If we step back in time just 10,000 years ago, the last Ice Age was just ending and modern man was just emerging. Ref. 8 Scientists are divided on the exact period of time that our ancestors had existed prior to this time. The commonly accepted time span ranges from 100,000 to a million years. Even though the scientists don’t agree on the exact length of this time, the one thing they do agree on is the basic diet of the people who lived during that time period. It is called the Paleolithic Diet, also known as the Hunter-Gatherer diet.
For this very long time our immediate ancestors existed mostly on the high protein and fat containing foods of insects, fish, shellfish, birds, eggs and animals. The reason for this was quite simple, they were easier to get and the energy derived from them lasted a much longer time. The large feline animals such as lions and tigers, and the canines such as wolves and coyotes need to eat only once every 3 days because the nutrient rich proteins and fats of the animals which make up their diet is very sustaining. As our early ancestors moved around in search of animals to eat, they also learned to gather and eat edible herbs, seeds, fruits, nuts and berries when they were available. These were basically carbohydrate foods and while they tasted good, they were only available as food when they were mature, and that generally meant only once per year. In addition, the energy provided by these plant foods did not last as well as that of the animal foods. We see that illustrated today by the herbivorous animals such as cattle and elephants who must eat constantly all day long in order to get enough life sustaining energy from plant food only. So the diet of early humans for 100,000 years or more, was mostly protein, and fat rich animal foods. The protein content of their diet was between 35 and 40%, which is about 3 times what the average person eats today. The fat content in their diet was about was between 25 and 30%. Which is not much different than that of today, except that today, we get most of our fat from vegetable oils that are rich in Omega 6 fatty acids, which we now know an excess of, can lead to major health problems. Our ancient ancestors got most of their fat from animals and plants which were better balanced by supplying some Omega 3 fatty acids as well as the Omega 6.
The animal meats were supplemented with whole plant foods as the opportunity presented itself. Plants that were loaded with fiber, as a result they ate 100 grams of fiber a day. This is 5 times more than we get today. A great many studies have shown that people with a daily intake of 40 grams or more of diverse plant fiber never develop the health problems of our modern societies.Unlike our refined plant foods (they had no flour or sugar) their plant food was also loaded with micro-nutrients, and high quality fats and proteins. In fact studies have shown they ate over 200 different species of plants, so they had an enormous diversity of micro and phyto (plant) nutrients available to them. For this reason, the biological machinery of the human body is very well adapted to this kind of diet. Humans were, and still are, omnivores, which means they can and did eat virtually every edible thing within their reach. This is one of the reasons why humans managed to survive the ice age while thousands of other species died out because their specialized diet limited their ability to survive and thrive. The really important lesson to be learned from this information is that this is the exact same dietary demands and biological machinery you have in your body today.
The Origin Of Your Nutritional Needs
June 28th, 2009Carbohydrates – The Sweet Foods
June 28th, 2009Although many people were fed breast milk by their mother when they were a baby, none remember what it tasted like, and only a few brave souls will admit to having tasted it as an adult. As the father of six breast fed children, I’ll admit that I know. It tastes sweet, very, very sweet! This very sweet tasting first food has programmed us from birth to love the taste of sweet food and drink.
If you have ever sat across from an infant in a high chair you know the difference between their reaction to eating mashed bananas or peaches versus green beans. They ate the peaches and bananas with joy but you probably ended up wearing the green beans on your face and clothes.
Nature has a clever way of using that preference for sweet tasting food to get us to eat nutritionally rich food. Here is how it works. Did you ever notice that fresh sweet corn just off the stalk is sweet, and that which you buy in the produce department, even though it looks the same, is just not sweet?
You’ve probably noticed the same is true for most fruits and vegetables as well. This is because Nature only puts the sweet into these items after she has put in all the other nutrition. Produce harvested for market is picked early before all the nutrition has gone in, and thus Nature has not yet added the sweet. Because of our preference for the sweet taste this little trick worked well when we got our food direct from Nature. We waited until it was sweet on the tree, vine, or bush before harvesting it and thus we obtained maximum nutrition.
Today, at least 95% of all people get their food from fast food outlets or the supermarkets. These food outlets get their foods from the giant food processing plants, who in turn get them from huge growing operations. These food merchants know we love sweet foods, but due to the complex growing, processing, packaging and merchandising chain that brings us today’s food, it just isn’t possible to bring it to us “naturally sweet”. So they sweeten it up with the addition of sugar and starch. The problem is, the real nutrition of the food is largely lost during this food production chain, and what is left in most cases is largely simple carbohydrates. Today our consumption of simple carbohydrate foods is more than 100 times greater than it was just 200 years ago. Unfortunately, our body has NOT increased its ability to handle this huge increase in simple carbohydrate foods, as a result, massive and life threatening health problems are occurring at an ever faster rate and at an ever younger age. In talking to patients and teaching nutrition seminars, I have been shocked to find that most people have no real idea what I am talking about when I say “simple carbohydrates”. Nor, do they have any idea why eating large amounts of these simple carbohydrate foods is very dangerous to their health. For example, this Report is on the cause and correction of Acne, and yet at this point, my guess would be that most of my readers don’t see any great connection between a large amount of simple carbohydrate in their diet and developing Acne. Yet this is actually the number one cause of severe acne. Worse still is the fact that serious acne in the teen years brought on by a high amount of simple carbohydrates in the diet is a sure fire indicator of the diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes and obesity to follow. So let me see if I can help you gain this vital understanding of the role of carbohydrate in the diet.
Proteins and Fats in Rapid Review
June 28th, 2009We have just seen that dietary proteins are primarily for the purpose of providing us with the raw material for enzymes, red and white blood cells, immune factors, and the structural elements of most of our body and there are “essential” amino acids we must have in our diet in order to meet all those protein needs.
Fats are mostly for energy and to provide a small amount of fatty acids for hormones and nerve transmitters as well as some structural components that make up the brain and the joints, and there are “essential” fatty acids which we must have in the diet in order to meet all those fat needs. Now we are going to take a look at carbohydrates, the most overused and abused member of the nutrition family.
Fat
June 28th, 2009We need fat in our diet to provide fatty acids, sometimes called lipids. When dietary fat is eaten, the acid of the stomach separates fat from the rest of the food, and in the intestines fat is attacked by an enzyme made by the pancreas called lipase, and by the bile salts from the liver. These digestive enzymes break dietary fat down into solitary fatty acids. These fatty acids are then absorbed into the thoracic duct of the lymphatic system, where they are wrapped in a little protein covering. This makes them a chylomicron, and they are carried along in this part of the lymph system until they are dumped into the blood stream just as it reaches the heart.
Why? Because the heart gets most of its energy by burning these fatty acids in the heart muscle cells. What? Yes, the heart actually gets most of its energy by burning fat! Yep, and many of the other muscles of the body also gain a large amount of their energy by burning fat which was derived from the diet, or released from fat stores when we starve or go on a diet.
In addition to serving as a vital, major and key source of fuel and energy for the body, fatty acids are important structural components of the brain and joints, the foundation of many hormones, as well as a large number of nerve impulse transmitters in the brain and nervous system. So important is fat to our health, that there are two fatty acids which are classified as “essential”, meaning we must have them in our diet or our health will suffer.
In today’s world there is an unfounded fear of fat in the diet. One of those is that fat in the diet causes acne. False! It just is not so. I’ve got a surprise for you, it is not the fat on the French Fry that causes your acne, as much as the starch in the potato, but I am getting way ahead of the story.
Our ancestors whose health was far superior to our own, ate a large amount of fat each day and much of it was of the variety labeled by the so-called experts as the wrong type of fat, saturated fat. The truth is, saturated fat is actually the safest form of fat there is. This is because it is not going to oxidize on you and develop harmful free radicals like the unsaturated fats do. In fact, University of California Medical School research has shown that if you want to age rapidly and look old soon, just consume lots of polyunsaturated, or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Protein
June 28th, 2009The great, vast majority of your physical body is composed of protein. The framework around which the minerals of your bones are assembled is pure protein. The muscles of your body are 98% protein. The connective tissues, the ligaments, tendons, and cartilage that hold your bones and muscles together are almost pure protein. The skin that covers your body and the membranes that cover your organs are almost pure protein. The formed elements of the blood, your platelets, red and white blood cells, as well as the vessels themselves, are almost pure protein. The organs which make up the interior of the body are almost all protein. The enzymes which do all the work within your body, are almost pure protein. If you take away the water from your body, over 90% of what is left of a normal weight person will be protein.
The proteins of your body can only be constructed from the amino acids derived from the proteins found in your diet. Obviously a diet that supplies adequate protein is critical to maintaining a healthy body. Fortunately due to the highly efficient way in which the body uses its existing proteins, and the effective way it breaks dietary protein down into amino acids and peptides, we actually only need about 8 ounces of high quality protein in our diet each day in order to have a really healthy body. But, we do need those 8 ounces of top quality protein and if we don’t get them each day, important enzymes will not be produced, leaving vital work undone. Key immunoglobulins will not be built, leaving us vulnerable to infection. Tissue repair will not be completed, resulting in premature aging. Due to the key role proteins play in our health, there are 8 amino acids which are called “essential”, meaning we must have them in our diet every day or our health will suffer.
Why Teens Are More Susceptible to Acne Development
June 28th, 2009There are three major reasons why modern teens have a profound tendency to develop severe cases of acne. I’ve already covered the first one in some detail and so I will just mention it here very briefly. This refers to Nature sending all the nutrition required by the testes and the ovaries during the teen years to insure there will be adequate sexual maturation in order to guarantee the perpetuation of the species.
In cases where the diet does not have enough of the important micro nutrients, such as Vitamin A and Vitamin B-2 to insure the conversion of the basic cholesterol molecule to both sex hormones and healthy oil for the skin, the sex hormones will win and the skin will suffer.
The second major factor is that the typical teenager’s diet consists primarily of processed foods which are woefully deficient in the basic micro nutrients required to create both hormones and healthy skin, thus their diet is setting them up to have skin that is going to be nutritionally deprived and highly prone to develop severe acne.
The third major factor is the modern teenage diet which is terribly out of balance with regard to the macro nutrients of fat, protein and carbohydrate. The diet of the average American, let alone just teens, is drastically in favor of excess simple carbohydrates. This factor, more than any other, when taken in combination with the above two factors guarantees that teens will have severe acne. Worse still, it also guarantees that as time goes by, a lot of other even more severe, dreadful and life shortening problems will occur as well. It is critically important for you to understand just how this third factor of an imbalance between the macro nutrients in favor of carbohydrates is not only the biggest culprit in causing severe acne, but why it also sets the stage for a life time of early onset, life destroying health problems.
Micro Nutrients That Prevent Acne
June 28th, 2009There are several micro nutrients (vitamins & minerals) which are important in preventing the development of acne, but none quite as important as Vitamin A. This is because Vitamin A is essential for the conversion of the fatty acids in the blood stream into the oil of the sebaceous gland in a form that is normal and healthy. In other words, oil that flows smoothly out of the glands and pores of the skin and provides a thin protective barrier over the skin. It is not thick and sticky, and does not trap dirt, dead skin cells or bacteria.
Of course Vitamin A does not do this job of creating healthy skin oil alone and unaided. A chief co-factor for Vitamin A is Riboflavin, known as Vitamin B-2. This is because Vitamin A naturally comes in several different forms, one of which becomes toxic to the body if it accumulates in any significant quantity. This toxicity quickly disappears without harm as soon as the individual stops taking Vitamin A. Ref. 2 All three of these natural forms of Vitamin A have to be converted in the body to various derivatives of the original three in order to do their job. Vitamin B-2 is an essential co-enzyme factor working in the liver to convert Vitamin A to its active and non-toxic derivative forms.
Thus without enough Vitamin B-2, no matter how much Vitamin A is taken, much of it will remain inactive and ineffective. If large amounts of Vitamin A are taken, without the Vitamin B-2 to convert it to useful non-toxic forms, it can become toxic.
One example of the partnership between Vitamin A and B-2 is in the eye where Vitamin A is essential for the production of rhodopsin and retinene. These are the chemicals within the eye that allows the rods of the retina to “see” at night and in dim light. Yet, it is well established that even when Vitamin A intake is adequate, night blindness will still occur if there is not enough Vitamin B-2 in the diet. This is because Vitamin B-2 is an essential cofactor with Vitamin A to create that chemistry of vision.
A group of baboons were placed on a diet that was nutritionally complete in all respects except for a lack of Riboflavin, which is Vitamin B-2. Within 6 months their faces were covered by a mass of eruptions virtually identical to those of teenagers. This was in spite of the fact that they had plenty of Vitamin A. All of the skin lesions disappeared.
Shortly after large amounts of riboflavin were administered to make up the deficit. So it is that even adequate supplies of Vitamin A in the diet will not insure healthy skin without an adequate intake of Vitamin B-2.
Although not quite as critical as the nutrients just covered, Vitamin E, Vitamin B-2, B-3, B-6 and the mineral Zinc as well as others are also important in the creation of healthy skin.
What Acne really is
June 28th, 2009Acne is defined simply as inflammatory skin disorder. The pimples, the redness,the infections are all visible signs of skin that is inflamed or highly irritated.Within every hair follicle is a tiny pit with a group of cells that are called sebaceous gland.This gland produces an oil known as sebum, and its purpose is to oil the hair shaft andto spread out over the top of the skin, sealing in the moisture of the skin so that it stays healthy, soft, supple, youthful and wrinkle free.This process works quite well as long as the sebaceous glands get all of the nutrients they
need to produce a high quality oil. However, at puberty the process of sexual maturationoccurs. This process is absolutely essential for the continuation of life and our species, andthus the sex glands get first call on the nutrients extracted from the diet. If the diet is not adequate to supply nutrition for both the skin and these essential sexual maturation processes,the skin becomes short changed and acne is almost guaranteed to occur.Here is why! The hormones of sex are made from the same basic nutrients as is the oil made
by the sebaceous glands. When there are not enough of these nutrients to do both, theproduction of sex hormones hogs all the nutrients and the skin begins to suffer as the result of a poor quality of oil being produced by the nutrient deficient sebaceous glands.The single most common result of nutrient deficiency in the sebaceous glands is the productionof an oil that is thick and sticky. It can become so thick and sticky that it does not flow up andout of the hair follicle and over the top of the skin. Without the oil covering the skin, moisture is lost, the skin becomes dry and flaky, it itches and can crack and wrinkle and become inflamed. By far, the biggest problem develops down inside the pores of the skin where this thick sticky oil begins to accumulate and harden. Eventually this accumulation will swell to such an extent that
the pore will enlarge and become a visible white dot called a “whitehead”. If dirt gets embedded into this thick and sticky oil it will be called a “blackhead” The worst problem occurs on the face, which is more exposed to air borne bacteria than any other part of the body. Here the bacteria become trapped in the pores that are clogged with the thick and sticky oil. This would not be a problem except for one thing, they set up house in those pores, and they start raising a very large family. They only need three things to be a great success,
1. warmth,2. protection from the elements and 3. food. They have all three in great abundance in the clogged pores of the skin. Eventually the immune system discovers these bacterial infestations in the pores of the skin and the white blood cells launch an all out attack. The most important of these white blood cells are “Langerhan’s Cells” which are stationed in the skin, also known as macrophages, the really “big eaters” of bacteria. First the macrophages use chemical warfare, and that causes the entire area around the bacteria infested skin pore to become red, swollen and sore. This now attracts more macrophage to the infested pore, and at this point they begin a bacteria eating frenzy. After each macrophage devours about 100 bacteria it has become so toxic that it dies, and its bulging yellow body lies within the battle field of the skin pore. As thousands of these macrophages lie dead within the pore it becomes swollen and yellow from their dead bodies. This is what is called
“puss”. You now have the dreaded “pimple”, a skin pore that is infected, sore, and swollen with
ugly puss! And when you get lots of them at once, it is called Acne!
Self Esteem Suffers When Acne Is Present.
June 28th, 2009Perhaps the worst damage done to its victims by acne is the great harm it does to their self esteem. Considering that 80% of the population between the age of 12 and 24 years old will be afflicted by acne to one degree or another, acne is a very serious and widespread concern. For many people, acne problems can continue all throughout their life well into adulthood, even though they were told as teens that they would “outgrow” it. Did you suffer with acne as a teen? Perhaps you still suffer with it as an adult. Looking back on your high school or even college years, would you have felt better about yourself and life in general if you had not had acne? Virtually all of us would answer, YES! Perhaps you would have had the courage to get a date with that “special” person. Perhaps you would have felt and done better on some of those early job interviews. A clear complexion might have created a stronger self image and a higher sense of self confidence. Would this have allowed you to early on set your goals in life significantly higher? It would have for me It would be ludicrous to blame acne as the sole cause of a poor self image or a low level of self confidence. However, no reasonable person in this day and age can deny that satisfaction with our appearance leads to a
stronger self image and a higher level of self confidence. Both of which are essential in allowing us to achieve greater success in life. Given the extreme emotional stress and self esteem damage that acne can cause, it is very appropriate to view acne as much more than just merely blemishes on the skin.
ACNE – HOW TO PREVENT AND OVERCOME ACNE FOREVER.
June 28th, 2009The purpose of this blog is to show readers the real meaning and grave danger that acne is warning of, and how they can actually greatly minimize and even eliminate the conditions that cause acne problems using simple and easy to follow diet and nutritional recommendations.
These recommendations are not simply our “pet” ideas, they are founded on a significant amount of scientific evidence that validates them. The really good news is that you no longer have to suffer through acne, it can be eliminated. Once you understand exactly what acne is, what causes it, and most importantly, what nutritional elements your skin is crying out for, you can finally conquer acne and enjoy that beautiful skin Nature
intended you to have in the first place.