to force what you think is right about diet on anyone–simply present your case and share the evidence you have in support for what you are claiming, but don’t mandate it on them as an ultimatum. That’s the way I think is most effective at getting your point across and then respecting the decision made by the individual. Get more common sense wisdom about low-carb living from Dana Carpender on her brand new (and blazing hot!) podcast “Dana’s Low-Carb For Life!”

The boo birds about the new USDA 2010 Dietary Guidelines are out in force and continue in this Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota-based Star Tribune column from Paul John Scott where he makes the case that Americans have been too trusting about what they’ve been told is healthy for them to eat. He notes that more of the same bad advice just “isn’t going to work” and that we need to fire up the spirt of people like the late Jack LaLanne if we’re gonna get serious about weight and health in America. Scott acknowledges the work of people like Gary Taubes to help shift this paradigm back in the right direction and that it’s only a matter of time before the preponderance of the evidence becomes much too significant to ignore. AMEN! Don’t miss registered nurse Jackie Eberstein’s take on the new Guidelines.

One in nine adults around the world are currently obese which is DOUBLE what it was in 1980. That adds up to over a half billion clinically obese adults walking around right now according to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO). Of course, they’re using body mass index (BMI) as the measuring stick for determining if someone is “obese” or not and these statistics don’t even take into account the people who are “metabolically obese normal weight” as Dr. Mary Vernon puts it. So I kinda take statistics like these from WHO with a grain of salt with the caveat that it’s not just how much people weigh but the state of their health that matters most (blood lipids, blood glucose levels, Vitamin D levels, etc.). And measuring that is a bit more tricky than doing a simple BMI statistical analysis.

It’s so good to have Dr. Kurt Harris back blogging again after some gentle prodding from me during his “Encore Week” podcast interview last month. This man is one of the more brilliant thinkers on diet and health in the low-carb/Paleo blogosphere and we’re all better off learning from his insights when he’s sharing them early and often. That’s not to say that everything he is sharing I necessarily agree with–but he certainly will make you think about what you believe. Case in point is his recent post “No Such thing as a macronutrient part II – Carbohydrates” where he makes the claim that “glucose and starch in the DIET are not poisons in a healthy human.” Hmmmm. He goes on to say that gluten grains are much worse for your health than legumes/starchy carbohydrates and that staying out of ketosis and keeping your glycogen stores topped off is ideal (a la the concepts promoted by Paul Jaminet who is my podcast interview guest coming up on March 7, 2011). Give it a read and share what you think!

Portion control has come on strong as the new dietary trend being promoted by so-called health “experts” around the world. We heard it from the minions at the USDA during their press conference about the new Dietary Guidelines and now their UK equivalent is getting in on the act. The Food Standards Agency recently conducted a food survey detailing that portion sizes have grown exponentially compared to just twenty years ago. They note in the article that everyone should be using their hand to determine if the amount of food they are eating is appropriate or not. HOGWASH! Find foods that will satisfy your hunger, nourish your body, and give you enjoyment at appropriate portion levels and this whole portion control nonsense is a moot point. That’s why eating a healthy high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb diet works so well because the portion control is built-in naturally to the foods you are consuming. When we take the focus off of arbitrary portion control, then perhaps we could make a dent in both the amount and kinds of foods people are consuming.

Weight loss is really all about “calories in, calories out,” right? That’s what the really smart people talking about health keep telling us all the time, so it must be true. They’ve convinced people like Sonja Rose who wrote this column last week about a bogus study from Harvard researcher Frank Sacks which I blogged about two years ago (and don’t miss my two follow-up posts calling out Dr. David Katz for his comments on this study as well as the genius analysis of this study done by Dr. Richard Feinman). The calorie hypothesis continues to be perpetuated despite evidence that proves total calories aren’t as important as the quality of those calories. Nevertheless, you’ll get a kick out of the USDA chart of daily calorie consumption recommendations that Sonja shares. How close does it come to the actual number of calories YOU eat?

Well shazam! It seems we really have been lied to about “cholesterol-lowering” statin drugs according to this study published in the Texas Heart Institute Journal. Researchers out of Seoul, South Korea concluded that regardless of whether an individual has been diagnosed with coronary artery disease (CAD) or not, statin therapy does not decrease the proportion of small, dense LDL…but in fact increases it.” Perhaps this is why those statin drug commercials that seemingly run every other ad on television these days never mention LDL particle size measured in tests like the NMR Lipoprofile. Unfortunately, most doctors are still clueless about understanding cholesterol. It seems our friend Justin Smith is right when he says they have $29 billion reasons to lie about what these drugs are actually doing!

Did you know that being vegan could put your heart health at risk according to a new study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Chinese researchers found that a diet devoid of animal fats leave the cardiovascular health of people who eat that way at risk. Low HDL cholesterol and high levels of homocysteine are the primary culprits in this elevated risk of cardiovascular problems. The lack of omega-3 fats and Vitamin B-12 in a vegan nutritional approach is what will “undermine the whole thing.” Well it’s about time somebody exposed the genuine deficiencies in the vegan diet with all the negative press about the health impact of high-fat, low-carb diets that’s been thrown around out there over the years. These issues aren’t anything new thanks to former vegans like Lierre Keith trumpeting the cause for consuming more animal-based foods.

Wanna hear something pretty wicked? Check out the latest cancer screening technology called Single-Photon Emission Computerized Tomography (SPECT) which can detect a tumor as small as two millimeters rendering the standard and very expensive PET scan obsolete. The biotechnology company Cell>Point says the patient is injected with (get this!) SUGAR along with some radioactive isotopes because the “cancer cells are attracted to the sugar, so they eat it up.” WOW! We’ve long known that sugar is one of the worst possible things a person with cancer could ingest because it literally “feeds” the cancer cells, but here’s new technology using that fact as a means of helping doctors locate cancer faster. I’m thankful that this technology was created, but I’d love to see stronger recommendations by public health officials about giving up sugar and starchy carbohydrates as a means for preventing cancer. You would think they would put two and two together at some point. They should take a look at the research of people like Dr. Thomas Seyfried at Boston College if they truly care about this indelible connection between carbs and cancer.

We’ve always heard that butter will kill you, but a Sicilian couple took that to the next level recently. They suffocated the woman’s ex-husband with butter and told police he died in a drunken stupor thinking the butter would all melt away. But they didn’t realize that remnants of the butter would show up in the man’s airways. BUSTED! I don’t know why this story intrigued me, but it did.

Do you trust the scientific method for gathering evidence in support for or against a hypothesis? That’s what Jonah Lehrer at The New Yorker wanted to know in his column “The Truth Wears Off: Is There Something Wrong With The Scientific Method?” His thesis is that so many studies begin to look increasingly irrelevant as future research debunks many of the findings of the original experiment. Lehrer notes that there seems to be something happening that pushes researchers into noticing patterns in their data that don’t actually exist. This is a curious observation on his part in light of what has happened historically in nutritional science. Take, for example, Ancel Keys who saw patterns in his data that told him that saturated fat consumption leads to heart disease back in the 1960s. If he were still alive today, I wonder if he’d still see that correlation in light of all the new science that has emerged in the half-decade since. One would think he would if for no other reason than to save face for hedging his entire career on it!

Have you heard all the buzz about how drinking diet soda will increase your heart attack risk lately? Although I gave up my desire for diet soda in May 2010, I still think studies like this are ridiculous. How do they know it’s the diet soda of all things that led to the greater risk of a stroke or heart attack? The truth is they don’t. Interestingly, the American Dietetic Association weighed in on this research stating “to suggest that they are harmful with no credible evidence does a disservice to those trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.” I tend to agree with them (for the first time ever!) and would hope this would be looked into more closely. Getting off of aspartame is definitely a positive that most anyone drinking diet soda should strive for, though.

The evidence is growing in support of the benefits of engaging in exercise in a fasted state. This study published in the February 2011 issue of American Society For Nutrition found that dietary protein digestion and absorption is enhanced by exercise prior to consumption by their elderly study participants. In fact, this is still an open randomized, double blind clinical trial looking for new patients seeking to observe the condition known as sarcopenia, or the loss of lean muscle mass. I’ll be interested in seeing more results from this research in the coming years.

Have you ever wanted to educate yourself better on all the various sugars and sugar alternatives out there? Then you need to read “The Many Faces Of Sugar” for so much information on this subject your head will explode! ENJOY!

I’m sure Dr. Robert Lustig will be smiling when he hears the details about this studypublished in the March 2011 issue of Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism concluding that fructose really is a lot worse for your brain health than glucose. According to this Chicago Tribune column about the study, the leader researcher Dr. John Purnell at Oregon Health and Science University showed that the brain responds very differently to the introduction of fructose into the body compared with glucose–glucose raises neural activity for upwards of 20 minutes after it is infused compared with fructose DECREASING neural activity for a similar amount of time. The control substance saline had no impact at all. This is really intriguing as we seek to determine whether or not it’s the KIND of sugar your body responds to or just sugar in general.

Did you hear about Miss San Antonio Domonique Ramirez getting stripped of her crown last week? The pageant board accused her of “gaining excessive weight” among several other indiscretions. Yep, they said she was getting to be too fat and the spokewoman even went so far as to say Ramirez needed to “get off the tacos, get off the chips and the soda” stating these foods were “what these kids eat” at the age of 17. Gee, that’s kinda harsh! And get this–she’s 5’8″ tall, weighs 129 pounds and is a size 2! Oh yeah, that’s just horribly obese. Sheez! Ramirez is fighting to keep her crown. GOOD FOR HER! And we wonder why young girls have such a complex about their weight.

Wanna live to be 100 years old? Then eat a cheeseburger every single day according to New Zealand centurion Catherine Reddoch. She’s been doing this for 20 years straight! This was pretty hilarious in light of all the hysteria about consuming dietary fat leading to a shorter life. Forget about the focus on McDonald’s they had in the story, it’s cool this awesome lady would say she doesn’t care about all the hysteria about what she should be eating. She said she thinks she should weigh more than she does…but she doesn’t. Gee, I wonder why?

Oh no! I’ve been missing out on getting carbs into my active lifestyle after all this time because Active People Need Their Carbs, Too. The sports nutrition “expert” quoted in this column says you’re depriving your muscles of fuel when you restrict carbohydrates like bread, cereal, rice, pasta and potatoes. Really? We’re back to that argument again? This ignorant “expert” goes on to explain that someone wanting to exercise should load up on 50-100g carbs within a couple of hours of engaging in it coming from foods like granola bars, fruit, whole grain toast with peanut butter and jelly, fruit smoothies, or a bowl of cereal with milk. Then when the exercise is finished, she wants you to eat even MORE carbohydrates to “refuel for your workout the next day.” REALLY? Uh, okay. NOT! I haven’t eaten that many carbohydrates in one sitting in a very long time and I workout quite often engaging in resistance training, interval training, competitive volleyball, and yoga. Never do I feel the need to carb up before or after these activities because I’ve trained my body to use fat for fuel in the absence of carbs in my diet. That’s the way the body can function optimally even at high-performance levels. This sports nutritionist should ask Swedish athlete Jonas Colting about her flim-flam theories on carbohydrates!

THANK YOU Time magazine for telling me how to live longer: Switch to a whole grains diet! Yeah right! According to a new study published in the February 14, 2011 issue of Archives Of Internal Medicine, a high-fiber diet is needed to reduce the risk of death from heart disease, infectious or respiratory diseases, or really any cause. They found a 22 percent decrease in the risk for those people who consumed 25+ grams of dietary fiber daily. This fiber business is quite controversial within health circles, even in the low-carb community. I do think it’s been overblown as something necessary when you’re on a healthy low-carb lifestyle as we heard from Fiber Menace author Konstantin Monastyrsky on my podcast in November 2008.

How’s that for a low-carb news and health headlines update? Got anything interesting about diet, nutrition and healthy living you’d like to share with me. Send me the link anytime to livinlowcarbman@charter.net. THANKS for helping me stay on top of all the very latest information about health!

How I Lose Weight, or Not

Maureen Diaz — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 02:01:11 +0000

Mixing up the Thanksgiving Stuffing-*not* something helpful for me to eat!

Lately this is something which I have been contemplating a lot, as back in November and early December I very rapidly gained ten pounds-Ugh! As I squeezed into what had just a few weeks prior been an appealing dress, it occurred to me that I had better step back and take a look at what I was doing to cause this dramatic-and scary!-set back. Why, oh why, is it so easy to gain weight, but so hard to lose or keep it off?! There are several things which I identified as problems and needed to change.

First, way back in August I had a mishap which made it impossible to follow my preferred methods of exercise. In fact, for quite some time it was very difficult to perform any significant type of physical exertion, as it was simply far too painful and detrimental to healing! Because of the level of physical activity prior to this, my body had reset to a fairly high metabolism which I was able to sustain for a period of time. But after awhile everything slowed down again. By mid November nearly 3 months had passed, I was still having a great deal of trouble with my shoulder, and returning to running and dancing was still out of the question as the bouncing and jolting was simply too much. But I still needed to do something, as gaining more weight was not an option!

Another thing that had changed was my eating habits, to some extent anyway. I no longer strictly quit eating in the afternoon, but would often have a meal in the early evening. Experience had taught me that this was never a good thing!

Bread making was going on full blast about the middle of November as I prepared for the Weston A Price conference, for which I was providing sourdough bread cubes for stuffing. While I did not eat much bread, I did eat more than I had become accustomed to, which certainly upped my carbohydrate intake. The body loves to store those carbs as fat, and that seems to be just what happened-especially with the lack of good, physical exertion! I believe gluten is also a factor in my hypothyroidism, and so this was likely another contributing factor.

In addition to these things, I had often been enjoying a glass of wine or ale in the evening. While I never over-indulge and am against drunkenness-period!, I do not believe that enjoying a glass with dinner or at home while relaxing is wrong; it can even be good for you. But due to the high carb content of these beverages they are not our friend when we have a weight problem and as such need to be limited.

One other “little” thing: I was drinking coffee fairly often again, something I had given up quite some time ago. My preference is for strong, dark coffee with heavy cream and Sucanat. The sugar certainly gave me a carb-start to the day, and the caffein is hard on the adrenal glands, suppressing the thyroid (along with the gluten in that bread), and here we go again…

The dark chocolate truffles which my children were making as gifts didn’t always make it into the gift boxes either

So here I am now, early January, 4 1/2 months after my little accident and still with a very painful shoulder, but determined to turn things back around. And I am! Recently I was able to start exercising again, albeit carefully. I can again run and perform my dancercize routine, and have added some abdominal and gluteous maximus exercises. Tea, much lower in caffein and acid, is again my beverage of choice and coffee is relegated to the occasional treat (with xylitol instead of Sucanat). I am not having the wine or ale (it can wait for a “treat”, once in awhile). While bread making is something I find very enjoyable, I feel no need to eat it. Coconut oil is again added daily as a supplement. And late night eating? A thing of the past!

And so the new year begins, and a “new” me! The pounds are not coming off as quickly as I would like, but they are coming off again! By this time next month I expect to be to a new low and even nearer to my goal.

Having problems losing the weight you need to lose? Perhaps you can benefit from my experience and join me in this most beneficial of endeavors: to arrive at the weight that is best for you and in the process look good, feel great, and have fun in the process!

Journey with The Liberation Diet

Kevin Brown — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:51:48 +0000

Kevin:

First off:

Thank you for taking the time to call me back at the time that you did! I know you are VERY BUSY & I hope you know how that made me feel that you took the time to call me!

After only two short weeks of following your instructions, I lost a total of 7 pounds! Being a 41 year old male with M . S.. I know this is something that I NEED TO DO, Something I want to do and it is SO VERY ACHIEVABLE! It’s funny but I NEVER thought I could eat only twice a day and be satisfied AL L DAY LONG. I will keep you updated and here is a picture of me right after I started my new way of life. I started at 271 lbs and as of right now I am 264 lbs. PS: LOV E THE EGGS & BACON w/ the “REAL MILK!” It’s NOT JUST FOR BREAKFAST ANYMORE!

Talk to you soon,

Tom Schwindy

Frickin Chicken

Kevin Brown — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 23:41:03 +0000

Amanda:
I’ve always had a love of cooking. I think when the Food Network was beginning, they were marketing towards me. When I first heard about it, I thought what a weird topic to dedicate a network to. But, I fell in love. To this day, I have to have the best in my kitchen. I don’t use too many measurements when I cook, just a lot of love. I have opened up this blog to my family and some friends, so there will be a lot of recipes to enjoy. As always, please leave comments, and suggestions. If you try one of our recipes, please let us know what you thought of it! To find out more about me, visit my personal blogCurrently I’m doing a weightloss program called The Liberation Diet that falls in line with the principles set forth by the Weston A. Price Foundation and the Real Food Movement. The Liberation Diet is a very low carb diet that focuses on good quality high fats and oils. When I first was reading some of the literature it was quite mind blowing to see how the journey our culture took to leave behind butter, lard, ghee and other quality, vitamin-rich fats for the likes of margarine, soy-oils, canoloa and vegetable oils. If you follow the history it is all about making money and marketing.

For instance, the makers of Crisco were just trying to find a way to get rid of their industrial sludge leftover from making candles. Some one along the way thought it looked like lard (not too unlike the time my very own Mema thought she could substitute a bay leaf for basil in a pasta dish since they were both leaves and started with ba… they might have looked similar but they were definitely NOT similar!) This person took this lard look alike and baked a pie with it. Surprisingly it worked out okay and tasted okay. Viola! A new (cheaper) oil was introduced to the market. What they didn’t know then was that it is very damaging to humans in a very slow and unapparent way. For more of the whole story on Crisco, please see: The Rise and Fall of Crisco. Here is a link that talks about fats in depth, with several other informative links at the bottom of their page: Know your Fats

Well back to my recipe… I love mexican food! I often have made burritos and quesidallas and other tex-mex delights. But since I’m going low carb, I needed to find a way to have my favorite flavors without the tortilla. Then the other day when I was picking up my Kombucha scoby from Nicole she had a dish similar to this bubbling away on her stove. I told her I wanted the recipe but since she left for vacation the very next day she hasn’t had time to post. So I made something up myself.
-Amanda

Wait, it’s “Genetics”?!

Maureen Diaz — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:11:32 +0000

Morgan Spurlock of "SuperSize Me" fame

I’ve heard it all; because several family members have had their gall bladders removed, the only reasonable conclusion is that it is”genetics”. I am not wanting to poke fun at anyone, but do we really need to place the blame for every ill on our genes? Really?!

Folks, genetics have been blamed for every ill under the sun: cancer, diabetes, heart disease, birth defects, excema, schizophrenia, obesity, breast cancer, etc.; along with a few “disorders’ such as laziness, obsessive compulsiveness, depression, shyness… You get the picture.

Well I’m not buyin’ it folks; I’m just not. After all, most of these diseases and disorders are particular to modern man, and certainly the rest occurred infrequently at best in people who suffered from malnutrition, war, and lack of decent living conditions, or indulged to excess.

But, “No!”, you say. “My mother was diabetic, my grandmother diabetic, and I am also diabetic; therefore it must be genetic”. More importantly, “My doctor says it is genetic!” Well, let’s bow down to the doctor/god who proclaims such truth!

Folks, we live in a processed world. Likely you are eating a similar diet as an adult to what you were fed as a child. This means your mother ate the same types of foods as you ate (and, scary though it seems, your children now do as well). Mom learned to cook from her mother, although Grandma likely ate far better as a girl than she did later in life, which is why she only developed diabetes as an old woman, not at 30, or 20, or… as people do now.

Our great grandparents ate mostly simple, local, whole foods. They had gardens, farms, or neighbors who were farmers. Their diets consisted of fresh, whole (unprocessed) milk, eggs, meat, fresh fruits & vegetables, and whole grains. They used lard and butter for cooking and baking, not crisco and vegetable oil. Fermented foods such as sauerkraut or pickles were part of the daily diet. Processed foods only began to make strong appearances on the local grocer’s shelves around the turn of the 20th century. Even still it was eggs, meat, and butter that were in demand. Now consider this: they and their parents died of old age, not degenerative disease!

I recall well my grandmother’s cooking; she was famous in our little Mid-Western town for her culinary skill. But she was feeding us on all kinds of new-fangled foods like sugar (and artificial color/flavor) laden Jello, casseroles made from canned vegetable and Campbells soup, and Tater Tots. Her pie crusts were dutifully made with Crisco, the fillings filled with canned fruit. Not good; Grandma died at 63.

My own mother fed us hamburger helper, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, turkey burgers (ultimate bluck!) and powdered skimmed milk. She has asthma, allergies, and developed other problems in spite of switching to “healthy” (low-fat) foods when I was a teen. I now tell people that it is important we get our nutrients from real food, not nutritional supplements: Mom popped multitude pills everyday, but even still refuses to eat butter or drink much whole, unprocessed milk (thankfully, she does consume some raw milk). She is proud of her 2 eggs a day, but suffers from severe short term memory loss and has had most of her major joints replaced. (Sorry Mom, but your story is just such a good example )

You must understand: we were not created to require knee replacements and back surgery. Nor were our bodies designed for behavior and learning disorders, degenerative diseases, depression, cancer. Our vision is supposed to hold out pretty well until we’re elderly, as is every other part of our body. And we were supposed to be able to eat all good things, not suffer from Celiac Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Then, when our time has come, we were designed to die of old age-what a concept!

There is now a new field of study called Epigenetics. This particular field explores how genes can be turned on and off to display differing characteristics dependent upon environmental, nutrient and other factors. It is a fascinating study!

The research of Dr. Weston A Price and others, seems to corroborate these findings. Dr. Price found that food played an absolutely integral role in the development of the human body and mind. Replacing nutrient-dense, traditional foods with the “foods of modern commerce” caused birth defects and many physical weaknesses, along with degenerative diseases and mental/emotional disorders in the people he studied. Today’s foods are far worse than those of Price’s day, and we are also much further down the road of malnourishment, due to the displacement of nutrients in our modern, processed “foods”. The work of Dr. Francis Pottenger, as well as the information coming from the study of epigenetics clearly show that the effects of a poor diet can, in fact, be passed down for several generations. But it also shows that as individuals we can affect change upon we, and our children’s, genes for generations to come.

So is it genetics, really? Well, in one sense I would say, “yes”. But to a much larger degree I must conclude that we hold within our hands, more specifically the tips of our forks, the power to change our very lives and the lives of future generations. It all begins with what we choose to put in our mouths, and the mouths of our families. Choose well.

Maureen Diaz is a certified Liberation Wellness Nutritionist, Educator, and Cooking Instructor. She works from home where she oversees the education and daily life of her large family. Maureen has also produced 3 cooking DVD’s including her latest available now, the Liberation Wellness Cooking DVD. For purchasing information email Maureen at: mamasfollies@gmail.com or visit her website, NourishingTraditionalCook.com, which is (sigh) still currently under construction.