True Health Balance

When I read this, I was almost astonished. I say almost, because these new facts do not change my understanding of the status of Americans health today. This was not a fly by night study. This study was an April 2009 study done by the Harvard School of Public health. You can read it here. Basically the new study finds hundreds of thousands of deaths each year are due to dietary, lifestyle and metabolic risk factors. Here is a break down of the causes:

Smoking: 467,000

High blood pressure: 395,000

Overweight-obesity: 216,000

Inadequate physical activity and inactivity: 191,000

High blood sugar: 190,000

High LDL cholesterol: 113,000

High dietary salt: 102,000

Low dietary omega-3 fatty acids (seafood): 84,000

High dietary Trans fatty acids: 82,000

Alcohol use: 64,000 (alcohol use averted a balance of 26,000 deaths from heart disease, stroke and diabetes, because moderate drinking reduces risk of these diseases. But these deaths were outweighed by 90,000 alcohol-related deaths from traffic and other injuries, violence, cancers and a range of other diseases).

Low intake of fruits and vegetables: 58,000

Low dietary poly-unsaturated fatty acids: 15,000

Let’s break these numbers down a bit into simple facts that we can get our minds around

Smoking  causes 20% of all deaths in the US.

You have a 1 in 6 chance of dying from High blood pressure.

Obesity whacks 17%.

High blood pressure kills 5x as many women as breast cancer

High blood sugar killed 3x as many people as alcohol

This adds up to over 1 MILLION deaths a year or 45% of all deaths in America attributed to poor dietary choices.

I have to say. I am happy to see more and more reputable institutions coming out with these studies to show that we are killing ourselves. We have to realize that people are making billions off of keeping us sick. Make no mistake, Big business like pharmaceutical and The Dairy and Beef Associations are not in business to protect our health. They are out to make money. They will do it any way they can. Milk does NOT do a body good. If you do not believe me, read this article. It will change your mind

I ask you to start getting informed about what is being put into your body. All the information is out there. Just be mindful of who is writing or paying for the study. I guarantee that the dairy association is not going foot the bill for an article to tell you that they allow a certain percentage of PUS in the milk. They won’t tell you about the concoction of cancer causing agents that is in milk. They are smart. They followed the lead of tobacco companies in the 70’s and 80’s. Market to the kids. They are in our schools and their trenches are deep. I can here people now…. If I don’t drink milk, where am I going to get my calcium and vitamin D? Well. It is a scientific fact that milk actually leaches calcium from your bones. YES. What I will say it again. When it is all said and done. Your body uses it stores of calcium to deal with all the acid that is milk. As far as Vitamin D, get out in the sun for 10 minutes. Your skin produces vitamin D from the UVB rays from the sun

Our diets are killing us. We need to better understand what heath really means. The people that make the guidelines are not out to protect us. They are there for big business. Don't take my word for it. Search for yourself. It's all out there.

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Do you know why we get a fever? This is a bit technical, but I will try this. When foreign microbes are found by your immunity system, it immediately go’s to work by releasing chemicals called “cytokines” in the bloodstream. These chemicals travel to the hypothalamus in you brain. The hypothalamus is the bodies’ internal thermostat.  The cytokines inhibit heat sensing neurons and excite cold sensing ones. Basically tricking the body into thinking that it is too cold. The Hypothalamus turns up the thermostat. It does this by telling the skeletal muscles to generate warmth by contracting rhythmically  and constricting the blood vessels in the skin, so that the heat is retained. (To us, that's shivering)

Here is where the magic happens. Most bacteria and viruses can only tolerate a very narrow temperature range. The higher temperature kills the bacteria stopping further spread of the virus. That’s not all… The heat also stimulates white blood cells to produce antibodies in the blood to further eliminate the threat. We are not quite done yet. When your body heats up you start to sweat. You skin is the largest eliminative organ you have. The toxins are forced into your sweat glands and excreted out of your body.

We have been conditioned to take medicine at the first site of fever. Doing so is actually making us sicker. The medicine tells the hypothalamus that all is well. Your body then cools down. This is bad. You are now giving that bacteria a chance to multiple and spread throughout your body. My suggestion is to allow your body to heat up and drink plenty of water to get it out of the system. Instead of being sick 3 to 5 days, it may only take 1 or 2 days to feel better. One more thing. If your temperature stays elevated for more that 2 days or it go’s above 104, consult your doctor.

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We are told when we are young to eat more fruits and vegetables. They are packed full of vitamins and minerals.  What we are not told is they are also packed with toxic chemicals. These pesticides are used to kill bugs, fungi, weeds, rodents and other pests. A typical American is exposed to 10 to 13 pesticide residues each day from food, beverages, and drinking water. Although most of these levels are low, some pose a serious threat to us, especially when we are vulnerable. Pregnancy and small children are particularly at risk. The evidence grows daily on the destructive effects of these chemicals. Disorders including:

• Immune system suppression
• Nervous system disorders
• Breast and other types of cancer
• Reproductive damage

Many pesticides have been banded by the United States, but are still used in other countries. The 2 most pervasive is DDE and Dieldrin. These chemicals are very toxic and have been banned in the US since 1970’s. Unfortunately, they are still found in foods today from foods that are shipped from other countries.

The movement toward Organic foods is starting to catch on. The question is, “Are they safer?” The answer is yes. There are a dozen pesticides that are approved for use on organic food. Examples include spinosad, sulfur, copper fungicides, oils, several botanicals, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), soaps, certain microbial pesticides, and pheromones. These pesticides are considerable saver than the non organic counter parts.

Buying organic vegetable are slightly more expense. You do not have to buy all vegetable is an organic state. Fruits and vegetables have a different absorption rate. The following tend to have a higher absorption rate and should always be purchased organically.

• Peaches
• Pears
• Green Beans
• Apples
• Squash
• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Spinach
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes 

The following fruits and vegetables tend to have fewer pesticides in them:

• Pineapples
• Mangoes
• Avocado
• Bananas
• Cauliflower
• Watermelon
• Kiwi Fruit
• Brussels Sprouts
• Eggplant
• Blueberries
• Radishes
• Onions

   

• Grapefruit 

Even with washing and peeling, you cannot get rid of pesticides in your fruits and vegetables. Buying organic can be expensive, but the way I look at it is I can not put a price on my health. Pay a little more now, or pay a lot more later. There is a handle guide that has been made that shows the fruits and vegetables that are best to buy organic. You can download it here. As always. Have a GREAT day!

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