Nutrition as a treatment for Depression #4

I wanted to share a youtube I enjoyed. This nice fellow touches on so many great food concepts, please listen if you have a minute. Also a tip: Buy 5 oz. boxes of washed greens, open, toss in salad dressing right into the box and voila there is your fresh little salad!

Why is that good food good for you?

Listen to this Phd. Biochemist, Hagen Schroeter, talk about food research.

Here is the concept I found most interesting:
We can say flaxseeds (my example) are good for you or that some part of the seed is good for you. What part survives food processing? What compound results in your body’s metabolism of the seed? What compounds (if any) remain bio-active and move systemically? I think I got that right, feel free to listen and provide feedback. He explains why it is not simple to see the mechanism or reality of why a particular food is good for you.

Scientific American: Science Talk
Man from Mars: Health and Nutrition Research at Mars, Inc., and Beyond
Hagen Schroeter, the director of fundamental health and nutrition research at Mars, Inc., talks about research on bio-active food compounds and the search for why a healthful diet is good for you
January 5, 2012

Food Radiation article in Physics Today

Here is a quote from a free Physics Today’s article on food radiation:
“Irradiation does reduce vitamin levels in foods, especially for the B group vitamins. Thiamine is particularly sensitive, and as much as half of that vitamin can be destroyed in food irradiated at high doses. Vitamin loss, however, occurs in many food processes, including cooking and canning…For vegetables, the loss of vitamins is potentially of greater concern. The FDA, however, considers change in nutritional value as part of its evaluation of irradiation processes. The agency is not permitted to approve the use of irradiation if it will result in a significant nutritional loss. For example, at the doses approved for quarantine control of fruits and vegetables—below 1 kGy—more than 90% of the vitamins remain in the produce…Without doubt, applying radiation to a food breaks molecular bonds and thus generates radiolytic byproducts.” (Physics Today, vol. 65, issue2, February 2012, page 66)

Ellen’s Day 16 of Sugar cleanse

Hope you enjoy this simple 3 min. video, maybe it will inspire you to do your own sugar cleanse. I love how she includes the voices of her viewers in this, fun video. Ellen, we love you.

Processed Sugar

Overeaters Anonymous is a group that focuses on stopping eating processed sugar. For decades now OA has successfully motivated people to stop eating all processed sugar for many years at a time. I just know this from going to meetings with my mom as a kid. Her group at the time was not so God focused as some groups are. It is an issue to use God language in that it will limit the number of people interested in joining the group. People would meet and stand up in the circle and say today I have now gone 20 years without sugar (meaning processed sugar of any kind). As a kid I experimented and went one year this way very happily. I still remark on how freeing it is to discover this will power and freedom.

Nature’s article: Public health: The toxic truth about sugar looks at sugar regulation which could include tax, limiting sales during school hours and placing age limits on purchase.
Why? Here is the heart of the article:

“A growing body of epidemiological and mechanistic evidence argues that excessive sugar consumption affects human health beyond simply adding calories4. Importantly, sugar induces all of the diseases associated with metabolic syndrome1, 5. This includes: hypertension (fructose increases uric acid, which raises blood pressure); high triglycerides and insulin resistance through synthesis of fat in the liver; diabetes from increased liver glucose production combined with insulin resistance; and the ageing process, caused by damage to lipids, proteins and DNA through non-enzymatic binding of fructose to these molecules. It can also be argued that fructose exerts toxic effects on the liver that are similar to those of alcohol1. This is no surprise, because alcohol is derived from the fermentation of sugar. Some early studies have also linked sugar consumption to human cancer and cognitive decline.

Sugar also has clear potential for abuse. Like tobacco and alcohol, it acts on the brain to encourage subsequent intake. There are now numerous studies examining the dependence-producing properties of sugar in humans6. Specifically, sugar dampens the suppression of the hormone ghrelin, which signals hunger to the brain. It also interferes with the normal transport and signalling of the hormone leptin, which helps to produce the feeling of satiety. And it reduces dopamine signalling in the brain’s reward centre, thereby decreasing the pleasure derived from food and compelling the individual to consume more1, 6.

Finally, consider the negative effects of sugar on society. Passive smoking and drink-driving fatalities provided strong arguments for tobacco and alcohol control, respectively. The long-term economic, health-care and human costs of metabolic syndrome place sugar overconsumption in the same category7. The United States spends $65 billion in lost productivity and $150 billion on health-care resources annually for morbidities associated with metabolic syndrome. Seventy-five per cent of all US health-care dollars are now spent on treating these diseases and their resultant disabilities. Because about 25% of military applicants are now rejected for obesity-related reasons, the past three US surgeons general and the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff have declared obesity a “threat to national security”.

Green Coffee Cupping

We’ve got a passion – its called peace

How does it feel to choose raw instead of supporting the industry of forcing food thru manufacturing and into packages, in an infinite stream of copies? What is the end result of choosing raw? Do we finally start to see the food that nourishes us? Each fruit, each green leaf, each nut, seed and vegetable is like a snowflake – no two are alike. Each one is a unique and exquisite expression.

Enjoy your health it means so much to you and those around you. Take it in during this holiday with love and peace. Notice what happens to your energy with choices you make. Take a yoga class. Have some oxygen for breakfast.
Best wishes to every single one of you!