On KQED radio the other day, I heard a discussion about New York’s proposed ban of trans fats from restaurant food. Sheila Cohn Weiss, director of nutrition Policy, National Restaurant Association perpetuated a common misconception (intentionally?) by interchanging “trans fat” and “saturated fat” in her conversation ­ as if to imply that both warranted equal caution. Such profundity exacerbates confusion for consumers. Often, when research is undertaken, researchers rarely make a distinction whether the benefits seen from a decrease in overall fat consumption in a diet was due to a decrease in trans fat or saturated fat. Nutrition recommendations often state that people should reduce their intake of trans fats AND saturated fats. I’d like to clear up some of the confusion.

While trans fats and saturated fat are both solid at room temperature, their similarities end there. Trans fats are formed when unstable oils undergo a process called hydrogenation (when liquid oils are converted to a solid in order to increase shelf life, reduce cost, and improve flavor and texture). Manufacturers win and consumers lose, as these oils are transformed into substances that are very harmful to human health. Trans fat is known to increase blood levels of LDL (“bad” cholesterol) and reduce HDL (“good” cholesterol)¹. Trans fats have been found to be a cause of clogged arteries, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

While research shows that trans fats are unhealthy, research also indicates that (unlike trans fats) saturated fat and cholesterol do not increase cholesterol levels and heart disease ­ and in fact help to reduced it. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition said “The conclusion of an analysis of the history and politics behind the diet-heart hypothesis was that after 50 years of research, there was no evidence that a diet low in saturated fat prolongs life.²"

If saturated fat were harmful to our health, why would breast milk contain such as large percentage of saturated fat and cholesterol? (including butyric, caproic, caprylic, capric, lauric, myristic, palmitic and stearic acids) Clinical research shows that both saturated fat and cholesterol are essential for growth in babies, especially for healthy brain development³.

Further, saturated fat is important for the following functions:

• Preferred fuel for the heart
• Antimicrobial and antifungal actions
• Cell membrane regeneration
• Building bone density by putting calcium into the bones
• Protecting the liver from toxins

For years, all saturated fat was dubbed “bad,” mainly because of cholesterol. Firstly, note that plant-based saturated fats such as coconut oil and palm oil do not contain cholesterol. Moreover, cholesterol is not a harmful, but rather a protective substance. Cholesterol helps:

• Build strong bones and muscles
• To aid digestion
• Boost cognitive function
• Build hormones for libido and fertility and other endocrine functions
• Repair tissue
• Keep cell membranes intact
• Regulate blood sugar
• Support immune function

Hopefully, you are getting your good fats from whole foods; however, for those that consume processed foods, beware of commercial packaged foods that state “no trans fats.” While food labels are now going to be a required to lists trans fat content, food manufacturers are allowed to include 500 mg of trans fats and label their product “trans fat-free.” (every consumer should be outraged) By decreasing serving size, manufactures are able to keep trans fats under this amount, and trick (deceive!) consumers into thinking their products (containing hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated oil) contain no trans fat. Essential Tip: Read the ingredients and avoid any oil that is hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated.

Most importantly, focus on a whole food diet containing healthy fats including saturated fat from plants as well as pastured animals such as eggs, whole milk, and animal protein/fat.
As a Nutrition Consultant, I wonder how many people think I’m crazy when they first hear me speak and recommend eating animal fat. However, an interesting thing often happens ­ as they hear the scientific data to back it up, they are relieved ­ as their intuition was always telling them but they weren’t listening ­ that animal fat is good. Try it! Add some high quality animal fat to your diet; such as butter, egg yolks, cream, raw cheese, or bacon ­ make sure it’s from pastured animals with no additives and of the highest quality you can find (check LocalForage for insights). This is not an excuse to eat a bacon and cheese omelet at your local diner ­ I mean the highest quality available. Start slow in case your liver/gall bladder are under functioning. Try it and tell me how it feels. If you’re like most people I know, you will feel more nourished than you have in a long time. Trust your intuition while listening to your body.

References:
¹ Holman, R T, Geometrical and Positional Fatty Acid Isomers, E A Emkin and H J Dutton, eds, 1979, American Oil Chemists' Society, Champaign, IL, 283-302; Science News Letter, Feb 1956; Schantz, E J, et al, J Dairy Sci, 1940, 23:181-89;

² German, J Bruce and Cora J Dillard. Saturated fats: what dietary intake? American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 80, No. 3, 550-559, September 2004.

³ Alfin-Slater, R B, and L Aftergood, "Lipids," Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease, 6th ed, R S Goodhartand M E Shils, eds, Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia, 1980, 131

Standing in a unique and unusual position, many people are coming to me now to be supported with their dental health and needs. I have worked 20 years in general and pediatric dentistry as an R.D.A. and I am a Holistic Health Educator, herbalist and Color Therapy practitoner with many years of training in the alternative healing arts. Bridging the best of the conventional with alternative approaches is what many people are asking for now.

Questions about fluoride, protective sealants, amalgam(silver) fillings, root canals, gum treatments, homecare are on everyone’s mind! And it’s no wonder with so much conflicting and controversial information available to us! There are no easy answers to most of the questions; the bottom line is: it’s a personal choice. What do you feel comfortable with after hearing all “sides”? I always tell my clients:”This is what I personally would do if it would be my mouth, but how do you FEEL about the different options explained to you? How do you FEEL about the different materials and products after hearing conflicting information about them? I truly believe that everyone of us has an innate wisdom that we draw from in all aspects of our lives. Something in us either resonates with or rejects an idea, material, situation. It’s our guidance system, if we chose to listen and trust it.

I can share my understanding and what I have seen in terms of information on materials, procedures, products. Then you will have to chose for yourself what your guidance system is resonating with or what it rejects. It will depend on the situation in your mouth, how you feel about it and that will be different from person to person, and there is no simple”right” answer that fits every situation.

Having said all this, I can share some information on some of the most frequently asked questions:

Brushing technique: Most of us have been told it’s good practice to brush right after each meal; actually that is not such a good idea, because our mouth turns into an acidic environment, helping to start the digestive process and the enamel and dentin are in a more vulnerable state to be damaged by brushing. This has become especially noticeable in dental professionals, who frequently brush right after lunch and snacks, as it’s not cool to have lettuce sticking on your teeth while smiling at your patient and talking about how to keep your teeth clean and healthy!! Brushing right after a meal can be especially damaging after acidic foods like salad dressings, orange juice, and tomatoes. it is best to rinse your mouth out with water after you have eaten something and wait 30-40 minutes before brushing (as your mouth has turned more alkaline again)! Brushing twice a day is for most people sufficient; floss once a day.

Fluoride: This is the toughest one! Conventional dentistry will fight you tooth and nail on that. If they don’t push it with all their might , dentists are told they are practicing below standard!! So expect a conversation with the entire staff if you do not want it in your or your children’s mouth! There has been a lot of information and research out that very strongly speaks against fluoride: it has been linked to lowered IQ , ADD, ADHD. Reseach has shown that it penetrates the blood/brain barrier in rats. There is much more to say about not using fluoride, but that connection spoke to me the loudest, especially when the biggest target for getting fluoride treatments are our children. Furthermore, to take it out of the water, you will have to either distill the water or get a reverse osmosis filter (700.-) to successfully remove it. So there it is: my guidance system told me to stay clear as much as I can!! There is a lot of information out and you can either contact me for the articles that I have or google it to your hearts content and see where it all sits in you. There are herbs, flower essences and color therapy that hardens the enamel. Strengthening all of our digestive organs has a huge impact on our teeth and gums as well! Many people are not aware that all our teeth are connected to organs or areas in our body - very similar to the points in our feet and hands used in Reflexology. Support the organ connected to the tooth and you are supporting the healing of that tooth!!

Much love, health and peace to you all. - Rupam Henry

Rupam was a recent guest on our radio show, you can hear the interview at Reality Sandwich Radio.

The sprouting of seeds is one of the most fascinating natural phenomena. From this tiny appendage, a plant or tree is born. It’s not surprising that there is exceptional nutritional value locked inside the kernel. Sprouting enlivens the enzymes that are dormant within. These enzymes activate when they come in contact with water (the soaking process), and the nuts are “awakened”. The potential growth for each seed is to become a tree or a plant—and when we eat sprouted seeds our bodies receive this concentrated vital energy and nutrition.

The process of sprouting a seed produces vitamin C and increases vitamin B content. Carotene increases dramatically, sometimes eightfold. Even more important, sprouting neutralizes enzyme inhibitors present in all seeds. Few foods require as little time, energy and expense yet yield such so much nutrition. For all these reasons, I love sprouted almonds!

How to unlock the kernel
Sprouted almonds, in particular, are a great addition to your diet. Almonds are one of the nuts which have an alkaline reaction in the body. Eating almonds is a great way to help bring your pH into balance as many of the foods we eat are acid-forming. Sprouted almonds have a sweet and delicate flavor. They taste like they just came off the tree. You can either eat the almonds whole with the skin on or with the skin off. (sidebar: I prefer to peel (blanch) my almonds when making almond milk.)

Use only raw, whole, unpeeled almonds. The sprout of an almond is merely a tiny white appendage about 1/8-inch long. You will not be able to see the actual sprout unless you remove the skin.

Sprouting Almonds 1. Put 1ž2 cup almonds in a wide mouth glass jar or ceramic container. 2. Cover with two cups of pure, cold water (not tap!). 3. Place anywhere in the kitchen away from direct sunlight. Almonds do not need light to sprout, only normal room temperatures. Soak for 1-3 days. Rinse 3 times per day. 4. After soaking, pour the water off the almonds* and rinse with cold water. Don’t be surprised if the water is brownish. This comes from the cinnamon-colored skins. Drain. 5. Keep the almonds in the glass jar and cover. Refrigerate. They will stay fresh for 4-5 days.

Almond milk is delicious! Just blend almonds with a small amount of water, strain and drink.

Blanching
I personally don’t like the skins. I usually peel the sprouted almonds with my thumb nail, but if you must peel a large batch, you can very quickly blanch the almonds to make it easier. To blanch, do the following: First prepare a large bowl of cold water into which you have added two trays of ice cubes. Heat up some other water to a boil, turn off the flame, and put the sprouted almonds in for 7 seconds, no longer. You don’t want to kill the natural enzymes created after sprouting. Drain the almonds quickly through a colander and plunge the colander into the ice water. This stops the cooking process immediately. The almond skins will then pop off easily when you push them between your thumb and forefinger.

Tip: I use a wide-mouth, glass canning jar. One of the easiest ways to drain the jar is by using a special plastic screen lid designed for sprouting. They are cheap and make the job effortless. You can find them at health food stores or http://www.sproutpeople.com/devices/jar/jar.html#jarslids

Carla Borelli is a contributor to the Healthful Living Advocate - she has recently launched an exciting blog to share information on where to get the best, most delicious and satisfying food in The San Francisco Bay Area. Please visit her site at Local Forage.com. You can listen to our interview with Carla at RealitySandwichRadio.com.

Catchy title, eh? I saw an article in a Seattle newspaper that had this very same title -- "Nature Deficiency Disorder" -- and it really drew my attention! As you might have intuited, that article was about children not spending enough time outdoors. What I read was tragic; the author described children who didn’t know why anyone would want to play outdoors when there are no electrical outlets out in nature!

Our Attitude About Nature

Beyond the psychological implications of such an attitude ­ which is beyond my scope of expertise ­ I was thinking about the physiological implications of oxygen deprivation! One of my big pet peeves right now is oxygen therapy. It is entirely possible that you might have recently noticed an unusual sign in your neighborhood that says “Oxygen Bar.” Ever wondered about or thought of experimenting with oxygen therapy? They literally hook you up to a hose of pure oxygen to breathe for 20 minutes or so! And the oxygen comes in flavors ­ peppermint, wintergreen, your choice. But why in the world would people pay for what is already free? If you want to inhale more oxygen, breathe deeply in Nature and you will receive a generous dose of oxygen therapy.

Consider This

People are always looking for exercise programs ­ kids and adults alike ­ and often find themselves engaging in an indoor activity where there is poor air circulation. One might argue that this is not always a matter of choice. For example, what else are you to do to stay fit in a colder climate but exercise indoors? As I say in my book about nutrition ­ pointing to our ancestral history ­ if you couldn’t theoretically pick it, hunt it or gather it then you shouldn’t eat it. This same ancestral history applies for our exercise program. We evolved in an environment where physical activity was married to the natural environment, and no one whined about the weather ­ or if they had, they wouldn’t have survived anyway!

So, I’ve taken to power walking for an hour in the woods. I love walking. I can do it without much equipment; I can do it at my own pace; I can do it almost anywhere; and, you tone more muscles by walking briskly than jogging slowly! Currently, I walk in the Hampstead Heath in London. It’s my oxygen therapy.

Suffering from Nature Deficiency Disorder? Find some trees, I say! Go to nature’s “Oxygen Bar” where you select the flavor of the oxygen you breathe -- pine, ocean, wildflowers, your choice.

Be sure to listen to our incredible interview with Mitra Ray on Reality Sandwich Radio, discussing her book From Here to Longevity.

Wake up America - we are hurting. The first step toward living healthfully is AWARENESS of current behavior patterns and their correlation to undesirable (unhealthy) outcomes. Harrison Sheppard’s new book, Too Much for our Own Good, is about how the American culture of buying and selling and “Consumeritis” are diverting us from the true pursuits of happiness as well as threatening our ability to create a healthy life for ourselves family, community, economy, and environment. Please read the following review of the book (republished from the Haight Ashbury Beat), then buy the book, and listen to our upcoming interview with Harrison on Reality Sandwich ­ November 16th. The book poses progressive solutions and REAL choices that individuals may make in order to follow a path towards greater happiness.

-- How many of us have convinced ourselves we need something, when in reality we only want it? It’s hard to resist the clarion call of advertising when most of us are bombarded daily with enticing ads for things that will enrich our life, or at least make us smell or look better.

Haight resident Harrison Sheppard and co-author Alex Aris tell us, “By the time Americans are 20 years old, they have been exposed to a million or more commercial advertisements.” It’s no wonder that we have a consumer mentality! Do we enjoy our lives with more things? Where does happiness factor into this equation? This book does a very effective job of probing the concept of materialism on a personal level.

The authors emphasize that, as consumers, we have many spending choices: “The second and more dynamic cause of the American addiction to getting and spending ­ The tidal wave of commercial advertising in which we drown day and night- is the most insidious one, because it constitutes an external invasion of our psyches.” How many of us have felt helpless sometimes to purchase something just because we have been bombarded over and over with advertising exhortations? What do you mean you don’t have a digital camera? And if you do have one, it’s probably obsolete and you “need” a new model. You get the idea.

The book reminds me of the Al Gore film, An Inconvenient Truth, which explores how individual actions can add up to global excesses. Many Americans are now coping with a tidal wave of personal debt, yet we are encouraged to by even more with our charge cards or equity lines of credit. The authors continually ask if people are more or less happy with their lives as they accumulate more things. There is a lot more in this splendid book, including references to films that illustrate the author’s points. And, it concludes with a chapter entitled “What Is to Be Done” Cures for Consumeritis.”

Certainly a shift in personal definitions for success is in order. By Jim Rhodes (for the Haight Ashbury Beat)

Money is a critical resource for healthful living, how we interact with it essential to our well being - and awareness of what we reinforce with our money (though our spending) is the responsiblity of all conscious beings. (Everyone should comprehend the Tapeworm Economy) The Healthful Living Advocate strongly endorses Catherine Austin Fitts and her website Solari.com as a quintissential source for learning about both Health of Economy and Health of Community. We will periodically include her announcements here as we feel that this knowledge is imperative to our collective well being as our world changes. Sign up for Catherine's newsletter at Solari.com, and you can hear our interview with her on Reality Sandwich Radio earlier this year.

Navigating the Falling Dollar and the Shift to Sustainability, by Catherine Austin Fitts

Last week I gave a lecture and workshop in Ashland, Oregon to a wonderful group of people focused on opportunities to accelerate a shift in our time, our attention and our transactions to support a free and sustainable culture. What a wonderful time we had! At the workshop, everyone divided up into teams. Our challenge? We were a homeless family of 4 people with a $1million in cash. Where would we live? How would we allocate our time and money? Where would we find allies and how would we organize? And if we invested our money in a financially intimate manner, with more investment going local, how would we understand and reengineer government money to shift with us? And what if we had no money to invest? How would our farm or business attract those who wanted to invest in their own community to create new jobs? Meantime, a quick look at the recent doings of the Tapeworm confirmed the importance of emerging solutions from our conversations. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, "the Australian Treasurer Peter Costello has called on East Asia's central bankers to "telegraph" their intentions to diversify out of American investments and ensure an orderly adjustment. Central banks in China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong have channelled immense foreign reserves into American government bonds, helping to prop up the US dollar and hold down American interest rates. Mr Costello said "the strategy had changed" and Chinese central bankers were now looking for alternative investments. "Of course you can have an orderly adjustment," he told reporters. "And what I would recommend is that these matters be telegraphed well in advance. I think we should begin preparing ourselves for it." Mr Costello said the "re-emergence" of China as the world's greatest economy "is not something to be feared". While I did not find a response from the US government, the Latin America press has alleged that George W. Bush purchased a 98,000 acre ranch in Paraguay. Now why would he do that? Next week, our conversation will continue on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia. If you are in the area, please come and join us. There’s no sense losing time watching the Tapeworm when we could be building a new and beautiful world!

Check out Catherine's online seminar Navigating the Falling Dollar Use this lecture -- produced before a live audience -- to help build a lifeboat in times of economic volatility, and to help you launch a wealth revolution in your home and neighborhood.