We live in a universe — a reality — that is made up of circles within circles; interconnected, interdependent, and whole. Sages have been saying this for thousands of years, and in recent times scientists in an array of disciplines — from physicists to demographers — have come to this same conclusion. You may be wondering what this has to do with nutrition and your health. In one word: Everything.
As master of the public relations game, the medical industry uses the term “prevention” in a way that not only misleads people, but also paves the way to illness.
Superfoods alone are not enough to prevent disease; lifestyle factors must also be considered.
Several years ago I spoke with a food scientist at one of the major organic cereal companies. He told me what I already suspected - boxed breakfast cereals, even if "healthier" are just dead foods. He said that they are cooked, baked and fried - to death - until there is no nutritional value.
Real foods contain a host of nutrients that vitamin pills do not. And we need these other nutrients — often more than the vitamin itself — for healing, prevention and cellular function.
Most Americans have read about the Salem witch trials in their history classes. Outside of religious beliefs that led to hysteria, it is difficult to imagine what might have sparked the insanity of 1692 as transplants from Puritan England fought to survive in a foreign and often inhospitable land. But there are a few researchers who have come up with a possible cause - ergot poisoning.
It's an old debate — is weight loss all about limiting what you eat? The answer is not a definitive "yes." In fact, there's more evidence to the contrary.
Above all else, the United States is the marketing capital of the world. Our society is built around products and services and all the ways they are advertised to us in a way designed to outpace the competition. While it may be unethical to do so, marketing fosters its share of lying, truth-twisting and censorship by omission. The food industry is a model food chain — the big guys try to swallow the small guys, which is why organic foods are slandered by food giants and Big Agra.
The Paleo — prehistoric, or early human — diet seems to create more questions than answers. This is because its premise is based on a theory that eating like primitive humans is the closest diet to perfect. But the biggest problem comes in an attempt to identify what early bipeds really ate without considering a host of other important factors ranging from stomping grounds to food availability and everything in between.
Sometimes going gluten free is just not enough to reduce symptoms of bloating and other functional bowel complaints, including IBS. Could there be more to the picture than previously believed? Enter the acronym FODMAPs, as it may provide a crucial missing link in solving the problem once and for all...
Peering into the politics of the food industry is like getting a peek behind the curtain where the Wizard of Oz is working the controls. It seems quite obvious that food giants like Kellogg work hard to become reputable and good not by the products they produce, but by the friends they make. You really have to look at the whole picture to see what's going on in the PR arena to understand why, in the end, the consumer gets it in more ways than one.
Several decades ago the modern world went crazy with its dietary habits. People were told to stop eating fats because they led to weight gain and heart disease. The government was behind this advice as well as the American Heart Association, hospitals, manufacturers of cholesterol-lowering drugs, food manufacturers, dairies and doctors.