Day 106- Feeding your baby

I came across a GREAT article on Mercola's website that I would like to share and expand upon. Although I am not a mother myself (unless my dog counts as a child) and haven't had to worry about what to feed a growing baby or toddler, I can appreciate the difficultly in choosing "what's right" to feed them. We all know that the #1 choice for babies is breast milk. Breast milk provides the perfect combination of proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates. It also provides the baby with antibodies, living cells, enzymes, and hormones that they can't get from any other source. But what happens after breast feeding? What foods should you start feeding them?

Weston Price suggests that the first food to introduce to a baby should be organic, free-range egg yolk. This can be done as young as 4 months when the child is still breast feeding. Egg yolks contain special long-chain fatty acids, which are critical for the optimal development of a child's brain and nervous system. Avoid the egg whites for the first year, since that part of the egg can cause allergic reactions.

Here is a recipe from Weston Price:

• 1 organic egg from a pasture-fed (free-range) chicken
• Pinch of natural unprocessed salt

Boil the egg for 3 1/2 minutes. Place in a bowl and peel off the shell. Remove the egg white and discard. The yolk should be soft and warm, not hot, with its enzyme content intact. Sprinkle with a small amount of salt.

Think that it's odd that the first food is not rice cereal? Here is what Dr. Mercola's website has to say about rice cereal:

"Almost every childcare book offers the same advice about a baby's first solid meal- start them first on rice cereal mixed with breast milk or formula. This has been the standard line for 60 years now.

But there is no scientific basis for the recommendation - none at all.

According to Stanford University pediatrician Alan Greene, other than breast milk or formula, rice is the number one source of calories for infants in their first year of life - and this is a nutritional disaster. The notion originated in the 1950s when baby food companies launched an advertising blitz trumpeting the benefits of white rice cereal.

White rice is a refined carbohydrate, one of the highly processed, nutritionally devoid foods that have been linked to increased rates of heart disease, insulin resistance, eye damage and cancer in adults, and are nutritionally worthless for infants as well. Feeding infants cereal has been associated with a increased risk of type 1 diabetes and may prime your baby for a lifetime of carb cravings for white bread, cookies, and cakes.

According to Dr. Russell Blaylock, high sugar content and starchy carbohydrates lead to excessive insulin release, which in turn leads to falling blood sugar levels, or hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia cause the brain to secrete glutamate in levels that can cause agitation, depression, anger, anxiety, panic attacks and an increase in suicide risk.

This glutamate is identical to the flavor-enhancing MSG and its chemical cousins, found in literally thousands of food products, which further inflame the problem.

In addition to taking a physical toll on your child's health, food dyes, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, and other chemical additives cause a multitude of behavioral and mood disturbances. This is just one more reason to avoid feeding your toddler pre-packaged and highly processed "convenience foods" - including the new microwaveable ones."

What are some better alternatives to rice cereals and processed foods that you can feed your child when they began to eat food? Fresh, pureed, organic vegetables are a wonderful choice. Mercola suggests the following, but these are just suggestions, they are plenty of healthy options:

• Mashed avocado
• Sweet potato
• cooked peas or carrots

Making your own food at home ensures that you know exactly what you are feeding your baby. Granted it takes more preparation and time, but the benefits are well worth it. Research conducted on baby food found that one brand of biscuits contained 29% sugar, and that several other brands contained trans fats, and excessive amounts of salt! For recipes on homemade formula, click here.

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 105- Say "No" to GMO

Before I began out on the endeavor of writing a blog post regarding GMO foods, I knew that I was against the idea, but I was not aware of the extent of it. Gathering information on GMO crops has been an extreme eye opener to me and has also made me slightly sick to my stomach. I am amazed at all the information that I have found on this topic, and how prevalent it actually is in our diet. In a letter written by Whole Foods Market addressing their consumers concerns that they were supporting the GMO industry by selling GMO foods, Whole Foods responded, "93% of soy, 86% of corn, 93% of cotton, and 93% of canola seed planted in the U.S. in 2010 were genetically engineered." They used this argument to illustrate that GMO has become so prevalent that every store in the U.S. sells GMO foods, whether they admit it or not.

Sorry, Let me back up a little...what exactly is GMO anyways? GMO stands for genetically modified organism; which according to Wikipedia,

"is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one molecule to create a new set of genes. This DNA is then transfered into an organism, giving it modified or novel genes. Transgenic organisms, a subset of GMOs, are organisms which have inserted DNA that originated in a different species."

Now that we know what GMO means, we can discuss the issues with the prevalence of GMO crops. Mercola posted a news article on his website that really grabbed my attention, stating that starving people in Africa are refusing GMO corn. What? Why? African countries fear that the genetically-modified grains might be planted rather than eaten, which could contaminate the entire region's food supply, since once these crops are planted it's almost impossible to stop their spread. "So what?" you say. Well, the region's economy relies on grain export to overseas markets, including Europe, which refuses to import genetically engineered foods. This also brings up another red flag, Europe refuses GE foods, why do they, but we don't?

The FDA has assumed that GMO foods are equivalent to the original and never required extensive studies to have them approved. Although, now this matter is going through the courts, researchers from the Committee of Research and Information on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN) fought a court battle where they won the rights to the research that was used to prove to government health organizations that their products were safe for human consumption. The leader in GE foods is a company called Monsanto, they were the ones to conduct the research experiments that were used to prove that these foods were safe. First of all, I'm no dummy to research, I know if you have money and time invested into something you can always alter data to prove the point that you would like to make. So the fact that the only research presented to the FDA was that from Monsanto, does not validate that these foods are indeed safe for human consumption. Now that CRIIGEN has been able to get ahold of all the raw data, the results aren't as clear-cut and positive as we were lead to believe. If you would like to read the full study published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences, click here.

So, now we know that there wasn't accurate research presented before the GMO crops became widespread. What I also forgot to mention earlier is that Monsanto's research only included one species of rats, even though GMO was presented to several countries, and the longest study conducted was only 3 months! There are also technology/stewardship agreements required for the purchase of genetically modified seed that explicitly prohibits research.

Let's now discuss the goal of introducing GE crops to farms, as well as the dangers of this concept. GE foods are engineered to be pest and disease resistant. That's all fine and dandy, but then what happens when bugs and bacteria develop a tolerance for these engineered foods? What will these pest and disease resistance foods do to the natural bacteria in our own bodies? These GE crops are also designed to grow in any environment, resisting frost, heat, unfit soil, etc. Many have also been created to be sterile so that farmers must purchase new seeds each year, instead of the traditional way of pollinating. Other GMO crops do cross pollinate and are spreading out of control, which is making it harder and harder for farmers to keep organic crops completely separate from GE foods. This problem has been affecting organic rape seed crops in Canada, and corn in the Midwest for example. You also have to take into consideration the meat that you eat, which may have been feed GMO grains and alfalfa.

New GE foods are being created all the time; they now have created specific grains for different individual purposes, such as grain for baking. A few months ago the FDA approved a super-fast growing salmon- the first (but doubtfully the last) genetically modified animal to be sold in the U.S.

Besides changing the concept of traditional farming, studies have also found some possible dangers to our health as well involving GMO's. Genetically modified peas were shown to cause lung damage in mice, GM potatoes showed possible cancer in rats, and bacteria in the gut was shown to be able to take up the DNA from GM foods. Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception, found that at the time GMO's flooded the market related illness doubled. These foods not only have been shown to be toxic, but allergenic, carcinogenic, and anti-nutritional as well.

So what can we do about avoiding these oh-so prevalent modified foods? First of all as of right now, GMO foods are not mandated to be labeled, this is currently a topic being addressed, so cross your fingers that it will soon be enforced just like in Europe, Japan, China, and Korea. The problem is producers know that if foods are labeled GE, people will avoid these foods, meaning that there will be no profit. The FDA and USDA also don't require labels on products because they don't want to "suggest or imply" that these foods are any "different" from non-GMO foods. If foods are not labeled then how do you know if you are eating GMO or not? Well, chances are you are eating GMO, since about 75% of the food at the grocery store is GE.

Best advice for now is to buy organic! All organic foods must be free from all GMOs. There was also a rumor that told people that they could tell if produce was GM by looking at the 5 number code on the label, stating that if it starts with a 8 it is GM. This theory never circulated like it was said to. Also, since most foods are now being genetically modified avoid processed foods as well, opting for whole fresh real foods. Avoid the major GMO foods: corn, canola, soy, and cotton. For non-GMO shopping guides visit these websites:

• http://mercola.fileburst.com/PDF/GMObrochure.pdf
• http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/
• http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/BuyingNon-GMO/index.cfm

For more great articles on GMO or to learn how you can help make a difference visit these websites:

• http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/why-arent-g-m-o-foods-labeled/
• http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/02/27/10-reasons-why-no-one-needs-gm-foods.aspx
• http://sustainableweston.org/2011/05/22/plu-codes-do-not-indicate-gm-produce/
• http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/11/06/the-real-reasons-you-want-to-avoid-genetically-modified-foods.aspx
• http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/Home/index.cfm

Here is a trailer for a great video called, "The Future of Food," which illustrates the dangers of GMO:

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

Day 102- Sucralose

"Made from Sugar, So it Tastes like Sugar."

Splenda, which is made up of a compound called sucralose, claims, that it is basically a sugar product without any calories. So what exactly is this sweetener that is making its way into drinks, baked goods, gum, and many other products we find on the shelves?

Well, part of their slogan is true, sucralose does first start out as a sugar molecule (sucrose), but what happens after, in the factory, changes this molecule so that it is unrecognizable by the body. Three chlorine molecules are added to sucrose to make sucralose. The sucrose molecule is a disaccharide that contains two single sugars bound together; glucose and fructose, when chloride is added it is converted to a fructo-galactose molecule. This unique molecule is not found in nature and so the body does not possess the ability to properly metabolize it. This is where they make the claim that Splenda contains no calories - our body just can't digest or metabolize the molecule making it have zero calories.

The manufactures of Splenda were very smart in choosing the name "sucralose." As consumers we are more likely to relate the ending "-ose" to a natural sugar, just like glucose and sucrose,instead of a altered unrecognizable sugar molecule. But now that we have learned how sucralose is created we know that it definitely is not the same as the other natural -ose sugars. In fact grocery stores such as, Whole foods, will not sell Splenda or any product that contains it, because it is not a "real food," which is their code of ethics.

So is this unnatural molecule safe for humans? Technically, who really knows? Most of the studies have been done on animals, with only around 6 published human trials. What's even worse is that when the FDA approved sucralose for human consumption, only 2 of the 6 trials had been completed, which included a total of 36 human subjects. Then to top that off, out of the 36 people in the studies, only 23 were actually given sucralose for testing, with the longest trial only lasting 3 months.

According to an article in Mercola:

"Splenda is not a drug and is only a food additive. As such the number of studies required to receive FDA approval is substantially less than drug. Vioxx had an order of magnitude of more comprehensive clinical trials than Splenda ever did, and despite the rigorous approval process it still killed 55,000 people."

So what have been some of the findings on sucralose? According to a study from Duke University:

"Splenda suppresses beneficial bacteria and directly affects the expression of the transporter P-gp and cytochrome P-450 isozymes that are known to interfere with the bioavailability of the drugs and nutrients. Furthermore, these effects occur at Splenda doses that contain sucralose levels that are approved by the FDA for use in the food supply."

Splenda is an organochlorine, which is a chemical that is a carbon and hydrogen molecule with attached chlorine atoms, and is the only organochlorine ever used for human consumption. Examples of other organochlorines out there are: DDT, Mustard gas, Chloroform, PCBs, as well as other insecticides, pesticides, and solvents. In fact, Splenda was discovered by accident when researchers were creating a new insecticide! Organochlorines are also fat-soluble and can tend to accumulate in body tissues that are high in fat, such as your brain. Although, the amount of sucralose that is absorbed and stored in the body varies for each person, research shows that 11 - 27% of ingested sucralose is absorbed by the human body. In one human study that Mercola talks about in his article, one of the eight participants did not excrete any sucralose even after three days.

So since there are not very many published research papers out there on the effects of sucralose, it's up to you to decide to consume it or not. But let me remind you that it is not a natural sugar like the name sounds, and that the research on the effects of sucralose are not very extensive on humans, and not taken into consideration for a long duration of time. For me, I choose to stick with the natural stuff, but again that's just me.

While writing this blog I also came across another great blog on 14 reasons why you should not eat Sucralose, click here to read it.

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP