Nutritional and Physical Degeneration is one of the most ground-breaking books ever written on the link between nutrition and health. Dr. Weston A. Price, a dentist from Cleveland, became very disturbed by what he saw in his patients. He started to see a link between the decay he found in the mouths of his patients and pathologies found elsewhere in the body like diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, gastrointestinal complaints, and more. Dr. Price also found that crowded, crooked teeth were becoming more and more common, along with facial deformities like overbites, narrow faces, lack of well defined cheek bones, and underdevelopment of the nose. Dr. Price did not believe these problems to be in any way normal; He believed they were the result of poor nutrition. The worse a person’s diet was the more decay he found in their mouth. The more decay a person had in their mouth, the higher the rate of pathologies in other areas of the body.

More than 70 years ago Dr. Price decided to search the world for primitive people who lived entirely on indigenous foods. His travels took him from islands in the South Seas to Alaska to Africa and many places in between. He visited Australian Aborigines, Swiss villages, Eskimos, traditional American Indians, Amoazonian Indians, African tribes, and more. Dr. Price and his wife Florence traveled for ten years during the 1920’s and 30’s when groups of people completely isolated from civilization could be found.

Throughout his travels, Dr. Price kept a record of his findings with pictures and detailed assessments. What he found, to be called astounding, is an understatement. Dr, Price discovered that primitive people untouched by civilization, who subsided on a diet of indigenous food, had outstanding physical development with little to no dental problems, heart disease, diabetes, or any other diseases we know believe to be a normal consequence of life.

Dr. Price’s findings were not surprising to other investigators and explorers. However, the excepted explanation at the time was that primitive people were “racially pure” and that the maladies we see in civilization were due to “race mixing”. This theory was untenable to Dr. Price who found that the individuals in groups he studied who abandoned their traditional diets for foods provided by traders or missionaries, or who moved to a more civilized area were found to develop tooth decay and degenerative conditions.

The diets of these primitive groups of people were vastly different. Some were mostly cooked food while in others most of the food was consumed raw including animal sources. Some diets were based on sea food, others on domestic animals and others on wild game. Some diets were based on dairy while others consumed a variety of fruits and vegetables and grains.

The common thread between all the groups Dr. Price investigated was none of them contained any refined devitalized foods like white sugar, flour, pasteurized or skim milk, and refined or hydrogenated vegetable oils. All the diets contained animal foods of some type and some salt. Dr. Price analyzed the primitive diets and found they all contained four times the amount of water soluble vitamins and minerals, and ten times the amount of fat soluble vitamins compared to the modern American diet.

Unfortunately, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, the permanent record of his travels, is nonexistent to today’s modern medical community. This book is more important to our health and welfare today than it was 60 years ago. Our food supply, if it could be classified as food, is devoid of almost all nutritive value. We need to incorporate the fundamentals of primitive nutrition and return to nutrient dense whole food. We need to get back to local farming and turn away from manmade supermarket garbage that is destroying our health.

Anyone interested in becoming truly healthy needs to read Nutrition and physical degeneration

Sin taxes on fat and sugar? It seems several states are looking with interest at chipping away at your rights as a US citizen to decide what you eat. Or, as they the politicians put it, encouraging you to make better choices. States are so interested in your health they want to tax foods containing sugar and fat in order to steer you into a more healthy choice. Politicians want to use pricing strategies to influence what you purchase. However, they’re not sure whether subsidies or punitive taxes work best. Shall we control people by making healthier foods cheaper or unhealthy foods more expensive?

The question shouldn’t be how best can the government control our choices, but does the government have the right to do it in the first place. What else are they going to try to influence? Who decides what’s unhealthy? We see what the FDA, AMA, and food industries have already done to our food supply. Is some politician going to get a hair up his ass about sports, thinking the average American needs to start saving their money, and make sporting events tickets so expensive the average person won’t buy them? How about the type of car you drive, even though the global warming issue has been proven a scam.

This is a slippery slope and is as UN-American as progressivism. This issue has been fought for over 300 years. People fled Europe to what is now the US to get from under the control of the governments there. In the US we have a right endowed by are creator to pursue health. The Government doesn’t have the right to make that choice, or to “encourage”, for us.

An interesting, but not surprising study was performed to see which strategy, subsidies or taxes, works best as though it’s even a choice. No matter where you stand on this topic to see how human behavior can be influenced is very interesting

Epstein and colleagues simulated a grocery store, “stocked” with images of everything from bananas and whole wheat bread to Dr. Pepper and nachos. A group of volunteers — all mothers — were given laboratory “money” to shop for a week’s groceries for the family. Each food item was priced the same as groceries at a real grocery nearby, and each food came with basic nutritional information.

The mother-volunteers went shopping several times in the simulated grocery. First they shopped with the regular prices, but afterward the researchers imposed either taxes or subsidies on the foods. That is, they either raised the prices of unhealthy foods by 12.5%, and then by 25%; or they discounted the price of healthy foods comparably. Then they watched what the mothers purchased.

The results, just published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, show that taxes were more effective in reducing calories purchased over subsides. Specifically, taxing unhealthy foods reduced overall calories purchased, while cutting the proportion of fat and carbohydrates and upping the proportion of protein in a typical week’s groceries.

By contrast, subsidizing the prices of healthy food actually increased overall calories purchased without changing the nutritional value at all. It appears that mothers took the money they saved on subsidized fruits and vegetables and treated the family to less healthy alternatives, such as chips and soda pop. Taxes had basically the opposite effect, shifting spending from less healthy to healthier choices. ScienceDaily.com

Coronary heart disease is associated with diet. Nutritional recommendations are frequently provided, but few long term studies on the effect of food choices on heart disease are available. We followed coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality in a cohort of 1752 rural men participating in a prospective observational study. Dietary choices were assessed at baseline with a food questionnaire. 138 men were hospitalized or deceased owing to coronary heart disease during the 12 year follow-up. Daily intake of fruit and vegetables was associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease when combined with a high dairy fat consumption, but not when combined with a low dairy fat consumption. Consuming wholemeal bread or eating fish at least twice a week showed no association with the outcome.

Food Choices and Coronary Heart Disease: A Population Based Cohort Study of Rural Swedish Men with 12 Years of Follow-up

Today in the United States one person will die from CVD every 37 seconds. This year in the U.S. over 1.2 million people will have a heart attack and just short of half will die. Approximately 80,000,000 people or roughly 25% of The U.S. has cardiovascular disease(CVD). It became our number one killer in the 1950’s and has not slowed down.(1)

Do you believe consuming saturated fat and cholesterol cause CVD? Do you believe eating polyunsaturated oils like canola and corn oil are not only good for you but lower your risk of CVD. If you answered yes to both of these questions, you are among the 10’s of millions who need to be enlightened by reading my article “Fats, Cholesterol and the Lipd Hypothesis”.

The truth is, saturated fat and cholesterol have nothing to do with your risk of cardiovascular disease. As a matter of fact there are many studies that show that people who have heart attacks do not eat anymore saturated fat than people who don’t have heart attacks. More-over the degree of atherosclerosis at autopsy, in heart attack victims, is unrelated to diet. It is also interesting to note that half of all heart attack victims do not have “clogged” arteries.

I have personally witnessed and cared for many patients who were experiencing (the big one) massive heart attacks in the emergency room. The degree of blockage had a wide range with the most common seemingly being between 80, 90 percent. But the interesting thing was, some people literally had no plaque what-so-ever according to cath lab reports. It was during my time working in emergency department, because of so many discrepancies, that I became very curious about what actually caused CVD.

As a follow-up to a previous article “Everything in moderation, right?“, I decided to educate my readers on substances so vital to there health daily consumption is essential. Below is a portion of “Daily Consumption“.

Coconut oil

Taken from the fruit portion of the seed off the coconut palm tree, coconut oil is one the most beneficial foods you can consume. In tropical regions where coconut oil or fat is a large portion of their caloric intake, people are much healthier and experience a much lower incidence of the modern diseases we do in the U.S. [17, 18]

There is an array of positive research published in the last few years showing the significance of coconut oil. [19] Coconut oil is classified as a “functional food” because of its health benefits that go far beyond its nutritional content. In fact, the coconut palm is so highly valued by Pacific Islanders as a source of food and medicine that it is called “The Tree of Life.” [20]

Coconut oil is the most saturated of all fats. Saturated fat has three subcategories: short chain, medium chain and long chain. Coconut oil contains approximately 65% medium chain fatty acids (MCFA). Although recognized for its health benefits many centuries ago, it wasn’t until 40 years ago that modern medicine found the source to be MCFA. Remarkably, mother’s milk contains the same healing powers of coconut oil. [21]

The saturated medium chain lipid lauric acid, which comprises more than 50 percent of coconut oil, is the anti-bacterial, anti-viral fatty acid found in mother’s milk. [22] The body converts lauric acid into the fatty acid derivative monolaurin, which is the substance that protects adults as well as infants from viral, bacterial or protozoal infections. This was recognized and reported as early as 1966. [23]

Sources located here

Does being overweight increase your risk of certain types of cancers? Does a wider grip work your lats better than a narrow grip? Get the answers to these and other questions more in my Did you know… column.

…there is evidence that raw milk prevents the development of allergic disorders? A study published in “The Lancet” (Riedler et al, 2001), indicates that children who drank raw milk, independent of other types of exposure to farming environments, had: a 52 percent lower risk of asthma, a 57 percent lower risk of having a least one wheeze attack in a year, a 76 percent lower risk of hay fever, and a 58 percent lower risk of allergies to cows, dust mites, cat dander and pollen. Wise Traditions, 8(4):71-72,2007

…the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in Berlin, Germany, is warning parents and pediatricians that babies should not be give soy formula without strict medical supervision? Germany joins the Israeli Ministry of Health, the French Food Agency and United Kingdom health officials in warning against the dangers of infant soy formula.

Salmon Professor Dr. Andreas Hensel stated that the main concern for infants is the high levels of estrogenic isoflavones in the formula, which act like hormones in the body. Milk allergies are not an acceptable reason for pediatricians to recommend soy formula.

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment also issued a second warning, this one to adult consumers, stating that isoflavones offer no proven health benefits and pose a health risk. Wise Traditions, 8(4):64,2007

“Behold: the world’s 10 fattest countries” a recent article published on the GlobalPost, discusses the world-wide rise in obesity and ranks the top 10 fattest countries. Although the author mentions processed food and inactivity as the causes of obesity, she fails to go into detail. I do not feel an article on the obesity epidemic is doing justice by not mentioning sugar, in particular high fructose corn syrup, or vegetable oils. These two foods, and I use the term “foods” loosely, Are increasing in use around the world as they have in the US. Vegetable oil consumption in the US, including hydrogenated oils, has increased 437%. (1) Sugar consumption went from 5 pounds per year in 1900 to 163 pounds per year today. From 1970 to the present, fructose and vegetable oil consumption have increased over four fold.(2) During this same time saturated fat has decreased over 20%.

Because we’ve decreased saturated fat consumption and increasing vegetable oil and carbohydrate consumption like the “experts” at the AMA and the ADA (American Dietetics Association) have advised for decades, you’s think we’d be getting healthier. However, we in the US are getting fatter and more unhealthy and are taking the world with us.

1. America Samoa 93.5% – percent of population that is overweight
2. Kiribati 81.5%
3. U.S. 66.7%
4. Germany 66.5%
5. Egypt 66%
6. Bosnia-Herzegovina 62.9%
7. New Zealand 62.7%
8. Isreal 61.9%
9. Croatia 61.4%
10. United Kingdom 61%

Mike weighs in on the pros and cons of hormone replacement therapy, soy lecithin, creatine and HFCS. He also reminds us that while there is a lot of good information on the internet, it’s important to research and consult with experts before using a product. Just because a product is legal doesn’t mean it’s safe or that it works.

Here’s a sample from the article:

Q: Hi Mike,

I was doing some research on HGH in my downtime, and the use of it to treat chronic conditions and developmental issues. Now, I came across this website http://www.rajeun.net/ as a result of my surfing. I had a look at the eight-point anti-aging program this guy has sorted out for himself and thought to myself, “Gee Justin, be pretty cool if that worked, right?”

Now some of it sounds like the usual bunkum; EDTA chelation seems to fit into that category for example.

But — and it’s a big but — in your opinion, if this guy keeps at what he’s been doing, does he have a routine that might give him an advantage over the rest of us when it comes to staying healthier for that bit longer? And following up, if you yourself wanted to go about living for a very long time, would you go down the same path this dude is going down?

In closing, respect for all for your time and encouragement Mike, a whole heap of people appreciate your attitude and your efforts in keeping guys fitter, healthier and happier.

Best regards.

A: Justin,

When it comes to living longer, does it give him an advantage over us? I don’t think there is enough evidence to answer that question. One thing is for sure, your quality of life definitely improves. Men who properly use hormone replacement therapy show an elevated sense of well-being and mood. If it didn’t work, it wouldn’t be such a huge business. There are anti-aging clinics popping up all over the world.

There are parts of his program however, that are a little suspect. Two that jump out at me are EDTA chelation for getting rid of metals in the body, and taking Vermoc to get rid of parasites. My advice to Ellis is to get the hell out of that God-forsaken toilet of a country.

Another part of his program that I take exception to is his endorsement of using Erythropoietin or EPO. EPO is a drug used in the clinical setting to increase hematocrit (red blood cell) levels. EPO is a natural substance produced by the kidneys that stimulates bone marrow to manufacture red blood cells. This drug, if used improperly, can result in death — as seen with Olympic athletes trying to gain an edge in endurance events.

Low hematocrit levels can be caused by many different conditions including blood loss, chemotherapy, HIV or nutritional deficiencies. Obviously, if the cause is nutritional, you’d want to use supplements, not a drug. Just because your hematocrit is low normal, it is no reason to jump on EPO. What Mr. Mexico doesn’t understand is that the drugs he is on, especially testosterone, increases your hematocrit levels. I believe Ellis’ site is a little on the irresponsible side.

Mike

HFCS has been marketed as a “natural sugar” being just like the sugar found in fruit. Well nothing could be further from the truth. Not only is it molecularly unlike leveulose, fruit sugar, it is also metabolized and absorbed differently. HFCS is very cheap and has made its way into literally tens of thousands of products from bread to beer. And unfortunately it’s even used in health foods from protein bars to powders. Read about why this heavily marketed product should be avoided completely here.

Looking for a snack to kill that between meal hunger? Try almonds. 28g, aproximatey 20 – 25 alomonds provides 5.9g of protein, 13.8g of fat, and 6.1g of carbohydrates. Don’t be alarmed by the fat content. The fat is what will suppress your appetite, and 62% of the fat found in almonds is oleic acid. In comparison, olive oil contains 71% oleic acid. This fatty acid has strong anti-inflammatory properties and is what gives olive oil it’s outstanding reputation. 7% of the fat content is palmitic acid and 2 percent is stearic acid. Both of these saturated fatty acids are the preferred energy source of the heart, which is why the fat surrounding the heart is highly saturated.

Unfortunately, up to 30% of the fat found in almonds is the polyunsaturated fat linoleic acid. This is a double unsaturated omega 6 fatty acid that has been shown to be pro-inflammatory, immuno-suppressive, and shown to cause weight gain. Thankfully, almonds have enough of the good fats to compensate for the bad polyunsaturated fats.

A good source of fiber 20 -25 almonds contain 3.4g. Also Rich in minerals, almonds contain good amounts of calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. So if your feeling hungry and you need something to munch on to hold you till the next meal, give almonds a try.

Nutritionaldata.com
Westonaprice.com
Enig,Mary. Know Your Fats. Silver Spring: Bethesda Press, 2000