Archive for the ‘ Dairy ’ Category

30% Genetic / 70% Environment

Sunday, August 1st, 2010

This is the ration for developing an autoimmune disease as stated in a 2005 report, reporting on the progress into autoimmune disease research.

So what are autoimmune diseases?

Some common autoimmune disease include conditions like:

  1. Lupus
  2. Multiple Sclerosis
  3. Type 1 Diabetes
  4. Crohn’s Disease
  5. Graves Disease
  6. Hashimotos Disease
  7. Rheumatoid Arthritis
  8. Just to name a few

What I want to focus on is how modifying the 70%  Environmental factors that lead to and worsen autoimmune disease may improve your health and vitality and may even improve your condition.

The first thing I need to mention to tie all this together is a little antigen called HLA (Human Leukocyte antigen) which is a key component to the body’s immune system. Now this antigen actually protects us from disease, which is a complicated job in anyone’s book.  Even more complicated is the half a million genes that have to code for the antigen so it can keep up to date with all the potential disease we may face as a human beings.  Now I wont go into the specifics of how this antigen specifically works in the body as we will be here for ages, but what you do need to know is that certain environmental triggers (I’ll list these in a moment) effect the way the HLA  activates the immune system.  In a healthy person the immune system is activated correctly, so if you are exposed to the flu virus your immune system is stimulated to defend against it.  But in some people who have had excessive exposure to specific environmental triggers the HLA becomes dysfunctional and can stimulate inappropriate responses, one of which is autoimmunity.

Now what are these environmental triggers that I have talking about?  Well here is a list:

  1. Infections like Epstein Barr Virus (Glandular fever)
  2. Living in higher latitudes i.e. away from the equator due to lack of sunlight
  3. (Vitamin D)
  4. Physical traumas like surgery
  5. Stress
  6. Smoking
  7. Vaccines
  8. Dietary factors including Dairy and Wheat that destroy the gastro intestinal lining

These triggers affect the immune systems ability to function optimally in one-way or another.  I have already spoken about vitamin D’s role in the immune system in a previous blog, and I would hope that most of you know that stress has a detrimental effect on health including the immune system.  What I want to focus on is the role of diet and the immune system, as what you put in your mouth is the easiest thing to change.

The major focus of diet therapy in autoimmune disease is to minimise substances that evoke inappropriate immune function.  In essence what we are doing is removing all foods that destroy the lining of the gastro intestinal tract.  Why? Well let me paint a picture for you:

  1. Eat foods like wheat, dairy, refined sugars, potatoes chips, soft drinks, coffee
  2. These foods punch holes in the gastro intestinal lining due to their irritant nature on the delicate mucus membranes of the gut
  3. These foods then pass into the blood stream early, before they have been digested
  4. The immune system see’s these substances in the blood, recognises them as a threat and mounts an attack by forming antigens to them
  5. Now every time you eat that food your immune system attacks
  6. Your immune system starts to feel as if it is under constant attack (as most of these foods make up the majority of the western diet)
  7. Autoimmunity forms (as the HLA antigen that I spoke about before is incorrectly activating the immune response.

Of course this is a simplified version, and I’ve tried to make it as easy to understand as possible.

So now onto the solution…. What on Earth can I eat?

Well the best answer I have for that and what I prescribe all my autoimmune clients to follow is a Palaeolithic diet.

What on Earth is a Palaeolithic diet?

The Palaeolithic diet is also know as the cave man diet.  It is what our DNA is designed to eat.  By following it principles you avoid foods that would normally invoke an immune response.  The basic principles of the Paleo diet are as follows:

  1. Eat lots of fresh vegetables (avoiding potatoes)
  2. Eat fresh fruit 2 -3 serve a day
  3. Eat good quality organic meat including chicken, turkey, red meat and fish
  4. Snack on nuts and seeds
  5. Eggs are ok too
  6. Honey to sweeten things
  7. Healthy oils like coconut milk and olive oil

So what should I avoid?

  1. Dairy (remember my argument Milk is for baby cows… not for humans!)
  2. Grains (Grains came in the agricultural age and were not around in cave man times, grains for people with autoimmune diseases are pro-inflammatory)
  3. Soy, including tofu, soy milk, temphe
  4. Lentils and legumes like peanuts, soybeans, kidney beans etc
  5. Refined and processed foods like pizza, fries and hamburgers
  6. Sweets, lollies, cakes and all the good stuff
  7. Coffee and soft drinks

Yeah I know it’s not the diet with the greatest variety and of course all the stuff that makes your taste buds sing are gone.  But when faced between the choice of a debilitating autoimmune disease and being healthy and vital I know which one I would choose.  For more information on Paleo diets Google Dr Loren Cordain, we has written several books on the topic and has some amazing research to back it all up.

Happy and Healthy eating!

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Posted in anti-aging, Dairy, Foods for Health, Healthy Eating, Myth or Fact?, naturopathy, Preventative health, Wellness | 15 Comments »

The scariest word of them all

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Cancer, it’s been made out to be such a scary word, and I guess for many who have been through it there could be good reason for this.  Yet on the other side of the coin I personally have been blessed to see clients beat cancer, and come out on the other end healthier and happier than they were before.

Now as natural therapist the first thing that I must point out is that we don’t ever treat cancer.  Confused? Well as natural therapists our aim is to treat you as a person, not a disease, we treat the cause of disease not the disease it’s self.

So if someone presents in my clinic with ‘cancer’ the first thing I do is try and find out why this happened in the first place.

Fact:   Environmental factors, defined broadly to include tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption, diet, and infectious diseases, as well as and radiation, and leading a sedentary life style cause an estimated 78% of all cancer cases Australia. Among these factors, tobacco use, unhealthy diet, and physical activity are more likely to affect personal cancer risk. Research shows that about one-third of all cancer deaths are related to dietary factors and lack of physical activity in adulthood.

The first and most effective thing that anyone can do suffering from cancer is to reduce stress levels.

Here are my top tips to reduce stress:

  1. Throw out anything in your life that you stress over, such as work, extra commitments, managing the family budget, etc. Removing external stress as much as possible allows your body to focus on healing.
  2. Laugh! 5 nights a week you should be watching movies or programs that make you laugh out loud.  Things like the news and shows reporting on the doom and gloom in our world are a no no.
  3. Get out into nature.  Getting out side for 45 minutes a day to a park or some place that is special to you is a great way to reduce your stress levels
  4. Surround your self with loved one, whether this is family, friends or your pets, surround your self with positive loving people.
  5. Listen to beautiful music.  Music has an amazing ability to affect our mood, listen to songs that make you feel good and are associated with fond memories.

            Diet

            There are so many different types of diets out there for cancer; in fact there are different diets for different types of cancers.  But the fact of the matter is cancer cells need two major things to survive:

            1. Sugar
            2. Acid

            So the simplest thing you can do is to avoid all sugar in your diet.  I’m talking about the non-natural stuff found in processed foods like biscuits, sweets, cakes and pastries, this also include artificial sugar replacements like aspartame.  I don’t include fruit in this list.  The second thing you can do is to reduce acid forming foods in your diet.  The major acid forming foods I get people to cut out in their diets include:

            1. Dairy – butter, cheese, milk, ice cream, cream,
            2. Grains – wheat, rye, spelt, oats, corn, barley, rye rice, pasta, biscuits, noodles, bread
            3. Drinks – coffee, all alcohol except red wine, milk, processed fruit juices and concentrates, soft drinks diet and regular
            4. Meat – Bacon, deep fried or over cooked meats, cured hams and sausages
            5. Pulses – Chickpeas, kidney beans and soybeans
            6. Avoid any foods that are canned, frozen, contains preservatives, additives or food colourings.

            So what can I eat?

            There is no one size fits all diet that will work for everyone, but in general the following guide lines work for most people:

            1. Eats lots of fresh vegetables – you should be having 3 cups of vegetables raw or lightly cooked per day.  3 cups of mashed potato does not count! You should try to include a variety of colour on your plate and make sure you have plenty of the green leafy vegetables
            2. Fruits – 2 serves of fresh fruit a day.  Include berries like blueberries, strawberries, cranberries etc.
            3. Snack on fresh nuts and seeds, avoid nuts that are roasted or rancid
            4. Fish – get 3 serves of oil fish per week
            5. Meat – my rule with meat is go organic, if you can’t go organic go pasture fed instead.  Red meat should be consumed no more than 2 times a week and should be grilled or cooked lightly on a barbeque.  The best types of red meat are kangaroo, goat, and lamb or osso bucco.  Chicken and turkey should be consumed no more than 2 – 3 times a week; the rest should be a blend of fresh oily fish and vegetarian dishes.  Avoid organ meats.
            6. Drink plenty of fresh filtered water.

            My last diet and lifestyle tip:

            1. Exercise, movement is healthy! Even if it’s only walking for 20 minutes 3 times a week, some is better than none.

            One Final word of wisdom

            If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with cancer then I suggest that you find a natural health care practitioner to work with, someone who has had experience in working with people diagnosed with cancer.  With diet and lifestyle being the major causes of cancer it makes sense that basic dietary and lifestyle advice should be part of everyone’s cancer prescription.

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            Posted in anti-aging, Contemplations, Dairy, Foods for Health, Healthy Eating, Myth or Fact?, naturopathy, Preventative health, Wellness | 8 Comments »

            IS DAIRY GOOD FOR YOU?

            Monday, September 15th, 2008

            Diary is supported by a multimillion dollar industry, if there was that much money spend on brussel sprouts, maybe everyone would eat them! Just consider the following scientific points, and then make up your own mind!

            1. You only absorb 30% of milk’s available calcium.
            2. Because of the acidic nature of milk you will urinate out calcium as the body tried to neutralize the acidic effects of milk.
            3. Osteoporosis is more common among Milk drinkers than non milk drinkers.
            4. Much of the world’s population does not consume cow’s milk, and yet most of the world does not experience the high rates of osteoporosis found in the West. In some Asian countries, for example, where consumption of dairy foods is low, fracture rates are far lower than they are in the United States and in Scandinavian countries, where consumption of dairy products is high.
            5. Corporate-owned factories where cows are warehoused in huge sheds and treated like milk machines have replaced most small family farms. With genetic manipulation and intensive production technologies, it is common for modern dairy cows to produce 100 pounds of milk a day— 10 times more than they would produce in nature. To keep milk production as high as possible, farmers artificially inseminate cows every year. Growth hormones and unnatural milking schedules cause dairy cows’ udders to become painful and so heavy that they sometimes drag on the ground, resulting in frequent infections and overuse of antibiotics. Cows— like all mammals— make milk to feed their own babies— not humans.
            6. Diary consumption has been linked to many different diseases such as asthma, ear infections, bed wetting, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, allergies, kidney stones, autism, crohn’s disease and Osteoporosis.
            7. The countries consuming the greatest amount of calcium through milk products are suffering the most from calcium deficiencies. These countries have the highest incidence of osteoporosis. Why would the countries with an overflowing supply of calcium-laden milk have the highest rate of calcium-deficiency diseases?
            8. Major studies suggesting a link between milk and prostate cancer have been appearing since the 1970s, culminating in findings by the Harvard School of Public Health in 2000 that men who consumed two and a half servings of dairy products a day had a third greater risk of getting prostate cancer than those who ate less than half a serving a day.

            Posted in Dairy, Vitalchi | 1 Comment »