The Effect of Hydrogenation on our Health

Hydrogenation causes the destruction of over a billion pounds of essential fatty acids annually, a loss we cannot afford.

What is hydrogenation?

Hydrogenation is an extremely harmful process that creates an immune damaging synthetic fat, a type of trans fatty acid that's been found to elevate blood cholesterol.

Stay away from "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" products such as in oils, margarines, shortenings, etc.

Most refined oils are solvent extracted at high heat with harsh chemicals then bleached and chemically treated to obtain colorless, tasteless oil with a long shelf life. The taste of rancidity has been removed but the harmful effects remain!

How bad are hydrogenated fats? Find out here...

Margarine versus Butter

Today I would like to share with you a motto that I believe in and
will help you to make healthier food choices...

The closer a food item is to its natural state, the better it would be
for you. Case in point today is, butter is better for you than
margarine.

Let's look at the reasons why:

Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it
killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the
research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to
figure out what to do with this product. It was a white substance
with no food appeal - so they added the yellow coloring and sold
it to us to use in place of butter.

Hmm... Doesn't sound right, does it?

DO YOU KNOW the difference between margarine and butter?

* Both have the same amount of calories.
* Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared
to 5 grams.
* Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53%
over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent
Harvard Medical Study.
* Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients
in other foods.
* Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few
and only because they are added!
* Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance
the flavors of other foods.
* Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has
been around for less than 100 years.

And now, for Margarine:

* Very high in trans fatty acids.
* Triples the risk of coronary heart disease.
* Increases total cholesterol and LDL (the bad cholesterol)
and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol)
* Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold.
* Lowers quality of breast milk.
* Decreases immune response.
* Decreases insulin response.

And here's the most disturbing fact....

Margarine is ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC.

This fact alone was enough to make me avoid margarine for
life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen
is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

Don't believe what I'm saying about margarine? Try this yourself:

Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or
shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a couple
of things:

No flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that
should tell you something).

It does not spoil or smell differently because it has no nutritional
value; nothing will grow on it! Even those tiny microorganisms
will not find a home to grow.

Why? Because it is nearly plastic.

Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?

Remember, the closer something is to its natural state, the
healthier it will be. However, completely natural, whole foods are best, of course!

To Your Health,

Deb
http:www.Eat-Well-To-Be-Well.com

Stroke

The World Health Organization has identified stroke as the third major killer disease of humans. More than 150,000 Americans die of stroke each year - a full one-third of all those who suffer stroke. Another 150,000 will be left with a severe disability that is permanent and affects their ability to enjoy their optimum life.

A stroke is an alteration in the brain, in which you are aware of that alteration and your diminished capabilities. As frightening as the varieties of cancer, stroke also comes in varieties with various accompanying results. An aneurysm is a spontaneous hemorrhage rupture due to a weakness in a part of the artery wall in the brain, and are very deadly, coming without warning and killing half of their victims.

A hemorrhage caused by the rupture of small blood vessels in the brain is most often related to the long-term debilitating effects of high blood pressure, and is found moreso in people over age 50. When it occurs, the build up of blood in the brain causes pressure inside the skull, which can lead to damage, loss of function, mental confusion, and even unconsciousness.

A stroke occurs when a part of the brain is deprived of the constant supply of blood that it requires to function. Blocking blood flow to the brain results in damage to nerve cells, which in turn die and cannot grow back. Men and women experience strokes in nearly even numbers, with some variance due to age.

There are important risk factors for stroke. Let's take a look.

High blood pressure: Causes your blood vessels to degenerate, and is the most important risk factor in the cause of stroke. It can be directly attributed to lifestyle choices.

High total cholesterol: Clogs your arteries and slows your blood flow; it can be caused by heredity or from consuming too many foods high in saturated fats.

Physical inactivity: Increases risk of stroke by 50%, according to the WHO. Physical activity gets the blood pumping, and is one factor in controlling weight, blood pressure, and risk of other diseases.

What does the WHO recommend that anyone do in order to reduce their risk for stroke?

Move: Physical activity at a moderate level on most days of the week reduces your risk for stroke. Get a pedometer and start walking at the very minimum!

Overload your plate: With fruits and vegetables. You can't have too many fruits or vegetables, which help to fill you with fiber, control weight, and provide vital nutrients to all of your body.

Wise fats: Avoid saturated fats like the plague that they are. Reach for unsaturated fats such as canola, safflower, and olive oils, as well as the good oils found in nuts and seeds. Use all oils sparingly.

Regular check ups: You take your car in for oil changes and check ups, so it is only right that you take even better care of your most important asset: your health. Seeing your physician on a regular basis to get an assessment of where you are with your cholesterol and blood pressure, then following all advice accordingly can greatly reduce your risk of stroke, as it can give you guidelines and a map of yourself to work from.

The news does not have to be all grim and dire, when we can take measures to help reduce our risk factors for debilitating and/or deadly diseases such as stroke. It is better to start today, while we may still have the opportunity to do so, rather than look back at today, if even given the opportunity, and wishing we had taken the initiative to take the best care of ourselves possible.

No one can care more about your health and well-being than you do, so take as good a care of your body as you would the welfare of your family. Whole foods nutrition is one of the greatest preventative weapons in your personal arsenal for combatting the diseases that would rob you of the most optimum health and the best life you can achieve. What are monetary wealth and fame without health? Realize that the greatest wealth possible is found in good health, because once gone, it is not always an option to buy back.

Choose vibrant and optimum health, because you deserve it.

Aged Garlic Extract (AGE)

Cholesterol lowering (statin) drugs have been shown to be more effective when combined with aged garlic extract. A recent study evaluated the effect of garlic therapy on coronary artery calcification, an early sign of atherosclerosis - hardening of the arteries. Results showed a slowing of calcium accumulation in the arteries and are thought to be complementary to the effects of statin therapy.

Even though evidence supports the positive effect on the arteries, it's still now clear exactly how AGE inhibits atherosclerosis. The researchers notes state that it may be related with the reduction of multiple risk factos in cardiovacular diseases such as homocysteine, LDL, LDL oxidation, blood coagulations, and others.

Learn more about how natural and whole foods can help you maintain or regain your health.

Killer Cancer

The World Health Organization has found that dietary factors account for approximately 30% of all cancers in Western countries, and that diet is second only to tobacco use as a preventable cause. Following cardiovascular disease, it is the second biggest cause of death in developed countries. More than half of all new cancer cases are springing up in developing countries, already plagued by so many other diseases.

What can be done about this startling statistic?

The WHO has recognized that at least one-third of these cancer cases could be prevented. Smoking is one preventable cause of cancer. Overweight and obesity are considered the next major risk factors. Excessive alcohol consumption and inactivity are also related risk factors.

There is no special science needed to understand that eating a healthy, whole foods-based diet and getting regular physical activity can be significantly linked to prevention of cancer, but the research that has been done does support this. We are fortunate in the Western world to have access to an abundance of whole foods. A variety of fruits and vegetables can be found in any supermarket, and whole grains in an array of choices can be found there, as well. We are fortunate and abundant in choice.

Rich, fatty, and over-processed foods are detrimental to overall good health. Not only do they not provide the energy that the body needs to function, they provide an opening for serious health problems such as cancer to gain a foot-hold. Cancer is an alien form of normal tissue that grows in a haphazard and invasive way in the body. This causes healthy cells to mutate and attack the body itself. Of all the cells in the human body, it only takes one to mutate and begin to replicate itself, which it does with a vicious abandon. This is why early detection and treatment are so crucial to put the odds in favor of survival in this drama where the body becomes a battlefield.

A diagnosis of cancer is stressful on the patient as well as on their families. Cancer patient care is expensive for the health system, and it can also have an effect within the family unit, with the patient unable to work while receiving treatment.

Fruits and vegetables can decrease the risk of some forms of cancer, such as mouth, esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancers. The vitamins provided by a whole foods diet give the body the tools it needs in order to do its job in order to function properly and fend off would-be attackers.

While there are other risk factors involved, such as genetic predisposition, our personal habits far outweigh those risk factors. Personal responsibility for the state of our health can make a difference.

Wouldn't it make sense to do everything at your disposal to preserve your good health? A body that is starving from lack of good nutritional food cannot be expected to perform adequately in day-to-day operations, let alone fend off a parasite such as cancer. No matter where you are starting from in your wholesome nutritional quest, the main thing is to begin!

Give your body the gift of good, whole foods nutrition, and it will be able to give back to you abundantly in terms of radiant good health. You deserve the best possible health you can attain, and taking advantage of the choices that are available to you is your right. Any opportunity that affords you the best that you can be will reap you rewards in terms of feeling great and enjoying the life you have been given.

Learn more about preventing disease with proper nutrition today... your health depends on it.