3

AVOID WHITE FLOUR, PROCESSED
OILS, DAIRY, AND EXCESS
ANIMAL PROTEIN

This chapter rounds out the Big Four by revealing the truth about white flour, processed oils, dairy products, and excess animal protein. Among the information you’ll learn in this chapter:

• How white flour robs your body of nutrients, what foods contain it, and how to live without it.

• What we mean by processed oil, why it is so harmful, and how to select good oils.

• Why today’s meat is not even “real” meat, what makes it so harmful, how it stimulates weight gain, and why it is not needed for protein.

• How dairy products contribute to overweight and are not necessary for calcium intake.

• Why caffeine, though not one of the Big Four, can also be devastating to health and derail weight-loss efforts.

• How processed food sabotages healthy weight.

• Why fast food should be a crispy apple or a handful of raw Brazil nuts rather than more popular fast foods, which are devastating.

We have shown in experimental animals that cancer growth can be turned on and off by nutrition. . . . These findings are nothing short of spectacular.

—T. Colin Campbell The China Study

Unfortunately, sugar is not the only prominent component of our diet that is causing overweight and disease. Cutting white flour, processed oils, dairy, and excess animal protein from your diet will greatly decrease your intake of processed and fast food and thus help you along the pathway to health.

White Flour—Sugar in Disguise

White flour, a staple in the Standard American Diet, is the second of the harmful Big Four and a major contributor to weight problems. Consuming white flour is essentially the same as eating sugar because the body quickly metabolizes it into sugar, thus causing the same problems that sugar does. Whether in the form of bread, pasta, buns, rolls, tortillas, pita pockets, pizza crust, crackers, croutons, breakfast cereal, pastries, donuts, cookies, cakes, pies, or some other convenience food, Americans consume an unbelievable average of 200 pounds of white flour per person per year. Add 200 pounds of this make-believe food to the 160 pounds of sugar we eat, and you have an annual consumption of 360 pounds per person of toxic, nutritionally worthless junk food.

Just like sugar, white flour is an antinutrient—an unfood. Almost all of the nutrients once contained in the wheat are intentionally removed with the bran or lost in the milling process, including 95 percent of the vitamin E, all of the essential fatty acids, and 78 percent of the vitamin B6. White flour is so depleted of nutrients that it robs the body of precious nutrient reserves in order to metabolize it. Very simply, eating white flour costs you more nutrients than you get. The result is nutrient deficiency that causes myriad health problems.

White flour has been associated with constipation, hemorrhoids, colitis, and rectal cancer because it is stripped of the fiber necessary to move it through the system. Ingredients such as “enriched wheat flour,” “unbleached wheat flour,” and “wheat flour” are merely different terms for wheat that has been processed into white flour. Because eating white flour raises blood sugar and insulin levels, your body is instructed to store fat. In June 2003, researchers at Tufts University reported that people who ate white bread gained three times as much weight as those who ate the same quantity of whole-grain bread. We don’t recommend regular consumption of any bread. When grains are processed into flour to make bread, too many nutrients are lost.

Bread is not a healthy staple, and for an overweight person should be off limits. Even for those who are not overweight, bread is a poor choice because it is a processed food. As you forego white flour and look for other grains to use, keep in mind that wheat is a gluten-containing grain. Gluten is a protein in wheat, spelt, kamut, rye, barley, and oats (although there is some debate about oats). Symptoms may or may not be apparent, but up to half of the population may be intolerant to gluten. Research shows that, even in those without gluten intolerance, gluten becomes like “glue” in the digestive tract and can prevent nutrient absorption in the small intestine. Reducing the amount of gluten in the diet is a healthy idea for everyone. Grains without gluten are brown rice, teff, amaranth, buckwheat, millet, and one that is called a super grain, quinoa (actually a seed that is high in protein).

Eliminating white flour necessitates major changes in habits. As with sugar, the easy way to eliminate white flour is to eliminate processed foods. White flour is not a whole food, so if you switch to eating whole, unprocessed foods, you won’t be consuming white flour. If forgoing white flour seems daunting, take it in stages. Decide which items to cut first—perhaps dinner rolls, biscuits, or bread. Gradually changing may encourage you to continue in a positive healthy direction. Drastic changes often result in a feeling of deprivation and lead to frustration, which is not conducive to long-term change.

Don’t be fooled by phony “whole wheat” products. Most so-called whole-wheat products are not that at all. If you read the label carefully, you will find that this “healthy” product is really just white flour with a little whole wheat added along with some caramel coloring to make the white flour look darker.

A whole grain is a seed that can be sprouted or planted and will grow. A “whole grain” that cannot create life can no longer support life. That is why “whole-grain” breads and products at the store are not your best choice. Sprouted-grain products are better. Brown rice is a whole grain and is a healthful choice. White rice is a processed carbohydrate similar to white flour. The bran and germ, which contain most of the nutrients, have been stripped from white rice, making it another unfood. On the NBFA Lifestyle, choose organically grown brown rice, which is much more flavorful and satisfying, with the fiber and nutrients still intact, and it packs a chewy, nutty taste.

Tips to Help You Avoid Flour

• Don’t buy processed breakfast cereals. Boxed breakfast cereals that are touted as healthy are still not good choices (even most of those found in a health-food store). Not only are they made with nutrient-deficient refined grains, but they contain added sugars and other toxic additives. Regardless of what you have been taught, they are not a healthy way to start your day. Check labels and be sure not to purchase any that contain artificial colors, synthetic vitamins, artificial flavors, preservatives, or hydrogenated oils—and almost all of them do. Absolutely never eat puffed grains: puffed wheat, puffed rice (including rice cakes), puffed amaranth, and puffed millet. The high temperature and pressure used to puff grain alters the molecular structure and makes it toxic. In his book Fighting the Food Giants, Paul Stitt reported an experiment in which rats were fed either whole wheat or puffed wheat. The rats eating the whole wheat lived more than a year while the rats eating the puffed wheat died within two weeks.

• Use whole grains in place of boxed cereals. Grains can be eaten without cooking by sprouting them or grinding and soaking them. They can be cooked whole in water, and topped with raw nuts or flaxseed, a little cinnamon, and stevia for sweetness. A milk alternative, such as fresh almond milk, tops it off. You can have great variety by experimenting with different grains, such as whole amaranth, quinoa, spelt, barley, buckwheat, oats, millet, brown rice, teff, and others. You may even try mixing a couple of grains. (See chapter 13 for cooking instructions.) Grains are not even necessary for breakfast. Fresh fruit along with raw nuts or seeds is a satisfying breakfast and also a time saver (real “fast food”) on busy mornings.

• Replace white pastas with whole-grain pastas, or better, with whole grains. It is not difficult to find or adjust to whole-grain pastas. Many people like brown rice pasta better than whole wheat since it tastes more like “regular” pasta. Tinkyada is a brand that cooks well. (Read the label to be sure your pasta choice does not contain any form of white flour or white rice.) Once you have made this adjustment, try just a plain whole grain with your favorite pasta recipe. For example, make your pasta salad with organic brown rice, quinoa, bulgur wheat, barley, or millet in place of the pasta.

• Replace pasta with spaghetti squash or sautéed vegetables. Spaghetti squash can be baked (see chapter 13) and used in place of the pasta with a pesto, tomato, or garlic sauce. It is delicious and loaded with high-quality nutrition. With the low-carb craze, some Italian restaurants began offering their sauces on steamed vegetables rather than pasta. What a great idea to try at home!

• Since flour is often used as a thickening agent, it is hidden in many processed foods that you might not suspect. Always read labels and watch for hidden flour. Better yet, don’t eat processed foods.

Good Things to Know About Bad Fats

Contrary to some popular dieting theories, fats and oils are a vital part of a healthy diet. Fats and oils are the primary materials used to form cell walls (membranes). Using the correct fats and oils, called essential fatty acids, to construct these membranes is fundamental to our biology. The correct ones have a special shape that allows them to fit together properly and perform their function in cell walls. They are essential for good health and mental function, while the wrong ones promote disease and weight gain. Even though most Americans eat a high-fat diet, we are deficient in healthy oils. As such, beware of diets that totally eliminate fats and oils. While deficient in healthy oils, we are overloaded with the wrong oils. We eat excessive amounts of saturated animal fats and toxic processed oils along with processed foods containing these oils.

Most of the oils sold in supermarkets are processed oils; they are toxic and unhealthy. Supermarket oils usually contain excessive omega-6 oils and have been heated to high temperatures to bleach and deodorize them. Bleaching and deodorizing usually takes place at about 500 degrees, which makes the oils crystal clear and extends shelf life, but once you exceed 320 degrees, massive trans fat formation occurs. Above 392 degrees, powerful toxins called lipid peroxides are formed. There is no safe level of lipid peroxides or trans fats; both can severely damage cells.

Processing oils converts essential fatty acids into trans fats. Although similar in structure, the shape of trans fats is significantly different. When trans fats replace essential fatty acids in your cell walls, they interfere with normal cell functions. Picture trying to build a sturdy, leakproof brick wall with a heap of misshapen, irregular, and jagged bricks. Your body faces the same problem when it tries to form healthy cell membranes with trans fats in processed oils. Trans fats make these membranes leaky and brittle. As more and more cells in your body become leaky and brittle, you develop serious health problems. When essential fatty acids are not available and trans fats are, cells use what is available. The result is a defective cell wall that leaves the door wide open for malfunction and disease.

Almost all of the oils sold in supermarkets, and even most of those sold in health-food stores, are toxic and fail to provide your body what it needs. Trans fats are found in all kinds of commonly used oils: canola, corn, safflower, sunflower, soybean, and cottonseed. None of these oils are acceptable, and they are not part of the NBFA Lifestyle. All hydrogenated oils, including margarine and vegetable shortening, must be avoided for the same reasons. Again, read those labels, because these inappropriate oils are found in many foods.

The following is a list of foods almost guaranteed to contain unhealthy oils.

bakery items
baking mixes
biscuit mixes
breads
breakfast cereals
chips of all varieties
chocolate and carob bars
chocolate bars
chocolate or carob chips
coffee creamers
cookies (packaged)
crackers (most commercially
available varieties)
French fries
guacamole (most commercially
available varieties)
hummus (most commercially
available varieties)
marinades
mayonnaise
nutritional bars
peanut butter
pizzas
toaster pastries
roasted nuts
salad dressings
sauces
soups
tortillas (most commercially
available varieties)
yogurt (some)
yogurt raisins

This list could go on. Absolutely never choose any item with the words “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” on the label. Avoid sunflower, safflower, soybean, canola, cottonseed, peanut, and corn oils; these oils are processed and also contain excessive omega-6s. Better yet, avoid all processed foods. Whole foods, such as avocado, coconut, olives, raw nuts, hemp seed, flaxseed, and other seeds have healthy oils. The more convenience foods you eat, the more processed oils you consume. A good rule of thumb is to avoid all fried foods, including French fries. Fast food and even upscale restaurant food is fried in poor-quality oil, high in trans fats and lipid peroxides.

When purchasing oil, don’t be fooled by the words “cold pressed.” This does not necessarily mean the oil is safe. Residues of toxic solvents, which are used to extract the oil, remain in the oil. Even oils that are not solvent extracted can be unhealthy. The friction resulting from the pressing process makes the oil become very hot, so that without adding heat the oil is still heated beyond what is safe. The heat generated in the extraction process oxidizes the oil, making it toxic. High-quality olive oil has not been heated or solvent extracted and is an excellent choice.

Omega-3 and Omega-6: A Balancing Act

By now, you may be asking where you could possibly find good fats and oils. For now, suffice it to say that the right oils include essential omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are good for us, but only when consumed in the correct ratio. The Standard American Diet supplies far too much omega-6 and too little omega-3. This imbalanced ratio has an inflammatory effect, and inflammation is a common denominator in all chronic disease. Stop inflammation and you go a long way toward shutting off the disease process. Too many omega-6s initiate and perpetuate a disease-producing inflammatory process that contributes to overweight and aging.

Insufficient omega-3s can cause us to eat more sugar. A 2004 study in the Journal of Nutritional Health and Aging found that “a given level of perception of a sweet taste requires a larger quantity of sugar in subjects with alpha-linolenic acid [omega-3] deficiency.” If you have a sweet tooth, you need more sugar to satisfy it if you are short on omega-3s.

Because of our enormous consumption of unhealthy oils, our ratio of omega-3s to 6s is way out of whack. Experts estimate that the proper ratio of 3s to 6s is ideally about 1 to 1. By 1935, the ratio in the average American diet had already increased to an unhealthy 1 to 8. Today, it is even more disastrous at 1 to 20, and for some people it is 1 to 50! This change in ratios is a major contributor to our disastrous increase in chronic disease. Research indicates that one out of five Americans have so little omega-3s in their blood that it cannot even be measured by standard tests. The primary reason for this epidemic imbalance is our excessive consumption of the wrong oils—corn, sunflower, peanut, soy, canola, and safflower—largely in processed food. Chapter 4 lists foods with omega-3 fatty acids that you should include in your diet.

Another contributor to our imbalance of 3s and 6s is our increased consumption of make-believe fish, meat, and eggs. For example, most of the salmon available today has been farmed in an artificial environment where they are fed food with too much omega-6. Farmed fish do not eat the same diet as fish in their natural environment, which changes their chemistry. The same holds true for beef and chicken. Traditionally, cows have been fed on a diet of grass and hay, and chicken on insects, grass, and weeds. Today they are fed an unnatural diet of grains, which changes their natural fatty acid ratios. Consider that a real egg from a freely foraging chicken is a good source of DHA (an essential omega-3 fatty acid) and contains about 300 milligrams of DHA; the supermarket variety of make-believe eggs from grain-fed chickens averages only 18 milligrams. Nearly all cattle are shipped to feed lots prior to slaughter to feed them grains and fatten them up. If you eat this grain-finished beef, as most Americans do, you will be getting too much omega-6. Fortunately, there is a growing demand for grass-fed, grass-finished beef, which has made it economically feasible for more ranchers to return to older and healthier methods of animal husbandry.

The Trouble with Dairy and Excess Animal Protein

The last of the Big Four are dairy products and excess animal protein, which are considered together. Both dairy and other animal protein have led most of us down an unhealthy path, and those who consume dairy products or eat animal protein more than a couple of times a week are much more likely to gain weight. Even worse, excess animal protein promotes cancer. Americans have been terribly misled into consuming far too much animal protein; this includes meat, dairy, eggs, and fish. We have also seen weight-loss diets that make animal protein the hero and carbohydrates the villain. The negative effects of these tragic errors have been catastrophic, contributing to our epidemic of cancer, overweight, heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases.

Animal protein contributes to overweight disease by altering the way the body handles calories. Diets that are high in animal protein and fat (the typical American diet) cause the body to store more calories as fat, while low-protein diets trigger our bodies to burn more calories. Animal protein also causes an increase in insulin, resulting in an exaggerated insulin response to carbohydrates when consumed along with the protein in the meal—one reason that eating meat with potatoes is a bad idea. Animal protein also has an acidic effect on cellular pH.

Animal protein is not all bad. The science indicates it can be safely and beneficially consumed in small quantities. A good rule is to use animal protein as a condiment, not as a main course. You do not need to consume animal protein at every meal or even every day. Rather, you should get most of your protein from plant-based foods. Most people have been so conditioned to think of meat and dairy as their source of protein that they don’t realize there is high-quality, easily absorbable protein in plant foods. Consider this: A 100-calorie portion of vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, and kale has more protein than 100 calories of sirloin steak. Vegetables, beans, lentils, and grains are all good sources of protein.

Minimizing animal protein is essential for maintaining health and normal weight. The average American consumes about 15 percent of his or her calories as protein, with about 80 percent of that from animal sources. By contrast, healthier populations in rural China get less than 10 percent of their calories from protein, and only 10 percent of that is from animal sources. This huge difference in the amount of animal protein consumed has profound health consequences.

The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for total protein is 50 to 60 grams per day. For safety purposes in allowing for unique individual needs, the RDA is a little more than twice our actual need. Most of us can get along just fine with half the RDA. However, many Americans get twice the RDA, and our average consumption of animal protein alone is about 70 grams per day. Think about it, Americans average more animal protein than the RDA for total protein. By contrast, most rural Chinese, who are far healthier than we, average 7 grams of animal protein per day or ten times less. What is the effect of excess animal protein? Cancer, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and kidney, eye, brain, and autoimmune diseases. Given these problems, averaging 7 grams or less per day of animal protein appears a worthy goal. The remainder of our protein consumption should be plant protein, the primary sources of which are beans, peas, lentils, unrefined grains, seeds, nuts, and green vegetables.

The largest and most comprehensive nutrition study ever conducted is the China Study. World-renowned nutrition researcher T. Colin Campbell wrote a book with this title to bring that groundbreaking research to the public. Though Dr. Campbell grew up on a dairy farm believing that a diet rich in animal products was healthy, his research was so provoking that he became a vegan (someone who eats no animal products at all). Here are some of Dr. Campbell’s conclusions:

• Animal protein, in excess of the amount needed for growth, promotes cancer.

• Low-animal-protein diets inhibit cancer formation and dramatically block cancer growth.

• People who eat the most animal-based foods suffer the most chronic disease.

• Even relatively small intakes of animal-based food are associated with adverse effects.

• Cow’s milk protein (casein) is an exceptionally potent cancer promoter.

• A diet high in animal-based foods raises the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

• There are virtually no nutrients in animal-based foods that are not better provided by plants.

Make-Believe Meats

If consuming excess animal protein isn’t bad enough, the meat and animal products currently offered at most stores are not even real meat, but rather make-believe meat. It may look like meat, but it does not contain the correct nutrients because it is commercially farmed. Current farming techniques focus on big business and large profits. Commercially farmed chickens, cows, and pigs are raised and fed in deplorable conditions. Many of these ill-treated animals never see real sunlight but live in a facility where they are so crowded with other animals that they are hardly able to move, much less exercise. They are pumped full of antibiotics and other drugs to keep them alive in their abusive, contaminated environment. They receive toxic feed consisting of animal by-products and recycled waste and are pumped full of hormones to stimulate rapid growth. These animals are fed large quantities of feed loaded with pesticides and other dangerous chemicals, which concentrate in the animals and poison us when we eat them. All this is done so agribusiness can profit from lower feed costs and accelerated time to slaughter. Even fish are now being farmed in containments that restrict movement and are given growth hormones to speed processing. Under these conditions, 90 percent of chickens have cancer when slaughtered, 80 percent of pigs have pneumonia, and a large percentage of cattle also have cancer. How could we possibly think that eating meat, fish, and eggs from diseased animals is healthy?

Farmed salmon is deficient in omega-3 fatty acids and high in PCBs and other contaminants. This type of farming is now being recognized as a significant environmental hazard. A study reported in the January 2005 issue of Science found that farmed salmon contained substantially more toxins than salmon caught in the wild. Shockingly, most of the “wild” salmon on the market is actually farmed. Avoid salmon unless you are confident of the source.

Processing plants—which manufacture lunchmeats, hot dogs, sausage, pepperoni, smoked meats, and bacon—add sugar, salt, and preservatives such as nitrates and nitrites to the already unhealthy meat. Nitrates and nitrites, when combined with stomach acid, can be transformed into potent carcinogens called nitrosamines. These additives damage the brain and the liver. You should absolutely avoid processed meats with nitrates and nitrites.

The average person consumes 80 to 90 percent of their pesticide residues from animal products, including meat, dairy, and eggs. Animal products are huge contributors to our ever-increasing toxic load due to the pesticides on the food that is fed to the animals, as well as to the hormones and drugs they are given. Toxins impair the body’s attempts to find its correct weight.

How to Cut Down on Animal Protein

• Begin to introduce more vegan meals, which contain no animal products. (See chapter 13 for ideas.)

• Build meals around fresh, raw healthy salads as the main course, rather than meats. A small amount of high-quality animal protein or protein-rich sprouts can be added to your main-course salad.

• Avocados contain good essential fats and can be used to replace meat in meals.

• Nuts and seeds (raw and soaked/sprouted) are a good source of protein and healthy fat, which can be satisfying.

• Lentils easily replace ground beef in Mexican recipes, shepherd’s pies, meatballs, and stuffed peppers. (See chapter 13.)

• If you do eat meat, make sure it is not grilled, charred, or browned in any way. Barbecuing meat is the most toxic way to prepare it. When fat drips into an open flame, dangerous cancer-causing chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are formed. All proteins cooked at high temperatures contain several chemicals that have been proven to cause cancer in laboratory animals. Meat that is cooked at high temperatures produces carcinogens called heterocyclic aromatic amines.

• When you cook meat it is best to slow cook it at a low temperature for several hours. Using a crockpot and cooking on low for many hours or overnight is well-suited to this lifestyle.

Got Milk? Get Rid of It!

Most Americans have been brainwashed when it comes to dairy products. We grew up believing that milk, cheese, and yogurt were vital to health. The first time someone suggested that dairy products were not healthy, we thought they were crazy. In reality, modern milk is a highly toxic and allergenic make-believe food. The milk available in our stores contains undesirable hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides, PCBs, dioxins, viruses, and excessive bacteria, not to mention animal protein, including cancer-promoting casein. No one should be drinking this dangerous beverage or eating products made from milk.

Mothers are often advised to feed their children a quart of milk per day. Unfortunately, millions of us have paid a high price for this misguided advice. Television commercials tell us that milk “does a body good.” News stories tell us to drink milk to ensure proper calcium intake. Recent commercials seek to convince dieters that milk and dairy products will help them lose weight. Think about that one. How could a food that was specifically designed to cause a calf to grow from ninety pounds to two thousand pounds in two years make you lose weight? Talk about misinformation! The truth is the opposite: milk makes you fat.

Dairy products are not included in the NBFA Lifestyle. Entire books have been devoted to teaching readers that milk does not do a body good (see Don’t Drink Your Milk by pediatrician Frank Oski).

Remember when we talked about eating sugar and the negative effects of insulin on your body, including promoting cancer? Milk also increases insulin levels. Milk promotes type 2 diabetes, and milk drinkers suffer higher rates of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Milk and dairy products sabotage your efforts to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight.

Where Will I Get My Calcium?

If you quit eating dairy products, you may wonder where you will get your calcium. We ask you this, “Where does a cow get her calcium?” From grass, right? The cow, whose milk is so rich in calcium, does not consume milk. Where does the 70 percent of the world’s population that does not drink milk get their calcium? They get it from vegetables. Green vegetables, such as kale, broccoli, and collard greens, are loaded with calcium. Joel Fuhrman, M.D., writes in Eat to Live, “Many green vegetables have calcium-absorption rates of over 50 percent, compared with about 32 percent for milk. Additionally, since animal protein induces calcium excretion in the urine, calcium from milk is lost while the calcium retention from vegetables is higher. All green vegetables are high in calcium.”

Helpful Suggestions for Discarding Dairy Products

• Use healthy milk substitutes in recipes, on whole grain cereals, or in any way you formerly used cow’s or goat’s milk. Almond milk, cashew milk, sesame seed milk, buckwheat milk, and brown rice milk are options that can be quickly and easily made in a blender. Beware of processed milk substitutes available in stores, as most of them have unhealthy preservatives or unnecessary sweeteners, and most are made with water containing toxic fluoride.

• If you want a drink that will give you a real boost in absorbable calcium and protein, try freshly made vegetable juices, especially green juices. Many health-food stores have a juice bar where you can purchase green juice that is made to order, or you can get your own juicer and juice your own organic veggie juice. This is optimal cell food!

• If you are an ice cream lover, do not despair. You can make delicious ice cream, milk shakes, and frozen treats from very ripe, frozen bananas.

• Try cheeseless veggie pizzas made on whole-grain crust. Top the pizza with a smorgasbord of favorite vegetable combinations including fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, bell peppers, banana peppers, onions, fresh garlic, zucchini, eggplant, spinach, artichokes, even broccoli.

• Delicious vegetable dip creations may be made without sour cream, cream, or other dairy products.

Recipes for the above appear in chapter 13.

Caffeine

Though it is not an official member of the Big Four, caffeine deserves mention for being a highly addictive, health-ravaging toxin. Caffeine, found in coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate, and other foods, is the most popular drug in the Western world. Soft drinks are a major source of caffeine. Caffeine is a component of many diet pills and is also added to many over-the-counter drugs such as allergy, cold, headache, and stay-awake preparations. Coffee is a particularly bad source of caffeine. Coffee contains a constellation of toxic chemicals that are known to disrupt the central nervous, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems, along with causing irritability and mood swings and being associated with liver cancer. One cup of coffee per day can usually be tolerated by most people, but drinking several cups of coffee or cola drinks is almost certain to cause harm. In pregnant women, just one cup of coffee per day is known to increase the risk of birth defects, low birth weight, premature delivery, and spontaneous abortion.

Caffeine is a stimulant from the same family as nicotine and morphine. As a stimulant, it increases heart rate and sometimes triggers irregular heartbeats, and leads to high blood pressure and increased insulin production. As caffeine revs up the system, false energy is supplied, but it also stimulates and increases appetite. With chronic caffeine use, the amount needed to achieve the effect increases.

Caffeine also sabotages weight loss by depleting nutrients, including the B vitamins (needed for stress), calcium (needed for bones), and iron (needed to prevent anemia), as well as magnesium, potassium, and zinc. The resulting nutrient deficiency increases appetite. Caffeine reduces hydrochloric acid in the stomach, contributing to a number of digestive disorders as well.

Most people don’t need to be convinced that caffeine is bad for them, but the addiction is powerful and cannot be broken overnight. As you prepare for the NBFA Lifestyle, you will find a section in chapter 12 to help you wean yourself off of caffeine. It needs to be a gradual withdrawal, and products like Teeccino (an acceptable coffee substitute) can be extremely helpful.

The Fast-Food Track to Overweight

Do fast foods make you fat? Numerous studies and common sense say they do. Fast foods are rich in calories, and excess calories make you fat. Morgan Spurlock’s 2004 documentary Super Size Me showed just how dramatic this effect can be. In one month of eating exclusively at McDonald’s, Spurlock gained more than twenty-five pounds, developed a medically alarming fatty liver condition, increased his cholesterol, and lost his libido. If you have not viewed this movie, we encourage you to do so.

Feeling satisfied depends on the size of a meal rather than the calories it contains. Fast food confuses the body’s appetite control mechanism because the calories are concentrated in less bulk. A similar size fast-food meal can have at least twice the calories of a home-prepared meal. When you eat fiber-deficient fast food, by the time you feel full you have consumed far too many calories. Consider that a McDonald’s meal consisting of a Big Mac (590 calories), large fries (540 calories), a large cola (310 calories), and a caramel sundae for dessert (360 calories), adds up to 1,800 calories at one meal. Contrast this to one-third pound of halibut (188 calories), a quarter pound of broccoli (28 calories), a quarter pound of salad (20 calories), oil and vinegar dressing (50 calories), and an apple for dessert (53 calories). This nutritious, appetite-satisfying meal adds up to only 339 calories. This is 1,461 calories less than the McDonald’s meal and 721 calories less than a Double Whopper at Burger King. Meanwhile, the healthy meal supplies a vast improvement in nutrition, all without the health-damaging toxins contained in fast food. As you can see, real food gives you more nutrients, fewer calories, and fewer toxins, keeping you healthier and thinner.

A six-year study, reported in the January 1, 2005, issue of the medical journal Lancet, found that study participants who consumed fast food twice a week or more gained more weight and exhibited twice the increase in insulin resistance compared to those who ate fast food less than once a week. Fast food makes you gain weight and increases your risk of developing insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

Here’s to Good Health and Great Taste

Changing your diet in order to eat for good health and long life—and weight loss—is not that difficult, especially if you make changes step by step. You will find new food choices that are filling and delicious. A better understanding of the devastating consequences inside your body caused by the foods that you used to love and thought were fairly healthy may give you incentive. The two most important choices to make: do not eat processed foods, and do eat large quantities of nutrient-rich plant foods, including fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, seeds, and nuts. This approach helps you get off the Big Four, reduce sodium intake, and alkalize and supply your cells with the nutrients they need to achieve permanent weight control and wellness.