Category Archives: Health

The Power of Food Choices

Posted on July 13, 2009 by continuum wellness| Leave a comment

Food Inc. is a documentary of what is becoming its own genre, that of simply awakening the American public to the politics, economics, environmental and of course health implications of food. Similar movies also worth viewing include “King Corn“, and Super Size Me. Another independent movie, The Corporation, uses the DSM classification of sociopath as a way to make sense of the way huge corporate conglomerates operate. Insensitive, selfish and even brute behavior is the path some of these big businesses take and that is dangerous enough, but when they feed our nation it is not a small leap to see why “food” is about shelf life and profits vs. nutrition and well-being.

Is there an ever growing hubris in the world of agribusiness? The, “we are the experts, just trust us” is not sufficient, as the decisions made have far reaching effects. We, the public, the consumer need to assume a relationship with our food, beyond just buying it and eating it.

Whether you are a vegan, omnivore, meat-eater or any mix there of, food as we all know is essential to life. Food, Inc. discusses how we, the public and even the government have seemingly lost control of how our food comes to market. A few scenes display (not too graphically) what happens with the animals and the lack of care they receive in some cases. But please don’t let that stop you from seeing this movie! The old adage that “truth is stranger than fiction”, may come to mind during the watching of this flick.

Again, one of the key truths this movie highlights is the importance of food. We cannot underestimate the impact of food safety. Simply good, healthy food is essential to health. Our health as individuals, the planet, the animals, water, etc. depend on us caring about the earth’s resources. The diabetes epidemic can be reversed, our hearts can be healthier, public health can improve. When we understand that we have always had the power and simply start to make choices that take into account our generation and generations to come, improvement will come.

Posted in diabetes, diet, environment, food, Health, health care, healthy eating, meat, nutrition

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The True Journey from the Farm to You: A Review of Food, Inc.

Posted on July 9, 2009 by continuum wellness| Leave a comment

Food Inc: Michael Pollan and Friends Reveal the Food Industry’s Darkest Secrets

The new film Food Inc. is a shocking look at the health, human rights and the environmental nightmare that lands on our plate each meal.

It turns out that figuring out the most simple thing — like what’s on your dinner plate, and where it came from — is actually a pretty subversive act.

That’s what director Robert Kenner found out while spending six years putting together the amazing new documentary, Food Inc., which features prominent food writers Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation).

Warning: Food Inc. is not for the faint of heart. While its focus is not on the gory images of slaughterhouse floors and filthy feedlots, what it does show about the journey of our food from “farm” to plate is not pretty.

The story’s main narrative chronicles the consolidation of our vast food industry into the hands of a few powerful corporations that have worked to limit the public’s understanding of where its food comes from, what’s in it and how safe it may be.

But it’s also a larger story about the people that have gotten in the way of the stampeding corporate herd — like farmer Joel Salatin (also profiled in Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma), who has bravely bucked the trend to go corporate.

Read the rest of the interview here

People think if they can’t do it all the time they don’t have to do anything. Change one meal. But then we have to stop subsidizing food that is making us sick, we have to change the national school-lunch program. If we supported local farms and got that to the school systems and spent a dollar there, we’d save a a fortune in medicine and train kids to eat right, and we’d have better communities.

To see Food Inc., find a theater near you.

Posted in African American, causes of allergies, FDA, food, Health, healthy eating

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Pesticides in your food, the dirty dozen

Posted on April 7, 2009 by continuum wellness| Leave a comment

Chances are you’ve seen or heard of this pesticide list, which ranks common foods by the amount of pesticide residue. The folks over at the Environmental Working Group (as far as I know), produce this guide. It is updated yearly. Print a copy and take it with you when grocery shopping.

The need to keep our food supply safe is of paramount importance.  It is absolutely necessary to eat nutritious food.  Take a peek at the list, below.

Finding Nutritious Produce

  • Buy local produce
  • there are organizations that will deliver organic produce to your home
  • join a co-op
  • grow your own vegetables when possible
  • take a trip to a local farm to purchase fresh from the farm.
  • By visiting a local farm you can ask questions and determine the quality of the produce and support the farmer, that’s win-win.

The Dirty Dozen

  1. Peach
  2. Apple
  3. Bell Pepper
  4. Celery
  5. Nectarine
  6. Strawberries
  7. Cherries
  8. Kale
  9. Lettuce
  10. Grapes (imported)
  11. Carrot
  12. Pear

Lower in Pesticides (15)

  1. Onion
  2. Avocado
  3. Sweet Corn
  4. Pineapple
  5. Mango
  6. Asparagus
  7. Sweet Peas
  8. Kiwi
  9. Cabbage
  10. Eggplant
  11. Papaya
  12. Watermelon
  13. Broccoli
  14. Tomato
  15. Sweet Potato

Posted in baby boomers, cooking, culture, diet, environment, family, food, Health, health benefits of food, healthy eating, nutrition, pesticides, Western diet, women's health

Young vegetarians may be at risk of binge eating

Posted on April 1, 2009 by continuum wellness| Leave a comment

One of the keys to being a healthy vegetarian/vegan or raw-fooder is correct information.  According to this story reported (here) many young vegetarians may have problems from binge eating. Here is a definition of binge eating (more here):
* Frequent episodes of eating what others would consider an abnormally large amount of food.

* Frequent feelings of being unable to control what or how much is being eaten.

* Several of these behaviors or feelings:

1. Eating much more rapidly than usual.
2. Eating until uncomfortably full.
3. Eating large amounts of food, even when not physically hungry.
4. Eating alone out of embarrassment at the quantity of food being eaten.
5. Feelings of disgust, depression, or guilt after overeating.
Does this mean the young vegetarian will wake up in the middle of the night and raid the refrigerator for carrots, tofu and broccoli? I doubt it. Perhaps it means that anyone can be challenged to eat mindfully.

Solutions
Eating with awareness is something many people are challenged to do. Help your young vegetarian with well written cookbooks, cooking meals together as a family and eating as a family. Encouraging good eating habits for all family members will reduce binge eating for all.

Posted in adolescents, diet, family, Health, health benefits of food, healthy body, nutrition, tips

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Fish in U.S. Rivers Tainted With Common Medications

Posted on March 31, 2009 by continuum wellness| Leave a comment

Do you eat fish as a means to a healthy diet? Well, er before you take out that fishing rod, or purchase that package of fish you may want to check out where that fish swam. Turns out waste from the many medications in use by the American populace is ending up as effluent in the river. Does any one feel for the fish?

Federal standards for treating waste water do not govern pharmaceutical by products. Read the article here.

The medications and chemicals found from among the 36 tested for were, aside from diphenhydramine:

* the cholesterol drug gemfibrozil (Lopid), which researchers say had never before been found in wild fish;
* diltiazem (Cardizem), a medication that helps control high blood pressure;
* carbamazepine (Tegretol), a drug used for epilepsy and bipolar disorder;
* norfluoxetine, an active ingredient in the antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac);
* the antidepressant sertraline (Zoloft);
* galaxolide and tonalide, common odor-enhancing ingredients in soap and other hygiene products.
Years ago, actually decades, the problem was mercury in the water…and I don’t think that ever went away, now add this.

Another reason to heal thyself.

Posted in environment, healing, Health, health care, healthy body, healthy eating, self-care, self-healing, Western diet, women, women's health

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Enter the “Polypill” to reduce heart problems, hbp and stroke

Posted on March 30, 2009 by continuum wellness| Leave a comment

The “miracle” of modern medicine has led to bizarre side effects such as a treatment for restless legs, that has caused compulsive gambling. A medicine for Parkinson’s has a similar problem for some. Sleep drugs that cause people to stumble out of their home and drive. Fertility drugs that lead to multiple births. Hallucinations are a “rare” side effect of some ADHD medications. These are the considered a-typical, but the typical side effects are no fun either.

Help for High Blood Pressure

Enter the Polypill.  Researchers want to create a pill a 3 in one that can reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and high blood pressure in one.  article here
Truth is it has been created or should I say they have been. When we eat whole foods, contained therein is a synergistic blend of vitamins, proteins, amino acids, flavonoids, solar and lunar energy and maybe even (hopefully) love from the gardener. We cannot get this from a pill.

Run This Way

Instead of running from nature, run to nature. Nurture yourself with learning how to live in balance. It’s free. It’s the healthiest choice for yourself and the planet. Give it a try. Polypill? Try basking in the sun, or hugging a dear friend, cook yourself a meal with a big dose of love in it…you’ll be glad you did, for benefits no Polypill could ever provide.

At Continuum Wellness we offer homeopathic care and wellness coaching to promote wholeness, health and well-being.

Posted in adverse events, alternative medicine, baby boomers, behavior, cholesterol, complementary medicine, healing, healing philosophy, Health, health beliefs, health benefits of food, health care, healthy body, healthy eating, healthy mind, heart, heart attack, holistic, holistic medicine, integrative medicine, kindness, medications, medicine, men, prescription drugs, self-care, self-healing, thoughts, tips, wellness, Western diet, women, women's health

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Researchers Use a Small Amount of the Same Substance to Heal Food Allergies

Posted on March 17, 2009 by continuum wellness| 3 Comments

Researchers Use a Small Amount of the Same Substance to Cure Food Allergies

There truly is nothing new under the sun.  At times when I read “medical research,” it is often only resurfaced wisdom.  I tend to think it is ‘ego’ at work, to claim your work as “new”.  When it is not new.  The idea of small doses has been in use that we know of for hundreds of years, it is a cornerstone of homeopathic treatment, homeopathy uses infinitesimally small doses.

Isopathy prescribes a remedy made from the causative agent or products of a disease from the same disease or substance. In this research, to treat the food allergies small substances were used of the allergen are used.  Hahnemann spoke of the isopathic method and credits any success due to the simillum, but argues against this approach for various reasons.

Eliminating the Aggravation

This is a brief excerpt as to how tolerance to the allergen is ameliorated.

The starting doses were very small, as little as 1/1000th of a peanut. The doses increased until the children ate the equivalent of up to 15 peanuts a day about 10 months later, and then they stayed on the daily therapy while they were monitored.

The researchers of course suggest that this is a highly refined approach, left to trained professionals.  Read the article below and check out the link to learn more about their work.
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Exposure to Peanuts May Build Tolerance to Allergy

The therapy is still experimental, and more research is needed, study says

Doctors may have found an unlikely remedy for some peanut allergies.

Teams at Duke University Medical Center and Arkansas Children’s Hospital gave nearly microscopic pieces of peanut to a group of about 30 children with non-life-threatening peanut allergies daily.

After two years, nine kids were still able to tolerate the treatment, and four appeared to be completely allergy-free.

The researchers say this is the first study to show limited exposure can help someone with a food allergy become tolerant of that food. Read more at arkansasmatters.com.

Posted in allergies, alternative medicine, causes of allergies, causes of alleries, detox, healing, healing philosophy, Health

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Keep Our Food Supply Free

Posted on March 15, 2009 by continuum wellness| Leave a comment

Congressional Bill HR 875 was introduced by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro,
whose husband Stanley Greenburg works for Monsanto. The bill is
essentially a giant gift package for Monsanto, mandating the
criminalization of seed banking, prison terms and confiscatory fines for
small farmers and 24 hour GPS tracking of their animals, and of
“industrial” standards to independent farms.

The corporations want nothing less than full control of the land, the
end of normal animals so they can substitute patented genetically
engineered ones, and the end of normal seeds and thus of seed banking by
farmers or individuals.

And now Monsanto wants its own employee, Michael Taylor (the man who
forced genetically engineered rBGH on the country when the Clintons
placed him over “food safety” in the 90’s) back in government, this time
to act with massive police power as a “food safety tsar”. HR 875 would
give him immense power over what is done on every single farm in the
country and massive police state power to wield over farmers.

Rosa DeLauro and Stanley Greenburg have a great deal to account for in
attempting to force through a mislabeled “food safety” bill with hidden
intent to wipe out farmers and harm everyone.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-875

Posted in economy, FDA, Health

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Fructose versus High Fructose Corn Syrup

Posted on March 11, 2009 by continuum wellness| Leave a comment

The article below is by the American Journal of Nutrition, odd that a nutritional organization would endorse high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  Does HFCS cause obesity?  Overeating leads to obesity.  The real question is the nutritive content of what we are ingesting, or lack thereof.

What we eat is what makes up our hair, skin, every cell of the body and influences our very thoughts.  The article is written by a trade group and goes as far to consider HFCS.  It goes as far to say it is a “natural” product.  A total corruption of the concept and meaning of the word natural.  HFCS is a highly refined product.  It is not a naturally occuring substance and it use is implicated as causative in a number of degenerative, chronic health conditions such as diabetes and kidney disease.

This kind of article seriously reduced the credibility of the Nutrition Journal, imho.

Pure fructose frequently confused with high fructose corn syrup

New studies, ongoing misunderstanding can lead to consumer confusion

WASHINGTON, DC – As researchers continue to examine the role of sweeteners in the diet, it’s important that people understand the differences among various ingredients used in scientific studies, according to the Corn Refiners Association (CRA). Interchanging two distinctly different ingredients, such as pure fructose and high fructose corn syrup, creates factually incorrect conclusions and misleads consumers.

Recent studies using pure fructose that purport to show that the body processes high fructose corn syrup differently than other sugars due to fructose content are a classic example of this problem because pure fructose cannot be extrapolated to high fructose corn syrup. The abnormally high levels of pure fructose used in these studies are not found in the human diet.

Fructose consumption at normal human dietary levels and as part of a balanced diet has not been shown to yield such results. Moreover, human fructose intake is nearly always accompanied by the simultaneous and equivalent intake of glucose – a critical and distinguishing factor from pure fructose used in these studies.

Following are some facts about high fructose corn syrup and fructose:

* High fructose corn syrup contains approximately equal ratios of fructose and glucose. Table sugar also contains equal ratios of fructose and glucose. High fructose corn syrup and sugar are equally sweet and both contain four calories per gram.

* Fructose is a natural, simple sugar commonly found in fruits and honey. The absence of glucose makes pure fructose fundamentally different from high fructose corn syrup.

* Common dietary sources of fructose and glucose include fruits, vegetables, nuts and sweeteners (sugar, honey, high fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrates and agave nectar).

* There is no meaningful difference in how the body metabolizes table sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Once the combination of glucose and fructose found in high fructose corn syrup and sucrose are absorbed into the blood stream, the two types of sweetener appear to be metabolized similarly using well-characterized metabolic pathways.

* High fructose corn syrup meets the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s requirements for use of the term “natural.” It is made from corn, a natural grain product and contains no artificial or synthetic ingredients or color additives.

The American Medical Association in June 2008 helped put to rest a common misunderstanding about high fructose corn syrup and obesity, stating that “high fructose syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity more than other caloric sweeteners.” Even former critics of high fructose corn syrup dispelled long-held myths and distanced themselves from earlier speculation about the sweetener’s link to obesity in a comprehensive scientific review published in a recent supplement of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2008 Vol. 88).

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Learn more about the latest research and facts about sweeteners, including high fructose corn syrup, by visiting www.SweetSurprise.com.

Editor’s Note: Interviews available with health and industry experts available.

CRA is the national trade association representing the corn refining (wet milling) industry of the United States. CRA and its predecessors have served this important segment of American agribusiness since 1913. Corn refiners manufacture sweeteners, ethanol, starch, bioproducts, corn oil, and feed products from corn components such as starch, oil, protein, and fiber.

Posted in diabetes, diet, food, Health, health benefits of food, health care, healthy body, nutrition, self-care, wellness, Western diet, women, women's health

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Reversing Diabetes – Raw for 30 Days

Posted on March 11, 2009 by continuum wellness| Leave a comment

Diabetes is considered irreversible by conventional medical authorities, yet if you review the literature of various holistic therapies such as homeopathic and various diet therapies it has been done. The first key is the desire to want to heal the diabetic condition and its causes. If you only want to “manage” it, over time its disastrous consequences will most likely manifest.

Reversing diabetes requires professional guidance and a compassionate doctor who will work you. Here is a clip of some folks who found help by using a raw food approach.

Posted in African American, alternative medicine, diabetes, diet, food, healing philosophy, Health, health beliefs, health benefits of food, health care, healthy body, healthy eating, integrative medicine, men, self-healing, Western diet, women, women's health

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