Think, Eat, Be Healthy

Health News Headlines For June 2015

carrots, purple carrots, red carrots, yellow carrots, white carrots

Old varieties of purple, red, yellow and white carrots can still be found at farmers’ markets and specialty food stores and make great additions to every healthy whole food diet.

More and more studies show solid evidence of the health benefits of eating whole food diets

The Mediterranean Diet seems to lower uterine cancer risk in women: http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20150527/mediterranean-diet-tied-to-lower-odds-of-uterine-cancer?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Fruits have several highly positive effects on health despite a high sugar content: http://drmirkin.com/nutrition/fruits-are-healthful-despite-sugar-content.html

High fiber diets help with diabetes: http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/news/20150527/more-evidence-that-high-fiber-diet-may-curb-type-2-diabetes-risk?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Whole food diet and exercise reduces prostate cancer risk for men: http://drmirkin.com/men/lifestyle-and-prostate-cancer.html

Three new studies released during the past few weeks add to the substantial evidence already accumulated that eating a whole food diet leads to better health than any other diet plan. The Mediterranean diet is really just a healthy whole food diet with emphasis on certain foods and fats. This diet was previously linked to lower rates of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and some cancers. Now it is also linked to substantially lowered incidence of uterine cancer, even when the diet is only partially followed.

This ties in with the study discussed by Dr. Mirkin. The Mediterranean diet suggests eating a substantial amount of fruit. Many people, especially those trying to lose weight, are resistant to increasing their fruit intake because of the amount of sugars in those fruits. This study suggests that the fiber accompanying the natural sugars in fruit produces an overall positive effect on several aspects of health. The positive effects of eating fruit included lowered blood peaks of both glucose and insulin, lowered overall inflammation and increased weight control. These effects might seem counter-intuitive to some because of the relatively high sugar content, but the high amounts of fiber and multitude of antioxidant compounds produce health benefits.

The final study presented here ties high fiber diets to mitigated diabetes symptoms. A whole food diet of any type is naturally high in fiber, as is any diet with large amounts of fruit or the Mediterranean diet. The reason higher fiber reduces the bad effects of diabetes are the same reasons the fiber in fruit produces positive health effects. Fiber in the diet slows sugar and nutrient uptake through the intestines, thus reducing or eliminating blood sugar spikes and therefore insulin spikes.

Scientists discover a direct brain-immune system connection through the lymphatic vessels

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-20164/scientists-discover-a-connection-in-the-body-we-never-knew-existed.html

We are still finding out just how amazing our bodies are and how little we really know about them. Until just a few weeks ago it was still a mystery how the brain communicated to the immune system. No direct connection between the them was known to exist. Now we know that our network of lymphatic vessels allows direct communication between the brain and the immune system. This is an amazing finding that underscores how limited our understanding is about the way our bodies function.

This should be yet another warning shot across the bow to scientists who are trying to design “better” food and supplements for us. If we are unsure of any of the processes in the nutritional chain between eating, digesting, metabolizing, and eliminating, perhaps it would be best if we just stuck with what nature gave us. Even though lifespans have slightly lengthened over the last century, that trend does not seem to be continuing and overall quality of life during those extra years has been deteriorating. This is a direct result of the modern “improved” diet of fast food, soda, white flour and trans-fats.

The continuing debate about genetically modified food crops

Are GMO foods really bad and can they be avoided?: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/truth-about-gmos?src=RSS_PUBLIC

I found this post on WebMD.com about GMO foods interesting for a number of reasons. The thing that most struck me on the first reading was that many of the “pro’s” listed in favor of GMO foods were really “cons” in my opinion. Being able to heavily spray my food with a weed-killer long suspected of causing cancer, without killing the food plants, is not a positive thing to me. Not if I have to eat the sprayed food.

Another “pro” mentioned about GMO foods is that there will be more and cheaper food. I guess this is why everyone’s food bill is so much less now than when GMO foods were introduced in 1994. What I think really happens if that farmers are forced to pay more for GMO seeds, follow the recommendations to us more herbicides and more pesticides because the crop will not be killed, and with the added fuel costs because of the additional spraying overall costs of food production are much higher with GMO crops. And production is not higher. And weeds are becoming resistant to the weed-killers, requiring even heavier and more frequent application, driving up costs even more.

I have never seen a single study showing that GMO crops produce higher yields at lower cost anywhere except in the test fields run by the makers of the GMO crops. I don’t believe higher production with lower cost has ever been shown on an actual working farm. Consumers have certainly not benefited from more and lower priced food because of GMO’s. Neither have farmers benefited from GMO’s. The only folks coming out ahead are the companies supplying them.

What is the suggested solution if you decide not to eat GMO foods? Eat a healthy whole food diet of mostly fruits and vegetables with a minimum of processed “foods”! What a surprise.

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