If you are concerned about your iron intake, consider some of these sources:

* Lean meats and shellfish

* Whole grain or enriched cereals

* Dried apricots, prunes, or raisins

* Nuts and wheat germ

* Dried beans and peas

* Leafy green vegetables

Liver, especially pork liver, contains large amounts of iron. But it is also rich in cholesterol. Too many of us eat too much of cholesterol-containing foods. Egg yolk has a moderate iron content; it is high in cholesterol, too.

The iron in flesh foods, called heme iron, is best absorbed by the body. Yet studies have found no more iron-deficiency anemia among vegetarians than among meat eaters.

One possible explanation is vitamin C. It enhances absorption of the iron in foods. Vegetarians often consume more vitamin C than meat-eaters. The vitamin C may compensate for the absence of meat in their diets.

A Look at Lead

Lead has long been in the headlines. Lead poisoning has occurred too frequently among children – often from eating chips of old paint that contained lead.

Whatever lead also plays any role in the cancer process is an open question. Only a few studies have been done – mostly in animals. These studies suggest that large amounts of lead might increase the risk of kidney cancer. But this form of cancer is not very common. (I never forget my friend, a medical doctor, who died 4 years ago, at the age of 40, due to kidney cancer).

The committee on Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer declined to make any recommendations regarding lead.

Some Advice about Canned Foods

Lead remains a concern to health experts for other reasons. The chances of getting lead poisoning are not great, but the problems has yet to be eliminated in U.S. and other countries. Infants, children, and pregnant women are at greatest risk.

Scientists estimate that food accounts for 55 – 85 percent of our exposure to lead. The lead in canned foods can seep into the food itself. Public pressure and encouragement from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have led canners to reduce the lead content of food by almost 40 percent during the last 30 years.

Acidic foods packed in cans made with lead are the most likely to absorb this mineral. Fruits and fruit juices, including tomato products, fall into this category. If these foods are stored in the can after opening, the lead content can increase fivefold in less than a week.

Lead experts urge us not to store acidic foods in cans after opening. Transfer the food to a glass or plastic container. This precaution will go a long way to preventing unnecessary lead in the diet. Foods taste better, too, when this advice is followed.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to tell whether a csn has been soldered with lead. Evaporated milk is usually packed in lead-soldered cans. Infant formulas are not. Processed meats are also usually packed in non-leaded cans.

There’s Much More to the Story

Though research has yet to find that lead or other minerals play a major role in cancer prevention, the story of nutrition and cancer is not yet over. We have looked at vitamins, minerals, fiber, and cancer inhibitors. but there’s more to come.

The Next story tells about the dietary change that may offer the biggest dividends of all.

“Avoid saturated fats.”
Saturated fats play many important roles in the body. They provide integrity to the cell wall, promote the body’s use of essential fatty acids, enhance the immune system, protect the liver and contribute to strong bones. The lungs and the kidneys cannot work without saturated fat. Saturated fats do not cause heart disease. In fact, saturated fats are the preferred food for the heart. Because your body needs saturated fats, it makes them out of carbohydrates and excess protein when there are not enough in the diet.

“Limit cholesterol.”
Dietary cholesterol contributes to the strength of the intestinal wall and helps babies and children develop a healthy brain and nervous system. Foods that contain cholesterol also provide many other important nutrients. Only oxidized cholesterol, found in most powdered milk and powdered eggs, contributes to heart disease. Powdered milk is added to 1% and 2% milk.

“Use more polyunsaturated oils.”
Polyunsaturates in more than small amounts contribute to cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, learning disabilities, intestinal problems and premature aging. Large amounts of polyunsaturated fats are new to the human diet, due to the modern use of commercial liquid vegetable oils. Even olive oil, a monounsaturated fat considered to be healthy, can cause imbalances at the cellular level if consumed in large amounts.

“Avoid red meat.”

Red meat is a rich source of nutrients that protect the heart and nervous system; these include vitamins B12 and B6, zinc, phosphorus, carnitine and coenzyme-Q10.

“Cut back on eggs.”
Eggs are nature’s perfect food, providing excellent protein, the gamut of vitamins and important fatty acids that contribute to the health of the brain and nervous system. Americans had less heart disease when they ate more eggs. Egg substitutes cause rapid death in test animals.

“Restrict salt.”
Salt is crucial to digestion and assimilation. Salt is also necessary for the development and function of the nervous system.

“Eat lean meat and drink lowfat milk.”
Lean meat and lowfat milk lack fat-soluble vitamins needed to assimilate the protein and minerals in meat and milk. Consumption of lowfat foods can lead to depletion of vitamin A and D reserves.

“Limit fat consumption to 30 percent of calories.”
Thirty percent calories as fat is too low for most people, leading to low blood sugar and fatigue. Traditional diets contained 30 percent to 80 percent of calories as healthy fats, mostly of animal origin.

“Eat 6-11 servings of grains per day.”
Most grain products are made from white flour, which is devoid of nutrients. Additives in white flour can cause vitamin deficiencies. Whole grain products can cause mineral deficiencies and intestinal problems unless properly prepared.

“Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.”
Fruits and vegetables receive an average of 10 applications of pesticides, from seed to storage. Consumers should seek out organic produce. Quality counts!

“Eat more soy foods.”

Modern soy foods block mineral absorption, inhibit protein digestion, depress thyroid function and contain potent carcinogens.

The kidneys need stable fats both for their cushioning and as their energy source. We know that the kidney fat normally has a higher concentration of the important saturated fatty acids than are found in any of the other fat depots. These saturated fatty acids are myristic acid (the 14-carbon saturate), palmitic acid (the 16-carbon saturate), and stearic acid (the 18-carbon saturate). When we consume various polyunsaturated fatty acids in large amounts, they are incorporated into kidney tissues, usually at the expense of oleic acid, because the normal high level of saturated fatty acids in the kidney fat does not change.¹

A species of rat known to be prone to strokes and to spontaneously develop hypertension (high blood pressure) has been used to evaluate effects of different lipids such as plant sterols or cholesterol, and also fatty acids such as omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids in the finely tuned functions of the kidney. These animals are very sensitive to dietary cholesterol manipulations and a deficiency of cholesterol in their membranes makes their membranes weak and fragile. When plant sterols found in vegetable oils are substituted for cholesterol in their diets, these animals have a shortened life span.² Also, these animals are reported to need a proper omega-6 to omega-3 ratio in the kidney phospholipids. It was further reported that feeding oils high in omega-6 fatty acids without omega-3 fatty acids resulted in renal injury, and that feeding oils rich in the omega-3 fatty acids such as fish oil, perilla oil, and flaxseed oil prolonged the survival time of this animal.³

The omega-3 fatty acids are recognized as being important, and the conversion of the flax oil-type omega-3 fatty acid (alpha-linolenic acid) to the fish oil-type omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) is enhanced when the diet contains saturated fat such as coconut oil. This conversion is hindered when there is extra omega-6 oils in the diet.⁴ Injury to the kidney from immune dysfunction (IgA nephropathy) responds to omega-3 fats (both flax oil-type omega-3 and fish oil-type omega-3).⁵ As noted, adding the saturated fats, especially coconut oil, improves the body’s use of omega-3 fatty acids.

Another reason that coconut oil enhances kidney function is because it supplies myristic acid, the 14-carbon saturated fatty acid.⁶ Myristic acid is involved in the signalling from cell membrane receptors through G proteins and their attachment to membranes. These signalling proteins require a lipid such as myristic acid to be added to one end of the protein, a process called myristolation.⁷

Thus, the fats that we recommend for general good health, namely various saturated animal fats and tropical oils, along with a supplement of flax oil, are also specifically helpful for kidney function. Products containing high omega-6 oils and trans fatty acids should be avoided.

References:

1. Suarez et al, Lipids 1996;31:345; Taugbol and Saarem, Acta Vet Scand 1995;36:93
2. Ratnayake, et al, J Nutrition 2000;130:1166
3. Miyazaki et al, Biochim Biophys Acta 2000;1483:101
4. Gerster, Int J Vitam Nutr Res 1998;68:159
5. Kelley, ISSFAL, 2000;7:6
6. Monserrat et al, Res Exp Med (Berl) 2000;199:195
7. Busconi and Denker, Biochem J 1997;328:23

Food fats or dietary fats are white or yellowish greasy material, found in both animals and plants. Pure fat lacks color, odor, and taste, and it exists both as a liquid and as a solid.

During digestion, fat is broken down in the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine, just past the stomach) to fatty acids and glycerol. As a food, its primary value and importance are as a fuel – a source of body energy. It is the most concentrated food we have, and it possesses more than twice the caloric value of carbohydrates or protein. Every ounce of fat has the same value as every other – whether it is an ounce of butter or an ounce of cottonseed oil. One type of fat, however, may be more easily assimilated, or absorbed, thus more accessible, than another. In  northern America, the fats eaten most often are in the form of eggs, margarine, butter, meat, cream, nuts, and such oils as olive oil and vegetable oil.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a fatlike pearly substances found in saturated animal fats and oils and especially in egg yolk. It is an ingredient of bile, blood, brain tissue, nerve fibers, the liver, kidneys, and the adrenal glands. Pathologically, it constitutes a large part of gallstones and is deposited in the wall of arteries, thickening and hardening them.

A diet  rich in polysaturated fats may raise the cholesterol level of blood; poly unsaturated fats, on the contrary, may lower it. The following foods have a high content of cholesterol: egg yolk, cream, milk, cheese, butter, lard, fatty meats, sweetbreads, brain, shellfish, and caviar

Cholesterol is known to be closely associated  with arteriosclerosis. This chemical is a waxy substance manufactured by the body and stored in those places where it participates in certain necessary physicochemical functions. The body’s supply of cholesterol may increase when certain animal fats are eaten excessively – fats high in cholesterol content. It is known that when the cholesterol level in the blood is driven above normal, the excess is deposited on the inner linings of the arteries. These deposits narrow the passage-ways, even blocking the blood vessels entirely. They also caused such changes that clotting takes place in the blood vessels themselves. The greatest danger of this is in the blood vessels of the heart or brain: when clots  occur in the blood vessels of the heart or when they are blocked, a heart attack is the result. Even if it does not progress this far, the narrowing of the blood vessels makes it harder for the heart to pump the required blood through these vessels.

Cholesterol can be found primarily in fats and particularly in animal fats, eggs, and dairy products. Experiments have indicated that recurrent heart attacks in those who have suffered prior attacks might be avoided or reduced by lowering the amount of such fat in the food they eat. Since the body needs to have fats to maintain a proper dietary balance, doctors have recommended the substitution of vegetable fats for those of animal origin wherever possible.

Saturated and Unsaturated Fats

Fats are separated chemically into two basics groups: saturated and unsaturated. Further experiments indicated that unsaturated fats do not raise the cholesterol content of the blood in contrast to the saturated ones which may. Still further experiments indicated that the unsaturated fats – particularly the polyunsaturated fats – actually lower blood cholesterol if included in the ordinary diet, even one containing saturated and animal fats.

Vegetable fats are of several different types. For example, certain saturated vegetable fats (such as coconut oil and, to a lesser extent, certain of the oleo margarines) actually raise the blood cholesterol if included in the diet. But such unsaturated vegetables fats as cottonseed oil, safflower oil, corn oil (all polyunsaturates) and in some cases olive oil either do not raise the cholesterol level or actually decrease it.

It is still too early, however, to draw any final and sweeping conclusions from the results of these early experiments as to the preferability of unsaturated to saturated fats in the diet, although the American Heart Association and certain of the experts in these fields are urging a radical change in our diets to get such killer diseases as heart attacks, stroke, and arteriosclerosis under control. Subsequent studies have tended to indicate that the excessive consumption of other foods may yet prove to be more closely connected with this excessive cholesterol blood level than is the consumption of saturated fats. These include highly refined carbohydrates such as sugar or foods high in sugar such as cakes, pies, candy, soft drinks and the like – and alcoholic beverages, especially whiskey and other hard liquors.

Based on the statistic data, countries with the lower standards of living, such as China and southern Italy, often have the lowest incidence of arteriosclerosis. The consumption of refined carbohydrates and alcohol happens to be high in northern America and Scandinavia and low in China and southern Italy, which seems to render these substances suspect as well!  Much more research is certainly needed in this field before any definitive conclusions can be drawn.

For further information, please find  a couple of important articles  regarding the dangerous type of  fats you should aware of, namely trans  fats in this blog and  similar related topic in Blog of Health.

Two decades ago I read a study about the analysis of cholesterol in the arteries of people who died of coronary artery disease. It turned out that much of the gunk lining these arteries wasn’t cholesterol at all – it was Crisco - hydrogenated vegetable oil. Since then I have been warning people not to eat anything with vegetable shortening that is chemically more like plastics than food. Today we call these substances trans fats. The industry has known about this for at least that long! Only now, after even more publicity than they could squelch, they’ve started to do something about it.

Trans fats are used mostly for commercial cooking and food preparation, and is one of the main sources of disease in the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.). Hydrogenation adds hydrogen gas to vegetable oil, helping to solidify it into a molecule that more closely resembles plastic than food. The process, used for margarine or shortening, makes them more unhealthy than real butter, since hydrogenated fats act like cholesterol in your body.

Now a law in California holds manufacturers liable for their products if they are known by manufacturers to be unsafe, though not by consumers. In other words, they may be liable for hiding the truth! So finally, after years of knowingly making product bad for your heart, someone is doing something about!

Let’s hold all food manufacturers responsible for their products! By the way – the company which owns Oreos also owns major cigarette brands. Think about it!

More Facts about Trans Fats

Trans fats (or trans fatty acids) are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid. Another name for trans fats is “partially hydrogenated oils.” Look for them on the ingredient list on food packages.

The reason why food industries like using trans fats in their foods because they’re easy to use, inexpensive to produce and last a long time. Trans fats give foods a desirable taste and texture. Many restaurants and fast-food outlets use trans fats to deep-fry foods because oils with trans fats can be used many times in commercial fryers.

Trans fats affect your health in a way that trans fats raise your bad (LDL) cholesterol levels and lower your good (HDL) cholesterol levels. Eating trans fats increases your risk of developing heart disease and stroke. It’s also associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cancer, arthritis and many other health problems.

Why did trans fats become so popular if they have such health effects? As we know, before1990, very little was known about how trans fat can harm your health. In the 1990s, research began identifying the adverse health effects of trans fats.

Trans Fats are found  everywhere

Perhaps you find that it is hard to completely avoid trans fats because they can be found in many foods – but especially in fried foods like French fries and doughnuts, and baked goods including pastries, pie crusts, biscuits, pizza dough, cookies, crackers, and stick margarines and shortenings.  You can determine the amount of trans fats in a particular packaged food by looking at the Nutrition Facts label.  You can also spot trans fats by reading ingredient lists and looking for the ingredients referred to as “partially hydrogenated oils.”

The natural trans fats

Small amounts of trans fats occur naturally in some meat and dairy products, including beef, lamb and butterfat.  It isn’t clear; though, whether these naturally occurring trans fats have the same bad effects on cholesterol levels as trans fats that have been industrially manufactured.

The safe dosage

The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of trans fats you eat to less than 1 percent of your total daily calories.  That means if you need 2,000 calories a day, no more than 20 of those calories should come from trans fats.  That’s less than 2 grams of trans fats a day.  Given the amount of naturally occurring trans fats you probably eat every day, this leaves virtually no room at all for industrially manufactured trans fats.  Find out your personal daily fat limits on My Fats Translator.

How can you stay within your daily limit for trans fats?

Read the Nutrition Facts label on foods you buy at the store and, when eating out, ask what kind of oil foods are cooked in.  Replace the trans fats in your diet with monounsaturated or  polyunsaturated fats.  For practical tips, learn how to Live Fat-Sensibly.

A raw food diet is not just good for you – it’s also good science! You don’t have to take our word for it, have ‘faith’ or trust the latest nutrition guru.

Science proves that cooking not only destroys nutrition and enzymes, but chemically changes foods from the substances needed for health into free-radicals and poisons that destroy our health!

On this article you’ll find out what happens when you eat raw, whole foods rather than cooked or prepared foods! You’ll see numerous references from scientific literature you can check out for yourself.

Don’t give away responsibility for your health to the government, medical industry or food industry. Don’t even take my word for it! Discover the facts for yourself — start here today!

Good Health in a Bad Economy

In economics, a bailout is supposed to be when a bankrupt or nearly bankrupt company is helped by another party (like the U.S. government) giving them assets that can be converted to cash so that the troubled party can meet it’s financial obligations.

What our country really needs during the current crisis is a raw food bailout — when a sick body is helped by a healthy diet giving it assets ((live food) that can easily assimilated so that the body can meet all its nutritional requirements.

Of course, a bad economy is more difficult to deal with when you are also struggling with bad health! Poor nutrition can exacerbate negative emotions and make it more difficult to think clearly. Many diseases start with a cocktail of toxins created by cooking combined with the immune-suppressing effects of anger, stress, fear and hopelessness. Eating raw food is a great way to face a crisis. It will help you be healthier – saving on medical bills and insurance. It will help you act more responsibly and proactively to find solutions. And it will even help you save on your grocery bills. You see, organic, raw food is as much as 200-300% more nutritionally dense, making it more economical in the long run than less expensive and less nutritious conventional produce that may also be laced with pesticides or genetically modified organisms with unknown health hazards!

Raw basics
Starting a raw, live food diet

A Raw food diet is based on eating whole, live, nutritionally-dense organic uncooked and un-processed foods as a large percentage of your diet. When 75-100% of your total food consumption is raw food, you are a raw foodist. At that rate it is believed that your body’s own elimination system can eliminate all or most of the toxins in the cooked portion of your diet. When you eat more cooked food you are eating toxins faster than your body canget rid of them so they back up causing dis-ease. Heating food above 118 degrees F. is believed to destroy valuable enzymes in food that can assist in digestion and health.

Cooking is also known to diminish the nutritional value of food, but where did the nutrients go? They don’t diappear  — instead, the heat actually causes chemical changes in your food creating many of the carcinogens, mutagens, free-radicals and other toxins that are associated with many of today’s diseases, from diabetes and arthritis to heart disease and cancer.

Two common myths are that eating raw is expensive and that it takes a lot of time to prepare. Nothing could be further from the truth!  When you do it correctly, a raw food diet is actually one of the easiest, most convenient and most economical ways you can eat. Remember, raw foodists eat mostly organic food, which is usually 80% to 300% more nutritionally dense (click for article on Organic Food)!

As your body learns to absorb this additional nutrition, you be less hungry and actually eat much less, reducing your food costs well below what is was when you were eating empty calories filled with toxins that increase your health care costs.

In addition to all that, there is a lot of emphasis among raw foodists on the pH of food. It is believed that a mostly raw food diet is “alkaline forming,” while cooked and processed foods are “acid forming.” All medical resources agree that the pH balance of our blood is one of the most important biochemical balances in human body chemistry. pH stands for “potential hydrogen,” and refers to the number of hydrogen ions in a substance like your blood. Higher numbers mean a substance is more alkaline (absorbs more hydrogen ions). Lower number means a substance is more acidic (less potential for absorbing hydrogen). Human blood is usually around 7.0 to 7.2 – just above neutral or slightly alkaline. Raw foodists believe that the pH level of our bodies is directly influenced by what we eat and drink. So foods that tend to help maintain a more alkaline body chemistry are called “alkaline forming,” and visa versa.

If you remember your basic chemistry, you know the chemical processes for an acid are very different than those for a “base” (another word for alkaline). Most chemical processes in a healthy body are alkaline based, so healthy people seem to be more “alkaline.” On the other hand, a more “acidic” lifestyle based on cooked and processed foods is believed to cause dis-ease. You can also alkalinize your body by making sure all the water you drink is not only clean, but high in pH and negative ORP. I use a water ionizer for this myself, but there are a couple of good brands of bottled water with pH above 8 (such as Fiji water). These days with so much talk about pH some companies are starting to list the pH of their water right on the bottle!

Raw foodists are usually vegan, meaning they do not eat animal-based products like dairy or meat. Only raw plant foods are generally eaten, including vegetables and fruits, plus soaked and sprouted grains, nuts and seeds. A small group raw foodists, part of the Natural Hygiene Movement, include raw, organic animal products, such as free range organic chicken, sashimi (raw fish), meat (carpaccio), organic eggs, organic yogurt or raw organic goats milk cheese. My personal preference is a raw vegan lifestyle.

Raw foodists in general all agree that consumption of uncooked foods encourages weight loss and prevents and/or heals many forms of chronic dis-ease. In my own case I lost a ton of weight and pretty much handled a serious case of chronic fatigue syndrome. Many medical studies have shown other positive health outcomes with such diets, though when not done properly it can also lead to some problems.  I personally saw thousands of people with various illnesses have “spontaneous remissions.” Of course, results vary with the individual and many other conditions. Therefore, it is very important for you to take into account the Blood Type Diet that fit your blood type.