Why Do Half of Americans Have Chronic Illness?

A new poll among 100,000 Americans has me thinking we are all a bunch of human guinea pigs. The new Gallup survey found that 51% of Americans struggle with chronic illness. The CDC is at least giving lip service to these findings:

Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the findings can help launch a new approach to health care in the United States.

"We are investing the most of any country in the world -- $2 trillion -- and we rank 37th in terms of health," Gerberding told the news conference.

Healthways President Ben Leedle said 51 percent of Americans are stuck in a cycle of chronic disease such as heart disease and diabetes, in part because of their poor choices.

But why are we so ill? Is it really "our choices" that have made us so sick? What would CDC's "new approach" be? (Warning: this post gets kind of radical...) We spend the most on healthcare of any nation. We have the most vaccinated population. We think these things should make all of us healthy, but something's wrong.

From my research, it's clear that federal programs and policies have forced us to trade mortality for morbidity. We can extend quantity of life, but at the cost of quality of life. Most of our "choices" are dictated by federal agencies. We have robbed Peter to pay Paul. Here are some examples:

• USDA: The 1980s Food Pyramid launched an epidemic of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. These are the exact conditions it was supposed to prevent. Farm subsidies for the least nutritious foods - wheat, corn, soy, and rice - create a disincentive to choose more nutrient-dense foods. More than 70% of the average diet is based on nutrient-free white flour. Flour is cheap, so no one is starving in our country, however, this leads to an odd phenomenon where we are simultaneously stuffed and starved - our food-supply is "watered down" due to these nutrient-poor food choices. Even when we choose vegetables or fruit, they have fewer nutrients per bite because we have whipped the soil in which they grow to produce the maximum yield. Paradoxically, we have more food, but fewer nutrients. As the USDA incents farmers to produce more, they need to sell more, so we consume more. Are human beings the same as foie gras geese? With more than half of us overweight or obese, I'm seeing little difference.
• CDC: Our health care system is actually a "sick care" system. Vaccines may save lives (and some say that is debatable or patently false), but they likely contribute to allergies, autism, asthma, arthritis, and even autoimmune conditions. How many injured kids equal one child's life saved, assuming vaccines do actually work? I'd hate to be the Public Health official in charge of that equation. Can you imagine having a spreadsheet that showed 20 children with autism is equal to one saved from polio? Really. That's the equation. Morbidity versus mortality. And who pays the price? Not the government -- they are trying their best to prove they are not responsible since it might bankrupt our country if they were.
  
• NIH and FDA: Medical errors kill the equivalent of six jumbo jets of people -- per day -- and "side effects" from prescription drugs kill 106,000 people per year. We've ingested and excreted so many prescription drugs that they are are showing up in our municipal drinking water. The average water filter does nothing to protect us. If you drink tap or even filtered water, you are part of Prozac Nation, whether you asked for it or not. Remember SOMA from Aldous Huxley's book, Brave New World? That's not science fiction anymore.
• FDA: Chemicals are introduced into our environment and our food supply and they are innocent until proven guilty. Excuse me, but chemicals shouldn't have the same rights as citizens. With the exception of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund (which we actually pay for via a surcharge on each shot), chemicals don't even have to post bail. They are free to circulate in our bloodstreams and accumulate until they start making enough people sick that we begin to investigate. Agent Orange, DDT, mercury, thalidomide -- the list is endless. Again, we are guinea pigs. (Photo to right shows a victim of Agent Orange.)
  
• DOE and EPA: We continue to use dirty energy when clean alternatives are available. Every time we turn on a light, a coal-fired power plant makes our electricity and pollutes our land and oceans with mercury. In fact, using electricity from coal is the number one reason we are advised to avoid shark, mackerel, swordfish and tuna. They have dangerous levels of mercury, mainly due to our electricity consumption. How much longer will it be until every type of fish has so much mercury in it that we can no longer eat any fish safely?
  

We are one big human experiment gone awry. We are guinea pigs inhaling smoke from a lab that's on fire.

This 5 minute 9 second video, Most Astonishing Health Disaster of the 20th Century, is particularly hard for me to watch, as I 'blink 'em back' each time I view it, but it's worth it if you want to understand what is going on with our health. (Email subscribers, please click through to the med nauseum site to see the video.)

Sure, life is more convenient these days. Happily, fewer people die, but we have more people living with chronic illness. Is it worth it? Isn't there a safer way to manage a population's health? Should we emulate Canadian and European national healthcare models where the government knows they'll have to pay for medical conditions they create when they approve chemicals or bad medical treatments, or market nutrient-free food? Those countries invoke the Precautionary Principle far more often than the U.S. - erring on the side of caution rather than risking ill health in the population.

My own mother was a medical experiment in the 1940s when her doctors arbitrarily radiated her thymus since they deemed it too big. She was a little girl. As a young adult, this radiation led to Hodgkin's Disease. Massive amounts of radiation gave her thirty-five more years of life. Five years ago she died due to the long-term consequences of radiation poisoning -- all dating back to the thymus radiation. This is not a unique story. We all know someone who has chronic illness and we all know someone who is a medical experiment. Most of us are.

I'm another example. I initially became disabled after a trip to Bali. I received a bunch of travel vaccinations before the trip and collapsed during a Balinese performance. I spent the next 3.5 years in bed and am still not as healthy as before that trip. I have spent an average of $20,000 per year since 1996 seeking diagnoses, paying for supplements, buying special food. It allows me a normal life, not a bedridden one, but I'm still yoked to a special diet and supplement program to keep me healthy. It's expensive and time consuming but I really have no choice. Looking back at my life, I have one regret: I wish I'd been more informed about vaccines. I wish I hadn't had blind faith in medicine.

Like most MBAs, I'm not a huge advocate of anything socialized, but I'm increasingly interested in national health care. Why? Because then the government would be 'holding the bag' when they make us sick. The government would finally have a financial incentive to protect the health of its citizens. Today, we are left with the expense of our illnesses, though we are doing what our government - whom we think is acting in our best health interest - is telling us or incenting us to do.

Shouldn't the head of any health-related government agency be off-limits for lobbying and special interest money? They are in charge of our health. Shouldn't they be as uninfluenceable as a Supreme Court judge? That's a law I would get behind. And, I realize that this would affect corporate profits at Big Food, Big Farm, and Big Pharma and that this would lead to higher taxes since we need to get the money to run our country from somewhere, but I'm ready to pay with my dollar rather than my body.

We are coming to a tipping point where most of our bodies are showing signs of our own negligence. Earth is showing these same signs. We are collectively waking up to the fact that we have begun to destroy Earth as we know it, but why are most of us - Julie Gerberding, I'm asking you - so oblivious to the destruction of the precious ecosystem in each of our bodies?

Excuse me for sounding so radical and for sounding a little like Michael Moore, but the big picture is coming together for me and I don't like it. I'm all for making a profit, but I'm also into ethics -- profits cannot be at the expense of my health or yours.

Intrigued or enraged? Please forward and comment.

Video: Cancer is a Fungus

I kept deleting this link when it came up on my Yahoo Groups. Now that I finally watched it, I think you need to find forty-five minutes to view it, too.

The author of The Germ That Causes Cancer interviews Dr. Tullio Simoncini, an Italian oncologist, who explains his theory that cancer can be caused by fungi in things like grains, alcohol, and antibiotics. Cancer, itself, he says is a fungus.

The most surprising part of the video is how simple and easy the treatment is: baking soda. The fungi cannot adapt to it -- part of the reason is the high alkalinity of baking soda. For most cancers, catheters are used to deliver the sodium bicarbonate directly to the tumor. Dr. Simoncini says that when sodium bicarbonate is in direct contact with a tumor, it can literally vanish in one week. He says with blood, breast, and brain cancers, 99% will heal within 6 days if the tumor is catheterized.

I can't vouch for the theory or the treatment, but it is certainly intriguing and the treatment does no harm and costs pennies. Certainly meets all my personal criteria for giving it a try.

Click here to view the video from KnowTheCause.com.

You can read more about Dr. Simoncini's work at cancerfungus.com.

Green Our Vaccines Rally in DC

I guess you can call it "Activist Month" over here at Med Nauseum. If you live near Washington, DC or know someone who does, consider attending this June 4th "Green Our Vaccines" rally led by Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey. The three main issues they have with vaccines, which Jenny McCarthy blames for the onset of her son's autism, are:

• Too many
• Too soon
• Too toxic

That's it. You don't have to be 100% anti-vaccine to share these same concerns about the CDC's recommended vaccine schedule for ages 0 - 6 which in 2008 includes fifteen diseases and twenty-seven different injections. In 1983, children were vaccinated against 7 diseases with 10 injections. When the vaccine schedule expanded in the early 1990s, autism diagnoses exploded and science is still trying to unravel this complicated, multi-factorial autism epidemic. There are much safer ways to protect your children. For example, Talk about Curing Autism Now publishes guidelines for parents who want to vaccinate more safely (here).

But what makes vaccines toxic? Well, mercury in flu vaccines, aluminum, antifreeze, formadehyde are just a few of the things you just might not want to inject into yourself or your child. The list is long. Here is the full list.

Med Nauseum wrote about Jenny McCarthy's ground-breaking appearance on Oprah, where she talked about reversing her son's autism with biomedical treatments like a gluten free and casein free diet. The summary is here.

The Green Our Vaccines rally is sponsored by Jenny and Jim, Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), Generation Rescue, HEAL Foundation - Healing Every Autistic Life and Moms Against Mercury. It is well-worth attending if you can.

To learn more about vaccines, I recommend:
Dr. Sherri Tenpenny
Dr. Robert Sears
Dr. Stephanie Cave

A Note from your Publisher

Hi Med Nauseum Fans,

I'm on a short break from posting. You noticed, right? I'm at work on a book proposal and have a deadline or two to meet in the next couple weeks.

Today I posted a piece that might interest you about the light brown apple moth spraying controversy and an incredible set of activist moms at Silicon Valley Moms Blog (here), a nationally syndicated blog I also write for. After doing research for the post, I feel more strongly than ever that the Bay Area spray must not occur.

Here are some resources:
Stop the Spray
Vegan Reader
LBAM Spray

Here I am handing LBAM Stop the Spray literature to Maria Shriver.

Tonight, I attended her private book signing for Just Who Will You Be?, her new book about her adjustment to being the First Lady of California. Maria was asked to leave her news anchor job after Arnie became Governor of California. I hope she has some good "pillow talk" time with Arnie about stopping the spray.

And, thanks to Plain Jane Mom, I can post a video of my question to Maria and her response. Per Wikipedia, in February 3, 2004, Shriver was told by NBC she was to be "relieved of [her] duties at NBC News," citing the conflict of interest between her role as a journalist and her status as the First Lady of California and her increasing role as an advocate of her husband's administration. This is the basis of her new book - how to redefine who she is, not what she is. (With advice for how we can do that, too.) So, I tried to step into her shoes for a minute and decided I just had to ask if she had any vindictive fantasies of running for President to imagine her husband Arnold Schwarzenegger getting a call to resign from his job as Governor of California. I was quoted in a San Jose Mercury News article about the Silicon Valley Mom Bloggers visit with Maria, and here is a video of the question and her great response:


Maria Shriver Book Signing from Erika Jurney on Vimeo

I'll be back soon with more coverage of research supporting dietary and environmental causes of chronic illness!

Gluten-Free Vegan Diet Found Effective in Rheumatoid Arthritis

On March 18th, the Arthritis Research & Therapy journal reported that rheumatoid arthritis patients who followed a gluten-free vegan diet experienced significant athero-protective and anti-inflammatory changes compared to a control group.

Here is how Clan Thompson, the organization that publishes fabulous gluten-free food and drug databases, summarizes the results:

A GLUTEN FREE VEGAN DIET MAY HELP THOSE WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who eat a gluten-free vegan diet could be better protected against heart attacks and stroke. RA is a major risk factor for these cardiovascular diseases, but a gluten-free vegan diet was shown to lower cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and oxidizedLDL (OxLDL), as well as raising the levels of natural antibodies against the damaging compounds in the body that cause symptoms of the chronic inflammatory disease rheumatoid arthritis, such as phosphorylcholine. These findings are reported today in the open access journal Arthritis Research & Therapy.

The idea that we can influence our health by changing our eating habits has become a fashionable idea among lifestyle and consumer magazines. There is evidence that dietary changes can bring about health benefits but specific results are not widespread.

Now, Johan Frostegard of the Rheumatology Unit at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm and colleagues divided sixty-six RA patients randomly into two groups. They randomly assigned 38 of the volunteers to eat a gluten-free vegan diet, and the other 28 a well-balanced but non-vegan diet for one year. They analysed the levels of fatty, lipid molecules in blood samples using routine analytical methods at regular periods. They also measured oxLDL and anti-phosphorylcholine (antiPC) factor at the beginning of the experiment, at 3 months and again at 12 months.

The researchers found that the gluten-free vegan diet not only reduced LDL and oxLDL levels and raised antiPC antibodies but lowered the body-mass index (BMI) of the volunteers in that group. Levels of other fatty molecules, including triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) stayed the same. In contrast, none of the indicators differed significantly for the control groups on the conventional healthy diet.

AntiPC antibodies are studied within CVDIMMUNE, an European consortium led by Dr Frostegard with the hypothesis that such antibodies can protect against cardiovascular disease and can be used as diagnostic and therapeutic factors.

Frostegard and colleagues have now shown that diet could be used to improve the long-term health of people with rheumatoid arthritis. They concede that a bigger study group will be needed to discern which particular aspects of the diet help the most.

See my interview with Raw Daddy for more info and resources on following a vegan diet.

NYT: The MS Recovery Diet

I was excited to see the New York Times review a book about recovering from MS through diet. Ann Sawyer and Judith Bachrach penned The MS Recovery Diet to show that it's possible to regain lost function in MS through diet. The cover even claims it's possible to live symptom-free. For some people who are very strict on the diet, it is entirely possible.

Here is part of the NYT interview with Ms. Sawyer:

“This approach is simple, it doesn’t cost anything and nobody is making money from it. We’re not saying the diet is a cure; it’s a way to control the symptoms of MS. Walking around watching what you eat is a lot better than sitting in a wheelchair.” [MED NAUSEUM COULDN'T AGREE MORE!!]

Before she started the diet, Ms. Bachrach, a former dancer and movement instructor, could not even use a wheelchair because her upper body had become too weak to manipulate it. She was 35 when she learned she had MS; by 49, she was mostly bedridden. Then, in 2006, she met Ms. Sawyer and decided to try the diet she suggested.

“After one week on this diet, I regained feeling in my toes,” she wrote. “After about six weeks, I also gained incrementally in terms of endurance and muscular rebound. I was even able to walk back down to the waterfall on my land, to carry firewood, to empty the ash bucket, to make a spaghetti sauce and to stay up to greet my husband on his late return from a trip, all in one day, and still felt just fine.

“There is no doubt that on this diet, my good days are definitely better. I continue to gain new sensations, mobility, strength and endurance every month.”

The first tenet is to replace saturated fats with monounsaturated fats. This is the only part of the diet with which I'd quibble since there are only two studies showing saturated fats actually cause ill health. Michael Pollan posits that fats have been unfairly demonized since most studies mix all fats -- including trans fats -- into the same category.

At any rate, I was encouraged by the reasoning behind the other dietary restrictions, which are based on common food intolerances, like wheat and dairy, and the theory of molecular mimicry. Molecular mimicry is when your body makes antibodies to a partially digested food protein, and since the antibodies are not all that specific, they can mistake your own tissues for that food protein and attack them. In MS, of course, your antibodies target the myelin sheaths that act like the plastic insulation on electric wire. Here's how the NYT describes it:

The theory behind the “recovery diet” is that in susceptible people, partly digested proteins stimulate an allergy-like immune response, resulting in antibodies that mistake myelin for the offending protein. These antibodies can then enter the brain and attack the myelin sheath, disrupting nerve conduction and eventually causing death of the axons. The goal the authors suggest is to identify and eliminate culprit foods from the diet to quiet the immune response.

I've lived through the same health changes as Ms. Sawyer and can definitively say this will work in many people with MS. I was bedridden for 3.5 years until I changed my diet to eliminate foods to which testing showed I'm intolerant - i.e. the foods to which my body was making antibodies. The diet becomes your new wheelchair - without it you are immobilized by your symptoms. But, I'd rather have a pain-in-the-butt diet than be in actual pain.

I've helped many people reduce symptoms of chronic illness (autism, PDD, dyslexia, MS, lupus, psoriasis, arthritis, chronic fatigue, etc.) and the benefits are amazing. The diet gets to the root of the problem-- preventing symptoms, unlike most pharmaceutical drugs which just mask symptoms.

To get tested for food intolerances, follow these four steps:

1. Begin with a blood screening for celiac disease at your internist's or gastroenterologist's office. That test is a yes/no for celiac in your MD's mind, however, if any of the scores are higher than zero, count yourself among the gluten intolerant and try a gluten-free diet.
2. If the blood test is totally negative, follow up with a stool test for wheat and dairy from www.enterolab.com.
3. If the enterolab test is positive and removing wheat and dairy don't do it for you after trying to strictly eliminate these foods for 3 - 4 months, then get a 96-food IgG Food Intolerance Panel (finger stick) to see if other foods are causing your problems. Here is one source for the panel: Vitamin Research Products. (Note: VRP calls it an "allergy" panel, but technically it is a food intolerance panel measuring IgG antibodies, not the IgE classic allergies you would already be aware of having.)
4. Finally, see a nutritionist or naturopath to balance your diet and heal your gut so you can add more foods back. This will allow you to get by with eliminating as few foods as possible over the long term, and gut health gives a big boost to your overall health.

Let food be thy medicine; and thy medicine thy food. - Hippocrates

Does the Flu Shot Work? Not according to Customer Service

Take a listen to this 2 minute recording of a call to a vaccine manufacturer's customer service rep. I was laughing out loud. As the phone rep says, the flu vaccine has never been proven effective, and at the end of the call, the rep even admits she doesn't get an annual flu shot. I have no idea who placed the call, who recorded it or who the vaccine manufacturer is, but I'm posting this for entertainment value. (Email subscribers, please click on the title link to listen to the audio.)



The NIH and Cochrane Group have independently come to the conclusion that flu vaccine is not effective in the elderly. CBS news reported on the findings here. The Cochrane Group analyzed all flu vaccine studies and found that on average, the flu vaccine will not prevent you from getting the flu, but if you do get one of the strains you were vaccinated for, you'll have the flu for 4 hours less than you would have without the flu shot. Yes, I said 4 hours. The Cochrane group even looks at sub-groups such as children under two and asthmatics and found the flu vaccine to be as effective as placebo. E.g. not effective.

And, please if you still want to get a flu vaccine, insist on the mercury-free version. You have to be 550 pounds to excrete the 25 micrograms of mercury in a mercury-containing flu shot. Where does the rest of it go? Your brain, liver, and kidneys. Here is Safe Mind's flu vaccine brochure in case you missed it.

Find all med nauseum posts on flu vaccine here.

And, read about how to naturally protect yourself and your kids from the flu here.

Raw, Hip, and Healthy Food: Raw Daddy Interview

Last week I had the privilege of interviewing James Hall, aka Raw Daddy, about eating a raw vegan diet. We talked about what raw foods do for your health, if it's all about salads (it's not!), and how to prep raw foods in the kitchen.

James recently sold his high tech business. Now he's putting his considerable culinary skills to work with his partner Clarina Bradshaw. Together they host Table of Life raw food potlucks and are planning to open a restaurant soon.

While you're waiting for the restaurant to open, James can cater many of his enticing creations for your next event (his menu), including his portable meals served up inside a cone. They rival the best plated meal you've had at Tamarine or any other hot restaurant. As probably the most stylish man south of San Francisco, he wants people to know raw food is hip, not hippie food - it's life-giving food for everyone.

Since the interview, I've increased my raw food intake from 50% to about 90% and I am feeling more energetic, sleeping more soundly, and my pesky osteoarthritic toe is much, much better. I'm a believer, but don't take it from me, read what RawDaddy has to say.

Here is the full scoop from our interview:

Alix: How did you get into raw foods?

James: Actually Raw Food was brought to my attention about 7-8 years ago by my personal assistant at the time. She used to work with someone who only ate raw foods. I thought "what a wacko, why would somebody want to eat that way." Fast forward to a couple of years ago. My partner, Clarina was opening a new division for The Gap, and was working your standard Silicon Valley grind of 18 hour days. She was complaining about how the food she was eating was making her tired. She literally said, "I'm tired of digesting my food."

So that's when I sprang into action, started doing mass amounts of research and found Raw Food. She thanks me every day for doing so. It got her through those long days, and for that matter it's changed all of our lives.

Alix: You teach raw foods classes, your raw food potlucks are all the rage, and now I heard you plan to open a raw foods restaurant. Can you tell me about it?

James: Clarina and I started feeling better the more raw food we ate, so we opened up our home to have these Raw Food Potlucks to see who would actually come to these events. The very first one we did, 6 people showed up. Now we have close to 250 members and we have to limit it them to 45-50 people. They sell out in a matter of minutes.

We found out through these potlucks, and hanging in the raw food community, that there are specific groups that come.

Alix: Who are these groups?

James: The sick. People who have conditions. They have or perhaps have not gone down the traditional AMA way of looking at things, and realize things aren't getting better, so they say, "let me see if this way of living can help."

The "Hollywoods." They're young at heart, they are very conscious in every thing that they do. They know Hollywood is into Raw Food for its energy, and for its fountain of youth properties. They also know it counter-balances the partying aspect of their lives.

The eco/animal friendly. Folks who eat raw for ethical reasons.

The curious. People who want to check it out. I like the fact that they are curious. It means that they are open to something new. If given the right food and situation, these people can easily incorporate raw food into their diet.

And then there is the rest of the world who probably thinks raw is weird. The 99.5 percent of the population in the world. The people who are afraid of trying new things, who are pretty unconscious about what they eat. These are the people who I am after. This is where the business opportunity lies. If you can come up with, which I think I have, a product and/or service where people don't have to be conscious when experiencing it, they just think it's freaking great. Then you've won the the battle. Oh and by the way, what you just put in your mouth is really something that is great for you. Great for your body, and great for your soul. I mean think about it. Are there any fast food places out there that can say that?

Alix: You are known for combining ingredients into amazing new tastes that people think are "freaking great." Can you give me an example?

James: My chocolate cake is really popular. It's made with cashew flour, raw cacao, and other ingredients. The mousse I top it with has cacao powder, ginger, and shoyu in addition to things you'd actually expect, like maple syrup to sweeten it.

Alix: That sounds both weird and great. I hope I get to try it. What does it mean to eat raw foods when you're not having dessert?

James: It's about being conscious about what you put into your body.

The technical part of being into raw food is No Processed Starches, No Processed Sugars, No Meat and No Dairy. Some people might argue with the meat and the dairy piece of it. And, nothing is cooked above 118 degrees.

Alix: Tell me more about the enzymes and nutrient content of raw foods.

James: It's proven that when you cook food over a 120 degrees you start to lose enzymes and the nutritional content of food starts to decline. Some people will make the argument that some foods are better for you cooked. But the majority of foods seem to do the body better the more unaltered they are. Where the fountain of youth thing comes into play, is our bodies produce enzymes, not only to help us digest food, but for other body functions as well. Some say we have a limited amount of enzymes that we produce in a lifetime. When eating raw foods, the body doesn't need to use its enzyme reserves to digest our food. The food itself uses its enzymes to digest itself. That's why you feel more energy and not a food coma when you eat raw food.

Alix: What do people get out of it?

James: Lots of different things I suspect. I can only speak for me. It's my energy level. When I'm on my raw food game, and my diet is up 85-95% raw, my energy level goes through the roof. I sleep less, and I don't feel weighted down. I feel more virile.

Alix: Is raw beneficial for certain health conditions? I've heard amazing stories from cancer and arthritis patients.

James: I'm not a doctor, and all I can tell you is from my experience meeting people in the raw food community and at our potlucks. The very first potluck we threw, the one where 6 people showed up. There was a gal there who was living the typical Silicon Valley executive life. She was a CEO of a small company, traveling to Paris every month. She told me she'd had cancer, I'm sorry I can't remember which type she had. And that she believes it was her sticking to a 100% raw food diet for about a year that put here cancer in remission.

There have been numerous folks who have come to the potlucks with not so dramatic stories as that, but stories none the less.

Alix: What percent raw foods do you need to eat to get the benefits?

James: Some experts say 60%, some say a minimum of 70%. I say bullshit. I say any amount in your diet being raw will help. Look around at the state of America's waist line. I'm not sure why someone would say those numbers. It would really discourage people from incorporating raw into their diet. I know people who think eating a vegetable is eating a corn dog. You don't think eating any raw food would help them? The least it would do, is stop them for at least one meal.

Alix: Is raw all about salads and smoothies?

For some people yes. That's pretty much all they eat. But it doesn't have to be that way. I don't eat that way. I'm into texture, I'm into the senses. And also the emotional aspect that food brings to us. The senses get dull if they aren't used regularly.

I will say this. Peoples lives would change for the better, if they did just one thing. They should try to have a green smoothie every day or even every other day.

Alix: Is raw always vegan?

James: That's a good question. Some say yes, and other say no. I've met numerous people who eat raw dairy and meat, milk, cream, cheese and eggs. They'll also eat raw fish with out the rice. It's a personal choice. Carol Alt, the model is a raw foodist. She I believe eats raw dairy, maybe even meat and fish.

The thing about including these items in a raw food diet, is you become extremely conscious of where your food comes from. Was it grass fed, is it local? Was it treated humanely? Was it raised organically? Is it wild or farm raised?

Eating raw food should be fun. I'm not militant about it at all.

Alix: Wheat and soy are vegan, why do most raw food people avoid them?

James: There are a lot of reasons, but the biggest reason is that a growing number of holistic health professionals feel that soy is not good for us, unless its fermented, like miso or soy.

Processed wheat? What's the point? Throw in the gluten being hard to digest for a lot folks and you just start looking for alternatives to wheat.

Alix: Nuts are a big part of eating raw - for nut milks, nut cheeses, pates, etc. Why do you soak nuts?

James: Soaking nuts and seeds removes the growth inhibitors that impair germination.

Alix: Is there a difference between soaked and sprouted?

James: Once they germinate, they contain more life force and are easier to digest. During the germination process, each begins the transition from nut or seed to vegetable.

Alix: Oh, so this is similar to what Michael Pollan said in his book, In Defense of Food - our population's transition from eating seeds (like wheat) instead of leaves left us with a diet heavy in omega-6s that promote fat storage and inflammation but deficient in Omega-3s which aid our nervous system and act as anti-inflammatories.

James: That's right - sprouting makes nuts and seeds much more healthy.

Alix: Some of this sounds complicated. What kitchen tools do you need to get started making raw foods?

James: It's actually pretty easy once you learn how to prepare food this way. If you want to make it so it's easier to stay with a raw food diet, then I would have a Dehydrator (Excalibur), a good quality blender (Blendtec or Vita-Mix), and a food processor.

Alix: What are some of your favorite raw dishes?

James: I hate to say this because it sounds so vain, but I love my raw preparation the best. Then there is Pure Food and Wine in NYC. They do a great job, as does "Alive" in San Francisco. Cafe Gratitude does wonderful grain bowls with quinoa that are just outstanding.

Alix: Any raw food recipe books you recommend?

James: I would recommend 3 books. However, once you get into preparing raw food, you can look at a regular cook book and say, "I can do that recipe raw." Most of my repertoire comes from non raw books.

Angel Food by Cherie Soria. Very basic book. Gives recipes for sprouting and fermenting foods.

Pure Food and Wine by Matthew Kenny and Sarma Melngailis. Starting to move up the gourmet food chain, but still fairly easy.

"Raw" by Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein. High end gourmet raw cook book. Not for the easily intimidated.

Alix: Any special ingredients you normally would not have around the kitchen?

James: Not really. When you really get into putting a raw kitchen together, you'll find things that you are replacing things with. For example. Most people use cornstarch as a thickener for sauces. Well in a raw kitchen I would use "agar agar." It works just like cornstarch, but it doesn't have to be heated very much, just a bit of warm water to dissolve it. It's made out of sea kelp.

Alix: Is there anything else you want people to know about raw foods?

James: The exciting thing about doing things raw, is rethinking what we've done in the past. Can we make it taste just as good, and have it be great for us? Yes you can!

Super Size Me Follow Up Study Shows Alarming Results

Here is a tip from Liz Lipski, a holistic nutritionist based in North Carolina. She summarized this Swedish study so well, I'm just going to paste it in entirety below.

The key point is that the healthy, slender subjects ate a month of Big Macs with the following results. They: (1) gained a lot of weight; (2) had dangerous increases in a liver enzyme, ALT; and (3) actually had higher HDL "good" cholesterol (!). Two subjects developed fatty liver which can lead to Type II diabetes. Liz Lipski (and I) suspect the culprit was the carbs rather than the fat in the foods. See this Med Nauseum article on a study showing carbs cause fatty liver, not fats.

And, hey, if you eat like this, you don't need to spend money on a costume to look like a Big Mac (see photo), you become one!

Here is what Liz says:

"Supersize Me" Follow-up Study has some Unexpected Results

The docu-movie "Supersize Me" has spawned a follow-up study in Sweden that has some surprising results. Dr. Frederik Nystrom selected 12 men and 6 women, all slender and in good health, to eat 2 meals per day at McDonalds, Burger King, or other fast food restaurants over four weeks. The volunteers were also asked to stop exercising during that same time, with a goal of increasing body weight by 10-15 % to measure the effects of a sudden surge in calories.

Here's what they found. On average the volunteers gained 14.3 pounds, while one ballooned by 26.4 pounds.

Based on blood tests done at the beginning, middle, and end of the experiment, levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), a liver enzyme, increased dramatically after only one week, and quadrupled over the four-week study. ALT levels rose to dangerously high levels in 11 out of the 18 subjects. One person had to be withdrawn because his levels increased to 10 times the normal level. This study proved that high ALT levels can be caused by food alone without any alcohol consumption. And the researchers reported that the rise in ALT was due to carbohydrates, specifically the sugar in the soda, and not to the fat in the hamburgers.

Two volunteers developed fatty liver, also known as liver steatosis, in which fat cells build up to dangerous levels and increase the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Last year I reported a University of San Diego study that estimated 10% of "healthy" children have fatty livers. (You can download the 2007 Health Tips book at www.innovativehealing.com It's free.) Could it be all of the high fructose corn syrup and sugar? And we know that diabetes is on the rise in children as well as adults.

On the bright side, they found that the "healthy" HDL cholesterol levels actually increased over the four-week period while consuming a high fat diet. This contradicts most of the research in the US.

So, if you are still eating a lot of fast foods, hopefully this will motivate some change. If you've already made the change, but have loved ones who haven't, send this tip along to them! It's viral in a good way!

Resource: Kechagias S, Ernersson A, Dahlqvist O, Lundberg P, Lindström T, Nystrom FH. Fast food based hyper-alimentation can induce rapid and profound elevation of serum alanine aminotransferase in healthy subjects. Gut. 2008 Feb 14

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Tip Provided By:

Dr. Liz Lipski has a PhD and is board certified in clinical nutrition. A 30-year practitioner, author, and the Director of Doctoral Studies at Hawthorn University. She is founder of Innovative Healing Inc., author of Digestive Wellness, Digestive Wellness for Children, and many other publications.

Stop Bay Area Apple Moth Spraying: Petition

The California Department of Agriculture is set to spray the Bay Area for the Light Brown Apple Moth which feeds on leaves and fruit. I don't do too many action posts, but I find it concerning that after the spraying this year in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties there were 600 reports of "health illnesses." Californians DO have the right to refuse aerial spraying. Please join the more than 8,000 people who have signed this petition to help stop the spraying.

Per Wikipedia,

The products used for the aerial spray, Checkmate OLR-F and Checkmate LBAM-F, may contain polypropylene polybenzyl isocyanate, or PPI. PPI is an isocyanate which is listed as a "hazardous agent" by the National Institutes of Health because it irritates skin and breathing passages at high concentrations.[8] The EPA claims that this chemical is not used in the proposed spray, but the manufacturer's refusal to publish the ingredients based upon the claim that such ingredients are trade secret has led many critics to believe that the EPA is covering up the presence of this chemical.

There are alternatives to spraying, including twist-ties impregnated with the same pheromone in the spray, though this is a more expensive, labor-intensive approach. As the old adage goes, necessity is the mother of invention so I can only hope that by blocking the spraying, a safer alternative will be developed.

Here is what The Petition Site says:

The aerial spraying has been ordered by the Secretary of Agriculture, and due to a declared "state of emergency," representatives and residents are currently legally powerless to stop this. The legitimacy of this so-called "emergency" is uncertain; the moth poses no risk to human health but rather a contested threat to certain crops and plants.

Yet, government agencies approving the plan admit that the pesticide could pose a threat to some people, stating " not all health effects can be predicted and because the general population includes susceptible (people), such as children, the elderly and those with chronic diseases, we cannot provide a definitive cause for their symptoms [experienced after the spraying in Santa Cruz and Monterey]."

For more info, Carla Borelli of Local Forage Blog has links to a KQED segment with Michael Krasny and the California Secretary of Food and Agriculture.

If we don't take action, we will all be sprayed. At night. Spread the word.

The Many Ways to Reverse Type II Diabetes

Here is a video sent to me by RawDaddy. It's a 9 minute documentary about six Americans with insulin-dependent diabetes (Type II, i.e. diet-acquired diabetes) who underwent a 30-day boot camp in Patagonia on a raw foods diet. I assume the isolated location was to prevent cheating!

The insulin-dependent diabetics ate no meat, dairy or sugar. Two people quit, saying it was too hard even though all their meals were prepared for them! At the end, the four remaining people triumphed over diabetes, sporting normal blood sugar readings without insulin. The videographers will check back with the participants to see how they are doing post-study.



It's not necessary to eat a raw foods diet to triumph over insulin-dependent diabetes in 30 days. Ron Rosedale MD achieves the same results with a very low carb diet that is not raw and does include meat and some dairy. Like the raw diet, it includes no sugar. It can include supplements to help control blood sugar. Read The Rosedale Diet for more info.

The Rosedale Diet also normalizes high blood pressure and fixes other heart disease risk factors. I put a few of my forty-something nutrition clients on the diet. Their MDs were about to write them prescriptions for Glucophage due to high blood sugar. Lo and behold, the clients achieved normal blood sugar values within weeks and normalized their heart disease risk factors. Was the diet hard? Yes. Did it take a lot of work? Yes. Did they lose weight? A little, but nothing dramatic. I told them weight loss was secondary to getting these chronic diseases under control naturally.

Is there other support for diet-induced Type II Diabetes? You betcha. In 2007, Gary Taubes published a book supporting the fact that Type II Diabetes is caused by diet: Good Calories, Bad Calories. In it, he explains that when MDs finally figured out the food-glucose-insulin connection, we already knew too much protein was hard on the kidneys, and we thought all fat was bad, so the general consensus was that we can't tell diabetics not to eat carbs! Just eat and medicate. (p. 184) This is the kind of reductionist macro-nutrient thinking that results in bad decisions like this. And, it explains why it is so easy to reverse diabetes with a healthy diet.

Walter Willett, MD of Harvard Medical School published Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy in 2001. It explains that the unfortunate side effects of the Food Pyramid are obesity, diabetes, and heart disease -- the rates of which rose precipitously after 1980,when the USDA began heavily promoting their pyramid recommending 6 - 11 servings of refined carbs per day. In reality, Americans took this as license to eat more than half their calories as refined white flour.

Guess what the glycemic index of sugar is? 68. White flour? 70. Not a typo. Refined white flour, when eaten alone in the form of bread or pretzels or pasta is worse for your blood sugar than pure sugar.

The long-term complications of diabetes and insulin-dependence are serious - heart disease, lost limbs, neuralgias, blindness, comas, death. The way I see it, telling a diabetic he can eat sugar, refined carbs, or even whole grains with enough insulin to offset the glucose generated from these foods is like saying to take their poison and antidote together. Why not avoid the poison? Some will say it's too hard, and unfortunately it is too hard for most people and this is a great place for ADA diabetes educators to step in. But, shouldn't all diabetes patients at least be informed of the natural alternatives? I say yes.

In Gratitude: Cafe Gratitude

I can't stop singing the praises of Cafe Gratitude in San Francisco. I had no idea their raw, vegan meals would be so delicious and gourmet. In fact the meals are so healthy, I leave with an energetic food-high that's like drinking 5 cups of coffee without the edginess.

Originally, I was attracted to Cafe Gratitude for their gluten and dairy free fare. A very nice nutrition client tipped me off, so I put it on my list of places to eat. I just wanted to order like a normal person for once. I wanted a break from asking the server to confirm that there's no flour or butter in my meal. But, the experience was so much more.

Their location on Harrison Street in San Francisco is unassuming. My first visit was with my six year old twins, who immediately remarked, "Mom! Look! There's graffiti on that building!" The cafe looks like a cross between a cozy coffee house, wine bar and a sushi bar. After convincing the twins they'd enjoy eating quinoa with nut milk "cheese," my personal joy began when -- for the first time in years -- I just ordered straight off the menu with no "86s" no "check with the chef" no desperate pleas to ensure the food is not floured. And, that alone made me happy.

I stuffed myself to the gills ordering everything from their "pizza" with a crust made from seeds and drizzled in cashew "cheese" to their "milkshake" with coconut milk, raw cacao, mint. I added kim chee and coconut milk yogurt as side dishes. I ordered chocolate mousse and lemon cream pie for dessert. All desserts use raw agave nectar instead of sugar, so you can even feel good about those.

For a restaurant that doesn't use 90% of the ingredients you normally find in food, the menu is extensive. Actually, I don't even have to qualify that, Cafe Gratitude has an incredibly extensive menu.

And, they do it all without an oven. In fact, raw foodists brag about when they turned off their oven for good in favor of a dehydrator and food processor. (And those are indeed bragging rights!)

All the food is delivered with a friendly attitude. Each dish is named with an inspiring mantra that one could easily adopt, such as "I am Amazing" or "I am Vigorous" or "I am Effervescent." At a minimum, you can't help but find a smile on your face as you browse the selections. My kids really taxed the staff with complaints about their "mac and cheese," but were finally appeased when they got double servings of chocolate mousse. They even asked for thirds.

No wonder people like Woody Harrelson frequent this place. Dr. Mercola just ran an article showing that just one unhealthy meal leads to inflammation and the formation of free radicals in your body. The good news is your next meal can start the healing process. Let Cafe Gratitude serve you your next meal. It will do your body, mind, and spirit a world of good.

If you can't eat every meal at Cafe Gratitude, the owner, Terces Engelhart, wrote a cook book to help you make their favorite recipes at home. For many dishes you'll also need a dehydrator, juicer, food processor, and nut milk bags, but don't let that intimidate you since there are plenty of recipes your kitchen is already equipped to make. The cookbook is popular and frequently sold out -- I tried to get the cookbook three times before finally succeeding.

I currently eat at least 50% of my diet raw, but thanks to Cafe Gratitude I plan to increase that percentage. Enjoy your meal there - it's alive and you'll feel that way too!

Visit one of their restaurants in San Francisco, San Rafael, or Berkeley. If you don't live in this area, put it on your list of places to visit during your stay. It's hard to find this type of meal outside California. Cafe Gratitude is expanding to Sacramento. Please urge them to open a location on the San Francisco peninsula next!

Hillary and "Big Farma" - Yikes!

I would love to have a female President, but this scathing history of the Clinton's involvement in poisoning our food supply just puts me over the edge. It is purportedly written by one of her Wellesley classmates. Sure sounds like it. I can't vouch for all the facts she cites, though many of her facts do synch up with those I have found in reliable sources.

I knew Hillary was in bed with Big Pharma and "Big Farma," (I just coined that pun) but not to this extent.

If you care at all about the future of our food supply and our health, give this article a read. I found it on Carla Borelli's great blog, Local Forage. My favorite quote that describes the far-reaching consequences of all the Clinton's political shenanigans is, "It's like winning at poker on the Titanic." (It's from Jerry Mander -- remember him from his 1978 book, Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television?)

Anyway, have a read. Fume. Sound off.

Image courtesy of www.naturalnews.com.

Set your TiVO for New Legal Drama with Very Controversial Autism Theme

Set your TiVO to record Eli Stone, a new ABC legal drama airing Thursday night at 10pm/9 Central. In the season premiere, a family sues the government claiming vaccines caused their child's autism. Talk about a way to get A LOT of free PR for your new TV show -- I hope ABC's PR firm is well-compensated!

The vaccine-autism case in the drama is very similar to the almost 5,000 real cases waiting in so-called U.S. Vaccine Court. The first case of Michelle Cedillo was settled out of court with the official record noting that vaccines merely exacerbated her condition, but didn't cause it. The outcome in the TV drama is reported to be very different, and therefore highly controversial.

The American Academy of Pediatrics put big pressure on ABC to yank the episode for fear of vaccination rates tumbling. ABC will go ahead and air it, however.

Below are a series of links highlighting the flurry of controversy over this TV show. Does anyone realize this is a TV show? I don't expect the episode to advance arguments for or against the issue, but based on the conversations it has already generated, many more will ensue Friday. I'm enjoying the back and forth banter.

Read SafeMinds letter to the ABC.

Read SafeMinds Mercury in Vaccines FAQ

Read- Sanofi Pasteur US Media Relations on the Preservative Free Influenza Vaccine Supply 2006/2007 Season

Download SafeMinds flu vaccine brochure

David Kirby on The Huffington Post: Pediatricians, ABC and Censorship: Facts Are Scarier Than Fiction

Age of Autism: PEDIATRICIANS DEMAND CENSORSHIP FROM ABC