BAD SUGAR

Okay, so yesterday I sat thinking, deeply, about something that is troubling me!

My son has a cold… he told me as soon as he started feeling ill and I immediately dosed him with Vit C but he still got it relatively bad. This was a strange thing to me since when the same happens to me, that is when I start feeling ill, and I up my Vit C the symptoms go away.

Then I also started to wonder about a lot of my clients and friends falling ill with colds and flu and not being able to get over it regardless of taking lots of Vit C, staying in bed… etc.

THEN it struck me, something I had completely forgotten about which I had read years ago.

It was research done by Dr Linus Pauling that I had read….

I have always been aware of the fact that Sugar negatively affects your immune system but as I went about paying attention to other things it had slipped my mind… something as important as that should definitely NOT so I did some research and found this article explaining it pretty well!

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Sugar and Your Immune System

Dr. Linus Pauling's Forgotten Research

Your body has a very efficient system for protecting itself from outside "invaders" such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc. The single most important part of this system is the body's ability to identify and destroy any invaders that get inside.

There is a fact that you may not know about your body’s immune system:

EATING ANY KIND OF SUGAR HAS THE POTENTIAL TO REDUCE YOUR BODY'S DEFENSES BY 75% OR MORE FOR FOUR TO SIX HOURS.

This is not new data. In the 1970's Dr. Linus Pauling (one of the greatest researchers in the field of microbiology) discovered that vitamin C helps the body to combat the common cold. As part of the same research, Dr. Pauling found that sugar severely slows down this same process.

This is very important to know, as using this information can prevent illness and dramatically assist healing. Because the idea that sugar is "bad" for you is so controversial, I am going to give you a quick, simplified tour through your own immune system so you can see for yourself what Dr. Pauling discovered.

1. How Your Body Disposes Of Invaders

Bacteria, viruses, etc. are literally "swallowed" by a special type of cell called a "phagocyte." This is a cell, such as a white blood cell, that engulfs and absorbs waste material, harmful microorganisms, or other foreign bodies in the bloodstream and tissues.

2. Vitamin C

Dr. Pauling discovered that vitamin C is needed by white blood cells to engulf and absorb viruses and bacteria. In fact, a white blood cell has to contain 50 times the concentration of vitamin C as would normally be found in the blood around it. That's how Dr. Pauling came up with the "take vitamin C for a cold" theory. In order to continue to destroy bacteria and viruses, the white blood cells have to accumulate vitamin C all the time to keep up the 50-times concentration. So, vitamin C is being moved through the cell membranes into the white blood cells all over your body, all the time. That's why it's important to have plenty of vitamin C available to your body.

3. Sugar

Glucose (sugar in its simplest form, as found in the blood stream) and vitamin C have a similar chemical structure. So similar, in fact, that when a white blood cell tries to pull in more vitamin C from the blood around it, glucose can get substituted by mistake. If the concentration of glucose in the blood goes beyond a certain concentration, the white blood cell's 50-times vitamin C concentration can start to drop because of the large amount of glucose it's pulling in as a substitute for vitamin C.

In fact, at a blood sugar level of 120, the white blood cell's ability to absorb and destroy viruses and bacteria is reduced by 75%. This blood sugar level would be easily obtained by any normal person eating some sugar (cake, cookies, candy, soda or even drinking fruit juice). Further, it can take four to six hours for the vitamin C concentration in the white blood cells to reach that optimum 50-times concentration again.

 

  Conclusion

As you can see, it's not a great idea to eat any kind of sugar if you're sick, including the much-recommended orange juice (which may contain vitamin C, but this won't help if the white blood cells can't get past the sugar to use it!).

Further, if you were on a program of health improvement of any kind, sugar would be your number-1 enemy! No matter if you're healing from an injury, either. White blood cells and other phagocytes remove dead tissue as well as other types of waste associated with injury healing.

The next time you go to the drug store and notice that the cough syrup contains mostly sugar, you can wonder as we do what happened to this valuable research that no one seems to know?

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The first thing you do when feeling ill, especially flue is go buy bottled orange juice for the “Vit C”, then you suck lozenges loaded with sugar for your sore throat, and like the article said, you buy flue medicine containing mostly sugar.

You also don’t feel like eating food and would rather nibble on snacks and drink hot chocolate… 

THAT is why you don’t get better!!!

Cut out the SUGAR and everything containing sugar and you’ll recover in no time and THEN stay away from it! 

RAW Broccoli in the morning... But WHY? and what is this thing with Green Veggies?

What is it about green vegetables that make them so special and why is it so good for you to have that green apple & RAW broccoli?

First let’s look at what makes plants green?

The reason green plants are green is because they contain a special chemical, called chlorophyll.

The chlorophyll in the leaves of plants absorbs sunlight, converting it into carbohydrates from both the available carbon dioxide and water. It also produces oxygen in this process. The carbohydrate that the plant produces is the food that the plant needs to grow. It is also the food that we eat when we eat the produce of green plants, whether fruits or vegetables.

Chlorophyll, the compound that makes the leaves of most plants green, is a delicate compound, and easily damaged by heat. The greener the leaf, the more chlorophyll it contains. However, when you cook green leaves and vegetables until they turn that grayish - green color, they lose their enzymes and water-soluble vitamins, reducing their potent benefits. 

SO... Don't overcook your veggies!!!

Chlorophyll also cleanses your body and helps it to detoxify by absorbing and removing heavy metals from your digestive system, but only when it is active, in the raw state.

Here are a few more benefits of chlorophyll:

*It alkalizes our cells

*It builds our blood count, therefore being helpful against anemia

*It is a natural body deodorizer

*It energizes our cells, due to its high oxygen content

*It contains a lot of fiber, which helps to escort toxins and heavy metals from our intestines and bowels

*It helps to regulate our hormones

*It reduces inflammation

*Due to its high oxygen content it is a natural cancer antagonist

Raw green vegetables are better!

It is best to consume green leaves and vegetables when they are raw, because the minerals contained in the produce are bonded to enzymes, as well as proteins and glucose. These minerals are called chelated minerals when they are in this form. When the produce is heated it loses these natural forms of minerals and enzymes, with the resulting nutrients not being absorbed as easily by our digestive system.

This is why dried green super-foods or blends have to be processed at low temperatures if they are to retain their nutrient density. Because the enzymes in green vegetables are destroyed by heat, and the enzymes are one of the important components of fresh vegetables, they also have to be protected from heat damage when producing a nutrient and enzyme dense green blend.

If you make the time, it is very simple to make a green smoothie with fresh green leaves, an apple or pear and some cold water. In this way you can get your daily dose of chlorophyll in a glass instead of only in salads.

    

What else is in green vegetables?

§  We already mentioned the chlorophyll molecule which is very similar in structure, to a molecule in our body, called hemoglobin, which contains iron and transports oxygen to our cells via our blood stream. Hemoglobin is also the compound that makes our blood red. Hemoglobin transports oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body. The center of the chlorophyll molecule contains a magnesium molecule, while the center of the hemoglobin structure contains iron. Although there has been some discussion about chlorophyll becoming hemoglobin, because of their similar molecular shape, there is no clear evidence that this happens. But green foods do contain iron in its natural form, as well as the other compounds necessary for hemoglobin formation.

§  Green leaves and vegetables are also full of other very important nutrients, in varying quantities, dependent on growing conditions and specific varieties. They contain magnesium, phosphorous, calcium, zinc, copper, manganese, potassium, sodium, many of the B vitamins, such as B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B9 (folic acid)as well as vitamins A (in the form of beta carotene), C, E and K. Furthermore they also contain the important antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, which promote eye health, with lutein possibly also playing an important role in preventing colon cancer. They also contain enzymes (if raw) as well as protein, fiber and some of the good Omega 3 fats. Although you would have to eat 55kgs/121lbs of green leaves to get 60ml of the right fats daily!

§  Green vegetables are also alkaline in action, which means that they are capable of shifting your body from an acid state to an alkaline state. This is important because cooked foods and refined foods, stress and low levels of exercise leave your body being acidic. A low pH is known to be a precursor for not only low energy levels and inflammation, but also for degenerative diseases. It’s therefore important to eat foods that promote an alkaline balance in the body, which help the body move away from an acidic state.

§  Green vegetables that come from the brassica family, are even more nutrient dense than ordinary green vegetables. Broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts and red cabbage as well as Asian greens, including bok choy, chinese cabbage and pak choy, have potent anti-cancer properties, detoxify the body of environmental toxins and supply anti-oxidants too. Any produce that protects you from cancer will also help with overall health and anti-aging.

It is not just to burn fat or to get into shape that I advise you to eat or do certain things. Taking care of your health is the main reason. 

Once you start to take care of your health burning off the fat and getting into shape will happen automatically! 

Vit C

Ascorbic acid is used up more rapidly with alcohol use, smoking, and under stressful conditions. 

Other factors that increase Vitamin C requirements include viral illness and fever, Aspirin and other medications (sulfa antibiotics, cortisone), environmental toxins (DDT), and exposure to heavy metals such as mercury, lead, or cadmium.  Vitamin C is involved in the formation and maintenance of collagen, which is the basis of connective tissue found in capillary walls, skin, ligaments, cartilage, vertebral discs, joint linings, bones and teeth.  Collagen, and thus Vitamin C, is needed for wound healing and to maintain healthy blood vessels.

Vitamin C helps the absorption of iron (particularly the vegetable, or non-heme form), so it is helpful for iron-deficiency anemia.  Other conditions that benefit from ascorbic acid metabolism include diabetes (for insulin production), certain cases of male infertility, as well as arteriosclerosis, atherosclerosis, cataracts, glaucoma, and musculoskeletal degeneration (mostly by Vitamin C keeping calcium soluble and preventing it

from calcifying soft tissue).

Vitamin C helps thyroid hormone production and the metabolism of folic acid, tyrosine, and tryptophan, and it stimulates adrenal function and the release of norepinephrine and epinephrine, which are stress hormones.

However, prolonged stress depletes Vitamin C in the adrenals and decreases blood levels.  Ascorbic acid is important in cellular immune functions, where it is beneficial for bacterial, viral, and fungal diseases.

At higher amounts, Vitamin C may decrease the production of histamine, thereby reducing allergy potential.

A combination of very high doses of Vitamin C + Vit E + Vit B12 has been found effective in lessening the symptoms of shingles (herpes zoster), provided they are all taken at the earliest onset of the attack.

AGE                             FEMALE                       MALES

19 - 30 years                 75 mg                           90 mg

31 +     years                 75 mg                           90 mg

Pregnant                       80-85 mg         

Lactating                       115-120 mg

Smoking                       110 mg             120mg

Therapeutic Range:   250mg - 50,000mg+     Upper Level amount:   400mg - 2,000mg

Best time to take Vitamin C:  Morning to evening, in divided doses, preferably with the 3 main meals.

Too little vitamin C can lead to signs and symptoms of deficiency, including:

• Possible weight gain because of slowed metabolism Rough, dry, scaly skin Swollen and painful joints Weakened tooth enamel

  Anemia
• Bleeding gums
• Decreased ability to fight infection
• Decreased wound-healing rate
• Dry and splitting hair
• Easy bruising
• Gingivitis (inflammation of the gums)
• Nosebleeds