Do You Know a Pollyanna Nutritionist?

A “naïve optimist” is one way to describe the guy in front of me in the checkout line at Wild Oats, a few days ago. Or, I might label him a “Pollyanna Nutritionist”.

Pollyanna was a fictional character, created by author Eleanor H. Porter, in a novel by the same name in 1913. As a young orphan, Pollyanna devoutly practiced a game her father had taught her of always finding the positive in any situation.

Somewhere during the many decades of novels and movies about the adventures of the young “Glad Girl”, the word “Pollyanna” became synonymous with anyone who held a steadfast belief in the positive spin on any situation. Eventually, however, the name gained a derogatory meaning to describe the naïve optimist.

While waiting to check out, this pollyanna-nutrition guy apparently decided he could make points with the attractive lady in front of him by commenting on the nutrition products she had stacked on the conveyor belt. Most of us were fidgeting and becoming impatient, waiting for a price check on dried cumquats, or something, when he made his move to strike up a conversation.

“That’s a lot of vitamins, you have there...,” he says while poking his finger at her stack of bottles, “...that must get expensive each month.”

She glances back at him, and with a courteous but short tone, she responds...
“Sometimes... but it is worth it.”

Mistakenly, interpreting her polite response as an invitation to annoy her, he continues...
“Yeah... I don’t do any of that stuff. I stay healthy by eating right. You look like you are in great shape. You don’t look like you need any of that stuff. ”

Without looking back, she mumbles a subdued "thank you", which is then followed by the pollyanna-fella going on, ad nauseam, about something to do with his grams of protein per meal, or his five servings of fruit, or his percentage of body fat... I don’t know what all he was babbling about, and I suspect neither did the lady in front of him.

However, while I was witnessing this one-sided exchange – all the while, biting my tongue – I was reminded that even with all the information available to the average consumer, there are still droves of nutritional optimists out there that believe they get all their nutritional needs met with the foods they eat. I personally know several individuals, who fit this profile, and my guess is, so do you.

[Pol·ly·an·na·ish - adjective: unreasonably or illogically optimistic]
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Antioxidants: Do We Need Them?

I have been thinking a lot about rust, lately. I have an old gal that I keep around for “special times”, occasionally stoking her fires, and lovingly coaxing her out for a “dance” or two.

Nowadays, she is showing her age. She is sagging, fatigued, and clearly exhibiting signs of some tough years, but she still can teach the youngsters a thing or two when I loosen the reigns and let her run.

Although she may resemble a shadow of her former majesty, she still represents one of my most enduring, rewarding and memorable relationships. I am talking about my old truck that we affectionately nicknamed, the Great White Test-Dummy Hauler, or simply GWTDH.

Yes, the GWTDH is no longer the brightest, most shining filly in the stables. She has been replaced by a new, shinier workhorse for the heavy lifting chores, and respectfully called the Big Blue Test-Dummy Hauler... except by the "ranch hands", who call it "El Mucho Loco Hombre Vagón"... whatever that means...

However, the older gal is still my first love, even with her blemishes, and this is what got me to thinking about rust.

If people knew even a fraction of the stories that the GWTDH has experienced with me, they would be amazed at her condition. I can say with complete confidence that had I not taken such extraordinary care of her for all those years, she would have let me down decades ago.

I cannot help but shake my head and wonder why it had not occurred to me sooner; I practiced diligent protocols on the GWTDH to help her withstand the ravages of oxidation, so why did I not understand decades ago that I should employ tactics to prevent oxidation in me.

I realize that it is a bit more involved for a human, rather than merely smearing Kit Wax on my surface and vigorously rubbing... (although, that does create an interesting visual that might be worth exploring...), but whatever the effort, the rewards are priceless.

Evidence is continuing to mount that the aging process on a human is little more than the results of oxidation on our cells. As an oxygen-breathing creature, “oxidizing agents” are a natural by-product of our normal energy making process and our metabolism.

Oxygen is essential for life, but it is also very active and can combine easily with many compounds in the body, producing oxidizing agents, such as superoxides or hydrogen peroxide. These oxidizing agents are also known as free radicals.

No, “free radicals” is not a defiant chant from the groovy, anti-establishment inmates during the 60’s Peace movement. Free radicals are electrically charged molecules that are missing an electron. If you meet one of these little buggers, stand back, because he will try and take from you what he is missing.

A free radical has one mission, “get even”. That means all he wants is to find an electron – steal it if he has too – so that he can feel content. The problem is: if he succeeds in stealing an electron from a neighbor, then the neighbor is now a free radical, who steals one from his neighbor, and so on.

Would You Rather Wear Out... Or Rust Out?

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Fats are Bad, Fats are Good... Who is Right?

By now, I sort of assumed most people understand the difference between good and bad fat. However, since I continue to get the same questions from time-to-time, maybe a refresher course in the differences among fats is in order.

There is still a lot of discussion and hype about fat-free or low-fat labeled foods. There is no shortage of examples on the grocery store shelves of products that feature their version of "healthy", by promoting a reduced fat variety of their product. It is curious, though, that little is mentioned about "good" versus "bad" fat.

The Black Hats

Okay, let’s start with the bad guys. Saturated fats are regarded as “a bad thing”, and hydrogenated fats (trans-fatty acids) are regarded as “a VERY bad thing”. Saturated fats are in items like meat, cheese, milk, butter... a lot of the great comfort foods that people in my generation grew up eating, everyday. Saturated fats are, at least, something our bodies recognize as a natural material, but it is well-established that an over-indulgence of these foods can lead to numerous health issues. Hydrogenated fats are in most processed foods, including:

• cookies
• chips
• margarine
• shortening
• chocolate
• crackers

... and numerous other store-bought, prepackaged items. Hydrogenated (and partially-hydrogenated) oils are used to increase shelf-life for these products. Shelf-life is very convenient, but it can be argued that foods with hydrogenated oils are not much better to eat than those clever little, fake, plastic food items you see displayed on dessert trays at some popular restaurants.

Between these two types of fats, you would serve yourself well to remember that hydrogenated oils are not a "natural" fat (instead, created by man), and they are quite harmful to the body.

The White Hats

The "hero" characters in this discussion are the unsaturated fats. These are the polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Most of the vegetable oils fall in this category.

Within the polyunsaturated group are the very beneficial fats called Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs). Over time, we continue to learn more about the role of EFAs in sustaining a healthy body.

Essential fatty acids are, by the very definition, essential. It is known that EFAs help prevent certain skin ailments (including eczema), and help control triglyceride and cholesterol levels. They are linked to reproductive and immune health, and there is also mounting evidence of a link between EFA deficiency and certain mental disorders, including autism and attention deficit disorder.

Essential fatty acids can be considered the "super food" of the fats. EFAs are considered so vital to our health, the World Health Organization has recommended 3-4% of daily calories should be in the form of this good fat. They further have recommended that for young children and pregnant or lactating women, 5-6% is appropriate.

For A Closer Look

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If you would like to read more about this topic, feel free to check out these articles on the website:

The Facts About Fats : A fascinating study of the difference between butter and margarine.

Frequently Asked Questions: Essential Fatty Acids and Nutrition

Throw Away Your Margarine, Long Live Butter

China-sourced raw materials - and valid concerns

I was out early this morning climbing one of my favorite local hiking trails, up a mountain, enjoying a beautiful June breeze (which here in the Southwest hovers somewhere around a brisk 90 degrees) when my mind went into a typical trance-like thought process....

I have been told that the mental powers in the brain are increased quite dramatically during intense exercise, due to increased blood flow... or was it released endorphins... or perhaps it had something to do with a higher percentage of oxygen saturating tissues, because of consuming more air... I don’t remember why exactly, but it is true - I do some of my most creative thinking while exercising.

Usually, I am thinking of some problem I am trying to solve. Or, I am thinking about the design of a project I want to build. Or, I am thinking about a new product I want to make. Basically, I just urge my mind into any direction that has nothing to do with reminding myself about the heart that is on the verge of leaping from my chest, while my lungs are heaving copious amounts of wind.

On this particular morning, I found my mind avoiding the obvious burn in my legs in favor of thinking about maybe inviting a few people over for a shish-kabob dinner on the Bar-B-Q...

Let’s see... I could pick up a couple of different types of meat - maybe chicken and pork to cut up - and prerequisite veggies, such as onions and bell pepper... maybe a few other veggies for the vegan-minded crowd to substitute for the meat... I wonder how I can keep tofu on the shish-kabob-thingie?...

So, there I am pondering a clever menu when I begin to recall the recent controversy about the impurities in the food supplies finding their way into our grocery stores. Maybe you have heard of this...

On April 28th, 2007, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the FDA issue a press release to announce that pork from hogs that were fed melamine-laced feed has found its way into the human food channels.

Two days later (April 30th), authorities announce contaminated feed had been fed to chickens, as well.

This was following all the news about Menu Foods having to recall all those versions of dog and cat food, after it was discovered the reason Spot and Tiger were acting a bit lethargic (and sometimes quit breathing altogether) was because they had been fed melamine contaminated food.

Oops! - I am thinking - I might be concocting a menu to feed my guests the same toxins that killed people’s beloved pets.

Up until this recent news, the only time I had heard of the word "melamine" was when it was used to describe the type of white plastic shelving I get from Home Depot to put on the walls in my shop. If you are like me, you probably found yourself wondering why something like that would be in food in the first place. Well... I’ll be happy to tell you...

We're dining Chinese tonight...

It turns out that the source for this stuff getting into the food supply originated in China. Now, if you are in a business like ours, this news may not come as a surprise to you... but it is certainly disconcerting.

Melamine is used for numerous applications, typically after binding with some other substance. The white melamine shelving that lines my garage and shop is made from a melamine resin - a combination of melamine and formaldehyde - that results in a plastic material. Melamine is also used as a fire retardant, pesticide, fertilizer, and apparently in the opinion of a few Chinese companies, it makes a dandy filler for vegetable-based protein powders to falsify the appearance of increased protein content in certain raw materials.

Melamine can be (and probably has been) used for this purpose in:

• soy protein, soy gluten,
  
• wheat gluten,
  
• rice gluten, rice protein, rice protein concentrate,
  
• corn gluten, corn gluten meal, corn by-products,
  
• amino acids and protein hydrosylates,
  
• and mung bean protein.

I could continue to describe why some companies in China find themselves with an abundance of melamine to use for displacing the more expensive raw materials that make up human and animal food, and I could go into the state of over-production and the drop in demand due to a severe drop in profit margins for melamine on world markets, but I will mercifully simply mention that it comes down to dollars and cents (sense?), with complete disregard for safety. If you absolutely have to get rid of stockpiles of melamine, what better way than to slip it into the food supply.

So, as I am continuing to trudge up the trail that seems to have gotten steeper since my last trip up - briefly noticing the hyperventilating mountain goat to my right - I was hit by an epiphany that started my mind thinking about how we put so much effort into protecting our health from the things we can see and control, only to be potentially blind-sided by sources of toxins beyond our control.

As a company, we realized a long time ago that we could not afford to use any raw material imported from China to make our products. This was actually a fairly easy decision to make, because even though a small company like ours needs to be considerate of our costs that go into making a product, we have to be even more considerate of ensuring that every product is the very best quality we can make. We just cannot afford the type of mistakes where we might have to recall a bunch of finished goods.

Our decision was not made out of an "assumption" that all China-sourced material was bad, or toxic, or compromised in some other manner. For us, it was a simple matter of economics: the money we would save purchasing less expensive raw material from China would quickly be used up to test every single batch of raw material to be sure it is exactly what is claimed - and nothing more! This is a very (as in VERY) expensive proposition.

I can absolutely assure you that no company tests every batch of raw material that goes into making their products. And for a company whose policy is to compete on price, it is very compelling to source their raw materials based on the cheapest cost... often times, material from China.

(Trustworthy High Claims Cheap) ... Pick any two...

I have been often asked why there seems to be such extreme differences in shelf pricing for - what appear on the surface - similar products. A well-flushed-out and thorough answer would take a separate newsletter, but this situation with the melamine contamination highlights one very blatant reason some products are more expensive than a competitor’s: some companies (like us) only source reliable, third-party tested, proven raw materials to make their products... and that proven material is always more expensive (sometimes substantially more) than an inferior material.

Perhaps, I have you wondering how good the quality is for the vitamin and supplement products you take, and those you feed your family. Here is one of my quickest suggestions to help you make a more reliable choice when selecting quality products: Don’t buy your supplements from mass merchandisers like Wal-Mart, Safeway, Walgreen’s, and such.

This is, by no means, to suggest that every product at those big-box type stores is of inferior quality, but you sure do increase your odds of getting inferior product when everything at a store like that is about making it cheaper. When "cost" is the primary deciding factor when buying items for your health, the old rule-of-thumb definitely applies: "you get what you pay for".

I often find myself standing in front of store shelves shaking my head in amazement at the “sale” prices I am seeing for some products. I commonly have a darn good idea what a product costs to make, and I have found myself standing in the aisle, holding a bottle, reading the “claimed” quantities of active ingredients, knowing there is no way the product could be produced - allowing for all the margins - and still have the stated quantity of raw material. At least, not without having sourced the raw material from an inferior supply.

There are several product categories I could suggest, where a cautionary measure is appropriate, but one glaring example is with the supplies of Coenzyme Q10 products. Until recently, the only thing we had to worry about when telling people to be careful about buying CoQ10 was that they should carefully read the label to make sure they get the same active level of CoQ10 in each dose, when comparing different manufacturer’s products. It is not that simple now.

Until about a year ago, Coenzyme Q10 came from only one place: Japan. They controlled the manufacturing of CoQ10, and as the demand went up, the limited supply capacity forced the prices to rise (classic supply/demand economic algorithms). As anyone who has bought a decent CoQ10 product in the past several years knows, this stuff is expensive. And in fact, our CoQ10 products have always carried the tightest margins of any of our products because the raw material is just so expensive.

However, a new source has entered the market: China. As soon as China-sourced CoQ10 entered the market, the quality material from Japan dropped in price. Much of the reason is because of "fair" competition – the manufacturers in Japan who had enjoyed a monopoly for so many years suddenly found they had to lower the price due to the competition. They also lowered the price because there was suddenly more supply (again, the supply/demand formula). That means that some of our competitors who had been buying their CoQ10 raw material from the Japanese source suddenly are taking advantage of the cheaper China source. No... I do not know who those companies are... but I can make a fairly educated guess. If the CoQ10 product you are looking at seems like it is substantially cheaper than you are accustomed to paying, I suspect you can make an educated guess, as well.

Unfortunately, it is going to sound like I am picking on poor little China... poor little sleeping giant China. Frankly, I can’t help but wonder if those companies who are now sourcing their CoQ10 raw material from China might one day learn there is something being put into it that really has no business being there. As a company, we prefer not to risk that chance... and I am proud to say that we never have.

How about some anti-freeze in your toothpaste...

So, while I am on the topic, did you hear about the toothpaste scandal in Panama and the Dominican Republic? I guess there are also some stockpiles of diethylene glycol laying around in China, too.

First, Panama had a bit of a mishap when the government mixed diethylene glycol into cold medicine last year and killed 100 people. Turns out, the substance was mistakenly labeled Glycerin (a harmless syrup). Diethylene Glycol is not so harmless... it is commonly used in anti-freeze. The source for the mis-labeled "glycerin"?... You guessed it... China.

Now, last week, Panamanian officials discovered diethylene glycol in 6,000 tubes of toothpaste that originated in China. In the wake of this discovery, Dominican Republic authorities seize 36,000 tubes of toothpaste contaminated with diethylene glycol, also originating in China.

The reason for the contamination of this highly toxic anti-freeze additive in toothpaste is simply because it is a cheap alternative to glycerin. The FDA has been asking questions of U.S. companies about toothpaste imports, but I have not heard of any similar alerts to U.S. consumers for our toothpaste.

As I huffed and puffed my final steps to the summit of my climb, I found myself making two decisions: I am going to read the packaging of each tube of toothpaste I have in my bathroom to make sure they are made in the U.S., and I think I will forgo the Bar-B-Q in favor of a salad for dinner.

As a company, we don’t source any ingredients from China to make our products.
Never have... never will...
I sure wish I had that much control over my food supply.

They're trying to take away rights again...

Well folks,
It has come time to step up and have our voices heard for our right to choose what products we intend to consume for health purposes. The dudes and dudettes in Washington are voting on a bill that is trying to severely restrict our choices for supplements. This is the "doings" of the big pharmaceutical companies with their extensive resources and contributions to those in office. Even the guys who used to support our freedoms of choice ( like Senator Orin Hatch of Utah) are now bellying up to the big Pharma contributions bar. This is one of those classic examples of double-standards.

The bill in question is S. 3546 . The following link is a press release by National Health Federation on this topic:
http://www.thenhf.com/
oppose_S3546_nhf_press_release_september_2006.htm

As mentioned in the press release, our industry already has established methods for reporting adverse effects. What they are trying to do though is create a way for the FDA to outlaw a product if even one report is issued for an adverse effect. But here is an interesting comparison:

The FDA outlawed Ephedra-based products after a few people died as a result of not following the directions on the bottle, and instead they followed the ever-popular belief that "if a little is good, a lot must be better". Now, tragic though it was, I personally can't help but think this is the Darwinian methodology of "Process of Natural Selection", at work.

But while all this was going on, Merck's popular drug Vioxx (the COX-2 inhibitor pain killer) killed more than 50,000 people - just in the US - from heart attacks. That is FIFTY-THOUSAND! As in, Completely Dead!... Not just "Mostly Dead" (by the description of Billy Crystal's character in "The Princess Bride"). That is 50 Big Ones!

Oh, and it even gets better (worse?). One of the FDA's own scientists says the estimate is even more died from Vioxx. In July of '05, Dr. David Graham, the world-renowned scientist at the FDA said:

"By my estimates, FDA’s allegiance to the pharmaceutical industry and its blindness to safety caused the deaths of up to 60,000 Americans from heart attacks with Vioxx,”

The absurdity of this situation is almost laughable. Almost. If the trends continue, our powers of choice with regard to our health will be out of our hands.

If this scares you as much as it does me (and it should), then do something about it. The link below is a convenient way to write your Washington representatives.

"Washington Representatives"... Yeah, that means they represent you and me. They work for us! Not the pharmaceutical companies! Be heard. You don't even have to look anything up. The addresses and names are already figured out for you.

http://ga4.org/campaign/AER_bill

Thank you for your attention.

Bill Evans

PS: It might not hurt to forward this to family and friends who prefer to make their own choices. And to quote our good-buddy Arlo Guthrie from "Alice's Restaurant":

"You know, if one person, just one person does it,
they may think he's really sick and they won't take him.
And if two people, two people do it... in harmony, they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them. And if three people do it... three... can you imagine, three people walking in
singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out?
They may think it's an organization.
And can you... can you imagine fifty people a day...
I said fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out!?
And friends, they may think it's a movement!"

Help me make this a movement.

According to Ayurveda...

We have been fortunate to receive several submitted articles on Ayurveda medicine on our articles website (http://www.appliedhealtharticles.com). The author, Dr. Savitha Suri is an Ayurvedic Physician who has profiled specific treatments for common conditions we face. These are very intriguing suggestions, worthy of review. Some of the content has language translations that resemble what my articles look like when my forehead hits the keyboard as I pass out during an all-night writing stint, but once I remember to not try to phonetically sound out the words in my head, I just skip past to the meat of the articles to find a lot of great stuff.

You can get to the Ayurveda articles subdirectory by clicking on the following:
http://www.appliedhealtharticles.com/Category/Ayurveda/271

Thank you, Dr. Suri for your contributions.

Why Detox?

We have a had an article submitted to the library site on the importance of detoxing. This is concise and about as "to the point" as I have seen in such few words. I have provided the first paragraph and a link below for your convenience. Detoxing in today's world really is vitally important. There are many ways to approach a detox program. Some methods are better than others, but it is more important to at least do *something*. I hope you will take the time to read this.

"Every day we are exposed to external toxins from our environment and internal toxins produced as the byproduct of our digestive and metabolic processes. Toxic and unwanted inorgranic chemicals are found in our foods, water and air in the form of fertilizers, pesticides, heavy metals and other pollutants. Working in climate controlled environments is a source of airborne microorganisms and debris and home and work environments expose us to paint and carpet fumes. Everything from plastic containers to dry cleaned clothes to skin and haircare products and cosmetics bombard our bodies with unwanted pollutants. All of these fall in the categoryof environmental toxins..."

For the rest of the article, click below:

http://www.appliedhealtharticles.com/Article/Why-detox-/40