Posted on August 14, 2011 with No Comments
Recurring Sinus Infections
One of the most common health problems in America is sinusitis. Sinusitis refers to inflammation of the nasal sinus cavities along with upper respiratory tract infection. Sinus areas typically affected include the area above the eyes, inside the cheekbones, behind the bridge of the nose, and in the upper nose.
Symptoms include headaches, earaches, facial pain, cranial pressure, toothaches, loss of sense of smell, tender feeling around the forehead and cheekbones, and sometimes high fever. Sinusitis may produce facial swelling, stuffy nose and thick mucous discharge. Infection is indicated by yellow or green discharge, as opposed to a cold or allergy symptoms, which only produce clear drainage.
Conventional medicine regards acute sinusitis to be caused by bacterial or viral infections of the nose, throat or upper respiratory tract. Chronic sinusitis may be caused by nasal polyps, smoking, or irritant odors. Allergenic sinusitis results from food or environmental allergies. While these three different types of sinusitis are recognized, generally medical doctors approach sinusitis as an infection. Standard treatment is a prescription of antibiotics, even though antibiotics will have no effect whatsoever if it is a viral, rather than a bacterial, infection.
As usual, conventional medicine does not pursue the problem to root causes.
Does conventional medicine fail to ask the right questions? .
It is becoming clear even in conventional medicine that over usage of antibiotics is a serious problem. Taking antibiotics is actually a way to produce more sinus and other infections. When you take antibiotics, you kill off the beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, and thus destroy part of your immune system. Normally, these “good” bacteria prevent the overgrowth of the common yeast organism, Candida albicans. With the acidophilus gone, the digestive tract is left unguarded, surrendering the body to this pathogenic organism.
So, how does this affect sinusitis? The absence of the good bacteria, along with the presence of candidiasis weakens the immune system, making you more vulnerable to any type of infection such as sinus infections. Candida also produces increased allergic sensitivity, which in turn may cause sinusitis. Another problem results from the transformation of Candida from its relatively benign yeast form into its much more pathogenic fungal form. In this form Candida penetrates the digestive tract wall, goes into the blood stream, and travels to virtually anywhere in the body. Thus the sinuses can be directly infected by Candida albicans.
Another unfortunate effect of antibiotics relates to the production of stronger, more antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Many antibiotic drugs have become virtually useless due to the bacteria becoming resistant to them. Conventional medicine anticipates with horror ever-increasing bacterial infections, which current antibiotics won’t even phase.
Consider that when antibiotics are used, not all the bacteria are destroyed. Some really tough bacteria don’t succumb as easily as the weaker bacteria. In taking antibiotics you leave the strongest bacteria to proliferate, while killing off only the weak ones. This tends to create stronger germs that are more resistant to antibiotics.
Consider these root causes of sinus infections – Food sensitivities, environmental sensitivities, Candidiasis – Overgrowth of Candida albicans yeast, refined sugar intake, and nutrient deficiencies. Sugar intake and antibiotics are associated with causing Candida.
So is there a better option than taking antibiotics for sinus infections. It appears so! Foods such as dairy, wheat, yeast and corn tend to provide fertile territory for Candida yeast overgrowth as well as inflammation in the throat, nasal and sinus areas. Therefore try to minimize any food sensitivities and avoid sugar intake. Evaluate your life for environmental issues that may adversely impact your sinuses.
Posted on August 8, 2011 with No Comments
The Raw Food Solution
Your food shall be your remedies, and your remedies shall be your food.” — Hippocrates
“Always take a good look at what you’re about to eat. It’s not so important to know what it is, but it’s critical to know what it was.” –Texas Bix Bender, “Cowboy Wisdom”
It seems a particularly Western idea that in order to attain a high level of health, it must be something we eat, drink or otherwise ingest. The search for a “magic pill,” fueled by unrelenting pharmaceutical media campaigns, enforces this belief. “Here, take this for your headache, take these to lose that weight, and smear this stuff on your face for everlasting beauty,” yell the pitch men–and we obey, opening our wallets and in many cases ignoring common sense in doing so.
Other cultures focus on such things as yoga, breath, mantras and karma. More archaic societies focused on spirits, gods, ancestor worship, and shamanistic blessings. Of course, these time-intensive alternatives would never do for our breakneck lifestyles where instant gratification is aim of most daily or weekly endeavors.
A fine compromise between these two divergent health strategies is the raw food lifestyle. This month we spoke with raw food advocate, Paul Nison, who was in town on yet another tour of the country touting the true health benefits of eating raw food.
Paul was led inadvertently to the raw food lifestyle at age 19 via a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis–one of the most painful of intestinal disorders. “I got colitis flare-ups about six times per year,” says Paul. “Every time I went to the doctor, she told me to stay away from dairy foods until I felt better. Then she increased the dosage of steroids she was giving me. When I felt better after a few weeks, she said it was okay to eat dairy foods again. After that I began to eliminate whatever the doctors told me was okay to eat. Eggs, meat, and sugar to name just a few. I told my doctor I felt better without these foods. She told me food had nothing to do with my condition. After hearing that from her, I knew I was on the right track.”
As Paul continued to eliminate cooked foods from his diet, he also continued to research the lifestyle, being greatly influenced by Dave Klein (Publisher/Editor of Living Nutrition magazine), and David Wolfe, who had books and radio programs circulating. Joining raw food support groups, and networking with other raw fooders, Paul ended up with a 100% raw diet. “Since going 100% raw, I have completely overcome ulcerative colitis. I feel better than ever and have become increasingly inspired about life. I quit my stressful job and began working as a raw food chef in a vegetarian restaurant. I organize raw-food potlucks every month. I have started a raw food support group, and I give lectures on the raw food lifestyle to help others that have gotten their wake-up call.”
Making the transition to raw food also takes some self-reflection and an awareness of habitual patterns. “I find that people eat too much sugar, too much fat, too much protein and too little green food,” says Paul. “Then they switch to a vegetarian diet, but keep doing the same thing, and keep running into the same problems. Then they switch to a raw diet, but continue to eat too much sugar and too much fat and too little green food, and they run into the same health problems.”
Just going to Safeway and rummaging around in the produce section, isn’t going to fully accomplish shopping goals for raw fooding. Several factors come into play, as Paul points out: “The most important thing when eating raw food, is we want it to be the highest quality possible. That would be raw, fresh, ripe and organic. Now, it’s very easy in today’s world to get raw and organic. Ripe and fresh is another story. You’ve got to work really hard to find where we can get ripe and fresh foods. But raw and organic is everywhere. Organic is so important because it’s a high quality food, and when it’s not, it’s a low quality food. Some of the dirtiest water we can get comes from un-organic fruits and vegetables.” Paul recommends searching the internet for resources in local areas, as well as hooking up with raw food groups that are springing up everywhere.
Posted on August 5, 2011 with No Comments
Sugar and Candida
It would be fair to assume that almost everyone on the planet loves sugar and sweet foods. Processed sugar is in many products and is a key ingredient for baking. It seems that everyone has a sweet tooth for some sugar food in one way or another. Most people know that they should limit their intake of processed sugar, but what most people don’t realize is that sugar is one of the worst things in our diet. The chemical reaction of sugar in the body acts as a poison. Studies show that sugar has drug like effects in the body and can be related to addictive like eating.
Sugar has many harmful effects throughout the body and can cause major imbalances within the organ systems. Sugar and Candida seem to be related. You could say that sugar tends to throw off the homeostatic balance of the whole body by increasing the production of adrenaline by many times. In essence, sugar stimulates the nervous system by inducing a flight or fight response.
This is obviously not a healthy situation. This reaction of the body increases the production of cortisone, which suppresses immune function and can lead to other health disorders such as sugar and Candida issues.
The daily intake of too much sugar can lead many other imbalances and breakdowns of the bodily processes. High sugar consumption leads to an overly acidic body and in turn will cause the body to strip nutrients from its reserves to counterbalance this effect. This can eventually cause the body to take calcium from the bones and teeth since calcium is the primary mineral used to neutralize high acid in the cells. Osteoporosis and arthritic conditions can result from this continued process.
Sugar and its Link to Weight Gain
Excess sugar consumption will eventually affect every organ in the body. Primarily, sugar is stored in the liver as glucose. Since the liver’s capacity to store sugar in this form is limited, the liver will start to expand almost like a balloon with continued daily sugar intake. When the livers’ capacity has been filled, the excess glycogen (glucose) is returned to the blood in the form of fatty acids (fat). The fatty acid compounds are then taken to various parts of the body and are stored as fat deposits in the buttocks, belly, breasts and hips since these are the most inactive body parts.
The consumption of excess processed (refined) carbohydrates has the same effect on the body. Eating foods with refined white flours and other enriched products can cause the same physiological effects. Consuming excess pasta, rice, chips, pretzels, and other high processed carbohydrates can lead to fat deposits on the body.
Most people do not understand that eating excess pasta or rice can cause weight gain since these foods have very minute quantities of fat and calories in them. The secret is that it is not that important how much fat or calories a food has. The real key is what biological effect a food has in the body. These foods have the same effect as Sugar and Candida.
When the inactive body parts have become filled with fat then eventually the excess fatty acid deposits will become stored around major organ systems such as the heart and kidneys. This leads to the degeneration of these organs and in turn will cause poor health. This can result in poor immune response, poor circulation, high blood pressure, and can even impact brain functioning.
A False Energy High
Too much sugar intake gives one a false sense of energy. When you eat a sweet food, your energy will go up; however, it only feels that your energy is going up. In fact, this false energy is really your body being stimulated via the flight or fight response that I spoke of earlier. After this reaction has worn off, your energy levels will come crashing down as most people experience every day after they have eaten a high sugar food.
Most children that have ADD can completely heal themselves just by eliminating processed sugars in their diets. Children eat way too much processed sugar. The behaviors and bodily responses that these children feel are the flight or fight responses of their nervous systems. All forms of processed sugars such as nutra sweet, cane juice, corn syrup, brown sugar, splenda, powdered sugar and others have the same effect on the body. The chemical structures of these compounds are very harmful to the body and should not be consumed on a frequent basis.
Fruit sugars are very healthy for you. The monosaccharides (simple sugars) in these natural foods are in a structure that are beneficial to your cells. Fruit sugar has a much different effect on your body than does processed sugar. Fruit sugars nourish and energize the body naturally. This is true energy as compared to the false energy one gets from processed sugars. Your cells require the simple sugars in fruits consistently since they serve to fuel the body with the best substances. Make sure you consistently eat many fruits a day. I would recommend eating 4 to 5 pieces of different fruits a day for better health.
The True Bitterness of nutra sweet & sucralose (splenda tm)
What you are about to discover is information that has been known for quite some time by various health organizations. Please take this information seriously because there are agendas in place to hide this truth and to use it against you.
Aspartame (nutra sweet) is actually worse to consume than sugar. This technical name includes the following brands of sweeteners- (equal, nutra sweet, spoonful and equal measure).
Be advised that these compounds are very powerful and can cause severe biological effects in your body. To say that they are toxic is an understatement. The manufacturer of these compounds knows of the dangers in consuming regular amounts of aspartame substances. As I have already said there is an agenda for putting these compounds into various products.
If you want to know the true agenda then research it for yourself. I challenge you to do your own research and see if you can prove what I am saying wrong. In trying to prove me wrong, you will prove me right.
The Breakdown of Aspartame
Aspartame is a volatile substance, meaning that it breaks down very readily under normal storing conditions. Primarily, all aspartame compounds break down into methanol (alcohol), which is a known neurotoxin. The methanol in time then will break down into formaldehyde that is a highly reactive chemical that is damaging to the cells and genetics of the body.
This process can cause a number of neurodegenerative diseases such as alzheimers, lupus, multiple sclerosis (MS), and parkinson’s disease. The methyl alcohol that forms from aspartame is thousands of times more potent than the alcohol found in a normal alcoholic beverage.
Reactions to aspartame products include the following: headaches, nausea, depression, fatigue, heart palpitations, slurred speech, breathing difficulties, memory loss, seizures and even death. Consuming high amounts of aspartame can also increase your cravings for carbohydrates. I explained earlier that consuming high amounts of empty carbohydrates (refined flours, pasta, rice, chips) will lead to weight gain.
Primarily, the effects of aspartame chemicals in the body seem to alter key hormones thus creating imbalances in neurotransmitters and blocking other hormone precursors.
So, why haven’t you heard about these dangers before now? Let’s see…the diet industry is a trillion dollar market to many organizations. Obviously, they don’t want this secret information to get out to public ears if you know what I mean.
Aspartame & Children
Children love to consume sweets on a daily basis. Many of the food products that these children are consuming have aspartame sweeteners in them. I would advise all parents to get their kids off of aspartame food items. These foods are not healthy for them. There are plenty of healthy alternatives for any of the items that they enjoy.
Email me and I will give you loads of information. Many kids are diagnosed with ADD and other mood disorders. Many of these conditions are being classified as hyper, behavioral problems and others when in fact these children are being affected by the foods they eat. Look at a normal child’s food intake for an average day and you will find that they eat way too much sugar and items with aspartame compounds in them.
This daily consumption of these sweeteners has a harmful effect on their nervous system and therefore becomes expressed as mood disorders and behavioral problems. Take these kids off sugar and these sweeteners and watch them improve.
Pregnant Mothers & Aspartame
If you or anyone you know is pregnant then I would say just stay away from these dangerous sweeteners forever. Make sure you read labels and make it a conscious intent to have the whole family keep clean of these products. It will help your whole family out I assure you.
If you are pregnant and consume aspartame foods you will only be hurting the development of the child. Doing so can cause neurological imbalances and other cellular damage. You are also hurting yourself. It is not worth the price just to have your diet soda. Please educate yourself more on this topic for it can save your health and the baby’s health.
Sugar and Candida – Products to Stay Away From
If you drink diet soda then are you most likely consuming aspartame. Most diet sodas and many other beverages are sweetened with one of the aspartame sugar substitutes. STAY AWAY FROM ALL PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN THE VARIOUS FORMS OF ASPARTAME! These include aspartame, nutra sweet, splenda, spoonful, equal. Read your labels and throw away all items that have these compounds in them. Take responsibility for your diet. If you choose to continue to consume aspartame after reading this chapter well then you are the one to pay the consequences.
What Will I Use To Sweeten My Drinks & My Food
Relax! I know you enjoy sugar and do not want to give up great tasting foods and beverages. You don’t have to. There are some great natural sugar alternatives that I feel taste better than sugar and the other toxic substances mentioned earlier.
To sweeten your drinks you can use Stevia. Stevia is a natural herb that is actually hundreds of times sweeter than regular sugar. It has no fat, carbohydrates or calories and is perfectly suitable for people with diabetes, low carb diets and people with candida and other parasitic conditions. Stevia does not cause spikes in blood sugar and has a nourishing effect on the body. It has been used for centuries among various cultures.
You can get stevia at any health food store in the dietary supplement section. There are 2 products: 1 is a liquid concentrate- I recommend this for sweetening beverages like teas and shakes. The other is a ground up version and is in powder form. I recommend this for foods like cereal or oatmeal.
Agave syrup is an awesome food product. You will love this sweetener guaranteed. It is a compound similar to honey only that it comes from a cactus plant in the desert. I believe that it tastes better than honey and can used on pancakes, cookies and to sweeten baked goods. Try it and see! You can find this at most health food stores. If they don’t have it then ask them to carry it.
Rice syrup is also a good sugar alternative. It can be used in various ways and has a pleasant taste.
Date Paste is very sweet and can be added to baked goods and pancakes, waffles and cookies.
Fruit Juice Concentrates can be used to sweeten baked foods as well.
Barley Malt Syrup is another great alternative.
Honey – old time favorite for many, can be used also in various ways from sweetening drinks to sweetening baked goods. Use only organic varieties.
I would say to just buy some of these sweeteners and see which ones you like. They are all healthy to consume on a daily basis and you will feel the difference. You will not miss regular sugar believe me. Your body will thank you I assure by eating natural sugars. If you want some recipes on how to use these sweeteners then let me know via email.
Sugar and Candida – The Truth About Sweet-N-Low
There have many reports that state Sweet-N-Low can be carcinogenic when used frequently. I remember when I was a child I heard that this can be a harmful compound to the body. The truth of the matter is that Sweet-N-Low is not harmful to your body. The chemical structure of this substance does not have any damaging effects to your cells as do the sugar substitutes mentioned earlier.
I stated previously that the important thing of any compound is the chemical structure and its biological effects once in the body. Sweet-N-Low has no negative effects once in the body. It is actually a good substitute for sugar.
So why have there been reports that state Sweet-N-Low can be carcinogenic? Do you remember where you heard this? I bet you picked it up via your TV or some other media outlet. Who divulged this information? I hope by now you are beginning to see that there are some organizations that don’t want you knowing information that can benefit your health.
The misinformation about Sweet-N-Low was released to get you to not want to ingest it so that you would then resort to other sugar substitutes…do you understand? Again, there are agendas in place to get you to believe certain things about health and various food products.
They program society via the media outlets (TV, magazines, newspapers, radio, etc). Then when people hear the truth such as Sweet-N-Low is actually good they don’t believe it because they have been programmed to believe the opposite. My advice to you is stop watching the news and reading newspapers. There is always misinformation in these outlets…not just health information by the way. Name a subject and you have been programmed about it. Don’t believe me…great…I challenge you to research what I am saying.
So there you have it. You now know the truth about sugar and sugar substitutes. Please use this information wisely for you Sugar and Candida issues.
