Diet Soda and Diet Foods Ingredient

I got a great question from a client (Carine) yesterday. She asked:

"What is your take on "diet foods" like diet sodas, sweeteners, sugar free gum, etc.? How will that impact bloating and constipation?"

My answer: They're about as good for you as eating rat poison. They're hidden killers.  Is that extreme? Am I going overboard? 

Nope. Here's why:


First of all, ANY soda--diet or regular--is nothing but acid in a can (or bottle).  It's so acidic that it takes 32 cups of water to neutralize the acid in just one can of soda in your body. 

Trying to neutralize all that acid puts a tremendous strain on your body--especially your kidneys, which are responsible for filtering the acid out of your bloodstream and putting it into your urine. 

Your body also leeches alkaline minerals (calcium) from your bones and teeth to neutralize the acid. There is NOT an "endless supply" of minerals in your bones. Sooner or later, they break down. And you'll get osteoporosis, brittle bones susceptible to fractures or rotting teeth. Arthritis in your 30's, 40's and 50's is a clue.

All that acid also destroys proper digestion of your food...so soda is the absolute worst drink on the planet to have with a meal. You're begging to have bloating and constipation or diarrhea.

The average American now consumes 828 sodas a year--that's over 2 cans a day! And the scary thing is millions of people (especially teenagers) drink 4, 5, 6, 7 sodas a day or more. Many teenage boys drink 10 sodas a day.

My advice: Stay FAR away from soda, whether it's diet or regular. Drink water, and add a twist of lemon if you need a little flavor. It's alkaline. Fantastic for your body.

Now for the diet twist itself, be it diet soda, calorie-free sweeteners and/or sugar-free gum:  With one very small exception, stay away from all of them. Many diet foods contain aspartame (better known brand names are Equal or Nutrasweet). 

Here are just some of the documented side effects of aspartame:

Eyes:
-Blindness in one or both eyes
-Decreased vision and/or other eye problems such as: blurring, bright flashes, tunnel vision
-Eye pain
-Dry eyes/decreased tears

Ears:
-Ringing or buzzing sound in the ears
-Severe hardness of hearing

Nerves:
-Seizures
-Headaches/migraines
-Dizziness
-Confusion/memory loss
-Severe drowsiness and sleepiness
-Numbness of the arms and legs
-Slurring of speech
-Facial pain
-Tremors/trembling

Psychological/Psychiatric:
-Severe depression
-Irritability/agitation
-Anxiety/phobias (fears)
-Personality changes

Chest:
-Heart palpitations/rapid heartbeat
-Shortness of breath
-High blood pressure

Digestive:
-Nausea
-Diarrhea, sometimes with blood in stools
-Stomach pain/pain while swallowing

Skin and Allergies:
-Itching without a rash
-Hives
-Worsening of asthma problems

Endocrine and Metabolic:
-Loss of control of diabetes
-Thinning or loss of hair
-Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
-Severe PMS symptoms

Other:
-Frequent urination or burning during urination
-Constant thirst, fluid retention, leg swelling, and bloating
-Increased infections

The most severe effects of aspartame poisoning are:
-Death
-Irreversible brain damage
-Birth defects, including mental retardation
-Ulcers
-Aspartame addiction and increased craving for sweets
-Hyperactivity in children
-Severe depression
-Aggressive behavior
-Suicidal tendencies
-Cancer

Sucralose (Splenda) is about the same. While it hasn't been around as long as aspartame and there aren't as many studies documenting its dangers, it's still associated with a giant list of medical problems.

Below are some of the reported adverse effects of Splenda use:
 
- Flushing or redness of the skin; rashes
- Itching
- Anxiety; panic attacks
- Nausea
- Stomach cramps
- Dry heaves
- Depression; becoming withdrawn
- Feeling forgetful; memory loss
- Dulled senses
- Unexplained crying
- Acne or acne-like rash
- Headache
- Altered emotional state, i.e. feeling irate, impatient, hypersensitive, moody
- Chest and body pain
- Bloating; diarrhea; vomiting 
- Trouble concentrating/staying in focus
- Seizures

Splenda is nothing but chlorinated table sugar. Chlorine is considered a carcinogen (cancer causer) and has been used in poisonous gas, disinfectants, pesticides and plastics.

Plus neither of these "diet poisons" (aspartame or sucralose) will help you take off weight.  They make the body crave carbohydrates and actually make you eat MORE-- which increases the number on the scale.

The only "diet sweetener" that seems to be showing promise at this time is Stevia. 

Stevia has been used for over 1,500 years in South America as a sweetener with no apparent adverse reactions.  It's 600 times sweeter than sugar, so certainly you don't need
to use much. 

The FDA continues to refuse to allow Stevia to be marketed as a sweetener (probably due to pressure from the aspartame and sucralose industries), but it is available in health food stores and some grocery stores as a dietary supplement. 

My advice: If your concern is taking off pounds, then the best way to do it is to eat lots of alkaline foods, drink water and correctly combine your meals. 

Your body will respond handsomely. Digestion will be a snap, and since you'll be getting more nutrients from your foods (because you won't have overproduction of acid), the body will be satisfied and won't trigger the hunger signal.

So you end up eating less! Less food = less of you to love.

Your body will be able to eliminate built-up wastes too.

That means a lower number on the scale and no more bloating.

To your health.

Do You Like Salad Dressing? Beware The Horror!

I went to my favorite local market yesterday.

While there, I stopped in the salad dressing aisle, not for salad dressing, but for an Italian seasoning packet that we mix with extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar.  Makes for a perfect, tasty, all natural salad dressing with wholesome ingredients, unlike the typical salad dressings that line grocery store shelves.

You see, we NEVER buy bottled dressings.  Ever.  They are horrible for you, and for the most part the "all natural" versions are as well.

Here are just some of the reasons why:

1. Pick up any salad dressing bottle and you'll likely see canola oil, soybean oil, and/or vegetable oil as the main ingredients.  These oils are extremely processed, rich in inflammation-promoting Omega-6 fatty acids, and often times contain trans fats that aren't disclosed on the label due to how processed they are.

"All-natural" salad dressing found in the refrigerated section aren't much different.  You'll still see these oils as the base of nearly all of those brands as well.  Why?  They're cheap!

Also, don't be fooled by labels that claim "Made with Extra Virgin Olive Oil".  Sure, they'll point that out on the front of the label because it sounds good and leads you to believe that it's an extra virgin olive oil based dressing.  Instead, that only means that there is at least a drop of extra virgin olive oil in the bottle, and often times that's all it has.  Flip the label over and you will see the same vegetable oils listed first and extra virgin olive oil way down on the list of ingredients.  Unethical? Yes.  Healthy? No.

2. More often than not, in addition to cheap, potentially harmful oils, store bought salad dressing is also loaded with sugar to boot.  Even worse, it often comes in the form of high fructose corn syrup (the absolute worst form of sugar available).  Just check the label.

3.  To round of the trifecta of horrid ingredients contained in traditional salad dressings we have the long list of artificial additives and preservatives that often plague these products.  If you're looking to avoid artificial chemicals in your food, simply put, you won't have much luck with store bought salad dressing.

That's why I recommend you do what we do.  Grab a seasoning packet from the store, mix with REAL extra virgin olive and vinegar, and enjoy your dressing the healthy and still very convenient way.

The Skinny on the Raw Food Diet

The Skinny on the Raw Food Diet
 by Ori Hofmekler

The last few decades mark an increasing interest in the correlation between food enzymes and health. Researchers found an interesting association between the body's enzyme pool and the aging process - which means, the older one gets, the fewer enzymes the body will have and the more vulnerable to disease one becomes.

I have addressed this important topic in The Warrior Diet book. I have covered the importance of ingesting live enzyme-dense foods (including naturally fermented foods) under the title Enzyme Loading. Nonetheless, I am quite concerned with the emotional impact of this topic on health consumers. Those who read articles, such as the one published recently at Weston A. Price, may reach the conclusion that unless raw, sprouted or fermented, all foods are not viable. If this is true, even raw nuts and seeds may not be good enough in this respect.

There is a growing crowd of people who currently follow the so-called "raw food diet" based on the premise that eating raw food only (including of course vegetables, fruits, legume sprouts, sprouted grains, raw dairy and even raw meat and marine food) is the only way to grant maximum nourishment. Since I've already addressed this topic in The Warrior Diet book, let me just note here that the raw food diet misleads people to believe that all cooked foods are inferior to all raw foods.

The truth is that in many cases, such as with cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage) and nightshades (tomatoes, eggplants), the cooked versions of the above are more digestible and by far more nutritive than the raw version. The active phytonutrients in broccoli and tomatoes (indoles and lycopene, respectively) can be released and absorbed hundreds of times more efficiently in the cooked version.

As for enzymes, certainly enzyme loading from raw, sprouted or fermented foods is highly beneficial but let's put things in proportion.

First, plant enzymes are not digestive enzymes. They work on a different pH than the body's digestive enzymes and therefore cannot support digestion directly.

Second, while some enzymes inhibitors may be harmful (premature sprouts or uncooked legumes), other enzyme inhibitors can be highly beneficial, such as some protease inhibitors (phytates) or aromatase inhibitors which have been found to be potentially anti-cancerous. The notion that nuts and seeds must be sprouted before ingestion is preposterous. Raw nuts and seeds are perfectly fine to nourish the human body whether in a sprouted form or not. There are no harmful inhibitors in mature nuts and seeds and any rancidity or inadequacy in these foods can be instantly detected via smell or taste.

Third, eating raw meat may seem "Paleolithic and healthy" but nowadays it can be detrimental. Besides hosting pathological bacterium, meat is a host substrate for harmful viruses, most notable of which is the toxoplasma virus that has shown to cause serious neuro damaging effects on animals and potentially on humans. Eating raw meat today does not make sense, to say the least.

Fourth, note that the article at Weston A. Price was written by two ladies to promote the sales of their cooking book.

In conclusion, raw, sprouted and fermented foods are great but it doesn't make sense to commit to eating these foods only. You can certainly benefit from eating cooked foods as well with a big bonus of pleasing your palate with a larger variety of meals.

Do you want to learn more about Ori Hofmekler’s Tenacious Fat Solution kit to help get rid of your stubborn belly fat?

The Tenacious Fat Solution Kit will help you remove hidden obstacles to weight loss.

Our products have no sugar added (which is groundbreaking), they are made with all natural products, they are low carb, and they taste amazingly delicious!

Claim back your body!

The Truth About Diverticulitis

I just got an email from a client that reminds me why so many people feel powerless when it comes to their health. It's because the majority of doctors have consciously choose to ignore wellness and prevention of disease and instead have become representatives for the latest contributions of the pharmaceutical companies.

In addition, when it comes to dietary advice, forget it.  In the typical medical school training, these people take ONE course on basic nutrition--that's it.

Therefore, the only dietary advice they have for people with digestive disorders is the old stand-by line to stay away from spicy food, oils, nuts and seeds--advice that has no basis whatsoever in fact or science.

People trust their doctors to know what is best for them, so their advice is seldom challenged. Moreover, people come to believe they are helpless, can't eat foods they love and must take medication for life.

Complete bull.

FREE Report reveals - What Your Doctor Won't Tell You About Digestive Pain! $14.95 Value

The truth is that MANY diseases and conditions can be healed (or prevented in the first place) with a diet of alkaline foods and properly combined meals. That includes diverticulitis.

Diverticulitis are little "pouches" (called diverticulosis) that have formed in the colon and become infected and inflamed.

In addition, diverticulosis is the result of acidic, badly combined foods that don't digest well in the stomach being forced into the intestines and getting stuck along the colon wall, forming these little pouches.

Diverticulitis sufferers tell me that the pain is unbearable--many people have told me they thought they were dying when they have "an attack."  Many people who have it live in a constant state of fear wondering when the next attack will occur.

The scary thing is, the advice given by doctors (stay away from spicy food, oils, nuts and seeds) does absolutely nothing--zip, nada, zilch, zero--to help prevent another attack. Plus they make their patient miserable from not being able to eat foods they love.

Ann (my client) was diagnosed with diverticulitis and was told by her doctor that it's a life-long disease and that she won't ever be able to eat what she did before.

Good thing she knew enough to look for other answers and found Great Taste No Pain on our website. 

Below is the email Ann sent us:

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

Robert, 

Our company began a wellness program and I had signed up for it and was doing my best to lose some weight when I had a bad attack over a weekend about 4 weeks ago. My company coach wanted to know what had happened, and more importantly, when I was going to go to the doctor. 
 

I saw my doctor after having this bad attack which had me bleeding rectally for over 12 hours.  He wanted to put me in the hospital, but we compromised on me going to the ER and having some tests run including a cat scan with dye.  It showed that I have diverticulitis.

He explained that this is a life-long disease and I would never be able to eat the way I had been.  He put me on a no food diet (clear liquids only) for a week and sent me home to bed (I had to promise to NOT work) and no stress.

When I started feeling a little better, I researched diverticulitis and found the website DIYNutrition.org.  I bought the plan and have been following it for about 5 weeks now.  I've lost 16 pounds and have no more stomach cramps, diarrhea or spastic colon!  It is amazing! 

I have told my friends to check out the web site--and recommend it to others that have stomach problems, or just want to eat healthy and lose weight.  Great Taste No Pain -
Thanks for putting together such a great plan and site and sharing it with the rest of us!

Warm Regards,
Ann Jarrell

Here was my response to her email:

Ann, 

I'm so happy that you persevered and learned that diverticulitis doesn't have to be a lifelong "sentence."  Yes, it's too bad that your previous eating habits created those diverticulosis pouches in the first place, but now you know how to keep them at bay and continue to enjoy foods you love.  I'm cheering for you!

To your health,
Robert

PS:  Don’t forget to tell your friends where to get their FREE report by visiting here.