Food – Fresh and Whole For Body Health

We all want to have a healthy body to enjoy and experience life to its fullest. We know that we need to eat nutritious foods in order to have a healthy body, but it is difficult to choose which foods are good for us and which are not because of all the conflicting information bombarding us. For example, is drinking milk good for us? Our first reaction is yes, but then when we study the subject farther, the answer becomes a no, and when we study it farther, the answer becomes it depends. How can such a simple thing as drinking milk be so confusing?

Just like milk, there are dozens of other food that experts have conflicting opinions on. To know whether a food is good for you or not, you need to look at it from several different angles. It is worth exploring these angles because once we understand them, judging whether a food is healthy or not will become easier.

A factor you are not likely told is that food burdens and causes disease in your body when it is not digested properly. It is very important to understand this factor because most of the mass produced food available today is not ideal for maintaining our health due to the digestibility factor.

Food supplies our body with the energy and the raw materials it needs to think, move, and repair itself. Before food can be used by the body, it needs to be digested or broken down into its basic parts — glucose, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. Once digested, these nutrients can be absorbed into the bloodstream and sent to all the cells in the body. In food, glucose is derived from starches and sugars (carbohydrates), amino acids from proteins, fatty acids from fats, while vitamins and minerals exist in a form that can be absorbed right away by the body. Food groups such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats are like a long chain of their basic parts held together by locks. The body cannot use these chains until it open each lock and releases the basic parts.

 

 

The job of breaking down food falls to the digestive enzymes. Enzymes are made of proteins and acts like a key specific to a food group chain. Each enzyme key only fits into a specific type of lock. For example, carbohydrates are unlocked by amylase, protein are unlocked by protease, and fats are unlocked by lipase. The key or enzyme can be used repeatedly but it is vulnerable to heat and pH levels. When heated above 115°F ( 46°C), the protein’s structure shrivels and the enzyme cannot work properly anymore. Without enzymes, the body receiving carbohydrates, proteins and fats cannot make use of them.

When food is overly processed due to cooking or manufacturing processes, it undermines our bodies’ ability to digest the food properly.
• Carbohydrates are made easier to digest and get released into the body too fast. Too much sugar in our bloodstream eventually leads to diabetes and eye diseases like diabetic retinopathy.
• Fats react to oxygen turning it rancid and making it indigestible by the body. For example, every 18°F (10°C) double the rancidity reaction speed. This means that frying at 300°F (150°C) will make the oil rancid 8,200 times faster than if left at room temperature of 68°F (20°C). This makes fried food indigestible and should be avoided since restaurants normally keep the oil in the friers heated for many hours each day and only replaces the oil every 5 to 7 days. (Moser 1996)
• The protein structure hardens making them less digestible than when it is raw. For example, meat protein is hardened at 160°F (71°C). Milk protein hardens at 145°F (63°C). Egg is an exception, it is more digestibility when heated until it just curdles, and becomes less digestibility when hard boiled or fully cooked. (Shelton 1975)

The biggest problem of heating food is with proteins. If we use the chain analogy, it is like having the amino acids held together by melted locks. The enzyme key cannot fit into the lock, so the body cannot breakdown the protein properly. There are different amounts of protein in each type of food, not only in meat. For example, whole grain wheat has 13.6 percent protein, almond has 21 percent protein, broccoli has 3 percent protein, tofu has 10 percent protein, and a sirloin steak has 31 percent protein. (SND 2010) This makes digesting a very difficult task for the body. Why should this concern you?

Any part of the food that is not digested properly becomes food for yeast and bacteria living in our colon. Yeast breaks down carbohydrates in a process call fermentation, and anaerobic bacterias break down proteins in a process call putrefaction. Dr. John Kellogg in his book The New Dietetics: A Guide to Scientific Feeding in Health and Disease Volume 1 wrote, “these bacteria are present in the intestines in enormous quantities. Gilbert calculates the number of bacteria daily discharged from the body at twelve trillions. Strassberger makes the number one hundred and twenty trillions. Roger enumerates 240 species of bacteria which has been found in the human intestine. Many of these produce substances which are in the highest degree toxic. On a high-protein diet, the poison-forming bacteria rapidly increase, giving rise to intestinal autointoxication.” (Kellogg 1923).

These toxins irritate the colon and can get absorb into the bloodstream which creates more work for the kidneys and liver. The kidneys and liver are the organs that neutralize and eliminate toxins from the body. This is not the worst of it. According to Dr. Isabelle Moser, improperly digested food are sticky. They stick to the colon and thickens over time like mineral deposits in the water pipe. The build up putrefy as it thicken and harden over many years. It becomes a source of toxins that continually gets absorb into the bloodstream where the kidneys and liver will have to remove it.

After many years of this toxic burden, the kidneys and liver begin to weaken. When they weaken, other organs such as the lungs and skin must help to eliminate toxins from the body. When they eliminate toxins, symptoms such as cold, flu, bronchitis, chronic cough, acne or rashes are created. If we take medicine to stop the body from eliminating the toxins through these symptoms, then the body, “begins to store toxins in fat or muscle tissues or the joint cavities, overburdens the kidneys, creates cysts, fibroids, and benign tumors to store those toxins. If toxic overload continues over a longer time the body will eventually have to permit damages to vital tissues, and life-threatening conditions develop.” (Moser 1997) This poisoning process is called autointoxication.

Our internal organs work together to maintain the health of our body. The weakening of one organ will affect all the other organs. Although an organ can be damaged due to various reasons such as malnutrition, dehydration, or genetics, food that is not digested properly remains the main culprit in weakening our organs and eventually causing disease.

Most raw foods can be digested easily by our body because all the enzymes in the food and from our body can unlock the food chains correctly. The high water content releases the sugars, vitamins and minerals easily. Undamaged protein can be turned into amino acids and fats can be turned into fatty acids. Fibers help to keep absorption constant and to push all the digested food along the intestines and out the anus. All these components allow for proper digestion and elimination. This is ideal.

Raw food is good, but we cannot generalize that everything should be eaten raw. For example, grains, legumes, and nuts contain enzyme inhibitors, tannins and phytic acid which interferes with digestion and mineral absorption. Cruciferous family vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, radishes and turnips contains goitrogens that interferes with iodine absorption which could suppress the thyroid gland functions. (Allbritton 2010) Raw milk may contain harmful bacterias. Raw meat may contain harmful parasites and worms. It is important to know the food and to prepare it correctly so that our body can digest it properly. Lucky for us, someone had the foresight to document the way healthy people in isolated parts of the world lived and ate to maintain good health.

Dr. Weston Price in his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration documented his travel to remote villages all over the world from the Eskimos in the barren cold arctic to the Maasai in the hot plains of Africa, and from the Loetschental Valley people in the high Swiss Alps to the Polynesians in the low coastal islands, to see first hand what kept people in isolated areas so healthy. He examined their teeth. He analyzed the nutrients in the food they ate. He assessed their personality and character. The result shows the potential of good physical and mental health when food is used correctly. These people untouched by modern conveniences knew how to prepare and eat their food correctly.

According to Dr Weston Price (Price 1970):
• Organs, fat, and meat were eaten raw and cooked. The organs and fat are highly prized not the meat.
• Fish, shellfish, insects, worms, reptiles, etc., were also eaten raw and cooked.
• Bones were used to make broths.
• Milk was drunk raw and whole with their cream. It was also fermented to make yogurt and kefir, or turned into cheese and butter for the winter.
• Fresh fruits and vegetables were eaten raw and lacto-fermented to make pickles.
• Grains, legumes and nuts were soaked, sprouted, fermented, or leavened before eating raw or cooked

By preparing and eating food properly, it does not matter what type of diet that these people had, whether it is mostly meat, mostly dairy and grains, mostly vegetables, or mixed, they were able to maintain excellent health. What does he mean by good health?

Some characteristics of health highlighted by Dr. Price:
• The dental arches and face were well formed allowing plenty of room for the teeth to grow straight. Their teeth were white with little or no cavities, and they kept it until death.
• Sturdy physiques.
• They do not suffer from bacterial infections such as tuberculosis.
• They do not suffer from degenerative disease like heart disease, cancer, or arthritis.
• Women gave birth easily and the babies had high survival rate.

It is an amazing feat since they did not have access to dentists, doctors, and modern medicine. The interesting thing was when these healthy people moved to the city and adapted to the modern foods, they developed cavities and diseases like everyone else. What are these modern foods? Dr. Price noted white bread, white sugar, cakes, canned marmalade, canned vegetables, condensed milk, sweetened fruit juices, and jams. Today, we have even more to choose from and to deal with.

Most of the food available to us are:
• Ready to eat foods such as corn and potato chips, cookies, candy, cakes, pastries, breads, crackers, jam, soda, cereals, hot dogs, ice cream, freeze dried fruits.
• Fast food such as hamburger, french fries, fried chicken, tacos, sandwiches, pizza, hot dogs, luncheon meats, sundaes.
• Canned meat, tuna, sardine, soup, broth, chilli.
• Sodas, boxed juices, distilled alcohol and beer, wine with additives (to stop fermentation).
• Refined and processed ingredients such as white flour, white sugar, condensed milk, high fructose corn syrup, margarine, vegetable shortening. These processes remove the nutrients needed by the body or make it impossible for our body to digest.
Meat from animals raised in cruel and unhygienic conditions, and fed hormones and antibiotics.
• Milk that is skimmed of its fat, then homogenized and pasteurized.
• Fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and nuts sprayed with chemicals and pesticides.

Most of the foods found in the supermarket aisles have been refined or processed in some way. The only exception is the produce and meat aisles. Most of these refined and processed foods are indigestible or unsuitable for our body. With so much of these food around us, is it any wonder that we are confused about what food we should eat to maintain good health.

To lessen the confusion, we should learn from the traditional methods of eating. No matter what type of food we choose to eat, we should follow a few guidelines from the traditional methods learned from the people Dr. Price visited.

• Choose to eat foods grown or raised in a natural and humane way. This means field-grazed, hormone-free, and antibiotics-free healthy animals. This also means plants grown organically.
• If you eat meat, use all parts of the animal including brains, eyes, tongues, blood, fat, heart, kidney, liver, stomach, intestines, etc. Use the bones to make broth. There are more nutrients in the organs then the meat. Cook meat no longer than medium rare, if not, then eat less of it.
• If you eat seafood, use wild seafood found in unpolluted waters.
• If you use dairy, choose raw milk, and cheese made from raw milk.
• Oil should be cold-pressed, expeller-expressed, or animal fat.
• Vegetables can be eaten raw, lightly stir-fried, or steamed. Some are better lightly cooked such as the cruciferous family vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, radishes and turnips.
Fruits can be eaten raw or fermented.
• Choose to eat or drink more fermented foods – sauerkraut, kim chi, tempeh, miso, kifer, kombucha, yogurt, etc.
• Grain, legumes, and nuts should be soaked, sprouted, fermented, or leavened before eating raw or cooked.
• Use natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, dehydrated cane sugar, or stevia; however, use sparingly.
  Choose vitamin supplement from natural sources rather than synthetic.

We can eat any food that we feel is suitable for us as long as the food is natural, whole, chemical-free, unrefined and unprocessed. Many experts will agree with eating fruits, vegetables, sprouted grains, legumes and nuts, and lacto-fermented drinks and pickles. Unfortunately, many disagree with rare meat, seafood, fat, organs, and raw whole milk. We know that fully cooked protein is hard for our body to digest, so it should be eaten as rare as possible otherwise it should not be eaten. In this case, we do have to choose our meats from a reliable source because there is real danger of parasites and worms in the meat if it is not thoroughly cooked to kill them.

There will always be differing expert opinions, so we can try to judge whether it is suitable for us based on these traditional guidelines. For examples, should we eat burger, fries and coke? The burger bun is made of refined white flour, hamburger patties are made from mass produced beef, french fries are fried in hydrogenated oil, and coke is artificially flavored carbonated sugar water. So, that is a big No! How about a bag of organic potato chips? This is a little harder because it is made from organic ingredients. The chips are fried in vegetable oil which defeats the purpose of choosing oils that are cold pressed. So, again it is good to stay away from them if you can resist. How about dried fruits? If the ingredients contains preservatives like sulfur dioxide (SO2), then it’s not free of chemicals. It is interesting that sulfur dioxide can be used in food. Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety warns, “Short exposure (1-6 hours) to concentrations as low as 1 ppm (parts per million) may produce a reversible decrease in lung function. A 10 to 30 minute exposure to concentrations as low as 5 ppm has produced constriction of the bronchiole tubes… Liquid SO2 can burn the eye and permanently affect vision. Any eye contact should be treated as very serious.” (CCOHS 1997).

It will be challenging to change from a “convenient food” lifestyle to a “healthy food” lifestyle because all the supermarkets are packed with our modern staple of convenient processed foods. Mass produced foods are also much cheaper. For most people, it is a fine balance between choosing what is good for us, and the price we can afford to pay for our food. It will be easier to choose convenience over health, but if we are up for a challenge and want a healthy body, then health is the road to take. Change can be overwhelming, so it is best to take one small step at a time. Start by avoiding deep fried foods. Then, progress to avoiding refined foods. If available and affordable, choose free range field grazed, antibiotics and hormone free animals for meat. Cook and eat the meat rare or medium rare. After that, up the ante and move on to eating and making sauerkraut or kim chi (spicy fermented napa cabbage). Changing habits take time, and small incremental steps will allow you to slowly make big changes just as water freezing and thawing in a small crack of a granite mountain will eventually split it.

In the end, we can only do the best we can with the constraints and obstacles we are dealt with. We also want to enjoy and experience life through our food rather than be constraint by it. Based on the guidelines, there are many foods we must avoid. It does not mean that we cannot enjoy some of our favorites like chocolate cake or triple fudge ice cream sundae once in a while. Melvin Page, a famous dentist and nutritionist, suggested that our body can maintain good teeth, gums and bone structures as long as we are 75% from nutritional perfection. We do have a little room for enjoyment! Any positive step we can take in the right direction is one step closer to health than we were before. If we can make enough positive steps, our internal organs’ health improves, and that will reflect in our body and eyes. Healthy eyes will lead to better eyesight. Take that one small step on the road to health, you will be surprise where it will lead.