NUTRITION: Eat Well To Be Well

It is amazing that humans know it's important what grade of gas they put in their cars, choose carefully their pets food, and would never put sugar in their car's gas tank but daily choose to eat sugar, skip meals, eat hydrogenated oils, drink pop or alcohol and pretend that food and drink have nothing to do with their health. We then seek a doctor who can give us a cure-all pill or a surgery that can remove what we caused by poor diet. We call it "name and blame" to give diseases a title and a list of symptoms so we can blame something other than ourselves for illness or lack of health that is a product of our own creation.

Population surveys show that 20% of the US population never eat vegetables, and 40% rarely consume fruit or fruit juices. The most popular vegetable consumed in the US is the potato, but not as a whole potato, but the nearly empty calories in French fries and potato chips. Another 80% never consume whole grains or high-fiber foods. The empty calories in sugar are almost universal in nearly all processed foods as a flavor and texture enhancer, recommended in recipe books, and used in fast foods. All forms of refined sugar interfere with the abilities of the white blood cells to destroy unfriendly bacteria and lower immune system function. Sugar also depletes the body of other nutrients. (Sanchez A et al, “Role of sugars in human neutrophilic phagocytosis,” Am J Clin Nutr 1973; 26:1180). A sugar relative, alcohol, weakens a wide variety of immune responses (Ahmed, FE, “Toxicological effects of ethanol on human health,” Crit Rev Tox 1995; 25(4):347-67).

Protective and nourishing nutrients and phytochemicals are found abundantly in whole fruits and vegetables, and yet these are the very foods avoided by most people. Fruit and vegetable consumption in population studies has been consistently shown to reduce the risk of many degenerative diseases including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. The "5 A Day for Better Health" program sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) encourages the public to include more fruits and vegetables in their diet, at least 5 servings a day (Oliveria SA et al, “The Role of Epidemiology in Cancer Prevention,” The Soc for Exp Bio and Med 1997; 216:142-150).

The standard American diet, which contains food grown on depleted soils, has left Americans deficient in many nutrients important to health. Crops are repeatedly raised on the same field year after year with only artificial fertilizer designed to increase yields, but not nutritional content of foods. The solution is to choose whole, organic foods grown by natural means on replenished soils. Cooking, food processing, and microwaving all take their toll on creating nutritional deficiencies.

As early as 1936, U.S. Senate Document 264 cited nutritional deficiencies caused by our depleted soils. It also stated that 95% of Americans were deficient in one or more major minerals and many trace minerals that have proved to be necessary for bone mineralization. One can only imagine what further depletion from 1936 until the present time must have taken place.

The National Academy of Medicine estimates that 15% of the U.S. population suffers from fatigue associated with chemical sensitivities, sometimes called Multiple Chemical Sensitivities.

Many experts believe that a major cause of these problems stems from the Post World War II chemical revolution that put 3,000 chemicals in our foods, 700 chemicals in our drinking water, and another 10,000 in food processing and storage. The EPA has found over 400 toxic chemicals in human tissue associated with fatigue, depression, mental, motor, neurological disorders, and cancer. Over 81 drugs listed in the Physicians Desk Reference have chronic fatigue as a known side-effect.

Do's and Don'ts

Avoid empty foods to stop depleting your body. Don't eat fried foods like French fries and potato chips. Don't drink any kind of soft drink. Don't eat canned foods, don't eat convenience or junk foods, don't eat bakery goods, don't eat margarine or any other hydrogenated fat, don't drink caffeinated drinks, and don't drink alcohol to excess.

Do choose the fresh foods aisles over the canned foods aisles. Stay out of the middle of the store, and spend your time on the outside aisles, where the fresh meats and fish and the fresh produce are. And best of all, choose the organic and natural foods sections of supermarkets, or go to a health foods store and eat only organic. Do eat 5 to 8 servings of natural, fresh vegetables a day. Do eat the fresh whole potato, not the French fries or the potato chips. Do drink 8-10 glasses of pure water to assist toxin removal.

Rebuild your body and immune system with natural whole foods, and take good supplements to help replenish the nutrients necessary to rebuild your organs, glands, and systems. When the body's systems are working at 100%, you have 100% wellness. Eat well to be well.

Good dietary choices enhance immune system functioning. Many vitamins, other nutrients, fiber, and phytochemicals found in whole foods alone and in combination can also boost immune system functioning, slow aging, and prevent many diseases.

It's All About Education

Our new book Solving the Health Puzzle With The 6 Steps To Wellness and its release has increased WELLNESS understanding for the doctor and the patients alike.

Education is the key to patients knowing what we have to offer, where to receive it and the possible positive benefits.

This weeks Health Puzzle Piece is an excerpt from the nutrition section.

Please call the office at 480-964-5198 and get your copy or case today and increase your practice through doctor, staff and patient education.

Product Orders

Please remember to call our office for the book and call us direct for any of the Erchonia Products, including Lasers, Adjustors, Percussors, and Footbaths etc. at 866-338-4883 or 480-964-5198.

Good Bless You and Your Families,
JW Brimhall, DC and the Wellness Team