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| By Jon Herring - Editorial Director | Friday, January 15th | |
In the Tuesday issue of Total Health Breakthroughs, I began a discussion of grains. But the focus was not on their high glycemic index and effect on your blood sugar. We have covered that many times before. This week, we're looking at the "anti-nutrients" in grains, and the fact that a grain-fed diet is foreign to our genetic blueprint. We continue the discussion today... Stone Agers Living in the Space Age... We call the modern era the "Space Age." And considering that we regularly send men and machines into space, the description fits. The acceleration of our technological achievements in the last century is astounding. In fact, with the advent of portable personal computers, our world has changed drastically in just the last ten years. But we are not advancing rapidly in every respect. In some ways our pace of change is glacially slow. While the world around us might change rapidly, the world within us has hardly changed at all in hundreds of thousands of years. And that can pose problems when it comes to our health. You are what you eat... But you are also what your ancestors ate... The vast majority of your genetic blueprint - 99.99% of it - was formed more than 10,000 years ago. In other words, your genetic makeup is virtually identical to your ancient Paleolithic ancestors. Those genes were shaped over a period of millions of years. That means that certain foods and nutrients - the same ones your ancient biological ancestors consumed - are literally hard-wired into your biology. When you feed your body the foods to which it is genetically adapted, health, vitality and leanness come naturally. On the other hand, when we feed our bodies foods that are foreign to our genetic blueprint, we experience disease and dysfunction. And while our genetic physiology has hardly changed in hundreds of thousands of years... the foods we feed those genes have changed dramatically. The Agricultural Revolution... Early man knew that he could not eat grains. Not only were these foods difficult to gather in quantity, but they were toxic in their raw state (the same is true for beans and potatoes). Then a breakthrough changed the course of history and our diet, forever. About 10,000 years ago, we learned that preparing and cooking grains in a certain way neutralized enough of the toxins to make them edible. And thus the Agricultural Revolution was born. Many positive changes came with agriculture. We didn't have to spend so much time foraging, so we were able to specialize. Culture, architecture and knowledge flourished. And because these foods could be grown in abundance and stored for later use, population grew more rapidly. At the same time, however, our health began to deteriorate. Skeletal evidence clearly shows that we became shorter in stature, frailer and prone to nutritional stress as our diet became more grain-fed. The Industrial Revolution... The advent of machinery changed our diet even more. Only in the last hundred years have we begun to consume vast amounts of refined grains, refined sugar and processed vegetable oils. None of these foods are compatible with the genetic blueprint we share with our Paleolithic ancestors. And we have not had nearly enough time to adapt. When we are used to thinking in terms of minutes, hours and years, evolutionary timetables are hard to grasp. See if this puts in perspective just how rapid this change has been. There were 100,000 generations of our ancestors that survived as hunter-gatherers. And yet only two generations have grown up on highly processed, fast food. We are truly Stone Agers, living in the Space Age. Do you feel like crap? Are you tired all the time? Well get ready for a big change! Read on to discover a secret that will give you an endless reservoir of energy. This could really change your life. You'll learn...
Keep reading and re-energize your body and mind once and for all.... Plants and animals develop a wide variety of defense and survival mechanisms... Flowers produce nectar, so that insects and birds will come along for a sip, coat their bodies with pollen and fly off to deposit that pollen on another plant. Fruit and berries are sweet and delicious so that animals will consume them - seeds and all - and then deposit those seeds in another location. And for the same reason that animals develop claws to defend themselves, some plants produce toxins. Grains, beans and potatoes don't "want" to be eaten... and they produce "anti-nutrients" to ensure it Grains, beans and potatoes last so long in storage for a specific reason. These foods have enzyme blockers that stop them from sprouting until the conditions are just right. In fact, in many cases seeds and grains that have been found buried with mummies readily germinate when they are exposed to warmth and moisture. But these enzyme blockers are also very effective at blocking digestive enzymes within the human body. This can disrupt digestion and also cause stress to the pancreas, which has to over-produce enzymes to make up for those that are destroyed. These plants have other compounds such as lectins, glycoalkaloids and phytates that function as natural pesticides. They can ward off attack from bacteria, insects, worms, rodents... and humans. Over millennia certain insects, birds and rodents have genetically adapted to these foods. Their bodies can neutralize these anti-nutrients without damaging the animal. But because these foods are so new to humans, we have not developed these same adaptations. The nutritional consequences of anti-nutrients... You have certainly heard about people who are "gluten intolerant" or celiac. These are people who have a powerful inflammatory and immune reaction to an anti-nutrient protein found in common grains like wheat, rye and barley. About 1 to 2% of the population is completely intolerant of ANY amount of gluten. But studies have shown that as much as 30% of the population has some level of inflammatory reaction to this compound. The damage is there, but the symptoms are not acute enough for some people to notice. And we are eating these foods every day. Experts believe that gluten and other anti-nutrients play a major role in many "unexplained" diseases. A recent review in the New England Journal of Medicine listed 55 diseases that can be caused by eating gluten. And these are not just gastrointestinal disorders. Many include neurological and psychiatric conditions. In fact, some highly autistic children have experienced a complete or near-complete remission of symptoms, simply by removing yeast and gluten from the diet. Lectins: master code-breakers... Other anti-nutrient compounds contained in these plants are called lectins. In an article on anti-nutrients, Dr. Ben Balzer, M.D. writes the following about lectins: "They are like master code-breakers. The cells of our bodies are studded with receptors which are like code pads to ensure stimulation only under the correct circumstances. Lectins have the ability to crack these codes and stimulate the receptors causing a variety of responses - covering the full repertoire of the cell and even tricking the cell into doing things it normally cannot do." Lectins also have the ability to bypass our usual defenses. That means they can travel all over the body wreaking havoc. A short list of what lectins can do:
These are just a few of the anti-nutrients that are in grains, beans and potatoes. There are also phytates, compounds that can cause nutritional deficiencies by binding to important minerals and blocking their absorption by the body. Most anti-nutrients can be neutralized in our foods by proper cooking and preparation. However, we don't always prepare our foods that way. Today there are more and more quick-rising breads, granola cereals and unprocessed bran concoctions. And even when we do prepare our foods properly, a surprising amount can still remain. I am not trying to be alarmist. And I'm not saying you should never have a piece of toast or a baked potato or bowl of pasta. Obviously most of us can tolerate these foods to some extent. But with so many people experiencing unexplained illness and general malaise, it is worth understanding that these foods could be a potential cause. And in any case, the glycemic value of these foods should dictate that they only make up a small part of your overall diet. To Your Health,
Fitness Expert Dr. Al Sears, MD, Says..."Aerobics and Cardio Are DEAD" Why is my colleague, Dr. Al Sears, MD, telling people to stop doing aerobics and cardio... throw away your jogging shoes... and skip the gym? Could it be that traditional exercise is actually bad for you? Could it be that if you practice aerobics or cardio, you're actually making your lungs smaller and weaker? This changes everything. After 25 years of research, Dr. Sears has patented a revolutionary approach to fitness that's easy to follow and gets results. You can do this no matter what shape you're in. | ||
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Saturday, January 16, 2010
THB: Stone Agers Living in the Space Age...
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