Treating Cancer Naturally: How It Can Fail

Treating Cancer Naturally: How It Can Fail

APR 6 • "FOOD" TO AVOID, A PARADIGM SHIFT, DIET, GOOD HEALTHY FOOD, HEALTH • 87 VIEWS • COMMENTS OFF

by PAUL FASSA

There are many alternative cancer remedies that are without harmful side effects and more effective thanchemotherapy, radiation and surgery. You need to also know what is often omitted or ignored that causes natural cures to fail or relapses to occur.

Without a proper diet, with specific exclusions and inclusions, non-recurring cancer survival rates diminish. Dietary changes alone, no herbs, no chemical medicines, have reversed cancer in many.

There are many accounts of someone’s dear friend or relative who tried natural remedies and died anyway because they refused to change from the diet that was part of the reason they were stricken with cancer in the first place.

A young man seeking natural cures for his cancer with a successful “Go Fund Me” account keeps relapsing from the cures after caving into processed food addictions. Why?

The Basic Diet Change Refusal Trap

A common mindset is only the medicine is needed for the cure. Mainstream oncologists scoff at dietary issues as non-issues with their patients. It’s common to have ice cream and cookies served to IV chemotherapy patients while they sit with IVs draining toxic chemicals into them.

Many are so accustomed to eating processed foods that are easily prepared or eating out often that they’re not aware of the “garbage in” factor for their health until it’s too late. Then the addictive qualities of those foods makes it difficult to change. But serious change needs to occur if one wishes to benefit the most from whatever alternative treatments are chosen.

Nobel Laureate scientist Otto Warburg isolated the mechanics of how cancer cells survive decades ago, and his discovery still stands: They become cancerous by fermenting sugar after they lose the ability to use oxygen to metabolize nutrients as normal cells do.

Removing added refined sugar from the diet endangers cancer cells and so does oxygenating them. This does not include natural sugars in whole organic fruits and carrots.

Lately, more and more cancer patients are avoiding mainstream medicine’s barbaric expensive approach by getting involved with various digestible forms of cannabis, such as cannabis oil and butter.

But too many of these cannabis patients also retain the mindset of medicine that kills cancer cells selectively is all you need.  Just keep eating what you’ve always been eating, especially if it tastes good. Not a good idea.

This same mindset can infect others who use any of the many other cures for cancer, such as laetrile or apricot seed kernels, Essiac Tea, baking soda with molasses (the molasses is the bait for baking soda to increase pH in cancer cells), and many others.

In each of these cases, not utilizing a “cancer diet” is like squirting gasoline on the fire while you’re attempting to hose it down with water. The term “cancer diet” is from Webster Kehr of the CancerTutor website. The Cancertutor.com is an excellent source for natural cancer cure discoveries.

Here’s Webster Kehr’s forceful statement regarding the importance of the cancer diet: “The cancer diet is just as important as the cancer treatment. If the cancer diet is not, in and of itself, treating the cancer, then it is interfering with the cancer treatment!”

Avoid These During and After Alt. Cancer Treatments

Refined sugars: Pastries, candies, sodas, and fruit juices off store shelves with added sugars.
The Nature Works Best Cancer Clinic, a completely naturopathic cancer clinic in Tempe, AZ, did a survey among over 300 of their patients and discovered: “… regardless of the cancer or the stage, those cancer patients who avoided [added] sugar in the diet had more than twice the rate of survival of the sugar eaters. Of those who ate sugar, 36% went into remission; of those who avoided sugar, 90% went into remission.”

Refined flours: Most pastries and off the shelf breads are made of these, even if marketed as “healthy’ or whole grain. Freshly baked sprouted grain breads and/or real traditional sour dough breads that aren’t baked with bromides may offer an occasional bread break.

Refined salt: This is what’s offered in most eateries and what most consumers purchase for their homes. Butreal unprocessed sea salt is healthy in moderation.

Sugar substitutes: NutraSweet, Equal, aspartame, high fructose corn syrup, and others are ubiquitous in processed foods and beverages, even those available in health food stores. Avoid them all.

Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated processed vegetable oils: These contain trans-fatty acids that even the FDA recognizes as unhealthy, and they are also ubiquitous in processed foods. But they’re also available to take home and use for cooking or salads. Don’t take them home. Margarine is of the same ilk.

Canola oil is not a healthy alternative either. Unprocessed cold pressed flaxseed oils are used in some cancer diets, especially the Budwig Diet for cancer. Real cold pressed virgin olive and unrefined avocado oil should be okay moderately used. Unrefined virgin coconut oil is a very healthy choice.

Meats: Meats challenge the immune system because commercial meats are full of toxins from the livestock’sGMO meal mush and antibiotics and hormones. Even organic grass fed meats are a challenge because all whole protein foods require the same type of pancreatic enzymes to break those proteins down that can help break down cancer cell walls.
Unlike plant based foods, meats do not provide their own enzymes for digestion and protein assimilation! Only your pancreas does. Don’t wear out your pancreas when you need its enzyme production to help fight cancer the most.

Dairy: Most pasteurized dairy products, even organic, are devoid of enzymes and nutrients. Raw dairy products in moderation might be okay. But the combination of cottage cheese with cold pressed flax seed oil is used heavily in the Budwig Diet for curing cancer.

Cashews and Peanuts: Use only whole unpasteurized or non-radiated macadamia nuts, almonds, and walnuts.
Soy: Avoid it unless its organic and fermented. Tempeh is fermented tofu.

Tap Water: You can minimize chlorine and fluoride toxins by using reverse osmosis and activated charcoal filter machines available in many health food and even some grocery stores. Use that for drinking and cooking. If you can get real spring water, such as Mountain Valley, Volvic, and Fiji (a few examples), they could be used for drinking.

What Should Be Used In A Cancer Diet

Juicing with a slow speed masticating juicer: Omega and Champion offer those, and maybe some others do too. High speed centrifugal juicers tend to destroy the most beneficial cancer fighting enzymes that veggies, grasses, and fruits offer by creating a polarity of positive and negative charges in the mixture with their high speed.

Juiced carrots, beets, and apples: There have been cases of people curing their cancers juicing five pounds of carrots daily alone, which contain cancer cell killing falcarinol and oxalic acids. Some swear by juicing high oxalic acid beets. The Gerson therapy calls for lots of juicing of carrots mixed with apples and greens.

Whole Organic Grains: Moderately used, some grains are better or worse than others. Brown rice with organicfermented soy sauce, fermented tofu (tempeh), miso or miso soup can be used moderately. Some suggest soaking grains overnight in purified water to remove phytic acids that interfere with mineral absorption.

Greens: These can also be juiced or eaten raw as much as possible. Try to include wheatgrass and/or barley grass. Some light veggie steaming in bamboo baskets is okay. Making your own sprouts, especially broccoli sprouts, is a great dietary addition.

Webster Kehr parses usable choices even more and offers other cooked options and super foods. You can access his complete guide in the sources section below. These dietary suggestions may seem severe, but cancer can be severe too. Your choice.

Paul Fassa is a contributing staff writer for REALfarmacy.com. His pet peeves are the Medical Mafia’s control over health and the food industry and government regulatory agencies’ corruption. Paul’s contributions to the health movement and global paradigm shift are well received by truth seekers. Visit his blog by following this link and follow him on Twitter here

Sources:
Webster Kerr Breaks Down the Cancer DietFalcarinol in carrotsBest Juicer OptionsBaking Soda with Molasses

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Enzyme Nutrition and Raw Food: Fact or Fiction?

Certain foods, such as mushrooms, are actually healthier when cooked.

by John P. Thomas
Health Impact News

In a previous article I discussed the nutritional considerations of eating vegetables raw or cooked. The research showed strong support for eating a combination of raw and cooked vegetables, because both options provide nutritional benefits.

I am sure that some who read the first article are concerned about enzymes. They have chosen to eat vegetables raw for the sake of enzyme preservation. Food is considered raw when it has not been heated above 116-118 degrees F. The discussion of enzymes and raw food naturally leads to a consideration of the lifetime work of Dr. Edward Howell, author of Enzyme Nutrition.¹ Dr. Howell advocated a raw food diet to protect the naturally occurring enzymes that are in food, thinking that would preserve the enzymes that are in the human body. He believed this would provide for optimal health and longevity. His theory has 4 main points:

1. Enzymes in raw food contain the “life force,” which is transferred to the body when the food is eaten. This “life force” enhances vitality and longevity. When cooked food is eaten, the body must use up some of its own “life force”/”enzyme potential,” because cooked food does not contain any life force/live enzymes.
2. The enzymes present in raw foods provide significant help for the digestion of the foods themselves once the foods enter the human digestive system.
3. The body has a finite “enzyme potential” for manufacturing digestive enzymes, which must be preserved to promote health and longevity. The body permanently depletes a portion of its enzymes whenever cooked food is eaten.
4. Cooking destroys the enzymes in raw food, which forces the body to produce more of its own digestive enzymes than would otherwise be necessary to digest the food.²

Scientific research has advanced in many areas since Dr. Howell wrote his book. As a result I think it is desirable to take a fresh look at his enzyme theory. I took time to read through Dr. Howell’s book,Enzyme Nutrition, published in 1985. I will share some of what I observed.

Presuppositions

Presuppositions are foundational beliefs that research is built upon. Often we don’t examine our presuppositions because we think that our beliefs are so obvious that no one would ever question them.

At one time in history, everyone believed that the world was flat. This is an example of a presupposition that was ultimately replaced as new information became available. The adoption of the new supposition brought substantial change to scientific research in physics. Let’s take a look at some of Dr. Howell’s presuppositions and teachings to see how they stand up over time. I have stated my interpretation of Dr. Howell’s presuppositions as bold headings. I will begin by addressing the four main points stated above concerning his theory, and then add some additional considerations.

Enzymes are Life

Main Point 1: Enzymes in raw food also contain the “life force,” which is transferred to the body when the food is eaten. This “life force” enhances vitality and longevity. When cooked food is eaten, the body must use up some of its own “life force”/”enzyme potential,” because cooked food does not contain any life force/live enzymes.

The Forward to Dr. Howell’s book states,

For enzymes operate on both chemical and biological levels, and science cannot measure or synthesize their biological or life energy.

This biological force is the very core of every enzyme. Various names such as life energy, life force, life principle, vitality, vital force, strength, and nerve energy have been offered to describe this energy. Without the life energy of enzymes we would be nothing more than a pile of lifeless chemical substances—vitamins, minerals, water, and proteins. (page viii, Enzyme Nutrition)

Most certainly, enzymes are an important part of living organisms, but do they actually contain life itself? Dr. Howell elevates enzymes above all other elements of nutrition and dietary health by giving them the unique place of being a life force. This is only a theory. He presented evidence showing that enzymes contain energetic emanations as measured by Kirlian photography, but these electro-magnetic emanations are not life itself. To make such statements is to offer a presupposition without scientific proof.

Enzymes in Food are Aids to Digestion

Main Point 2: The enzymes present in raw foods provide significant help for the digestion of foods themselves once the foods enter the human digestive system.

Dr. Howell states,

Upon reflection, it becomes obvious that enzymes exist in all living things and become food enzymes when the food is eaten. But until I found out how ultrasensitive enzymes are to heat, I did not realize that the human race had been trying to get along without a whole category of food ingredients since cooking began. (page 121)

I tried to find research that supports the theory that the enzymes contained in the raw food we eat actually become digestive enzymes once we consume the food. This is a very common belief. But, I was unable to find any scientific proof for it.

There are two types of enzymes. Those that exist within the cells of living organisms, and in the case of organisms that have complex digestive systems containing stomachs and intestines, there are digestive enzymes. I could not find confirmation that the enzymes in our food will become digestive enzymes once the food has been consumed.

I suspect that the enzymes in food are actually destroyed by stomach acid. I also wonder about the very small amount of naturally occurring enzymes that are contained in many leafy vegetables. Are there really enough enzymes to produce a digestive effect? The enzymes in vegetables help the plant decompose in the natural environment. But, I cannot find any scientific evidence that the natural plant enzymes digest food in the stomach. This appears to be speculation.

Dr. Howell states,

The aging of meat and game to promote its tenderness and enhance its flavor has been practiced for a long time. The aging process consists of keeping the product at the proper environment of moisture and temperature. This allows the enzyme cathepsin within the tissues to slowly digest the hung meat by a process not unlike that which occurs in the digestive tract and which is known as autolysis. This is a good example of the operation of food enzymes. In those carnivores swallowing an entire animal, the catheptic enzymes of the prey become food enzymes and act the same way in the stomach of the host as they do when aging meat. (page 41, Enzyme Nutrition)

The enzymes in plants and animals certainly work in the natural environment to degrade the organisms (to recycle it) after it dies. However, do enzymes work that way in the human digestive system? Once again this is speculation. The natural function of the human digestive system is to breakdown and digest all parts of the food we eat. The enzymes in food are not somehow selectively preserved so that they can digest food. They are digested by the body along with all the other components of the raw food that we eat.

Every Organism will Die when Its Finite Amount of Enzymes have been Exhausted

Main Point 3: The body has a finite “enzyme potential” for manufacturing digestive enzymes, which must be preserved to promote health and longevity. The body permanently depletes a portion of its enzymes whenever cooked food is eaten.

Dr. Howell stated,

We can learn from this research that if you have young enzymes at age 80 you should be in the prime of life—not old. If you take in enzyme reinforcements during the younger years, your enzymes at 80 will be more like those at 40. (page 28)

Dr. Howell focused his medical career on promoting the consumption of raw food, based on the belief that every living organism was born with a finite amount of enzymes, and when these enzymes were used up, the organism would die. Thus, he taught that people should eat as much raw food as possible, because if food does not contain enzymes, then we must use our own storehouse of enzymes to digest food, which will eventually exhaust our finite supply. Death occurs once enzymes have been depleted. He relied on various insect and animal studies to try to prove his theory. The studies measured total enzyme content in Daphnia, grasshoppers, potato beetles, fireflies, nematodes, and rats at different ages. The findings showed that younger adult insects and animals had high enzymes and old insects and animals had low enzymes. Other studies measured the enzymes in human saliva and found a similar pattern. Old people had fewer enzymes than young people.

If his enzyme theory is true, then a person should be able to extend life indefinitely. We would expect that a person who eats only raw food and takes enzyme supplementation should be able to live much longer than people who eat cooked food and who do not take enzyme supplementation. This is a theory without any proof. The proof will not be found in animal studies or insect studies or in deductive reasoning, but in actual research conducted in human subjects over the course of a lifetime. I will be glad to be corrected if I am wrong, but I am unaware of people living to the age of 120 or older, because they only ate raw food and consumed supplemental enzymes. The reduction in enzyme levels as people and other organisms age is not necessarily the one and only cause of aging or death.

Cooking and Processing of Proteins, Carbohydrates, and Fats

Main Point 4: Cooking destroys the enzymes in raw food, which forces the body to produce more of its own digestive enzymes than would otherwise be necessary to digest the food.

Dr. Howell states,

The secret of the good health of the carnivorous Eskimo is not that he eats meat, but that he forbids his personal enzymes to digest all of it. We can do the same with proteins, carbohydrates, and fats from plant foods. (page 47, Enzyme Nutrition)

I will accept the resources sited by Dr. Howell that Eskimos allowed the process of autolysis and bacterial fermentation to take place in stored meat before they consumed it. However, my problem with the preceding statement, and with the totality of the theory he is promoting, is that Dr. Howell has a presupposition that if cooking is bad for some types of food, then it is bad for all foods. He treats proteins, carbohydrates, and fats as if his enzyme theory applied identically to each type of food. For example, he does not always differentiate between the harmful effects of highly processed/refined carbohydrate and other forms of carbohydrate. He concludes that bread is bad, because it is cooked. Perhaps bread is unhealthy because it is made of highly refined carbohydrate, which almost instantly turns into sugar once it enters the body. Based on more recent research, it is clear that most people today have a fundamental problem with their metabolism because of the large quantities of carbohydrates found in the typical American diet. This problem manifests in the high rates of obesity and metabolic syndrome. The problem is not caused by the cooking of the carbohydrates. Rather the problem is the quantity consumed and the highly refined and denatured quality of the carbohydrates.

Dr. Howell very clearly articulated the problem with one carbohydrate: white sugar. He called it a skeletal food. But at the time he wrote his book, he did not seem to understand the rapid conversion process of other forms of carbohydrate into sugars. We now know that the cooking of carbohydrate is much less important than the actual nature of carbohydrate itself, especially for people with damaged digestive systems.

Enzymes are the Last and Final Revelations in Nutritional Knowledge

Dr. Howell stated,

In 1932, when I discovered food enzymes, I counted myself with the very few in believing we possessed the last and final revelations in nutritional knowledge. (page 121)

Among the many thousands of species of creatures living on this earth, only humans and some of their domestic animals try to live without food enzymes. And only these transgressors of nature’s laws are penalized with defective health. We cannot ascribe poor human health to vitamin or mineral deficiencies because foods have been fortified to the hilt with these. (page 17)

Dr Howell considers the discovery of enzymes to be more important than all other dietary factors. He bases human health on the presence or absence of enzymes in the diet and in the body. It is short-sighted to ascribe health or illness to only one factor such as enzymes.  And dangerous to assume that food fortified with synthetic vitamins and dead minerals will support health. Many important vitamins have been discovered since 1932. Our modern agricultural methods have diminished the vitamin and mineral content of food and have added toxic ingredients that are making us all sicker. A simple reliance on enzymes will not correct the mineral and vitamin deficiencies of low quality food.

Man should have Built-in Cooking Equipment

Let the reader consider that a human baby, like an infant animal, is given raw food having a full complement of enzymes, from the breasts of its mother. If it needed cooked food for survival, it would have been provided with it. But in fact, a newborn infant has no need for cooked food. A cooking stove, which is a human invention, does not come permanently attached as a part of the anatomy of a newly born infant! (page 71, Enzyme Nutrition)

This is an interesting argument. Thus, we could also say, if a human being required clothing for warmth, we would be born wearing clothing and would not need to manufacture it. I agree that a new born baby needs only the milk of its mother, but it seems rather silly to put forth the argument that the lack of a built in stove in our anatomy means that we should not cook food later in life.

Food should be Pure and Unadulterated

no one has the knowledge to say that taking something away from food is ”safe,” or adding a foreign element to food is ”safe. (page 71, Enzyme Nutrition)

There is considerable wisdom in the preceding statement. The modern agribusiness model and corporate genetic engineering programs assume that people possess the wisdom necessary to fundamentally alter food for the sake of profitability without harm to our health. Dr. Howells’s preceding statement reflects his passion for not disturbing the purity of natural food. This is noteworthy.

Cancer and Heart Disease are the result of Disturbed Metabolism and the loss of Food Enzymes

It is decidedly unbecoming for those possessing the tools of science to close their eyes to the possibility that those diseases which are human trademarks, such as cancer and heart disease, are the products of disturbed metabolism induced partly by the hidden machinations of food enzyme deficiency. (page 71, Enzyme Nutrition)

Dr. Howell had an accurate view on many aspects of nutrition. His condemnation of white sugar should be a clear and powerful warning to everyone who reads his book. Also, his promotion of raw milk continues to stand the test of time, not only because of the enzyme content of raw milk, but because of the entire network of beneficial nutrients contained in raw milk and other raw dairy products, which he did not discuss. His elevation of enzymes to an exalted position above all other dietary factors cannot be supported in the area of heart disease and cancer given recent research. Recent research is confirming that the high incidence of heart disease is linked to prolonged consumption of refined carbohydrates, and cancer is linked to prolonged consumption of hydrogenated fat and other industrial oils. The problem is not cooked carbohydrate or cooked oils; the problem is highly processed and denatured industrial food.

The Perversion of Food by Cooking Leads to Obesity and Poor Health

If utilization of raw foodstuffs proceeded at a normal rate for these millions of years and we step in and do something to food, such as cooking it, which increases its utilization and absorption beyond the normal, this amounts to a perversion. If obesity is the result, it certainly is not wholesome. And it does not require deep insight to perceive that the evil consequences of such an assault on the endocrine balance may later hand us a legacy of many apparently unrelated pathological entities. (page 73, Enzyme Nutrition)

Even after reading his book, I was not convinced that his enzyme theory was true. I just could not make the leap from the weak research data that he offered to his conclusions. I remain unconvinced that cooking is a perversion. There is a great difference between apparent correlation and actual causation. Much of Dr. Howell’s theories are based on observed relationships, which he considers to be causative. Causation requires the isolation of research variables to eliminate other possible causes, which might be stronger than his enzyme theory for life and longevity. However, I must agree wholeheartedly with his last statement, which should cause us to closely examine the health of Americans.

If obesity is the result, it certainly is not wholesome. And it does not require deep insight to perceive that the evil consequences of such an assault on the endocrine balance may later hand us a legacy of many apparently unrelated pathological entities. (page 73, Enzyme Nutrition)

Widespread obesity is one of the marks of a culture in dietary distress and nutritional decline. I do not believe that the cooking of food is the cause of obesity and illness in America. Rather it is the high carbohydrate/low fat diet (filled with omega 6 oils, processed food, and genetically modified organisms) which is bringing us down to the pit of poor health and needless suffering. There are many diets that produce improvements in health. The key factor is not enzymes, but the elimination of unhealthy food. When highly refined carbohydrate foods and unhealthy oils are removed from the diet, then health will improve.

SUMMARY

Dr. Howell’s enzyme theories do not stand up to close examination. He did not present evidence to fully support his theory when he wrote his book, and such scientific evidence is still lacking. In order for me to be convinced of his theory, I would need to see scientific evidence that proves that the enzymes in raw food actually assist with digestion when food is eaten. I would need to see proof that we actually have a finite amount of enzymes and that the conservation of those enzymes will extend life. I would need to see actual research that shows that it takes more digestive enzymes to digest cooked food than is needed to digest raw food.

Regarding his last point that enzymes actually contain the life force that gives life to plants and animals, I think he is quite wrong on this point. If it was true that enzymes are life, then those who are manufacturing enzymes would also be manufacturing life itself. Enzymes are critical to multiple life processes, but they are not life itself.

See Also:

Raw versus Cooked Food: Which is Healthier?

Resources

1.Enzyme Nutrition: Unlocking the Secrets of Eating Right for Health Vitality and Longevity, Dr. Edward Howell, M.D., Avery a member of Penguin Putnam Inc., 1985.

2. List adapted from: “Do ‘Food Enzymes’ Enhance Digestive Efficiency, Longevity?” Retrieved 4/17/2014. http://www.beyondveg.com/tu-j-l/raw-cooked/raw-cooked-2b.shtml

Why Low-Fat Diets Make You Fat

by Natasha Longo
PreventDisease.com

Governments here and abroad have been cautioning the public for decades on the dangers of high fat diets. Their claims based on “their science” concluded that it’s best to avoid fat because of its extra calories – and saturated fats raise the risk of heart disease. You’ll still see this on most food pyramids regulated by government policy on diet and nutrition. However, just as mandated healthcare policies fail at the federal level, so do those related to nutrition. This low-fat mantra has been questioned for years by clinicians and nutritional scientists – not least because it has failed to halt the obesity epidemic. The fact is, contrary to official advice by our diet dictocrats, high-fat diets lower blood sugar, improve blood lipids, and reduce obesity.

High-Fat Diets Have Better Effects on Blood Sugar
One of the problems is that there is consistent inverse association in the percentage of energy coming from fats and sugars. Research published in the journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition shows why people find it hard to follow government guidelines to cut their fat and sugar intake at the same time — a phenomenon known as the sugar-fat seesaw.

That’s no surprise as previous studies such as a two-year dietary studypublished in the journal Diabetologia showed that food with a lot of fat and few carbohydrates has a better effect on blood sugar levels and blood lipids. Despite the increased fat intake with a larger portion of saturated fatty acids, their lipoproteins did not get worse. Quite the contrary — the HDL, or ‘good’ cholesterol, content increased on the high fat diet.

Research from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem shows that a carefully scheduled high-fat diet can lead to a reduction in body weight and a unique metabolism in which ingested fats are not stored, but rather used for energy at times when no food is available. The results were published in The FASEB Journal under the title “Timed high-fat diet resets circadian metabolism and prevents obesity”.

Outdated Understanding of Science 

Professor David Lawrence, an expert in nutrition and obesity data analysis, said recently in the journal BMC Medicine that the idea the idea of all calories being equal is flawed and based ‘on an outdated understanding of the science’.

Calories from different sources have different effects on the body, with calories from carbohydrates more likely to encourage weight gain.

Calories from different sources have different effects on the body, with calories from carbohydrates more likely to encourage weight gain.

Not only is the calorie theory under attack, but evidence is also emerging to show that lowering fat might not cut heart-disease risk after all.

A major study published in the authoritative New England Journal of Medicine compared the clinical benefits of a conventional low-fat diet with two types of Mediterranean diet, which are naturally considerably higher in fat.

The study had to be stopped early because the heart attack and stroke rate in the Mediterranean options was so much lower it was deemed irresponsible to keep patients on the conventional diet.

Relevance of Glycemic Load 

A study led by Cara Ebbeling, PhD, associate director and David Ludwig, MD, director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center Boston Children’s Hospital, found diets that reduce the surge in blood sugar after a meal–either low-glycemic index or very-low carbohydrate-may be preferable to a low-fat diet for those trying to achieve lasting weight loss. Furthermore, the study found that the low-glycemic index diet had similar metabolic benefits to the very low-carb diet without negative effects of stress and inflammation as seen by participants consuming the very low-carb diet.

Weight re-gain is often attributed to a decline in motivation or adherence to diet and exercise, but biology also plays an important role. After weight loss, the rate at which people burn calories (known as energy expenditure) decreases, reflecting slower metabolism. Lower energy expenditure adds to the difficulty of weight maintenance and helps explain why people tend to re-gain lost weight.

The study suggests that a low-glycemic load diet is more effective than conventional approaches at burning calories (and keeping energy expenditure) at a higher rate after weight loss.

“We’ve found that, contrary to nutritional dogma, all calories are not created equal,” says Ludwig, also director of the Optimal Weight for Life Clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital. “Total calories burned plummeted by 300 calories on the low fat diet compared to the low carbohydrate diet, which would equal the number of calories typically burned in an hour of moderate-intensity physical activity,” he says. 

Though a low-fat diet is traditionally recommended by the U.S. Government and Heart Association, it caused the greatest decrease in energy expenditure, an unhealthy lipid pattern and insulin resistance.

“In addition to the benefits noted in this study, we believe that low-glycemic-index diets are easier to stick to on a day-to-day basis, compared to low-carb and low-fat diets, which many people find limiting,” says Ebbeling. “Unlike low-fat and very- low carbohydrate diets, a low-glycemic-index diet doesn’t eliminate entire classes of food, likely making it easier to follow and more sustainable.”

Some Governments Are Making a U-Turn

Faced with mounting evidence, Swedish dietary experts recently made a dramatic U-turn, recommending a low-carb, rather than low-fat, diet for weight loss.

The bombshell came from the Council on Health Technology Assessment, which advises the Swedish government. Based on a review of 16,000 studies, it said the best sorts of food for losing weight were high fat foods which could include anything oils like olive and coconut.

So the rules are being rewritten: to lose weight, cut down on carbs and eat more fat.

So what, precisely, is behind this new thinking? It comes down to the effect different foods have on your hormones.

The most important of these hormones, and the one that’s crucial for weight loss, is insulin.

Insulin is the hormone that controls fat storage. A high-carb diet increases the amount of glucose in the bloodstream, which in turn means you produce more insulin. The more insulin the body produces, the more fat gets stored. When the body is exposed to a high-carb low-fat meal, the pancreas works hard at overshooting the secretion of insulin which then causes the excess to be stored as fat. A low-carb and high-fat diet means less insulin, making it easier to lose weight because less fat is then stored.

More Calories But More Weight Loss

Dramatic new evidence for this has come from a unique experiment conducted by a personal trainer. As Sam Feltham explains: ‘My business is helping people to lose weight, and if all calories aren’t equal, that could make a real difference.’

A few months ago, Sam upped his intake to a massive 5,000 calories every day. For three weeks he got these calories from a low-fat, high-carb diet; for another three, he ate more fat and cut right back on carbs.

He did exactly the same, moderate exercise regimen each time.

Now, according to the conventional wisdom, the weight gain would be the same on both regimens. After all, a calorie is just a calorie.

In fact, on the low-fat diet Sam stacked on 16lbs around his waist.

But when he ate more fat and cut his carbs, he added just 2.5bs and lost 1in (2.5cm) from his waistline.

‘I’m sure I eat more calories than I burn, yet my weight and waist measurement normally remain the same.’

Sam, who survived childhood cancer (Hodgkin’s lymphoma), wondered if his usual low-carb diet was the key, and set about his experiment to find out.

For the low-carb, high-fat part of the experiment, Sam got his 5,000 calories from foods such as eggs, mackerel (which is very fatty), steak, green veg and coconut oil, interspersed with three snacks of nuts – walnuts, pecans or almonds (which are naturally high in fat).

While 72 percent of his total calorie intake came from fats, 22 percent came from protein and just 5.9 percent from carbs. Each meal was exactly the same every day.

With the high-carb diet, most of his calories (63 percent) came from carbohydrates, 13 percent from protein, and 22 percent from fat.

He ate garlic bread, low-fat lasagna, crumpets, low-fat yogurts and rice pudding, chocolate muffins and wholewheat bread.

Admittedly the types of fat on his high-fat diet weren’t your usual fatty foods, such as cream and butter. And his high-carb diet wasn’t exactly ‘healthy’.

But the point was not comparing the health benefits of the two, says Sam. ‘It was an experiment to test the idea that different foods affect your body’s biochemistry differently. ‘If it is true that cutting calories is the key to weight loss, then excess calories should put on the same amount of weight whether they come from a “healthy” diet full of fat or a poor diet full of carbs.’

He says he was ‘really surprised’ at how little weight he put on with the low-carb/high-fat diet, while on the high-carb/low-fat diet his body fat increased from 12.7 percent of his body weight to 16.9 percent.

Degrading Health On Low-Fat High Carb Diets

While Sam’s experiment was by no means a scientific one, as well as the weight gain, what was even more striking was what an unhealthy effect the high carbohydrate regimen had on standard markers for heart health.

For when Sam had his blood tested after his three weeks on high carbs, ‘the diet effectively gave him metabolic syndrome which is a precursor to heart disease and diabetes.

Particularly worrying was that his triglycerides (fats in his blood) had gone up four times, while his so-called ‘good’ (HDL) cholesterol had dropped.

What’s more, a level of inflammation in his liver had doubled, which is also linked with diabetes and heart disease. “If someone came into my clinic in that state, I’d make it clear they needed to make some serious changes to their diet and start eating a diet low in carbs. I was really surprised that the damaging changes had happened so quickly,” stated Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

Did the fact that, as a personal trainer, Sam was obviously very fit at the start of his trial make a difference?

“Absolutely,” says Dr Malhotra. “It is alarming to think that if a high-carb diet can have that effect on him in three weeks, what is it doing to people who don’t exercise and eat like that for years?” 

Standard Dietary Advice is Wrong!

“This is a vivid illustration of the fact that the conventional idea of what causes weight gain is back to front,” says Dr Malhotra. “We’ve been told for years that eating fat will make you fat because it contains twice the calories that are in carbohydrates. That is to misunderstand how fat storage works.”

Research has already shown that if you are eating a high-carb diet, and so have high levels of insulin, you are likely to have more fat in your blood than someone on a high-fat diet.

“This is what happened to Sam.”

Fat Does Not Clog Up Arteries

But doesn’t eating extra fat clog up your arteries? No, insists Dr Malhotra. In fact, he says, it’s too many carbs that are the problem.

He argues that – as seen with Sam – a high-carb diet tends to lower the good HDL cholesterol that helps keep arteries clear.

At the same time, as glucose from carbs is turned into fat for storage in the body, fatty acids are also produced.

It is this combination of fatty acids and low HDL, not saturated fat, that “clogs your arteries,” says Dr Malhotra.

Recent research supports the idea that warning about saturated fat in the diet has probably been a mistake.

“The influence of dietary fats on serum cholesterol has been overstated,” say the authors of a review in Advances In Nutrition in May. “The lack of any clear evidence that high-fat foods lead to adverse health effects makes one wonder how they got such a bad name.”

Demonizing fat and encouraging people to eat more carbs can be harmful to people with heart disease, says Dr Malhotra. “I see patients who have had a heart attack and are trying to lose weight on a low-fat diet and are puzzled because they are gaining weight.”

“When I investigate, it is usually because they are eating lots of low-fat supermarket foods which are also high in carbs such as sugar.” 

“When I get them eating real foods and not worrying about fat, their weight starts to come down.”

Those eating low-carb these days are much more flexible about the amount of fat they get. Research is still needed to sort out the best ratio of carbs to fat.

Western governments have yet to acknowledge the Swedish style U-turn in healthy eating advice. I’ve personally been on many of these public policy and procurement programs investing hundreds of hours of my time trying to convince officials that food pyramids have to be thrown out the window along with many recommended foods they hold praise to. As soon as these recommendations are forwarded to the highest levels, they are dismissed.

We are spending billions trying to cope with metabolic diseases such as diabetes, cancer and obesity and the emphasis on low-fat diets is only promoting the metabolic pathways which encourage these diseases.

The bottom line is to commit to educating yourself on the healthiest nutritional strategies for your health and not follow any recommendations by government, unless perhaps if you live in Sweden.

Read the full article here: http://preventdisease.com/news/13/101713_Why-Low-Fat-Diets-Make-You-Fat.shtml

Natasha Longo has a master’s degree in nutrition and is a certified fitness and nutritional counselor. She has consulted on public health policy and procurement in Canada, Australia, Spain, Ireland, England and Germany.

Fat and Cholesterol are Good for You!
What REALLY Causes Heart Disease
by Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD

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La alimentación del futuro.

10 errores que cometemos todos los días al comer. Erick Estrada, biólogo

Guía rápida de iniciación al crudiveganismo

Por Irene Bueno


¿Has decidido probar la comida Viva, Cruda y no sabes por dónde empezar? ¿Te haces millones de preguntas y no tienes quién te oriente o te cuente su experiencia? Intentaremos hacerte un pequeño resumen de qué puedes comer y cómo puedes empezar a comer sin cocinar. De todas formas, te invito a investigar y guiarte por tu instinto, pues cada persona es un mundo y tienes que encontrar las combinaciones que a ti te resulten mejor, más apetitosas.


¿Qué puedes comer?

Vegetales de hoja verde, verduras, hortalizas, frutas, frutos secos, especias, germinados, semillas y estos mismos alimentos deshidratados a un máximo de 42º.

*Intenta que proceda todo de la agricultura ecológica para evitar pesticidas y fertilizantes dañinos y que sean productos locales y de temporada.


Productos Tóxicos en Crudo


Patata, Berenjena, Hoja Verde de la Tomatera (y solanáceas en general), Judía verde, Cacahuete (es una legumbre).

*Los encurtidos, como las aceitunas, pepinillos, etc. no son considerados productos crudos ya que están pasteurizados y salados artificialmente. La mayoría contiene glutamato monosódico, una neurotoxina.


¿Que alimentos evitamos los Crudiveganos?

Carnes, Pescados, Lácteos, Derivados Lácteos, Huevos, Trigo, Gluten, Soja, Azúcar Blanca, Azúcar Morena, Fructosa, Sal Refinada, Cereales Cocinados, Judías Germinadas, Edulcorantes Artificiales, Refinados, Alimentos cocinados (vapor, cocción, horneado, frito, pasteurizado, etc) y Alimentos calentados por encima de 42° C.


¡Poco a poco!

No te agobies; todo depende de tu punto de partida; si eres vegano ya estás muy cerca del crudiveganismo; si eres omnívoro o vegetariano, es mejor que vayas paso a paso. El proceso para llegar a ser crudivegano te puede llevar meses o años; no tengas prisa. Piensa que si has decidido hacerlo, es por algún motivo y hacerlo mal y rápido puede hacer que lo abandones precipitadamente.


Las cantidades de nutrientes en %

Esta es una decisión un tanto personal, que debe tomarse a medida que uno va cogiendo experiencia con este tipo de alimentación y según lo que el cuerpo vaya manifestando. Hay quien dice que la proporción de macronutrientes debería ser de un 70% – 20% – 10% (hidratos, proteínas, grasas); también hay quien se apunta al 80% – 10% – 10%. Ten en cuenta tu actividad física (los deportistas siempre tendrán requerimientos nutricionales especiales) y tu condición de salud. Para ser más claros, podemos traducir estas porporciones, por ejemplo, en ingerir diariamente un 40% de hoja verde, un 40% de frutas y hortalizas y un 20% de grasas vegetales (semillas, frutos secos, aceite de oliva, aguacates, etc.).

Elige tu propia proporción de acuerdo a lo que te vaya sentando mejor.


La combinación de los alimentos

Esto es muy importante; no es lo mismo ingerir que digerir/asimilar, pues los nutrientes muchas veces dependen de la sinergia que establecen con otros nutrientes que han sido ingeridos simultáneamente, pudiendo facilitar la absorción o por el contrario, bloquearla. Por eso es importante no hacer combinaciones que resulten demasiado densas a la hora de hacer la digestión; recuerda que cuanta menos energía necesites para obtener los nutrientes, más podrás emplear para tus propias actividades.

La correcta combinación de los alimentos ha sido estudiada desde muchos puntos de vista (higienismo, trofología, dieta de la totalidad, alcalinidad, etc.) pero podemos resumirla en las siguientes premisas:

- No tomes distintos tipos de carbohidratos (simples o complejos) proteína o distintos tipos de grasas en la misma comida (por ejemplo aguacate con frutos secos). Tienen diferentes tiempos de digestión y distinta acidez.

- No mezcles grasas y proteínas con alimentos de alto índice glucémico (por ejemplo aguacate con mango ó nueces con dátiles).

- No mezcles carbohidratos con ácidos.

- No mezcles frutas dulces con frutas ácidas (los tiempos de digestión son muy distintos y fermentarán produciendo tóxicos, por ejemplo plátano y fresa).

- No tomes frutas de postre (su tiempo de digestión es muy rápido y cuando ya hay comida en proceso de digestión en el estómago, la fruta fermenta esperando a ser digerida, produciendo tóxicos). La fruta mejor sola y lejos de las comidas.

- El melón y la sandía siempre solos (ni siquiera combinados con otras frutas; se digieren en el duodeno, es decir que pasan de largo por el estómago, son una excepción y no combinan con nada; deben tomarse solos y con el estómago vacío; la buena noticia es que a los 20 minutos ya se puede ingerir otro alimento).

*Nota: Una fruta dulce que aún no está madura, puede ser considerada ácida, incluso en el caso del plátano se puede considerar una fécula, esto acidifica el organismo y es mejor no tomar frutas que no estén maduras.



Excepciones en las combinaciones

- El aceite de oliva es una grasa que combina bastante bien con otras grasas (las aceitunas y el paté de aceitunas por tanto, también).

- La manzana es la única fruta que combina con todo.

- Otras frutas que se podrían tomar de postre son: la piña y la papaya. Contienen bromelina y papaína, que son enzimas que ayudan a asimilar las proteínas (los aminoácidos) y favorecen su digestión incluso con otros alimentos más lentos. Además la bromelina es un antiinflamatorio natural.

- Los vegetales de hoja verde combinan con todo (respetando las combinaciones de los otros alimentos).

*Nota: Las combinaciones son orientativas, es decir, lo normal es comer respetando estas reglas, ya que es la manera en que menos fatigamos al organismo, pero verás que hay muchas recetas, sobretodo de postres que no respetan estas normas; no es lo ideal, pero es algo que se hace de vez en cuando y siempre es más sano que recurrir a productos industriales y/o refinados.



Ejemplo de un día de comida Crudivegana de Iniciación

- Desayuno -

Zumo Verde Licuado (2 zanahorias, 1 pepino, 1 manzana verde, 2 hojas de acelga u hojas de espinaca, apio y una rodaja de lima). Si no tienes licuadora y/o estás empezando quizá sea más suave y cómodo hacerte con una batidora potente un Batido Verde de Espinacas y Plátano o Espinacas y Mango, puedes endulzarlo con un dátil remojado durante 2 horas.

Con el licuado tendrás una digestión más ligera y rápida, más energía (Ideal si buscas subir de peso) Con el batido tendrás más nutrientes, más fibra y una digestión algo más lenta. (Ideal si buscas bajar de peso). Mi opinión personal es que no es mejor ni peor el batido que el licuado, los dos tienen sus ventajas y sus inconvenientes y lo ideal es combinarlos y tomar algunos días licuados y otros días batidos. A veces en el mismo día yo desayuno un batido y meriendo un licuado.

- Media Mañana -

Una manzana ó 200 grs. de fresas (ecológicas o al menos de temporada) y a los 30-45 minutos un puñado de frutos secos (almendras, nueces) para ralentizar la absorción de los azúcares y alargar la energía.

- Comida -

Gazpacho con picadillo de hortalizas, brotes de alfalfa y anacardos crudos picados.

- Merienda -

Batido de pera y papaya.

- Cena -

Ensalada de canónigos, tomate cherry, aguacate, champiñón crudo, brotes de alfalfa o brócoli, aliñado con aceite de oliva, limón, sal del himalaya, vinagre de umeboshi.

*Con el tiempo, irás adquiriendo utensilios que te permitirán hacer algunos platos más elaborados y que, emocionalmente, tienen otro impacto. Te pongo a continuación un ejemplo de menú que te puedes hacer cuando ya lleves tiempo.



Ejemplo de un día de comida Crudivegana “Avanzada” o Gourmet

- Desayuno -

Zumo verde licuado con albahaca (*Licuadora).

- Media Mañana -

Algo de fruta y luego unas Galletitas de frutos secos, semillas y manzana/zanahoria (*Deshidratadora).

- Comida -

Espaguetis de calabacín crudo con pesto de piñones y albahaca (*Espiralizer).

- Merienda -

Natillas de Mango, Vainilla y Canela. (*Batidora muy potente).

- Cena -

Ensalada de endivias con paté de zanahoria. Ensalada de espinaca, rúcula nueces y queso crudivegano de almendras, acompañado de pan crudivegano de semillas (*Deshidratadora).

*Nota: Son dietas muy orientativas. En caso de deportistas por ejemplo, habría que revisar las cantidades de aminoácidos y adaptar la dieta a la actividad física.



Síntomas Iniciales

El cuerpo manda señales; algunas son producto de la adicción y de la toxicidad (como cuando el cuerpo te pide fumar o comer chocolate) otras son resultado de recuperar la comunicación con nuestra salud (de pronto me apetece remolacha y justo en unos análisis veo que estaba baja de hierro). Pero hay que saber interpretarlas. Es posible que al principio de comer crudo, el cuerpo te pida pocas cantidades. Cambiar a una dieta cruda implica, al principio, un proceso de desintoxicación durante el cual pueden aparecer algunos síntomas (dolor de cabeza, granitos, malestar digestivo, etc.); es normal.

Es muy posible también, que el cuerpo no te pida grandes cantidades de comida. Los alimentos vivos, crudos, están llenos de nutrientes, justo lo que tu cuerpo necesita por tanto con poca cantidad es muy fácil quedar saciado.



¿Comer 3 veces al día o 5?

Teniendo en cuenta que el proceso de la digestión es uno de los procesos que más energía roba a nuestro organismo, si lo que buscas es perder peso o no aumentar, puedes hacer entre 4 y 5 pequeñas comidas al día. Si lo que quieres es subir de peso, entonces es mejor que hagas sólo 3, más abundantes, y llegues a cada una de ellas con el mayor hambre posible.

¿Que pasa con el pan?

Como puedes imaginar, el pan tal y como lo conocemos, está fuera de la dieta cruda, contiene gluten y aunque fuera sin gluten es un producto refinado y cocinado. Puedes utilizar vegetales “rígidos” (endivias, algas, palitos de apio, zanahoria, pepino) para mojar en salsas o para acompañar ó en momentos más avanzados de tu transición al crudiveganismo fabricar tu propio pan de semillas (pan esenio) con una deshidratadora.

¿Que pasa con los dulces?

Puedes utilizar frutas dulces (mango, pera, papaya, plátano y también frutas secas dulces tipo dátiles, pasas, orejones, ciruelas… Las puedes poner en remojo unas horas para añadirlas a mousses y batidos). También puedes usar endulzantes más sanos que el azúcar, la fructosa o la miel (que no se incluyen en una dieta crudivegana, ya que ni siquiera es un producto vegano) como el sirope de Yacón o el Yacón el Polvo, el Sirope de Ágave, la Panela (azúcar de caña crudo) y la Stevia para hacer deliciosos postres crudos. Elige tu endulzante en función del índice glucémico que más se adapte a tus necesidades (el de menor índice glucémico es la Stevia). En cualquier caso, consideramos que el endulzante más sano de todos es el dátil, que además, tiene un gran aporte de minerales.

Nutrientes ¿de dónde saco…?

En el mundo vegetal están TODOS los nutrientes que necesitas: vitaminas, minerales, aminoácidos, oligoelementos, etc. Pero si tienes dudas acerca de las posibles carencias que puedas tener, aquí te dejamos un pequeño listado con ejemplos:

- Calcio: Sésamo (tiene 6 veces más calcio que la leche), Almendras, Brócoli, Acelga, etc.

- Hierro: Sésamo (tiene 5 veces más hierro que la carne), Espinaca, Remolacha, Alcachofa, etc.

- Proteínas (Aminoácidos): chía, maca, espirulina, quinoa, amaranto, plátano, aguacate, etc.

- Ácidos grasos (Omega 3, 6 y 9): nueces, sésamo, chía, lino, espirulina, etc.

- Vitamina B12: Ninguna planta o animal es capaz de fabricar vitamina B12; esta es producida por bacterias presentes en el suelo, el agua, en la superficie de las frutas y las verduras, en simbiosis radicular con las plantas y en simbiosis intestinal en los animales, incluido el animal humano. Tienes dos opciones: o comes ecológico sin lavar (es decir, con TIERRA) o tomas un suplemento del Complejo B (recomendamos la segunda opción por precaución, ya que se pone de manifiesto que si falta esta vitamina puede ser demasiado tarde).

- Magnesio: girasol, sésamo, almendras, pistacho, avellanas, nueces…

- Zinc: almendras, nueces, setas…

- Selenio: semillas de girasol, nueces,

- Potasio: plátanos, dátiles…

- Vitamina D (EL SOL): La cantidad de vitamina D que se obtiene de los alimentos NO SE ASIMILA si no tomamos el sol. De hecho las personas que suelen tener carencias de esta vitamina son sobretodo, personas que no reciben suficientes rayos solares.

La transición, si no llego al 100% no pasa nada

Si te cuesta comer todo crudo y de vez en cuando no puedes resistir tomar algo cocinado, o quieres llevar un porcentaje menor de crudos (a partir del 70% ya es muy saludable) siempre es mejor que se tomen alimentos artesanales y se eviten por completo los alimentos industriales. Unas verduras al vapor por ejemplo, que es el método menos agresivo. Intenta evitar los fritos y los horneados. Igual si quieres comer pan, que sea de cereales distintos al trigo (cebada, avena, centeno, etc.) y de un buen panadero que lo haga él mismo. Si te apetecen dulces que sean hechos por ti, evitando azúcares, gluten… Si apetece algo calentito, te puedes hacer unas lentejas con verduras, comprando las lentejas ecológicas.

*Ideas para comer (no crudas) como excepciones durante la transición, pero que son más saludables que la comida tradicional:

Quínoa, Mijo, Legumbres (Garbanzos, Lentejas, Judías, soja NO!), Amaranto, Arroz Integral, Patatas al Vapor…

Irene Bueno