Who thinks that taking a daily multi-vitamin is not the healthy thing to do?  Anyone?

When people are asked to say why they take a particular supplement, they will smile and answer: “ … because it’s good for me”

Seriously, why do people take a particular supplement? It’s because they have read or heard about the benefits, and they want them.  For example:  One a Day … it’s easy; Special Greek Yogurt … regularity; Calcium … strong bones; Vitamin D … the sunshine vitamin. 

Dutifully, people:

1. Go to the Big Box Store, Vitamin Store or the web
2. Review their options (or ask the clerk)
3. Make a price decision
4. Pay
5. Go home and start taking their vitamin the next morning

The next time they read or hear a benefit statement they may want, people repeat the cycle and buy that one, too.

And, so it goes.  People end up taking a hand full of low priced pills, every morning, and, probably, with a cabinet full of expired bottles of “vitamins” that they purchased at one time, or another, for one reason, or another (that they can’t remember).

NOTE:  It is impossible to take the benefit statements out of advertising.  If the advertisers stopped including the benefit statement, it would be called begging and that doesn’t always have the same effect as the benefit statement.

Let’s take another look at this process.

The logic is just fine – supplements can be good for you.

But, when people put it into action, then the process is missing the most important piece – a plan.  That missing piece allows the whole thing to spin off in all sorts of unexpected directions.

DISCUSSION

Let’s examine the logic.

1^st, supplements are good for people because they fill the nutritional gaps in the daily diets that would otherwise contribute to a decline in their health.   Consequently, choosing, and using, a supplement, or group of supplements, to fill the holes in a balanced daily diet, created by people’s preferences and situations, will contribute to a healthy, alert and energized condition.

2^nd, declining health can be stopped or reversed by choosing, and using, supplements to restore the nutritional levels created by the prior gaps in the diet.

Let’s make a plan.  It has 3 steps.

1^st, many people have a general idea about the balanced diet.  But, the devil is in the details.  So, before starting the plan, let’s see what really makes up the balanced diet.   There are several ways to explain the balanced diet, but for this discussion, the one from the Harvard School of Public Health is the place to start.

Did you read it?  Were you surprised?  Most people are; which is one explanation for the number of people who are experiencing the symptoms of declining health.

2^nd, compare what you are consuming, every day, to the Harvard recommendations to see the differences.

Everyone has preferences and situations that interfere with consuming a balanced diet every day.  You will need to decide which of them can be changed, permanently, then, make the changes.  The rest need to be covered with supplements.

3^rd, the difference between what you have been eating and what you should have been consuming has, likely, created the symptoms of declining health that you may be experiencing.

Those need to be addressed.  As you can imagine, many of these symptoms are shared with many other people.  Once you’ve addressed the fundamental nutritional needs, and given them a chance to affect your body, choose, and use, supplements that strengthen the particular function or structure of the body that is giving you the most grief.

If your situation is uncommon, you may consider seeking help.

Of course, urgency and intensity are matters to consider.  This discussion on issues of health and healing are intended for educational purposes only and in no way should be taken as medical advice. Readers are encouraged to make health care decisions based upon personal research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.

CONCLUSION

The commonly accepted formula for good health and long life is:  good diet, moderate exercise and sleep.  Modern living makes it hard to enjoy that bounty.

Too many people find the bounty of Radiant Health slipping away and begin searching for a magic bullet to restore what they once had.   And, there is no shortage of benefit statements from every health related field.    Yet, the carnage continues.  Perhaps it’s time to get back to the fundamentals – good diet, moderate exercise and sleep.

The next time you hear or see an ad for double-strength magnesium, ask yourself: “So what?”   You’ll know your body needs a bunch of different minerals, not stronger magnesium.  It’s just another benefit statement!

NUPRO can help with a plan, with fundamental nutritional supplements that fill the gaps in your diet, support with nutrition for your specific needs and, if you choose, professionals to help answer your questions.  Moderate exercise and sleep are on you.

It’s Your Life – It’s Your Choice

Visit the NUPRO website – it may be what you need to become the master your own health.

Wow!  I wonder what happened to Pluto.  … Did it disappear?  … Was it vaporized by a rogue comet?

As it happens, nothing happened to Pluto – except the rules.  Astronomers decided size matters; and since poor ol’ Pluto didn’t measure up – poof, it’s gone.  But, it’s still out there – orbiting the sun – in the same place!

Here’s another example of dogma being confused with fact.

In 1593 Nicolas Copernicus published his theory that turned the scientific community upside down.  His theory, “The Earth revolves around the Sun.” didn’t set well with the scientists of the time who had proven, through observation, models and biblical reference that the sun revolves around the earth.  Copernicus was branded as a heretic and banished from the scientific community.

Likewise, in the late 18^th century three scientists fought it out over competing theories of disease – Louis Pasteur versus Claude Bernard and Antoine Bechamp.

One side, Pasteur’s, believed that germs, from outside the body, were the source of diseases.

The other side felt disease followed imbalances inside the body and that the imbalance triggered a change in a normally symbiotic microbe contained within the human body.

Dubbed, Zymotic Disease, the latter had a similar fate to that of Copernicus, while Pasteur’s Germ Theory of Disease became the foundation of modern medicine.

The nature of the competition between these two theories has been dramatized by repeating an anecdotal death-bed statement, by a repentant Pasteur, “It is not the germ that causes disease but the terrain in which the germ is found.”

None the less, building on past success with penicillin’s ability to kill bacteria, practitioners of Allopathic Medicine, today’s physicians, who are supported with pharmaceuticals to “manage” a particular condition, are seeking external factors that cause a diagnosed condition and substances – machines and/or methods to eradicate that factor – with limited success.

Apparently, the controversy wasn’t settled.

Perhaps it’s time to dust off the old theory and take a closer look.

• Could, as Bernard and Bechamp’s work shows, the inner condition and health of the cells (sometimes described as the “terrain” in works of the time) determine whether disease would manifest or spread in the body?
•  Could factors, like poor diet, stress, lack of rest and life style choices, be the catalysts that alter the “internal terrain” of the body that give rise to the conditions that plague the industrialized world?
• Could that “friendly” microbe, the microzyma (named by Bechamp), change into the predator that is decaying the body, little by little – from the inside, be the culprit?
• What if adequate sleep, relaxation, moderate lifestyle choices, mild exercise and a balanced diet is the prescription for a long life and a healthy death?

The inescapable fact is:  what we are doing isn’t working.

The chances of succumbing to one or more of the degenerative diseases: Heart and Cardiovascular disease, Cancer, Respiratory disease, Stroke, Diabetes, Lung disease, Kidney disease and suicide, is greater than ever before.

Odds are, a person will be a statistic sometime during life – if he or she isn’t now.  After spending billions of dollars searching for cures, billions more for disease management, enduring the heartache of declining health and financial ruin, people are worse off.

Oddly enough, the factors that may be affecting the internal terrain of the body are manageable.  They are simply choices that people make.

People choose:

• Edible food-like meals (Chemcuisine) over a balanced diet
• Too much or too little exercise
• Inadequate sleep
• Lack of relaxation
• Risky life styles

People make excuses for their choices.  It’s the kids’ schedule … It’s the boss … It costs too much … It’s the commute … It’s the ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_______ (fill in the blank).

And, just as perplexing, people are dumb-struck when they are forced to confront a very predictable situation – their failed health.

Years ago, the makers of Fram oil filters produced a television commercial that featured an oil soaked mechanic who said “Pay me now, or pay more, later.”, insinuating that investing in an oil change and a $3.00 Fram oil filter, now, is better than replacing the engine in your car – later.

Likewise, treating your body with respect, now, will pay dividends – now and in the future.  And, in this case, this body is the only one you’ll ever be issued.

For those of you, who are interested, read: How to Become the Master of Your Health.

For the rest of you:  Good Luck.  You’ll need it.

Both hosts were mystified.  The discussion intensified while they kept asking:  “How can overweight kids be undernourished?”   Somehow, they were unable to differentiate between having a full belly and consuming a nourishing diet.

Being overweight, or obese, is a cultural problem that isn’t limited to children.  This confusion of “filling our stomachs” with whatever, as long as it is fast and convenient, is making people fat and malnourished.

Fast and convenient manufactured foods are exceeding the caloric values required to energize the body and not meeting the nutritional values that are required to sustain a healthy body.  The decision to consume that bill-of-fare is making people fat and not healthy.  Suggested reading:   Chemcuisine, the New Standard American Diet

The cry, on one side of the debate, is: “We need a law!” so, Legislators are considering, and in some cases passing, laws that ban the use of certain food additives in an effort to protect people from themselves.  Suggested reading:  Are You Digging a Grave with Your Fork

The likelihood of success, from this fruitless effort, is zero.

 Why?

Until people realize that they are sacrificing their health for fast and convenient, a law is meaningless; there will be another fast and convenient way to “fill the belly” that replaces the last.  Suggested reading:  Hand to Mouth Disease

The cry, on the other side of the debate is: “Promote the balanced diet!” so, researchers, Universities and nutritionists are bombarding the Public information and food-value advertising.

There are 3 sources to read about the balanced diet:  University of Michigan, Harvard University and the United States Department of Agriculture.

 The likelihood of success, from this fruitless effort, is also zero.

Why?

Until these purists accept two practical matters:  first, food isn’t what it used to be and second, the modern society doesn’t provide the time to purchase, prepare and consume their recommendations, they will go heedless.  Suggested reading:  You Get Everything You Need From Your Food

Is There Another Choice?

Of course, compromise.

1. Choose the parts of the balanced diet that you are most likely to follow
2. Then follow it religiously.  From there, fill the gaps in your diet with appropriate supplements

For example:

1. If you fall short on the RDI for green vegetables, fill that gap with a supplement like NUPRO BeneVita™ Green.  It provides the equivalent of the RDI for green vegetables with other supporting nutrients.
2. If you fall short on the RDI for colorful vegetables and fruit, fill the gap with a supplement like NUPRO BeneVita™ Red.  It provides the equivalent of the RDI for that important segment of nutrition.
3. If you can’t find the time to prepare and eat breakfast, fill the gap with a supplement like NUPRO Body Designer™.  It provides a quick, nutrition shake for people on the go.

For help with choosing supplements to fill the gaps in your diet, there is an essay, How to Become the Master of Your Health, for your review.

People are often surprised when they lose weight, once the nutritional thresholds have been met.  Of course, there are other factors that affect weight gain; those issues can often be addressed with supplement as well.  Readers are encouraged to review an essay,  Why Am I Overweight?, to help them understand the different weight loss – weight gain issues.

Conclusion

The childhood obesity conundrum is simply a reflection of adult obesity.  All the hand-wringing and debate is wasted time until the malnutrition dilemma is resolved.  That effort begins with your choices.  And, by the way, your choices will go a long way for resolving the health care crisis as well.  Suggested Reading:  Today’s Choices Are Tomorrows Consequences

• You have showered at least 15,000 times . . . .so far,
• You have brushed your teeth 30,000 times . . . so far,
• You have washed your hands . . . on a regular basis.

Most people practice good hygiene.  It is the healthy thing to do and, it minimizes offending appearance and odors.

What About the Inside of Your Body?  Did you know: you have 9 square feet of skin on the outside of your body and 10,000 square feet on the inside?

 Consider this:  Could the very things that affect the cleanliness of the outside of your body affect the inside?

 Have you ever thought about cleansing the inside of your body?  – probably not. Of all the different possibilities, the cleansing of one’s intestines is probably at the bottom of most people’s lists – irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, gas, diverticulitis and colon cancer are simply not things that people think about – until it is too late.

What You Must Know About Regularity

There is an epidemic in America. People are buying laxatives, using prescription drugs and commercial fiber supplements — to no avail — constipation, gas and bloating, weight gain, fatigue, painful, burning stomach, skin problems and a whole host of complaints are taking the fun out of life.

The expression, “Death begins in the colon.” is right on point! Sadly, the debris and toxic wastes that are accumulating between visits to the bathroom produce lots of suffering because that “stuff” is slowly poisoning you from the inside—out.

Don’t believe it? “Autopsies often reveal colons that are plugged up to 80 percent with waste material.”  (Vegetarian Times, March, 1998.)  Most people end up enduring the complaints of constipation when they could put an end to their suffering very simply — become as clean inside as they are outside.

What you Must Know About Pollution

We are all exposed to thousands of toxins and chemicals everyday—–at work, in the home, in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat. Plus, we are eating more sugar, preserved and processed foods and taking more medicine than ever before. Our bodies are being overwhelmed trying to eliminate all of the different things that we inhale and ingest every day. Unfortunately, most of this debris simply accumulates—in our cells, tissues, blood, organs (such as the colon, liver and brain), stored for an indefinite length of time, causing all kinds of complaints, leading toward a decline in your quality of life and your health.

What You Must Know About Parasites

Every living thing has at least one parasitethat lives inside or on it, and many, including humans, have far more. In fact, National Geographic, in a documentary called The Body Snatchers reports: “parasites have killed more humans than all the wars in history.”

Scientists are just beginning to appreciate how powerful these hidden inhabitants can be. Their research is pointing to a remarkable possibility: Parasites rule the world. Living undetected in the body, damaging tissue, robbing your body of valuable nutrients and burdening your body with the additional wastes produced by the parasite. Like it or not, you probably have one or more parasites living in your body, living undetected until there are more of them than your body can support. At that point, you will start paying the price extracted by parasites.

What You Must Know About Food

Processing robs food of it’s nutritional value and the chemicals used to preserve foods lead to poor digestion causing a toxic build-up of sludge in the intestines and on the intestinal wall, including the colon.

This build up can slow digestion, block nutritional uptake and, because the sludge is waste material, produce toxins that pour into your blood stream and are distributed throughout the entire body.

Are You Clean – On the Inside?

The answer to the question: “Are you clean inside?” is …  “Probably not.” and, the combination of environmental toxins, an unhealthy diet, internal waste and parasites poses a threat to your health.  

If your next question is:  “Will cleansing help me?“, the answer is a resounding YES!   The environment, the food we eat and the way we live virtually guarantees that everyone needs to freshen up their body.  And, feel better because they did.

The threats to your health are: environmental toxins, an unhealthy diet, internal waste and parasites.  “The secret” to great health can be described in these words:  Cleanse the Inside of Your Body.

Here’s a Quick Overview for Cleansing and Detoxing Your Body

1. Sweep away the barriers that are dragging you down.  Cleanse the colon and digestive tract to clear away the toxic plaque, debris and parasites. Plus, “cleaning up that mess” helps detoxify your liver, blood, brain, tissues—basically the first step will purify your whole body
2. Restore and balance the intestinal tract using digestive enzymes, to help breakdown food and friendly microbes to balance digestion, support the immune system that protects you and, along with enzymes, strengthens the body and supports the elimination of wastes thoroughly and often.
3. Support the body’s ability to cleanse itself with diet and nutraceutical supplements to protect your new lease on life.
4. Address parasites twice each year— spring and fall, once your body is balanced.

Most detoxification experts feel that a one or two-week program is simply not sufficient, especially when you consider that it took years or even decades to accumulate all the parasites, waste and toxins in the colon and in other parts of the body.

A more realistic approach takes at least 30 days or even longer, depending on the level of infestation and toxicity in one’s body.  There are 3 factors to consider:

1. In many situations, depending on the age and lifestyle, targeting specific areas for cleansing is enough
2. If the the debris has accumulated over a longer period of time, a thorough whole body cleansing is in order.
3. If the situation is manifesting symptoms, a more direct approach for restoring the internal hygiene of your body, like the NURPO Radiant Health Plan™, is in order.  (The Radiant Health Plan™, developed by NUPRO, is natural systems that is thorough—yet gentle.  This two step program (each lasting 30 days) offers you a gentle, comprehensive, thorough, all-natural cleansing and detoxification.)

Once you complete cleansing and restoring the balance in your body, you should consider establishing a long term strategy to protect your new lease on life.  (NUPRO Fundamental Nutrition and Special Needs nutraceutical supplements are a trusted by Professionals, effective and an affordable choice to help promote and maintain your health – naturally.

Dr. Paul Bragg is a pioneer of natural medicine and author of dozens of successful books who writes: “The secret to great health can be described in these words:  Cleanse the Inside of Your Body!”.

The question is:  “Do you want great health?“  If so, here’s the tools you need

When I saw the commercial, it triggered a memory of my grandmother.  Her favorite saying was “You are what you eat.”  When I was little, she applied this phrase when she was cooking, tending her garden or on the occasion when she scorned me for over indulging myself with foods she deemed unhealthy.

Of course, as a child, I perceived these constant reminders as harping and, after 60 years, I can still hear her admonitions.  Even today, each time I consider an indiscretion, I hear her voice asking me “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

Did you have a Grandmother like mine?

I’m grateful for mine.  She didn’t care for white bread.  She would tell me:  “The whiter the bread, the shorter your life.” Even though we milked cows, she insisted we moderate eating cheese, butter and drinking milk to keep our lungs clear.  When I was a teenager, she attributed any complexion issues to “too much milk.”  She insisted that sugar would rot my teeth.   Kids, who were heavy, which was rare, are “eating too many sweets and drinking too much milk”, according to Grandmother.  Usually, she would finish this observation with “… that mother should know better!”

Grandmother spoke with a voice from the 1920’s.

She was versed in growing, selecting and preparing fresh food.  She was very careful to avoid accidents when working, a real stickler about sanitation and fluent in the ways of self-care, because Physicians were a long way away and expensive.  She practiced and taught me the virtues of healthy life style choices:  healthy diet, physical work and play, rest and sleep; that served her well into old age, and now me, for the past 50 years.

How Times Have Changed

Take out, fast food and microwaved manufactured food is today’s bill of fare.  Gyms and organized recreation are substituting physical work and play. Energy drinks wake people up in the morning and sleeping pills put them to sleep at night.  Physicians are readily accessible with insurance companies paying the bills.

Researchers are warning that “the 50 somethings” will suffer longer and die sooner than their parents – their children more so.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Perhaps the science fiction Novelists, who believe, “If we can send a man to the moon … .”,  have it right – or not.

Could You Do Better?

The objective of AmericaNutra.com, this year, is to encourage you to try, and if you don’t know how, to provide you insights into the ways you can affect the likelihood that you might die healthy.

Live Well – Die Healthy

Click the Subscribe Now button to make sure you won’t miss the any of the series of articles that can help you learn how to get healthy, stay healthy – to  live well and die healthy.

PS  There will be some coupons, too, so be sure to subscribe now.

 How about the tried and true resolutions to … lose weight?  … go to the gym?  … starve yourself skinny?  … buy those diet pills/videos/clubs/meals you saw/heard about/read about?

 You’re probably right!  You would look and feel better – if there were “less of you”.

 Sadly, your resolution will likely meet the same fate as it did last year, the year before and the year before that.

 Why are you likely to fail?

 First, there is that knotty issue of trying to lose weight during the winter months.  If you’re not familiar with the problem or need a refresher, you can read about the issue here.

 Second, an article in Nutraceutical World, Consumers Fail to Meet MyPlate Guidelines, December 14, 2011 reports:  “The nutritionally-balanced quadrants of the USDA’s MyPlate, the graphic interpretation of the new federal dietary guidelines that depicts a healthful daily diet, looks very different than what’s actually on the plates of most Americans, according to The NPD Group, a market research company. NPD’s food and beverage market research finds that for the average consumer, only 2% of their days come close to resembling the USDA’s MyPlate.”

 Here’s the way the researchers developed the statistic:  “MyPlate days were calculated based on consumers who, on the same day, achieved at least 70% of the daily recommended intake for dairy, fruit, grains, proteins and vegetables.  For the average consumer, 2% of their days, or about 7 days a year, come close to the USDA dietary guidelines … .”

 Oh, Really – 2% – 70% of the Balanced Diet – 7 Days Each Year?

 Q.  What are people consuming the other 358 days of the year?

 A.  Look Here …

 Q.  Why are people fat, tired and sick?

A.  Look Here …

 Stop Kidding Yourself – Your Diet Stinks!

 If you treated your pets like you treat yourself, and your kids, you would be brought up on charges.

 For years, professionals have been “pussy footing” around an inescapable fact:  98% of adult Americans are lying to themselves about their diets.  People are digging their graves with a fork.

 A Fool and His/Her Money Are Soon Parted

 Trillions of Dollars are being spent by people who don’t get it – there are no magic bullets.  Besides the lost time and the suffering you endure, the expense of traditional health care, to address the symptoms of Hand to Mouth Disease, costs you BIG BUCKS for insurance copays and drives the cost of health insurance up and up and up.  And, don’t forget, the policy limits.   What then?

 To underscore this point, reports are that universal health care, where available, is being overwhelmed and threatening to bankrupt entire countries.  read more …

 Billions of Dollars are being spent on bottles of supplements and “natural easy fixes” searching for an herbal magic bullet.

 Apparently the term “dietary supplement” is confusing to lots of people.  Dietary Supplement does not mean “instead of”.  The term means something that is added to your diet.  Dietary supplements are intended to augment the deficiencies in your diet – to fill the gaps that prevent you from reaching the nutritional thresholds that your body requires to maintain your health.  read more … 

 Losing Weight is so much more than most people think.  Being Over Weight or Obese is just one of the many symptoms of malnutrition – the very same situation described by the NPD group.  And the longer the situation persists – the more challenging the symptoms become.

 Malnutrition isn’t the starvation you see on the television.  It is a consistently poor diet, described in the study reported earlier.  Malnutrition sets up a gradual, almost imperceptible decline in your health that will result in health challenges that no one wants to consider:  cancer, diabetes, stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, gastric reflux, … well, you get the picture.  read more …  At the end of this predictable circumstance, obesity is, or will be, the least of your worries.

 Q.  Can You Lose Weight without dieting and working out?

 A.  Yes, but 1^st you need to resolve the difference between what you are consuming and what you need to be eating to stay healthy in your diet.  Once you begin feeding your body at the thresholds it requires with real food and filling the gaps with fundamental dietary supplements, you can evaluate your state of health.

 Then, you can start ”fixing” the things you have broken with dietary supplements or natural systems for specific needs, like the one’s NUPRO offers. 

 After that, if weight is still an issue, resolve it then.  read more … 

 Otherwise, continue managing your radiant health with a real food diet and dietary supplements.  read more …

 Remember this:  if you are bringing home bags full of boxes, bags and cans after you’ve shopped for food – you should throw away the contents and eat the packaging.

The NUPRO personnel are busy planning their family time, but before we started, we finished the training outline for our affiliated Natural Health Consultants (NHC).

By way of background: NUPRO was conceived and organized, almost 20 years ago, to offer nutraceutical supplements (combinations of natural ingredients, one complementing another, that historical use and/or scientific evidence has shown to be beneficial for human wellness) as an alternative to single ingredient supplements and “miracle pill” claims that disappoint so many people.

Since then, we have progressed to include natural nutraceutical systems (combinations of nutraceutical supplements that complement one another to expedite the health objective). 

The NUPRO nutraceutical supplements and systems have become the cornerstone of professional tactics and strategies to help people promote and maintain health and healing.  The systems, developed in practice, augment the outcome and experience of natural health and healing.

I thought you might enjoy reading the training paper.  It is a concise, practical approach for maintaining and promoting healing – naturally.

Rather than posting the paper at Americanutra.com, we elected to provide you a link to the Natrual Health Consultant Library at the NUPRO Corporate site.  The paper‘s title is:  How to Become the Master of Your Health.   Your link to How to Become Master of Your Health is here.

We hope you enjoy reading it and that you keep it in your favorites for future reference. 

Americanutra reaches many people around the world, with many different beliefs and holidays, if you celebrate Christmas, we would like to extend our tidings for a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Prosperous New Year.

This month, the NUPRO newsletter includes a insider discount that, for a very limited time, extends a 40% on all NUPRO products.  I thought you might enjoy using a selection of NUPRO products, especially when you can purchase them at wholesale prices.

There is a link, in the newletter, that carries you to the FDA site for a notification about Vitamin D that you might find interesting. 

I hope you enjoy your peak at the NUPRO newletter.  It is a bit different than our blog, so you might want to include it.  If you want, you can request you personal copy here.

We celebrate a holiday, Thanksgiving, in the US.  This year, the holiday lands on Thursday, so it is a short week and we are planning a family get together and an extended weekend.

Forgive the brevity of this post.  I hope the newsletter and the insider discount makes up for it.

The first time we read the term, we were researching this article.  On the site, Center for Science in the Public Interest, the publishers proclaim:  “Shopping was easy when most food came from farms. Now, factory-made foods have made chemical additives a significant part of our diet.”

In previous articles, we discussed the Balanced Diet:  what it is, how it affects your health, your heath care and the fact that the people are consuming a “Balanced Diet” is  an illusion.  The publishers at the Center for Science in the Public interest drive the point home on their site.

To start the analysis, and If you are interested, here is a listing, from the FDA, of all the additives (3,000 in all) the FDA knows are in the NEW Standard American Diet: Chemcuisine.

The following analysis is a synopsis of our research on the subject of what most people, and their children, are consuming each day.  

Processed, Junk, and Fake Foods

Processed food is made from real food that has been put through devitalizing chemical processes and is infused with chemicals and preservatives. Beef jerky, canned tea, jam, hot dogs, and low-fat yogurt with sugar or aspartame are a few examples of processed food.

Junk foods contain very little real food. They’re made of devitalized processed food, hydrogenated fats, chemicals, and preservatives, and include anything made with refined white flour. Canned breakfast drinks, cold/sugary cereals, doughnuts, drive-through foods, and soda are examples of junk foods.

Fake foods are made primarily of chemicals, and often contain gums and sugar fillers. Examples include bacon bits, bottled salad dressing, dehydrated soups, and instant coffee.

The Energy Output Exceeds Nutritional Input.  These non-foods have one thing in common; it costs your body a great deal more to digest, absorb, and eliminate them than they offer your body in nutritional value – an extremely poor return on your investment that leaves your body sluggish and depleted.

Toxins, Poisons, Processed Food – And The Body

Our ancestors preserved foods naturally, using salt, fermentation, and sun drying. Food processing has evolved away from these simple practices into more complicated and dubious methods.

Today, food companies use nearly three thousand known additives and chemicals to process our food. Many of them can have a devastating effect on our health.

It is important to note that additives and preservatives cannot always be painted with a negative brush. The addition of vitamins to bread and milk has helped to stamp out diseases such as pellagra and rickets.

Unfortunately, the good intentions that characterized the processed food industry during the early days have now de-evolved to finding ways to cheaply process food and manipulate buyers, regardless of the detrimental affects on the health of Americans.

Today, many additives and preservatives are harmful toxic chemicals that are as problematic as the decay they are used to prevent.

Preservatives

 Perservatives are a type of additive used to help stop food from spoiling.

Nitrates and nitrites are used to preserve meats such as ham and bacon, but are known to cause asthma, nausea, vomiting, and headaches in some people in addition to allergic reactions.

The same is true for sulfites (sulfur dioxide, metabisulfites, and others, which are commonly used to prevent fungal spoilage, as well as the browning of peeled fruits and vegetables.

Sodium nitrite in some foods is capable of being converted to nitrous acid when ingested by humans. While animal testing showed that nitrous acid caused high rates of cancer, it is still in use.

Sulfur dioxide is a toxin used in dried fruits and molasses as well as to prevent brown spots on peeled fresh foods such as potatoes and apples. Sulfur dioxide bleaches out rot, hiding inferior fruits and vegetables. In the process, it destroys the vitamin B contained in produce.

Antioxidants

While antioxidants such as alpha-carotene are recommended by health specialists to prevent premature aging, some of the antioxidants used as food preservatives may be unhealthy. Contained in nearly every processed food on the market, antioxidants prevent fatty foods from spoiling when exposed to oxygen.

For example, BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) and BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) are two of the most widely used, yet controversial of all antioxidants. So alarming were the results of BHT and BHA in animal testing, that a number of countries have severely restricted their use.

Some people have difficulty metabolizing these chemicals, which is thought to result in health and behavioral problems, and hyperactivity. They cause allergic reactions, may also contribute to the development of tumors and cancer, as well as be toxic to the nervous system and liver.

In spite of these findings, the use of BHT and BHA has increased, rather than decreased, in the U.S.A.

Coloring

Each year, the American food industry uses three thousand tons of food color. Many coloring agents are derived from coal tar, and nearly all coloring is synthetic. Norway has a total ban on all products containing coal tar.

Though some artificial food dyes have been banned because they are believed to cause cancer, most dyes used today are of the artificial variety. They are also linked to allergies, asthmas, and hyperactivity.

The long list of foods and beverages in which color is altered includes butter, margarine, the skins of oranges and potatoes, popcorn, maraschino cherries, hot dogs, jellies, jellybeans, carbonated beverages, and canned strawberries and peas.

Even the chicken feed on large-scale egg farms is colored so that chickens will lay golden-yolk eggs similar to those laid by free-range chickens.

Sweeteners

Most processed foods contain sweeteners, many of which are artificial sugar substitutes containing no natural sugars, such as saccharine and aspartame.

Artificial sweeteners are linked to behavioral problems, hyperactivity, and allergies. Because saccharin was shown to increase the incidence of bladder cancer in animal testing, all foods containing this sugar substitute are required to carry a warning label.

Emulsifiers, Stabilizers, and Thickeners

These additives alter the texture of foods. Emulsifiers, for example, prevent ingredients from separating into unappealing globs in food such as mayonnaise and ice cream.

A first cousin to anti-freeze, propylene glycol is a synthetic solvent used as an emulsifier in foods. Although it is recognized as toxic to the skin and other senses, and is considered a neurological toxicant, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has deemed it generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

Flavorings

The most common food additive, flavorings – of which there are over 2000 in use – may be natural or artificial, and are usually comprised of a large number of chemicals.

Artificial flavors are linked to allergic and behavioral reactions, yet these ingredients are not required to be listed in detail as they’re generally recognized as safe.

MSG (monosodium glutamate) is a common flavor enhancer. Found to cause damage in laboratory mice, it has been banned from use in baby foods, but is still used in numerous others. It causes common allergic and behavioral reactions including headaches, dizziness, chest pains, depression, and mood swings, and is also a possible neurotoxin.

Refining

Refined flour has had the brown husk of the grain stripped away, leaving the white, refined starch that is found in white bread, white rice, pasta, cookies, and numerous other junk foods.

Without the fibrous husk, refined starches are broken down quickly into sugar and absorbed immediately into the bloodstream causing glucose levels to rise, and increasing the risk of obesity, diabetes and a host of other “not so nice” health complaints.

In contrast, whole grains – such as whole grain bread and cereals, brown rice, and barley – retain the bran surrounding the starch, so they’re absorbed more slowly into the bloodstream than refined starches. This slows sugar absorption from the intestine, and reduces the risk of consuming refined food.

Refining Destroys and Devitalizes Most of Foods’ Goodness

Healthy unsaturated fatty acids – high in food value – are lost during the milling process. Half the vitamin E is destroyed when the wheat germ and bran are removed. Refining wheat into white flour removes between 50 and 93 percent of wheat’s magnesium, zinc, chromium, manganese, and cobalt.²

Additionally, approximately 50 percent of calcium, 70 percent of phosphorus, 80 percent of iron, 50 percent of potassium, 65 percent of copper, 80 percent of thiamin, 60 percent of riboflavin, 75 percent of niacin, 50 percent of pantothenic acid, and about 50 percent of pyridoxine is lost.³

Refining sugar cane into white sugar depletes it of 99 percent of its magnesium and 93 percent of its chromium. Polishing rice removes 75 percent of its zinc and chromium.  Refined table salt has had most of the trace minerals removed during processing. It contains no sodium chloride, sugar as filler, and may even contain aluminum.⁵

Bleaching

Part of the process wheat undergoes to become the white flour in popular baked goods involves bleaching. Various chemical bleaching agents are used including oxide of nitrogen, chlorine, chloride, nitrosyl, and benzoyl peroxide mixed with a variety of chemical salts.

Chloride oxide – which catalyzes a chemical reaction that destroys beta cells in the pancreas is now being linked to diabetes.  This toxic effect is common scientific knowledge in the research community. In spite of this, the FDA still allows companies to use chloride oxide in processed food.

A Healthier Lifestyle

Eradicating every guilty pleasure in life is not the end goal here, nor is it a particularly realistic approach to making changes because everyone enjoys the occasional cheeseburger, order of fries, or bag of chips.

But if you understand the consequences of making what ought to be an occasional treat into the mainstay of your diet, you can begin to make wise choices about how many of these things you are willing to eat.

When it comes to avoiding many of the questionable – and possibly deadly – additives contained in processed foods, you’re only human after all so, taking baby steps toward change is usually the best approach.

If you can accomplish just one of these 10 steps, you’re moving in the right direction.

Try implementing one change a month …

1. As a general rule, if you don’t recognize – or can’t pronounce – the words on a label, don’t buy it, or eat it. Instead choose the real thing!

2. Avoid products containing

• Nitrates and nitrites (including sodium nitrite)
• Sulfites (including metabisulfites)
• Sulfur dioxide
• Benzoic acid (aka sodium benzoate)
• BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene)
• BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole)
• Coloring
• Coal tar
• Propylene glycol
• MSG (monosodium glutamate)
• Refined or bleached flour (i.e. whitened using chloride oxide)

3. Don’t eat partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated trans fats

4. Don’t eat products containing sugar substitutes such as saccharine and aspartame.

5. Avoid products with a long shelf life – the better they do on the shelf, the worse they are for your body.

6. Avoid products that have been “enriched“. They have been completely devitalized during processing.

7. Avoid food that has been genetically modified or engineered. Nearly all processed food contains GMOs.

8. Avoid products made with ingredients euphemistically described as “natural flavoring” or “natural coloring.”

9. Avoid products with added sugar – watch for words with “-ose” endings, such as fructose.

10. Incorporate a high quality multi-vitamin into your health regimen.

If you’ve had a history of eating products high in sugar and are concerned about diabetes, incorporate disease-fighting foods such as garlic, onion and quality Aloe vera juice into your diet. Natural phytonutrient supplements can also protect your body from the harmful effects of eating refined products that have been bleached with chloride oxide.

As you begin to eliminate processed food from your diet, and start to enjoy eating real food that has not been processed to death, you will be on your way to optimizing your health, making an investment in your body’s future and, ultimately, feeling better.

Processing Food Facts

In addition to the more than three thousand chemicals and additives in our food, preserving processes have changed beyond recognition from the simple use of vinegar, salt, and sunshine. Many processed foods are stripped bare, rendering them of little or no nutritional value.

Worse, foods are deliberately tampered with to create the desire for more. And the health effects of certain processing methods – such as the very controversial irradiation – are not yet known.

Irradiation

Irradiation is the use of x-rays or gamma radiation on food to kill bacteria mold, viruses and parasites. Unfortunately, its effects are also harmful to test animals. Those fed a diet of irradiated wheat developed increased numbers of cells with chromosome abnormalities. As well, there were unexplained stillbirths in the offspring of test rats.

So unpleasant is the mere sound of the word “irradiation” that euphemisms such as “Cold Pasteurization” and “Picowaved For Your Protection” are being used on labels because food companies fear that using the term “irradiation” may hurt sales.

Junk Food

Junk food – high in fat and sugar – is one of the leading causes for the soaring number of cases of type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and tooth decay. It is also linked to hypoglycemia and yeast overgrowth.

Did you know that cravings for processed foods are initiated by eating processed food? It’s a vicious, addictive cycle.

Food scientists know that it is necessary for certain nutrients to be present in the blood stream in order to feel full. While it is not fully understood how this process works, food companies know enough to use this knowledge to manipulate consumers into eating more by subtracting various nutrients, and adding others such as fat, sugar, and salt.

This manipulation creates a desire for processed foods – one that can never be satisfied – no matter how much of it you consume.

Natural Flavoring

“Natural flavoring” can be just about anything, from the cells of yeast extract and nucleic acid from cell chromosomes, to waste bi-products from cattle. Some reports suggest that the ingredients in so-called “natural colors” have been known to contain products as unlikely as monkey intestines; others note that some “artificial flavors” are comprised of ingredients as unappealing as minced cat.

How is it possible to determine exactly what “flavorings” are comprised of when the list of items from which they are concocted often includes a long ramble of unrecognizable chemicals?

Here is an example from the ingredient list for the strawberry flavoring in one popular fast food outlet’s strawberry milk shake.

It contains:  Amyl acetate, Amyl butyrate, Amyl valerate, Anethol, Anisyl formate, Benzyl acetate, Benzyl isobutyrate, Butyric acid, Cinnamyl isobutyrate, Cinnamyl valerate, Cognac essential oil, Diacetyl, Dipropyl ketone, Ethyl butyrate, Ethyl cinnamate, Ethyl heptanoate, Ethyl lactate, Ethyl methylphenylglycidate, Ethyl Nitrate, Ethyl propionate, Ethyl valerbate, Heliotropin, Hydroxyphrenyl-2butanone (10% solution in alcohol), A-Ionone, Isobutyl anthranilate, Isobutyl butrate, Lemon essential oil, Maltol, 4-Methylacetophenone, Methyl anthranilate, Methyl benzoate, Methyl cinnamate, Methyl heptine carbonate, Methyl naphthyl ketone, Methyl salicylate, Mint essential oil, Neroli essential oil, Nerolin, Neryl isobutyrate, Orris butter, Phenethyl alcohol, Rose, Rum ether, G-Undecalactone, Vanillin, Solvent!

And this is just the stuff in the flavoring.

 Do you want to know what’s in the “milk” part of this so-called milk shake? 

It contains:  Milk fat and nonfat milk, Sugar, Sweet whey, High-fructose corn syrup, Guar gum, Monoglycerides and diglycerides, Cellulose gum, Sodium phosphate, Carrageenan, Citric acid, E129, Artificial strawberry flavor.

MMM, MMMM!  yummy and so good for you – NOT!

Packaging

There are also concerns regarding the materials used to coat and package foods.³ The protective wax on produce such as cucumbers, peppers, and apples may trigger allergies, and can contain pesticides, fungicide sprays, or animal byproducts. Further, the plastic (vinyl chloride) some food is wrapped in is considered carcinogenic, and has been linked to immune reactions and lung shock.

Dioxin

A by-product of whitening, especially of food containers, Dioxin has become a health concern. It has been reported, for example, that certain ice creams contain high levels of dioxins, reportedly leaked into the product through the whitening used in its containers.

A known carcinogen, dioxin is associated with genetic and reproductive defects as well as learning disabilities.⁴ Dioxin exposure is a possible cause of endometriosis – a painful condition that can result in fertility problems and/or hysterectomy, as well as chronic pelvic pain and other conditions.

Conclusion

After reading this, one could conclude that the situation is hopeless.

Quite the opposite is true – because knowledge is power.  Simply use this knowledge to make different choices. 

 It makes good sense to pay attention to the food you are buying, especially if it has been processed. One thing is for certain – most of these added ingredients have nothing to do with nutrition and everything to do with increasing food sales by keeping addicted, depleted consumers coming back for more.

Besides adequate rest and moderate exercise, the fundamental nutritional thresholds must be consumed, if you have any expectation for staying healthy.  Your body needs copious amounts of: (in descending order) clean water, protein from vegetables with a limited quantity from animals, minerals, carbohydrates from whole grain, healthy fat from fish and a smattering of vitamins to stay healthy.  You can choose to consume them or take fundamental supplements to fill the gaps in your diet.

If you are experiences any of the likely complaints associated with failing to meet these thresholds, you may want to consider choosing supplements help you address your specific needs to expedite your restoration.

We’re all in this together – I’m pulling for you. (Sorry Red Green, I left out the attribution)

Notes:
1. Hanley, J.L., M.D. and Deville, N., Tired of Being Tired, Berkley Publishing Group, NY, 2001. (p. 66)
2. Wilson, Lawrence, M.D., F.I.C.B., Why Take Nutritional Supplements, article on www.drlwilson.com.
3. Hull, Janet, M.D., Bleaching agent in flour linked to diabetes, from The Idaho Observer, July 2005, cited on www.detoxprogram.net.
4. Wilson, Lawrence, M.D., F.I.C.B., Why Take Nutritional Supplements, article on www.drlwilson.com.
5. Hanley, J.L., M.D. and Deville, N., Tired of Being Tired, Berkley Publishing Group, NY, 2001. (p. 220)
6. Hull, Janet, M.D., Bleaching agent in flour linked to diabetes, from The Idaho Observer, July 2005, cited on www.detoxprogram.net.
7. Chek, Paul, excerpted from the CD/Workbook Program: You Are What You Eat! at www.chekinstitute.com.
8. The New York Nerd: Eat Fast, Die Young, April 24, 2006, at www.nynerd.com.
9. Hass, Elson M., M.D., Food Additives and Human Health, excerpted from Staying Healthy Shopper’s Guide: Feed Your Family Safely, cited on www.healthychild.com.
10. Hass, Elson M., M.D., Food Additives and Human Health, excerpted from Staying Healthy Shopper’s Guide: Feed Your Family Safely, cited on www.healthychild.com.

Newscasts, Talk Shows and the newest craze, “TV Doctors”, happily share their disdain for “those expensive, unnecessary concoctions” based on this idiom.

 Whether it is your doctor, your mother or your friend, who is advising you that “You’re wasting your money on those things, your food gives you everything you need. ” says so, because this paradigm is a commonly held belief.

 So, what exactly is this balanced diet that these people assume you’re eating?

Do you know?

The USDA (United State Department of Agriculture) reports it is: My Plate.  Harvard School of Public Health reports it is: The Nutrition Source.  The University of Michigan Integrative Medicine Department reports it is: The Healing Food Pyramid.

 Still confused?

I subscribe to a version of “the balanced diet”, too.  It is eating 5-7 servings of differently color, fresh vegetables, that grow above the ground, 2 – non tropical fruits, drinking 8 to10 – 8 ounce glasses of water each day, consuming a deck of cards sized serving of oily fish 3 times per week, of chicken 3 times per week and of red meat, once a week.

 Do you eat like that?

In fact, “consuming a balanced diet” is a mythical construct. – hardly anyone eats a balanced diet.  And, because this false paradigm is so prevalent, what you are eating is the last thing anyone, including doctors, ever considers when someone’s health begins to slip away.

 A recent study, reported in The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, concludes that:  “ … use of supplements significantly improved the status of several vitamins in elderly people. Due to age-related problems concerning the intake and digestion of nutrients, a moderate, regular supplementation might be a useful option for older people who are otherwise unable to satisfy their micronutrient requirements.”

 In people-speak, the study shows that if you aren’t consuming the nutrients your body needs, taking supplements can fill the gap.  The study was well constructed, peer-review and duly reported in a professional journal.

 Did you get the memo?  … No?
Did you hear a peep from the talking heads?  … No?
And, I’ll bet your _________ (doctor, friend, mother) didn’t read it either!

 Here what the memo should say:

 “If you’re not eating enough vegetables, fruit, chicken, fish, meat and drinking enough water to satisfy the minimum nutritional needs of your body or taking supplements to fill the gaps in your diet – you will get fat; and sick; and grow old too fast.”  And, regardless of your age, if you’re neglecting to feed your body properly, ditto!

 There are epidemics of degenerative diseases that:

• Threaten to overwhelm the finances of the industrialized world
• Overwhelming people and families with expense, heartache and suffering

 There are:  Telethons, Drives, Walks, Runs; Gold-Ribbon Panels; academic and pharmaceutical research and … , orgainized to:

“Wipe Out  fill in the blank
(obesity, cancer, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, respiratory disease, kidney disease or …)
In Our Lifetime” 

And yet, the numbers keep growing.

 Composing or Decomposing

The body (and all living things for that matter) possesses an orderly process that replaces worn out cells, the ability to accelerate repairs to damaged tissue (due to accidents or otherwise), to ward off infection, infestation and to energize itself.

 The process is wholly dependent on the raw materials that are garnered from the environment.   Those raw materials are the nutrients in the food you are consuming.

 This Isn’t Brain Surgery

• The raw materials are there, or they’re not. 
• The process works or it doesn’t.
• The body composes or it decomposes.

What you eat controls the equation, and you know what you’re consuming.

 The revelation of the study, reported in The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, says it all:

Do the best you can with your diet, then take fundamental supplements to fill in the gaps and, if need be, support them with supplements for any specific needs.

Conclusion

 So the next time you hear someone say, “You can get every thing you need from your food.” you know what that really means:  you should probably be taking supplements.

Quoting Red Green:  “We’re all in this together, I’m pulling for you.”

 P.S.  Please, read our BAM (Blatant Advertising Message):  NUPRO Nutraceutical Products – Advancing Beyond Vitamins™