Heal Thy Gut
The role of elimination
CASE 1: Jane S is a 62-year-old female who arrived at the office with shortness of breath during exertion. She was moderately overweight with high blood pressure, very high cholesterol, and prediabetes. She wasn’t active, and when she started a walking program, she was surprised that she was so short of breath. Dr. A noted her blood pressure was borderline high. Her EKG was normal, so Dr. A did a stress test, which was normal. She suggested a diet change and a cholesterol medication. The patient had heard about the memory and liver issues connected with statin medications and wanted to try changing her diet before she resorted to taking pills.
We talked about which foods she needed to eliminate. She gradually stopped eating animal fat, including dairy, over a three-month period. Her cholesterol levels came down 80 points. Her blood pressure normalized, and Dr. A started taking her off of medications. The patient lost 10 pounds. She looked fabulous and hasn’t looked back.
CASE 2: Robert E is a 65-year-old man whom Dr. A has known for years. He started having rectal bleeding (bleeding out of his bottom). He became markedly anemic (low blood count), and because of the significant anemia, he started developing exertional chest pain. Even walking to the bathroom, he would feel chest pain. He was admitted to a hospital where he required four units of blood. The doctors did an endoscopy and a colonoscopy and found diverticulosis, abnormal outpouchings in the colon which are prone to bleeding. These outpouchings cannot be fixed with medication; therefore, a high-fiber diet was recommended. During that admission, Robert also was given a stress test, which showed two areas of the heart that were receiving decreased blood flow under stress. A cardiac catheterization was recommended. Robert refused that test because he wanted to talk it over with Dr. A, his primary cardiologist, who was not involved in the proposed treatment plan. He was discharged from the hospital on multiple medications and stool softeners to improve his bowel health.
Dr. A saw no point in a catheterization because a person must be able to take blood thinners in order to be considered for a catheterization and stenting. Stents in the heart require blood thinners to ensure that the stents stay open. Then, even with stents in place, Robert would be prone to bleeding again when he was put on blood thinners because he still had untreated diverticulosis. With more bleeding, Robert would likely develop chest pain again, even with the stents in place. Dr. A believed that treating Robert would require healing the diverticulosis. She put him on a strict diet. She eliminated animal products except fish and put him on a whole-grain, plant-based diet. Three months later, Robert had had no further rectal bleeding. His blood counts had risen significantly, and he was no longer anemic. He had stopped taking his stool softeners and couldn’t believe how regular his bowels were. He also no longer had any more chest pain. Six months later, Dr. A repeated a stress test, and it was normal. Flow had normalized to all parts of his heart. Amazing.
The key to good health is sometimes eliminating, rather than adding. In order to subdue or treat a chronic illness, we must minimize stresses on the body that cause inflammation. One of the most important stresses on the body is the food we take in, which can have a lasting impact on the gut. Once we fix the gut, we begin to heal. Here, we will work on how we start the healing process.
ELIMINATION #1: Remove Red Meat and Eggs From the Diet for at Least Three Months
The first elimination that we would like people to work toward is meat and eggs. Start with red meat. By red meat, we mean all beef, pork, and venison in your diet, especially hot dogs and sausages. Plan to completely rid your diet of these foods for at least three months. This amount of time allows the gut to heal and healthy gut flora to return, but some people will need longer to heal. After the first six weeks of meat elimination, we recommend giving up eggs. For some, this will be harder to give up than red meat. Try to drop eggs completely for six weeks, and then, if necessary, add them back once in a while as a treat. The gut needs that time to heal. Eventually, we would like you to stop eating poultry (turkey and chicken) as well. But this can come later. One step at a time.
Why is this elimination important? Recall that red meat and eggs cause the gut to produce TMAO (see page 40), which promotes plaque formation in the heart. Egg yolks are also very high in cholesterol. We also know that a vegetarian diet and a high-fiber diet are associated with decreasing TMAO.1 Other studies link red meat to heart disease due to the excess amount of saturated fat red meat contains.2 We know, too, that a high-fat diet that includes red meat causes production of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, see page 40). Recall that LPS is responsible for dysbiosis and a leaky gut and is found in abundance in many sufferers of chronic illness. Red meat, then, is a trigger for inflammation.
What else do we know about the detrimental effects of meat? The salt in meat can be linked to high blood pressure. Nitrates, which are used as preservatives in meat, have been associated with poor dilation of the blood vessels (endothelial dysfunction) and insulin resistance.3,4 On the other hand, we know from the early work of Dean Ornish, MD, that patients with heart disease who are put on a low-fat, plant-based diet had less plaque in their heart arteries.43 Dr. Ornish is a Harvard-trained physician who pioneered much of the early work on plant-based diet and heart disease. We also know from Caldwell Esselstyn’s recent work at the Cleveland Clinic that adhering to a strictly plant-based diet can reduce plaque and increase blood flow to previously restricted areas.5 (See figure 1 on the next page.)
Red meat is also associated with increased risk of many cancers.2 Nitrate-derived metabolites, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are all possible carcinogens (cancer causing) and are found in red meat.6 Meat that is grilled is cooked at high temperatures. When that meat darkens on the grill and is well done, HCAs are produced and appear to cause cancer. Even the excess iron in red meat may trigger some of these potential carcinogens.7 Red meat is also thought to be a cause of oxidative stress, which, as you may recall, is a stressor on the system that triggers the formation of free radicals that are believed to be the starting point for cancer.2
The data is compelling regarding this elimination. Red meat and eggs should be eliminated. We know this seems drastic. However, the impact of illness cannot be underestimated. These changes can happen, and if you want to be healthy, you must make them. Our recommendation is to start slowly, but deliberately.
What about fish and poultry? Eventually, we think we should eliminate at least all of the chicken we eat. People are focused on chicken as a healthier option than red meat, and while it may be a slightly healthier option, it is not all that healthful. Intake of chicken has grown significantly since the 1980s, and the consumption of red meat has gone down by 30 percent, but chronic illnesses persist and continue to increase. Chicken is still too inflammatory for our bodies; it’s also high in cholesterol and produces TMAO. We know this is tough love, but as heart-health expert Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn says, “Moderation kills.” After red meat and eggs, we recommend eliminating all chicken from our diets. Fish is the only food for which we have substantial evidence of lowering the risk of sudden death and coronary heart disease, probably due to its abundance of omega-3 fatty acids (more on fatty acids on pages 93–96).8,9 Data suggests that eating two or more servings of fatty fish per week (mackerel, salmon, tuna) is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease. While we are not fish eaters, there is some evidence to support its benefit, so if you want to keep any meat, keep the fish.
It is interesting to note that the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico are known as wellness warriors, because they are extremely active mountain runners and have virtually no coronary artery disease (heart disease clogs). Their diet is at least 90 percent beans and maize. Ninety-four percent of their protein comes from vegetable sources; only 6 percent is from animal sources. Of their fat intake, 33 percent is from vegetables and 67 percent comes from animals.10 Most of their sources of vegetables are corn and beans. Their cholesterol is derived from two eggs per week and rare servings of meat. The main source of calcium is corn tortillas made on limestone slabs, so the tortillas absorb some of the calcium from the limestone.10
Are we saying there is no room for an occasional meat dish? That’s a difficult question. We know that eating meat is not good for our bodies. After three months of healing the microbiome, can our bodies tolerate a little meat? Perhaps—it’s hard to say for sure. Dr. A knows that with her chronic illness, she doesn’t have room for “maybe.” She feels that she has to be as close to perfect as possible because she doesn’t want to get sick again. Can others who don’t have a chronic illness still have some flexibility? Consider that heart disease is insidious. One-third of people with heart disease who die suddenly had no previous symptoms. We have to consider someone’s risk factors and determine what level of flexibility exists. (See Consider 1.)
CONSIDER 1
Plan for three months of no meat or eggs, which allows time for the gut to heal. After that, is there room for an occasional meat or egg dish? Maybe, we don’t know. Everyone’s body will respond differently.
At the same time, we would also say that everyone is doing their best. Eating less is always better than eating more. Do the best you can. Set goals and focus. You can do this. Consider the alternative: feeling bad, miserable even, and having a chronic illness. Isn’t a healthy, meat-free diet worth a try?
This is difficult for many people; they tell us they have eaten meat and potatoes their whole lives and can’t imagine never eating them again. We always remind them that elimination is hard, but taking medications is hard too. What would you do if it meant you could stop taking medicine? What would you give up to live a longer, healthier life?
ELIMINATION #2: Eliminate Dairy—All of It.
Dairy refers to foods that come from cows. So removing dairy means removing cow’s milk, cheese, and butter. Once milk is obtained from cows on farms, it is pasteurized. Pasteurization is the process of heating something to high temperatures, then cooling it quickly; the goal is to kill microorganisms that develop and spoil milk in order to give the product a longer shelf life.
Pasteurization works. It enables us to transfer milk from farms to grocery stores, so it will keep for 10 days after opening. Before pasteurization, dairy would be full of harmful bacteria by the time it got to the table, and children were getting sick from drinking it. Pasteurization is done to avoid that bacteria from forming, given the distance milk must travel and the time that passes before we actually drink it.
With pasteurization, however, we not only remove bacteria, but we also kill enzymes that we need to break down milk in our bodies.11 When these enzymes are destroyed, our bodies are not as equipped to process milk. Many of us are sensitive to milk and have a milk allergy or milk sensitivity because we lack the enzyme lactase. But we believe these dairy products also trigger a leaky gut.12 As dairy products enter the gut, the tight junctions break and the breakdown products of milk enter the bloodstream. Our immune systems are activated, and our bodies develop immune complexes that start attacking parts of the body. (See figure 2.)
We know that chronic inflammation increases risk for heart disease and cancer. In some studies, when dairy was replaced with a plant-based protein source, there was a reduction in cardiovascular disease!13 Inflammation is also a trigger for bone breakdown. Suggesting, then, that we drink more milk to decrease our fracture risk is a “conceivable contradiction.”14 There are many studies that suggest a link between increased dairy and cardiovascular risk.15,16 In a follow-up to these initial mouse studies, an extensive review was conducted to evaluate human milk intake. One of the studies in that review evaluated people who drank more than three glasses of milk per day versus those who drank fewer than one glass per day. The research found higher fracture and death rates in women who drank more milk. There was also a higher rate of death in men who drank more milk, though the fracture rate was not significantly different. Markers of inflammation and oxidative stress were also higher in those who drank more milk.14
In the 12-year Nurses’ Health Study, nurses who drank more than two glasses of milk per day had no fewer fractures than those nurses consuming less than one glass of milk per week.17 Interestingly, in that same study, those who consumed greater amounts of calcium from dairy foods had a higher fracture risk. That increased risk was not seen with calcium from nondairy sources.17
This is really important. In other corroborating research, a metaanalysis of multiple larger trials showed there was no decrease in hip fractures with calcium supplementation.18 This means that taking calcium supplements did not decrease the rate of fractures. There may even have been a slightly higher fracture risk in people taking calcium supplements who didn’t get adequate vitamin D.
Let’s consider the occurrence of fractures around the world. In countries such as India, Japan, and Peru, calcium intake is less than one-third of the US daily recommended allowance (300 milligrams per day), and the risk of fractures in those countries is extremely low. The countries with the highest fracture risks are actually those where people drank an abundance of milk, namely Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, and the US. These studies suggest that maybe drinking milk is not all it’s cracked up to be! (See Consider 2.)
CONSIDER 2
People who live in countries where less milk is consumed have fewer fractures.
We also note that people with high-sodium and high-protein diets absorb less calcium and excrete more calcium in their urine.19 In the Nurses’ Health Study, those nurses who took in more than 95 grams of protein per day were 20 percent more likely to fracture a bone than those who ingested less than 68 grams per day.20 It is suspected that people with a diet lower in protein and sodium likely need less calcium in their diets. Protein from meat and eggs contains high concentrations of sulfate amino acids, which can cause calcium losses in the urine. Vegetarian diets are typically lower in protein than nonvegetarian diets. Notably, however, both groups in the Nurses’ Health Study exceeded the recommended daily allowance for protein (RDA). This may explain why people in countries where less red meat and fat are typically eaten require less calcium.
We believe that building bones requires many components. We know that calcium is very important to bone development, but we don’t know how much calcium we need or the proper means for getting calcium into our systems. Besides a diet rich in calcium, we know it is essential to have an abundance of vitamins D and K. In the Nurses’ Health Study, researchers actually found an increase in fracture risk in women who consumed dairy sources for calcium versus those who consumed nondairy sources of calcium. (See figure 3.)
Calcium comes from many nondairy sources, including broccoli, kale, collard greens, turnip greens (6 ounces contain 220 milligrams calcium), bok choy, almonds (3 ounces have 210 milligrams), sunflower seeds, tahini, dried beans, and blackstrap molasses. Flaxseeds and sesame seeds are two more great sources of calcium.21 Calcium in low oxalate vegetables, such as kale, is readily absorbed, so they are viable options for calcium intake in a plant-based diet.22 (See Consider 3.)
CONSIDER 3
Spinach is rich in calcium, but it’s mostly in the form of calcium oxalate, which may actually cause you to lose calcium in your urine and too much may predispose you to kidney stones. eat spinach for iron and vitamins but not necessarily for calcium. eat low oxalate vegetables for calcium.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is also very important for bone health. It helps us to absorb calcium and not lose it when we urinate. Vitamin D is produced by the skin when we are exposed to sunlight. However, winter sun is not strong enough in regions above 40 degrees latitude (north of Philadelphia and San Francisco) to aid in converting vitamin D to its active form. Sunscreens, while effective for preventing sun damage, inhibit the production of vitamin D. Therefore, many of us are vitamin D deficient, regardless of whether we drink milk or not. Cow’s milk does not have vitamin D in it, so we fortify it with vitamin D. Similarly, almond milk also is fortified with vitamin D. We have data to suggest that vitamin D (700 to 800 IU) is a daily dose that lowers the risk of hip fracture in adults.23 This is not the same for children, and childrens’ dosing should be discussed with a pediatrician.
Vitamin K is another important vitamin for bone health. Data shows that taking in less than 110 micrograms of vitamin K daily can increase your fracture risk. In the Nurses’ Health Study, those who ate a serving of greens every day experienced only half the fractures of those who ate just one serving per week.24 The Framingham Heart Study corroborated this idea.25 Broccoli, kale, brussels sprouts, and collard greens are good sources of vitamin K.
Other substances in our diets may also raise our risk of osteoporosis. Excess coffee and caffeine may increase the kidneys’ ability to remove calcium from the bloodstream. In the Framingham Osteoporosis Study, older women who drank caffeinated soda had a higher incidence of fractures than those who did not.26
Bottom Line: We have no data to suggest that dairy is needed to lower our risk of osteoporosis. We do need calcium, but we don’t need much. We also need vitamins D and K to help calcium build bone density. The goal should be to eat calcium-rich, nondairy products. Guidelines recommend people below the age of 50 get 1,000 milligrams of calcium daily and postmenopausal women 1,200 milligrams daily. However, there is no scientific data to confirm that drinking cow’s milk is better than the alternatives. We need to focus on a diet with lots of calcium-rich greens (also rich in vitamin K) and an adequate dose of vitamin D daily.
What About Milk and Cancer?
Studies suggest a correlation between milk intake and bladder and prostate cancer, as well as a potential link to colon cancer.27 There are connections between galactose and ovarian cancer. This association was found in women who drank more than three glasses of milk per day.28 In a Harvard study of male professionals, men who drank more than two glasses of milk per day had an increased risk of prostate cancer compared to those who did not drink milk.29 In another study, men who consumed more than 2,000 milligrams of calcium suffered almost double the rate of fatal prostate cancer than those who did not. There has been much speculation about the increased risks of reproductive cancers from drinking milk produced from cows that were injected with different hormones to produce excess milk.30 Recent studies have also linked milk to an increase in acne, which may be related to the hormones in milk.31
T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study, also feels that overconsumption of animal-based proteins can be detrimental to health. He specifically conducted rat and mice studies that showed a 20 percent casein (milk protein) diet promoted liver cancer in the animals, and when the animals were fed a reduced-casein diet of 5 percent, their tumor growth was reduced. Even when the diet was switched from high to low casein, the results were the same—reduced casein resulted in less tumor growth. Animals that consumed a diet containing 20 percent casein were all dead at 100 weeks.32 Even though these studies are based on rats and mice, they point to a possible concern about consuming too much casein.
What About Milk and Autoimmune Disease?
Milk has been linked to inflammation and oxidative stress.33 How milk triggers inflammation is not entirely clear. However, it is likely through a leaky gut (see pages 41–45). In some people, milk is like gluten, triggering breakdown of the tight junctions and allowing food products to enter the bloodstream. These food products prompt an attack from our gut defense system, bringing on a full inflammatory response: a body on fire. Dr. A believes strongly that dairy triggered her leaky gut and caused the autoimmune reaction of her disease. Eliminating milk products healed her.
What About Yogurt and Sour Milk?
It is important to note that in studies, the same level of inflammation was not noted when people drank sour milk or ate yogurt. In fact, a negative relationship was found; i.e., sour milk and yogurt did not increase inflammation and may actually decrease inflammation.33 These findings may be related to the fact that there is little to no lactose and galactose in these fermented products, and they may also have pro-biotic antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.34 More study is required on yogurt and fermented milk products. Likely, they do not have the same effect on the body as other milk products. If you have to choose milk products, these are the ones to choose.
There is a great deal of data that suggests that people live shorter lives when they drink milk, and most notably, they do not have fewer fractures. The popular conception that milk helps build strong bones needs to be reconsidered and modified. Dr. A’s children have been told that they’re eating a bad diet because it does not have milk in it. If they buy a school lunch, they are required to take milk. When we look at the healthy school meal, it always includes milk. Are we teaching our kids the right thing?
The American diet has butter and cheese in almost everything. If you get a side of black beans at a Mexican restaurant, there is always a sprinkle of cheddar cheese on it. If you get a salad, you usually get a sprinkle of mozzarella or Parmesan. Pasta sauces and soups have cream in them. This elimination is hard, no question, and takes education and effort. However, once you feel better, your sacrifice will be worth it.
So, start by removing the milk from the house. Buy almond or soy milk instead; there are many brands on the market these days, including unsweetened and unflavored options. Try to drink the ones in the refrigerated section because they contain fewer additives. You can even buy chocolate almond milk, which is delicious.
Instead of butter, which is made with cow’s milk, switch to a plant-based margarine with plant sterols and no partially hydrogenated oils. Or better yet, avoid all butters all together! You won’t notice the difference when you switch to plant-based margarines, and eventually you won’t miss it at all if you stop using it all together. You also can find coconut, soy, and almond milk yogurts.
Get rid of your cheese and replace it with plant-based cheese alternatives as a transition. These options don’t taste quite the same as dairy cheese, but many of them melt, shred, and spread just like dairy cheese. Eventually, you can move to no cheese at all. Personally, Dr. A would rather not eat cheese now at all. It seems strange to her that she doesn’t miss it when she was so addicted to dairy for so long. You will get there too! (See figure 4 and Consider 4.)
Are We Getting Enough Protein?
People often become highly concerned about getting sufficient protein and calcium in a diet that includes no dairy, eggs, or meat. This is what we are asked the most: how will I get my protein on such a diet? For those just starting their transitions and still eating chicken and fish, protein sources are evident. To those of you who have taken it to the next level and completely eliminated all animal products, we promise that you will get enough protein! People don’t become protein deficient anymore unless they are truly starving. Some of the best athletes in the world eat completely plant-based diets. Dr. A did her first triathlon after going completely plant-based. You will have plenty of energy. In fact, you probably will have more energy than before on a diet of plant-based foods and (as we teach you to eat things that are minimally processed) foods with no added sugar.
CONSIDER 4
Next time you are ordering pizza at a restaurant or even takeout, ask them to hold the cheese. Try it; you might be surprised, and every place we have ever eaten will make this for you.
ELIMINATION #3: Processed Foods
Processed foods are those that have been altered from their natural state. This refers to any food that has been canned, frozen, dehydrated, pasteurized, or changed by other means.
Is processing a bad thing? Often, we process foods to make them last longer by canning, freezing, or dehydrating them. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It allows for many conveniences. We pasteurize food to kill harmful bacteria, so it can last longer on our shelves. However, pasteurization often destroys heat-sensitive nutrients, as well. Many processed foods include an abundance of saturated fats, oils, and salt. Oily, fried, and fatty products last longer. The problem is that excess fats and oils put us at risk for cardiovascular disease, and excess sodium increases risk of high blood pressure.
We also process foods by adding preservatives to make them last longer. Sometimes sodium is used to preserve foods, such as with deli meats, and at other times artificial preservatives are added. Preservatives and artificial flavors are often highly inflammatory, and initiate a spiral toward chronic illness. Many foods also contain high-fructose corn syrup, an artificial sweetener. Corn syrup was introduced into the food market decades ago because sugar was so expensive. There was an abundance of corn, and corn syrup was easy and inexpensive to make. Now, corn syrup is in a huge percentage of products in the United States—even in ketchup! The problem with high-fructose corn syrup is that it is a processed, unnatural sweetener; therefore, we believe it could be inflammatory. It also blocks our natural desire to stop eating and prevents us from feeling full.
Consider how much of our food comes in a bag or lasts on the shelf for weeks on end. Food shouldn’t last that long. It should go bad, and food without excess processing and preservatives will. There is no question that we need to preserve foods to get through harsh winters and travel. Canning and dehydrating are great options for this.
Another form of processing is the manufacture of refined foods. Often food we buy has gone from being whole-grain to a thin remnant of its former self. Consider oatmeal. Whole-grain oats are large and thick, at least one to two millimeters thick. When you buy instant oatmeal, the oats are only a tenth that thick. They have been shaved down so they can be cooked in 30 seconds in the microwave and are easier to eat, but all of the benefits of its fiber content are gone. Our breads are similar. Our wheat has been thinned and broken down and then made into bread. This makes the bread easier to eat, but we have lost all the benefits of the product. This is what has given bread a bad name. Refined products have minimal fiber and little nutritional value. We want our food to have bulk. That bulk is good for digestion and good for increasing the density of food in our stomachs; it’s what makes us feel full.
When we first started eliminating processed foods, we began by saying we wouldn’t eat food that was sold in a bag. That is difficult these days, when half the food in the grocery store is bagged. We started buying our bread in the bakery section of the supermarket, where the breads often don’t have artificial preservatives in them. We now go grocery shopping a few times a week. We buy fresh food and eat it for a few days until we finish it. Then we go back for more. People often say they are too busy to go to the grocery store more than once per week, but we find that life is simpler now. We buy fresh food, cook it, and enjoy it. The flavors that come from fresh foods are one of a kind.
A Note on Canned Foods
Canned foods are preserved but very practical, especially in the winter. While we encourage eating fresh foods, that is not always possible. Look for canned foods that have only salt in them as a preservative, such as beans and vegetables. Wash the beans thoroughly, which removes about one-third of the sodium.
Another great option for beans and legumes is dried beans. There are no preservatives in these. You do have to plan ahead before using them, though, because dried beans and legumes often require soaking for several hours or overnight before cooking. Slow cookers and pressure cookers are more efficient than simmering beans on a stove top and will save considerable time. (See Consider 5.)
CONSIDER 5
Canned foods are not the enemy. ideally, we don’t eat canned vegetables but eat them fresh. Canned beans are very useful in a busy household, however. Canned foods do have salt in them as a preservative, which is the negative. Salt restriction is most important for people with heart failure, and some restriction is necessary if they have high blood pressure. Most people, though, can tolerate canned beans without difficulty. rinse them thoroughly, and that will remove about a third of the salt.
ELIMINATION #4: Sugars—Our Newest Addiction
Processed sweeteners are the most common food additives worldwide. In 2009, Americans consumed an average of more than 130 pounds of processed sweeteners a year!35 That translates to an average of one-third of a pound (about 5.7 ounces, 160 grams, or 36 teaspoons) of processed sweeteners each day, per person. This consumption is almost seven times the American Heart Association guidelines of 24 grams of processed sugar per day for women (approximately 6 teaspoons, which is a little less than 1 ounce) and more than four times the 36 grams per day recommended for men (about 9 teaspoons).36 For a very simple example, one 12-ounce soda contains an average of about 40 grams of added sugars, well in excess of the recommended daily sugar intake.
Artificial sweeteners exist because they are supposedly low-calorie alternatives to sugar. People think that when they drink their coffee with artificial sweeteners, they won’t gain weight. But is that true? In one population-based study, 474 people were followed for almost 10 years. Those participants who drank diet soda had a 70 percent higher increase in waist circumference than consumers who didn’t. Those who drank two or more diet sodas per day reported a shocking 500 percent increase in waist circumference over consumers who drank something other than diet soda!37
Another study was done on rats that were fed the artificial sweetener aspartame. They subsequently showed an increase in blood glucose without a decrease in insulin-producing cells, suggesting insulin resistance. This study suggested that drinking diet soda could be a risk for developing diabetes.38
A more recent study in 2013 showed that diet drinks contribute to obesity.39 A recent article in Nature linked artificial sweeteners with dysbiosis (disruption of the microbiome) and increased insulin resistance (prediabetes).40 These studies show that artificial sweeteners are not better and are likely worse. We do not believe in diet drinks. They worsen the obesity problem and should be completely avoided. We are only fooling ourselves if we drink them. (See figure 5.)
Most processed foods are bad for us. Cookies and cakes sit on store shelves for weeks, full of preservatives so they stay moist. Artificial sweeteners are added to our foods so they can be labeled as “zero calorie.” Artificial sweeteners are chemicals, and they make us sick. Learn to read labels and don’t eat processed foods.
Consider that if you want to eat cookies, make them yourself. Add fresh sugar, or change to dates, applesauce, and bananas for sweetening foods. Buy fresh ingredients, and you won’t go wrong. Make pumpkin bread and cornbread using a mix, but just change the egg to applesauce with baking powder (one egg equals four ounces of applesauce and one teaspoon of baking powder) and cow’s milk to coconut milk. You will need less oil when you use applesauce. If you want pizza, make the dough yourself and use red sauce with an abundance of vegetables. Skip the cheese! Yum. (See figure 6 on the previous page.)
What Other Harmful Foods Do We Eat?
Too many of us have absolutely no idea what is in our food. Often we see words on the ingredient lists that we’ve never heard of, but we just accept that they are safe to eat. Most of what we eat comes in a package, and we have no contact with the source of our food.
Reading the ingredient list can be intimidating, so most people don’t even bother looking at it. We hope that after reading the information presented here, you will become a real nutrition label detective, reading and evaluating all of the ingredients in any packaged food before you purchase it.
Part of the problem is that we have lost that connection with our food. Many city dwellers in America today haven’t seen how fresh food is grown. We often don’t know how foods grow in their native climates. Most of us definitely do not grow our own. Home-cooked meals made with fresh ingredients are rarities in many households. We rely on packaged foods, restaurant meals, and fast food.
We also expect the government and food industry to protect us from potentially harmful ingredients. But are they really protecting us? In eating mostly processed foods, we are regularly exposed to food products that are not natural to the human body, including
▪genetically modified organisms (GMOs);
▪artificial colorings and flavorings;
▪high-fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners;
▪processed fats, including hydrogenated oils and even trans fats;
▪naturally occurring saturated fats from animals often eating GMO feed;
▪fertilizers and pesticides;
▪overprocessed refined grains;
▪and animal products that can contain drugs, including antibiotics and growth hormones.
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
GMOs are plants or animals that have been genetically altered by inserting genes from foreign bacteria, viruses, insects, and other sources into the DNA of the host plant or animal. Originally introduced into our food supply in the 1990s, GMOs in plants typically are genetic modifications that allow the plant to either withstand heavy applications of pesticides or actually produce pesticides in the plant itself. The inserted genes are from living organisms that have different DNA from the original food or animal. There has been no requirement by the government for any testing to prove the safety of genetically modified foods for human consumption. We have only the manufacturer’s claim that these foods are safe for human consumption. In the United States, we currently have no labeling laws requiring food manufacturers to label GMO foods, so you do not even know when you are consuming a genetically altered product. The majority of corn and soy produced in America is genetically modified.
The main upside to GMO crops is that we have created a more durable product that can potentially increase the yield of food. This is an important benefit for a rapidly growing world population. However, there is significant concern that genetically altering food affects how our bodies deal with it, creating inflammation and triggering chronic illness. A variety of animal studies implicate GMOs as potential health hazards, but very few human studies have been completed. One human study, completed in Canada in 2011, discovered some of the pesticides associated with GMO foods were found in the blood of both pregnant and nonpregnant women in Canada.41 This is concerning, but the true impact on the body is not known.
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine suggested to its members in 2008 that they educate their patients about the potential health dangers of GMOs.42 Overall, we recommend trying to avoid genetically modified foods. This can be done by choosing organic foods. The most common genetically modified foods are corn, soybeans, and canola and cottonseed oils. Tomatoes and potatoes are also often genetically modified, as well as papaya.
