Month: April 2011

How Much of Public Enemy #1 Are You Eating? More Than You Know!

Wallace Bishop I.N.H.C, C.N.C.3 Comments
An Attractive, Tasty Poison!

In my business I meet all types of people at varying degrees of wellness and varying level of health knowledge. Some people do not know the way they are eating and living is actually abusing their bodies, this is not common however.  Most people do know, I just think they don’t respect their bodies enough or love a damaging diet and lifestyle more than their concern to be healthy.

There are several foods and food ingredients that merit the label “Public Enemy” as far as their impact on our health.   There are two (2) that sit at the top and cause serious health issues. Today I am going to discuss what I think is the #1 food hazard to our health.  The reason it rates as number one is because it is is related to well over 100 adverse health conditions, is widely available in many foods and it is disguised under many names and food manufactures love to use it in its most unhealthy forms. Why? Because of money!  It is cheap and will make you crave the foods these unhealthy ingredient are in.   Simply put, it makes food manufactures a lot of money. I can’t totally fault them, they are responding to the demands of consumers.  We must change.

Do you have any idea what public enemy #1 is?  On average Americans eat 2 to 4 pounds of this stuff every week. In 1900 Americans only consumed 5 pounds per year. It is known by many names. It is a cheap favorite of food manufacturers. It causes havoc in your body and is responsible many adverse health conditions and diseases. This stuff is terrible for you and your children. Please visit our web page on Children and Adolescent Health to learn how to build healthy children.

Sugar!!!!!!! 

(I am not advocating a low carbohydrate diet)

There has been a lot of in the news recently about the negative health effects of sugar. Lets explore it!  Sugar really does act like a poison when it is in the wrong form or we consume too much of it. Sugar is linked to cancer, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart and vascular disease and others.

Sugar is a form of carbohydrate. The carbohydrate family is broken into 2 groups; fiber and starch.  Each of these groups have other sub groups. Starches are divided into simple and complex and for fiber into soluble and insoluble fibers. Let me be clear. I am talking about added sugars, refined and processed (a food man has altered and or removed part of ) sugars also known as simple sugars, not naturally occurring sugar in foods ( complex carbohydrates) from nature you eat such as beets, carrots or apples. The best sugars come from complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates are foods with fiber and offer many health benefits.

Your body needs some sugar to be healthy. Your brain and central nervous system only use glucose (blood sugar) for energy.  Your cells favorite source of energy is glucose (blood sugar). In fact 40% to 55% of your calories should be from carbohydrates.  Blood sugar energy received from complex carbohydrates is the cleanest form of fuel to burn. Your carbohydrates should come from vegetables, fruits, beans, lentils and whole grains; complex carbohydrates.

Not all starches and sugars are the same. Avoid foods with a high glycemic load. It’s the glycemic load of food that is important. Look for foods with a Glycemic Load value of 10 or less. There are some of mother natures foods that you still need to be aware of  the sugar content. Some starchy vegetables that have little fiber can raise blood sugar quickly causing the same kind of problems that added sugars cause. For example; the glycemic load for dates is 22 which is high and the glycemic load for strawberries is 1 which is very low.  The glycemic load for a baked russet potato is 33 which is very high compared with a sweet potato which has a glycemic value of  11 to 16. The lower glycemic foods have a lot of healthy fiber which slow down the conversion of the starch to blood sugar. The rise in blood sugar is also influenced by the type of starch compounds present in the food such as amylose and amylopectin. Starches with a higher percentage of amylose had lower blood sugar and insulin responses.

I would not use artificial sweeteners as a replacement. Unpasteurized honey and black strap molasses are the best natural sweeteners, however use them sparingly because they are sugar. I do not recommend agave nectar or agave syrup. They are processed/cooked and have a higher ratio of fructose to glucose than does high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). The best sweeteners to use on a daily basis are Stevia and Xylitol.  They have little blood sugar impact. Sugar alcohols like Xylitol can cause gastric distress in some people if they consume too much. Try mixing the Stevia and Xylitol together for the best results. I recommend you get used to foods being less sweet. Try using less sweetener to break the addiction to sugars. By breaking the addiction to sugar you can avoid temptation by the sugary devil.

Sugar has made its way into almost every food stuff man is processing and refining. Sugar is added to bacon. luncheon meats, mayonnaise, peanut butter, dried fruit, fruit juices, tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, prepared foods, cereal, granola, cookies, flavored milk, soft drinks, coffee drinks and hundreds if not thousands of other foods. Milk has about 3 teaspoons of sugar per 8 ounce glass.

The purpose of the added sugar is to make you eat more of the food it is in. It’s all about money. If you keep buying it, the food manufacturers will keep selling it. Stop buying it and they will begin to make healthier foods.
Your best defense is learning to read food labels and being able to find all the different names of sugar. When reading the food label pay special attention to the serving size and the grams of sugar per serving. Try to limit the amount of sugar you consume to 5 grams or less per serving. Look for foods that have 3 or more grams of fiber per serving.

Sugars Many Names

When reading the food ingredient list on the food label look out for these names

  1. Barley malt
  2. Beet sugar
  3. Brown sugar
  4. Buttered syrup
  5. Cane juice crystals
  6. Cane sugar
  7. Caramel
  8. Corn syrup
  9. Corn syrup solids
  10. Confectioner’s sugar
  11. Carob syrup
  12. Castor sugar
  13. Date sugar
  14. Demerara sugar
  15. Dextran
  16. Dextrose
  17. Diastatic malt
  18. Diatase
  19. Ethyl maltol
  20. Fructose
  21. Fruit juice
  22. Fruit juice concentrate
  23. Galactose
  24. Glucose
  25. Glucose solids
  26. Golden sugar
  27. Golden syrup
  28. Grape sugar
  29. High-fructose corn syrup
  30. Honey
  31. Icing sugar
  32. Invert sugar
  33. Lactose
  34. Maltodextrin
  35. Maltose
  36. Malt syrup
  37. Maple syrup
  38. Molasses
  39. Muscovado sugar
  40. Panocha
  41. Raw sugar
  42. Refiner’s syrup
  43. Rice syrup
  44. Sorbitol
  45. Sorghum syrup
  46. Sucrose
  47. Sugar
  48. Treacle
  49. Turbinado sugar
  50. Yellow sugar

Flour Based Products

Most breads, cereals, cookies, crackers and pastries have a high glycemic value. They raise blood sugar rapidly. Not all flour based products have higher glycemic load values however. Whole Grains when eaten in their natural form release sugars slowly.  Steel cut oats have a lower glycemic load value that rolled oats.  Enriched and refined flours have little fiber allowing the starch to turn to blood sugar rapidly. Even whole grain breads can cause a quick release of blood sugar because part of the bodies digestive process has already been performed.  To my knowledge the lowest glycemic bread is Ezekiel Bread.

In summary, to reduce your risk of developing a sugar related disease or adverse health condition avoid or limit simple carbohydrates by eating more vegetables, fruits, beans and whole grains. Use natural sweeteners, however, learn to enjoy foods that are less sweet. Break that sugar addiction, kick it to the curb and enjoy life.

Healthy Wishes

Wally Bishop C.N.C.

WebND

The contents of this blog is not and should not be  considered medical advice. This blog is for informational purposes only. Always consult with your doctor before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Never quit taking prescription medications unless advised to do so by your doctor.

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ADHD, What Influence Does Your Diet Have?

Wallace Bishop I.N.H.C, C.N.C.5 Comments
Feed Me Some Real Food!!

Have you or your child been diagnosed with ADHD? Maybe you suspect you or one of your children may have ADHD.

Good news, recent research shows your diet is one of the most influential factors for making ADHD worse or reducing or eliminating ADHD symptoms. Why use drugs first when the food we put in our bodies may have the most powerful health influence (good and bad) on ADHD? Start by examining the most basic and fundamental cornerstone of your health — the foods (and non-foods) you put into your body?

Dr. Lidy Pelsser of the ADHD Research Center in the Netherlands, and lead author of a study on food and ADHD, stated in an interview with NPR that ADHD is easy enough to regulate through diet.

“Food is the main cause of ADHD,” lead researcher Lidy Pelsser told NPR. “After the diet, they were just normal children with normal behavior. They were no longer more easily distracted, they were no more forgetful, there were no more temper-tantrums.” “The teachers thought it was so strange that the diet would change the behavior of the child as thoroughly as they saw it. It was a miracle, the teachers said.” After five weeks, more than 60 percent of the kids in the test group had seen their moderate-to-severe symptoms fade to mild or fall out of the clinical range altogether.

Always consult with your doctor before making any diet or lifestyle changes. Never stop taking medications unless approved by your doctor.

Alright, Lets Get Straight to the Point—-The Diet

The diet couldn’t be much simpler, really. It only restricts unhealthy foods.

To summarize, you are going to cut foods with preservatives, known allergen foods, some food colorings, added sugars and high glycemic foods. This is a low allergen diet. Most ADHD symptoms are heightened by food sensitivities and allergies.

If you did nothing but cut all dairy, beef and 90% of the sugar in your diet, you would see very positive changes. Incorporate the other changes and for most people, the positive impact will be simply amazing.

FIRST TWO WEEKS:

1) NO DAIRY PRODUCTS, especially cow’s milk. This is the single most important restriction. Instead try sugar-free Almond milk or sugar-free Rice milk. Drink water instead of milk.  Do not drink Sodas, Gatorade, sweet teas,  etc., they do not count as water.

2) NO YELLOW FOODS. Especially Corn or Squash. Bananas are white. Don’t eat the peel.

3) NO JUNK FOODS. If it comes in a cellophane wrapper, don’t eat it.

4) NO FRUIT JUICES or DRIED FRUIT. Too much sugar content. One small glass of apple juice has the sugar content of eight apples. Later on you can have juice, but dilute it with water 50/50. Dried fruit is normally coated with sugar and has concentrated sugars in them.  Limit fruits to 2 to 3 servings per day.

5) CUT SUGAR INTAKE BY 90%. If you can, cut it down to zero. Sugar is in just about everything, but give it a try. Do your best without going crazy.  This does not mean cut the sugar in real food like a sweet potato, carrots or beets. Eliminate as much added sugar as possible.  Some names of added sugars are; sugar, raw sugar, beet sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, cane juice, glucose, sucrose, turbinado sugar, maple syrup, rice syrup, malt, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, maltose, dextrose and corn starch. If you stay away from refined and processed foods you will have no problem with sugars.  If you have been consuming a lot of sugars in your diet, you may have a headache for a day from the withdrawal effects.

6) CUT CHOCOLATE BY 90%. Only consume 85% or higher dark chocolate. No more than a single piece, once a week.

7) NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS (NutraSweet, Splenda, aspartame etc..) None. Period. Use Stevia in the Raw , Truvia or Pure Via.

9) NO PROCESSED MEATS. this includes luncheon meats, sausage, hot dogs etc….

8) NO meats, however if you must have meats, eliminate beef, eggs, chicken or pork, eat only lamb or turkey. Wild caught fish like cod, salmon or whiting is fine. If the package says it is in a sodium or salt solution for flavor or freshness do not buy it. It has preservatives.

10) NO FRIED FOODS, saute, grill, steam or broil instead.

11) AVOID FOOD COLORINGS WHENEVER POSSIBLE.

12) NO white bread, cereals, white rice and white potatoes. They turn to blood sugar very quickly. The best whole grains are; brown rice, oats, oat bran, quinoa and buckwheat.  Ezekiel Bread is Ok and is always in the frozen foods section. Wheat may be an allergen for some people.

13) LIMIT OR ELIMINATE refined and processed foods and most of the problem foods listed above become a non-issue. This means foods like Mac n Cheese, biscuits, rolls, pastries, most cereals, canned starchy foods like, Spaghetti O’s etc… This does not apply to canned beans or veggies. However always buy organic canned veggies when possible. If buying non organic canned foods, always rinse them very well.

14) NO REFINED VEGETABLE OILS, use only extra virgin olive oil or organic virgin coconut oil

This is a big change if refined and processed foods are a big part of your daily diet. No more mac and cheese, cereals, biscuits, etc….. However I will say that making these changes will have a profound effect on your overall health not just the ADHD

Eat as close to nature as possible, eliminate refined and processed foods, avoid known allergen foods, eat hypoallergenic foods.

Diet On-Going

You can start to add in other foods to see how they affect you or your child.  Add one food at a time. Over a 48 hour period check their behavior.  If there is no negative response then it may be a safe food.  One food I would not add back are dairy products.

Nutrients That Are Important.

Most people with ADHD are deficient in these nutrients.

Water, water, water. It flushes toxins from our bodies, give us energy and helps us focus. A good formula to determine your fluid needs is to drink 1/2 your body weight in fluid ounces of liquid. If you weight 200 pounds you will need at least 100 ounces of water or total combine liquid.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids– they are important for brain development and mental focus. (salmon, cod, halibut, sardines, krill oil, ground flax seed, flax oil, chia seeds, hemp oil)

ALA (alpha linolenic acid) , (a type of Omega 3 fatty acid) bests source is borage oil and primrose oil.

Protein– protein is very important for making neurotransmitters needed for healthy mental function. The best sources are; Turkey, lamb, salmon, cod, halibut, trout, quinoa, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds. You only need a small amount of protein to be healthy. To determine your protein needs, divide your weight by 2.2 to convert to kilo grams. Then multiply that number by .8 and that is how many grams of protein you need per day. If you are an athlete or have an illness you may need more protein.

Vitamins B6, B12 and Folate

Magnesium

Zinc

A great dietary supplement to help is Vive Energy Spice (not the chocolate for ADHD)

ADHD Drug Side Effects: Source http://www.adhdnews.com/adhd-drug-side-effects.htm

Summary

If you really want to reduce the symptoms of ADHD changing to a low allergen and low sugar diet can have a huge impact. In a matter of days positive changes will be noticed.

Other Great ADHD Articles

ADHD, It’s the Food

Food for the Brain

Healthy Wishes

Wally Bishop C.N.C.

WebND

The contents of this blog is not and should not be  considered medical advice. This blog is for informational purposes only. Always consult with your doctor before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Never quit taking prescription medications unless advised to do so by your doctor.

Related Articles