HOW DO I CHOOSE?

Why is there so much confusion over our food?  So many opinions of exactly what food is healthy…

Try this little quiz… (with answers following):

TRUE or FALSE??

1.       Eggs are good for us                                     T       F

2.       Egg Yolks can raise cholesterol                    T       F

3.       Chicken raises - cholesterol more than

Beef?                                                           T       F      

4.       Beef raises - cholesterol more than Chicken? T       F      

5.       Beef is Healthy for us to eat                        T       F

6.       Natural on a Food Label is good                     T       F

8.       Oatmeal is a healthy breakfast                         T       F

9.       Orange Juice = great way to start your day      T       F

10.     Low-fat diet helps you lose weight                   T       F

11.     Dairy is nature’s perfect food                           T       F

12.     Butter causes heart disease                               T       F

13.     Vegetable Oil is better than Butter                   T       F

14.     Yogurt is a Healthy Food                                 T       F

Thanks to bad science, food lobbyists and the junk food industries’ influence on research, the American People have been fed a lot of misinformation about our food. — Dr. Mark Hyman

WHAT EVEN IS THAT????????? Can you guess?

True or False, Answers and Brief Explanations:

1.       True.  Eggs are good for us.  There has never, ever been any scientific evidence that they are not good for us.  There is no association between egg consumption and heart disease.  (Even though the American Heart Association does not recommend eating them)

2.       False.  There is no evidence that egg yolks raise cholesterol.  In fact there are several studies that show eating more eggs (including yolks) gives less risk of heart disease.

3.       Chicken contains saturated fat and cholesterol.  All meat contains these, and meat is good for us.  However, you should buy from a local farm if at all possible, or know if it was raised responsibly in humane conditions and ate natural forage.  Same %.

4.       Beef and Chicken have the same impact as far as cholesterol.  Neither of them raise our cholesterol level, even though they both contain cholesterol, as well as saturated fat.  Try to buy from a local farm or where you know the cattle were raised and fed responsibly.  Same %.

5.       Beef is healthy.  Feedlot beef is least healthy; Grass fed beef is best.

6.       “Natural” on a food or meat label, carries no value at all.

8.       Oatmeal spikes your blood sugar.  Bran is fine, but not oatmeal.

9.       Orange juice is like soda with vitamins added.  A 12 ounce glass of orange juice is the same as drinking a Coke.  Eat the orange.

10.     Insulin is the main cause of weight gain.  In competition between high fat and insulin, high fat will win with the most weight loss every time.  Fat speeds up metabolism.  Our bodies and brains need fat.  It is also satiating.

11.     Milk is better than Coke.  It’s not better than water.  The best thing in milk is the fat, which makes low-fat and skim milk worse.  Most milk has added chemicals and hormones.  Most food allergies start with milk.

12.     Real butter, grass-fed butter, has no effect on heart disease.  Substitutes kill tens of thousands of people a year. 

13.     EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) is good.  Refined vegetable oil, canola oil (polyunsaturated fats), etc., were invented in the early 1900’s, and they all create inflammation in our bodies.

14.     Yogurt CAN BE a healthy food.  But most of the yogurt in the grocery stores are very little better than junk food.  Most Yoplait yogurt has the same amount of sugar as Coca Cola.  Unsweetened yogurt is good for you.  If you can get good home made yogurt from grassfed cows, it would be a good healthy food.

(These answers are the professional opinion of Dr. Mark Hyman, Functional Medicine Doctor.)

I always thought Five Guys’ food was probably healthier than McDonald’s.  I don’t know why I thought that, but I did.  Maybe because the burgers were juicier—not sure.  But I just saw a report that shows the “Most Unhealthy Cheeseburger” comes from Five Guys.

They were #1 with most unhealthy, and after that, Whataburger, Smashburger, Carl’s, Jr., then Sonic.  McDonald’s is what’s used in so many health-food-related comparisons, I was pretty surprised. 

That doesn’t mean McDonald’s is healthy, for sure.  But I thought sure they’d be #1.

So then there’s the “Most Unhealthy French Fries”.  Who’s #1?  Five Guys again.  Followed by Steak ‘N’ Shake, Bojangles, Smashburger, then KFC.

This information doesn’t mean much—just interesting perspective.

*******************************

The important things—what we need to learn, is about FAT, that it’s GOOD for us!  And which fats those are that are good, and which aren’t.

And about SUGAR.  And SALT. 

And which foods are most likely to be genetically modified.   Soy (it’s healthy, right?).  Well, along with flaxseed, 94% being sold in the U.S. is genetically modified—one of the quickest ways to get your hormones to go crazy.

So many ways the media ads give us the wrong picture.  It’s becoming common knowledge, chickens (and all meat) are better for us when they’re allowed to be free and uncaged.  So they market chicken as Cage Free.  (And raise the price.)

Over the years we’ve been told:

Egg yolks are bad.

Fat is bad.

Margarine is Good!

Grain should be the staple of our diet.

“Have you had your milk today?”

Beef is bad for us.

Butter causes high cholesterol.

Vegetable oil (and Crisco) are our go-to fats.

Where did all this research come from?

Better yet… Who pays for this research?

What about the “Heart Healthy Check” on foods? 

Does that mean those foods are Healthy?

(That HEART CHECK is from the American Heart Association)

Here is a Fact (shared by Dr. Hyman):

The American Heart Association

The American Diabetic Association, and

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

get a large part of their annual revenue from the food industry—

          The PROCESSED FOOD INDUSTRY.

TRIX (is for Kids!) Cereal has the “Heart Healthy Checkmark”.

TRIX has 7 teaspoons of sugar per serving.

          Red dye

          Blue dye

          a host of chemicals.

It qualifies to be rated “Heart Healthy” because it’s low in fat!

But IT’S TOXIC!

We’ve been guinea pigs for a long time.

Thousands of people have suffered and died because we’ve been taught false information.

It’s time we looked at our health with a different slant.

If we don’t start thinking about how we can affect our own health, and begin to make changes in our eating, and in our lives … we will be going down a long path toward illness and premature aging.  There is no doubt.

We are in charge of our own health.

We need to think in a different direction…

Like:

How can I make myself healthier?

We need to do our own research.  We need to find out, ourselves, what’s good for us.

If you’d like help researching, here is a (small) list of doctors and researchers that I follow.  Almost all of them I am very familiar with, and 100% trust their judgment—well, almost 100% trust.

Dr. David Perlmutter, Brain Maker

Dr. Mark Hyman, Ultra Mind Solution

Dr. Dale Bredesen, The End of Alzheimer’s Program, Publisher: ‎ Avery; Illustrated edition (August 18, 2020)

Dr. David Jockers, DNM, DC, MS

Dr. Jeffrey Bland, Nutritionist and Speaker

Dr. Ocean Robbins, Food Revolution

Dr. Rick Johnson, Researcher

Dr. Robert Hedaya, Functional Medicine Doctor and Dr. of Psychiatry

Institute of Functional Medicine

Dr. Deanna Minich, PhD, Teacher, Scientist

Dr. William Li, M.D., Physician and Scientist

Dr. Amy Myers, Functional Medicine Doctor

I have group coaching sessions at my office at 1171 Highway 71 South, in Mena, Arkansas, approximately once a month.  I will soon be conducting these sessions on line.  (I’m working on learning the tech, etc.)

We learn and discuss all kinds of things “health”.  We’ve had sessions on Nutrition, Sleep, Managing Stress, Exercise, and how we can cultivate healthy Relationships.  We’ve had guests who’ve educated us on our pelvic floor, and “all things Supplements. 

We’ve learned how to clean out and re-stock our pantry; we’ve learned about Gluten; even learning about effective time management! And we’ve learned recipes!  And… the main thing…

We learn how to make ourselves healthier.

And along with the learning, we have fun and cultivate our group relationships.

We have from 6 to 10 who usually attend regularly.  The class I’m having Saturday, I think there will be a few more attending.

So, this Saturday, September 21, consider attending the session, from 10 am to noonish.  And you’ll get to try some healthy, good-tasting food.

Let me know as soon as possible.  Thursday evening is “the deadline”, but if it’s after Thursday evening and you’d like to come, let me know anyway.

It’s $50 for the session, and I promise you, it’s well worth the cost.

EAT THIS...? NOT THAT?

Check in with me any time if there is any way I can help you.

Remember… we need to educate ourselves.  Our life depends on it.

Thank you for reading.

Sharon