INTRODUCTION: WE HAVE A PROBLEM!	Articles and Information Collected by David Pensgard

Obesity, Diabetes, Allergies, Asthma and a host of other health problems are dramatically on the rise in America. CONSIDER THESE STATISTICS:

• The number of adults suffering from asthma has more than doubled in the last 2 decades with existing cases becoming more severe; steroid prescriptions have increased 6-fold. British Medical Journal July 8, 2000;321:88-92.

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• Obesity increased from 12% in 1991 to 18% in 1998. Increases were seen in both sexes and all socio-economic classes, with the greatest increase seen in 18-29 year-olds and in those who have achieved higher education. Mokdad AH, Serdula MK, Dietz WH, Bowman BA, Marks JS, Koplan JP. The spread of the obesity epidemic in the United States, 1991-1998. JAMA 1999; 282: 1519 -1522 [Medline].

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• 20 years ago, 2% of all cases of new onset diabetes (type II) were in people between 9 and 19 years old. Now, it's about 30% to 50%. Dr. Gerald Bernstein, a past president of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and an endocrinologist with Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.

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• The emerging epidemic of type II diabetes among children reflects a trend in the population at large.  There has also been a 70% rise in the number of 30-39 year-old adults with the disorder between 1990-1998. Over the same period, rates of the disease rose by 40% among those aged 40-49, and by 31% among those aged 50-59. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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• 25-33% of the population now has allergies. A century ago that number was closer to 10%, and it is only expected to keep rising. Richard Weber, an allergist and professor of medicine at National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver.

It may seem to you that all of your friends, regardless of age (even some children!), are on some kind of prescription medication (allergy meds being the most common). Yet, in the face of worsening health, Americans are following the guidelines of the FDA/USDA more and more closely! Is this a coincidence?

How can it be that following the official rules is accompanied by a nationwide decline in health?

• Stop Eating Sugar and other Carbs:
  • Basically this is any carbohydrate that doesn't come from a vegetable.
  • Examples: starch, sugar, pasta, bread, fruit juice, grains, etc.
• Eat more vegetables - 70% or more of your daily total (by bulk)
  • Yes: colorful, from a plant, low-calorie
    • broccoli, spinach, kale and other greens, cabbage, zucchini, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, etc.
  • No: sweets, roots, nuts, seeds, and especially not starchy products like potatoes or corn
    • Nuts and seeds are permissible in small quantities.
• Eat mostly RAW (cooking can destroy nutrition and create toxins... no microwave)
• Minimize calories (the lower the better, so long as nutrition is adequate)
• Eat foods with live bacteria (yogurt, kefir, "smelly" cheese, etc)
• Don't take supplements except for the following:
  • Fish oil for Omega-3 fatty acids, cod liver oil for Vitamin D, trans-resveratrol from grape skin
• Small amounts:
  • Eat eggs and some meat for your protein and fat... raw if you can handle it.
  • Eat fresh or frozen fruit, the more exotic the better. Less than 200 calories per day.
  • Raw oats can be eaten (with milk) for the fiber, but don't over do it!

LESSON #1: EXPERTS MAKE MISTAKES TOO!
(and some take bribes)

• No doctor or researcher knows everything. In fact, they are continuously learning new things... which means that they didn't know it before.

• At any given time, experts are in disagreement about many important medical "facts."

• Most importantly, the medical establishment takes time to adjust to new information. Don't wait!

• And, of course, where there is money, there is dishonesty. Don't assume that anyone or any system is above reproach.

• Don't trust anyone just because they are an expert. 

  • Their advice has to work for you.

  • Their services have to be better than doing nothing.

• Beware of quick fixes and scams.

  • As bad a experts can be, they are still usually better than the fringe. Don't take too many risks or waste too much money following expensive dreams. You are at your most gullible when you're suffering.

  • I'm not selling anything on this site!

LESSON #2: FAT IS NOT BAD FOR YOU... IT IS ESSENTIAL FOR HEALTH

• Two problems with Fat:

  1. It is high in calories

  2. Many fats turn toxic when heated (trans-fats)

• The deception surrounding fat:

  • Fat doesn't clog healthy arteries, neither does cholesterol

  • Fats are only dangerous to arteries that are already diseased... and diseased arteries are caused by high insulin and blood sugar levels.

• Read This Article: The Soft Science of Dietary Fat by Gary Taubes, Science 2001 March 30; 291: 2536-2545.
  Freelance writer Gary Taubes (pictured) won his third Science-in-Society Award with this Science magazine story, “The Soft Science of Dietary Fat.” Following his prize winning technique of evaluating how inadequate scientific tools are used to dictate important national health issues—what people should eat—he once again shows there is still much to be mined in a topic long considered settled and indisputable. Gary Taubes has written about science, medicine, and health for Science, Discover, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, GQ, and a host of other publications. He is currently a contributing correspondent with Science and a contributing editor with Technology Review. Taubes has won numerous awards for his reporting including the National Association of Science Writers Science-in-Society Journalism Award in both 1996 and 1999.

LESSON #3:

• Do You Know What a Carbohydrate Is? 

  • There are three major kinds of food: Proteins, Fats, and Carbohydrates

  • Examples of foods with Fats and Proteins include Meat, Eggs, Cheese

    • Fats and proteins are almost always found together.

  • Examples of foods with Carbohydrates include Sweets, Starches, Potatoes, Bread, Pasta, and Fruits

• Why Are They Bad? 

  • Because they raise blood sugar and blood insulin

  • Insulin is similar in structure to a growth factor called, Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF). In fact, when you have too much insulin, the body reacts in a similar way to having too much IGF. A great example of this is the length of the eyeball. Why do you need glasses? It is likely because your blood insulin was too high and caused your eyes to continue growing when they should have stopped since they mistook Insulin for IGF.

  • A similar process occurs in your arteries... have you ever noticed that most of the diseases that plague the elderly have to do with blood vessel health?

    • Heart Disease (coronary arteries)

    • Thromboses (clots in arteries)

    • DVT's, or "blood clots" (veins)

    • Strokes (arteries in brain)

    • Aneurysms (arteries anywhere)

    • High Blood Pressure (arteries)

    • Macular Degeneration (arteries in retina of the eye)

    • Loss of Limbs (diabetics have problems with circulation in their feet and hands).

  • Arteries are damaged by insulin, and this damage leads to the symptoms above.

• Speed Counts the Most:

  • Carbohydrates increase your blood sugar and blood insulin... but how fast?

    • Insulin is produced in response to sugar to help process it.

  • The faster simple sugars enter your blood, the higher the insulin response. It even over-responds if the blood sugar rises too fast.

  • Sugars raise your blood sugar the fastest, and as a result, raise your insulin levels the most.

  • Complex carbohydrates like pasta, bread, or potatoes take longer to digest. This means they are not as bad as sugars, but they still have a negative effect.

  • Fats and fibers slow the absorption of carbohydrates to a safe rate. Thus, vegetables are safe despite containing some carbs.

  • Speed of carbohydrate absorption is measured by "glycemic index." Removing fat and fiber increase the rate... that's why "low fat" foods are not healthy, they are actually high-sugar or high-carb with a higher-than-usual glycemic index.

• The Effect Builds with Time:

  • Repeated exposure to sugary and starchy foods causes insulin levels to be chronically high (high all the time) and desensitizes your body to insulin.

  • This insensitivity is often compared to "deafness." The insulin is like a signal to the cells of the body. When the signal becomes too loud, the cells have a way to "cover their ears." This results in more insulin being produced. 

  • This effect multiplies and compounds with time. When your blood insulin and sugar go high enough, you become diabetic. However, this can be reversed (for type 2 diabetes) by eliminating starches and sugars from the diet. Keeping total calories low helps too.

  • dHigh insulin levels shorten lifespan significantly and create man horrible health problems

  • Obesity

  • Heart disease

  • Diabetes, etc.

• Higher blood insulin levels, ironically, INCREASES your appetite while simultaneously causing you to convert and store those excess CARBOHYDRATES as BODY FAT.

• Near-Sightedness Linked to Excess Sugar in Diet of Children.

  • This is a study by Loren Cordain, Ph.D.  et al, Department of Health and Exercise Science, Colorado State University (pictured)

• Sneaky Sugars:

  • Some sugars and "carbs" are hard to detect

  • Avoid foods that include: Fructose, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Dextrose, Molasses, Sucrose, and Honey as additives.

  • Don't be tricked into thinking that "natural" sugars are healthy. ALL SUGARS ARE NATURAL in some way.

  • Soda Pop (soft drinks) are sweetened with fructose in the form of corn syrup. What do you think the sweet substance in orange or apple juice is? (Fructose!) It's the same molecule, so it doesn't matter which type of plant produced it.

• Cooking causes food to change chemically.

  • Vegetables are extremely nutritious when raw. Cooking turns them into relatively un-nutritious fiber... like wood. Fiber is good for you, but why pay for all that nutrition just to burn it up?

  • Carbohydrates, when cooked enough to caramelize or "brown," become acrylamide. This is a known carcinogen. Caramel IS acrylamide. We love the taste of toast and caramel candy
    (and dogs love the taste of anti-freeze).

    • Acrylamide is found in nearly 100% of processed carbohydrates (from fig newtons to cheerios)

  • Fats, when cooked can produce trans-fatty acids. These are known to be quite toxic.

    • Safe fats for cooking include: Butter, Coconut Oil, Lard

    • They are safe because they are solid at room temperature indicating the near-absense of the types of fats that can turn "trans-fatty."

• When the nutrition of a food is measured for its label, it is usually measured in the raw state.

• Raw foods are more nutritious. A highly nutritious diet helps our bodies be as healthy as they are able to be given our genetic and epi-genetic heritage.

  • Yes, you can still get a disease despite doing everything perfectly. But, why play Russian Roulette if you don't have to?

• IF... and its a big if that you mustn't overlook... you get adequate nutrition, THEN you may actually double your otherwise normal lifespan.

  • Lab animals (mammals too) of every species that has been tested see an amazing increase in health and lifespan when kept on a very low calorie, highly nutritious diet. Most seem to live from 1.5 to 2.0 times as long as normal.

• Why?

  • The researchers are not sure why, just yet. However, it is probably much more than a coincidence that insulin levels are kept as low as possible on this diet. (see lesson #3 above)

  • There is also some indication that a set of genes called "SIR2" are activated when calories are kept low. These are thought to activate stem cells to regenerate old tissues more than they would otherwise. (Other names for SIR2 include: SIRT1, SIR2L1 or Sir2-alpha which are all abbreviations for "sirtuins"

• Do you have to starve yourself? Who wants to live like that?

  • If you eat nutritious foods, and plenty of vegetables, then your appetite will naturally decrease.

  • If you eat a steady amount of calories each day, even if its low, then your appetite will behave itself.

  • If you are losing weight, your appetite will be stronger than usual, once you stabilize, your appetite decreases to acceptable levels. 

  • Some foods are known to decrease appetite: Apple Cider Vinegar, fiber (e.g. as from vegetables or raw oats), and fats

• How low?

  • Start by realistically measuring what you currently eat. For most men, this runs between 2000 and 3000 calories per day. Women average between 1000 and 2000.

  • Next, reduce it to about 3/4 and try to stick with that level for a while, maybe a year or so.

  • Finally, after your body weight is down to a fairly low level, try to go a little lower. The lower you can go, the better (within reason, and without sacrificing nutrition).

    • Anorexia: Anorexia is a pathology of eating very little without any concern for nutrition. The results of this problem can actually be a premature death. Ironically, people on a highly nutritious but low-calorie diet can appear quite thin. Visit your doctor to get a checkup once your weight gets low.

• Other techniques:

  • Fasting (not eating any calories at all) for several days is very good for you. Low blood-sugar problems like feeling "faint" or "jittery" will pass as your body is weaned off of sugary foods. This sensitivity to low blood sugar is a good sign that you're eating way too much sugar and carbohydrate.

  • Fasting regularly increases health and lifespan providing that nutrition remains high when you do eat.

  • Mice that were forced to fast every other day, but allowed to eat as much as they wanted on the days they did eat, lived about 1.25 times as long as average.

  • Extreme exercise duration, as in a marathon, produces a situation similar to a fast in the body. But, this approach can be very stressful and counterproductive if you're not careful.

LESSON #6: RESVERATROL: MAYBE A MAGIC BULLET!

• After reading lesson #5, you will be delighted to know that there is a chemical produced in grape skins and some other plants that activates the SIR2 genes. It goes by the name "Resveratrol."
• Mice fed high levels of this compound live about 1.5 times as long as normal despite a normal or even high-calorie diet. They also avoid disease for longer than their counterparts.
  • There is a real-world example of this happening in the human population. Because this compound is found in red wine, populations that regularly drink it tend to have healthier populations. This is sometimes called the "French Paradox" because the French, and many other Mediterraneans, eat what is considered to be an unhealthy diet, yet remain fairly healthy.
• How to get it, pitfalls to avoid:
  • The compound that you need is called (exactly) trans-resveratrol. Don't be fooled by cheaper products promising "resveratrols" or "grape skin extract." The real deal is expensive. You need about 100 or more milligrams per day.
  • It doesn't matter if the compound comes from grape skins or not. So long as the chemical name is exactly the same (except maybe for the dash), you are getting what you need.
• Why is this enzyme such a big deal? This is the only, THE ONLY, substance ever found to increase lifespan significantly. This is a first for history. Take advantage of it!
• Does it make the diet obsolete?
  • It may or may not make the diet obsolete in the long run. For now, double your odds by doing both.

• Certain ideas come and go while others stand the test of time. How do you know the difference ahead of time?
  • The advice on this page is either very old and merely against the fads of today, or
  • it is backed by remarkable empirical evidence (resveratrol, low-calorie diets).
  • This is no fad because it is known to work. In addition, you run no risk if you try it. It will not benefit me in the least, nor will it benefit any large industry. In fact, it will likely hurt the processed food and medical/pharmaceutical industries.
• You can be your own science researcher!
  • Get about 4-8 normally short-lived pets like mice or hamsters.
  • Feed half of them the foods on this diet at a lower-than-usual calorie level.
  • Feed the other half foods that are high in starch, sugar, and low in fat. Or just feed them what you'd normally eat.
  • Watch the two groups age at different rates. Watch the accumulation of tumors and obesity in the "normal" group.

• Exercise increases insulin sensitivity by producing a mini-starvation in your body. By sucking out all of your liver's calorie reserves, the body reacts as it would on a fast.
• Ironically, high blood sugar and insulin levels make you feel good. Low levels make you feel bad. That's part of the reason that exercise is so painful. Your body is trying to keep you from using too much energy by making it hurt. Since you don't have a gas gauge, your body communicates the danger by causing you to suffer as the tank nears empty.
  • The tank is in the liver not your fat belly. Body fat seems to be a last resort for the body despite how large the amount stored.
• Everything that you can do with exercise can also be done with diet except for increases in strength and stamina.
• Exercise can compliment a good diet, but it can also do damage. Don't obsess!

• New Studies Support a Link Between Antibiotics and Allergies/Asthma:
  • This new study, out of Germany, tested both mice, in the lab as well as the human population of Germany for a double approach.
    • The mice on antibiotics developed allergies more readily than the other mice.
    • People receiving antibiotics, especially as children, were more likely to develop allergies during their lifetime.
  • Could antibiotics be the cause of our allergies and other autoimmune problems?
    • An immune system that attacks the wrong things can be very inconvenient (allergies), disabling (asthma), or lethal.
  • Eating foods with live bacteria can help alleviate the problem after antibiotics have done their damage.
    • Because antibiotics kill "friendly" bacteria, your immune system loses touch with the first "outsiders" with which it learned to co-exist after birth.
    • Try to overwhelm it with friendly substitutes may help it reestablish the ability to recognize biomolecular friends.
• The Truth About Salt by Ted H Spence, DDS, ND, PhD/DSc, MH
  • Real Salt (Sea Salt) is good for you and causes no health problems.
  • Unhealthy arteries sometimes respond by increasing blood pressure. Salt in the diet can make this worse, but it is not the cause of the problem.
• Do Not Eat Artificial Sweeteners
  • You can't fool your body for long. People who use artificial sweeteners tend to be very fat and show now signs of getting thin.
  • There is some indication that even sweet tastes can increase blood insulin levels. This might explain the difficulty that people have losing weight while using sweeteners.
  • Aspartame (NutraSweet)
  • Sucralose (Splenda)
• Avoid Vaccines: To be honest, we just don't know if they are worth it.
  • The evidence against them is fairly weak, but there is some indication that they may be linked to various health problems.
  • They may be better for the society as a whole, but they may not be better for the individual.
  • How To Avoid Being Legally Forced To Take A Vaccine/Immunization
• Avoid Fluoride in your water and toothpaste
  • If you ate a tube of toothpaste, the Fluoride would probably kill you!
  • Brush regularly, eat well (low sugar, high vegetable), and the teeth should be fine.
    • Sugar in the diet diminishes the natural, cavity-fighting functions of your teeth.
    • Carbonated Soft Drinks, containing both sugar and acid, are the number one enemy of your teeth. If you must drink them, immediately brush your teeth with baking soda to neutralize the acid.
  • Normally filtered tap water still contains Fluorine; Use Reverse Osmosis Filtration.
  • Europe took fluoride out of their public water because it was toxic.
  • The Complete Fluoride Debate (PDF format) compiled by Anita Shattuck
• Religion Maximizes Life Span
  • Religion and Medicine by Fred Rosner, MD
  • Beyond the placebo effect of Religion by David Pensgard
    REAL spiritual power to live well in this life and the next can only come from an accurate view of God and Humanity's status before that God.
  • Me, The Professor, Fuzzy, and The Meaning of Life a book by David Pensgard
    •  A philosophical analysis of life presented as a graphic novel (a book-length comic).

• "Trust Us, We're Experts : How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles With Your Future" by John Stauber, Sheldon Rampton (pictured left to right); Publisher: J. P. Tarcher; ISBN: 158542059X; 1st edition (December 22, 2000). (Pictured)
   
• Low Grain and Carbohydrate Diets Treat Hypoglycemia, Heart Disease, Diabetes Cancer and Nearly ALL Chronic Illness by Joseph Brasco, MD
  Dr. Joseph Brasco, M.D. is board certified in both internal medicine and gastroenterology. Dr. Brasco went to medical school at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and did his post graduate training at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He has been in private practice in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago for the past 10 years and is known as one of the leading nutritional GI specialists in the country. Dr. Brasco strives for cures rather than treating symptoms with drugs.
   
•  108 Ways Sugar Can Ruin Your Health Referenced List compiled by Nancy Appleton, Ph.D.
   
• We Eat Far Too Many Polyunsaturated Fats in the US by PM Kris-Etherton, Denise Shaffer Taylor, et. al. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 71, No. 1, 179-188, January 2000. Penny M. Kris-Etherton Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, University of Minnesota, 1978. Dr. Kris-Etherton is Didactic Program Director for the American Dietetic Association (ADA).
• Tripping Lightly Down the Prostaglandin Pathways by Sally Fallon, M.A. and Mary G. Enig, Ph.D. Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation Journal Vol. 20, #3 FALL 1996
  Sally Fallon is a food historian and nutrition journalist; She is President of the Weston A. Price Foundation and editor of 'Wise Traditions', the Foundation's quarterly magazine. Mary Enig is a nutritionist/biochemist of international renown for her research on the nutritional aspects of fats and oils. She is a consultant, clinician, and the Director of the Nutritional Sciences Division of Enig Associates, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland.
   
• Green Tea, Fluoride, and the Thyroid by Andreas Schuld, Parents of Fluoride Poisoned Children (PFPC)
   
• One Doctor's Eating Plan: Dr. Joseph Mercola. Eat what your body was made to eat: Raw Unmodified Vegetables, Grass-Fed Meat, Eggs, Nuts and Seeds... It's a lot like turning the USDA's Food Pyramid upside down!
   

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MEDICAL DISCLAIMER Please be sure to understand that the advice on this site is not intended to be a substitute for a physician's advice. These articles are collected from the medical research extant, but are not necessarily accepted by the medical community. One should always consult a physician before beginning a new diet or exercise program. The articles on this site are mostly from peer reviewed journals and/or make reference to the same. As such, the research is primarily from medical doctors and research PhDs. Other articles are by David Pensgard, who was educated at Northwestern University, B.A. Neurobiology.