Michelle Woodworth

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What do Angelina Jolie, Britney Spears, Brett Favre, Elton John, Dr. Phil McGraw, Martha Stewart, and Batman all have in common? They have all sported a milk mustache for the long-running “got milk” campaign.   It “does a body good”, right?  I mean, if actors, entertainers, and athletes are all drinking milk, it must be good for me too . . .

Did you know that the majority of the human population across the globe does NOT drink or use cow’s milk?  How about that many people can’t drink milk because their body can’t tolerate it, or that our bodies actually produce an antibody against milk?  Some sources say that our bodies lose the enzymes required to digest dairy products by the age of two or three.

Dairy food is a very controversial issue.  Many believe that dairy is not fit for human consumption and numerous studies have documented its ill effects on health.  Yet, dairy farming is a multi-billion dollar government-subsidized industry whose advertising campaigns lead us to believe that we can’t live without milk.

You’ve seen the milk campaigns on television and in magazines. Now I’d like to share with you some of the information that’s not as readily available.

Osteoporosis occurs when bone breaks down faster than it is formed and it affects over 28 million people each year, 80% of which are women.  Most experts recommend drinking lots of milk for calcium, but the more dairy one consumes, the weaker bones can become.  Harvard University’s Nurses Health Study followed 78,000 women over a 12-year period and found that the women who consumed the most dairy products broke more bones than those who rarely drank milk.

Think milk is a natural food?  Fifty years ago, the average cow produced 2,000 pounds of milk annually.  Today, thanks to drugs, hormones, and forced feeding plans, top milk producers are putting out 50,000 pounds per year.  Bovine Growth Hormone, BGH, has actually been banned in many European countries due to safety concerns.

You’ve heard that you shouldn’t give babies cow’s milk until they are at least a year old, right?  Feeding human babies milk that is designed for calves can increase the chances of developing an allergy to cow’s milk.  Some symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, persistent colic, eczema, hives, bronchitis, asthma, and sleeplessness.  It has even been suggested that some crib deaths can be attributed to dairy allergies.

The conventional food pyramid shows that we should be consuming three servings of dairy products daily for a balanced diet, but milk consumption has been linked to increased risk for cardiovascular disease and breast and prostate cancer.  This is not, as previously thought, due to fat content but to the ratio of calcium to magnesium.  Ideally, you need twice as much calcium as magnesium.  The ratio in milk is 10:1, leading to magnesium (important for bone density) deficiency.

Based on current evidence, dairy products should not be a staple for a healthy diet.  Seeds, nuts, cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower provide calcium, magnesium and other minerals that are more in line with our needs.  You can try substituting soy or rice milk or buying organic milk.  If you think you might have a dairy allergy, cut these products from your diet for two weeks and see if you notice a difference.

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Michelle Woodworth
Getting my calcium from carrots.

I bet you think microwave ovens were invented for the purpose of making your life easier. Defrost some chicken, cook some soup, reheat last nights leftovers. Maybe warm a cold cup of coffee. Well, how about this. The Nazi’s invented the microwave oven to be used for the invasion of Russia. Who would have guessed? There’s more. After the war, the Russians retrieved some microwaves and did testing on their biological effects. What they learned led to a 1976 ban prohibiting the use of microwave ovens in the Soviet Union. (This ban is no longer in effect.)

Now you have a choice to make. You can stop reading and go make yourself some microwave popcorn and remain oblivious to the dangers of microwave cooking or you can read on and make an informed decision about the future of your microwave oven.

Swiss, Russian, and German clinical studies have come to the following conclusions about microwave oven use:

1. Continually eating food processed from a microwave oven causes permanent brain damage by “shorting out” electrical impulses in the brain.
2. The human body cannot break down the unknown by-products created in microwaved foods.
3. Male and female hormone production is shut down and/or altered by continually eating microwaved foods.
4. The effects of microwaved food by-products are permanent within the human body.
5. Vitamins, minerals, and nutrients of all microwaved foods are reduced or altered so that the human body gets little or no benefit.
6. The minerals in vegetables are altered into cancerous free radicals when cooked in microwave ovens.
7. Microwaved foods cause stomach and intestinal cancerous growths (tumors) which may help explain the rapidly increased rate of colon cancer in America.
8. The prolonged eating of microwaved foods causes cancerous cells to increase in human blood.
9. Continual ingestion of microwaved food causes immune system deficiencies.
10. Eating microwaved food causes loss of memory and concentration, emotional instability, and a decrease of intelligence. (GCNM, NC13. Copyright 2010)

If microwave ovens are so dangerous, why are they being used in over 90% of American homes? It’s true they’re convenient and energy efficient but at what cost? Here’s one last bit of information for you to consider.

In 1991, Dr. Hans Ulrich Hertel published a research paper indicating that food cooked in microwave ovens could pose a greater health risk than foods cooked by conventional means. A magazine article was also written which stated that the consumption of food cooked in microwave ovens had cancerous effects on the blood. The cover of the magazine featured a picture of the Grim Reaper holding a microwave oven. Want to know how well that went over?  The Swiss Association of Dealers for Electro-apparatuses for Households and Industry used their influence to have a gag order issued against Dr. Hertel. And in 1993 he was convicted for “interfering with commerce” and prohibited from further publishing his results. Though this decision has since been reversed, it’s interesting to see that commerce took priority over health.

If you found this information interesting, please leave me a comment and share with your friends and followers.

Michelle Woodworth
Using my microwave as a kitchen clock and lighted bread box.

What makes anyone try a new diet?  A friend or family member tells you how great it worked for them, right?  That’s how I came to try The New Beverly Hills Diet by Judy Mazel.  And for the three weeks that I was able to stick with it, I found that it worked for me too.  The idea behind this way of eating is conscious food combining.  It made good sense to me but I couldn’t handle the days where all you ate were grapes, grapes, and more grapes.  That was last Fall.  Since then I’ve had the opportunity to learn more about conscious food combining and what makes it work.

It turns out that different types of foods require different digestive juices in order to be properly broken down in the body and mixing those different foods causes ineffective digestion of all of it.  Here are five food-combing principles that can help you effectively digest your meals.

1. Eat Fruit Alone.  Fruit has the highest water content of all foods and contains sugars that are ready for the body to use.  It doesn’t need much time to be digested in the stomach.  If you have fruit with proteins or starches, the sugar will ferment in the stomach causing bloating and gas.  It’s best to eat fruit in the morning and allow an hour or two before eating any other kinds of food.
2. Do Not Combine Protein with Starch. The digestion of starches begins in the mouth with saliva.  Proteins are mainly digested in the stomach.  When the two food types are eaten together, the starch does not get predigested in the mouth and begins to ferment in the stomach.  Another thing is that proteins require an acidic environment for digestion and the starches require an alkaline environment.  They effectively cancel each other out and nothing gets digested.  It just sits in the stomach causing more gas and bloating.
3. Eat Protein Alone or with Vegetables. Vegetables are relatively easy to digest and can be broken down in either an acidic or alkaline environment.  The enzymes in vegetables can enhance the digestion of proteins and the fiber can help move it more rapidly through the intestines.
4. Eat Starches Alone or with Vegetables. Vegetables can be digested in the alkaline environment required to digest starches.
5. Do Not Drink with Meals. Drinking any beverage with a meal dilutes the digestive juices that are needed to break down foods and prevents them from being digested properly.  The best time to drink fluids is thirty minutes before or after a meal.

If you’re like me, it seems that these principles go against the way you’ve been eating your entire life.  Fruit as a dessert.  Meat and cheese on a bun.  Glass of water, milk or tea with my meal.  That means changing my entire way of eating!  Well, I’ve been making the changes gradually and I’ve found that they are working for me.  I’ve even dropped a few pounds.  And I haven’t given up my cookies!

If you decide to be kind to your digestive system and embrace these food combining principles, I’d love to hear how it works for you.  Leave me a comment and share this with your friends on Twitter and Facebook using the buttons below.

Michelle Woodworth
Eating my Fruit for Breakfast