The Journey of Eating Healthier, Good Nutrition and Feeling GREAT....How to Have an Abundant Life

The Genesis Process

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy Hardin) — Mon, 11 May 2009 00:20:00 +0000

What is the GENESIS PROCESS?

The Brain in the Bible and Healing Self-Destructive (addictive) Behavior

For the first time in history we actually understand not only what is broken, but also what it takes to help those who have continued a self-destructive/addictive behavior even to the point of losing everything.

The mystery is:

"Why are we the only creatures in the observable universe that will continue to do self destructive behavior in spite of the consequences"? "Why do we do the very things we don't want to do" (Romans 7)? We will continue to over eat, over work, over drink and drug, over stress and over sex ourselves, even to the point of death and not stop. Even an ant is smarter than that.

The Genesis Process provides both a Biblically and neuro-chemically understanding of what is broken that causes us to be self destructive. If we don't first understand what is broken how can we devise a recovery plan that really works.

The Bottom Line is:

Addiction is a brain disease that is usually the result of a long series of bad choices, just like many other diseases. These bad choices are what the Bible calls sin. When the brain becomes diseased, it creates false survival cravings for things that are harmful to us. This is a form of insanity. So if you want to be free of addiction you have to heal (change) the brain from producing these self-destructive cravings. If you can reduce or eliminate cravings you can prevent relapse.

The place in the brain that is damaged is mostly what the Bible calls the Heart. The Genesis Process is a practical program to bring about heart change that last.

If you want to change behavior you have to change the HEART

Coca-Cola’s “Dasani” bottle water not what it appears

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy Hardin) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:51:00 +0000

This article came out today on NewsTarget.com. Is nothing sacred? In a day and time when we are all struggling to take care of our health, corporate America continues to undermine our efforts. After 20 years of drinking 12+ Diet Cokes per day I finally quit and started drinking water. You may all that money for bottled water because you think it is better and you learn that Coca-Cola is making a fool out of you. GREAT!

I just wanted to help make us as smart a consumer as possible! Until the next one.

Coca-Cola's "Dasani" bottled water under fire from consumer groups over tap water source

Tuesday, November 06, 2007 by: Mike Adams

Coca-Cola's "Dasani" brand bottled water product is under fire this week with a global effort to shame the company into admitting the truth about the source of its Dasani water. What truth? That Dasani water comes from tap water -- the same stuff used to flush your toilet. Of course, the water is filtered and augmented before being put into Dasani bottles, but it's still from the same source as your tap water.

This week, on November 7th, Corporate Accountability International (www.StopCorporateAbuse.org) is holding a nationwide rally in seven key U.S. cities and college campuses across the country to demand that Coca-Cola honestly label their Dasani bottled water products as "coming from a public water source." Details about the event are available now at: www.ThinkOutsideTheBottle.org

This grassroots consumer action aimed at Coca-Cola follows the hugely successful effort launched earlier this year to pressure Pepsi into making the same admission on its own branded water product: Aqua Fina. As reported by NewsTarget on August 2 of this year, Pepsi was bombarded by consumer complaints and, in response, agreed to add the phrase "Public water source" to their bottles. As I mentioned in that article, it's not a crystal clear phrase that openly admits the water comes from the tap, but it's a step in the right direction.

The new CAI action aimed at Coca-Cola features events in Austin (TX), Baltimore (MD), Boston (MA), Chicago (IL), Minneapolis, (MN), Oakland (CA), Portland (OR), and college campuses across the country. You can find more details at: http://www.stopcorporateabusenow.org/campaign/exposebottledwater

My take on the issue

If you want an example of two companies engaged in hyping worthless beverages, look no further than Coke and Pepsi. In my opinion, both of these companies operate with an astonishing lack of integrity -- not only in the way they hype their bottled water products, but also in their ongoing marketing of beverages that I am convinced are closely tied to the obesity and diabetes pandemics now ravaging our world.

Coke and Pepsi have, in my opinion, played a significant role in the destruction of human health among advanced nations over the last three generations. Not only do they aggressively market disease-promoting beverages containing high-fructose corn syrup (linked to diabetes) and phosphoric acid (linked to osteoporosis), but they also use another chemical substance in their diet drinks that many naturopathic practitioners consider to be a neurological poison: Aspartame!

Knowing the true history of Coca-Cola and Pepsi (click here to read the unauthorized history of Coca-Cola), it's no surprise that these two companies would find a way to dishonestly market bottled water products, too. Failing to disclose the real source of these bottled water products is, in my view, an inexcusable lapse in corporate responsibility. I have no doubt that whatever products these two companies may market in the future, they will always be marketed in a way that is dishonst, harmful to human health and damaging to the environment.

Join me in this grassroots effort to shed light on Coca-Cola's practices by taking action on this issue. Here's where you can learn more: http://www.stopcorporateabusenow.org/campaign/exposebottledwater

Fasting Set Back

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy Hardin) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:48:00 +0000

So what I learned from my last fast was that I should follow directions. When things get to going good I have a tendency to take the progress for granted and either push too hard forward or lie down and think it will coast. Just for the record that doesn't work out! You would think by mid 40's I would get that!

So Paul Bragg's suggestion is to fast 24 to 36 hours one day per week in order to give your body a day of rest. After a period of time do a 3 to 4 day fast. He recommends doing the 3 to 4 day fast every 3 to 4 months. Then work up to a 7 day fast, then a 10 day fast , a 21 day fast, then a 30 day fast. This happens over a period of years, not weeks as I would like to do things.

I had attempted a 6 day fast three weeks ago and ended up breaking it after 4 days. I had flown out of town which slows down my digestion. I had gotten discouraged by that and broke my fast with the intent to do another one the next week. So the following week I did another fast with only water. Monday was great. Tuesday was great. But then late Tuesday and into Wednesday I became very weak. I had committed myself to several things on Wednesday that I didn't feel I could get out of . I was serving dinner at church on Wednesday night and almost passed out on the line. That wasn't really beneficial to anyone, should have gotten someone to take my place.

So what I learned was that your body needs more time to recuperate between fasts. It is unreasonable to expect that much of your body. Secondly don't commit yourself to anything on day 3. Paul Bragg's book The Miracle of Fasting states that day 3 is the hardest so you should make sure you can rest when necessary. I however think I am above recommendations. Those apply to other people and I again paid the price for thinking that way.

The most interesting part of this fast debacle was that I was left with angry, irritable feelings that I am still trying to recover from. It really set me back personally.

I am having to work really hard to get back on track. I have been eating horrible this past week, almost punishing myself. It is interesting how I have felt with all that "bad" eating. I didn't realize how cleaned out my system had become. I ate Mexican food one afternoon and my ankles instantly swelled and my lower legs ached. You get so used to feeling that way that once your body is cleaner and that is eliminated you feel it worse when it returns. My face is bloated again. My liver is back to aching.

So we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and move on. I have had 45 years of eating poorly. I am probably not going to break all those habits without a fight from my flesh and my mind.

I am still drinking The Feast. I had backed down to once a day but am picking back up to three times per day. It fills my stomach so I can eat less, it makes me crave better foods and I feel more energetic when I drink it. And why wouldn't we want to do that as much as possible???? Dah!!!!

Continue to Trudge the Road to Good Nutrition,

Tammy

The Progress of the 4 Day Fast

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy Hardin) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 15:10:00 +0000

Okay its day three of fasting. YUCK! I am not having fun. The first two days I felt energized. A little hunger pains but I could drink water and move past them. But then yesterday late afternoon I started feeling like I had the flu. I still have those symptoms today. You know the ones body aches, headache, tired, nausea, and feel like I could pass out at any time. I know it's just detox but it's hard to control your mind from thinking that if you just ate something you would immediately feel better. My flesh is screaming.

I keep reading Paul Bragg's book The Miracle of Fasting
for encouragement. There is actually an affirmation on page 77:

I have this day put my body in the hands of God and Mother Nature. I turn to the highest power for internal purification and rejuvenation of body and soul.
Every minute that I fast I am flushing dangerous poisons that do great damage from my wonderful body. Every hour that I fast I become happier, healthier and have more energy and youthfulness.
Hour by hour, my body is cleansing and purifying itself.
When I fast I am using the same method for physical, mental and spiritual purification that the greatest spiritual leaders have used throughout the ages.
I am in complete control of my body during this fast. No false hunger pains will stop me from fasting! I will carry my fast through to a successful conclusion because I have total faith in God and Mother Nature!

I keep reading it but my flesh is loud today. My goal is to continue this fast through tomorrow evening at 8 p.m. That will be 4 days. I have already dropped 5 lbs in 2 days. My purpose for enduring this is twofold. I gained a lot of weight 18 months ago taking anti-depressants. I stopped the medications but the weight didn't go with it. The other issue is my liver aches most of the time. I know that it needs to be "cleaned" out. I had my gallbladder removed 5 or so years ago and my liver is overworking and I feel it.

I have been such a medicine junky my whole life and I know some of those medications are still stuck in my cells. Then we won't talk about the 20 year diet coke addiction or the alcohol and drug addictions or the eating junk that we Americans call food. All that on top of a sluggish digestive system. It has been hard for my body to process all this stuff out.

So writing today is about helping me remember why I am doing this. Losing weight is nice; making my heart, lungs, bones and vessels carry the burden of an extra 40 lbs is not in its best interest. I know when I am finished I will weigh less cause I already do, I will feel energized and alive because that is my past experience with fasting and my eyes will be clearer and bright.

You know all the changes that have taken place in my nutrition in the past 5 months have actually been encouraging other people to make changes. That is exciting. Considering my nutrition lifestyle would certainly not have gotten me "the most likely to eat healthy" award.

I will keep you posted on my progress.

Day 1 of the 4 Day Fast

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy Hardin) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 13:27:00 +0000

I am going on another fast. I say that almost as if I am going on another safari. It feels like that of sorts. My body is sick, it has been for years. I have suffered from chronic pain (a 30+ year old motorcycle wreck injury) and my liver hurts. I had my gall bladder removed in 2001 so my liver hurts most of the time. I'm overweight because of the food choices I have been making. I have been burying my problems in pizza instead of a bottle. And of course there is that 20 year diet coke addiction that was broken in July. That one still amazes me. I tried so many times on my own willpower to quit. God is amazing.

So all that is said to lay the groundwork for the WHY someone would fast. My digestion has been slowed down most of my life. I vacillate between constipation and diarrhea. I have tried to take enzymes but anything that I have to remember to take gets left behind, period. Thus, why vitamins have never worked for me. I have struggled with depression, anxiety, rage, self pity, etc. It is time for a change in my life!

I did a fast last week using a green drink called the Feast. I drank it three times a day with a little fruit from Sunday to Thursday. This is a huge deal for me. I have never in my life considered fasting. I have always struggled with blood sugar but as I have started getting live, whole foods into my body that perceived problem disappeared. That is amazing.

That was actually my third fast. I have been fasting on Sundays, giving my body a day of rest from digestion. So for the record I didn't just wake up one day with this idea. A friend of mine suggested a book called Bragg Healthy Lifestyle by Paul and Patricia Bragg. They go into great detail about fasting, the benefits, the process, etc. It is amazing that when the student is ready the teacher will appear. If I would have read this a year ago I would have thought "I can't do that I am hypoglycemic, this is not for me" and that would have been the end of it. Of course I would have felt sorry for myself because I would have also thought "I am never going to get better, I'm always going to feel bad and be fat". As long as I was letting my mind believe that it was true. Since my mind has started to believe that there is a better way and that we are coming out of sickness, more and more has been revealed.

Okay I am getting fired up again. I wanted to say that the last fast was incredible. I unfortunately flew out of town while fasting and for some reason flying makes me constipated which defeated my purpose so I broke my fast. But I wanted to share the results of the fast. I began to get a lot of mucus in my stool. Dr. Bragg talks a lot about that in his book The Miracle of Fasting. "Every person living on the average American diet has more or less, a sticky mucus-clogged pipe system. This stored up toxic mucus results from the undigested and uneliminated, unnatural food substances and toxins that start accumulating from birth. This mucus not only clogs the nose, throat and lungs, but this mucus is also found all along the 30 feet of the gastrointestinal tract that humans suffer great distress from heavy mucus-clogging in their sinus cavities." Well that was what started coming out of my body. I want my body to be clean. I want my liver to not ache from trying to process all these toxins that I have been putting into my body for years. People around me are being diagnosed with different cancers and I want to do my part to try to clean out my vessel so that cancer has no place to develop in my body. I know I sound radical but when you were as big of a food addict and lazy as me you have to get fired up to get yourself into action. I have 45 years of bad habits it is taking some dynamite and commitment to keep on the path.

So yes, this is my safari. It is an adventure into better health and nutrition. But in a short amount of time I am already seeing the results of losing weight (great side benefit), feeling happier, joyful, no swelling in my hands and ankles, sleeping through the night, no Tums in the middle of the night and clearer thinking. I feel more alive right now than I have in years. That is my motivation for starting this next fast. Well that and Dr. Bragg talking about the results of doing a 4-day distilled water fast "You can hardly believe your eyes! A wonderful transformation is taking place during your fast. The powerful Vital Force that would otherwise be used to handle your food is now being used exclusively to clean out the debris, waste and poisons that have been locked in the body cells and vital organs. Rejuvenation is taking place in every one of the billions of cells of the body!"

We will see what progress I make with this fast. If you have any interest in fasting I highly recommend Dr.s Bragg's book The Miracle of Fasting. I would not be working on my fourth fast without it!

Disclaimer: This is my story. You and your physician have to make your own decisions about what is best for your body. I am sharing my story for encouragement to others that our on the journey to health and nutrition.

The Tragic Consequences of Drugging Our Children

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy Hardin) — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:14:00 +0000

Boy I just keep getting ammunition for the desperation our kids have for good nutrition. I got the "opportunity" to work with the kindergarten to fifth graders at church this morning. It must be full moon because they were wild. But one little boy probably a fourth grader was out of control the entire two hours. He was either turned around hitting people, getting up and literally running around, getting in little skirmishes with other kids, you name it he was doing it; it was constant. I called him down and called him down. I went and sat beside him. I made him come sit off to the side with me. He just could not control himself. I thought to myself "what is this poor child eating". The bad part, his mom was in the room working also. She never said a word to him the entire time. I finally got exasperated with him and sent him to the back of the room. She was standing back there and I said to her "he is really struggling keeping his hands off the other kids I needed to remove him from the situation". She said "I forgot his medication this morning". I thought "if my child struggles that much I wouldn't forget that"! You don't say it, you just think it. But it doesn't answer the question, what are you feeding this child!

I recently received an update from Dr. Joseph Mercola entitled The Tragic Consequences of Drugging Our Children which gave me some shocking facts about the drugging of our children. He stated that the number of prescriptions for psychotropic drugs for children has more than doubled between 1995 and 2000.

Kids today are often labeled with ADHD for acting like kids, especially boys: they fidget, speak out of turn, don't want to sit still and just act hyper. Dr. Mercola stated that the diagnosis of ADHD is often made based on anecdotal evidence and standardized assessments from parents and teachers, without giving consideration to other potential factors like home life, diet, and environmental toxins.

He then went on to state that "if you've ever wondered why kids were rarely committing suicide or violent acts in schools when YOU were growing up, this essential video may shed some insight." He is referring to a video on his website regarding this topic. Here is a link to the post Dr. Mercola's The Tragic Consequences of Drugging. It is a very enlightening video, well worth the watch.

Dr. Mercola goes on to discuss someone of the natural treatments for ADHD:

Using plenty of animal-based omega-3 fats like krill oil.
Spending more time in nature.
Balancing your intake of omega-3 and omega-6 fats (from vegetables oils).
Avoiding processed foods, especially those containing artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives, which may trigger ADHD symptoms.
Replacing soft drinks, fruit juices, and pasteurized milk in your diet with pure water.
Reducing or eliminating grains and sugars from your diet.

My experience today just continues to drive my passion for how desperate we are in this country for good nutrition. We may be getting calories but they are poisonous to our systems. That poison we call food then cause side effects that we then use drugs to try to control. Those drugs then jeopardize our health further. Talk about a dog chasing its tail!

This nutrition insanity has to stop.

I will put a disclaimer here. This is not a one size fits all post. I know there are situations that require medications but I also think too often we choose to medicate our kids because it is easier than getting serious about their diet and exercise. We are making lifetime decisions, choose well. Be your child's best advocate!

We'll talk more about this topic.

Childhood Obesity

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy Hardin) — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 02:24:00 +0000

Boy, our lives are so busy these days rushing our kids from one event to another. How much easier it is to run through the fast food line to wolf down some non-nourishing food to fuel our kids for whatever activity they have for the afternoon or evening. Then we look around to see kids getting larger and larger.

I was recently handing out T-Shirts to my son's football team when one 10 year old informed me that he wears an adult XL. Wow, I thought "what size will he wear in high school, college, when he's thirty? What diseases will he have as a result of the food choices that are being made in his life right now?" I know I think too much.

He looks uncomfortable when he runs in football. How much longer will he choose to play sports before the pain of doing so will be greater than his desire?

There are several reasons that kids are struggling with obesity:

Inactivity (watching TV or playing video games instead of playing outdoors to get exercise)
Drinking soda or juice instead of water
Easting sugar, including sugar – containing juices, cereals and snacks
Eating junk foods

It's hard. I know it's hard. I am living it. But our kid's lives are important. They are our future. The single most widespread health problem facing our children today is obesity.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 percent of children (over 9 million) 6-19 years old are overweight or obese -- a number that has tripled since 1980. In addition to the 16 percent of children and teens ages 6 to 19 who were overweight in 1999-2002, another 15 percent were considered at risk of becoming overweight. ("Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Children and Adolescents: United States, 1999-2002"; Oct. 6, 2004)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over the past three decades the childhood obesity rate has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents aged 12-19 years, and it has more than tripled for children aged 6-11 years. ("Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Children and Adolescents: United States, 1999-2002"; Oct. 6, 2004)

Wow, we are losing this battle. But we are talking about our kids! Do you remember the fat kid at your school? Statics and experience show that overweight and obese children are more likely to suffer from low self-esteem and depression as a result of their being overweight. Obesity can take a huge toll on a child.

Overweight children are at higher risk for increased health problems including heart disease, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal problems, and in particular type 2 diabetes. These are issues that will affect their quality life, their health care costs, employment opportunities, their love life, their social life, etc. for the rest of their lives.

Let's consider the impacts of your child being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes:

So let's suppose that you're an obese child who is afflicted with diabetes. This is disease typically will almost guaranty a premature death in middle age. Over time, you might develop kidney failure and/or heart disease. Arterial disease might make you blind, or cause you to lose a limb. Can you envision this in your child's future?

Now let's think about the implications of avoiding snacks high in sugar, sodas and junk food. Now let's imagine replacing them with real foods: you know fruits, vegetables and good protein sources like low-fat yogurt, etc. Now let's imagine our children getting outside and playing like we did when were kids. You know burning off energy, renewing their minds and just having fun.

Do they baulk at first? We'll yeah! We banished the kids outside one Saturday. They whined for the first 30 minutes but we stuck to our guns. They had a blast. Kids have stopped using their imaginations with outdoor play because they are sitting on their behinds in the house being entertained. They finally got a group of kids together for a "Cowboy and Indians" event. At the end of the day they had ran, played, laughed, fought and came home dirty! Yes, dirt. We fed them, bathed them and they were ready for bed. Yes, mission accomplished.

Was it worth the whining? Yes! Did we have to listen to that a few times before they "got" it? Absolutely! But now we don't have to "ban" them to the outdoors. They like getting outside playing tag, baseball, riding bikes, etc.

We have to love our kids so much that we are willing to right our wrongs. We have to be willing to put up with their whining to set the stage for a lifetime of health. If they are outside socializing, running, playing and laughing, you set the stage for them to spend a lifetime seeking those things. If they are eating grapes, bananas, turkey roll ups for snacks and drinking water what do you think they will look like? What will the feel like? When you put junk food in your body you feel like junk! This is not rocket science.

Parents are the key to controlling childhood obesity, PERIOD. Let me state it again, parents are the key to controlling their child's obesity.

When you move your child from junk food to nutrition is it fun? NO! Do they complain? YES! Will they move past it? YES! Conversations at my house went "I don't like that". "Okay". "Would you like strawberries or grapes instead?"

This is worth repeating: parents are the key to controlling their child's obesity. Some of the ways parents can get involved in their child's life to prevent obesity and a lifetime of chronic diseases are:

Make healthy snack suggestions in place of junk/processed food snacks to start. Offer grapes, apples, oranges, bananas, protein bars, etc. instead of potato chips candy bars or snack cakes.
You cannot change their entire diet at once. You just start making slight adjustments.
Offer a salad at dinner. If they want desert they have to eat the salad and a three bites of a green vegetable
Offer pure waterto drink. Will they balk? Yes. Will they go thirsty for a little while? Maybe. However, they will drink. I keep less and less juice drinks and more and more water. My son is smart he figured out that it would be a while before I went back to the store and he was going to have spread those drinks out. They only have to drink all their juices and only leave themselves water to drink one time.

Something has to stop! We have to take a stand for our children's health.

Let me reiterate one last time. Is any of this easy? NO, absolutely not. Is it worth it? Yes. If you love your children you will suffer a little pain for long term gain. If you want to know what food addiction looks like listen to them whine. I will spend more time in my next blog talking about food addiction and the food industry's ways of making us addicted to food.

I know this is a tough topic. I am living it!

Remember you are not looking for a drastic change, just slow steady changes. STAY STRONG!

Aspartame – The Silent Killer

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy Hardin) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 02:05:00 +0000

I recently stopped drinking Diet Sodas. A major feat considering I have been drinking 10 plus, 16oz diet drinks per day, for almost 20 years. And I wondered why I couldn't lose weight or sleep???? I found this article at healingdaily.com by Marc. It talks about NutraSweet and what a killer it is.

I have not had any NutraSweet (that I am aware of) for 8 weeks. I am wondering how long it takes to detox from a 20 year addiction!

Aspartame is marketed as NutraSweet, Equal Spoonful, Benevia, NatraTaste and since the patent on it has now expired it likely will come on the market under many different names.

Undoubtedly you have heard that Aspartame is a safe sweetener and people use it to lose weight. Unfortunately that information is criminally false and misleading. Have you ever noticed that fat people drink "diet" drinks? Pageant constants' coaches do not allow them to drink diet drinks because it creates cellulite and holds water.

Aspartame is made of 3 components, 50% phenylalanine, 40% aspartic acid and 10% methanol (wood alcohol). In the body methanol breaks down into formaldehyde (embalming fluid) and formic acid.

Aspartame banned in Europe for children's products

On the European Common Market, Aspartame is banned for all children's products. Why is this not the case in Canada and the U.S.? Because Monsanto - which owns the NutraSweet Company which manufactures Aspartame - pays off the FDA, the American Medical Association, The American Dietetic and Diabetic Associations, Congressmen and Senators and virtually anyone who gets in the way, and in other countries too. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation caught them red handed and aired a program where Monsanto was trying to bribe Canadian Doctors at Health Canada.

Aspartame contains 10% methanol

NutraSweet (Aspartame) is composed of linkages of aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol. The aspartic acid acts as a neuroexcitatory agent. When NutraSweet is digested, it yields 10% methanol (wood alcohol). The wood alcohol (methanol) is widely distributed throughout the body including brain, muscle, fat and nervous tissue. It is then metabolized to FORMALDEHYDE which enters the cells and binds to the proteins and DNA (the genetic material).

Cytogenetic effects (changes in DNA) have been shown to result from FORMALDEHYDE exposure and DNA damage occurs from FORMALDEHYDE. The nature of the injury generally involves breaking and then creation of cross linking within the genetic material which alters the cells.

This finding has been confirmed numerous times and the DNA-protein-cross-links are believed to cause cancers in experimental animals. Changes in the genetic material is associated with cancer production in humans. The ability of Aspartame to cause cellular mutations has been shown through studies by Shephard, et al. There are increases in malignant brain tumors suggested to be associated with aspartame use. FORMALDEHYDE is a known stimulant for cancer and genetic damage in the cell.

THE FDA has admitted that only approximately 1% of people know how to, or do, file complaints with them. Under a recent Freedom of Information order the FDA admitted that aspartame accounted for over 75% of complaints filed. They claimed that over 8000 were filed, but they keep changing their bookkeeping to keep the numbers low. The fact that 8000 reports were received indicates that there must have been over 800,000 people adversely affected at the very least.

An average person's daily intake of methyl alcohol from natural sources averages less than 10 mg (1). Aspartame beverages contain 55 mg methanol per liter, and nearly double as much in some carbonated orange sodas. Persons ingesting 5 liters/day can therefore consume over 400 mg methanol. These facts are pertinent:

• Methyl alcohol is probably the first component of aspartame released within the small intestine, and is rapidly absorbed. Blood and methanol concentrations correlate with aspartame intake. "Abuse doses" (100 mg/kg or more) ingested by normal subjects significantly elevate blood methanol concentrations, remaining detectable for 8 or more hours (2).

• Humans are more vulnerable to the toxic effects of methanol than animals because several enzymes required for its metabolism have been lost during evolution and are not present in humans.

• The toxicity of methanol is enhanced by its slow rate of oxidation — only 1/7 that of ethyl alcohol — occurring mainly in the liver and kidneys. Even though the half life in human volunteers ingesting small amounts (1-5 ml) is about 3 hours, complete oxidation to carbon dioxide usually requires several days.

• The body attempts to detoxify methyl alcohol by oxidizing it to formaldehyde (a deadly neurotoxin and Class A carcinogen), and then to formate or formic acid within minutes. Formate and formaldehyde each may contribute to toxicity and nervous system/immune dysfunction through various mechanisms. One is the conjugation of formaldehyde with human serum albumin (F-HSA) to form a new antigenic determinant. Patients with multiple health complaints who had been exposed chronically to formaldehyde develop anti F-HSA antibodies and elevated Tal cells (antigen memory cells), consistent with sustained antigenic stimulation of the immune system (3).

Is Aspartame causing some of your health problems?

There is a very simple way to ascertain whether or not this poisonous drug is causing your problem(s). Stop ALL intake of Aspartame (anything with Monsanto's NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, Benevia, NutraTaste) in it. READ LABELS. Have your pharmacist check all your medications, Aspartame is in many drugs. This poison is in over 9000 items including most Children's Vitamins, Children's Tylenol, Alka Seltzer, Toothpastes, Metamucil etc.. Often it is only mentioned on the paper inside the carton.

Aspartame contains METHANOL, a serious metabolic poison. Your body converts it to formaldehyde (embalming fluid) and formic acid (ant sting poison) both of which attack your central nervous system and every organ of your body.

1. Monte WC. Aspartame: Methyl alcohol and the public health. J Appl Nutr 1984; 36:42-54.

2. Stegink ID, Filer LJ Jr. Aspartame: Physiology and Biochemistry. New York, Marcel Dekker, Inc. 1984.

3. Thrasher JF, Broughton A, Micevich P. Antibodies and immune profiles of individuals occupationally exposed to formaldehyde. Six case reports. Am J Indust M 1988; 14:479-488.

Fasting for Better Health

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy Hardin) — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 22:53:00 +0000

For years I have read about fasting. I thought that was other people (like weirdo) did for better health, spiritual reasons, etc. You see my system was "too fragile" to do such a thing. And then I find myself doing my third fast in the last three weeks. About six months ago I began adding a whole food mix to my diet. That has been my catalyst for change. My blood sugar has become more stable. This leads me to believe I didn't really have a blood sugar problem at all. It was most likely a reaction or allergy to what I was attempting to nourish my body with. You know junk!

I am like the rest of the American population; I am busy, running from event to event. Most of my food for the last 20 years has come out of the proverbial clown's mouth. There is nothing nourishing for your body in a fast food lane, especially those "foods" that you can easily eat and drive with. Okay so I am female, I can also talk on the phone while eating and driving. But as my friend Penny says, "the car is not an eating place". Whatever!

The reason some people fast is to cleanse the body. That is my purpose in pursuing this endeavor. I want to feel better! I want to have energy, mental clarity, lose weight, etc. There are multiple ways to fast. The so called best fast is to drink only water. I am not there yet. I did that my first fast but I was miserable the whole time. I decided to work my way into that.

Juicing is another way to fast. This allows you to have nutrients but keeping them in a liquid form so that they are not putting strain on your digestion system to process. For me it is about giving my digestion system a break. In all the reading that have done about fasting the best description was "to rotor rooter your pipes". Your "pipes" being your gastrointestinal tract, arteries, veins and the like. In Paul Bragg's book Bragg Healthy Lifestyle he states "as you begin to eliminate your body's obstructing toxic poisons your aches, pains and physical miseries vanish". What a miracle! With the two 24 hour fasts I have completed I have already experienced such benefits. I cannot wait to see what comes from a longer fast.

I always had all these restrictions around a fast. It has to be exactly this way or that. A fast is really about giving your body a rest in a way that works for you. This time I am going to do a week fast with drinking a whole food mix and eating water soluble fruits such as apples, pears, pineapple. Food that doesn't put a burden on my system to process. So as I complete my first day I am excited to see what God will reveal in this process. My goal is to fast from Sunday through Saturday. I will keep you posted on the progress.

Water…….ahhhhh wonderful water…..

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy Hardin) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 23:59:00 +0000

For years I have been told that I drink too many diet cokes. We all need to drink more water. Whatever! Until your body finally says "hey, I'm thirsty you have to make a change". I would always tell people that surely my body was getting all the water it needed out of the 10+ diet cokes I was drinking a day. It is scary that this has been my attitude for 20+ years. I don't even want to think how long it will take me to get all that aspartame out of my system.

Your body needs water, period. It is likely the most important detoxifier. It helps clean us through our skin and kidneys, and it improves our sweating with exercise. 8 to 10 glasses a day (depending on our size and activity level) of clean, filtered water are suggested. The amount of water in the human body, averaging 70%, varies considerably and even from one part of the body to another. A lean man may hold 70% of his weight in body water, while a woman – because of her larger proportion of water-poor fatty tissues-may be only 52% water. Just to give you an idea of the bodies make up the brain is 75% water, the kidneys 82.7%, the muscles are 75.6% water and the blood is 83% water. And I wanted those important functions of my body to get what they could out of the diet coke I was putting in.

We have all heard this but it is worth repeating again. You should drink 1/2 your body weight of water in ounces, daily. Example 180 lb = 90 oz. of water daily. Divide that into 8 or 10 oz. glasses and that's how many glasses you will need to drink, daily.

Water is such a healer for our body. God didn't make diet coke or Gatorade, He made WATER…..

Cure # 1: Water prevents and cures heartburn.

Heartburn is a signal of water shortage in the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract. It is a major thirst signal of the human body. The use of antacids or tablet medications in the treatment of this pain does not correct dehydration, and the body continues to suffer as a result of its water shortage.

Tragedy: Not recognizing heartburn as a sign of dehydration and treating it with antacids and pill medications will, in time, produce inflammation of the stomach and duodenum, hiatal hernia, ulceration, and eventually cancers in the gastrointestinal tract, including the liver and pancreas.

Cure # 2: Water prevents and cures arthritis.

Rheumatoid joint pain - arthritis - is a signal of water shortage in the painful joint. It can affect the young as well as the old. The use of pain-killers does not cure the problem, but exposes the person to further damage from pain medications. Intake of water and small amounts of salt will cure this problem.

Cure # 3: Water prevents and cures back pain.

Low back pain and ankylosing arthritis of the spine are signs of water shortage in the spinal column and discs - the water cushions that support the weight of the body. These conditions should be treated with increased water intake - not a commercial treatment, but a very effective one.

Tragedy: Not recognizing arthritis and low back pain as signs of dehydration in the joint cavities and treating them with pain-killers, manipulation, acupuncture, and eventually surgery will, in time, produce osteoarthritis when the cartilage cells in the joints have eventually all died. It will produce deformity of the spine. It will produce crippling deformities of the limbs. Pain medications have their own life-threatening complications.

Cure # 4: Water prevents and cures angina.

Heart pain - angina - is a sign of water shortage in the heart/lung axis. It should be treated with increased water intake until the patient is free of pain and independent of medications. Medical supervision is prudent. However, increased water intake is angina's cure.

Cure # 5: Water prevents and cures migraines.

Migraine headache is a sign of water need by the brain and the eyes. It will totally clear up if dehydration is prevented from establishing in the body. The type of dehydration that causes migraine might eventually cause inflammation of the back of the eye and possibly loss of eye sight.

Cure #6: Water prevents and cures colitis.

Colitis pain is a signal of water shortage in the large gut. It is associated with constipation because the large intestine constricts to squeeze the last drop of water from the excrements - thus the lack of water lubrication.

Tragedy: Not recognizing colitis pain as a sign of dehydration will cause persistent constipation. Later in life, it will cause fecal impacting: it can cause diverticulitis, hemorrhoids and polyps, and appreciably increases the possibility of developing cancer of the colon and rectum.

Cure # 7: Water and salt prevent and cure asthma.

Asthma, which also affects 14 million children and kills several thousand of them every year, is a complication of dehydration in the body. It is caused by the drought management programs of the body. In asthma free passage of air is obstructed so that water does not leave the body in the form of vapor - the winter steam. Increased water intake will prevent asthma attacks. Asthmatics need also to take more salt to break the mucus plugs in the lungs that obstruct the free flow of air in and out of the air sacs.

Tragedy: Not recognizing asthma as the indicator of dehydration in the body of a growing child not only will sentence many thousands of children to die every year, but will permit irreversible genetic damage to establish in the remaining 14 million asthmatic children.

Cure # 8: Water prevents and cures high blood pressure.

Hypertension is a state of adaptation of the body to a generalized drought, when there is not enough water to fill all the blood vessels that diffuse water into vital cells. As part of the mechanism of reverse osmosis, when water from the blood serum is filtered and injected into important cells through minute holes in their membranes, extra pressure is needed for the "injection process." Just as we inject I.V. "water" in hospitals, so the body injects water into tens of trillions of cells all at the same time. Water and some salt intake will bring blood pressure back to normal!

Tragedy: Not recognizing hypertension as one of the major indicators of dehydration in the human body, and treating it with diuretics that further dehydrate the body will, in time, cause blockage by cholesterol of the heart arteries and the arteries that go to the brain. It will cause heart attacks and small or massive strokes that paralyze. It will eventually cause kidney disease. It will cause brain damage and neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease.

Cure # 9: Water prevents and cures early adult-onset diabetes.

Adult-onset diabetes is another adaptive state to severe dehydration of the human body. To have adequate water in circulation and for the brain's priority water needs, the release of insulin is inhibited to prevent insulin from pushing water into all body cells. In diabetes, only some cells get survival rations of water. Water and some salt will reverse adult-onset diabetes in its early stages.

Tragedy: Not recognizing adult-onset diabetes as a complication of dehydration will, in time, cause massive damage to the blood vessels all over the body. It will cause eventual loss of the toes, feet and legs from gangrene. It will cause eye damage, even blindness.

Cure # 10: Water lowers blood cholesterol.

High cholesterol levels are an indicator of early drought management by the body. Cholesterol is a clay-like material that is poured in the gaps of some cell membranes to safeguard them against losing their vital water content to the osmotically more powerful blood circulating in their vicinity. Cholesterol, apart from being used to manufacture nerve cell membranes and hormones, is also used as a "shield" against water taxation of other vital cells that would normally exchange water through their cell membranes.

Cure # 11: Water cures depression, loss of libido, chronic fatigue syndrome, lupus, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy.

These conditions are caused by prolonged chronic dehydration. They will clear up once the body becomes well and regularly hydrated. In these conditions, exercising one's muscles should be part of the treatment program.

Remember that chlorine is not a substance you want to be part of your diet. You want to drink clean filtered water.

Disclaimer: Within this blog, statements are made pertaining to the properties and/or functions of food and/or nutritional products. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and these materials and products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Food Frustration

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy Hardin) — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:28:00 +0000

I am so sick of my food frustration. Life is just so busy this days. You know the routine you get up between 5:30 and 6 a.m. You rush to get ready, get your children ready and fed so you can run out the door, drop your kids off at school and get to work on time. Then we run around all day meeting everyone else's needs so we can pick our kids up, get them fed and off to practice of some kind. Right now it is football for us. Which is the worse time demand of all the sports my son plays. Whew! I get tired just thinking about it.

How did we get in this life at light year speed? The busier we get the worse we eat, the less we exercise, the less we pray, the less time we really have with the people that we love. I feel like that crazy blonde, Susan Powder - "Stop the Insanity".

For years like twenty or better I have been living on full steam ahead and now I am paying the price. I am overweight, my adrenals are shot, my system runs sluggish and all those things that I used to work don't anymore!

I always knew I should take better care of myself. I switched from regular coke to diet coke. No calories you know! They kept flashing all those commercials about how happy and thin I would be. Is anyone experiencing that lie? And let's not even talk about what that aspartame has done for my nervous system, sugar cravings, etc..... But I'm not bitter!

I quit smoking in the late 80's. Considering the price of cigarettes I'm glad I did that. Then I started trying vitamins. For some reason when you quit smoking you get focused on being healthier. I started running too but that didn't last long. I would read about all kind of vitamin benefits and go buy them. I never do anything small. I would go buy 10 different vitamins that had to be taken 3 times a day. Well the first week would go okay. Toward the end of the first week I would start skipping doses, you know "I am busy". Then the skipping doses get more frequent, then it's a whole week, then I give up. I've done this for years. I don't even want to think how many thousands of dollars I have wasted with this routine, never finishing a complete bottle. I came close a time or two. But failure was always looming. Then the next part is you keep the vitamins in the cabinet because "someday" you are going to start taking them again. I can't count how many times I have moved these "someday" vitamins from one house to another.

Then there are the times I decided to eat healthy. You know all the antibiotics in food, herbicides, pesticides, etc. So I would throw out all the "bad" food in the cabinet and go to the "healthy" grocery store and stock up. I would buy all this organic, fresh produce and free range meat. Of course it would spoil in the refrigerator while I was busy and grabbing fast "they call it food" junk. So let's not count how many thousands got wasted on that plan either. All that "good" food requires time to prepare. I've been a little shy of time for a long time.

All these experiences leave me more and more discouraged about eating right, feeling great, being thin, being happy. All those things go together in my mind for some reason.

Now there is all this media about our tainted food supply. It is becoming more imperative to eat a better quality of food. Industry wanting more money has literally taken the life out of our food. We'll talk more about that at another post.

Look around we are fat and sick as a nation. I have spent the past few months watching how fat people are. It used to be a few people but now it's everywhere. Now I am amazed when I see someone that looks fit. The other part is this "fat" issue is getting to the younger population all the time.

I WANT MORE! I want a life where I am not running around like a crazy person, where I can eat a healthy diet, where I can wiegh what body should weigh, where I can feel great most days.

Stay tuned for more on this personal challenge.