By Scott Cody, PharmD
Last month in part one of this article, I discussed the many health problems we have in today’s world and how most of these diseases aren’t getting any better. Breast cancer, prostate cancer, autism – we aren’t making any positive progress in controlling or healing these issues.
Did you know that companies are using over 10,000 chemicals in our food production? Did you know that only 500 of these chemicals used in food production have ever been tested for safety!
Have you ever been on a diet? Did it work? It probably did for a while. Aren’t diets fun? So, here’s a question; Would you say dieting today is some form of counting calories?
Some weight-loss companies will trick you and call the calories “points.” If you have a fudge sickle in the morning, you are done eating for the day! What is the definition of a calorie? You should know this since we talk about them all the time, right?
To save time, I will give you the definition: The large calorie, kilogram calorie, dietary calorie, or food calorie (symbol: Cal) approximates the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 °C. This is precisely 1,000 small calories or about 4.2 kilojoules.
A calorie is a measurement! A cookie doesn’t have calories in it! Who else can’t count calories? YOUR BODY! The body is only concerned with nutrition! We are the most overfed and at the same time undernourished society on EARTH!
What should I have for dinner tonight? LETTUCE? If you are lucky enough to buy lettuce produced in or near Owatonna, then good for you. However, many items in the grocery store are shipped in from California, Arizona, or elsewhere. They may contain toxic levels of rocket fuel! If you don’t believe this, you should know that lactating women in Minnesota have measurable levels of rocket fuel in their milk! Remember those planes overhead? The exhaust goes somewhere.
If you eat a standard serving of fruits and vegetables every day, in 1 year, you will consume 1 gallon of herbicides and pesticides! That is eating healthy! What about processed food?
Have you heard of endocrinology? (It is the field of medicine that deals with hormones and how they work together in the body). Endocrinologists have identified a new word. “obesogen.” Obesogens are chemicals that disrupt hormones leading to weight gain and many diseases we now have. These disruptive chemicals are naturally found in soy products. We can get them from the animals we eat that were fed artificial food. Obesogens can come from plastics used in food packaging, chemicals added to processed foods, and pesticides sprayed on produce.
What do obesogens do to the human body? One alarming effect is they can cause memory issues. They act like hormones (estrogens/thyroid) or block some hormones such as testosterone. We now know that obesogens can alter functions of our genes and reprogram some to cause gain weight. This means you are fighting your genes to lose weight.
You may recall the cartoon Popeye, a sailor who would consume a can of spinach to become super strong. One bowl of spinach from 1957 now requires 57 bowels to equal the same nutrition. So, you think you’re going to outsmart this? You are going to get “organic” or whatever? Food will never be enough again, ever!
Do you wonder why we are exhausted and tired? Try putting gas in your car that gets 1 mile/gal. Drive that car to Kansas City! This is what we are doing with the fuel for the body. Are you getting the picture that we are living in a toxic world?*
How many of you like meat? In large feedlots, 100% of cattle are fed 5 or 6 hormones such as progesterone, testosterone, and others to accelerate weight gain. Cows have seven stomachs to digest the grasses in their diet. An unusual food like corn can destroy the cow’s immune system. Many cows must receive antibiotics because they become sick from eating only corn. The good news is that cows grow faster when eating corn, so maybe they aren’t sick very long.
Maybe you prefer fish to meat? Now we have farm-fed fish. What do farmed fish eat? Corn. That seems like a natural part of a fish diet, right? Farm-raised salmon have white meat until the meat is artificially dyed before sending to market. You should ask if the fish is wild or farmed the next time you buy it.
* For more information about toxins in our body, please visit the link below: The Body Burden by American Red Cross and Environmental Working Group. https://www.ewg.org/research/body-burden-pollution-newborns