Coffee

coffee
Are you one of the many people who need to start your day with a cup or two of coffee? Do you find you need to “get a refill” throughout the day just to keep going? Here is some information for your consideration:

 

 Source: The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan (By Michelle Schoffro Cook, DNM, DAc, CNC)

 Some detox programs say coffee is good for you.

 Coffee beans that are shade- and organically grown, properly harvested, stored and roasted, and drunk in moderation may have some beneficial properties for people who are not sensitive to coffee or don’t have an illness that is aggravated by it.

 The amount of pesticide-laden coffee that is consumed in North America is the primary problem.

 Coffee is most often from third-world countries where toxins such as DDT are used.

 Coffee is a source of caffeine, which in large amounts is linked with cardiovascular disease, fibrocystic breast disease, cancer, and behavioral problems in people. Caffeine is also linked to ulcers and heartburn.

 Women on oral contraceptives have an impaired ability to eliminate caffeine, making them more susceptible to its effects even in moderate consumption.

Paper filters used with ground coffee contain dioxin residues which are known to contribute to immune suppression, thyroid problems, and is a known carcinogen.

Non-sensitive people are typically fine with 1-2 cups per day of shade- and organically grown coffee.

 

Source: The Acid-Alkaline Diet for Optimum Health  (By Christopher Vasey, N.D.)

Coffee’s lack of contribution to physical vigor is not only due to the fact that it forces the body to convert the glucides & lipids stored in the tissues into glucose.

This process, which is repeated with each cup of coffee or other stimulant, overtaxes the body and leads to the production of numerous acids.

These acids then combine with those brought directly into the body by the coffee itself, and sometimes with those of the orange juice that has been taken for the benefit of its Vitamin C content.

This double source of acidification engenders a state of chronic fatigue. Someone who regularly uses a stimulant like coffee quickly finds himself or herself in a vicious circle. To overcome fatigue, he/she takes more of the stimulant, which only maintains the state of debilitation.

 

In light of this information, you may want to assess your own situation.

Do you find that you can’t make it through a day without your coffee?

Are you drinking enough good water to counter-act some of the effects of the coffee?

Is coffee a contributing factor to any of the various symptoms or health challenges you may be experiencing?

If you would like help in assessing your over-all situation be sure to check out the “consultation” portion of my web site.

 

Colleen Kirtzinger – Natural Health Practitioner

July 21, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Food  9 Comments

Meat

This information was originally put together and shared via email May 13, 2008. I’m now adding it to my BLOG so that everything is in one place and accessible to all who stop by.

 

Hello Everyone!

Special thanks to those of you that have specifically said you look forward to this information – - I appreciate the feedback.

Anyway, I happened across a little petition about meat being recalled in the USA. What do you think the chances are of it happening here — in Canada?

This is just one of the reasons that I chose to become vegetarian – - if you read “Fast Food Nation” (see side bar) you’ll get a real eye-opener as to what goes on in the meatpacking industry.

I’m not asking that anyone sign the petition but if you are interested in seeing the actual site this was on it is located at:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/767921538?zoom=13970646

Here is the little blurb:

————————————–

Tell Us Where’s the Beef!

Target: USDA

Sponsored by: Consumers Union

Recently, the USDA announced the largest recall of beef in the nation’s history — 143 million pounds. A significant number of “downer” cows — cows too sick to stand — had been processed into beef, despite USDA rules forbidding this. A substantial portion of the recalled beef was distributed to schools for school lunches.

Meat from sick cows should not be eaten because it is more likely to contain harmful bacteria or transmittable disease. Is that meat in your refrigerator? Was it delivered to your child’s school? Finding that out isn’t easy. USDA knows, but it won’t tell you.

Tell the Secretary of Agriculture to disclose the stores and schools that received the recalled meat immediately. USDA should inform the public immediately about all retail stores and institutions involved in meat recalls!

————————————–

The closest I can find out about the date of this is by going back to the first petition signer who posted their comment in February. I’m not concerned about the date because one never knows when this could happen anyhow.

 

The basic point of this info being passed to you is so that if you are eating meat/flesh, please be sure of where you are getting it from. Choose organic raised animals so that you avoid antibiotics and whatever else they get injected with.

Even wild game, which is better for you because it is leaner, can be heavily contaminated with pesticides from eating in fields that farmers have sprayed.

If you can’t raise your own “clean & healthy” food, possibly you can get it from someone you know rather than through a store. If you get it from the local slaughter house maybe you could have a tour and decide for yourself if they are handling the products in a safe fashion.

In “Transition to Vegetarianism” (see side bar) there are some startling details about how contaminated our food can be. This book is from 1987/1999 but do you think things would have gotten better? How competent are the workers in any industry and how well do rules and regulations get followed?

Think about this from page 81:

Although both poultry and cattle frequently carry salmonella in their intestinal tracts, the technique used to slaughter and process chickens makes them especially problematic. The birds are shackled by their legs to a conveyor, and then stunned, bled, scalded, de-feathered, washed, and eviscerated. Each of these steps contributes to the contamination of the final product, though some cause more spread of microbes than others. As they are shackled and electrically stunned, feces are often shed. During this process, there is considerable contamination back and forth between birds and equipment. The high rates at which the chickens are moved through the production line make it difficult to prevent this. Of 100 cultures taken from a random sampling of equipment surfaces in a typical poultry processing plant, 28 grew salmonella.

The most massive bacterial contamination occurs during de-feathering. In earlier times chickens were dressed by hand; after they were dipped in scalding water, the feathers were plucked off manually. Nowadays the whole process is mechanical. Feathers are removed by rubber fingers that flail the bird at a rapid rate. As the machine holds the chicken and the fingers pound it, more bacteria laden feces are pressed out of the bird, soiling the de-feathering machine as well as the chicken and creating a mist or aerosol of airborne microbes that can then spread to adjacent birds and equipment. Over a million microbes per square centimeter can be found on the fingers of the de-feathering machine.

Chlorine cleaners are only able to reduce this by a factor of 10. These microbes on the skin are beaten by the mechanical flails into the pores vacated by the stripped-off feathers.

 

Another example on page 82 it says:

Until recently salmonella was considered the primary disease causing microbe in meat and poultry. Although it is true that infections with resistant strains of salmonella appear to be on the rise, and that poultry is the most common carrier of salmonella, it may harbor another disease-causing organism even more frequently. In some laboratories, this second microbe, a relative newcomer called campylobacters is the most common pathogen isolated from the stool specimens of patients with acute gastrointestinal symptoms. Poultry seems particularly prone to contamination with campylobacters; 80% of chickens and 90% of turkeys carried through a typical slaughterhouse produced positive cultures of them. Counts are as high as 100,000 bacteria per bird. Like salmonella, these microbes are present primarily on the surface of the edible parts of the chicken. The minimum number of bacteria required to produce an acute infection is small. As few as 500 of them have caused illness in susceptible persons. Though cooking kills these organisms, the small numbers needed to cause infection can be transferred from the raw meat to surfaces in the kitchen and then to other foods.

 

So now you have a very small amount of information on beef and chicken processing. As I said, please be careful with the flesh foods you consume and keep in mind that children are smaller than adults and can be affected by contamination easier.

 

To your health!

Colleen

July 13, 2009  Tags: ,   Posted in: Food  5 Comments

General Health

This information was originally put together and shared via email February 7, 2008. I’m now adding it to my BLOG so that everything is in one place and accessible to all who stop by.

Hello Everyone!

I’ve been doing a lot of reading and studying over the past 20+ years and this morning I got an urge to start sharing some of that information with my friends and family.

My goal is to help people understand that we need to be nourishing our bodies with “whole foods” and preferably organic ones. If our bodies are properly nourished then our immune systems function much better and we maintain a healthier state of being.

Maybe you believe that the food and drug administration truly is looking out for the people and what is best for them – - if you do, then the information provided here and throughout my site will most likely cause a conflict in your beliefs.

If on the other hand you are ready to actually take responsibility for you and your family’s health and go beyond what the regulatory bodies spoon-feed everyone, then hopefully we can share information, add it to my web site (www.itsmyhealth.ca) and start improving the country’s health one person at a time. If each of you shared this information with two people and they each shared it with two people think how fast things could change.

Food and nutrition in general:

The further you get from the natural state, or the more refined the food is, the fewer nutrients the food actually contains. Trying to “fill the gap” by taking vitamins is only masking what is really going on. There are no vitamins created that can replace what you get from good whole food.

Good whole food, organically grown on balanced soil, contains vitamins and minerals and various other things that all work together to their best advantage. How many other substances contained in whole food are yet to be identified, and how do they all work together to contribute to vibrant health?

If you don’t have access to this sort of good food, then it is a good idea to supplement your diet with a good multi-vitamin, made from “whole foods” (from a reputable health food store, NOT a pharmacy) while you take steps to improve your diet. Adding in a “green drink” is a good idea, too.

Research has shown that not all people require the same amounts of the various supplements that are on the market. The RDAs were designed to serve as the basis for evaluating the adequacy of diets of groups of people, not individuals.

Haphazardly consuming vitamins because “that’s what is recommended” presents the hazard of disrupting the balanced food nature offers us, thereby destroying the equilibrium of a natural diet.

When you do your research on any health issues, ask yourself these questions:

1. Who has paid for any studies that have been done.
2. What do they have to gain from the results of the studies.

Anyway, back to Aspartame:

Apparently some people are under the impression that everything that snopes.com says is the truth and snopes.com says that hazards of Aspartame are a hoax. I agree that probably on many topics snopes.com is quite accurate, but not this one.

Think about it – - if snopes.com gets the “truth” from the regulatory bodies who have a financial interest in letting the chemical companies continue marketing a product, do you think that it really is the truth?

Here are some more sources to check for yourself so you can make an informed decision.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods pg 44 (see side bar)
Aspartame administration to animals, at levels comparable to those of high human consumption, alters brain chemistry. Some of the problems associated with aspartame ingestion include seizures, migraine headaches, hives, and disturbances in nerve function.

Source: http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutriton/aspartame.htm
A study of available literature on the subject reveals that over the years more and more indications have arisen that suggest that the public is at great risk through its repeated use. Serious consideration should be given to discontinuing the ingestion of aspartame until the safety or lack thereof is firmly established.

Source: http://www.321recipes.com/aspartame.html
This page exists solely to try and spread the word about the numerous & serious dangers of regular aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal) consumption. Currently the 100+ articles on this page contain facts & opinions from over 50 doctors & nutritionists, many of which have each “cured” their patients of many symptoms (including weight gain) simply by removing aspartame from their diet…..”Pro” aspartame people point to industry sponsored short term tests, ignoring independent tests. They point to “reliable” health sites, organizations, foundations etc. that are sponsored, funded & fed “facts” by companies that profit from aspartame.

Source: http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/
Detailed scientific and general documentation regarding the toxicity of NutraSweet, Equal, diet Coke, diet Pepsi, and other aspartame containing items. Web page includes real life reports of acute and chronic toxicity due to long-term ingestion. Also included is extensive scientific and general information and resources.

To Your Health!

July 13, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Food  2 Comments

Artificial Sweeteners

We have all seen and heard the advertisements regarding artificial sweeteners… one that comes to mind right now is “made from sugar so it tastes like sugar” with the music and smiling faces and yummy looking food all around.

What impression do you get from that commercial?

Does it bring about ideas like “better than sugar”, “no calories or very few calories”, “happy lifestyle”, and of course “great tasting food”?

Are any potential side effects ever mentioned?

Let’s take a look at the other side of artificial sweeteners so we have an idea if they really are such a “sweet idea” after all.

The basic reason for consumers to use an artificial sweetener is generally to reduce the amount of calories that a person consumes to help prevent weight gain or contribute to weight loss. (Also, diabetics are often led to believe that they can make use of artificial sweeteners in their efforts to control their blood sugar levels – diabetics will not be dealt with in this article.)

Based on the main reason to make use of artificial sweeteners, the first question would be “do artificial sweeteners do what the manufacturers claim they do and the consumers believe they do?” The second question would be “do they do it safely?”

We are often led to believe that products available for consumption have been tested for safety and their claims have been upheld during the tests.  “Unfortunately, detailed studies have not shown the three main artificial sweeteners (saccharin, aspartame, & sucralose) to reduce the amount of calories consumed or have any significant effect on body weight. In fact, aspartame may actually increase appetite.”[1]

So what about safety? What, if any, are the side effects for the three main artificial sweeteners?

Saccharin (Sweet & Low) – known to cause bladder cancer in rats when used for two generations; no reports of this showing in human trials but 2nd generation use not studied.

Aspartame (NutraSweet) – seizures, migraine headaches, hives, nerve function disruption, vertigo, depression, fatigue, irritability, vision problems, weight gain, muscle spasms, etc., etc., etc.[2] & [3] For more aspartame side effects click here.

Sucralose (Splenda) – atrophied thymus, hypertrophied liver & kidneys, rashes, panic attacks, headaches, intestinal cramping, diarrhea, muscle aches, stomach pain, reduced red blood cell count, decreased growth in children, etc.

To learn more about artificial sweeteners you can check the sidebar of this BLOG for links to some books or do searches on the internet.

With this small amount of information on artificial sweeteners and their questionable results or safety, what should a person do?

I would suggest that if you are looking to add sweetness to something you are about to eat, consider using “unrefined cane juice powder”, stevia, or honey.

Unrefined cane juice powder can be used basically like regular sugar.

Stevia is a plant extract and is VERY sweet so you would need to experiment with this one. Of particular interest with Stevia is that preliminary studies have shown blood sugar-lowering and blood pressure-lowering effects.

Honey (raw) can have some amazing health benefits as it can provide antioxidant effects, energy-enhancing effects, and is a source of a few vitamins and minerals. But what about the bees? Right now throughout North America there is getting to be a critical shortage of bees which we rely on for pollination of a good portion of our food. Should we continue to take the food they work so hard to produce and then make them eat sugary water? Don’t get me wrong – - I LOVE honey! I used to use it in baking but out of respect for the bees I have switched to unrefined cane juice powder and only very rarely will use a bit of honey on a slice of toast – - maybe I should stop using it all together….

Another option is to look at how you are eating. Eating certain foods can cause you to have a craving for more sweets.

If you require assistance in streamlining your basic eating habits or your lifestyle in general be sure to contact me through the consultation area on my web site. I’d be happy to be your “health coach”.

Colleen Kirtzinger – Natural Health Practitioner

 

[1] The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods – Michael Murray N.D.

[2] The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods – Michael Murray N.D.

[3] The pH Miracle: Balance Your Diet, Reclaim Your Health – Robert O. Young, Ph.D. & Shelley Redford Young

July 7, 2009  Tags: , , , , , ,   Posted in: Food  24 Comments

Hot Dogs & Cancer

Hot Dogs

Studies keep confirming the basic truth: The more you consume meat and other animal products, the higher you chance of developing various diseases, in particular cancers.

Consider this excerpt from “The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods” written by Michael Murray, N.D. (Note: Dr. Murray is one of the world’s leading authorities on natural medicine):

Particularly harmful to human health are cured or smoked meats, such as ham, hot dogs, bacon, and jerky that contain sodium nitrate and/or sodium nitrites, which are compounds that keep food from spoiling but dramatically increase the risk for cancer. These chemicals react with the amino acids in foods in the stomach to form highly carcinogenic compounds known as nitrosamines.

Research on adults makes a convincing argument to avoid cured or smoked meats. Even more compelling is the evidence linking consumption of nitrates to a significantly increased risk of the major childhood cancers, including leukemias, lymphomas, and brain cancers:

  • Children who eat twelve hot dogs per month have nearly ten times the risk of developing leukemia as children who do not eat hot dogs
  • Children who eat hot dogs once a week double their chances of developing brain tumors; eating them twice a week triples the risk.
  • Pregnant women who eat two servings per day of any cured meat have more than double the risk of bearing children who have brain cancer.
  • Children who eat the most ham, bacon, and sausage have three times the risk of developing lymphoma.
  • Children who eat ground meat once a week have twice the risk of acute lymphocytic leukemia as those who eat none; eating two or more hamburgers weekly triples the risk.

(See left side-bar if you wish to purchase this book)

So what should we do?

Here are some ideas:

  1. Become vegetarian (which the majority of people aren’t inclined to do)
  2. Reduce consumption of meat by having some vegetarian meals/days and serving smaller portions of meat when you do have it.
  3. Ensure that the meat you do consume is fresh and preferably organic.
  4. Choose to eliminate consumption of cured meats.
  5. Be sure to add more vegetables to your meals.

I understand that many people truly love their meat and would never consider giving it up – - that’s fine. But what about making healthier choices of what you do consume – - know that it isn’t contaminated with antibiotics and that the animals were “free-range”.

There are also many people who believe that meat is your best, or only, source of protein. This belief is most likely because those people have never done any checking on other sources of protein or they have been swayed by what is outlined in the standard “food pyramids”. Beans and lentils are fabulous!

Also, many people believe that we require a lot more protein than we really do.

For me, becoming vegetarian in 2003 was an easy conversion. I had been feeling like a change was needed in the way I was eating so started doing some research on various diets. Once I knew the benefits of a vegetarian diet I was able to make the switch immediately. Let me clarify something here – - I am a “healthy” vegetarian, not a “junk-food” vegetarian. There is a difference.

Well, there you have it – - a bit more information to sort through.

Ultimately the choice is yours and you will make your decision based on your beliefs from the information you have gathered and what feels right for you.

To your health!

Colleen Kirtzinger

June 16, 2009  Tags: , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: Cancer, Food  2 Comments

Quote – Iyengar

Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit. When one is free from physical disabilities and mental distractions, the gates of the soul open.
(B.K.S. Iyengar)

June 16, 2009   Posted in: Quotes  One Comment

Quote – Regestein

The patient should be made to understand that he or she must take charge of his own life. Don’t take your body to the doctor as if he were a repair shop.
(Quentin Regestein)

June 16, 2009   Posted in: Quotes  No Comments

Quote – Dyer

You can set yourself up to be sick, or you can choose to stay well.
(Wayne Dyer)

June 16, 2009  Tags:   Posted in: Quotes  One Comment

Quote – Emerson

The first wealth is health.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

June 16, 2009  Tags:   Posted in: Quotes  No Comments

Flu Pandemics

With the hype that was circulating around recently with regards to the H1N1 virus, AKA Swine Flu, there has been a lot of confusion.

This confusion can cause fear and panic and irrational behavior in individuals who trust that the media, governments, and big pharmaceutical companies are actually looking out for the general population.

 Some other people get flying with the conspiracy theories but don’t offer much in the way of information on what a person can do to protect themselves.

Then there are still others that will listen to what is being said and weigh it against fact, logic, and other information they have acquired and make informed decisions as to what they should be doing, if anything.

Here is some information for you to consider:

Everyone has heard of Louis Pasteur – - he is best known to the general public as the man who started pasteurization of milk to prevent the growth of bacteria.

Pasteur and another scientist, Claude Bernard, had many discussions on how some individuals could be susceptible to infecting organisms while others were not.

Claude Bernard believed that the internal “terrain”, or the susceptibility of an individual to infection, was more important than the germ.[1] He believed that doctors should spend more of their time finding ways to reduce the susceptibility of an individual. This idea brought about some interesting studies.

One of the most interesting was done by Russian scientists who “consumed cultures that contained millions of cholera bacteria, yet none of them developed cholera”.[2] These scientists had strong immune systems and they agreed with Bernard that the best way to combat an illness was to build up the body’s natural immunity.

As he was dying, Pasteur said: “Bernard was right. The pathogen is nothing. The terrain is everything”.[3]

So what does this mean for humanity today?

To me, it means that each one of us needs to take responsibility for our own health.

What do you do to contribute to being in optimal health?

Do you consume good nutritious food – - lots of fruits and vegetables and whole grains?

Do you drink enough good clean water? Do you get enough physical exercise and fresh air? Do you take enough time to relax and unwind from your daily stresses?

How are you doing with your overall health situation? Do you get sick frequently? Do you have an assortment of aches and pains that interfere with your daily activities?

Should you feel the need to have some assistance in taking control of your situation I’d be happy to be your “Health Coach” and provide you with information suitable for your situation or condition.

Colleen Kirtzinger – Natural Health Practitioner

 

[1] Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine by Michael Murray, N.D. & Joseph Pizzorno, N.D.

[2] Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine by Michael Murray, N.D. & Joseph Pizzorno, N.D.

[3] Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine by Michael Murray, N.D. & Joseph Pizzorno, N.D.

June 15, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Influenza  3 Comments