Everything You Thought You Knew About Milk is Wrong

Marco Torres | Prevent Disease

Image: preventdisease.com

The belief that milk is what builds strong bones is ingrained in our society, but has no based on myths promoted by the dairy industry. Calcium is but ONE of the many minerals your body needs for building strong bones. The calcium in milk is not absorbed by the body and effectively causes osteoporosis rather than prevents it. A recent study published in JAMA Pediatrics, examined the association between teenage milk consumption and risk of hip fracture at older ages in a study of more than 96,000 men and women with a follow-up of more than 22 years and found that drinking more milk as a teenager was not linked to a lower risk of bone fractures as an older adult, and instead appears to increase that risk, according to new research. Make sure you read to the bottom of the article where we talk about some valid options for bone health.

The dairy industy has been hard at work the last 50 years convincing people that pasteurized dairy products such as milk or cheese increases bioavailable calcium levels. This is totally false. The pasteurization process only creates calcium carbonate, which has absolutely no way of entering the cells without a chelating agent. So what the body does is pull the calcium from the bones and other tissues in order to buffer the calcium carbonate in the blood. This process actually causes osteoporosis.

There is no doubt that raw milk is a suitable form of calcium. While there is also evidence to suggest the nutritional effectiveness of the calcium provided by raw milk, there is still some debate as to whether this source of calcium is biologically better than other sources, such as calcium salts or certain vegetables.

Pasteurized dairy contains too little magnesium needed at the proper ratio to absorb the calcium. Most would agree that a minimum amount of Cal. to Mag Ratio is 2 to 1 and preferably 1 to 1. So milk, at a Cal/Mag ratio of 10 to 1, has a problem. You may put 1200 mg of dairy calcium in your mouth, but you will be lucky to actually absorb a third of it into your system.

Over 99% of the body's calcium is in the skeleton, where it provides mechanical rigidity. Pasteurized dairy forces a calcium intake lower than normal and the skeleton is used as a reserve to meet needs. Long-term use of skeletal calcium to meet these needs leads to osteoporosis. Dairy is pushed on Americans from birth yet they have one of the highes risk of osteoporosis in the world.

Leafy green veggies such as kale, broccoli and spinach are also rich in calcium and far more absorbable. Seeds such as sesame and chia are also rich sources of calcium.

No Evidence Milk Makes Strong Bones

Led by Diane Feskanich of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University, the authors noted that the role of milk consumption in reducing the risk of fractures later in life has not been established.

Although some teens who consume more milk achieve greater heights, the bones themselves ares also associated with a greater risk of fracture, especially in the hip.

Feskanich and her colleagues reported finding that teenage milk consumption (between the ages of 13-18 years) was associated with an increased risk of hip fractures in men, with each additional glass of milk per day as a teenager associated with a 9 percent higher risk.

"We did not see an increased risk of hip fracture with teenage milk consumption in women as we did in men," said the authors. "One explanation may be the competing benefit of an increase in bone mass with an adverse effect of greater height."

"Women are at higher risk for osteoporosis than men, hence the benefit of greater bone mass balanced the increased risk related to height," they suggested.

Study Details

Feskanich and her team assessed the frequency of milk consumption along with consumption of other foods during ages 13 to 18 years, which along with height were reported at baseline.

During the 22 year follow up, current diet, weight, smoking, physical activity, medication use, and other risk factors for hip fractures were reported on biennial questionnaires.

During the follow-up, 1,226 hip fractures were reported by women and 490 by men.

Analysis of the data suggested that milk consumption was not associated with hip fractures in women, but that a direct association between drinking milk and hip fractures in men was partially influenced by height.

Gender Differences?

In a related editorial, Dr Connie Weaver of Purdue University commented that a main tenet of Feskanich and colleagues is that milk consumption in teens may have led to an increase in height as an adult - noting that it is not clear why this would be true in men but not women, "especially given that men experience about one-fourth the hip fractures that women do."

"The investigators could have tested the contribution of other dietary protein sources (eggs, meat) to height and subsequent fracture risk to help confirm the impact of dietary protein more generally," Weaver added.

The Problem With Some Calcium Supplements

A 2004 study showed that people with excess calcium in their coronary artery and who take statins have a 17-fold higher risk of heart attacks than do those with lower arterial calcium levels; researchers concluded that the two most definitive indicators of heart attack were LDL levels and calcium build-up.

A 2007 study showed that calcium from dietary sources has more favorable effects on bone health than calcium from supplements in postmenopausal women (Am J Clin Nutr 2007).

A 2008 study found calcium supplements are associated with a greater number of heart attacks in postmenopausal women (BMJ 2008)

A 2010 meta-analysis showed calcium supplements (without coadministered vitamin D) are associated with increased risk for heart attack (BMJ 2010)

Most supplements on the supplement market today contain calcium carbonate which is an inferior form of calcium and manufacturers attach a simple chelating agent like citric acid to make it more absorbable, however the end product is inferior to other calcium supplements such as calcium orotate, which is the only known form of calcium which can effectively penetrate the membranes of cells.

Effective Supplementation 

If you want to supplement for calcium intake you must seek a reputable and balanced calcium/magnesium formula. Researchers examined 21 formulations of calcium carbonate (both natural [i.e., oyster shell] and refined). Four out of seven natural products and four out of 14 refined products, including brand products, had measurable lead content. A research team in California found essentially the same contamination in calcium supplements.

Acid rebound. Calcium carbonate may cause acid rebound: the stomach overcompensates for the high dose of calcium carbonate, which is alkaline, by churning out more acid. For that reason, people with a history of stomach ulcers are advised that they may not tolerate it and may have to switch to calcium citrate.

Constipation. Calcium supplements can have a mild binding effect but by themselves don’t usually cause serious constipation. But if you’re taking another supplement or medication that binds the stool, the addition of calcium supplements could cause a problem.

Too much calcium. Although it doesn’t happen often, some people have taken so much calcium that it causes hypercalcemia, an above-normal level of calcium in the blood since most of the calcium carbonate is not absorbed. Hypercalcemia may cause nausea, vomiting, confusion, and other neurological symptoms.

The type of minerals in the formula determines the absorption levels: Opti-Cal/Mag with Vitamin K2 is a co-enzyme complex, heat-stabled molecules that must be associated with another enzyme for them to perform their function in the body. It is necessary in the utilization of vitamins and minerals for proper delivery to the cell nucleus. One study found that Opti-Cal/Mag complex is 8.79 times more absorbed into the blood than calcium carbonate and 2.97 times more than calcium gluconate.

6 Ways to Build Strong Bones

1. Eat calcium rich foods
Eat foods high in calcium. The best food sources are non-pasteurized raw dairy sources such as raw milk/yogurt, as well as bony fish, such as sardines. Leafy green veg such as kale, broccoli and spinach are also rich in calcium. Dried herbs and dried fruits such as figs and currants are also good choices. Seeds such as sesame, chia and flax are also rich sources of calcium. Also, enjoy foods that contain sulfur such as garlic and onions.

2. Food selections/combinations are critical
Try not to eat whole grains and calcium-rich foods at the same time. Whole grains contain a substance that binds with calcium and prevents proper absorption. Some foods that contain compounds such as oxalic or phytic acids, such as sweet potatoes, beans, rhubarb, celery and beets, can also decrease the amount of calcium that's absorbed when eaten at the same time as calcium-rich foods.

3. Avoid the causes of mineral excretion
Pass on phosphate-containing foods such as soft drinks. Phosphorus causes the body to excrete calcium. Limit or avoid high-protein animal foods. A diet high in protein causes calcium to be excreted from your body. Decrease caffeine consumption. People who smoke have significantly lower bone density, while drinking alcohol can also prevent your bones from absorbing the maximum nutrients from your food.

4. Get more Sunlight and Vitamin D
Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium. Although some is found in oily fish, our main source comes from the effect of sunlight on your skin. It's estimated that half of us have a deficiency because we don't get outside enough or because we always use sunblock. It is especially important to maximize sun exposure between May and September to keep vitamin D levels topped up. Just 10 minutes of sunlight a day on bare arms and your face can cut your risk of bone fractures by a third. A half hour exposing your torso is equivalent to roughly 10,000 units of Vitamin D.

5. The right exercise
Another vital way to boost your bones is weight-bearing exercise --basically anything that has you upright and using your body weight. Good choices include squatting, rope skipping, aerobics, plyometrics, dancing or brisk walking. "Research shows that if you don't exercise you end up weeing out all the calcium you take in instead of storing it in your bones," warns Professor Dawn Skelton, an aging and health specialist at Glasgow Caledonian University. "Ideally we should aim for 150 minutes of moderate activity per week. "Put simply, the more hours we spend on our feet, the fewer bone breakages we should have in later life."

6. Avoid Medications and Medical Therapies
Acid-blocking medications used for heartburn and other gastrointestinal conditions can block the absorption of calcium through the stomach walls. Stomach acids break down food during the digestive process, allowing the nutrients to become absorbed into your body. Medications designed to stop acid production or decrease the amount of acids present in your stomach can have a negative effect on calcium.

Sources:
preventdisease.com
harvard.edu
preventdisease.com
jamanetwork.com
naturalcuresnotmedicine.com

14 Things People Probably Do Not Want To Know About Their Favorite Foods

by April McCarthy | preventdisease.com

Image: www.prevention.com

There are hundreds of food industry facts that are sheltered from consumers and only made public by food scientists if absolutely necessary. The following are 14 of the more well known industry insider secrets that have been exposed now for some time, but still not common knowledge to millions of consumers.

Many consumer watchdogs have found that food label claims such as ‘pure’, ‘fresh’, ‘non-artificial’, ‘natural’ and ‘real’ are largely unregulated and false when these claims are investigated. Moreover, the processing of most foods, ingredients used in manufacturing, their byproducts, waste management and other details are often kept hidden from the public until they've been exposed by those willing to publicize the information.

1. The manufacturing of Greek yogurt produces millions of tons of toxic waste every year, and nobody knows what to do with it.

For every three or four ounces of milk, companies who manufacture Greek yogurt can produce only one ounce of creamy Greek yogurt. The rest becomes acid whey. It’s a thin, runny waste product that can’t simply be dumped. Not only would that be illegal, but whey decomposition is toxic to the natural environment, robbing oxygen from streams and rivers. That could turn a waterway into what one expert calls a “dead sea,” destroying aquatic life over potentially large areas. Spills of cheese whey, a cousin of Greek yogurt whey, have killed tens of thousands of fish around the country in recent years.

The $2 billion Greek yogurt market and state government officials are scrambling not just to figure out uses for whey, but how to make a profit off of it. Source

2. All grocery retail orange juice that is "not from concentrate" is processed with "artificial flavor" to ensure that each bottle tastes exactly the same.

No matter what time of year and regardless of the origin of oranges, large juice manufacturers like Pepsico are consistently blending perfectly flavored orange juice specifically through carefully controlled processes and artificial flavor calibration. These mixtures are added to replace the natural flavors lost when the juice chemically separates oxygen ( "deaerates" ) to be able to maintain shelf life for more than one year without oxidizing.

Because the added flavor is technically derived from orange oil extract (although it is completely, artifically and a chemically manufactured derivative), it does not need to be specifically listed in the ingredients. Source

3. Vegetarian burgers are far more toxic than conventional beef patties.

More than 99% of vegetarian burgers at grocery retailers are made with soy protein isolate (aka textured vegetable protein, aka soy meal). These substances derived from defatted soy flour are mostly used in pet foods, but sweetened up with sugar and spices to help improve their taste. Soy oil is generally separated from flaked soybeans -- leaving defatted meal that’s ground into flour -- using a chemical called hexane, one of the volatile organic compounds that constitutes natural gas, crude oil and gasoline. Since more than 95% of soy is also genetically modified, you're also getting a nice dose of transgenic DNA in your veggie burgers.

The Cornucopia Institute, a U.S.-based progressive farm policy outfit, had samples of soy oil, soy meal and soy grits tested, and both the soy meal and soy grits exceeded the hexane limit in food of 10 parts per million. A bigger question we might be asking ourselves is why there is a hexane limit in our foods in the first place??? Source

4. Conventional milk is made by high heating, homogenizing, pasteurizing, re-packing and combining the milk of hundreds of cows fed genetically modified grain and injected with hormones.

Old-time farmers will say they can tell where their cows have been grazing by the taste of the milk. By contrast, the milk we buy in supermarkets will be uniformly white. Its cream won't rise. And a lactic perfume will be detectable only if the milk is ultra heated.

Cows are kept in herds of about 800 and fed not grass, but standardized mixes of genetically modified grains, old citrus, alfalfa and nut husks. Today, according to UC Davis estimates, about a third of the herds in California are treated with hormones to increase production. The milk will be standardized, fortified, pasteurized and homogenized. Translated, this means that it will be taken apart and put back together again, not always in the same proportions. Then it will be cooked and emulsified. At that point do you think it's still milk? Source

5. Producers of maraschino cherries chemically bleach (through a preserved brine solution) and then marinate the cherries in huge vats of corn syrup and food coloring (FD&C Red 40) to make the cherries red again. Source

6. Many canned soups are flavored with MSG, even when they specify they are NOT.

The food additive "MSG" is a slow poison which hides behind dozens of names, such as natural flavouring and yeast extract. Currently, labeling standards do not require MSG to be listed in the ingredient list of thousands of foods.

Secretly, soup manufacturers admit that they have refered to MSG as "natural" (that is refined from vegetable protein and yeast) and establish it in the list of ingredients as " yeast extract "or" hydrolyzed protein. "War of ads broke in 2008 because Campbell and Progresso were so worried that customers would not buy soup if they knew the amount of MSG containing. Source

7. Processed canned soups go through such violent processing that manufacturers must grow mutant sized vegetables so they don't disintegrate in the soup.

The food you make at home isn't reheated while being violently shaken. In order to destroy any pathogens, FDA requirements dictate that soup, once canned, be heated to 250 degrees; many manufacturers speed that process by agitating the can, thereby ensuring that the heat distributes itself more rapidly. This requirement changes the flavor of soup also changes the way the soup itself is actually made.

Soup companies shy away from ingredients that break down in the canning process so they grow special freakish mutant vegetables like carrots which look like tree limbs--they're like baseball bats. But once they go through the cooking process, they come out looking like the small young ones that you'd put into your soup. Source

8. Most ice creams are thickened and stabilized with a slew of toxic ingredients.

These include a variety of emulsifiers which prevent the ice cream from destabilizing. They include polysorbate 80, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, carrageenan, xanthan gum, guar gum and soy lecithin. If your store brand or parlor ice cream melts rapidly, that's a good sign as it likely has a low overrun and little fat destabilization, which means a lower percentage of toxic emulsifiers and stabilizers. Source

9. Hot dogs are filled with a sticky mixture of cuts of mechanically separated chicken, pork, fats and starch or "grain fillers."



The red or light brown dog varieties usually on sale everywhere contain very little real meat. Instead, they are made up of 64 percent mechanically-recovered chicken and 17 percent is pork. Mechanically-recovered meat is the slimy paste created when a carcass -- stripped of all traditional cuts -- is forced through a metal sieve or blasted with water. The process is banned for beef, but is permitted for pigs and poultry, and the meat produced is ten times cheaper than normal meat.

Most hot dogs typically contain, high fructose corn syrup, starch, milk protein, sodium nitrite, flavors, potassium and sodium triphosphates, polyphosphates (E452), sodium ascorbate and carmine. Source

10. Many olive oils "extra virgin" imported (and expensive) are actually made with cheaper oils of seeds and nuts.

To boost profits, for example, some producers have been caught adulterating the oil they label as "extra virgin" with much cheaper hazelnut, soy, or sunflower seed oil, among others, as well as mislabeling its country of origin.

Read the fascinating (and hilarious) report by Tom Mueller on olive oil fraud business, that eventually became the book Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil. Source

11. Food products that are red and pink are often dyed with cochineal extract, also known as tiny crushed insect bodies.

Cochineal extract sometimes appears as carminic acid or carmine. You can learn more about the process of making the dye here. Source

12. Coffee creamer is made from corn syrup and (trans fatty acids/hydrogenated) vegetable oils.

There is no cream. These are the ingredients listed on the label of the original liquid cremora Coffee - Mate:
WATER
SOLIDA VEGETABLE OIL
MOSTLY HYDROGEN SOYBEAN AND / OR COTTON SEED OIL
LESS THAN 2% OF SODIUM CASEINATE (DERIVED FROM MILK)
Dipotassium
Mono-and diglycerides
SODIUM ALUMINOSILICATE
ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR
CARRAGEENAN
Source

13. To make bacon, the pork bellies hanging in this strange wash cabinet are bathed in a shower of "liquid smoke".


The creepy red rain converts the flesh tints to a more familiar color of bacon that consumers desire. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is investigating the safety of liquid smoke as a food flavoring. Source

14. Shredded cheese is packed with refined wood pulp to prevent sticking.

Cellulose made of decomposed plant fibers (including wood) and is a common food additive to make make ice cream creamier or thicken salad dressing without adding calories. Since it is natural, even packaged foods labeled as organic often include cellulose. Mmmmm Sawdust! Yummy.

April McCarthy is a community journalist playing an active role reporting and analyzing world events to advance our health and eco-friendly initiatives.

Source: preventdisease.com

The 7 Nastiest Things Lurking In Your Supermarket

by Judy Molland

If you’ve watched the Food Matters or Hungry For Change films, you’ll understand how important it is to read ingredient labels. So often, dubious food labeling regulations mean that many toxic or harmful ingredients are either not declared or are listed as another name!

If you think pink slime is awful, (which it is, of course), and that arsenic in baby food, cereal bars, rice and even chicken is an outrage, here are seven more nasty items lurking in your local supermarket.

Below are 7 of the nastiest ingredients and food items commonly found in supermarkets.
7-Nasty-Things


1. Flame-Retardant Sodas

The toxic flame retardant chemical brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, was first used to keep plastics from catching on fire. However, the food industry has been using it in sodas, juices and sports drinks to keep those artificial flavoring chemicals mixed in with the rest of the liquids. You’ll find it in drinks such as Mountain Dew, Fanta Orange, Sunkist Pineapple and Powerade.

BVO has been linked to skins lesions, memory loss, and nerve disorders.

2. Petroleum-Laced Candy

You’ve probably wondered if that candy with those wacky bright colors is good for you. It’s not. Many of the artificial food dyes found in everyday foods, including candy, are made from petroleum-derived materials. Kids love those “fun” colors in their cereal and candy, but food dyes are also used in hundreds of supermarket foods.

They are harmful: orange and purple food dyes have been shown to impair brain function, while other dyes have been linked to ADHD and behavioral problems in kids. Of course, companies don’t care because it’s cheaper for them to use those fake dyes than it is to use real ingredients.

3. Moldy Berries

Here’s a sobering fact: the FDA legally allows up to 60 percent of canned or frozen blackberries and raspberries to contain mold; 15 percent mold is the limit for canned fruit and vegetable juices.

It’s true that it’s perfectly fine to eat some food when it starts to grow mold, but you should toss soft fruits and vegetables, since they may have mold growing below the surface. Also, because mold spreads quickly in fruits and vegetables, check nearby foods in your produce drawer.

4. Salade Verte With Paint Chemicals

Perhaps you didn’t know that your salad dressing may well contain titanium dioxide, which is a component of titanium, a mined substance that is sometimes contaminated with toxic lead.

This chemical is widely used in paints and sunscreens, but Big Food also adds it to lots of things we eat, including processed salad dressing. They do this to to make dingy, overly processed items, like your salad dressing, appear brighter and whiter.

5. Hormone-Heavy Milk

Ah, the wonders of modern technology: today’s cows produce double the amount of milk they did just 40 years ago, and that’s mostly because of a genetically engineered, synthetic hormone called recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST, that helps them along.

This synthetic hormone is banned in many other countries because it has been linked to prostate, breast and colon cancers. However, it is still legal here, although many dairies are being pressured to abandon it.

6. Meat Laced With Flesh-Eating Bacteria

Beware the supermarket meat department! Grocery store meats are commonly infused with nasty extras, including staph bacteria, and especially the hard-to-kill, potentially lethal MRSA strain. A study published last year in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases found that half of grocery store meat tested positive for staph bacteria.

MRSA kills about 19,000 people a year in America.

7. Toxic shrimp

Imported shrimp is on the Monterey Bay’s Seafood Watch List as “Avoid” at all costs. Less than two percent of all imported seafood is inspected, which is a huge problem.

As a result, imported shrimp often contains antibiotics, cleaning chemicals used in farmed shrimp pens, residues of toxic pesticides banned in the U.S., and pieces of insects.

Domestic shrimp would be the answer, except that 70 percent of domestic shrimp comes from the Gulf of Mexico, and the recent oil spill has made us all wary of eating that. Instead, try buying shrimp from Texas, the East Coast, Maine and the Carolina’s.

The obvious solution to all these nasty items: avoid processed food, and stick to organic produce as much as possible. Not to mention, if you are buying processed food, always check the ingredients.

Source: care2.com/

Government Could Take Your Child if You Feed Them This Food

BROOKLIN, ME – When Alorah Gellerson’s baby did not take to breastfeeding, she started giving him goat’s milk formula.  “Oh, he loved it,” Gellerson said. “We put celery juice in it, and he just loves that, and it worked really well with his body, and he grew like a weed.”

When her doctor alerted the Department of Health and Human Services to the fact that she was using homemade formula and not store-bought formula, things got messy.

“She came in and threatened to take him away and put him in foster care until I complied to go to the doctor and get him seen.”

“It’s so frustrating. My daughter is a great mother. The baby has a great dad, too, and they love this baby very much, and they would never do anything to hurt him. And if we thought the formula was harming him, we would not do that,” said Tania Allen, Gellerson’s mother.


Source: realfarmacy.com

Use These 5 Alternatives to Popular Foods for Better Health

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Smart substitutions will not only improve the way you look, but they will also make you feel better, and can help encourage healthier habits on your journey to a new and better you. Making these 5 easy food swaps will help you lose weight, improve the appearance of your skin, reduce cravings, and increase your energy levels. It is time for “out with the old and in with the new!” Why wait? Start today!

Image: Live Love Fruit

Instead of candy eat fruit!
Fruit is literally nature’s candy! Candy is essentially refined sugar, some kind of corn product, and weird thickeners. It isn’t really food, at all, just something that we have substituted for what our brain truly craves – fruit sugar, or in other words, fructose (and some glucose). Fruit also contains beneficial vitamins and minerals which help shut off hunger signals in our brain and prevents us from eating the entire fridge after a hard days work. Fruit provides our body with proper carbohydrates, healthy starches, and cellulose which provide fiber. Instead of reaching for some candy, reach for a banana, peach, mango or if you really want something sweet, try some fresh medjool dates, or dried apricots or goji berries!

Instead of salt swap in fresh or dried herbs & spices!
Sodium dehydrates, and raises blood pressure putting us at risk for developing heart disease or suffering from a stroke. Most people think not using salt will lead to bland tasting foods – this is usually because they leave out salt and don’t add in anything else to help maximize flavour. This is where herbs and spices come in! They help add incredible flavour to your foods and contain plenty of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants which help fight off disease. I particularly like to use dill because it is very salty and makes everything taste amazing. The variety of herbs and spices you can use are endless! From mint to basil, to chile flakes and garlic – you won’t even remember that you forgot to add salt.

Instead of butter or margarine eat avocado!
Using avocado in place of butter is a great food swap! Butter is laden with artery-clogging saturated fat and margarine is loaded with ingredients that are found in plastic products – so what better to use than omega rich avocado? Avocados have a naturally smooth, creamy texture, and can be used as a healthy substitute in baking for butter and eggs! You can also use it as a spread on toast in the morning, or just scrap the toast and eat the avocado itself! Avocado is also loaded with vitamins and can help reduce cholesterol and fight heart disease. You can even make a raw chocolate pudding using avocado – click HERE for the recipe!

Instead of mucus-forming milk drink body-slimming almond milk!
Almond milk is a popular milk substitute, and is about 500x healthier than cow’s milk due to it’s incredible vitamin and mineral content and heart-protecting properties. People who are lactose intolerant can also safely consume almond milk without any adverse side effects! Almond milk is packed with vitamins and minerals like vitamin E, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, iron, fiber, zinc, and calcium! It is also incredibly low in calories (only 40 calories per 8 oz. serving) and is very low in fat. It is free of casein, gluten, lactose, and is completely cholesterol free – it is also void of saturated animal fats which regular cows milk is full of. Cows milk also contains pus (white blood cells), which we probably shouldn’t be consuming. It is also a leading cause of runny and stuffy noses (congestion) and creates a lot of mucus in the body – clogging up our cells and giving us brain fog. Switch to almond milk today! It can be used in place of milk in any situation!

Instead of bagels for breakfast eat bananas!
Grains are not necessarily a human food – in fact, before the Agricultural Revolution, a couple hundred thousand of years passed without consumption of grains. In fact, studies have found that the human brain’s physical ability and functioning was highest just prior to this wheat-based revolution. Not just that, but archeological evidence has shown that since humans became more involved in their agricultural practices, human strength has slowly, but surely declined. Grains contain a compound called Phytic Acid which blocks the ability of our bodies to absorb calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc – when grains begin to sprout, vitamin and mineral content increases and phytic acid content decreases. However, most of the grains individuals consume today are not sprouted, leading to a variety of mineral deficient diseases like osteoporosis. Instead, eat some fruit carbs like bananas! Fully ripe bananas are packed with vitamins and minerals and will nourish your body instead of depleting it! If you please, make a banana smoothie with bananas, dates, and coconut water – you will feel 100x better, compared to the tiredness most individuals feel after consuming breads and pastas.

Source: Live Love Fruit

FOX Reporters Fired After Refusing to Cover Up Dangers Of Monsanto Milk

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Image: Artists Against Monsanto

FOX News reporters Steve Wilson & Jane Akre uncovered the shocking truth that most of the milk in the United States is unfit for human consumption due to Monsanto’s cancer causing growth hormone, Posilac, known in short as “BGH” “BST” or “rBGH”. They were both fired shortly thereafter.



Video:


Source:
rawforbeauty.com

Homemade Almond Milk Recipe

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image: www/fb.com/getinvolvedyoulivehere

Almond milk is easy, and requires only 3 ingredients (and only 2 if you want just plain almond milk!)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh (un-roasted, raw) almonds
- water for soaking almonds
- 3 cups water
- 1/2 tsp. fresh vanilla bean (optional - this will make it have a hint of vanilla flavoring)
- 2 dates, (optional - this will make your almond milk taste slightly sweet, which most conventional almond milks taste like)

Directions:
1. Soak almonds overnight for at least 6 hours
2. Drain water from almonds and discard
3. Stick almonds, 3 cups water, vanilla, and dates into high speed blender (recommend to use the vitamix or blendtec), and blend until smooth
4. Strain blended almond milk using a cheesecloth, nut milk bag, or other strainer
5. Fresh almond milk will keep for 4-5 days in the fridge

Source: Live Love Fruit

A Solution To Factory Farming

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Photo: Getty Images

With Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) wreaking havoc on public health and the environment, what is the alternative to this industrial method of meat and dairy production?

“Mob grazing” or intensive rotational grazing is an advanced method of raising livestock on pasture that is based on the patterns of grazing animals in nature. It produces more pounds per acre than traditional pasture farming and has many holistic benefits while avoiding the negative consequences of factory farming.  There is little input, there is no need for antibiotics, the animals feed on their natural diet instead of GMO crops, and manure is used to improve the soil instead of polluting the water and air.

Source: RealFarmacy.com

Juicing or Blending: Which is Better?

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I often get asked the question of whether it is better to blend or juice. In fact, both blending and juicing hold their own respective benefits, it simply depends on what stage of detoxing you wish your body to undergo. Both juices and smoothies play a very important role in any health and wellness program or lifestyle. Below I will compare these two methods as well as list out the specific benefits of each.

Why Are Blending & Juicing Different?

Juicing

Juicing removes all indigestible fiber from fruit and vegetables and extracts the vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients in juice form

This means that your body can access and absorb the nutrients faster, especially if you have impaired digestion (which is often a result of making bad food choices, or if you have ever taken a round of antibiotics). In addition, juicing helps give your digestive system a break, so that your body can focus on rest and repair.

Juicing also allows you to consume large amounts of vegetables that you wouldn’t normally consume. Some people find that eating that many vegetables in one sitting is very difficult, but by turning it into a juice, you can get them down quickly and efficiently.

Individuals who juice often report finer mental clarity and focus, weight loss, increased energy, better complexion and increased immunity. Juices also help cleanse our liver (especially if you add things like dandelion greens and beets) and fight off depression (thanks to their high mineral content).

Blending

Blending includes all fiber and nutrients from the fruit and vegetables

Blending produce into a smoothie helps preserve the fiber so these mixtures help regulate and keep our blood sugar levels balanced (and thus, keeps your energy levels balanced too). Smoothies also tend to be more filling than juices if you intend on going quite a while without a next meal.

Smoothies also ensure that toxins in the digestive tract get pushed out with healthy, regular bowel movements. They also help support the good bacteria in our gut needed for good digestion! Individuals who consume smoothies also report natural weight loss due to their ability to stave off cravings and hunger pains.

Lastly, smoothies are much cheaper to make than juices. Juicing often takes much more fruit and vegetables to create a hearty drink than it does to make a smoothie.

Tips:

(1) When you consume smoothies or juices, make sure you swish around the mixture in your mouth for 20-30 seconds to assimilate enzymatic activity in your mouth and to prevent bloating and gas!

(2) Make sure you combine fruits, starchy vegetables, and low-starch vegetables properly. 

(3) Try you best to consume the smoothie or juice right away! The nutrients oxidize quickly, and you want to minimize this as much as possible. If you want to store your juice for a couple hours, make sure you keep it somewhere dark and cold like the fridge, and add some high vitamin-C foods like lemons (for juice) or oranges (for smoothies) to slow oxidation rate!

Source:  Live Love Fruit