They are cheap, attractive, convenient, and people eat them every single day. Ultra-processed foods are easy to come by and people find them delicious. Frozen meals, cereal, cookies, soda, and chips are just a few of the foods that can destroy your health. It’s not news that these foods are harmful to overall health, so there’s no use in telling people to avoid them. It is more feasible, however, for people to make healthier swaps for ultra-processed foods. 

According to a 2021 JAMA study, ultra-processed foods account for about 67% of calories in the average American child or teenager’s diet. Additionally, a different study concluded that  58% of an average American’s energy intake comes from white breads, cakes, diet sodas, and other unhealthy foods. Unfortunately, regularl consumption of processed and ultra-processed foods can lead to numerous health problems. More consumption of unhealthy ingredients increases the risk of depression, obesity, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, and heart disease.  

The Difference Between Processed And Ultra-Processed Foods

By definition, processed foods are foods that have been altered from their original forms. Processing is a deliberate change to a food that occurs before you consume it. Canning, pasteurizing, heating, and drying are all forms of processing. Processing typically involves the addition of oil, sugar, salt, or other substances. Fruits in syrup, canned fish or vegetables, or pre-made breads contain several processed ingredients. Some processing is necessary and doesn’t mean that every food you eat is unhealthy, for example, frozen fruit or vegetables.

Ultra-processed foods have many added ingredients, including artificial colors and flavors, stabilizers, preservatives, salt, fat, and sugar. The problem with these foods is that they contain no nutritional value. Manufacturers make ultra-processed foods from substances extracted from other foods, for example, starches, fats, added sugars, and hydrogenated fats. Frozen meals, soft drinks, hot dogs, processed meats, packaged cookies, cakes, fast food, and salty snacks are ultra-processed. 

The Spectrum Of Processed Foods

A bag of mixed frozen fruit that you add to a smoothie is not the same thing as eating Doritos. While both of those foods undergo processing, they are not the same thing. You can check out the following spectrum to gauge which foods to avoid and which ones to limit: 

Avoid Ultra-Processed Foods

As mentioned earlier, frozen foods, soft drinks, store bought cakes and cookies, cake mixes, and more contain added fats, starches, sugars, hydrogenated oils, and artificial ingredients. These are foods to avoid. 

Limit Processed Foods

It’s best to limit or rarely eat processed foods. These foods include store bought salad dressings, sausages, jarred pasta sauce, and whole-grain bread. Moderation is key with these foods, but you can also make your own versions. 

Minimally Processed Foods Are Better

Nut butters, plain yogurt, extra virgin olive oil, grass-fed/free-range meats, and frozen vegetables and fruits fall into this category. You should still watch out for the ingredients on these foods, but they are better than the previous two categories. 

Unprocessed Foods Are Best

Fresh fruit, vegetables, and wild-caught fish belong to this category. They are full of nutrients and don’t go through processing. 

In order to avoid ultra-processed foods, there are dietary changes you have to make. Ultra-processed foods cannot be the primary source of your calories. One study monitored 20 healthy overweight adults at a medical facility. Each participant consumed an ultra-processed diet for two weeks, and then followed that with an unprocessed diet for two weeks. For both diets, subjects consumed three meals per day, eating as much or as little as they wanted. 

During the ultra-processed diet period, roughly 83.5% of calories came from ultra-processed foods. During the unprocessed diet period, about 83.3% of calories came from unprocessed foods. The subjects consumed an average of 500 additional calories per day while following the ultra-processed diet. Finally, the ultra-processed diet increased the intake of carbohydrates and fat, and the participants lost an average of two pounds during the unprocessed phase. The conclusion of the study was that limiting ultra-processed foods could help decrease the risk or even prevent obesity.

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Whether you heard about a multivitamin on a podcast or learned about turmeric reducing inflammation from a friend, taking supplements is a common practice. People get annual checkups and their doctors may say that they are low in certain vitamins or minerals. As a result, they start taking supplements to make up for their deficiencies. 

The modern Western diet, especially the Standard American Diet, is not as nutritionally dense as people think. In fact, it lacks the sufficient vitamins and minerals that keep the body functioning like a well-oiled machine. This is because pasteurization, pesticides, antibiotics, and other chemicals strip food of the inherent vitamins and minerals. 

Vitamin cabinets have most-likely doubled in sized within the last couple years. People pop random supplements mindlessly without giving thought to whether they need the vitamins or not. Below, we’ll discuss common mistake you should avoid in regards to supplements. Please heed this advice so that your health can benefit. 

People Don’t Do The Research

Some people are easily influenced and they start taking a certain vitamin or mineral because an influencer takes it on social media. Perhaps the host of podcast raved about something and now you have 600 tablets of magnesium. Some people need to talk about supplements with their doctor in order to avoid negative interactions, especially if they take medication. Negative interactions can decrease the efficacy of medications, which can be harmful to your body. If you think you are deficient in a nutrient or want to add supplements to your diet, consult your doctor and do your research. 

People Pop Multivitamins And Eat Poorly

Multivitamins don’t cancel out poor dietary decisions. Sorry, folks, but that’s just not the way the world works. Taking a multivitamin doesn’t balance the scales if you eat a lot of fried foods or refined sugars and carbohydrates. You still need to eat a variety of nutrient-dense foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes. And don’t forget about colorful foods, specifically fruits and vegetables, because they contain beneficial phytonutrients and flavonoids. Some people do benefit from taking a multivitamin, but every person is different.  

Doses Are Too High

You don’t want the highest dosage when it comes to supplements. Again, this will come down to a discussion between you and your doctor or nutritionist. It’s all about supplementing to meet your nutritional needs. For example, it’s very easy to take too much vitamin D. A person may buy a 50,000 iu vitamin D supplement that only requires one capsule per week. Taking one of those everyday is unnecessary and may affect other nutritional levels, or result in unwanted side effects.

The Focus Is Only On Probiotics

Gut health is a popular topic in the health world and probiotics are trending. Unfortunately, probiotics do not cure everything, nor can they. There are studies that prove probiotics to be beneficial for numerous conditions. They can help establish a healthier microbiome, but much like taking a multivitamin, you are not exempt from eating healthy. Some people do benefit from taking probiotics, but some people take varieties that are weak. A beneficial probiotic will contain various bacterial strains because diversity is key when it comes to the gut. If you do take probiotics, you also have to consume or take prebiotics. A probiotic supplement that contains prebiotics is beneficial because prebiotics feed probiotics. You can also eat oats, wheat bran, chickpeas, apples, garlic, asparagus, green peas, and cashews to consume natural prebiotics. 

Not Taking Fat-Soluble Vitamins With Fat

Fat-soluble vitamins include vitamins A, D, E, and K. Failure to take these fat-soluble vitamins with a source of fat can affect the body’s absorption of the nutrients. Fat-soluble means that it dissolves in fat, which is why taking vitamins A, D, E, or K on an empty stomach negatively impacts absorption. Some manufacturers recently included coconut oil in supplements to maximize absorption. You can take fat-soluble vitamins after eating a handful of nuts, an avocado, or even almond butter on toast. 

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Orange juice is a classic beverage. Kids never tire of it and adults love to enjoy a glass (possibly with champagne) with brunch on the weekends. Not all orange juices are created equal, and we feel responsible to point this out to you. National Orange Juice Day is annually observed on May 4^th, and we need to drop some pearls of wisdom about this seemingly innocent and healthy juice.

Florida’s Natural, Tropicana, Simply Orange, Minute Maid, and other brands all have different flavor profiles, and not one tastes like freshly squeezed orange juice. Even “not from concentrate” orange juice doesn’t taste like the fresh stuff. You just can’t beat the flavor profile and nutritional value of fresh OJ. Do you know why this is?

Here’s The Juice On OJ

Once oranges are squeezed to extract the juice, it easily spoils. Anyone who has ever made fresh orange juice knows that it doesn’t last for more than a few days. Orange juice companies need time to bottle, ship, and sell it before the juice goes bad, so they remove oxygen to preserve the juice. This step can make a carton of OJ good for up to one year, but it also removes all the flavor. In order to make orange juice flavorful, companies hire fragrance companies (yes, the same people who develop perfumes) to create flavor packs that have the essence and oil of orange.

The Dirty Little Secret About Store Bought OJ

If artificial flavors are used, they should be on the ingredient list, right? The companies found a loophole because the flavors are derived from oranges, meaning companies don’t need to disclose all the ingredients in the carton. This is why you will often see “natural flavors” on the ingredient list. What this means is that 100% pure orange juice is not as pure as you think it is.

How The Juice Industry Titans Get Away With It

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t require companies to list flavor packs on labels of pasteurized orange juice because they are derived from oranges. This means that companies can call 100% pure orange juice exactly that. In fact, Tropicana used to have a jingle, “squeeze me a glass,” for a commercial in the mid-1980s, despite the fact that nothing was freshly squeezed about the juice. This move to “not from concentrate” stepped away from the previous “ready to serve” frozen juice varieties, even though both varieties were neither pure nor fresh.

In 2009, Alissa Hamilton wrote a book entitled Squeezed: What You Don’t Know About Orange Juice. Hamilton aimed to disrupt the “all natural” labeling tactics and expose store bought orange juice for what it was. Several years after Hamilton’s book was published, many people filed lawsuits against PepsiCo, which owns Tropicana, for false advertising and excluding chemicals from labels.

Truthfully, store bought orange juice contains a lot of sugar and processed ingredients, both of which contribute to obesity and diabetes. A tall glass of store bought orange juice may have similar sugar content to a 12-ounce can of Coca Cola. The sad reality is that orange juice is low on the FDA’s list of priorities. All of this is to say that you should not blindly trust every label because the truth isn’t there. If you are going to enjoy a glass of orange juice, make some freshly squeezed orange juice from real oranges. That’s the best way to celebrate National Orange Juice Day.

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Most people think that they have to get healthy by summer. If they don’t achieve their ideal beach bodies, people tend to abandon fitness goals and forget about diet and exercise. This mentality propels you towards an unhealthy fall and holiday season, which is when most people gain the majority of their weight. Instead of giving up on health, use this midway point in the year as a chance to turn over a new leaf and reset your health goals.

The first step towards a healthier diet involves cleaning out your cabinets and refrigerator. Sugary and salty snacks, canned vegetables or soups, and other packaged things with ridiculously long shelf lives commonly line the shelves of many cabinets and refrigerators in American homes. Eating foods with long shelf lives doesn’t mean you add years to your life. Finding new healthy alternatives can be challenging, but they are out there and more prevalent than you think. Here are a few suggestions to make your kitchen a healthier space.

Chips

Some people have no self-control when it comes to chips. One second they are opening the bag and five minutes later they are showering the crumbs into their mouths. Chips are filled with sodium (salt), dyes, processed ingredients, artificial flavors, and trans fats. All of these make it difficult for your body to function optimally.

Swap With Dehydrated Root Vegetables or Air-Popped Popcorn

Many stores sell dehydrated root vegetables, which don’t have all the processed ingredients that chips have. You can air-pop organic dried kernels in an air-popper yourself. It is an easy and healthy snack, provided you don’t drown the popcorn in butter and salt.

Canola Oil

Did you know that canola oil increases your risk of heart disease? It causes arterial build-up and can lead to improper kidney and liver function. Additionally, over 90% of canola oil is genetically modified.

Swap With Extra Virgin Olive Oil

This is the good stuff! It is rich in heart-healthy fats and contains a variety of antioxidants that are beneficial for fighting inflammation and cholesterol build-up. Unlike canola oil, olive oil is protective against heart disease. Remember, extra virgin olive oil is great for sautéing, but safflower oil may be better if you are cooking at higher temperatures.

Canned Vegetables

Many canned vegetables are laced with BPA, which is an industrial chemical in food or beverage containers. Canned vegetables can be pasteurized, precooked, preserved, and often contain excess sodium and sulfites.

Swap With Real Vegetables

The average American only consumes about 1/3 of the recommended daily vegetable intake. And canned vegetables don’t count! Try to focus on fresh vegetables because they contain high concentrations of vitamins and minerals. Once you cook the vegetables, the heat begins to kill the nutritional value.

Instant Oatmeal

Instant oatmeal is not real oatmeal! They contain so much sugar, corn syrup, trans fats, processed ingredients, and hydrogenated oils. All of these ingredients can increase your cholesterol levels, ultimately increasing your risk of stroke or heart attack. Instant oatmeal packets even contain ingredients that you can’t pronounce! If you can’t pronounce it, avoid it.

Swap With Steel Cut Oats

Regular, unflavored steel cut oats are a power food, being a great source for plant-based protein and fiber. Additionally, steel cut oats contain compounds that help reduce blood pressure. They have a low glycemic index, which makes them a beneficial food for diabetics. They can be made the night before to avoid the hassle of making breakfast in the morning, and you can add your own fruit for an added nutritional boost.

White Rice

Most white rice is devoid of nutrients because it is heavily processed. Since it isn’t a whole grain, a lot of the fiber, vitamins, and other nutrients are removed during processing. It isn’t the worst food for your body, but there are better options.

Swap With Organic Quinoa

It has twice as much fiber as other grains and it’s not even a grain…it’s a seed. A lot of people don’t like quinoa because it is flavorless. The key to enjoying quinoa is to add spices to the water during the cooking process. You can add curry powder, turmeric, pepper, sea salt, oregano, cumin, chili powder, paprika, minced garlic, rosemary, thyme, or any other spices. It is rich in iron, magnesium, and is a great plant-based protein source.

Butter or Butter Spreads

Butter spreads typically contain hydrogenated oils and trans fats, and regular butter contains a lot of fat. Despite the current hype about butter due to the ketogenic diet, we suggest avoiding butter because of the saturated fats, which contribute to weight gain.

Swap With Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has been trending in the health world for quite a while. It can help support weight loss, boost the metabolism, and it is beneficial for your skin. Try to opt for virgin, unrefined coconut oil, and if you cook with it, cook on medium heat because coconut oil cannot withstand high temperatures. It is also a 1 to 1 swap with butter, if you are following a recipe.

Bottled Smoothies/Juices

Most bottled juices and smoothies have turned healthy foods into sugar-laden, processed, unhealthy foods that trick you into thinking that they are healthy. These drinks are heavily processed and pasteurized to the point where the natural nutrients get removed and synthetic vitamins and minerals must be added. Additionally, these drinks have a high sugar content and are incredibly concentrated. It’s like you might as well be drinking a soda!

Swap With Homemade Smoothies/Juices

Drinking unheated, pure, natural, and cold pressed juices or smoothies is one of the best ways to heal and nourish your cells. Get some fresh fruit and vegetables, throw them in a blender, add ice, blend it up, and there you have a healthy smoothie. Similarly, put fresh fruits and vegetables in a juicer to make nutritious juices. We prefer smoothies because they contain fiber, whereas the fiber gets removed when you run ingredients through a juicer.

Cream-Based Soups

These soups are loaded with empty calories, processed dairy products, food dyes, corn syrup, excess sodium, and other chemical fillers that harm the body. We are referring to cream of mushroom, cream of broccoli, corn chowder, and clam chowder soups, among other cream-based varieties.

Swap With Vegetable Broth & Homemade Soup

Vegetable broth is a great base for homemade soups, so long as you purchase the organic broths without any added sodium. Quickly sauté your favorite vegetables, season the broth with spices, and let them simmer. Eating that is much healthier for your heart, and you get a lot of antioxidants and immune boosting nutrients.

Whey Protein Powder

Finding the right protein powder can be hard. Don’t resort to whey protein powder because whey protein can cause loss of appetite, gout, osteoporosis, kidney damage, fatigue, headaches, inflammation, or even cramps when taken for extended periods of time. It also has a lot of calories, sugars, and added fats, which contribute to weight gain.

Swap With Plant-Based Protein Powders

There are a lot of plant-based protein powders on the market now (and we are not talking about soy products). Plant-based protein powders are easily absorbed by the body, which makes it easier for the body to use protein more efficiently. Just remember that some of the biggest animals in the world only eat plants.

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We all know that aging is a natural part of life, but not everyone wants to accept the physical changes that come with it. We are, of course, referring to wrinkles. While a lot of people try to use expensive creams or serums, which promise to get rid of wrinkles, most people often overlook foods that accelerate the aging process. It’s important to find out which foods contribute to wrinkles so that you can avoid them!

What Are Wrinkles?

Wrinkles are folds in the skin that appear as the skin begins to age. While they come with age, things like stress, smoking, sun damage, and diet contribute to wrinkle development. Glycation, however, is the primary mechanism that drives wrinkle production. This physiological process happens when a protein molecule binds to a sugar molecule. This bond forms an end product known as an advanced glycation endproduct, appropriately named AGE.

AGEs are a form of oxidative stress and they damage the skin by weakening collagen. Certain foods can cause more oxidative stress than others and contribute to the production of AGEs. The skin needs to be cared for from the inside as well as the outside, although many people fail to consider the former. Diet is a major cause of wrinkles, so avoid the following foods to have healthier, youthful skin.

Bacon

Sorry, bacon lovers, but this beloved American meat product contains tons of fat, saturated fat, AGEs, and calories. In addition to contributing to weight gain and heart disease, saturated fats cause skin aging induced by inflammation. Bacon also contains sodium nitrate, which can cause oxidative stress. Avoid premature wrinkles by avoiding bacon.

Pasteurized Dairy

Pasteurization and homogenization involve high heating, which oxidizes protein and makes dairy fats contaminated. According to research, this contributes to AGE formation, but so does the extraction and processing procedures. Some of the most common AGE-causing dairy products include mayonnaise, margarine, cream cheese, and butter. Try opting for plant-based dairy options that you make yourself. Try our homemade almond milk, cashew milk, or coconut milk.

Refined Sugars

Foods that contain refined sugars are almost solely responsible for early signs of aging. Refined sugars have been known to bind with amino acids in collagen and elastin, ultimately causing glycation. This process is accelerated when you increase your sugar intake. So what foods contain refined sugars? Let’s just include all processed foods, commercial candy, soda, cereals, salad dressings, sauces, pastas, breads, and other baked goods. We are also accounting for anything containing high fructose corn syrup. Stay away from refined sugars!

Cocktails

After you have a night of drinking, do you ever notice how dehydrated you feel? While you may be in desperate need of water, so is your skin. Frequently consuming alcoholic beverages can cause your skin to lose its elasticity and ultimately form wrinkles. A recent study found that vitamin A levels were negatively affected in both social and chronic drinkers. This vitamin aids with collagen production and helps regenerate skin cells.

Over-cooked Or Processed Meat

In addition to containing a ton of refined sugars, the Standard American Diet typically contains a lot of meats, which people often overcook. The high heat causes these meats to develop high AGE content, which can lead to excess inflammation and oxidative stress after consumption. If you feel that you cannot give up meat, you should at least consume the highest quality meat products, for example, organic grass-fed beef or freshly caught fish. You can also try going meatless certain days out of the week to reduce your consumption.

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Telling the difference between food poisoning and the stomach flu can be tricky because we’re not always able to identify the cause of our symptoms; once they show up, they can be almost identical. Luckily, there are certain elements that differentiate these two, and knowing what they are can help us address the right problem.

The main difference is that food poisoning develops and is attained through contaminated foods with infectious organisms such as bacteria or parasites, whereas several different viruses can cause stomach flu. It is highly contagious and it travels from person to person, but its symptoms may not show up until 24 to 48 hours after coming in contact with the virus. Food poisoning, on the other hand, shows its symptoms within 1 to 6 hours after eating the contaminated substance.

You may get food poisoning from eating contaminated or undercooked meat; however, meat isn’t the only source of food poisoning. Other foods can also carry the illness:

• Raw fish or oysters
• Raw and undercooked eggs
• Contaminated water
• Unpasteurized milk or juice
• Fruits and vegetables that aren’t well-washed

When it comes to symptoms, stomach flu and food poisoning share almost all of them: vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, and fever. But because viral illnesses tend to be less aggressive, a telltale sign that your symptoms are being caused by food poisoning rather than stomach flu could be the presence of bloody vomit or stools, muscle weakness, and dizziness.

Dehydration is also present in both illnesses, which is why it is important to replenish your body with clean water and electrolytes—these can be naturally found in raw coconut water, collard greens, black-eyed peas, broccoli, bananas, kiwis, spirulina, tomatoes, and celery.

It is easier to treat stomach flu symptoms because many of the viruses tend to go away on their own in 1 or 3 days. The best way to approach and reduce its symptoms is by adequate fluid intake and consumption of the following foods, both during and after.

• Cinnamon
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Coconut Water
• Chamomile Tea
• BRAT Diet (stands for Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and [Whole Grain] Toast)

Try to stay away from fruit juices or milk because they may prolong the symptoms. In addition to consuming more electrolytes, fighting food poisoning requires more attention to our diet; try adding these foods for a faster recovery:

• Garlic contains strong antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties. It also relieves symptoms such as diarrhea and abdominal pain.
• Basil Leaves have antimicrobial properties, and are excellent in soothing the abdominal discomfort caused by food poisoning.
• Honey, with both antifungal and antibacterial qualities, can help to heal an upset stomach.
• Ginger works as a quick remedy for nausea and vomiting.

Take measures to protect yourself from these illnesses by washing your hands often, refrigerating perishable foods, cooking meat appropriately, and keeping food preparation surfaces, and utensils, clean.

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We have always been told to brush and floss our teeth. Some people are not as keen on flossing as others, but it does help to get food or bacteria out of areas that the toothbrush may not be able to reach. Brushing and flossing are undoubtedly necessary for a healthy mouth, but are these oral hygiene practices preventing you from getting cavities?

Recent studies have revealed that that the cause of cavities may be, first and foremost, a nutritional problem. Certain foods have a tremendous impact on your oral health and eating these foods, even if you are brushing and flossing, may cause you to develop cavities or tooth decay. This is why some researchers believe that it is possible to naturally heal and regenerate your teeth just like any other bone or bodily tissue.

Dr. Weston A. Price, who was a dentist and researcher, studied past groups of people all over the world and despite having no access to dentists or modern oral hygiene products, they had healthy teeth. Tooth decay was more prominent in other cultures with different diets. What was it about those diets that made people, who were living somewhat primitively, have near perfect oral health?

Through his research, Dr. Price found that these diets contained fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamins A, D, E, and K2. These cultures consumed high fat diets, primarily eating animal fats from seafood, organ meats, plants, and raw milk and raw cheese (i.e. unpasteurized). Dr. Price discovered that fat-soluble vitamins, specifically vitamin K2, tell the body where to properly place minerals (in teeth and bones) and where not to place them (in joints or arteries).

Can You Reverse A Cavity?

Your teeth are like sponges; things can go in and things can go out. It stands to reason, then, that they can gain or lose minerals. If your teeth gain minerals (remineralize) faster than they lose them (demineralize), it is possible to avoid tooth decay and maintain oral health. You have to eat the right foods that promote remineralization in order to naturally repair cavities.

Foods That Promote Remineralization

• Natto
• Dark Leafy Greens (chard, spinach, or kale)
• Apples
• Celery
• Avocados
• Green & White Tea
• Wild Caught Fish

Foods That Promote Demineralization

• Packaged Oatmeal and Cereals (high in phytic acid)
• Bread
• Sugary Yogurt
• Sugary Drinks
• Processed Foods
• Saltine Crackers
• All High Glycemic Index Foods

Your Diet Affects Your Teeth

After years of research, many experts have concluded that diet plays as big a role in oral health as hygiene practices do. To help prevent cavities, it is important to avoid the foods that cause demineralization. You should also focus on including enough minerals and enough fat-soluble minerals to help with the remineralization process. The last factor is how well your body can absorb the minerals that you eat. It is best to minimize your consumption of foods that are high in phytic acid because they have been linked to mineral deficiencies, tooth decay, and osteoporosis.

If you want, you can make your own remineralizing toothpaste if you seek out the proper ingredients. Oil pulling is another great option and you can read this article for how to properly do it. You can also benefit from focusing on plant-based foods high in vitamins A, D, E, and K2.

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The big lie pertains mostly to calcium supplementation. Calcium from raw whole foods is beneficial and necessary. But all those processed foods fortified with calcium or supplements high in elemental* calcium are likely to do more harm than good.

Bone Health and Calcium

Several international trials and tests have determined that calcium supplementation makes bones denser, but weaker! The calcium for bone health paradigm is a serious oversimplification.

Other minerals, such as magnesium, are part of the bone health paradigm. Dr. Robert Thompson, author of The Calcium Lie, explains that there are a dozen minerals involved with building strong bones. He recommends using unprocessed sea salt to compliment your trace mineral needs, which we don’t get because of the depleted topsoil in agriculture.

Dr. Thompson maintains that focusing on calcium supplementation without considering the complimentary minerals and vitamin K2 increases one’s risk of osteoporosis. Complimentary minerals include silica and magnesium. Silica is found in cucumbers, bell peppers, and tomatoes. Magnesium is abundant in cacao and green leafy vegetables.

Dr. Mark Sircus is big on proper magnesium supplementation. Magnesium is pivotal for 300 metabolic processes involving other minerals and vitamins.

Plant derived calcium, which is often balanced naturally with other minerals, is the best way to meet most calcium needs. In several of the recent international studies that have debunked calcium myths, pasteurized dairy was used to determine higher risks of prostate cancer from calcium.

No surprise there. Pasteurized dead dairy is the only type of dairy medical science recognizes as food! It’s safe to assume that raw dairy produced by grass eating cows is actually a good source of beneficial calcium.

Vitamin K2 is found in Japanese nato and other fermented foods including some cheeses. Vitamin K2 should be supplemented since it carries calcium out of the blood stream and into bone matter. Otherwise, calcium collects in the blood stream and invades soft tissue instead of being absorbed in bone matter. What happens from there wreaks havoc on vital tissues, kidneys, arterial walls and heart muscle.

Exposing Calcium Lies and Kicking the Cholesterol Scare

Cholesterol is necessary for good health. It creates soft fatty tissue, much of which makes up brain matter. It’s not cholesterol that builds up in arteries to form plaque or harden the arteries. It’s actually calcium that is the culprit. You may have found the term calcification appearing more frequently in health articles lately. It’s becoming a popularly accepted notion because it’s an increased awareness of reality.

Calcification is the hardening of tissue matter, usually from calcium, that collects in all the wrong places. That’s why vitamin K2 is important. K2 also ensures increased calcium absorption from Vitamin D supplementation into the skeleton instead of calcifying in cardiac zones.

Calcium can easily get stockpiled and calcify in organs. That’s what usually causes kidney stones. Calcification of brain matter can lead to Alzheimer’s disease. Hardened arteries resulting from excess calcium leads to heart attacks and other pulmonary problems. It’s easy to see how calcification of the prostate gland can lead to cancer as well.

Another pernicious function of calcified areas is encasing toxins, making it harder to eliminate them. Additionally, these calcified areas in soft tissue create pockets for sneaky pathogenic bacteria or viruses to lodge, making them difficult to locate and treat.

This is why it’s important to focus on rich organic whole foods with plant derived calcium for calcium balanced with other minerals. Calcium from supplements and enriched processed foods tends to be unrecognizable as a nutrient by the body. So it collects where it shouldn’t.

*Elemental calcium is the calcium apart from the compound in which it appears. For example, if you remove the calcium from calcium carbonate, you are left with elemental calcium.

Paul Fassa is dedicated to warning others about the current corruption of food and medicine and guiding others toward a direction for better health with no restrictions on health freedom.

Dherbs Solutions:

• Multi-Vitamins and Minerals

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Pasteurization

Louis Pasteur may have had something else in mind when he came up with the process of pasteurization back in the 1880s.

In the early stages, it was said that pasteurization was created for purposes of preventing sickness from consumption of milk and wine. However today, the process of pasteurization is primarily used for killing the enzymes in food and beverages.

Pasteurization involves heating every particle of a milk product to a very specific temperature and period of time without allowing re-contamination. Pasteurization partially sterilizes a substance or liquid by destroying organisms without chemically altering the product. Pasteurization can be done to perishable liquids or foods including fruit or fish. Perishable food products can be radiated with gamma rays to partially sterilize the food.

Items such as orange juice and milk will naturally spoil after a few days. Pasteurization allows companies to keep milk, orange juice, and other beverages from spoiling in cans, jars, and boxes for periods of weeks and months at a time.

There are two reasons for the process of milk pasteurization. It kills all harmful bacteria that may be dangerous for human consumption and it improves the shelf life by destroying the enzymes.

Now the pasteurized products can sit on a super market shelf for several weeks if necessary without spoilage. Shelf life can be anywhere from seven to sixteen days depending on several factors including the ingredients and the type of pasteurization.

Enzymes

Today, many of our foods and beverages are pasteurized in order to kill enzymes. The purpose for this is to extend the shelf life of products that are being sold to a consumer. Most people assume that pasteurization is meant for destroying bacteria, but it is actually used for profit.

Pasteurizing food and beverages kills the enzymes, including those that cause spoiling. So now that the food won’t spoil, preservatives are added to preserve the shelf life of the milk products.

You see, all raw and living foods naturally possess enzymes. Certain enzymes are responsible for causing the food to naturally spoil or go bad. This is why you see fruit naturally fall from a tree in Nature when unpicked. The fruit will automatically spoil, fall to the Earth, and biodegrade.

The simple fact that preservatives are added to certain foods and beverages suggests that the product is not naturally preserved.

Flash Pasteurized

Flash pasteurization is done at a temperature around 160 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. The beverage is kept at this temperature for about 20 seconds before it is rapidly cooled. It requires sterile filling and containers that are complicated, difficult, and expensive.

A product that is flash pasteurized still implies that the product has been heated up to kill the enzymes within it. When a food or beverage is heated at these high temperatures, the life of a natural food is compromised. This includes all fruits, vegetables, and animal milk.

Ultra High Pasteurization

Ultra-high temperature milk is sold off the shelf at room temperature. Ultra High Temperature Sterilization raises the temperature of the milk to about 280 degrees Fahrenheit for two seconds, followed by a rapid cooling. It creates “shelf stable” products that do not require refrigeration until opened.

In the long run, consumption of processed foods will most certainly process you in the process of unwisely consuming them.

To process means ‘to change’ and you will most certainly change yourself from consuming a lot of processed food and beverages.

Pasteurization is a code word for ‘dead product.’ And don’t be fooled by the terms “ultra” and “flash”. If the word ‘pasteurization’ follows these terms, it still denotes pasteurization has taken place, and therefore, the food or beverage has been killed.

Remember, “ultra” simply means processed at very high temperatures and “flash” means quickly processed.

Raw Milk

In 1987 the Food and Drug Administration began requiring pasteurization for milk products in order to kill bacteria. Containing numerous pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli, raw milk can cause life-threatening illnesses that are taken very seriously.

Raw meat and raw vegetables are the two biggest sources of food-borne illnesses. Some people argue that raw milk shouldn’t be treated differently. Prior to pasteurization, raw milk accounted for 25 percent of food borne illnesses.

Almond Milk

Almond milk offers many health benefits:

• Weight management-unsweetened almond milk is low in fat and sugar
• Heart health-almond milk has zero cholesterol and is very low in sodium
• Blood sugar friendly-almond milk is very low in carbs, so it has minimal effect on blood sugar
• Bone health-almond milk is high in calcium and Vitamin D
• Skin health-almond milk is high in Vitamin E
• Eye health-the Vitamin A in almond milk benefits the eyes
• Muscle health-although almond milk is low in protein, it has enough B vitamins and other nutrients to sufficiently power muscles.

Coconut Milk

Coconut milk offers these health benefits:

• Bone health-coconut milk is rich in phosphorous, which contributes to stronger bones
• Heart health-coconut milk is rich in potassium, which helps to lower high blood pressure
• Prostate health-coconut milk is rich in Zinc, which helps promote a healthier prostate gland
• Immune system health-coconut milk is rich in Vitamin C, which supports a higher functioning immune system
• Weight management-coconut milk has a lot of dietary fiber, so you feel fuller faster
• Blood health-each cup of coconut milk has nearly 25% of the recommended daily intake of iron

Rice Milk

Rice milk offers these health benefits:

• Heart health-rice milk is low in cholesterol and rich in flavonoids, Vitamin E, magnesium, manganese and selenium
• Weight management-rice milk is low in calories
• Immune system health-rice milk is rich in essential minerals that can help strengthen the immune system

There are reports that excessive consumption of rice milk may not be safe for diabetics, and can trigger allergies.

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Enzymes represent life, but being technical, enzymes are LIFE. Enzymes are the life force of real food and real food is that which grows from the earth, from a seed.

It is very important that we all understand the vital nature of enzymes. When we eat, we should have enzymes in mind. After all, if life renders life, then what constitutes life or the life force in what we eat or are eating? The answer is clearly E-N-Z-Y-M-E-S!

There are basically three classes or categories of enzymes:

• Metabolic – these enzymes run our bodies
• Digestive – these enzymes digest our food
• Food – these enzymes start the digestive process

Enzymes take starches and sugars, fats, and protein and magically structure them into healthy bodies. Science has proven that each and every organ and tissue has its own particular metabolic enzymes to do specialized and centralized work.

FOOD ENZYMES

In every real food, including animal milk, you’ll find enzymes present.

Animal milk is for the offspring of the particular animal. The female mammal of each species produces milk for her young, including humans. Pasteurizing milk kills the beneficial enzymes present.

Those fruit juices, even the organic ones, in health food stores, they too are in containers (bottles, cans, and boxes) due to having their enzymes killed! Anything in a box, can, carton, or jar is technically dead. That’s why things contained in boxes, cans, cartons, and jars usually contain preservatives.

It is convenient to purchase bottled fruit and vegetable juice than it is to actually make fresh fruit and vegetable juice. And while organic brands are better than non-organic ones, fresh is always better than processed.

There is no substitute for the raw and organic thing. When we eat an apple, pear, banana, apricot, watermelon or stalk of celery, parsley, broccoli, or artichoke, we automatically and naturally derive enzymes from consuming these foods. But we also derive many other nutrients which just isn’t the case when we are consuming processed things (so-called foods) such as meat and dairy products.

When we eat food that comes from the Earth: plants or herbs, fruits, seeds, nuts, or flowers to name a few, we are deriving essential enzymes. Enzymatic foods help keep us healthy. It is enzymes that allow us to have healthy and consistent bowel movements. Enzymes in real foods stimulate peristalsis. There is no good health absent daily, consistent, healthy bowel movements.

Eating meat, dairy products, refined grains, and/or refined starches does not promote peristalsis at all. These processed so-called foods back up and constipate the colon.

If one does consume meat and dairy, the diet is not even balanced if it doesn’t contain a proportion of vegetables, preferably raw or steamed, so that they still contain enzymes and enzymatic activity which will help to eliminate the refuse produced by all the dead foods (meat, dairy, refined products, etc.) one may consume or be consuming.

Lastly here on food enzymes, when exposed to heat (above 118 degrees), they are destroyed.

If you must cook your vegetables, steaming is best. Steam them for about seven minutes. If they are warm but still firm and not limp, they still contain life force. But again, cooking in heat over 118 degrees kills the enzymes and thus leaves you a dead thing.

It reportedly takes 900-1,400 degrees of heat to process many soy products. How do you turn a green soybean into a finished white edible product? While the soybean may possess enzymes, no finished soy product does; so even with soy, you’re still consuming that which is dead or lifeless.

So, to get enzymes from food, one must eat raw food. All life, whether plant or animal requires the presence of enzymes to keep it going.

NOTE: If you are a meat eater, just make sure you eat enough raw foods (fruits and vegetables) in your diet; and if you can, drink plenty of vegetable juice. Doing all of this will make your diet very balanced and help you to maintain your health.

DIGESTIVE ENZYMES

Digestive enzymes reportedly have three main job functions digesting carbohydrate, fat, and protein:

• Protease (protein digesting enzyme) digests protein
• Amylase digests carbohydrates
• Lipase (lipid digesting enzyme) digests fats

Nature’s plan calls for food enzymes to help with digestion instead of forcing the body’s digestive enzymes to carry the whole load.

Today, we have two very beneficial digestive enzyme products on the market that help us to digest all that excessive protein: Papain and Bromelain. These fruit-derived enzymes can help people with their digestion, especially of meat products.

Papain is an enzyme derived from papaya, one of the best fruit for maintaining colon health and wellbeing. Bromelain is an enzyme derived from pineapple. Bromelain also has therapeutic application as it has anti-inflammatory properties.

Certain chefs sprinkle powdered form of these two enzymes on their meats before cooking them which helps to make the meat very tender. This used to be a well-kept secret of certain chefs known for some of the best meat entrees.

Papain and Bromelain can now be found in almost all health food stores today. The only problem with these digestive enzyme supplements is that they contain many unhealthy additives such as sugar, fillers, binders, and preservatives.

METABOLIC ENZYMES

Metabolic enzymes run our bodies. They are true alchemists to say the least, converting the food we eat into necessary chemical structures so as to serve our magical bodies in its numerous functions.

There are so many more enzymes, e.g. peroxidase, maltase, sucrose, tributyrinase, phosphatase, peptidase, oxidase, polyphenoloxidase, catalase, dehydrogenase, cathepsin, etc. that one can do independent research on for their own edification, as again, enzymes are essential for life.

Dherbs Solutions

Dherbs.com recommends these products:

• Colon & Digestive Tract

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