Doctors Required to Study Nutrition ONLY 25 HOURS????

And most don’t meet that requirement!!

I was having a conversation recently with someone who just quit smoking.   A friend of her commented that a doctor has told her the body cleans out nicotine from the system in 3 days. When I commented that that was simply not true, she said, “Well, I guess you think you know more about that than a doctor would?”

In a word, yes. In the early part of my career teaching applied nutrition I was very surprised that doctors were not educated about nutrition!  

I’m no longer surprised…….

by the doctor who told me she was uninterested in teaching her patients to heal to the degree that I teach my clients…she said that they would not have to see her as often, which would affect her income.

by doctors who continue to tell patients that nutrition has no affect on treating and recovering from cancer.

by a doctor who got up and walked out of a class I was teaching on nutrition after commenting that if a person had a gene for cancer then NOTHING they did as far as lifestyle choices would keep them from getting cancer.

an Endocrinologist who recently told a client that he just didn’t know much about nutrition.

Mayo clinic recently told a client of mine (a young man who had gone into diabetic shock with no warning signs or history of diabetes)…to just keep eating what he had been all his life, just eat HALF THAT AMOUNT OF FOOD FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE!  

the doctor that told me my chronic ear infections were due to my getting my ears wet when I showered…and his suggestion?   To put Silly Putty in my ears!   A month later when I went off of dairy completely, that ear infection cleared up and I’ve NEVER had another one (going on 24 years now!)

I could go on and on with these stories…

Research has increasingly pointed to a link between the nutritional status of Americans and the chronic diseases that plague them. Between the growing list of diet-related diseases and a burgeoning obesity epidemic, the most important public health measure for any of us to take is watching what we eat.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill asked nutrition educators from more than 100 medical schools to describe the nutrition instruction offered to their students. While the researchers learned that almost all schools require exposure to nutrition, only about a quarter offered the recommended 25 hours of instruction, a decrease from six years earlier, when almost 40 percent of schools met the minimum recommendations. In addition, four schools offered nutrition optionally, and one school offered nothing at all. And while a majority of medical schools tended to intersperse lectures on nutrition in standard, required courses, like biochemistry or physiology, only a quarter of the schools managed to have a single course dedicated to the topic.

Vitamin D deficiency now so widespread that rickets is on the rise once again

Submitted by vermont on March 14, 2010

(NaturalNews) A clinical review paper published in the British Medical Journal is warning the public that widespread vitamin D deficiency is resurrecting the once-obsolete disease called rickets. According to Professor Simon Pearce and Dr. Time Cheetham, authors of the paper, people are getting far too little sunlight exposure which is necessary for the body to produce adequate levels of vitamin D.

Nowadays, children spend most of their time indoors staring at computer and television screens rather than playing outside in the sunlight. On the rare occasion that they venture outside, zealous parents are quick to apply UV-blocking sunscreen that prevents the sun’s useful UVB rays from penetrating their skin and producing vitamin D. The result is an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency that is leading to all sorts of illness and disease.

Rickets, a disease in which a person’s bones do not properly develop and harden, results when a person is getting too little vitamin D and most likely not enough calcium. The U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for vitamin D is a mere 400 IU, an amount that is said to be adequate for preventing rickets.

To put this amount into perspective, however, exposure to the summer sun for about 20 minutes is enough to produce up to 20,000 IU of vitamin D in the body. At this level, far more optimal health can be achieved. Yet the fact that children are beginning to develop rickets suggests that they are not even getting 400 IU a day, an amount that should be relatively easy to attain through a moderately healthy diet or a few minutes in the sun every day.

In the U.K., there are several hundred cases of rickets reported every year. According to statistics, more than 50 percent of the adult population in the U.K. is deficient in vitamin D as well. During the winter and spring months, more than 15 percent experience severe deficiency.

Researchers suggest that people with darker skin pigmentation are at a higher risk for rickets because they do not assimilate vitamin D from the sun’s UVB rays as easily as those with lighter skin do. Some experts believe that the changing ethnic profile of the U.K. may play a significant role in the onset of rickets while others point primarily to an overall lack of vitamin D among all ethnic groups.

Either way, the changing lifestyles among all people are partially to blame as people are not spending enough time outside and, when they do they are using too much sunscreen to obtain any sort of benefit from the sun. Overuse of sunscreen can be blamed on government health authorities, regulatory agencies, medical professionals, and mainstream media outlets that continually exaggerate the threat of developing skin cancer from sunlight exposure to the point that some people are afraid of getting any at all.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2…

http://www.naturalnews.com/028329_vitamin_D_rickets.html

How to Protect Yourself Against Cancer With Food (The Only Way, Actually!)

I was reading an article on cancer in the New York Times the other day when this paragraph jumped out at me..  I did a double take.  The last part of the sentence made me mad.

“So some researchers are taking a fresh look at ideas that were dismissed as folklore — a blow to the breast might spur cancer, an infection might fuel cancer cells, a weak immune system might let cancer spread.”.

Folklore that a weak immune system lets cancer spread?  They have to be kidding!  What ELSE would let a cancer spread?

Our protection against disease is a healthy immune system.  A healthy immune system is maintained by meeting our nutrient needs.

A vegetarian diet does NOT protect us from cancer; it is devoid of the proper fats we need to build an immune system.  It is also far too high in carbohydrates. It takes 2000 calories a day from whole foods, not grains, products, sugar, food colorings, added hormones.

Those 2000 calories a day should be composed of approximately 50% fat, of which 75% of that fat should be from organic saturated fats.  30% should be from HIGH QUALITY protein; grass fed meat, free range chickens, eggs. It should include rich meat stocks, coconut oil, raw butter.  The amount of carbohydrates (and I mean ONLY vegetables and fruit, NOT grains)) should make up 20% of our daily intake.

THIS is the only way to protect ourselves from cancer, and it is the only way to heal from cancer.  Our medical system (notice I do not call it a healthcare system!), has no idea what great nutrition is; they are still screaming low-fat, vegetarianism, caloric restriction, eating high amounts of vegetables and fruits.  We are a nation of fat, sick, unhealthy people. The only way to change this is to stop eating products and get back to eating real, whole, unprocessed food.

Here’s what The Weston Price Foundation has to say about preventing cancer;

How to Protect Yourself Against Cancer With Food

Once a rare disease, cancer is now widespread, affecting as much as one-third of the population. The rise in cancer in the West has paralleled the rise in factory farming and the use of processed foods containing vegetable oils and additives.

Orthodox methods for treating cancer (radiation and chemotherapy) do not prolong life. The best approach to cancer is prevention.

Traditional diets, containing animal and plant foods farmed by nontoxic methods, are rich in factors that protect against cancer. Many of these protective factors are in the animal fats.

Vegetarianism does not protect against cancer. In fact, vegetarians are particularly prone to cancers of the nervous system and reproductive organs.

Nutrients in Whole Foods that Protect Against Cancer

Vitamin A: Strengthens the immune system. Essential for mineral metabolism and endocrine function. Helps detoxify. True vitamin A is found only in animal foods such as cod liver oil; fish and shellfish; and liver, butter and egg yolks from pasture-fed animals. Traditional diets contained ten times more vitamin A than the typical modern American diet.

Vitamin C: An important antioxidant that prevents damage by free radicals. Found in many fruits and vegetables but also in certain organ meats valued by primitive peoples.

Vitamin B₆: Deficiencies are associated with cancer. Contributes to the function of over 100 enzymes. Most available from animal foods.

Vitamin B₁₂: Deficiencies are associated with cancer. Found only in animal foods.

Vitamin B₁₇: Protects against cancer. Found in a variety of organically grown grains, legumes, nuts and berries.

Vitamin D: Required for mineral absorption. Strongly protective against breast and colon cancer. Found only in animal foods such as cod liver oil, lard, shellfish and butterfat, organ meats and egg yolks from grass-fed animals. Traditional diets contained ten times more vitamin D than the typical modern American diet.

Vitamin E: Works as an antioxidant at the cellular level. Found in unprocessed oils as well as in animal fats like butter and egg yolks.

Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA): Strongly protective against breast cancer. Found in the butterfat and meat fat of grass-fed ruminant animals.

Cholesterol: A potent antioxidant that protects against free radicals in cell membranes. Found only in animal foods.

Minerals: The body needs generous amounts of a wide variety of minerals to protect itself against cancer. Minerals like zinc, magnesium and selenium are vital components of enzymes that help the body fight carcinogens. Minerals are more easily absorbed from animal foods.

Lactic Acid and Friendly Bacteria: Contribute to the health of the digestive tract. Found in old fashioned lacto-fermented foods.

Saturated Fats: Strengthen the immune system. Needed for proper use of the essential fatty acids. The lungs cannot function without saturated fats. Found mostly in animal foods.

Long-Chain Fatty Acids: Arachidonic acid (AA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) help fight cancer on the cellular level. They are found mostly in animal foods such as butter, organ meats, cod liver oil and seafood.

Co-enzyme Q₁₀: Highly protective against cancer. Found only in animal foods.

Compounds in Processed Foods that Can Cause Cancer

Trans Fatty Acids: Imitation fats in shortenings, margarines and most commercial baked goods and snack foods. Strongly associated with cancer of the lungs and reproductive organs.

Rancid fats: Industrial processing creates rancidity (free radicals) in commercial vegetable oils.

Omega-6 fatty acids: Although needed in small amounts, an excess can contribute to cancer. Dangerously high levels of omega-6 fatty acids are due to the overuse of vegetable oils in modern diets.

MSG: Associated with brain cancer. Found in almost all processed foods, even when "MSG" does not appear on the label. Flavorings, spice mixes and hydrolyzed protein contain MSG.

Aspartame: Imitation sweetener in diet foods and beverages. Associated with brain cancer.

Pesticides: Associated with many types of cancer. Found in most commercial vegetable oils, fruit juices, vegetables and fruits.

Hormones: Found in animals raised in confinement on soy and grains. Plant-based hormones are plentiful in soy foods.

Artificial Flavorings and Colors: Associated with various types of cancers, especially when consumed in large amounts in a diet of junk food.

Refined Carbohydrates: Sugar, high fructose corn syrup and white flour are devoid of nutrients. The body uses up nutrients from other foods to process refined carbohydrates. Tumor growth is associated with sugar consumption.

So here, is what a perfect day ,nutritionally ,would look like;

2 organic eggs, fried or scrambled with butter
2 slices turkey bacon
½ cup blueberries

3 chicken legs
1 cup chicken stock
2 cups Swiss chard, sautéed with onions and butter
2 slices tomato

7 ounce grass fed steak
1 cup sweet potato with butter
1 cup French onions soup made with beef stock
2 cups beet greens sautéed with onions and coconut oil

Here is the nutrient levels for this day. As you can see, there is slightly more than 600 mg. of Vitamin C just from food, almost 70,000 IU of Vitamin A, 141% of needed calcium, 481% of needed iron!  I challenge you to show me a perfect day from a Standard American Diet (SAD), or a vegetarian diet that can stack up to this amount of great nutrition!

I recently took our governments Food Pyramid and composed a day based on thier recommendations.  They say emphasize plant based proteins and  keep our saturated fats to a minimum,they recommend 5 servings of grains a day, tell us to limit red meat and butter.  I could not keep the calories to 1800 (thier recommendation) AND come anywhere near getting enough nutrition!   Carbs came out to 60% of the calories, vegetable fats made up far too much of the fat content (almost 80%), Vitamins A, D, E and C were all low.

It takes fats and proteins from healthy, organic choices to build an immune system.  Americans are unhealthy and drastically overweight on our governments recommendations.  Lacking enough nutrition in our daily food intake leaves us hungry and without enough energy to run on.  It causes us to crave more food, the wrong foods. 

We cannot build healthy bodies with intact immune systems on a low fat diet. The fats are crucial, they contain the depth of nutrients we need; enough Vitamins A,D and E to build that immune system that will protect us from cancer.

Blueberries Pack a Nutritional Wallop

From the NYTimes;

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN

Published: January 25, 2010

Blueberries are the king of fruits when it comes to micronutrients. They may not have the vitamin C of oranges and grapefruit, or the potassium found in bananas. But blueberries do have an abundance of phytonutrients, whose strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, some scientists believe, may help protect against heart disease, colon cancer and other maladies.

The beneficial phytonutrients in blueberries are anthocyanins, a type found in other fruits and vegetables with red, blue and purple pigments. Scientists use a test called the O.R.A.C. (short for oxygen radical absorbance capacity) to rate the antioxidant capacity in foods, and by this measure blueberries always come out on top. So if red wine is off limits and beets just aren’t your thing, try adding a half cup of blueberries to your cereal or yogurt in the morning, throw a half cup of frozen blueberries into your breakfast smoothie.

Millie; I think a smoothie is far too many carbs at once, especially for breakfast.  I usually have a handful of blueberries with my organic eggs and turkey bacon.  That way the carbs in your breakfast are balanced with enough fat and protein…always a great thing, especially if you struggle with your weight.  I also cook down a few cups of blueberries and use a tablespoon or so in the coconut milk yogurt I make.  Click here for the very easy recipe for making coconut milk yogurt.