The body has a remarkable ability to heal itself. When it becomes bogged down with multiple medications and fake food it simply cannot run efficiently. I am not here to slam the all medications. I do feel that Western medicine has it’s place. It excels for diagnosis and emergency care. My  concern is related to the use of pharmaceuticals as preventive medicine and as a replacement for a healthy diet and lifestyle.

If someone has high cholesterol they can cut transfats, deep fried foods, sugar, and high fructose corn syrup out of their diet. They can get moving through yoga, walking, or hitting the gym. Yet doctors hand out statin drugs like candy, even for people who don’t even have high cholesterol. Many clients have told me their doctor recommended statin drugs for almost-high cholesterol. This often does not make sense when the side effects are worse than the original problem. In the case of statins it’s memory loss, liver problems, nausea, and muscle pain and weakness. If you really listen to the side effects of most drugs rattled off at the end of the ads it can be pretty shocking; mild to moderate bone pain, bleeding, stroke, loss of consciousness, hepatitis, vomiting, tremors, anxiety and even coma! These lists of symptoms seem like problems most people would like to avoid, yet I’m not sure that people are taking these warnings seriously enough. The marketing of these drugs is a huge part of the problem. The studies proving a drug’s effectiveness are frequently funded by the companies producing and profiting off the drugs. One example is the Jupiter study. It had the makers of a new cholesterol drug exclaiming that everyone, even people without high cholesterol, should be on the drug.

New diseases are even being created to sell more drugs. “Restless leg syndrome?” Try “magnesium deficiency.” Most people are not consuming enough minerals due to too much refined food and not enough fresh green vegetables, and this leads to many imbalances in the body. Magnesium is necessary for the relaxing of muscles: without it cramping is likely. The worse the deficiency, the worse the cramping. I even saw a drug ad for making your eyelashes grow longer. This shows me that as a culture we are much too comfortable with popping pills for everything from shyness to headaches and everything in between. Most of these conditions can be corrected by modifying the diet and lifestyle.

Recently, my grandmother experienced a case of over-drugging which she almost did not survive. She was prescribed a blood thinner, which is often dangerous as they can make the blood too thin. Side effects include coughing up blood, nosebleeds, bloody stools, numbness, chest pains, and confusion. These drugs become even more dangerous when mixed with aspirin. My grandmother was on a painkiller which had a small amount of aspirin in it. Knowing the dangers I was very concerned for her, but I knew I could not convince her to try natural alternatives such as nattokinase, fish oil, and vitamin E. I supported her and hoped for the best. Well, the worst happened a few weeks ago. The intestinal bleeding hit and we were minutes away from losing her. She had to be given CPR and five units of blood. Thankfully she is alright now, and off the drugs. The frightening part is that this is not uncommon. In fact, right before it happened her MD told her to add more aspirin since her painkiller wasn’t working. I nearly hit the roof. Numerous studies have been done showing that blood thinners with aspirin causes intestinal bleeding. Her MD actually told her she could go back on the medication in a few weeks. Thankfully, a different doctor said that since it nearly killed her, maybe she should stay off of it. I am happy to report she is now taking the natural remedies, and is happy to be doing so.

This is just one story. Sadly, I know countless people who have suffered due to over-drugging. Usually someone gets on a medication and then it causes a side effect. Instead of cutting it out or trying something else, another medication is prescribed for the side effect, and so on and so on. The really awful part is that this is happening not for our health, but for money. The doctors get wooed by pharmaceutical reps and get kick-backs for using certain drugs. Some years ago I sprained my ankle and went to the emergency room. The doctor wrote me a prescription for Vicodin. I told him I did not want Vicodin as it is a harsh addictive narcotic. He said sorry this is the only one I can give you. I refused the prescription even with my massively swollen and painful ankle. In the end I took herbs and homeopathy. Not only did my ankle heal, but I didn’t feel like I was spaced out for several weeks like I would have with the Vicodin.

While on the subject of the medical system, I’d like to discuss the sub-standard food served in hospitals. The fact that my grandmother was offered soda and coffee while she was in the hospital for intenstinal bleeding shows me that healing the patients is not the primary focus. Both coffee and soda are very acidic and not recommended for people with ulcers. How can a hospital even serve soda with it’s 11 teaspoons of sugar and extreme acidity? They give cancer patients Ensure shakes, and among the first several ingredients are corn syrup and sugar. Sugar is known to increase cancer risk, so why are cancer patients being given mega-doses of sugar?

Processed foods are full of chemicals and lack the nutrients that body needs. Someone who is in a weakened state needs an even greater amount of nutrients, so why are processed foods even served in hospitals? It’s cheap. Most institutions from hospitals to schools “save” a lot of money serving cheap, artificial food. I believe that the only way this will change is if everyone demands it. The only way that will happen is through education about the importance of a healthy diet and lifestyle.

In the end, if the modern medical system focused on prevention, we could save quite a lot of money  in health care costs. Instead of feeding everyone food that isn’t really accepted as food by the body and then dishing out countless pills for the resulting illnesses, let’s focus on eating a diet rich in whole foods, exercising, and realizing that food is the fuel that drives our body. The quality of the fuel does determine how well the vehicle will run. The time to take back our health and wellness from large corporations and bring it back to ourselves, our families, and our local farmers and markets is now!

Here’s a  healthy and simple summer smoothie recipe. It’s a high-energy, delicious snack or breakfast on-the-go.

healthy antioxidant summer smoothie

1 cup organic plain yogurt or coconut water or almond milk

1 tbsp flax meal

1/4 cup organic blueberries–summer is peak season. I just bought a basket for $2.00 at my local farmer’ s market

1 scoop green powder***

1 scoop hemp or rice protein powder or 2 tbsp almond butter

optional: 1 tsp cinnamon or ginger

optional: maca powder. maca is an energizing herb that is also good for stress and hormonal balance. makes any smoothie a power smoothie

directions: Put ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour in a glass and enjoy! ***Green powders contain a blend of herbs, fruits, veggies, and superfoods such as spirulina, cholera, and wheat grass. These powders can provide important nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants which increase energy, vitality, and overall wellness. Here are a few examples: Vibrant Health, Green Vibrance; Health Force, Vitamineral Green; New Chapter, Berry Green.

enjoy!

Eaten in moderation, fruit can be a great way to satisfy those sugar cravings. The problem is that because “fruit is good for you,” people think this means eating a lot of fruit must be really good for them. It still increases blood sugar, therefore can lead to an imbalance. The best way to maintain healthy blood sugar levels is to eat protein. Most fruit does not work well with protein, as far as digestion is concerned. Apples and pears do work well with nut and seed butters. Bananas, which are many people’s favorite fruit, should be eaten in moderation due the huge spike in blood sugar that they create. If you are going to eat a banana, eat half. Also have it with protein, in a smoothie, yogurt, or with nut butter. They are excellent fuel, and best eaten when activity level is high. In general, most tropical fruits are very sweet, and should be consumed in very small quantities. Due to the little seeds, berries have a bit of protein and make less of an impact on blood sugar than many other fruits. Lastly, stay away from dried fruit. When you eat an apricot, you eat an apricot. When eating dried apricots, it’s easy to consume 10 at a time. They seem so small and bite-sized, but they still have the sugar of a whole apricot.

Stevia is an herb that is naturally sweet, and is antioxidant-, vitamin- and mineral-rich. The leaf is ground into a powder and can be found in dried or liquid form at your local health food store. Unlike artificial sweeteners, it does not spike the blood sugar and cause an insulin reaction. Stevia is many times sweeter than sugar, so it is best consumed in small quantities. In Japan it has been used in diet sodas for decades. Due to the artificial sweetener lobby (USA), for many years stevia was only allowed to be considered a “dietary supplement” and could not be used as an ingredient in food. Now the FDA has approved it under GRAS (generally regarded as safe) status. This would be cause to rejoice, but there is a darker side. Coca-cola and Cargill Corporation have come up with a product called Truvia which contains erythritol (a sugar alcohol), “natural” flavors, and an isolated part of the stevia plant. This should not be confused with the ground whole leaf. As always is the case with isolated compounds, they don’t have the wisdom of the whole plant. Legally a whole plant cannot be patented, so they took a part of the plant and threw in some other ingredients, and presto: a patentable, marketable product. It’s too new to determine what the side effects will be, but they are sure to be seen with time. It’s such a shame that a beneficial herb such as stevia could not get approval in this country until large corporations chemically isolated  it, and called it something else.  Truvia is NOT stevia, so stick to stevia!

Next, there is a variety of dried organic cane juice products, which are considered by many to be healthy. It is important to remember that these alternatives are still simple sugars. Rapadura is the best choice in this category. It has been minimally processed, which means the molasses has not been removed, and there are still minerals and fiber in it. The nutrients do allow rapadura to be absorbed slightly less rapidly than more refined sugars. Due to the mineral content it is a grayish-brown color. In the past, sucanat was the same thing as rapadura, but now it is refined. The darker color is due to molasses being added back in after it has been refined. Turbinado and evaporated cane juice are similar to sucanat.

Honey is an ancient sweetener and widely believed to be healthy due to its vitamin, mineral, and enzyme content. While this is accurate, it is still a simple sugar and should be consumed in moderation. When choosing honey, go for the raw, unfiltered kind. If it’s not raw, it has usually been heated and refined, which destroys the vitamins and enzymes.

Agave nectar is a fructose-based sweetener that is being marketed as a “low glycemic” alternative to sugar because it does not spike blood sugar levels. Yes, technically this is true, but it is still a highly concentrated refined sweetener and should be consumed in moderation. As is the case with all refined fructose sweeteners, it is difficult for the liver to process, and can raise triglyceride levels (blood fats, markers of heart disease). Much like sucanat, agave used to be unrefined. Now that agave has been experiencing a rapid rise in popularity, it is now being mass-produced. Be careful when buying agave syrup as many brands have added corn syrup as a cheap filler.

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and white sugar are the most damaging sugar products of all (excluding chemically-manufactured artificial sweeteners). HFCS is made from corn and is typically genetically modified. Many chemicals are required to turn corn into syrup. A recent study even found that HFCS contains mercury. This sweetener is cheaper than sugar to produce and the farmers get subsidies for growing corn, so it is produced in massive quantities. HFCS is in everything from candy and cookies to ketchup and cereal. In my quest to read all labels, I was stunned to see HFCS on the label of a supposedly unsweetened cereal (Corn Flakes) box at a friend’s house. HFCS is cheap and it’s everywhere. Due to it being rapidly absorbed by the body, it causes a huge release of insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is released by the pancreas whenever there is a spike in blood sugar levels. It is essentially a key that unlocks the cells to allow the glucose inside (the cell) to make energy. When there is too much insulin released, the cells become resistant to the insulin and it ends up circulating in the blood. This is known as insulin resistance, and it is the pre-cursor to type II diabetes which has increased dramatically since the introduction of HFCS.

Not any better for us is white sugar. Just like HFCS, it wreaks havoc on the metabolic system. Sugar also suppresses the immune system, and it competes with vitamin C for absorption. The body would much rather have the vitamin C. Sugar creates an acidic environment in the body which can lead to cavities, osteoporosis, arthritis, and cancer. Fat often gets the blame for heart disease, but sugar causes a spike in triglycerides, a reduction of good cholesterol (HDL), an increase in bad cholesterol (LDL) and homocysteine levels, and reduced serum vitamin E levels, all factors that can contribute to heart disease. Sugar even contributes to the aging process by causing free-radical damage and damaging collagen. Maybe sugar is not so sweet after all.

Foods you might not think of as sugar but the body does include white flour, white rice, white potatoes. Whole grains, brown rice, and sweet potatoes are better choices because they are complex carbohydrates. This means they are absorbed slowly, and have a stabilizing effect on blood sugar.

There is no perfect sweetener. The taste of sugar has it’s place, but it’s not the only flavor that we are meant to experience. Our taste buds enjoy a variety of tastes such as bitter, pungent, savory, and sour. So go ahead and have some fruit or the occasional dessert. The bottom line is that all things sweet should be consumed in moderation!

Typically I eat savory foods for breakfast, but once in a while I make these decadent pancakes. These are best for a day of high activity as they are rich in protein, fat, and carbohydrates. A perfect blend of fuel for the day, and satisfaction for your taste buds and stomach. Who knew that pancakes could be so delicious without even a drop of maple syrup?

ultimate gluten-free pancakes

1 cup Pamela’s pancake mix

1 cup filtered water

1 egg

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp hemp

2 tbsp flax seed meal

1 apple or pear

2 tbsp coconut oil

cinnamon

ginger powder

pinch of Himalayan salt

almond or hazelnut butter

directions: Mix, water, olive oil, egg, hemp seeds, flax meal, and cinnamon in a bowl. Whisk until smooth. Put sliced apple, coconut oil, Himalayan salt, and ginger/cinnamon in a baking dish. Cook apple mixture on 250 in oven until apple is soft (can also be done stove-top in a pan). Heat skillet or frying pan on low. Add butter, ghee, or coconut oil to pan, and when melted drop batter into pan. You can make a few large cakes or multiple smaller cakes. When pancakes are finished, spread with nut butter, top with apple mixture, and sprinkle with shredded coconut.

enjoy!