Can The Sodas

Gary Foster, director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University and colleagues have just completed a two year study. Five Philadelphia elementary schools replaced sodas with fruit juice. They scaled back snacks and banished candy. They handed out raffle tickets for wise food choices. They spent hours teaching kids, their parents and teachers about good nutrition.

The results were phenomenal. The number of students who became overweight during the two-year experiment was a full 50% less than the number of kids who became overweight in schools that didn’t make these changes. The findings are published in the April, 2008, issue of the journal Pediatrics.

In the five test schools, juice, water and low-fat milk replaced sodas. Snacks had to meet limits for fat, salt and sugar. Students who ate healthy snacks got raffle tickets to win prizes such as bikes and jump ropes.

But the schools can’t do it all on their own – the biggest challenge to schools is that kids drink sodas and eat junk food at home – so they come to school expecting to do the same. As parents, imagine the difference we could make if all of us made these same simple changes in our homes.

Wholefood Farmacy foods taste great, they’re convenient, kids love them and can help you to take that first step in the right direction.

Dangerous Ingredients Lurking in our Food Supply

Here are examples of what is in many of our foods today unknown and unseen by the general public.

• Hormones, steroids, antibiotics found in animal products
Research shows these compounds can be absorbed by fruits and vegetables grown in soil treated with manure from animals fed antibiotics.

• Toxins and pollutants from contaminated soil and water
These can stay in our environment years after they've been banned, such as DDT.

• Pesticides, fertilizers and fumigants
These are unnatural compounds.

• MSG (Monosodium Glutamate}
MSG is a neurotoxic flavor enhancer that's hidden in many foods.

• Partially hydrogenated oil
Gives baked goods and snacks longer shelf life but contains high levels of trans fat.

• High fructose corn syrup-With a high glycemic index, it converts to fat more than any other sugar. Usually made with genetically modified corn and genetically modified
enzymes.

• Genes from bacteria, viruses, plants, animals and even humans inserted into plants like soybeans, corn, canola and cotton
Unlike traditional breeding, genetic engineering can create life forms that would normally never exist in nature.

•Artificial colors and flavorings
Artificial colors are chemical compounds made mainly from coal-tar; artificial flavors are cheaply produced chemical mixtures that mimic natural flavors.

• Artificial sweeteners
Despite claims that these are "safe" food additives, remember they are not natural. For example, aspartame is made up of three chemicals.

• Benzoate preservatives-These are phenolic compounds often added to food to preserve fats and prevent fats from becoming rancid; these preservatives produce low levels of hormones.
The result? Food that has been denatured - stripped of much of its nutritional value and integrity. Food that could potentially cause health issues.

"Natural" juices and energy drinks are not what you think

Many people hope to get some or most of the fruits and vegetables they need from so-called "natural" juices. Not so fast!

Did you know that 98 percent of liquid nutritional products on the market are pasteurized? Pasteurization uses high heat to kill bacteria and harmful microorganisms but at the same time substantially alters or deactivates the majority of good, naturally occurring "live" nutrients and enzymes!

Some manufacturers go as far as to say their product is not pasteurized although prior to combining the products individual juice ingredients each ingredient is pasteurized prior to being made into a juice or supplement.

Many of these so-called "natural" juices contain ingredients from "juice concentrates" or "puree concentrates" using heat or a vacuum, which also denatures the nutritional integrity of a fruit or berry. And some of these juices contain only 10 percent or less of the actual key ingredient promised on the label.

What about hot selling energy drinks? The truth is most of them are absolutely loaded with high fructose corn syrup and synthetic caffeine-and there's not much "natural" about those ingredients.

Why most grocery store Minerals are Junk!

Most minerals supplements found in grocery stores are made from isolated or inorganic minerals. These types of minerals are not water soluble and are difficult for your body to absorb. According to experts, your body can assimilate no more than eight percent of inorganic minerals you consume from these supplements. Just eight percent! (1)

The best way to get the minerals you need each day is from plant-derived hydrophilic minerals. These minerals are 200 to 2,000 times smaller than inorganic minerals, plus they're water soluble and more easily digested by your body. In fact, almost 100 percent of a hydrophilic mineral can be absorbed by your body and made available for use.

The key phrase is "plant derived" or "plant based". Yes, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants with the thousands of naturally occurring nutrients found in plants, fruits and vegetables give you better nutrition than isolated synthetic vitamins-almost 100 percent.

(1) TRC Nutritional Laboratories, www.trccorp.com

The Synthetic Vitamin Deception

Because it's hard to eat 5-9 fruits and vegetables every day, many Americans think they can get the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants they need from isolated synthetic supplements.

Americans are buying synthetic supplements in droves to the tune of $20 billion a year. But don't be fooled! Research shows that synthetic vitamins are 50-70 percent less biologically active than natural vitamins.(1)

The fact is, there are literally thousands of naturally occurring nutrients in fresh fruits, vegetables berries, greens, seeds, nuts and sprouts that you simply cannot get from synthetic, isolated vitamin supplements.

Synthetic, isolated vitamins and inorganic mineral supplements don't even come close to giving you the REAL whole food-based nutrition you can get from the best whole foods.

(1) Nutri-Con The Truth About Vitamins & Supplements, The Vitamin Myth Exposed, Brian Clement, Hippocrates Health Institute & OCA, Dec. 31, 2006

Live Whole Food Based Super Foods

By the year 2025, REAL nutrition will come from live, whole food based "super foods". These remarkable super foods will be delicious and will provide a wide variety of live whole foods in adequate quantities. These super foods will come from the purest sources possible, will be an incredible value and will be convenient to use. The good news is you do not wait because the future is here now.

This exciting NEW, Cutting Edge breakthrough, guarantees you REAL nutrition that your body needs and recognizes from whole food vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Even better, it is all without fistfuls of expensive pills or supplements, without messy juicers, without endless peeling, without chopping or cooking of fruits and vegetables or without yucky tasting "green" drinks.

What are Americans eating? Too much junk food!

An analysis of the diet of Americans reveals that sugary snacks and sodas are consumed more readily than fruits and vegetables. It should not surprise us that 89% of Americans do not eat enough fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately it is more convenient to eat fast foods or processed foods that are not as healthy.

Researcher Gladys Block, PhD and Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health Nutrition at the University of California, Berkeley, discovered that at least 30 percent of the total calorie intake of Americans surveyed was from sweets, desserts, salty snacks, fruit flavored drinks and alcoholic beverages. (l)

The end result! Junk food provides calories but not vitamins and minerals your body is in need of... in other words "empty calories."

(1) UC Berkeley Press Release by Sarah Yang, June 1, 2004

What To Know About Real Whole Food Nutrition

Americans are becoming very interested in better nutrition. There are some things that are happening in farming, food and health industries that will literally cause you to be concerned.

Did you know that over 70 percent of processed foods have at least one genetically modified ingredient in it which means they are nowhere near the quality that Nature intended for your body?

Tomatoes are being picked prematurely and ripened with hormones. Apples are treated with radiation to appear fresher but these foods have been deprived of optimum nutrient content because they are not ripened on the vine or tree.

Today's conventionally grown fruits and vegetables have shockingly poor vitamin and mineral content compared to produce grown 25 years ago.

Some of our imported foods are tainted with pesticides that have been banned by the U.S. for decades, yet are still making their way back into our food.

Energy drinks are laden with chemicals including synthetic caffeine and high fructose corn syrup.

So how can you get the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants your body needs and can recognize? The answer is found in a new, cutting-edge breakthrough that guarantees you REAL whole food based nutrition without taking a fistful of expensive synthetic pills. You do not need messy juicers, and no need for endless peeling, chopping or cooking.

Whole Food Supplements - In Nature's Perfect Balance

No matter which foods we choose and in what ratios we eat them, whole foods are better for you than refined foods or synthetic supplements. Everyone agrees raw honey is better for you than white sugar or that brown rice is better for you than white rice. Why should it be any different for synthetic vitamins and minerals? All refined foods much like synthetic vitamin and mineral supplements have been robbed of all the extra nutrients they naturally come with. So how can we expect them to be healthy for you? Since synthetic supplements are not in a natural form, our bodies have a hard time recognizing them.

The potency of a whole food or whole food supplement has much more to do with synergy than with actual nutrient levels. It is the combined effect of all the parts of the food, rather than the chemical effect of a single part, that is most important. This is because nature is all about balance and not potency.

If you are like me, you may also want to take live whole food based supplements to ensure you are getting an adequate array of nutrients in your diet. I strongly recommend real whole food based supplements as my first choice. Here are some things to look for in a whole food supplement:

• It is as close as possible to its natural form as possible to obtain nature’s perfect balance.
• Be sure the utmost care has been taken in all phases of its production, from growing its ingredients, to short transportation times, to manufacturing, testing for potency and quality control. Make sure the product was not heated to exceed 115 degrees during the manufacturing process which will break down some nutrients.
• Try to select from companies that have a long track record of providing high quality live whole food nutritional products.

Whole Food Supplements verus Synthetic Supplements

Americans are now spending more than $17 billion a year on supplements for health and wellness. Remarkably, the rates of some forms of chronic disease have not changed, while the rates of others have actually increased. I guess it is fair to say that most manufactured supplements aren't helping very much. A big reason is they are isolated nutrients or synthetic nutrients that are not natural and they are never found by themselves in nature. Nature does not produce any nutrient in an isolated form. The nutrients in foods are blended together in a specific way and work best in that format. For an isolated nutrient to work properly in the body, it needs all the other parts that are naturally present in the balance of natural food. Unfortunately, science has not even discovered all the nutrients present yet and they cannot duplicate the natural combinations that give whole foods natures’ perfect balance.

Taking these isolated manufactured nutrients, especially at the ultra-high doses found in manufactured formulas today, is more like taking a drug. Studies show the body treats these isolated and synthetic nutrients like foreign substances. Has your urine ever turned florescent yellow after taking a manufactured pill or capsule supplement? Rapid excretion happens when a foreign substance is in your body but live whole foods and whole food based supplements are never treated like this by your body no matter how much you eat.