Today's Natural Cure: Beware Of Unnatural Food Additives

This article is from  preventdisease.com

High Fructose Corn Syrup Is a Deadly Poison

High fructose corn syrup causes insulin resistance, diabetes,hypertension, increased weight gain, and not to mention is manufactured from genetically modified corn. 

Results recently presented at the 2013 Canadian Neuroscience Meeting showed that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) also cause behavioural reactions similar to those produced by drugs of abuse such as cocaine. 

Increased consumption of HFCS also results in depletion of chromium in the body, which is important is helping glucose pass from the bloodstream into the cells.

According to two recent U.S. studies, almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient. 

Consumers in Europe and Canada should also be aware that HFCS is often listed under different names under the auspices of regulatory bodies which define food labeling exemptions. For example, HFCS can be legally labeled as glucose/fructose and high fructose maize syrup in Canada. Although the EU restricts the amount that can be manufactured, it does allow the term isoglucose to be substituted for HFCS in food labels.

Other U.S. Approved Ingredients Banned In Other Countries 

"If you see any of the following ingredients listed on the nutrition label, don’t buy the product," Calton warns. "Leaving these banned bad boys on the shelves will speak volumes to grocery stores and food manufactures about what informed consumers simply won’t tolerate."

Ingredients: Sucralose
Found In: Cake, candy, medicines, sport supplements, protein powders, carbonated beverages, and many processed foods
Why the U.S. Allows It: Sugar substitutes such as sucralose and aspartame are more intensely sweet than sugar and may rewire taste receptors so less sweet, healthier foods aren't as enjoyable, shifting preferences to higher calorie, sweeter foods, and increasing food industry profits.
Health Hazards: Splenda/sucralose is simply chlorinated sugar; a chlorocarbon. Common chlorocarbons include carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethelene and methylene chloride, all deadly. Chlorine is nature's Doberman attack dog, a highly excitable, ferocious atomic element employed as a biocide in bleach, disinfectants, insecticide, WWI poison gas and hydrochloric acid. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 11 to 27 percent of ingested sucralose is absorbed by the human body (FDA 1998). Research published by the manufacturer of sucralose (Roberts 2000) shows that when 8 healthy male adults where given sucralose (in 1 mg/kg amounts), between 10.4% and 30.6% of the sucralose was absorbed. In addition, 1.6% to 12.2% of the sucralose accumulates in the body.

Ingredients: Acesulfame-K(Potassium)
Found In: Beverages, chewing gum and processed foods
Why the U.S. Allows It: Another sweetener that is very cheaply manufactured with a wide range of applications in the food industry.
Health Hazards: Represents one of the food additives used for sweetening aliments and drinks. It is approved by the FDA, but there are several potential problems correlated with consumption of this food additive. Even though there are many studies that attest its safety, acesulfame potassium is still suspected of causing benign thyroid tumors. In rats, the development of such tumors took only 3 months, a period in which the concentration of this additive in the consumed food was between 1 and 5 percent. This is a very short period of time, so the substance is believed to have significant carcinogenic properties. Methylene chloride, a solvent used in the manufacture of acesulfame potassium, is the substance that may give the food additive its potential carcinogenic characteristics. 

Ingredients: Coloring agents (blue 1, blue 2, yellow 5, and yellow 6)
Found In: Cake, candy, macaroni and cheese, medicines, sport drinks, soda, pet food, and cheese
Why the U.S. Allows It: We eat with our eyes. "Recent studies have shown that when food manufacturers left foods in their natural, often beige-like color instead of coloring them with these chemical agents, individuals thought they tasted bland and ate less, even when the recipe wasn't altered," Calton says. This may explain why the use of artificial dyes--the most popular being red 40, yellow 5, and yellow 6--have increased five-fold since 1955.
Health Hazards: Back in the day, food coloring came from natural sources, such as saffron and turmeric. "Today most artificial colors are made from coal tar, which is also used to seal-coat products to preserve and protect the shine of industrial floors," Carlton says. "It also appears in head lice shampoos to kill off the small bugs."

Ingredients: Olestra (aka Olean)
Found In: Fat-free potato chips
Why the U.S. Allows It: Procter & Gamble Co. took a quarter century and spent a half a billion dollars to create "light" chips that are supposedly better for you, Calton says. They may need another half a billion bucks to figure out how to deal with the embarrassing bathroom side effects (including oily anal leakage) that comes with consuming these products.
Health Hazards: "This fat substitute appears to cause a dramatic depletion of fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids, robbing us of the vital micro-nutrients," Calton says, adding that many countries, including the U.K. and Canada, have banned it.

Ingredients: Brominated vegetable oil (aka BVO)
Found In: Sports drinks and citrus-flavored sodas
Why the U.S. Allows It: BVO acts as an emulsifier, preventing the flavoring from separating and floating to the surface of beverages, Calton says.
Health Hazards: "Because it competes with iodine for receptor sites in the body, elevated levels of the stuff may lead to thyroid issues, such as hypothyroidism, autoimmune disease, and cancer," Calton says. That's not all. BVO's main ingredient, bromine, is a poisonous chemical that is considered both corrosive and toxic. It's been linked to major organ system damage, birth defects, growth problems, schizophrenia, and hearing loss, which explains why it's been nixed in more than 100 countries.

Ingredients: Potassium bromate (aka brominated flour)
Found In: Rolls, wraps, flatbread, bread crumbs, and bagel chips
Why the U.S. Allows It: This flour-bulking agent helps strengthen dough, reducing the amount of time needed for baking, which results in lowered costs, Calton explains.
Health Hazards: Made with the same toxic chemical found in BVO (bromine), this additive has been associated with kidney and nervous system disorders as well as gastrointestinal discomfort. "While the FDA has not banned the use of bromated flour, they do urge bakers to voluntarily leave it out," Calton says.

Ingredients: Azodicarbonamide
Found In: Breads, frozen dinners, boxed pasta mixes, and packaged baked goods
Why the U.S. Allows It: While most countries wait a week for flour to naturally whiten, the American food processors prefer to use this chemical to bleach the flour ASAP.
Health Hazards: It's not enough to just ban this product in Singapore. You can get up to 15 years in prison and be penalized nearly half a million dollars in fines for using this chemical that's been linked to asthma and is primarily used in foamed plastics, like yoga mats and sneaker soles.

Ingredients: BHA and BHT
Found In: Cereal, nut mixes, gum, butter, meat, dehydrated potatoes, and beer
Why the U.S. Allows It: "Made from petroleum [yummy!], these waxy solids act as preservatives to prevent food from becoming rancid and developing objectionable odors," Calton says. A better solution may be natural rosemary and sage. In a 2006 study, some organic herbs and spices proved to be efficient at preventing oxidative decay in meat, which ultimately could improve the shelf-life of these products.
Health Hazards: California is the only state that recognizes the U.S. National Institute of Health's report that BHA is may be a human carcinogen, a cancer-causing agent.

Ingredients: Synthetic hormones (rBGH and rBST)
Found In: Milk and dairy products
Why the U.S. Allows It: Gotta keep moo-ving things along. Dairy farmers inject cows with genetically-engineered cow growth hormones to boost milk production by about 10 percent, according to Calton.
Health Hazards: "Cows treated with these synthetic hormones often become lame, infertile, and suffer from inflamed and infected udders," Calton says. Humans, who consume these cows byproducts, are in no better shape, she adds: "The milk is supercharged with IGF-1 (insulin growth factor -1), which has been linked to breast, colon, and prostate cancers."

Ingredients: Arsenic
Found In: Poultry
Why the U.S. Allows It: Big brother FDA permits arsenic in chicken feed to promote growth, improve efficiency in feeding the birds, and boost pigmentation. "The arsenic affects the blood vessels in chickens and turkeys, causing them to appear pinker and, therefore, fresher," Calton says.
Health Hazards: The European Union has outlawed the use of arsenic
since 1999, Calton says, and the Environmental Protection Agency classifies inorganic arsenic as a "human carcinogen." Take matters into your own hands by sticking to organic birds only.

Sources: 
coca-cola.com
coca-cola.co.uk
cocacola.ca
shape.com
heinz.ca 
heinz.com
heinz.co.uk
gatorade.ca 
gatorade.com
gatorade.co.uk
kraftrecipes.com

Today's Natural Cure: Knowing Your Food Sensitivities

This article is from  mindbodygreen.com

5 Signs A Hidden Food Sensitivity Is Sabotaging Your Health

If you'd asked me four years ago if I had food allergies, my answer would have been "definitely not." I considered myself to be a health nut. I had a smoothie (with yogurt and protein powder) for breakfast, I didn't drink coffee or soda and I practiced yoga on a regular basis. I was a vegetarian and followed the advice of much of the mainstream media, which says to include soy in your diet for healthy protein. 

When I teamed up with my friend, Jo Schaalman to create the Conscious Cleanse, I found myself going with the flow in terms of her convictions about food allergies, and decided to "play along," as we were being our own guinea pigs.  

What happened after two weeks of eliminating a list of top allergens from my diet — the heavy hitters for me being dairy, soy and gluten — was nothing short of shocking. 

Years of dealing with adult acne — gone! 

Years of dealing with regular (stinky!) gas — gone! 

Years of severe mood swings with bouts of crying — gone! 

I also lost puffiness in my face, and over a period of a few months of maintaining this allergen-free way of eating, I dropped about 10 pounds, which made me feel more comfortable and confident in my own skin. 

Most of us think of allergies in the traditional sense — hives, rashes, dry eyes, congestion, runny nose. 

What most people don’t realize is that sensitivities to food can also surface in the form of anxiety, depression, joint pain, asthma, acne, bad breath, constipation, diarrhea, fatigue, brain fog, hyperactivity, puffy eyes and face, and even stubborn weight loss. 

According to Theron Randolph, known as the father of environmental medicine and clinical ecology, approximately 90% of people have some kind of allergy or sensitivity. And 9 out of 10 of those people don't realize that their symptoms are related to the food they're eating on a daily basis. 

From my view, the only effective method for allergy testing is to eliminate them from your diet completely for at least two weeks. Once you have a clean slate, you can reintroduce certain foods into your diet to see if your symptoms return. The problem with standard allergy tests is that they aren’t precise enough to detect the lower levels of food substances that could be causing your symptoms. 

Only you know what it feels like to be in your body, so you are your own best healer. Use the list below to determine the not-so-obvious ways to identify an allergy or sensitivity.

1. You say, “I can’t live without my (fill in the blank).” 

Feeling “addicted” to any food is a red flag. It's also the way in which we can develop a sensitivity to a food. Too much of a good thing can actually be a bad thing. 

2. You’ve tried several diets, eat “pretty healthy,” exercise regularly and still can’t seem to lose weight. 

When you’re eating foods that don’t work in your body, you become inflamed. Inflammation causes you to hold on to weight no matter how few calories you’re consuming or how much exercise you’re doing.

3. You feel “puffy.” 

Do you ever feel like you puffed up like a blowfish overnight? Your pants are too tight, your face is more round and your fingers are swollen. This puffiness is your body’s response to allergens. When you’re inflamed, you retain water, resulting in what I refer to as the “puffy factor.”

4. Your health isn’t what you want it to be. 

Despite your best efforts, you still deal with some annoying health issues. Things like acne, bags under your eyes, low energy, constipation, anxiety, insomnia, infertility and migraines. 

5. Seasonal hay fever seems to last all year long.  

Runny nose, dry eyes and sinus congestion are all signs of seasonal hay fever, but if you find that you have these symptoms most of the year, you could be dealing with a hidden food sensitivity.

Today's Natural Cure: Cleansing The Liver With Food And Herbs

This article is from  naturalhealth365.com

7 liver cleansing foods and herbs

Thu. June 13, 2013 by Michelle Marks, staff writer 

(NaturalHealth365) Why are liver cleansing foods necessary? In the modern world, many of us suffer from over-taxed livers and don’t even realize it. Everything from environmental pollution to stress impacts this vital organ; however, once someone’s liver is overtaxed, it can no longer efficiently process toxins and eliminate them from the body.

The liver has a vital role in the body as it takes the nutrients you eats, and makes them into compounds that benefit your body. It is essential to cleanse your liver to not only help with your digestive system, but also to consistently get rid of any toxins that have built up over time.

Let’s take a look at 7 of the most powerful liver cleansing foods and herbs:

1. Beets – are a true superfood, as they are full of antioxidants, B vitamins and betalain. When it comes to your liver, beets work to thin the bile and this, in turn, flushes out the liver. Further, the American Liver Foundation has revealed that their research shows that beets can heal liver disease.

2. Turmeric – also boost the production of bile. If you see curcumin in supplements or tinctures, it is the powerful compound in turmeric that gives it its yellow-orange color. Curcumin has been shown to fight liver cancer and even help with fibroids in the liver. Turmeric also can improve the functioning of the gallbladder, which also helps to flush toxins from the body.

3. Grapefruit – while the grapefruit diet is, of course, extreme and not to be recommended, there is actually some logic behind it, as grapefruit is one of the best liver cleansing foods. The high levels of vitamin C and antioxidants in grapefruit can help to eliminate carcinogens.

4. Milk Thistle – is prominently displayed, as an herbal supplement, in most natural health food stores. This herb contains silymarin, which protects the liver from toxins. As The University of Maryland Medical Center researchers revealed, silymarin also encourages the liver to produce new liver cells.

5. Dandelion – is an amazing (natural) diuretic. It boosts the removal of toxins from the body. In addition, to taking dandelion supplements, you can also eat the leaves or even juice the dandelion. Dandelion root tea has been used for a very long time for liver cleansing and detoxification.

6. Green Tea – has numerous benefits in the body including fighting cancer, IBD and diabetes, but research has shown it can also combat liver disease. It can also help the body resist damage to the liver caused by substances like alcohol. Green tea contains antioxidants called catechins, which can assist with overall liver function.

Keep in mind, one can never say that any of these substances actually “cure” any disease – because that is illegal in the United States, but many “healthy” things have been said about all of these substances plus many other natural foods and herbs.

7. Garlic – can benefit your health in a myriad of ways, such as preventing cancer and is well-known for its ability to cleanse the liver. It contains sulfur-containing compounds that activate the enzymes in the liver that remove toxins from the body.

Of course, if you’re seeking to help out your liver, definitely avoid fried foods and very high-fat foods as well. If your body has to process too much fat, it won’t be able to effectively handle its other jobs. Keeping your weight at a healthy level and be sure to regularly consume the liver cleansing foods and herbs discussed in this article.

Sources:
http://www.naturalnews.com/035946_liver_cleanse_foods.html
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/milk-thistle-000266.htm
http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/liver-cleanse-foods/
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/green-tea-000255.htm

- See more at: http://www.naturalhealth365.com/food_news/liver_cleansing.html#sthash.y4Spr7sV.dpuf

Today's Natural Cure: Avoiding Certain Foods Can Improve Your Health

This article is from  mercola.com

The 9 Foods You Should Never Eat

By Dr. Mercola

Many foods have been heavily promoted as being healthy when they are nothing more than pernicious junk foods. In the featured article, Clean Plates1 founder Jared Koch shared his list of nine staple foods that are far less “good for you” than you’ve been led to believe.

Here, I expand on the selections that are mentioned in the featured article.

1. Canned Tomatoes

Many leading brands of canned foods contain BPA -- a toxic chemical linked to reproductive abnormalities, neurological effects, heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, heart disease and other serious health problems. According to Consumer Reports’ testing, just a couple of servings of canned food can exceed the safety limits for daily BPA exposure for children.

High acidity — a prominent characteristic of tomatoes – causes BPA to leach into your food. To avoid this hazardous chemical, avoid canned foods entirely and stick to fresh fruits and vegetables, or switch over to brands that use glass containers instead—especially for acidic foods like tomatoes.

2. Processed Meats

As Koch warns, processed deli meats like salami, ham, and roast beef are typically made with meats from animals raised in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

This means they’re given growth hormones, antibiotics and other veterinary drugs, and raised in deplorable conditions that promote disease, these meats are also filled with sodium nitrite (a commonly used preservative and antimicrobial agent that also adds color and flavor) and other chemical flavorings and dyes.

Nitrites can be converted into nitrosamines in your body, which are potent cancer-causing chemicals. Research has linked nitrites to higher rates of colorectal, stomach and pancreatic cancer. But that’s not all. Most processed deli meats also contain other cancer-promoting chemicals that are created during cooking. These include:

• Heterocyclic Amines (HCAs) which are hazardous compounds created in meats and other foods that have been cooked at high temperatures. According to research, processed meats are clearly associated with an increased risk of stomach, colon and breast cancers.
• Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs): Many processed meats are smoked as part of the curing process, which causes PAHs to form. PAHs can also form when grilling. When fat drips onto the heat source, causing excess smoke, and the smoke surrounds your food, it can transfer cancer-causing PAHs to the meat.
• Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs): When food is cooked at high temperatures—including when it is pasteurized or sterilized—it increases the formation of AGEs in your food. AGEs build up in your body over time leading to oxidative stress, inflammation and an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and kidney disease.

The truth is, processed meats are not a healthful choice for anyone and should be avoided entirely, according to a 2011 reviewof more than 7,000 clinical studies examining the connection between diet and cancer. The report was commissioned by The World Cancer Research Fund2 (WCRF) using money raised from the general public. Therefore the findings were not influenced by any vested interests, which makes it all the more reliable.

It's the biggest review of the evidence ever undertaken, and it confirms previous findings: Processed meats increase your risk of cancer, especially bowel cancer, and NO amount of processed meat is "safe." You’re far better off ditching the deli meats and opting instead for fresh organically-raised grass-fed meats, or wild caught salmon.

3. Margarine

The unfortunate result of the low-fat diet craze has been the shunning of healthful fats such as butter, and public health has declined as a result of this folly. There are a myriad of unhealthy components to margarine and other butter impostors, including:

• Trans fats: These unnatural fats in margarine, shortenings and spreads are formed during the process of hydrogenation, which turns liquid vegetable oils into a solid fat. Trans fats contribute to heart disease, cancer, bone problems, hormonal imbalance and skin disease; infertility, difficulties in pregnancy and problems with lactation; and low birth weight, growth problems and learning disabilities in children. A US government panel of scientists determined that man-made trans fats are unsafe at any level.
• Free radicals: Free radicals and other toxic breakdown products are the result of high temperature industrial processing of vegetable oils. They contribute to numerous health problems, including cancer and heart disease.
• Emulsifiers and preservatives: Numerous additives of questionable safety are added to margarines and spreads. Most vegetable shortening is stabilized with preservatives like BHT.
• Hexane and other solvents: Used in the extraction process, these industrial chemicals can have toxic effects.

Good-old-fashioned butter, when made from grass-fed cows, is rich in a substance called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA is not only known to help fight cancer and diabetes, it may even help you to lose weight, which cannot be said for its trans-fat substitutes. Much of the reason why butter is vilified is because it contains saturated fat. If you're still in the mindset that saturated fat is harmful for your health, then please read the Healthy Fats section of my Optimized Nutrition Plan to learn why saturated fat is actually good for you.

4. Vegetable Oils

Of all the destructive foods available to us, those made with heated vegetable oils are some of the worst. Make no mistake about it--vegetable oils are not the health food that you were lead to believe they were. This is largely due to the fact that they are highly processed, and when consumed in massive amounts, as they are by most Americans, they seriously distort the important omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. Ideally, this ratio is 1:1.

Anytime you cook a food, you run the risk of creating heat-induced damage. The oils you choose to cook with must be stable enough to resist chemical changes when heated to high temperatures, or you run the risk of damaging your health. One of the ways vegetable oils can inflict damage is by converting your good cholesterol into bad cholesterol—by oxidizing it. When you cook with polyunsaturated vegetable oils (such as canola, corn, and soy oils), oxidized cholesterol is introduced into your system.

As the oil is heated and mixed with oxygen, it goes rancid. Rancid oil is oxidized oil and should NOT be consumed—it leads directly to vascular disease. Trans-fats are introduced when these oils are hydrogenated, which increases your risk of chronic diseases like breast cancer and heart disease.

So what's the best oil to cook with?

Of all the available oils, coconut oil is the oil of choice for cooking because it is nearly a completely saturated fat, which means it is much less susceptible to heat damage. And coconut oil is one of the most unique and beneficial fats for your body. For more in-depth information about the many benefits of coconut oil, please see this special report. Olive oil, while certainly a healthful oil, is easily damaged by heat and is best reserved for drizzling cold over salad.

5. Microwave Popcorn

Perfluoroalkyls, which include perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), are chemicals used to keep grease from leaking through fast food wrappers, are being ingested by people through their food and showing up as contaminants in blood. Microwave popcorn bags are lined with PFOA, and when they are heated the compound leaches onto the popcorn.

These chemicals are part of an expanding group of chemicals commonly referred to as "gender-bending" chemicals, because they can disrupt your endocrine system and affect your sex hormones. The EPA has ruled PFCs as "likely carcinogens," and has stated that PFOA "poses developmental and reproductive risks to humans." Researchers have also linked various PFCs to a range of other health dangers, such as:

• Infertility -- A study published in the journal Human Reproduction3 found that both PFOA and PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate), dramatically increased the odds of infertility. PFOA was linked to a 60 to 154 percent increase in the chance of infertility.
• Thyroid disease -- A 2010 study4 found that PFOA can damage your thyroid function. Individuals with the highest PFOA concentrations were more than twice as likely to report current thyroid disease, compared to those with the lowest PFOA concentrations. Your thyroid contains thyroglobulin protein, which binds to iodine to form hormones, which in turn influence essentially every organ, tissue and cell in your body. Thyroid hormones are also required for growth and development in children. Thyroid disease, if left untreated, can lead to heart disease, infertility, muscle weakness, and osteoporosis.
• Cancer -- PFOA has been associated with tumors in at least four different organs in animal tests (liver, pancreas, testicles and mammary glands in rats), and has been associated with increases in prostate cancer in PFOA plant workers.
• Immune system problems -- Several studies by scientists in Sweden indicate that PFCs have an adverse effect on your immune system. As described in a report on PFCs by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), PFOA was found to decrease all immune cell subpopulations studied, in the thymus and spleen, and caused immunosupression.
• Increased LDL cholesterol levels – A 2010 study in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine5 found that children and teens with higher PFOA levels had higher levels of total cholesterol and LDL or "bad" cholesterol, while PFOS was associated with increased total cholesterol, including both LDL cholesterol and HDL or "good" cholesterol.

I strongly recommend avoiding any product you know containing these toxic compounds, particularly non-stick cookware, but also foods sold in grease-proof food packaging, such as fast food and microwave popcorn. Clearly, if you're eating fast food or junk food, PFCs from the wrapper may be the least of your problems, but I think it's still important to realize that not only are you not getting proper nutrition from the food itself, the wrappers may also add to your toxic burden.

6. Non-Organic Potatoes and Other Fresh Produce Known for High Pesticide Contamination

Your best bet is to buy only organic fruits and vegetables, as synthetic agricultural chemicals are not permissible under the USDA organic rules. That said, not all conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are subjected to the same amount of pesticide load. While Koch focuses on potatoes, as they tend to take up a lot of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals present in the soil, I would recommend reviewing the "Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce"6 by the Environmental Working Group.

Of the 48 different fruit and vegetable categories tested by the EWG for the 2013 guide, the following 15 fruits and vegetables had the highest pesticide load, making them the most important to buy or grow organically:

Apples	Celery	Cherry tomatoes
Cucumbers	Grapes	Hot peppers
Nectarines (imported)	Peaches	Potatoes
Spinach	Strawberries	Sweet bell peppers
Kale	Collard greens	Summer squash

In contrast, the following foods were found to have the lowest residual pesticide load, making them the safest bet among conventionally grown vegetables. Note that a small amount of sweet corn and most Hawaiian papaya, although low in pesticides, are genetically engineered (GE). If you’re unsure of whether the sweet corn or papaya is GE, I’d recommend opting for organic varieties:

Asparagus	Avocado	Cabbage
Cantaloupe	Sweet corn (non-GMO)	Eggplant
Grapefruit	Kiwi	Mango
Mushrooms	Onions	Papayas (non-GMO. Most Hawaiian papaya is GMO)
Pineapple	Sweet peas (frozen)	Sweet potatoes

7. Table Salt

Salt is essential for life—you cannot live without it. However, regular ‘table salt’ and the salt found in processed foods are NOT identical to the salt your body really needs. In fact, table salt has practically nothing in common with natural salt. One is health damaging, and the other is healing.

• Processed salt is 98 percent sodium chloride, and the remaining two percent comprises man-made chemicals, such as moisture absorbents, and a little added iodine. These are dangerous chemicals like ferrocyanide and aluminosilicate. Some European countries, where water fluoridation is not practiced, also add fluoride to table salt
• Natural salt is about 84 percent sodium chloride. The remaining 16 percent of natural salt consists of other naturally occurring minerals, including trace minerals like silicon, phosphorous and vanadium

Given that salt is absolutely essential to good health, I recommend switching to a pure, unrefined salt. My favorite is an ancient, all-natural sea salt from the Himalayas. Himalayan salt is completely pure, having spent many thousands of years maturing under extreme tectonic pressure, far away from impurities, so it isn't polluted with the heavy metals and industrial toxins of today. And it's hand-mined, hand-washed, and minimally processed. Himalayan salt is only 85 percent sodium chloride, the remaining 15 percent contains 84 trace minerals from our prehistoric seas. Unrefined natural salt is important to many biological processes, including:

• Being a major component of your blood plasma, lymphatic fluid, extracellular fluid, and even amniotic fluid
• Carrying nutrients into and out of your cells
• Maintain and regulate blood pressure
• Increasing the glial cells in your brain, which are responsible for creative thinking and long-term planning
• Helping your brain communicate with your muscles, so that you can move on demand via sodium-potassium ion exchange

While natural unprocessed salt has many health benefits, that does not mean you should use it with impunity. Another important factor is the potassium to sodium ratio of your diet. Imbalance in this ratio can not only lead to hypertension (high blood pressure) and other health problems, including heart disease, memory decline, erectile dysfunction and more. The easiest way to avoid this imbalance is by avoiding processed foods, which are notoriously low in potassium while high in sodium. Instead, eat a diet of whole, ideally organically-grown foods to ensure optimal nutrient content. This type of diet will naturally provide much larger amounts of potassium in relation to sodium.

8. Soy Protein Isolate and Other Unfermented Soy Products

Sadly, most of what you have been led to believe by the media about soy is simply untrue. One of the worst problems with soy comes from the fact that 90 to 95 percent of soybeans grown in the US are genetically engineered (GE), and these are used to create soy protein isolate. Genetically engineered soybeans are designed to be "Roundup ready,” which means they’re engineered to withstand otherwise lethal doses of herbicide.

The active ingredient in Roundup herbicide is called glyphosate, which is responsible for the disruption of the delicate hormonal balance of the female reproductive cycle. What's more, glyphosate is toxic to the placenta, which is responsible for delivering vital nutrients from mother to child, and eliminating waste products. Once the placenta has been damaged or destroyed, the result can be miscarriage. In those children born to mothers who have been exposed to even a small amount of glyphosate, serious birth defects can result.

Glyphosate’s mechanism of harm was only recently identified, and demonstrates how this chemical disrupts cellular function and induce many of our modern diseases, including autism. Soy protein isolate can be found in protein bars, meal replacement shakes, bottled fruit drinks, soups and sauces, meat analogs, baked goods, breakfast cereals and some dietary supplements.

Even if you are not a vegetarian and do not use soymilk or tofu, it is important to be a serious label reader. There are so many different names for soy additives, you could be bringing home a genetically modified soy-based product without even realizing it. Soy expert Dr. Kaayla Daniel offers a free Special Report7, "Where the Soys Are," on her Web site. It lists the many "aliases" that soy might be hiding under in ingredient lists -- words like "bouillon," "natural flavor" and "textured plant protein."

Besides soy protein isolate, ALL unfermented soy products are best avoided if you value your health. Thousands of studies have linked unfermented soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility—even cancer and heart disease.

The only soy with health benefits is organic soy that has been properly fermented, and these are the only soy products I ever recommend consuming. After a long fermentation process, the phytate and "anti-nutrient" levels of soybeans are reduced, and their beneficial properties become available to your digestive system. To learn more, please see this previous article detailing the dangers of unfermented soy.

9. Artificial Sweeteners

Contrary to popular belief, studies have found that artificial sweeteners such as aspartame can stimulate your appetite, increase carbohydrate cravings, and stimulate fat storage and weight gain. In one of the most recent of such studies8, saccharin and aspartame were found to cause greater weight gain than sugar.

Aspartame is perhaps one of the most problematic. It is primarily made up of aspartic acid and phenylalanine. The phenylalanine has been synthetically modified to carry a methyl group, which provides the majority of the sweetness. That phenylalanine methyl bond, called a methyl ester, is very weak, which allows the methyl group on the phenylalanine to easily break off and form methanol.

You may have heard the claim that aspartame is harmless because methanol is also found in fruits and vegetables. However, in fruits and vegetables, the methanol is firmly bonded to pectin, allowing it to be safely passed through your digestive tract. Not so with the methanol created by aspartame; there it’s not bonded to anything that can help eliminate it from your body.

Methanol acts as a Trojan horse; it's carried into susceptible tissues in your body, like your brain and bone marrow, where the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) enzyme converts it into formaldehyde, which wreaks havoc with sensitive proteins and DNA. All animals EXCEPT HUMANS have a protective mechanism that allows methanol to be broken down into harmless formic acid. This is why toxicology testing on animals is a flawed model. It doesn't fully apply to people.

Guidelines for Healthy Food

Whatever food you’re looking to eat, whether organic or locally grown, from either your local supermarket or a farmer’s market, the following are signs of a high-quality, healthy food. Most often, the best place to find these foods is from a sustainable agricultural group in your area. You can also review my free nutrition plan to get started on a healthy eating program today:

• It’s grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers (organic foods fit this description, but so do some non-organic foods)
• It’s not genetically engineered
• It contains no added growth hormones, antibiotics, or other drugs
• It does not contain artificial anything, nor any preservatives
• It is fresh (if you have to choose between wilted organic produce or fresh conventional produce, the latter may still be the better option as freshness is important for optimal nutrient content)
• It was not grown in a factory farm
• It is grown with the laws of nature in mind (meaning animals are fed their native diets, not a mix of grains and animal byproducts, and have free-range access to the outdoors)
• It is grown in a sustainable way (using minimal amounts of water, protecting the soil from burnout, and turning animal wastes into natural fertilizers instead of environmental pollutants)

Today's Natural Cure: Hormone Food Remedies

This article is from  naturalnews.com

Balance your hormones naturally with these food remedies

(NaturalNews) Hormone issues have increasingly become more a focus of health discussions over the last couple of decades. It's almost as though hormones didn't even exist for some time until connections made to hormone imbalances were linked or associated with cancer.

Mainstream medicine's response with synthetic hormone replacement therapies was a bust, and alternative natural hormone therapies moved into that void.

Endocrine or hormone disruptors like Biphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates are commonly found in household plastic products, and they tend to leach from those plastics into its contents or into your child's mouth.

They mimic actual hormones, usually sex hormones but also others including insulin, and they replace the actual beneficial hormone with what amounts to toxic waste. So one solution is to avoid those items by doing your own research and carefully reading labels.

Another solution is to consume foods that encourage proper hormonal balance while eliminating foods and beverages that don't after this short summary of hormonal functions.

What are hormones?

The word hormone is derived from the Greek term "spur on", which is a main function of hormones. They are fluids created by cell clusters known as glands which are secreted to target cells awaiting functional commands in other tissues and organs.

If those commands are blocked or confused, then no or incorrect messages are sent to tissues and organs requiring to help create homeostasis, the metabolic balancing of a body's internal systems.

There are two major types of endocrine hormones: Steroids and peptides. Steroids are generally sex hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone. These are created from cholesterol in the ovaries and testes, and their imbalances can create havoc with mood, attitude, health, sterility, maturation, and even gender identification.

Peptides are more concerned with regulating blood sugar and sleep cycles. Examples are insulin for regulating sugar and melatonin for ensuring sound sleep. Thyroid hormones are peptides that tend to regulate metabolism in general.

Fluorides in water and pharmaceuticals and bromides used in commercial baking hamper thyroid hormones. Again, both are more to beware of and avoid as much as possible.

Positive food suggestions for encouraging proper hormone homeostasis

Starting with the thyroid, iodine rich foods such as seaweed (especially kelp), beans, organic cultured yogurt, organic non-sugared cranberry juice or fresh cranberries, unprocessed Himalayan salt, and fresh organic strawberries are among the top choices for iodine to keep your thyroid hormone production high. Of course, there also iodine supplements.

Help your liver break down excess hormones that the body is no longer using. Phytonutrients from cruciferous veggies such as broccoli, cabbage, kale and cauliflower help the liver do just that. Your liver also needs sulfur compounds found in garlic and onions.

Leptin is a satiety hormone that lets you know that you've had enough to eat. If it is blocked, your cravings take over and you overeat. Refined grains, sugars, and HFCS are the major culprits for leptin resistance, which is often created by secretions from body fats, causing those who are obese to eat even more.

Avoid those and replace them with moderate consumption of complex grains. Also avoid processed or hydrogenated oils for cooking and salads. They are used to create margarine as well.

Those processed oils are also ubiquitous in processed foods. Use cold-pressed virgin olive or coconut oil, and organically produced real butter instead. Canola oil is actually not so healthy either.

The enormous omega-6 to omega-3 imbalance in processed foods creates inflammation. Increase omega-3 fat intake to create a proper balance of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids with eggs and fish products as well as ground flax seeds, hemp seeds, and their cold-pressed oils. Chia seeds are another source of omega-3.

Sources for this article include:

http://wellnessmama.com/5425/balance-hormones/

http://wellnessmama.com/5356/cravings-fix-your-leptin/

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/iodine-foods/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16923214

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-hormones.htm

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-cholesterol.htm

Today's Natural Cure: Avoid Preservatives

This article is from  preventdisease.com

For Most Foods, The Faster It Spoils, The Healthier It Is - The Toxic Preservation of Food Is Killing Us

The food industry has created an era of convenience for consumers through packaged, preserved, emulsified, pasteurized, sterilized, irradiated and chemically altered foods. It's not an exact science, but generally speaking the faster a food spoils, the higher the nutrient density it contains. Living foods will perish within days to weeks while processed foods can last months or even years due to the removal of all microorganisms, enzymes, oxygen, and moisture in food.



Foods such as packaged chips, crackers, wheat products containing harmful oils, soy, corn, artificial sweeteners, sugars, salts, as most other junk food, maintain the slowest spoil rates while offering little if any nutritional value along with the highest risk in terms of promoting disease. These are the money makers for the food and disease industries.

On the other hand, foods with the highest nutrient density such as sprouts, greens, fruits and vegetables have the highest spoil rate with the lowest risk in terms of promoting disease.

Why is this? The reason is that living foods (designed to be gathered and consumed quickly) are for human beings. Dead, processed foods with a long shelf life are designed for...well something else. 

Living foods need to be consumed or they die. They cannot be stored for extended periods because they are alive like you and I. Deprive them of their essentials and they won't fair well. How well do you think you would do if sunlight, oxygen, and water were instantly removed from your environment?

The food industry has made it their business to remove all living components from natural foods, essentially creating foods that no longer have any active microbials, enzymes or even absorable vitamins and minerals. Processed foods are dead and that's why they have no nutrient density. 

The Addiction To Preventing Food Spoilage All In The Name of Food Safety (Code Word For Profit)

Food spoilage can be defined as a disagreeable change in a food's normal state. Normal is the operative word here because the food industry changes everything that's "normal" about food and makes it abnormal. 

Air and oxygen, moisture, light, microbial growth, temperature and time all influence the spoil rate of foods and the changes can be detected by smell, taste, touch, or sight. 
The primary claim by the food industry: As the world's population climbs well past 7 billion, the sustainable production and distribution of food is balanced against the need to ensure its chemical and microbiological safety.

Quoted from Scientists Suggest That All Food Should Be Irradiated, Pasteurized and Sterilized by 2030: 

"Food scientists are voicing from their petrified little minds that as the system grows, so will the need to pressure regulation and surveillance organizations to track contaminants and prevent deadly outbreaks, such as the 2011 events in the U.S. (Listeria monocytogenes_) and Germany (_Escherichia coli). Both these outbreaks initiated government action to promote the agenda of seizing more control over the food supply through expanded "food safety" regulations."

Typical Methods Used By The Food Industry To Extend Shelf Life and Remove Nutrition

REMOVAL AIR AND OXYGEN
One important cause of food spoilage is air and oxygen. Air consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and a 1% mixture of other gases. While oxygen is essential for life, it can have deteriorative effects on fats, food colors, vitamins, flavors, and other food constituents if not consumed "within a reasonable period". 

Oxidative spoilage is the chief cause of quality loss in fats and fatty portions of foods. When lipids oxidize, short chain carbon compounds are formed; these compounds have very strong odors and flavors and are very undesirable and unacceptable to consumers so the industry removes oxygen in vacuum sealed bags, cans and other packaging to prevent this problem. It also prevents the growth of microorganisms which immediately kills off enzymes. When deprived of oxygen and exposed to heat, the protein structure and shape of active sites within enzymes change and they become denatured. 

Certain enzymes that are naturally present in food are known as oxidizing enzymes. These enzymes catalyze (speed up) very natural reactions between oxygen and food components. This means food can spoil faster than grocery stores can keep the items on the shelf. There are also many oxidizing enzymes, two that can cause darkening in diced and sliced vegetables are catalase and peroxidase. The browning of vegetables caused by these enzymes is often accompanied by off-flavors and odors. Heat treatment (blanching) is used to inactivate these enzymes which again destroys the natural balance of active enzymes in these foods. 

PASTEURIZATION
Without microorganisms, we would all be dead. They are vital to our survival especially for our digestion. However, for food industry scientists, they are evil.

Pasteurization destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamins C, B12 and B6, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer.

Bacteria that have survived pasteurization can actually continue to grow in the milk and produce acid from the lactose that is naturally present in the milk. 

All almonds produced in the state of California, destined for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are required (mandatory) to be pasteurized. Even organic almonds will be required to be pasteurized, even though there has been absolutely no incident of salmonella poisoning among organic almonds. 

Most commercial milk is now ultra-pasteurized to get rid of heat-resistant bacteria and give it a longer shelf life. Ultra-pasteurization is a violent process that takes milk from a chilled temperature to above the boiling point in less than two seconds.

REMOVAL OF MOISTURE
Water is one of the most common substances on earth. It is an essential component of all foods. The amount of water in a food (known as percent water) influences the appearance, texture, and flavor of the food. All living organisms as well as food contain water. Water makes up about 70% or more of the weight of most fresh (unprocessed) foods. Even "dry" foods like beans, flour and cereals contain some water. Fresh fruits and vegetables contain the most water -- between 90% and 95% water.

Although the water content of a food is expressed as a percent, to scientists this number does not reflect how the water exists in the food. Water in food is classified according to its availability, or biological activity and is either "free" or "bound." If free water is not bound to any components in a food; it is considered as a potential for microbial growth and is also available for chemical reactions, consequently it is not considered part of the nutritional complement of a specific food, even though it may be. 

Moisture can condense on the surface of a product and this can result in many common food defects unfavourable to food aesthetics such as mottling, crystallization and stickiness.

By removing water to a certain level, deteriorative reactions the industry finds unacceptable are avoided. Examples include drying techniques such as powdered milk, potato flakes, drink mixes and evaporated milk. Artificial food additives are also used to prevent food products from binding to water.

IRRADIATION
Almost every food category can now be legally irradiated by government regulators at the expense of our health. Irradiated foods are exposed to high level radiation for the purpose of sterilizing it. There is an abundance of convincing evidence in the refereed scientific literature that the condensation products of the free radicals formed during irradiation produce statistically significant increases in carcinogenesis, mutagenesis and cardiovascular disease in animals and man. This is in addition to the destruction of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

Canned foods undergo a irradiation or sterilization process to make them shelf-stable. If canned foods are not sterilized properly they can still spoil.

Take a look at the following list of now acceptable irradiated foods provided for the American Council on Science and Health. 

Most foods available at major grocery chains can be potentially irradiated since the list is inclusive of all food categories.

The free radicals caused by irradiation kill some bacteria, but they also bounce around in the food, damage vitamins and enzymes, and combine with existing chemicals (like pesticides) in the food to form new chemicals, called unique radiolytic products (URPs). 

Some of these URPs are known toxins (benzene, formaldehyde, lipid peroxides) and some are unique to irradiated foods. Scientists have not studied the long-term effect of these new chemicals in our diet. Therefore, we cannot assume they are safe. 

Irradiated foods can lose 5%-80% of many vitamins (A, C, E, K and B complex). The amount of loss depends on the dose of irradiation and the length of storage time. 

It is a fact that science has not proved that a long-term diet of irradiated foods is safe for human health. Yet we think that nature that has provided food for millions of years to earth's inhabitants now suddenly produces foods that are unsafe for our consumption.

HOMOGENIZATION 
Homogenization is a more recently invented process and it has been called "the worst thing that dairymen did to milk." When milk is homogenized, it is pushed through a fine filter at pressures of 4,000 pounds per square inch. In this process, the fat globules are made smaller by a factor of ten times or more. These fat molecules then become evenly dispersed throughout the milk.

This gives milk, peanut butter and other foods a creamy consistency. Fat subjected to high heat and pressure oxidizes--it becomes rancid.

Milk is a hormonal delivery system. When homogenized, milk becomes very powerful and efficient at bypassing normal digestive processes and delivering steroid and protein hormones to the human body (both your hormones and the cow's natural hormones and the ones they may have been injected with to produce more milk).

Homogenization makes fat molecules in milk smaller and they become "capsules" for substances that are able to bypass digestion. Proteins that would normally be digested in the stomach are not broken down and instead they are absorbed into the bloodstream.

The homogenization process breaks up an enzyme in milk which in its smaller state can then enter the bloodstream and react against arterial walls. This causes the body to protect the area with a layer of cholesterol. If this only happened once in a while it wouldn't be of big concern, but if it happens regularly there are long term risks.

Proteins were created to be easily broken down by digestive processes. Homogenization disrupts this and insures their survival so that they enter the bloodstream. Many times the body reacts to foreign proteins by producing histamines, and then mucus. Sometimes homogenized milk proteins resemble a human protein and can become triggers for autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cancer and heart disease.

ARTIFICIALLY PRESERVED FOODS 
We artificially preserve thousands of foods to extend their shelf life. As one of the most prolific preservatives in the food industry, it is difficult to find many foods without potassium sorbate. Food and chemical toxicology reports have labeled potassium sorbate as a carcinogen, showing positive mutation results in the cells of mammals. Other studies have shown broad systemic and toxic effects on non-reproductive organs in animals. No long term studies have ever been initiated on either animals or humans, so there is simply not enough evidence to theorize what could happen after years of ingesting this preservative. However, based on short-term carcinogenic and toxic effects, is it worth the risk to find out? 

Sodium Benzoate can convert into lethal carcinogenic poison when combined with absorbic acid. Professor Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology, tested the impact of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his laboratory. What he found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA in the "power station" of cells known as the mitochondria. "These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it: they knock it out altogether." he stated.

"The food industry will say these compounds have been tested and they are complete safe," he said. "By the criteria of modern safety testing, the safety tests were inadequate. Like all things, safety testing moves forward and you can conduct a much more rigorous safety test than you could 50 years ago."

Sodium Benzoate, as most other preservatives, should not be ingested in any quantity. This toxin is banned from all foods and drinks for children under three, and is currently being phased out of all Coca-Cola products.

The food industry's nature to preserve is directly correlated to extending shelf life to increase profits and reducing waste. If we were to live in sustainable societies where we would consume only what was necessary and balance our sustenance with ecological systems and principles, preservatives would be completely unnecessary and redundant. If anything, food preservatives will soon be in harmony with natural living and free of chemicals. This is where our food industry is headed and toxic preservatives will soon be a thing of the past.

ARTIFICIAL LIGHT
Almost all foods are exposed to light from natural and/or artificial sources. The exposure of foods to light can result in the photodegradation (or spoilage) of these products. This photodegradation usually occurs in food constituents, such as pigments, fats, proteins, and vitamins and results in discoloration, off-flavor development, and vitamin losses.

The light that is absorbed by the food can cause deteriorative reactions of the food constituents. In most solid foods, the light penetrates the outer layer of the product and then photodegradation occurs. Discoloration on the surface of foods can certainly affect consumer acceptance of these products.

In liquid foods, light penetration can be greater and with mixing of the products due to agitation, larger portions of food constituents may be deteriorated. The light sensitivity of a food depends on many factors including the: light source strength and type of light that it emits; distance of the light source form the food; length of exposure optical properties of the packaging materials; oxygen concentration of the food; and the temperature.

TEMPERATURE 
For every 18F degree rise in temperature within the moderate temperature range where most food is handled (50F to 100F), the rate of chemical reaction is approximately doubled. As a result, excessive heat will increase the rate of natural food enzyme reactions and the reactions of other food constituents. As a result, protein will breakdown or denature; emulsions will break; some vitamins will be destroyed; moisture will be lost and foods will dry out; and the color, flavor and odor of some products may be affected

Keeping meat at healthy temperatures is very challenging for grocery retailers. The actual surface temperature of displayed fresh meat is often much higher than the thermometer of the display case due to UV radiation from the display case lighting which penetrates the meat packaging and heats the surface just as the sun can cause a sunburn on a cold winter day. Various studies have found that the internal temperature of meat from display cases does exceed 50 degrees Celsius which is more than 10 degrees higher than recommended temperatures.

The meat consequently decomposes very quickly, so the meat industry heavily invested in modified atmospheric packaging which utilizes carbon monoxide gas to extend the shelf life and resist spoilage. This is how decayed meat is made to look fresh at grocery retailers.

Still trust the food industry?

Marco Torres is a research specialist, writer and consumer advocate for healthy lifestyles. He holds degrees in Public Health and Environmental Science and is a professional speaker on topics such as disease prevention, environmental toxins and health policy.

Sources:livestrong.com
preventdisease.com 
foodsafetysite.com
westonaprice.org
organicconsumers.org