The Cleansing Cold

Most people think of getting sick as a bad thing. It definitely isn't fun and doesn't feel good. But the truth is, nature has a purpose in all of its doings. Sure there are instances where being sick is really due to a chronically weak immune system (as in the person who gets sick all the time), and there are instances where being sick is due to food poisoning or some toxin the body has to get rid of quickly for survival purposes. But looking at the common cold, the seasonal sickness, it is actually not a bad thing at all. See, most people's diets contain foods that create an acid condition in the body, and that contain artificial additives and other unnatural ingredients. These unnatural ingredients do not just exit the body, leaving it unharmed. These toxins are often stored in the body, slowly weakening it over time. Pollutants in the air and from our cars and water supply are also toxins that accumulate in the body. Stress and other 'toxic' emotions (anger, irritability, etc.) also create a toxic system.
The average person showers at least once a day. The outside of our bodies become nice and clean each day. Few people think about the fact that the inside of their bodies get just as dirty, or moreso, as the outside of their bodies. If we do not take the time to cleanse our insides, with a body detox program, then our bodies will often do the job for us - by getting us sick.
The symptoms we get when we are sick are not just so that the body can get rid of some bacteria or virus that has taken hold - because, you see, bacteria and viruses can only exist in a toxic system. They feed on the toxins in fact. What the body is doing when it gets congested, is ridding the body of the toxins and waste products that are allowing the bacteria or virus to live in our systems. Because then, the bacteria and virus can't live - they will starve. I actually don't believe that every cold is based in a germ though. Sometimes the body just needs to do a house cleaning. Either way, a house cleaning is being done, and we are all the better off for it.
Over time, toxins do weaken the immune system, or other systems of the body. Those who 'never get sick' either take really good care of their bodies or have a powerful mental attitude that keeps them well. But if neither of these hold true, then somewhere down the line that person's body will let them know it is being weakened by the toxins from their unhealthy lifestyle. Sometimes it is by a sudden illness that they thought could never happen. Other times it is a slow degeneration of certain systems of the body.

When you get sick, it is important that you do not take medicine that will stop the congestion. All this does is drive the toxins back into the body, setting you up for another sickness. When sickness comes, work with the body. Understand what it is trying to do and help it along. Allowing that congestion to be released from the body is a blessing to your body. Your body will be stronger for it.
To prevent the need for sickness, make sure you do a body detox program at least a couple of times a year. Every season is ideal. The 'summer cold' is likely your body throwing off toxins from the previous seasons, allowing for clearer, lighter, healthier blood for the summer weather. Same thing with the winter cold. The body changes with the seasons, and needs to cleanse.

Love your body and work with it. :)

Animal Products' Relationship to the Top Diseases in the Country

Returning to the subject of meat as a source of protein, there are some other health benefits to eating meat sparingly. I discussed the way meat thickens your blood and increases heat in the body, which is not beneficial in hot climates/summer weather. Also how the human intestinal tract is much longer than the intestinal tract of carnivorous animals, whose intestines are very short, designed to get meat out of the intestinal tract quickly after digestion. There are other health reasons for eating meat sparingly.

For one, meat is a food that is high in saturated fat. It is hard to eat a low-fat diet while consuming animal-based foods like meat. Also, animals raised for commercial meat production are shot full of antibiotics and growth hormones to protect against the outbreak of disease in the slaughterhouses and to increase the growth of the animals for greater meat production. These antibiotics and hormones leave residues in the meat, which are then consumed by meat-eaters.
A heavy meat-based diet contributes to some of the top diseases in the country - heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
Heart disease occurs as the result of high saturated fatty foods that clog the arteries and cause the heart to work overtime. Those who have been diagnosed with heart disease or have already had bi-pass surgery are instructed by their doctors to eat a low-fat vegetarian diet in order to correct the condition and prevent the need for another bi-pass surgery.
Adult onset diabetes (Type 2) is a totally diet-related disease. In this case there is nothing wrong with the pancreas. The problem is called insulin resistance, caused by the cells inability to utilize the insulin to take sugar into the cells. Insulin resistance is caused by excess animal fat & protein, especially from meat and dairy products, which clog the base membrane of the cell and prevent the uptake of insulin. Eliminating animal products from the diet almost always reverses this disease.
Cancer is a disease created by excess toxicity in the body, which interferes with the cells' abilities to recognize their instructions of what type of cells to be and what functions to perform. The communication system that organizes and instructs the cells goes haywire, and the cells become "without law", a community unto themselves, which eventually takes over the body and kills its host. Meat contributes to cancer by clogging the cells, preventing the elimination of toxins from the cells. Also, in the China Study it was discovered that those who eat the highest level of animal protein have the highest chance of developing liver cancer. I mentioned in a previous article that animal protein leaves behind an ash residue after digestion and metabolism. This ash residue places a heavy burden on the liver and the kidneys in their efforts to eliminate it from the body, which is one reason for the development of liver cancer.
Another factor with meat consumption is that the growth hormones that animals raised for food are given cause the rapid growth of cells. Cancer is a disease of rapidly growing cells, and if meat consumption isn't the cause of these cells going haywire, the growth hormones in meat at least cause the cancer cells to grow more rapidly.

A less talked about disease, called Mad Cow Disease, is not non-existent in America. The owners of slaughterhouses wanted us to believe that cows infected with the disease were only found in Europe, not America. This is not true. Mad Cow Disease was created by the practice of feeding infected animal carcasses to the cows bred for consumption. Cows are not meat-eaters for one thing, and feeding them infected animal carcasses was just asking for problems. Mad Cow Disease was caused by proteins called Prions, which infected the brains of the cows, eating holes in their brain causing dementia and eventually causing them to fall over dead. Humans who consumed cows with Mad Cow Disease didn't know they had it for years, until early signs of dementia set in, and upon examination of the brain, holes were found just like in the cows. This disease is present in America, and hard to detect before it is a real concern. But the rise of Alzheimer's and dementia may very well be due to this disease.

If you are going to eat meat, even sparingly, it is best to hunt it and kill it yourself, or buy organic sources of meat. That way you will be sure to not get meat that is full of antibiotics and growth hormones, and should be free of the Mad Cow Prions.
The healthiest diet consists of a low-animal-protein diet, and this is the direction to take if you want to avoid the top diseases that Americans are facing right now.

Food Pyramid Myths Part 4 - Proteins

The next part of the Food Pyramid is your protein group, which includes meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs, and nuts, suggesting 2-3 servings a day. Keep in mind as I get into this topic what was mentioned in the dairy articles about high intake of animal protein contributing to bone loss. I don't deny the importance of having protein in your diet. An all-carb diet is certainly not healthy. What is important is finding a balance between carbs, fats, and proteins that fits our bodies' needs, and just like not all grains and carbs are alike, neither are all proteins alike in how they react inside our bodies.

Let's begin by splitting this section of the Food Pyramid into animal-based proteins and non-animal-based proteins. All meats and eggs in one category, and beans & nuts in another. Before explaining why, I will go ahead and suggest that the nuts and beans remain where they are on the Food Pyramid at 2-3 servings a day. Then I would put meats and eggs up at the top of the Food Pyramid under the category of "Use Sparingly". Unlike dairy products, I don't necessarily advocate wiping these items off the Food Pyramid completely. I believe they have their place at certain times and seasons, and as long as they are untampered with by man's inventions for mass production, meat and eggs can be a supplement to the diet at times in small amounts. One of those times and seasons is in winter. Proteins, especially animal proteins, thicken the blood and increase heat in the body. This is beneficial to a body that is exposed to cold weather for months, but even then, to keep it sparing, we are talking 2-3 times per week, not per day. In the summer, our blood wants to be thinner to keep us cool. Eating lots of meat in the summer continues to thicken the blood, slowing you down and making you feel hot and sluggish.

Excess animal protein leaves an ash behind after metabolism, which your kidneys and liver have to work hard to get rid of. Those with kidney or liver problems would benefit from eating less animal protein.

Just for a moment, take a look at the digestive tract of a carnivorous animal. You will see that the intestinal tract is very short, allowing for the quick passage of meat out of the body. An herbivore's intestinal tract is very long, allowing for the slow absorption of nutrients from plant foods. A human intestinal tract is very long. Even if we aren't meant to be pure herbivores, a look at the intestines of a meat-eating human who consumes meat several times a day will often show the remains of meat sitting in the intestines for days. Meat is not a high fiber food, and will not move quickly through most intestinal tracts. This allows for putrefication, and often parasitic infestation - both contributors to colon cancer.
The times you do eat meat, make sure to include some high fiber foods in the meal, as well as some anti-oxidant-rich foods to protect against the putrefication process.

Meat is another multi-dimensional topic, therefore I will highlight future topics that will not be covered in this article.
Future discussions will include: a) more physical/health reasons for reducing meat consumption, b) spiritual reasons, and c) extortion and contamination-based reasons.

Eggs are another animal-based protein, which I suggested should be eaten sparingly rather than multiple times a day. Most people are familiar with the fact that eggs contribute to high cholesterol, especially the yolk of the egg. This is true. The protein in eggs also leaves an ash residue after the digestion process and does place a greater burden on the kidneys and liver. Something else about eggs is that they are very mucus-forming in the body. Egg yolk is mucus-y by nature, and it does coat the intestines with mucus, reducing the absorption ability of the villi, and contributing to constipation. The body can handle this on occasion. The detrimental effects come from daily intake, which is why it is advised to eat them sparingly.

Moving on for now, let's look at non-animal-based proteins. Are beans and nuts the only sources? They are certainly one source, but did you know that dark leafy greens and other vegetables have protein in them? Some believe that you can't get a complete protein (in other words, a protein containing all of the essential amino acids) from plant sources unless you practice food combining - beans plus rice, etc. This is up for debate, but the more variety to your diet the better as all plant foods have different nutrients to offer. It may take more creativity to get all of your protein needs from plant sources, but it is possible and there are actually certain superfoods that contain all of the essential amino acids on their own. Spirulina is one of them, as is Nutritional Yeast. Adding these to your diet can reduce your worry about getting enough protein from plant-sources.

In truth, protein requirements as stated by the FDA are higher than what is actually necessary. Few people suffer from protein deficiency. Many more people suffer from the effects of excess protein and don't even realize the connection.
When planning a meal, next time think heavy on the vegetables and light on the meat. If you do eat meat every day, small portions rather than huge steaks and full chicken breasts will help keep you from getting an excess of protein. Countries in better health than ours eat meat in small 1-2 oz portions. This is a baby step toward better health, and our revised Food Pyramid.

Medical Astrology - Old Science in a New Light

I want to take a sabbatical from the food pyramid topics this week and get into some things I find more interesting. This blog is dedicated to bringing topics to light which have been misrepresented or understood incorrectly in some way - ranging anywhere from health topics to astrology. This week I want to combine the two - something classified as Medical Astrology.
I have been privileged to work for a man who has dedicated his life to educating himself and the public about various fields of knowledge - the foremost being natural health. True seekers of knowledge do not limit themselves to modern science or socially accepted ways of thought. Most of them look to the ancients, who have centuries of wisdom to glean from. Modern science can add to this knowledge, but to throw out ancient wisdom in order to consider our society modern and civilized is just foolishness.
Many people in our society are finally coming around to acknowledging that there really is something to the natural health field. It has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 12 years that I have been in this field.
Astrology is another story. If you claim to be into astrology, you are generally classified as one of those new age-y, non-religious, superstitious people who are into horoscopes and fortune-telling.
But look at history. In past centuries, those who practiced herbal medicine were considered witches, and many were burned at the stake. Their society had a mis-understanding of what herbal medicine was and were afraid of it. And maybe some of the herbal medicine 'witches' were actually into witch-craft as well, but that doesn't mean that there is something wrong with using herbs for medicine. Modern science is beginning to verify that herbs have medicinal properties that are effective against certain ailments. Thank goodness - since doctors have been making drugs from constituents they find in plants from the beginning!
So, just because there is a negative connotation associated with astrology does not mean that it is something to be feared, rejected, or labeled. The very fact that astrology has been around for thousands of years says something about its validity. Branches of knowledge that have no basis in truth cannot and will not survive for centuries. The problem has been the incorrect use of it, or the incorrect understanding of its uses. Pop astrology, with all of its weekly horoscopes, gives this branch of knowledge a bad name. Fortune-tellers who have used astrology to predict future events in a person's life have also given astrology a bad name.
Thank goodness for Dave Card and his desire to seek out a true understanding of astrology and for his courage to publish his findings! There are a couple of other authors out there who have also written about and published a true and pure form of using astrology which I will refer to at a future time.

Who doesn't look up at the stars and the planets and wonder what they are all up there in space for?? Even just the planets in our solar system. They appear to be pointless planets floating in space with no life on them and no purpose. Astronomy has not come up with any purposeful explanation for their existence. Religion has yet to give us many answers on this either. The only branch of science that gives us an understanding of the purpose of the planets is astrology - and once again, there are thousands of years of study in this field. Why don't we give ourselves a chance to take a look at the findings? I agree that a huge percentage of astrology books out there are no good. Thousands of years of access to this information has given many the chance to corrupt it. But there are some who understand how to use this branch of science in an enlightening, practical way.

But how is it possible for the planets to affect our lives, our psychology, or even our health? There are many things we don't understand but that doesn't mean that they don't work. Science of the past century has finally been explaining certain phenomenon to us that we had no way of explaining before. I think it is only a matter of time before science will understand the planet's effects on our psyche and our health and will be able to explain it to us scientifically. Yet, we all know the benefits of the sun in helping plants to grow and in helping our bodies make Vitamin D. We are all aware of the moon's effects on the tides, and even on people's emotions during the full moon. The sun and the moon are planets in the sky that have an effect on us, so why not the other planets??

The astrology that most are familiar with deals with your "Sign" based on the month you were born - Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc. This is one branch of astrology, which I will touch on at a later time. It has the most corruption because of its past uses, but is still a pure science when brought into its correct light.
Dave Card has discovered a different form of astrology. An astrology based purely around the planets, rather than the zodiac. It uses the sun, moon, mars, mercury, jupiter, venus, and saturn. One planet for each day of the week. In this astrology, whatever day of the week you were born on determines your planet. If you were born on Sunday, your planet is the Sun. Monday, the Moon. Tuesday, Mars. Wednesday, Mercury. Thursday, Jupiter. Friday, Venus. And Saturday, Saturn. There is a diagram in Dave Card's book that helps you figure out which day of the week you were born on. By knowing your planet, you are given insight into personality traits, as well as certain organs/systems of the body that you are more likely to have issues with. For example, someone born on Monday, a Moon-type, will usually be more of the nurturing type, and possibly more emotional (or just moody if they are a man). Moon-types are learning to use their intuition. On a physical level, the Moon-types tend to have health issues in the stomach and nervous system, as well as hormonal imbalances. Each planetary day has pages of information describing the mind/body constitution for the person born on that day.
To take it further, you have a secondary planet based upon the time you were born. The 7 planets are split into 3-hour blocks, and whichever block you fall into will determine your secondary planet. The 2 planets together give a complete picture of the individual's mental/emotional/physical constitution.
Dave then takes you through alternative ways of dealing with your individual package. From counsel, to the use of homeopathics, herbs, essential oils, flower essences, and nutrition to help you live a life in balance for your type.
I have found Dave's method of Medical Astrology to be entirely accurate. It has given me answers to problems I have had nearly my entire life. Now understanding them as part of my constitutional package gives me the freedom to view them in a different light and treat them with the wisdom Dave gives in his book. What an awesome, non-invasive way to understand your own particular health issues, why you have them, and what to do for them.
Dave's book is called Seven Symbols of Healing and is available through Dave's Health & Nutrition, as well as Barne's & Noble.

http://www.daveshealth.com/daves/books-seminars/seven-symbols-of-healing.html

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Seven-Symbols-of-Healing-Body-Mind-Spirit/David-R-Card/e/9780974914435

Man's Dairy Product "Improvements"

The issue of whether or not to consume dairy products has many topics to discuss, so I continue with this theme for a 3rd post, this time focusing in on what man has done to milk to make it oh so much more... inexpensive? less-perishable? more pleasing to the eye? How about damaging to the body. Toxic.

Starting with shelf life extension, and fear of germs, the dairy industry and FDA have agreed that pasteurizing dairy products is the only safe way to go. Pasteurization is the process of heating food to a high enough temperature so that microbial growth is slowed. Sounds logical, right? Of course it is wise to reduce pathology in our food products, but what else is being killed along with the potential pathogens? Once again, the source of life-giving nutrition that has yet to be fully recognized and taught in our schools - Living Enzymes.
Enzymes "catalyze about 4,000 biochemical reactions" in the body (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzymes). Without enzymes, most of the biochemical processes in our bodies would be unable to take place. A lack of enzymes equals lifelessness inside the body. A lack of live enzymes in our food equals lifeless food and is more of a burden than a help to the body. As with grains and fruits and vegetables, killing the life in our foods turns them more acidic.
Along with the living enzymes being killed during pasteurization, any good bacteria within the milk that would have been beneficial is also killed. Sometimes in an effort to kill all the germs, we end up killing the substances which are most beneficial to us.
In this way, raw milk is much healthier to drink if you choose to drink cow's milk. What about the pathogens?? In truth, good bacteria has a job. Its job is to keep bad bacteria in check. If we leave the good bacteria in the milk, it will keep any potential pathogens under control. Enzymes also break down unhealthy pathogens. So keeping milk in its raw state is a much surer guarantee of its safety.

If any of you grew up on a farm, you know that after milking a cow, the cream separates from the rest of the milk. This is a natural occurrence, but it doesn't look pretty to see milk in its raw, separating form. Therefore homogenization was created. Homogenization is the process of breaking down the milk fat into small enough particles so that they no longer separate from the rest of the milk. Once again, man is smart and ingenious - until we realize what we have done.
Kurt Oster, M.D. and Donald Ross, Ph.D. wrote a book entitled The X-O Factor, discussing a certain type of protein enzyme that is found in virtually every animal. This enzyme is called xanthine oxidase (XO), and is one of the few enzymes that survives pasteurization. This enzyme is too large of a molecule to be digested or absorbed when consumed by humans. But once the homogenization process has occurred, this molecule is broken down and becomes small enough for human absorption. XO has been shown to attack the vein & artery walls, creating holes which need to be patched up. The body uses cholesterol as a patch. This is one reason milk contributes to high cholesterol. XO has also been found biologically active in the heart tissue of heart attack victims. The enzyme was discovered to actually break down heart tissue. XO also contributes to uric acid production, which is a major cause of kidney stones and gout. This reason is a sure precaution one needs to consider when consuming dairy products.

The next thing man has done to milk & dairy products has not been done just for longer shelf life or a more presentable product. It has been done by the major dairy manufacturers in order to increase milk production in their cows. Cow's milk naturally contains growth hormones called bovine growth hormones (BGH). Scientists discovered a way to genetically engineer these hormones with the hormones of another species of animal, creating rBGH. It was found that by injecting cows with this rBGH, milk production was increased. However, milk from cows that were injected with rBGH contained higher levels of growth hormones. This has contributed to constant mastitis in the cows being milked, but because of the increased output of milk, the industry ignores this. The constant milking of the utters that are engorged with milk causes blood and pus on the utters, which gets into the milk. These high levels of growth hormones are also ingested by people who drink the milk, and this is contributing to early onset of puberty, hormone imbalances of all kinds, weight gain, and the rapid growth of cells - leading to cancer, especially breast cancer (as these are primarily mammary hormones).
Because of the constant mastitis in the cows' utters, anti-biotics are also injected into the cows, which then gets into the milk. Ingesting anti-biotics on a regular basis through dairy products causes a loss of good bacteria in the body (part of the immune system's army to protect you), and creates anti-biotic resistance so that when you really need them they do not work for you.

Getting back to food in its natural form is the way to go. If you are going to drink milk, drink it in its raw, unaltered state. And if you are going to choose milk from a species other than your own (especially in place of breast-feeding), raw goat's milk will work the best with the human body. In each species' milk, there is a ratio of protein, fat, and carbs. Cows milk is much higher in these levels than human milk, as it is intended for a baby calf that will double or triple its weight in a very short time. This is another reason for obesity in this country. We are growing our babies into cows through the use of cow's milk. Goat's milk has a ratio of proteins, fats, and carbs that is much closer to human milk. Also goat's milk is not treated with powerful growth hormones, and is available in its raw, unadulterated state.

To review the previous and present articles on dairy, we see that dairy products do not strengthen the bones, they actually contribute to osteoporosis. Dairy products turn the body acidic and contribute to mucus conditions such as colds, asthma, allergies, as well as other auto-immune disorders including juvenile onset diabetes. Food allergies are increased by preventing the digestion of foods consumed at the same time as dairy products. And man's alterations of "nature's perfect food" has eliminated the life-giving properties in milk, allowed for the absorption of XO into the body which contributes to cholesterol and heart attacks, has increased the levels of growth hormones we consume in milk contributing to hormone imbalances, obesity, and cancer, and has caused us to consume anti-biotics on a regular basis weakening our own immune system. And yet we say, "Milk, it does a body good"? Once again, I say the most beneficial thing we could do for ourselves is eliminate dairy products from our Food Pyramid.

(For further information on these topics and well cited resources, refer to Robert Cohen's Milk, The Deadly Poison, Vicki B. Griffin, Ph.D's Moooove Over Milk, and Frank A. Oski's Don't Drink Your Milk.)

Dairy Products Continued - The Nature of Milk

Last week I discussed the reasons why dairy products as conventionally used are not a good form of calcium for us to consume because in the end we end up losing more calcium than we take in. But what other reasons should this dairy product recommendation be eliminated from the Food Pyramid?

First, consider the source of the recommendation. The Dairy Industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. What food company wouldn't want their food products listed on the official Food Pyramid? There isn't much scientific evidence that cow's milk is actually good for the body, but there is a whole lot of advertising going on about milk products. Although some won't appreciate the suggestion of conspiracy in the Dairy Industry, there is growing evidence that money had more to do with the Dairy Industry's appearance on the Food Pyramid than actual scientific proof of its nutritional value - especially with information that is finally coming to light about how much harm dairy products actually do to the body. The FDA, USDA, and other organizations don't always have our best interest at heart, sad to say.

Now let's look at what milk really is. When a baby is inside the womb, it is fed by its mother through the umbilical cord. This is basically a blood transfusion from the mother to the baby. Predigested nutrients are going directly into the baby's bloodstream. When the baby is born, this process continues - through the mother's milk. Milk is a predigested food, a nutrient delivery system, designed to go directly into the new baby's bloodstream because the baby does not have any digestive juices of its own yet. A close analysis of milk shows that milk has the same make-up as blood, minus the red corpuscles. This is the perfect food for babies.
What causes a baby to wean from its mother? As soon as the baby's digestive juices come in, around 18 months, mother's milk mixes with those digestive juices and becomes acidic in the body, and the baby knows to wean. This is more apparent with other mammals who are more instinctual about this process, rather than weaning their babies for convenience and then forcing them to continue drinking milk from another mammal from then on.
So as I said, once the child has digestive juices, milk then turns acidic in the body. Acid creates not only calcium loss, but large amounts of mucus to protect the body's organs. Cow's milk is the number one cause of congestion, allergies, asthma, colds, and other mucus conditions.

Frank A. Oski, M.D., chief of pediatrics at John Hopkins School of Medicine stated that "at least 50 percent of all children in the United States are allergic to cow's milk, many undiagnosed. Dairy products are the leading cause of food allergy..., constipation, and fatigue. Many cases of asthma and sinus infections are reported to be relieved and even eliminated by cutting out dairy. The exclusion of dairy, however, must be complete to see any benefit."

Taking a closer look at cow's milk, this nutrient delivery system sends proteins directly into the bloodstream, which would be perfect for a growing cow, but these types of proteins are not right for a human's bloodstream, and the immune system has to go to work to get rid of these foreign proteins. The proteins in cow's milk are the same weight and structure as the beta cells of a human pancreas. When a child drinks cow's milk, those proteins can attach themselves to the pancreas. Then when the immune system discovers these proteins that are actually foreign, it will attack them, and many times it attacks the pancreas along with it, destroying the insulin-producing cells, creating Juvenile Onset Diabetes - Type 1. These proteins can attach themselves to other areas of the body as well, creating allergies or other auto-immune disorders depending on the individual's genetic susceptibilities. Rheumatoid arthritis if the proteins attach to the joints. Asthma if the proteins attach to the lungs & bronchioles. Crohn's Disease if they attach to the colon wall, etc.

An article titled, "More Evidence that Milk Causes Diabetes and Anemia" in Prevention and Nutrition revealed the following: "It has long been suspected that cow's milk proteins are a principal cause of diabetes in children, and a new report in the New England Journal of Medicine adds more support for this explanation. In comparisons of different countries, the prevalence of insulin dependent diabetes parallels the consumption of cow's milk." (The actual report being cited here was published in Volume 327 of the New England Journal of Medicine in July of 1992.)

Has anyone ever used milk as an ant-acid to curb heartburn or soothe an ulcer?? Here's where it gets a little tricky. It is true what I said about milk turning acidic when it mixes with digestive juices, however, milk itself is alkaline because of its high calcium content. Therefore when it first hits the stomach it will neutralize the acids in the stomach. Then after mixing with the stomach acid and bypassing the stomach it turns acidic, and that is the state it is in when it enters the bloodstream. It is the opposite of citrus fruits, like lemons, which are acidic themselves, and when they go into the stomach they increase stomach acid production, but then become alkalizing once they bypass the stomach and enter the bloodstream.
So milk and dairy products neutralize stomach acid, making it difficult to digest any foods eaten with the dairy products, allowing other foods' proteins into the bloodstream undigested. This is how milk contributes to food allergies. The immune system attacks those undigested proteins and creates an allergic reaction whenever that food is eaten.

"If you really want to play it safe, you may decide to join the growing number of Americans who are eliminating dairy products from their diets altogether. Although this sounds radical to those of us weaned on milk and the five basic food groups, it is eminently viable. Indeed, of all mammals, only humans - and then only a minority, principally Caucasians - continue to drink milk beyond babyhood." (March 1991 Medical Reader)

Stop and think about what you're drinking the next time you pick up a glass of milk. If it were human milk, might you be hesitating a little more? Yet, that would be safer for you to drink because at least it would be the milk of your own species. Think about those you know with allergies, asthma, colds, congestion, or juvenile diabetes - or this might be yourself. Try the no-milk or dairy products challenge for 2 weeks and see how you feel. Aside from the juvenile diabetes, the other symptoms and conditions will most likely improve tremendously.

Food Pyramid Myths Part 3 - Dairy Products

The Food Pyramid tells us that we should consume 2-3 servings of dairy products each day. This of all recommendations, is one of the most detrimental to our health. I would delete this recommendation from the Food Pyramid altogether. Those who insist on needing dairy products, whether for health reasons or for enjoyment of the foods, should turn to raw dairy products, or to goat dairy. Pasteurized & homogenized dairy products from cows have numerous negative health effects.
If you think about it, we are the only mammals on this earth who drink milk after we are weaned from our mothers, and we are the only mammals who knowingly drink milk from another species (cats being fed cows milk are no better off than we are with this mix up).
That we need to drink milk after we are weaned, and that we should drink cow's milk, is one of the biggest myths ever taught to us. From asthma & allergies to cholesterol & heart disease, from indigestion & irritable bowel to osteoporosis & diabetes... the list of diseases and their relationship to milk & dairy products goes on and on.

Let's begin with the most common question I get when I say I don't eat dairy products - "Where do you get your calcium?"

We have been taught that diary products are the only true source of calcium, and that without it we would be susceptible to weakened bones and osteoporosis later in life.
But this reasoning has come into question. It is being made public knowledge that all that we have been taught concerning milk and our dire need for calcium in order to have strong bones was never based upon scientific research, but was instead a product of advertising by the Dairy Industry, and the things they have ingrained in us have been doing more harm than good.
As new research was coming to light, a medical doctor, Dr. D.M. Hegsted, made this comment, “The first rule in formulating public health policy should be the assurance that the recommendations are not detrimental. It will be embarrassing enough if the current calcium hype is simply useless; it will be immeasurably worse if the recommendations are actually detrimental to health.”
Let us first take a look at the subject of calcium. It is the belief that we need to take adequate calcium into our diet in order to have strong bones, and if people around us are breaking bones and showing up with osteoporosis, then the logical thing to do is to increase the amount of calcium we are taking into our diets. This is following the “more is better” theory, which as we are finding with most things in life, is not always true.
In Dr. Hegstead’s book, Calcium and Osteoporosis, it shows that there is a close relationship between osteoporosis and the consumption of dairy products. In fact, the United States and other countries who consume large amounts of dairy products have much higher rates of osteoporosis than countries who consume hardly any or no dairy products at all. It appears that as milk consumption increases, the amount of calcium loss increases right along with it.
This doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense unless you realize what the real culprit with milk is. And that is it’s high protein content. Another big trend in our society is that we need to consume large amounts of protein, but excessive protein, especially animal protein, causes an extreme loss of calcium. There were at least 60 studies done between 1974 and 1988 indicating a definite relationship between excess dietary protein and increased calcium loss.
What happens is that large amounts of animal protein turn the blood very acidic. The body is always trying to maintain a slightly alkaline state, so in order to counteract the acidity in the blood, the body pulls calcium from the bones. Calcium is an alkaline substance that can be used by the body, when necessary, to neutralize acid. Whatever calcium there is in the milk to begin with is also quickly used up in this neutralizing process. So no matter how much calcium a person thinks they are getting by drinking lots of milk, there is always more calcium lost than retained. And as we have seen, how much calcium we consume is not the issue when it comes to strong bones, it is how much calcium is retained. Therefore, the more important question is 'how can I retain the calcium I already have in my bones?' Dairy products, along with soda pop, sugar, and other acid-forming foods, each contribute to calcium loss, and are directly related to osteoporosis.
Countries who consume a small amount of calcium in their diet, as well as little or no animal protein, have strong bones that stay strong their entire lives. We as Americans could learn some things from those whose health is so much better than our own.
It is true that calcium is an important mineral, but even calcium supplements at the grocery store are not assimilable. Most of them come from rocks. If you want to truly increase the calcium level in your bones, plant sources of calcium are the best to use, and studies have shown an actual increase in bone mass using calcium from plant foods. Dark leafy green vegetables are one of the best sources of assimilable calcium. Almonds and sesame seeds are also good sources of calcium. Herbal sources of calcium include Horsetail & Oatstraw.