Listen to this fantastic interview on 1290 AM CJBK, London, Ontario about healing digestion and chronic pain and building optimal health with nutrient-dense foods.
http://pamkilleen.com/app/download/5791226104/Andy+Oudman+Pam+Killeen+Kathryne+Pirtle.mp3
For more information on healing and building health with nutrient-dense foods and seminars on this subject, see www.performancewithoutpain.com
Best in Health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareE-book by David Augenstein, MS, P. Eng.
More and more people are discovering that raw milk from grass-fed cows is nature’s perfect food and want to experience its health-promoting benefits. They are also are learning the benefits of other nutrient-dense foods like pastured eggs, meats and poultry. However, finding a local source for these foods for the first time can be complicated. The e-book, Find Your Safe, Local Raw Milk and Other Real Food, Too, is a fantastic guide that really simplifies the process and provides excellent guidelines to insure a high-quality source. (See http://livingfood.us/iShop/rawmilk.htm)
Through a step-by-step process, Augenstein shows you how to locate a local dairy or a co-op and understand the laws regarding raw dairy in your state. Importantly, he describes the high-quality farm management practices that need to be present in raw milk production so you can determine if the farm you are considering will be a safe, clean, nutrient-dense source of food.
David discusses other very helpful issues like the differences in how people organize picking up their food that range from driving groups to drop-off points and home delivery. He also has links to invaluable books, articles and studies about raw milk.
People who seek out a high-quality source of raw milk are usually interested other foods from these sustainable farms. This book helps you understand how to connect with farms that can provide all of these.
You will be surprised to find a bonus download of the new book from the Weston A. Price called Healthy for Life. This book alone would cost $10, but through this offer you have an excellent opportunity to get 2 books at once, plus learn about the guiding principles behind a truly health-building diet. Additionally, there is a wealth of delicious recipes from which to choose.
Lastly, David shares blogs, web resources and books that cover the gamut of subjects revolving around the explosion of interest in real food from sustainable farms. I can’t think of a better use of $7! Thanks David for preparing this amazing resource!
If you consider this powerful quote you will realize just how important making the effort to find nutrient-dense foods really is:
“Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness.”
Edward Stanley
Best in Health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareMy book, Performance without Pain, focuses on nutrient-dense nutrition that can heal and prevent inflammation and build optimal health. Although superior nutrition is the cornerstone of injury prevention, working on structural symmetry is essential to pain-free movement.
Some people are more likely to have trouble with pain caused from asymmetry. Musicians and athletes often need to perform their work with repetitive asymmetrical motions. Many people do daily activities that require a constant uneven use of the muscles in the body.
Interestingly, females are more susceptible to asymmetrical structural changes because of the tremendous amount of flexibility in the tendons and ligaments of the pelvic floor which allow for childbirth. After a woman has children, she may experience a structural alteration that over time will cause pain.
While many people work with holistic practitioners such as chiropractors and massage therapists to alleviate pain, unless an underlying asymmetrical structural problem is addressed, the discomfort will immediately return. It is therefore critical to be aware that when you have a constant return of a particular pain, it would be wise to seek a different approach to your treatment regimen.
As a clear example, 8 years ago, after having two children, I developed a pain in my left hip when walking. I knew it was caused by a muscular tightening and not inflammation, because I had no injury and my diet was completely anti-inflammatory. Over the course of a few years I tried many common treatments such as chiropractic, muscle activation, exercises like squatting and massage therapy. These approaches seemed to help but the pain kept returning. Additionally, for three years in a row, I sprained muscles on only the right side of my body–my sacroiliac joint, the last rib of my rib cage and this year, my abdominal muscles while playing the clarinet! Had I continued playing my instrument and spraining the muscles of my abdominal wall, I knew I may become seriously injured.
I knew this was not normal. Sprained muscles on only the right side? Spraining abdominal muscles while playing the clarinet? What was wrong?
I decided to work with a trainer who did corrective exercise and work on symmetry. Unfortunately, while asymmetry was the problem, he did not understand the extent of my issue either.
Fortunately, my colleagues suggested I work with Stephanie Davies at SD Rehab in Chicago. She is superior occupational therapist who successfully treats high level musicians in the Chicago Symphony and the Lyric Opera. She also helps people with many other complicated physical therapy issues.
Through working with Stephanie, we concluded that my spine was twisting caused from a change in the pelvic floor after childbirth. Thus I had developed a diagonal support in my body structure. The tell tale sign was that my left foot was turned out when I lay flat because my entire leg had turned out from a structural alteration after childbirth and carrying children in my right arm. Therefore my left hip hurt and eventually as my spine twisted more and more, my rib cage was asymmetrical and the ribs on the left side of my body stopped moving properly. When I exhaled, the right side of my ribs moved unequally to the left side and created a strain to the muscles on my right abdominal wall, eventually causing a muscle sprain. Additionally, as I twisted more, my left collar bone was pressing on the nerves in my left arm, making it feel weak.
Stephanie opened a textbook detailing this disorder which exhibited a red path outlining a strained muscle pattern starting from the left foot, running up the outside of the left leg and hip and crossing over to the right torso area. As you can imagine, finding the underlying cause to this issue was a huge relief! The treatment will take some time however. First, the muscles in my left leg had to be restructured to allow my foot to step straight forward while walking. Then the muscles in my left rib cage had to be activated. I then had to work on getting my left rib cage moving for every exhale equally with the right which initially caused me to twist back to the right as if undoing a knot! Lastly I have a whole series of exercises that will strengthen the correct structure and alignment of the pelvic wall.
A twisting spine is a form of scoliosis and is not only common for women after childbirth, but also for violinists and violists who often twist their body to play their instrument. In fact, a close colleague of mine who was a child prodigy violinist can no longer play without pain because of this issue and must do constant physical therapy as his spine was twisting at a formative age and it has been much more difficult to achieve a permanent correction.
From this experience, I feel it is critical to seek a highly skilled physical or occupational therapist if you have a muscular pain that persists that is not totally solved by nutrient-dense nutrition and your current treatment choices. It could mean the difference of progression of the disorder or finding the underlying cause and permanently correcting the problem.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
ShareI manned the Weston A. Price Foundation booth at the Autism One Conference 2011 from May 26-29th. Over 2500 people from all over the world attended this year as the conference offered free admission. This was a blessing to families who are trying to find real answers for reversing autism. As I spoke to moms and dads, our message, as was the message of the entire conference–was one of great hope–that autism is a medical condition and can be reversed!! Yes–these children are “canaries in the mine” and are teaching us what must change. This IS, as is the mission of Autism One–GENERATION RESCUE! The uncontrolled greed that has shaped policy from the top down–is changing from the bottom up–from the inside-out–one person at a time. The truth will prevail.
Autism is most often now understood as being caused by an inflammation of the brain from a toxic overload from factors such as heavy metal toxicity (especially mercury), from the toxicity due to the huge increase in the numbers of vaccines that children receive, from other environmental toxins and from poor digestion, candida overgrowth and a weakened immune system. When the gut is damaged and inflamed, inflammatory chemicals can break down the blood-brain barrier and cause inflammation in the brain. Inflammation of the brain–also called encephalitis–can cause many of the symptoms of autism. Additionally, when the blood-brain barrier is damaged, toxins that affect brain function can circulate more easily.
Nutrient-dense, easy-to-digest foods are proving to be one of the most powerful dietary partners in reversing autism. They have superior ability to heal the gut and inflammation, enable the body to detoxify, provide exceptional nutrition and therefore have the greatest ability to heal the brain. A colleague who helps to publish the Autism File Global magazine told me that she and her husband had spent $150,000 on treatments for their son, and it wasn’t until they focused on a diet of nutrient-dense foods that he recovered from autism!
However, many children with autism are very picky eaters. I heard that message over and over at the conference. In the book “Gut and Psychology Syndrome,” Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride discusses the necessity of introducing new foods very slowly and that changing a child’s eating habits IS challenging–but not impossible. Moms and dads ARE creative–”Where there is a will–there is a way!”
One of the most powerful gut and inflammation-healing foods to first incorporate is old-fashioned bone-broth. Bone broth can be made into soups, be used as a liquid for cooking vegetables, reduced as a delicious sauce over meats and can be a fantastic beverage. It was one of the primary foods I consumed in my own healing of a life-threatening digestive disorder, and have continued to eat daily for over 10 years. It is a food from which everyone can benefit.
For example, to incorporate bone broth, Ginger Taylor, a contributing author of the new book “Vaccine Epidemic,” told me that her son loved tea parties! Now–who doesn’t love tea parties? So Ginger said she introduced bone broth by having a tea party with chicken tea–what fun! Now her son loves chicken tea! Most importantly, her son will begin to have the benefit of one of the most powerful foods for healing the gut and over time, every nutrient-dense food that replaces a nutrient-poor food will aid in recovery.
Another mom told me her son loves meatballs. Well–you can hide a lot of nutrient-dense foods in meatballs. She makes them with beef from pastured cows, pastured egg yolks and spices and now plans to add little bits of pastured liver to her recipe. She also will serve them with a sauce made with reduced bone broth.
Adding raw egg yolks from pastured chickens to smoothies made with coconut milk and fruit is another delicious way to add nutrient-density to your child’s diet. Served in fancy tea cups would make it even more fun.
Here is a great recipe for chicken bone broth.
BONE BROTH—CHICKEN
Large crock pot or stock pot
2 large organic-free-range chickens, preferably from pastured chickens, cut up in small pieces
4 chicken feet (optional)
filtered water
3T. vinegar
2 large onions—chopped (optional)
6 stalks of celery, chopped (optional)
6 carrots—sliced thin (optional)
4 cloves of garlic—diced (optional)
2 T. ginger—diced (optional)
Celtic sea salt to taste
Place chickens, vinegar, optional chicken feet, onions, celery and garlic in the stock or crock pot. Let chicken and vegetables come to a boil then turn to simmer. If using crock pot, no need to change temperature. When meat is done, take meat off bones and place bones and skin back in pot. Put meat in refrigerator and use later for making soup or in other recipes (ie. chicken salad). Continue to simmer bones, vegetables and broth for 8-12 hours. Strain the broth. Add Celtic sea salt to taste. Use broth for soups, sauces or as a beverage. Broth can be refrigerated or frozen for later use. Reheat broth on stove —DO NOT MICROWAVE!!
As you find new ways to help your child heal, you will join a community that is working together to find real answers. Let nutrient-dense foods become your close ally in your path to recovery!
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareThe Age of Autism: Mercury, Medicine and a Man-Made Epidemic
Dan Olmstead and Mark Blaxell
(Pub.2010, Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press)
The Age of Autism is perhaps the most important new book written about the roots of a catastrophic health pandemic affecting our children. Autism is screaming to be understood. We cannot fathom the repercussions of increasing percentages of autism in our children…What will happen to these children? We have no time to waste in finding real solutions.
You can continue reading my review of this critically important book by following the link below:
Age of Autism–Book Review
For more information on healing and building health with nutrient-dense foods and seminars on this subject, see Performance without Pain and The Healing Diet for Acid Reflux Disease
Best in Health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareI wrote an article for America’s Wellness Network about making your holiday meals nutrient dense. See http://americaswellness.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/making-your-holiday-meals-nutrient-dense/
This website is a wonderful source of information. Please check it out!
Blessings,
Kathy Pirtle
ShareThe only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
– attributed to Edmund Burke
From Eknath Easwaran’s, Thought for the Day
Some of our most trying difficulties are caused by plain old inertia. Inertia shows itself in not wanting to move, not wanting to act – in other words, in wanting to be a stone just lying on the road. It is all right for a stone to be inert; that is its role in life. But it is not all right for you and me to just lie down and try to avoid problems, saying, “What does it matter?”
When I hear the phrase “well adjusted,” I do not always take it as a favorable comment. Mahatma Gandhi has said that to be well adjusted in a wrong situation is very bad; in a wrong situation we should keep on acting to set it right. When Gandhi, at the peak of his political activity, was asked in a British court what his profession was, he said, “Resister.” If he was put in a wrong situation, he just could not keep quiet; he had to resist, nonviolently but very effectively, until the situation was set right.
I am often deeply moved by the daily messages from Eknath Eawaren’s, Thought for the Day. What can you do today to make a difference? Every effort to help change our food supply and heal our people so that the generations to come will have something better is important. Every act that brings light to our mother earth is essential.
Many Blessings,
Kathryne Pirtle
For more information on healing and building health with nutrient-dense foods and seminars on this subject, see www.performancewithoutpain.com
ShareBook by Evan D.G. Fraser and Andrew Rimas (Pub. by Free Press, 2010)
Empires of Food is a fascinating book that certainly reveals the old adage that “history repeats itself.” As we moved away from the hunter-gatherer paradigm to that of civilization, man has often been deceived by the pursuit of progress. From the Mayan, Greek and Roman empires to our present day society, many urban societies have mistakenly sought development through monoculture–an agricultural system that depends on limited crops like wheat, corn and soybeans.
However, these agricultural systems have always suffered grave consequences:
“These societies, these food empires, can only exist if three things happen: Farmers need to grow more food than they eat; they need a means of trading it to willing buyers; they need a way to store it so it doesn’t turn to sludge before reaching its economic apotheosis. When these three premises are met, urban life flourishes. Which is, in itself, the seed of the problem…When a food empire fails, mobs tear apart the marketplace, angry over the cost of bread. Governments raise armies to conquer greener, more fertile valleys. People uproot. Forest creeps back over old fences. Arable land falls into disuse, and society contracts. It happens again and again. And it’s happening now…..”
Reading this summation of agricultural history now as we face alarming governmental interference to thwart the emergence of a truly sustainable system struck me to the core. Inherent problems to all monocultures are the clearing of massive amounts of land ultimately ending in the total destruction of its fertility, disease to crops and climate change, most often in the form of warming and drought. Also common is the inevitable abuse of governmental power as whoever controls the food, controls the people. Inevitably, urban society cannot ceaselessly survive in this unsustainable structure.
However, the wisdom of our current biodynamic, pasture farming movement is the answer to correcting the serious problems of our depleted food supply. Protecting biodiversity and our precious resources are essential elements of our survival. Furthermore, Fraser and Rimas discuss the importance of saving food surpluses and supporting a global sustainable farming network as insurance for times of shortage.
This book provides an enlightening historical journey through the problematic agricultural practices that led to the destruction of great societies that briefly flourished. Although today we have stores full of varieties of cheap food never before offered—food that will only grow with fertilizers and insecticides made from petrochemicals—there will be an end to this system. Cheap food is not cheap.
The types of changes we have made with regard to our food choices, sources and our health in relation to the work of Weston A. Price we must also foster in relation to our entire global food system. Can we raise enough awareness and learn from history before it is too late? Can we become a society that chooses according to how our decisions will affect people for the next seven generations? I say we must.
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareAfter decades of being told by the experts that a diet high in fiber and low in fat is the key to robust good health, why is it that one in every 5 Americans is being treated for Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease, (GERD)?
Studies show more than 60 million Americans are currently being treated by their physicians for acid reflux. Last year there were 470,000 hospitalizations and 1.9 million visits to the emergency room as a result of GERD, commonly known as acid reflux. What’s more, GERD is now being diagnosed in children, birth to four years.
Since 1999 the majority of Americans say they are now following the dietary guidelines recommended by the FDA, eating at least 5 servings of fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains each day. We are also following the advice of the medical community and eliminating from our diets traditional fats,(like butter) and decreasing our intake of protein—especially our favorite food-to-hate—red meat.
What is it, then, that such a large percentage of our population is doing that would promote the massive increase in this ailment? Should our entire nation succumb to popular medications that merely treat the symptoms but do nothing to remedy the underlying cause?
In my e-book, Acid Reflux: A National Epidemic and Precursor to Chronic Illness I pull back the curtain of misinformation to reveal the truth about why we are all chronically ill not only with GERD, but a variety of ailments including cancer, heart disease, allergies, dementia, even autism: see The Healing Diet for Acid Reflux Disease
Much of what we are told about good nutrition today is based on trends and faulty research funded by the Goliath factory farming industry. For 25 years I suffered from debilitating pain and chronic illness. Over that time I also suffered from symptoms of impaired digestion including persistent flatulence and at the age of 42, I was diagnosed with acid reflux that almost ended my career as a professional clarinetist. Even though I diligently followed popular health dictates as outlined in the traditional Food Pyramid and the resulting digestive illness and malnutrition nearly cost me my life.
If the Food Pyramid isn’t the answer, what is? In Acid Reflux: A National Epidemic and Precursor to Chronic Illness I explain how our bodies actually work to digest and assimilate the food we eat.
Before the 1950s most of our foods came from small family farms. These high quality foods were from animals eating their natural diets. Cows ate grass, chickens ate bugs and worms, and all fish were caught in the wild. These are nutrient-dense foods our bodies need for optimal health and digestion, but unfortunately, this is not what we find at our grocery stores today.
Consider how many ads you see for drugs to address chronic health problems like acid reflux, gas, indigestion, constipation, and diarrhea. Pharmaceutical companies expect to earn a whopping $400,000,000 in annual sales from going over-the-counter with the ‘little purple pill. This remedy for acid reflux is nothing more than a slow death.
Current information on so-called healthy eating will not heal digestive disorders and will ultimately lead to nutrient deficiencies, illness, and even death, it behooves us to learn the difference.
The principles of a truly healthy diet are but one aspect found in this exceptional e-book. Acid Reflux: A National Epidemic and Precursor to Chronic Illness also provides information on where to find nutrient-dense foods, shares delicious recipes and menu ideas, and makes the road to true healing informative and enjoyable.
For more information on healing and building health with nutrient-dense foods and seminars on this subject, see Performance without Pain and The Healing Diet for Acid Reflux Disease
Best in Health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareToday it seems that many people are accepting illness as a fate to be expected. Instead of seeking the root cause of health epidemics, the public has been sold on accepting grave statistics as unchangeable as well as settling on some of the most toxic approaches to treatment. With breast cancer this seems to be the case. Beginning in junior high, my daughter has heard the “Think Pink” message in school-based “educational” outreach initiatives. In fact, for $10, she has been convinced to get a strand of “pink” hair woven into her own as a symbol of this message. Thankfully many people are beginning to recognize the money trail behind the smoke screen of these awareness programs.
However new initiatives are pushing through the darkness of our acceptance-based mind set. People want real answers to prevention. There are many ways we can reduce our risk of breast cancer that involve four basic principles:
There is so much fear around breast cancer that we must know that there are many effective ways of prevention that do not involve the often risky damaging test procedures. Given the possibility that we can attract what we fear–instead of focusing on early diagnosis and a cure, let’s dance to life-long health and breast health with a nutrient-dense diet and learning the wonderful technique for breast health called Lymphatic Breast Self-Massage. (see www.breasthealthproject.com ) Also, women should know that thermographies are a better way to have the breasts examined as they do not use x-rays.
One of my health goals has been to prevent cancer—three of my mother’s sisters died from breast cancer and my mother had a prophylactic mastectomy. Unfortunately, until I began eating a traditional diet eight years ago, I was probably on the cancer track without knowing it. Like many health seekers, I had rigorously followed a very “healthy” high-fiber, low-fat diet high in salads, grains, fruits and vegetables, and only a little meat, eggs and dairy—and no butter of course. Sadly, this “healthy” regimen left me very malnourished with a severe digestive disorder. Luckily, I learned about the work of Weston A. Price recovered my health and felt sure that I had found the key to cancer prevention.
Despite this, two summers ago I found a painful lump in my breast that really frightened me. How could this be happening with my diet? Was breast cancer inevitable given my family history? After some initial panic, I did my research and learned that most women get these lumps from time to time and that they are cysts. I also learned that regular self-massage will improve circulation, help existing cysts drain, and help prevent them from forming in the future. Within three days of massaging, the cyst had shrunk substantially and it was gone within a week. What a revelation! Unfortunately, because of the media, most women are scared to death when they find a lump and panic. I was so thankful to have learned this holistic, caring information from a project called “The Breast Health Project.”
Here is the site on breast self-care: www.breasthealthproject.com It says “Women find that this massage reduces breast pain, breast swelling, PMS breast symptoms, cystic issues, calcifications and even fear of breast cancer” and that “The Breast Health Project has created a new model of breast care based on holistic medicine, using the best of eastern and western therapies.”
In addition, wearing your bra loosely so that lymphatic drainage is not curtailed will help to keep toxins from accumulating in the breast tissue. This can be done easily by purchasing a bra extension or cutting and pinning one from an old bra thereby adding more room around the rib cage. You can also buy bras that are slightly larger.
But why did I develop the lump in the first place was my question? What was the root cause? I started to suspect something with heavy metal toxicity. I had all of my mercury amalgams removed about 20 years ago by a leading biological dentist. If you have read my book, you know that I got a cavity in each of my molars at age 16. Had I not had those amalgams replaced with composite fillings, I am certain, from what I know now, that I wouldn’t have recovered from my life-threatening illness. Let me tell you why!
Although I had all my amalgams removed, up until Monday, Feb. 1, 2010, I had one crown on the bottom right side of my mouth over my first molar. I needed that crown after I cracked my tooth on popcorn at age 20! This crown was porcelain with metal at the bottom and it enclosed a mercury amalgam-filled tooth. Mercury is one of the most toxic substances known to man and silver fillings can be up to 50% mercury! The mercury in our mouths can travel through our lymph system and accumulate in the breast tissue. If you know anything about bad dentistry–this scenario of a metal-bottomed crown over a tooth with an amalgam filling describes one of them, because when you mix metals, you get what is coined “Dental Galvanism.” In Dorland’s medical dictionary, this is defined as:
“A physiochemical phenomenon in which two or more dissimilar metals that have been used to restore or replace missing teeth produce the flow of an electric current.”
Because amalgam fillings are made of a mixture of metals and people often have other metals in their mouth like gold or crowns made with metal, they can be suffering from severe heavy metal toxicity. Dental galvanism causes an amplification of heavy metal toxicity in the body. In fact, to protect the vital organs, the body will try to displace the toxic metals through neural pathways to less important parts of the body, like the breasts and the reproductive organs, thereby protecting the brain, liver, kidneys and heart.
This is what was happening to me with only ONE toxic piece of dental work in my mouth.The lump was in my RIGHT breast. I experienced sinus drainage behind my RIGHT eye and eyebrow area and thought it was an allergy–only on the RIGHT side?–Not making sense is it! My RIGHT eyelid had a recurring twitch for years. My RIGHT tonsil and RIGHT ear were sometimes sore. I had shingles on the RIGHT side of my face right over that same area where the crown was years ago during a stressful period of my life–excruciatingly painful. Was this my body’s way of trying to detoxify this ONE piece of bad dentistry left in my mouth? Of course! What else could it be.
Since the removal of my last amalgam and the replacement of my crown my sinuses, muscle twitching and ear pain are all completely gone. The breast lump has not returned either. So if you think that your mercury amalgams are not causing you harm, or your mixed metal crown with a mercury amalgam underneath is just fine, or your root canals are not causing any symptoms in your body that you know of—THINK AGAIN! Read Radical Medicine, by Dr. Louisa Williams or any of the other books on mercury toxicity and think again–it could be the best thing you ever have done to protect your health besides eating a nutrient-dense diet! If you have any dental work done, it is imperative that you work with a highly qualified biological dentist.
Lastly, eating a nutrient-dense diet that supports healthy digestion and getting our foods directly from organic, sustainable farms will help insure that our bodies are well nourished and can efficiently eliminate toxins.
So empower yourself and others by THINKING BEYOND THE PINK! Paired with a nutrient-dense, traditional diet, lymphatic massage and amalgam removal sheds a refreshing light on the possibilities of truly taking charge our health. For more information on healing and building health with nutrient-dense foods and seminars on this subject, see www.performancewithoutpain.com
Best in Health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareImagine: You are rehearsing for your first major singing role with an opera company and your vocal range has become unpredictable. Some days you have your full range; others, you do not. But you have never experienced this problem. The opening night is in just one week. Your doctor says you have a nodule on your vocal cords, which has developed because you have acid-reflux disease. He tells you that you must rest your voice and not do the performances. You are devastated.
Health problems that affect performance are extremely frightening. They not only affect you physically, but they are an enormous burden to your mental well-being. Acid-reflux disease is a serious ailment that can permanently damage the voice. If we heed the profound statement of Hippocrates (460-370 BC) that ”All diseases begin in the gut,” then we must make a serious pursuit finding the root cause and correcting the source of any digestive issue. Since the longevity of a vocal career depends on health, it is imperative that true solutions are found to this problem.
Have you ever asked yourself why digestive ailments have become so common? There are endless radio, television and magazine ads about medication that helps acid-reflux and other digestive complaints. What is a large percent of our population doing that would promote this massive increase in the incidence of digestive disorders? Should the entire population succumb to these medications? It would seem that there are underlying reasons that so many people have these disorders.
I had acid reflux disease in my early forties just prior to becoming extremely ill with a life-threatening digestive disorder that nearly ended my musical career. I am the clarinetist and executive director of the Orion Ensemble, now in its 18th season. We tour throughout North America, present three series each year in the Chicago metropolitan area, and perform a live, internationally broadcast series on WFMT, Fine Arts Radio in Chicago. Besides playing principal clarinet with the Lake Forest Symphony, I frequently perform with the Lyric Opera Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony and the Ravinia Festival Orchestra. In addition, I have taught for over 30 years and have served on the faculties of the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, Northern Illinois University, Indiana University and Bradley University. In 2004, the Hal Leonard Corporation released my solo album of Bach unaccompanied cello and violin suites and sonatas transcribed for the clarinet.
In the fall of 2001, I became chronically ill for two years, suffering from a severe inflammatory condition in my spine, which caused debilitating pain in my arms, shoulders, hands and fingers making it difficult to play. I developed chronic diarrhea and my embouchure, the facial muscles I use to produce my sound, also began to shake uncontrollably. This was ultimately diagnosed as coming from a long-term digestive problem, intestinal damage and malabsorption as a result of following common nutritional dictates and Celiac disease—an intolerance to gluten grains.
Of great significance, despite the fact that I was chronically ill for two years, is that I had experienced ongoing musculoskeletal inflammation, often of a severe nature, since my 20s and relieved it through physical therapy-type approaches common to the field of music—you name it; I became an expert at it! In my late twenties and throughout my thirties, I was constantly “chasing” pain and stiffness from practicing and performing. When I would solve the discomfort in one area, another area would become irritated. I was also trying to eat a healthy diet and closely followed popular guidelines for healthy eating.
Along with inflammatory conditions, I had early digestive illness symptoms starting in my childhood. Beginning in my youth I had ongoing flatulence, which is a sign of poor digestion and intestinal bacterial flora imbalances. When I was 42, I began to experience acid reflux disease. A very distracting problem for a wind player, I felt a constant pressure in my throat and the sensation of wanting to burp. Of course, when I did burp, acid would be released into my esophagus. This was very frightening and I sought answers to this problem. At this point, my solution was to stop eating wheat, which was quite helpful for the time being. However, several years later, I developed a spinal inflammation followed by a severe digestive disorder—life-threatening chronic diarrhea and malabsorption. Obviously, cutting out wheat was not the full answer to acid reflux, as my digestive disorder, unknowingly to me, continued to develop.
We have become complacent in accepting the widely publicized recommendation that a low-fat, high fiber diet is essential to good health. I later learned that the nutritional advice I was following was not based on the study of healthy people, but on trends. Although I thought I was eating a healthy diet, and for years had faithfully followed the US governmental guidelines, these modern conventions were clearly causing health problems.
If following modern dietary trends resulted in digestive problems, what then were the answers to healing? In order to not only save my career, but also save my life, I needed accurate information. This complicated puzzle was solved through a radical change in my diet based on studying the work of Dr. Weston Price that reversed my acid reflux and intestinal damage, and provided my body with the nutritional elements necessary for building health. I am now recovered and vibrantly healthy! For the first time in 25 years, even with a full performing, practicing and teaching schedule, I have had no pain or inflammation in my body for over four years. My embouchure is completely strong and I have excellent stamina and muscle strength.
Dr. Price was a prominent dentist in the 1930s who was baffled by the large percentage of degenerative illness in his patients—chronic ailments of all sorts such as arthritis, inflammatory conditions and digestive complaints, fertility problems, cavities, crooked and crowded teeth and behavior and learning problems in children. He sought answers to these problems by traveling worldwide to see if there were cultures free of these types of conditions. He found 14 vibrantly healthy isolated cultures that had no signs of degenerative illness and had eaten the same foods for centuries from generation to generation. Although their diets were completely different, he analyzed their foods and found common characteristics that determined their diet’s ability to promote optimal health and genetic potential in humans. He was able to cure chronic illness in his own patients through his findings. He wrote an incredible book called Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. Through his unprecedented work and the development of the Weston A. Price Foundation, (www.westonaprice.org.) there is a growing movement of people who are finding solutions to healing chronic conditions and serious illness through traditional foods.
What are some of the foods that Dr. Price found to be absolutely essential to optimal human health? The surprising traditional practices involve high-fat, easy-to-digest, nutrient-dense nutrition from pastured animals and wild-caught fish including:
• Nutrient-dense, high-vitamin A and D foods, such as liver, cod liver oil and egg yolks—essential for nutrient absorption (Price found that healthy populations had 10x the amount of Vitamin A and D from natural sources in their diets.)
• High quality traditional fats critical for digestion and nutrient absorption, such as raw butter and coconut oil.
• Bone-broth soups made from chicken, beef, or fish with vegetables, simmered for up to 36 hours that heal the intestinal tract, are easy-to-digest, and provide essential nutrients in an easy-to-assimilate form, such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and other amino acids. Secondly, they provide important bone and tendon-healing components.
• Easy-to-digest, high-enzyme, traditionally cultured foods to help develop a healthy intestinal flora, such as homemade sauerkraut, pickled beets, and raw milk kefir and yogurt from grass-fed cows.
• High quality proteins—meats, raw dairy and dairy products, poultry, eggs and fish—from animals eating their natural diets.
By focusing on eating ample nutrient-dense, traditional foods that support good digestion, such as raw milk from grass-fed cows often cultured into kefir or yogurt (yes, it’s legal—for details on finding a certified raw milk source, visit www.realmilk.com ), traditional lacto-fermented vegetables, egg yolks, meats and poultry from pastured animals, liver and organ meats, wild-caught fish—especially salmon and seafood, bone-broth soups daily, cod liver oil, and ample traditional fats, I was able give my body the nutritional elements to heal and build optimal health. Through these easy-to digest, nutrient-rich foods that supported the development of a healthy intestinal flora, I also corrected the low-acid state of my stomach, which ended the ongoing stomach and intestinal fermentation that I had experienced for so many years. Therefore, I no longer suffered from flatulence or any other digestion ailment symptoms, including those from acid reflux and a hiatal hernia. And after five years of following the principles of that Dr. Price discovered, I continue to notice improvements in my well-being.
Since my recovery, I felt that I needed to write a book that would help people in high-performing fields and others understand how our modern foods are causing so many health problems and offer accurate answers to healing. I knew that many artists were desperately trying to find solutions to serious career-threatening ailments, and had often exhausted all available resources. With the help of co-authors, Sally Fallon, international lecturer on nutrition and the founder of the Weston A. Price Foundation, and Dr. John Turner, DC, CCSP, DIBCN, the doctor who helped me with my recovery and has over 25 years of experience treating athletes, artists and the general public, I wrote a book called Performance without Pain (pub. 2006 by New Trends Publishing) and an acid reflux e-book called Acid Reflux: A National Epidemic and Precursor to Chronic Illness: Achieving Lasting Healing with Traditional Foods.
I have given over 70 seminars since 2004 for the general public, performing artists and families with children who have Autism. Since then, I have had the opportunity to witness how powerful Dr. Price’s principles are in helping world-class singers permanently recover from acid-reflux. The following are two recent stories that chronicle recovery with traditional foods:
I am a successful, internationally acclaimed singer in my fourteenth year of singing professionally. In that time, I have often struggled, plagued with GERD or performance anxiety that resulted in a reduced performance capacity. Let me start from the beginning, though, before I became a singer.
I grew up poor in a small town in Indiana. I was blessed to live in an area where growing one’s own vegetables or going to local farmer’s markets was common. We drank powdered milk and ate lots of red meat, all of which was corn-fed. Wonder bread was a staple, but, luckily, junk food was an expensive indulgence, as was eating-out, so we seldom experienced either, although we had our fill of KoolAid. I was diagnosed at the age of seven with a nervous stomach, which I now believe was reflux. I avoided sausage and very spicy foods, which seemed to make we feel the worst, and didn’t think anything else about it. I was always a very high-strung person, with lots of energy, nervous and otherwise, and I attributed that to metabolism and personality.
Fast-forward to college, when I am finally singing on a daily basis. I experienced problems with lots of unfocused, frantic energy that made settling into singing difficult. I also panicked easily. I would experience my “nervous stomach” problems before important events, and would never really know when I would have trouble with my voice. Being an extremely determined person, I soldiered on and performed well by sheer willpower. I advanced and improved and managed to make it into Orlando Opera’s Resident Artists program. I shortly thereafter was admitted into the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. I had to complete my work with Orlando, which included many exhausting programs for children and adults, sometimes having three to four shows in one day. I snag myself into a vocal node, and was on vocal rest for almost two months, only talking for two minutes a day. The first time I sang in public again after the node was my house audition for the Lyric; thus began my vocal descent.
My node never healed, my “nervous stomach” got much worse, my range was erratic, my voice unpredictable, my nerves shot. People heard that I was in trouble, but attributed it to bad repertoire choices and tried to change my fach. I still had the same willpower, which did help me get through performances, but it wasn’t enough. I had my biggest successes during this time, but suffered from the fact that my voice wasn’t “stellar” like it used to be. On a day that I was in vocal distress, I visited an ENT in Portland who scoped my cords and informed me that the node I had contracted five years earlier had never healed, and the “nervous stomach” from which I had suffered was indeed GERD. Scared, shocked, and a bit relieved, I visited a famous doctor who specializes in vocal surgery, which was very successful. My surgery was very successful and my cords were perfect again, and there was no reason that I should struggle anymore. Yet, I still had GERD, which acid reflux medicine and the diet the doctors prescribed didn’t help, and it wasn’t consistent enough for me to want to be on a medication constantly. My nerves were still shot, also, and I was panicked beyond belief. I found a wonderful teacher and got into therapy, which helped enormously. I also had a baby, which tends to affect the voice in a positive way, but I still could not get rid of the GERD, so my top range was inconsistent, and my focus and nerves were spotty on the best days, like I couldn’t stop the constant stream of noise in my head.
I met Kathy Pirtle when I was a guest performer with the Orion Ensemble, of which she is a founder. She saw I was drinking a lot of water, and had mentioned that I had GERD, which is a bad combination. She talked to me about Weston Price and the book she herself had just written about her performing problems and the life-changing diet she discovered. At this point, I had tried everything, from vegetarianism to Atkins to South Beach to the Blood-type diet, so I was willing to try anything. I was terrified that such a high fat diet would make me blow up like a balloon, and I had just gotten rid of all the weight I had gained from giving birth, but I thought my voice and health were more important. From day one, I noticed that I was hungry on less, and felt vital. My mood calmed down and my nerves settled, so that I could focus and think while singing, which is something I was rarely able to do. Also, reflux was a thing of the past, as well as gas, which I thought was something with which all people had to deal. I also continued to lose weight, and didn’t bloat the way I used to at any hormonal times of the month. If I decided to cheat and eat lots of refined grains and sugars, I would bloat up again, quickly put on pounds, get gassy, and might have reflux that night, so the proof for me has been, so to speak, in the pudding. Now, I am happier in my singing than any other time in my life, and feel I finally have the stamina to do it.
Another huge reason I decided to take up the diet was because of my mother. She recently has been diagnosed with breast cancer, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, high blood pressure, Atrial Fibrillation, plantar fasciatis, bone spurs, thickening of the uterus, and depression. It all started for her with GERD, which went unnoticed for fifty years. I knew if I did not do something, I could end up in that condition. It wasn’t all about my voice, it was about my quality of life after my singing career was through.
Here is another professional singer’s story of healing from acid-reflux through traditional foods:
When I was in my early 20’s, I remember having a ’sensitive’ stomach but thinking it was dorm food in college or stress. I didn’t think much of it. My stomach would hurt but I didn’t have throat burning or excessive throat mucous. This was prior to the first surgery.
I had my first vocal surgery in 1992. I was 33. I had a varicosity on my left vocal cord that needed to be cauterized. They had no idea what caused it. They said
it could’ve been overuse—hereditary—they weren’t sure. No one at that time mentioned acid reflux. I had been experiencing erratic vocal symptoms. Sometimes I felt great, strong, like I could sing anything and for extended periods of time. Other times I would experience quick fatigue, muscle tensions that I couldn’t control and tightness in the throat. I later learned it was from the varicosity, which would swell sometimes but not always. He thought it had probably been there a long time and was working it’s way to the surface of the cord. It eventually burst which was how I figured out what was wrong. I lost my singing voice entirely when that happened. It was like I suddenly went hoarse.
I had another vocal surgery in 1997 for a similar thing. This time I had a pollup on the left vocal cord but when they went in to take it off, they found more varicosities on the cord, which they again cauterized. At that time, my doctor mentioned that he thought I maybe had some acid reflux symptoms and suggested I go on some medication. I can’t remember which one it was—maybe Nexium? He said I could take it whenever I felt it was necessary so I messed around with it a little but didn’t feel like I wanted to get dependent and didn’t end up taking it. I didn’t really believe him because at that time I wasn’t experiencing throat burning or even upset stomach. This surgery was a surprise. I had been singing regularly and had been feeling great. He thought it was a ‘vocal accident’—just a fluke.
By 1999, I had started my own business and was having more severe problems. I would notice that certain foods seemed to trigger symptoms. I was experiencing painful upset stomach and lots of gas and burping. I tried to control it with eating blandly and eating more often in lesser amounts. This helped some. I was under a tremendous amount of stress at that time with a new business and trying to get pregnant with our second. We eventually ended up adopting. I was noticing that the acid reflux was sometimes affecting my endurance and my voice would tire more quickly. I also felt like I needed to clear my throat a lot which of course exacerbates the symptoms. I was in a vicious cycle and it was starting to mess with my head. I felt I had no control over my instrument and couldn’t rely on it. Sometimes it was fine. Other times I felt nothing but struggle. I was experiencing a mild form of depression because of it. I had fantasies of quitting entirely and just giving up.
By 2002, I needed another surgery. This time, I had had it. I worked with a vocal therapist who told me that acid reflux can cause varicosities on the vocal cords. I had always been against taking medication and so struggled with the idea of taking something every day. But the therapist said I needed to take it regularly or it wouldn’t work. It needed to build up in my system. After the surgery, I had barely been talking, let alone singing and one month later, another swelling appeared on the right vocal cord (first time on this side). I went into a tail spin. I decided to go on the medication to protect my voice. I also decided to wait and see if I could ‘heal’ the problem naturally. I just wasn’t ready for another surgery. I found a great voice teacher who helped me get back on track. I was singing better but still feeling some vocal symptoms that I couldn’t control. (Weird fluttering in my mid register was the most annoying and prominent). I decided to have a fourth surgery in 2004 to get rid of the pollup. At this surgery, he said the cords looked cleaner and there was less redness and varicose problems so I felt like the medication was helping. I still felt uneasy about being on it indefinitely though.
Since that time, I have read your book and have been following the recommendations (at least about 80% of the time). I have taken myself off the medication and my voice is healthier than it’s been in a long time. I feel like my range has diminished slightly but other than that, I’m in good shape. This may be due to the fact that I’m older and am not using the upper most part of my range as much as I did when I was singing more classical music. It may also be because I’m peri-menopausal—at least that is what my doctor has suggested. I like to think that it has nothing to do with that, but I’m not sure.
Additionally, through eating this way, after suffering my whole life with debilitating back pain, my back is much better. I’m sure it’s all related. I have a ways to go but am doing what I can to get as healthy as I can. Your book, along with Sally’s and the Weston Price Foundation’s stuff has been an inspiration. I finally feel like I’m on the RIGHT track.
These are just a few examples of healing through traditional foods. Why did our food supply change? To better understand this, let’s first examine the drastic changes that occurred since the dawn of the profit-based industrial farming industry in the 1950s. The foods we are purchasing in our grocery stores today have almost no resemblance to the quality and types of foods that our ancestors ate for thousands of years. With profit as the sole guiding force, our livestock are fed unnatural diets, which are generating foods that are very low in nutrient value; we pasteurize, homogenize, irradiate and alter our fresh foods in countless ways; we use chemical fertilizers and spray our foods with insecticides and herbicides; the shelves of our grocery stores are bursting with processed junk food of all kinds and the average person is eating about 180 pounds of sugar a year.
Before the 1950s, most of our foods came from small family farms. These high quality foods came from animals eating their natural diets—cows ate grass, chickens ate bugs and worms and all fish were wild caught. The food from animals raised on their natural diet was nutrient-dense. The grains, nuts and seasonal vegetables and fruits were, of course, also naturally, or “organically,” grown. Sugar consumption was much less—at about 40 pounds a year per person.
With the industrial farming industry, came dramatic changes in land use. As our livestock were now fed grains instead of their natural diets, much of the land that was formerly used for pasturing animals was now allotted for grain production.
Significantly, profit from grains was essential to this new system of farming. This ignited a huge push to make profit from products made from grains. Thus the processed food industry progressed, vegetable oils were developed, the cholesterol-heart disease theory evolved and the Food Pyramid, which emphasized grains, became our nation’s nutritional guide. We went from a country that primarily ate nutrient-dense foods—raw whole milk and milk products; eggs; high quality meats, poultry and organ meats; traditional fats like butter, lard and coconut oil; seasonal fruits and seasonal vegetables—to a country that ate a lot of nutrient-poor grains and new-fangled processed foods, refined sugar, vegetable oils, and meats, dairy and poultry that were factory farmed. Beginning in the 1970s, fresh fruits and vegetables from around the world also gradually became available year round.
How did these changes to our food supply affect my dietary choices? As a child in the 1960s, my family ate plenty of grains—both whole, refined and in some processed foods—modest amounts of meat, eggs, dairy, vegetables, sugar and vegetable oils, including margarine, which was hydrogenated vegetable oil, and no butter or other traditional fats. I remember “Velveeta Cheese,” “Miracle Whip,” powdered milk (which my mother added to whole milk to make it stretch farther), “Blue-Bonnet” margarine, and many “new” sugarcoated breakfast cereals. All these exciting products had endless television commercials touting their wonderful attributes. My mom (thank goodness), having to stretch the family budget to feed 5 kids, did not let us have “Twinkies,” “Hostess Cupcakes” or other very popular—and expensive—snack cakes in our lunch like all the other kids—we got plain old, store bought, bargain cookies and fresh fruit. I also remember the “bran cereal phase” where my mother heard that bran was really good for you—fiber was the “craze” in the early 1970s. We had bran breakfast cereal with added wheat germ every morning! My approach to “healthy eating” beginning in college in the late 1970s, did not include the “new-fangled” processed foods, but incorporated lots of salads, whole grains, fresh vegetables, fruit, peanut butter (it was cheap), small amounts of meat, dairy and eggs, vegetable oils, little sugar and no “evil” traditional fats—the Food Pyramid was in full force in our country and the “key” to healthy eating.
The consequences of these dietary habits were profound. First, I learned that the lack of traditional fats contributed to my problems with digestion and nutrient absorption. Second, I developed malnourishment and a “leaky gut”—a factor in inflammatory conditions—because most of the foods I ate as a child and those I thought were so “nutritious” as an adult were difficult-to-digest, nutrient-poor, and created intestinal flora imbalances, an incomplete digestion of foods to occur and nutrients to be unavailable. In fact, without foods that promote a healthy intestinal flora, the whole grains that I consumed could not be fully digested, and contributed to the development of “gut dysbiosis,” where unhealthy bacteria thrive in the intestinal tract and cause bacterial fermentation and intestinal damage. When the intestinal tract become damaged, undigested proteins can “leak” through the intestinal wall, causing an immune system response and inflammatory chemicals to constantly circulate throughout the body. Third, the result of following the US high-fiber nutritional dictates was persistent flatulence and fermentation in the stomach from these bacterial imbalances, which lead to acid reflux—my first serious digestive disorder symptom.
Often, acid-reflux disease is a sign of a hiatal hernia, where part of the stomach protrudes up through the esophagus and stomach acid can easily be released in the wrong direction. A lifetime of fermentation in my stomach produced a constant upward pressure against the esophagus due to the undigested foods being acted on by bacteria and yeast, thereby causing both of these ailments.
Insoluble fiber is exceedingly difficult to digest, especially when digestion is not optimal, and historically, people consumed far less fiber in favor of more nutrient dense, easy-to-digest foods such as high quality dairy from grass-fed animals—raw milk, cream, cheese and butter—high quality meats and fish, bone broth soups and cooked vegetables with butter.
In a remarkable book by Konstantin Monastyrsky called Fiber Menace, (pub. by Ageless Press, 2005), the author describes major health problems that can develop from eating what’s considered a modern healthy diet high in insoluble fiber from grains, raw vegetables, fruits, legumes and even fiber supplements. He details how high-fiber diets cause large stools which stretch the intestinal tract beyond its normal range—eventually resulting in intestinal damage—and a drastic upset of the natural bacterial flora of the gut. The end results can manifest as hernias, acid-reflux, hemorrhoidal disease, constipation, malnourishment, irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease. He also provides numerous medical references to show that high fiber diets do not confer the benefits claimed for them.
The author of this book is a brilliant professional man who suffered a life-threatening illness from years as a vegetarian living on high-fiber foods. Konstantin Monastyrsky was trained as a pharmacologist, but after immigrating to the US from the Ukraine, pursued a career in high technology. He worked in two premier Wall Street firms: as a senior systems analyst at First Boston Corporation and as a consultant at Goldman-Sachs & Co. He has also written two best-selling books in Russian: Functional Nutrition: The Foundation of Absolute Health and Longevity, and Disorders of Carbohydrate Metabolism.
Monastyrsky explains that human teeth are fashioned to chop flesh and that our digestive system is built to handle mainly protein digestion, with only small amounts of fiber. When we eat too much insoluble fiber, digestion lasts longer and fermentation occurs, damaging the bacterial flora and causing problems such as bloating, flatulence and enlarged stools, leading to acid reflux, constipation or diarrhea, IBS and diverticular disease.
From eating a high fiber diet that encouraged poor intestinal bacterial flora, I also developed low acid in the stomach, further contributing to acid reflux. Where most research on poor digestion focuses on unhealthy intestinal flora, the book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome, by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, MD, Mmed (neurology), MmedSci (nutrition), (pub. by Medinform, 2004), uniquely points to many problems with gut flora actually beginning with an unnatural growth of the fungus, Candida Albicans, in the stomach when it is not producing enough acid. Dr. Campbell-McBride discusses that this overgrowth interferes with the first step of digestion by causing the stomach to produce inadequate amounts of the hydrochloric acid necessary to break proteins into “peptides” before entering the small intestine. For instance, under normal circumstances, the gluteomorphine and casomorphine proteins in wheat and milk are broken down in the stomach in the presence of proper amounts of stomach acid. However, with less stomach acid, these foods in fact begin to ferment in the stomach and are not broken down into peptides before passing into the small intestine. Besides causing an inadequate digestion of foods, the pressure of the gas created from this fermentation can lead to acid reflux, esophageal problems and even hiatal hernias, which are some of the most common digestive problems that people experience. Consequently, medications that curtail the production of stomach acid further exacerbate poor digestion and bacterial flora problems.
For those who worry about getting enough nutrients without eating raw vegetables and fruits, nutrient-dense animal foods contain concentrated nutrients because the animals spend their whole lives “chowing down” literally bushels of fresh green grass and other plant matter. The result is meat and fat containing all the vitamins and minerals found in fresh produce, not only in more concentrated form, but also one that is easy to digest.
In Fiber Menace, the author gives practical advice not to eat anything that your great, great, great, great grandparents wouldn’t eat . . . but when our grandparents did include high-fiber foods like grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables in their diets, they could do this without ill effects because they had a healthy intestinal flora from eating cultured beverages and fermented foods, and they knew how to properly prepare legumes and grains for easy digestibility through soaking, sprouting and sour leavening or, in the case of vegetables and even many fruits, by cooking. Additionally, they were able to eat these foods because they did not weaken the intestinal mucosal tissue by following a low-fat vegetarian diet.
It is wise to refrain from consuming raw vegetables and fruit until acid reflux symptoms are well under control for an extended period of time. After a full recovery, it may be possible to add small amounts of these foods providing symptoms do not return. The addition of grains, however, should be very cautious, as they may be difficult to tolerate or produce allergic reactions. It is best to only test properly prepared grains.
If you are concerned about constipation, some of the healthiest cultures had very little fiber in their diets. A diet with adequate traditional fats, fermented and cultured foods and beverages for a healthy intestinal flora, and easy-to-digest bone-broth soups will correct irritable bowel symptoms of both constipation and diarrhea.
Acid reflux is a very complicated problem that requires a thorough and honest assessment of all possible causes. As the optimal health of every body system is dependent on nutrition that supports the proper functioning of the digestive system, certainly studying and applying the essential components of the diets of cultures that had perfect health is a wise endeavor.
Although finding high-quality foods and changing your diet may at first be complicated, your health is your most important asset. Without your health, you may not reach your potential and your dreams may not become a reality. The foods that Dr. Price found that supported optimal human health are not the foods that are currently recommended by US governmental standards for healthy eating. However, these nutrient-dense foods were the permanent answer to correcting malnourishment, healing acid reflux and my digestive tract, and therefore, my long-term pain. The exciting news is there is a growing movement of people across the country that is turning to these same foods to improve chronic illness of all kinds.
Written By Kathryne Pirtle
Kathryne Pirtle is a world-class clarinetist whose career nearly ended because of performance difficulties caused by celiac disease, acid reflux, chronic inflammation and other health problems. Performance without Pain, written with Sally Fallon, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation and John Turner, DC tells the story of her trials and recovery. As a health educator, she has given more than 70 workshops around the country with Dr. John Turner and appeared on numerous radio and television shows. She has been published in the Autism File Global, Advance Magazine (a publication for Physical Therapy), Wise Traditions, International Musician, the Clarinet and writes a blog on her website www.performancewithoutpain.com about issues relating to building health with nutrient-dense foods. She has also just published an e-book called Acid Reflux, A National Epidemic and Precursor to Chronic Illness—Achieving Lasting Healing with Nutrient-Dense Foods.
Pirtle is executive director of the Orion Ensemble, which gives three concert series in Metropolitan Chicago, presents a live internationally broadcast series on Chicago’s WFMT-FM Fine Arts Radio Network and tours throughout North America. She is also is principal clarinetist of the Lake Forest Symphony and frequently performs with the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, the Grant Park Music Festival, The Ravinia Festival Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
ShareThe message about healing and building health with real food is sweeping the country through many avenues. Through thousands of people who have healed through nutrient-dense foods, through the Weston A. Price Foundation, through the Autism Community, through dynamic speakers who shout the words–REAL FOOD=REAL HEALTH–real food, sustainable farming, food freedom, health freedom, personal rights are coming to the rescue…We don’t have a lot of time…things cannot get much worse than they are.
Oprah is leaving network television, but she won’t be off the airwaves. She is launching the Oprah Winfrey Network on cable television, and looking for the next generation TV stars to join her. Oprah is a kingmaker, having taken Dr. Phil and made him an overnight sensation.
Did you know that Oprah met Dr. Phil when he was hired to help her through the Texas beef industry lawsuit against her, for saying on national television that she wouldn’t eat beef? Dr. Phil was the psychologist hired to help her make it through the court proceedings, trial and all the media publicity that threatened to ruin her financially.
So OPRAH–WE NEED YOUR HELP TO GET THE MESSAGE OUT ABOUT REAL FOOD. Please vote for all of the speakers in the link below.
http://hartkeisonline.com/2010/06/28/vote-for-real-food-stars-to-get-their-own-show-on-oprah-channel/#more-6761
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
ShareAt the Mercury Symposium last year I had the opportunity to listen to leading scientists who have dedicated their life to the study of how mercury in silver fillings drastically affects health. Soon there will be a World Summit to end the use of these poisonous substances in dentistry permanently. The use of mercury amalgams has been a disastrous experiment that has affected the health of people far too long.
Dr. Hal Huggins, a leading dentist and scientist in the field mercury toxicity showed many relationships between trends in toxic dentistry and illness. In 1975, there were approximately 8,800 cases of MS reported by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). In 1976, a new amalgam filling material was introduced that contained high amounts of copper along with mercury. In 1976, 126,000 cases of MS were reported! Adding copper to amalgams increases the toxicity of mercury.
The notable rise in MS between 1975 and 1976 is just one of the many increases we have seen in chronic illness due to mercury amalgams. Hopefully, very soon mercury amalgams will be banned worldwide. To learn more about this subject, read the book It’s All in Your Head, by Dr. Hal Huggins.
Best in Health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareThis is an interesting article on how important traditional fats are to mental health in our children.
By Agnes Blum
Eat fat, be healthy.
It’s not nutritional advice that one hears every day, but it was the message at the Northern Virginia Whole Food Nutrition Meetup on Saturday Jan. 30. About 40 people braved the impending snowstorm and met at the restaurant Food Matters in Cameron Station to discuss how food can affect mood and health.
Paula Bass, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist, spoke to the crowd as they ate a breakfast of local foods. Bass, who has been practicing in Northern Virginia for 30 years, fuses a traditional psychotherapeutic approach with nutritional wisdom.
Drawing on experiences with her patients and her own battles with health problems, she told the audience how a change in diet could dramatically alter health. One theme emerged over and over: we need saturated fat, the kind you get from animals.
“When you take the fat out, you’re taking out all the good nutrients,” Bass said, explaining how saturated fat helps keep the brain chemically balanced. “Without it, symptoms can mimic a psychiatric illness and then you do have a psychiatric illness, because that’s the way you’re feeling every day.”
One little girl, for example, had always excelled in school but had begun having breakdowns and lashing out at friends and family. It turned out this second-grader had, up until recently, been eating a whole-foods breakfast with plenty of fat — pancakes, eggs, bacon — and was now eating sugar-cereal and skim milk because of the morning rush at home. Bass recommended to her parents that they ensure she eat a breakfast full of protein and animal fats. They did, and her problems disappeared.
“Food can directly influence a child’s brain,” Bass said. Many people who suffer from mood disorders today — everything from depression to ADD — can trace their problems to a diet lacking in nutrients and fats, she said.
“The only vegetable I saw growing up was canned string beans,” Bass joked. She traced her own turnaround in health to when she began to follow the principles of the Weston A. Price Foundation, which uses education, research and activism to promote healthy living. Their guidelines are: eat pastured meat, probiotics such as yogurt, organic fruits and vegetables and strictly avoid sugar, vegetable oils, white flour, soy and additives such as MSG. “We’re not eating what we should eat,” Bass said. “And what we are eating damages the manufacture of healthy cells.”
A nutrient-dense, traditional foods diet will go a long way in protecting our children’s physical and mental health. For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareThere is mounting evidence that as more people are experiencing healing from inflammation and digestive illness with nutrient-dense foods, that this factor is in itself a protection from degenerative disease. In articles from the Wise Traditions Journal–A Holistic Approach to Cancer:The Disease of Civilization, by Tom Cowan, MD and The Pilot Research Study, Live Blood Analysis of Adults Comparing The Weston A. Price Foundation Diet and the Conventional Modern Diet, by Beverly Rubick, PhD–we can see this relationship.
Dr. Cowan notes that “civilization is the cause of cancer….The hunter-gatherer indigenous populations that were dependent upon animals feeding on perennial grass-based environments lived free of cancer for literally thousands and thousands of years. Organic agriculture turned the soil nearly into a desert, and brought cancer to people who had no cancer. Weston Price got in at the tail end of this inquiry in the 1930s and documented the health of these people from the standpoint of their teeth. But again, whenever we look at the health of non-industrialized people we see the same thing: these people are without cancer, and also without heart disease.”
Cowan discusses how a diet high in hard-to-digest carbohydrates–including hard-to-digest raw vegetables–can cause dysbiosis, intestinal damage and leaky gut, which puts the body in a constant state of inflammation. This state of inflammation is what leads to degenerative illness like cancer and heart disease. It is by returning to the hunter-gatherer diet that we can correct this disease state. This is the same diet that Dr. Weston Price found in immune cultures and that is reversing chronic illness in so many ill people who follow this approach today.
I love Cowan’s statements in response to the question, “Is the hunter-gatherer diet “square with human anatomy?” He says, “I am not against changing certain patterns of the diet based on what a person can tolerate. But when someone says that their blood type needs to be a herbivore, a vegan, I think to myself well, yes, that would be fine if they had rumen. Let me tell you, the first cancer patients that come in with rumen, I’m putting them on a vegetarian diet. If they have very long intestines and a rumen with bacteria to ferment cellulose, I’d put them on a vegetarian diet.”
Cowan uses a nutrient-dense diet in his work with cancer patients. This diet eliminates all disaccharides–sugars in grains, lactose in fluid milk (even raw) and starchy vegetables. It emphasizes lots of healthy fats–butter, ghee, and coconut oil–grass-fed meats and organ meats, wild seafood, fermented raw dairy, low-starch vegetables, some fruit, bone broth soups and cod-liver oil. This is exactly the same diet that saved my life and that I have written about extensively for the last eight years. This is how I overcame 25 years of chronic inflammation and a severe digestive disorder. IT WORKS!
A new exciting study, The Pilot Research Study, Live Blood Analysis of Adults Comparing The Weston A. Price Foundation Diet and the Conventional Modern Diet, by Beverly Rubick, PhD, compares the blood from two groups of men of three age groups–one eating the Weston A. Price diet and the other a conventional diet. “The blood of the subjects on the WAPF diet showed reduced blood coagulation and clotting within forty-five minutes compared to those on conventional modern diets. Blood coagulation and clotting in fresh blood draws are generally associated with increased inflammation.” Here again, in the prevention of inflammation, a traditional, nutrient-dense diet is showing great promise.
As we see more people healing and being protected from inflammation, digestive disorders and degenerative illness with nutrient-dense diets, and even more research pointing to the support of this powerful traditional dietary approach, we will hopefully move our society in the direction of seeking true solutions for our ever-increasing modern health epidemics. As more people also seek the foods produced by traditional small-farm agriculture to accomplish this goal, we can reform our food supply to improve the health of future generations.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
ShareWhen considering the disturbing rise in the percentage of degenerative diseases, brain disorders and mental health issues in children today, intuition would suggest that these statistics will not improve without drastic changes in the trends that have lead us to this looming catastrophe. In the book, The Truth about Children’s Health: The Comprehensive Guide to Understanding, Preventing, and Reversing Disease, by Robert Bernardini, MS (PRI Publishing, 2003), Bernardini points to the fact that children are far less healthy today than in the 1950s—that we have forgotten what a healthy child is—that diseases have become so common, that we think this trend is not unusual.
Another book, Is Your Child’s Brain Starving?, by Dr. Michael R. Lyon, MD and Dr. Christine Laurell, PhD (Mind Publishing, 2002) makes these profound statements:
In a review of Bernardini’s book by Janice M. Curtin, she explains:
Beginning with a report on the status of children in America today, Bernardini asks the question I have raised many times. “If you’re an adult reading this who is older than about 40 years of age, I’d like you to think back to your childhood. How many kids did you know who had leukemia, asthma, diabetes, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cancer, autism or were obese? Chances are, you may have known a few. Perhaps the kid down the street had asthma. Maybe there was a distant relative who had juvenile diabetes. Or you heard on the news about some rare child with leukemia. Now, it seems like everywhere you turn, you read or hear about a child with a serious health problem. How many kids do you know of who are on Ritalin or were diagnosed with a learning disability? There are whole hospitals devoted to children’s cancer. Asthma and diabetes are now considered epidemics.”
Bernadini points out that “we live in a universe of laws. These laws that don’t care if you’re black or white, Japanese or Mexican, 90 years old or still a fetus. These laws are fundamental in the nature of matter and energy and determine how life progresses. If we live in harmony with these laws, we will as consequence live in harmony. If we break the laws, we will become discordant. Enough of this discord will create sickness, disease, and aberrant behavior.” Dr. Price expressed this fact in a similar manner as “Life in all its fullness is Mother Nature obeyed.”
Bernadini explains that whenever a health problem occurs, we must determine what the problem really is and determine the cause of the symptoms. Then we must apply our knowledge and technology in a way that works with nature, not against it, in order to get our children well. A good example of this might be the treatment of ADHD. Bernardini recommends removing the heavy metal toxicity from a child’s tissues and giving him a good diet instead of giving him Ritalin. If you do not remove the cause you never truly get rid of the problem. It may, however, seem to disappear but then surface in a new way.
Bernardini also addresses mental and emotional health and the growth of violence in our schools. “According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the years between 1985 and 1995 saw a 249 percent increase in gun-related murders committed by juveniles.” Bernardini says our kids are going crazy because “they’re not happy. And they’re not happy because they’re not healthy.”
Furthermore, “People are getting sicker younger and younger–physically, mentally and emotionally. And it’s not by chance –it’s because our bodies are not being treated and cared for the way nature intended.” Our children are exposed to environmental toxins which their small bodies cannot handle and they are stressed out and poorly fed.
Bernardini stresses that the diet of pregnant mothers and infants during the first few years of life is critical to their health and happiness later on. He quotes Susan B. Robbers, Ph.D, professor of nutrition at Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy in Boston, who says, “As a nutrition researcher, I have spent 20 years studying the importance of healthy food at all stages of life. . . Studies from my own laboratory and others around the world have taught me that the foods my daughter eats during the first months and years of life have long-lasting–and in some cases–permanent effects. Foods make an important difference in virtually everything–from mental and physical developments to vitality, personality and health from childhood through old age.” Bernardini provides extensive information on the foods and nutrients your baby needs, what these nutrients do, and how to get them.
Bernardini’s dietary advice is in line with that of Dr. Price. Characteristic of the entire book, Bernardini is not afraid to tell us that it is important for your growing child to get enough fat in the diet. “Newborns must derive 50 percent of the calories they consume from dietary fat. Fat is essential for normal growth from infancy on, since fats provide fatty acids, the building block children need for critical metabolic programming of brain growth and development.” Bernardini gives specific advice on how to feed your child. He includes our recipes for homemade baby formula and recommends cod liver oil, egg yolks, raw whole milk and liver.
Dr. Bernardini fearlessly addresses an array of controversial topics including birth defects, infertility, baby food and formula, soy, vaccines, and SIDS. He gives extensive advice on what to avoid but also has plenty of support and resources on ways to deal with any problems your child may be experiencing already.
Bernardini does a good job of empowering us to be proactive. He is particularly concerned that we take back responsibility for our own and our children’s health. He gives good advice when he says: “You must scrutinize closely the information you receive from the government and the mass media. Policy decisions, guidelines and laws are oftentimes made not so much for the preservation of our health, but for the preservation of profits. Big money can do big things, including influencing our government. A 1980 study showed that almost half of the leading officials at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had at one time worked for organizations the agency is mandated to regulate. Similarly, many FDA officials quit to go work for a company in the field they were once regulating. . . . Do some research and ask some questions. Don’t necessarily believe somebody just because he or she is on the nightly news, in the papers or is a so-called ‘expert.’ Make yourself the expert. Learn to seek answers, not just accept what is foisted upon you–for the truth is often quiet and the truth is often hidden. Truth is not in it for the money, it just is. Truth doesn’t advertise.” He reminds us to be wary of the advertisers and be watchful that we do not become brainwashed. We must constantly be aware of the fact that we could lose our health freedoms if we are not educated, aware and vigilant about protecting them.
Although the problems we are seeing today may seem overwhelming in their scope, it is the responsibility of an alerted society to protect future generations of children from the suffering caused by the obvious mistakes and profit-driven decisions that have given birth to a wildly untamed massive power structure and authority that we cannot afford to blindly support. As statistics are showing seriously unfavorable trends in wide areas of health, we have no time to waste in correcting this path, for our children’s ability to thrive depends on our courage to help change this misguided direction of history.
The enlightened work of the Weston A. Price Foundation and the expansive healing information it is providing, which is helping to reverse these trends, must be communicated in exponential proportion to every person by those who understand and have experienced its power. Through understanding the root cause of our mistakes and the proven answers to these problems, we can steer a sinking ship from disaster to great hope for a brighter future for upcoming generations.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
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Once you study the work of Dr. Weston Price–Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, and Dr. Francis Pottenger–Dr. Pottenger’s Cats–you will never be the same! We took in a beautiful 4 year old dog from the shelter about 5 years ago. Her name is Lexi. She is a cute, medium-sized blond-colored sweetie. She looks like a mix of Beagle and Shar Pei–with her wrinkly skin.
When Lexi came to us she was nervous and skittish. I knew I was going to feed her a diet based on the work of Weston A. Price and Dr. Pottenger–a species-appropriate raw diet. I found a fantastic book called Switching to Raw and got busy. What I realized after reading the book is that Lexi would be eating a lot like me–except I don’t do the raw bones and I don’t eat raw meat exclusively–but do bone broth soups and lightly cooked meats–sometimes raw. I alternate her diet between one day of raw chicken necks and backs from the farm, which I cut in smaller pieces, with raw meat or liver mixed with raw egg yolks, cod liver oil and butter oil the next day. She always has a little bowl of raw milk kefir to drink alongside her water.
As you might imagine, Lexi at 9 years old has never been sick, she is no longer skittish and her coat is drop-dead gorgeous! She went from a shy dog to being a dog who is happy, playful–yet calm–and a friend to all. What a beautiful miracle she is and her exceptional health is a joy to observe.
Although I do not have a cat, I know if I did, I would follow Dr. Pottenger’s recipe for cat health. Raw meat, raw milk, raw egg yolks, cod liver oil and butter oil and learn if ground-up raw bones is also recommended.
When you feed your pets nutrient-dense foods, they can recover from illness and develop a high-level of health and hopefully, many more years of life.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
ShareWhole Foods is an awesome store for finding many of the nutrient-dense, pastured and wild-caught foods we need to build optimal health through the principles of the Weston A. Price Foundation. They are carrying pastured butter, meats and yogurt. They also carry high quality eggs, a wide array of wild-caught seafood and traditionally fermented vegetables and drinks. In fact, Whole Foods is helping to save the lives of thousands of seriously ill people who are desperately trying to find a source of these foods–Whole Foods is their only source.
I just received a disturbing letter from a dedicated reader who is concerned that Whole Foods may be turning into a vegan store:
“I have been shopping more frequently at Whole Foods and I notice they have a selection of health books that are all based on being a vegan or low fat vegetarian. Then when I was checking out, I was offered a pamphlet by the young man bagging my groceries. The pamphlet told me to implement the following: low fat, plants mostly, and to cut way back, or completely eliminate all animal foods. It encourages nutrient dense foods but seems to say that these come from plants only. Even a look at the books they promote now seem to be mostly along the lines of vegan, vegetarian, and low fat. Since when did Whole Foods get into the business of telling people how to eat? Makes me think they will do away with their seafood and meat departments at some point!”
For years before becoming deathly ill, my diet consisted of large amounts of organic salads, vegetables and fruits, grains, a little meat and eggs and no animal fat. I had chronic pain for 25 years on this diet, then acid reflux, then a serious inflammation in my spine followed by chronic diarrhea. Without learning about the work of Dr. Weston A. Price and the Weston A. Price Foundation–not only would I have lost my national career as a performing artist–I would have died at 45 years old!!! I am not alone in this story of ill health from this kind of diet–it simply will not provide a person with enough nutrients to be healthy over their entire life.
Now at 52, I have healed my digestive tract, been pain-free and have vibrant health from eating a nutrient-dense diet for the last 8 years. Whole Foods has been one of my partners in achieving this level of health. In my seminars across the United States, I recommend Whole Foods over and over.
We need Whole Foods to continue to be a partner to people of all dietary needs–not just veganism–because veganism may be a choice for some people, but it is not the answer for the majority. If this is an environmental issue for Whole Foods, please remember that sustainable agriculture based on traditional pasture farming is the ONLY way we will build our exhausted, nutrient-poor soils, as animals on pasture that provide nutrient-dense foods and build soil fertility are our sole vehicle to this means.
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
There is no cookbook in the world that can match the best-selling book by the legendary Sally Fallon, the co-author of my book, Performance without Pain and the founder of the Weston A. Price Foundation. Besides teaching people how to cook fantastic nutrient-dense, traditional foods from all over the world, this book has literally saved the lives of thousands of people through educating them on building health with REAL FOOD based on the infallible work of Dr. Weston A. Price. It is packed with information about nutrition that is so magnetic that you cannot put the book down! When you start reading it, you find yourself still reading at 1:00 AM thinking–this is a cookbook! But this cookbook helped to save my life.
Nourishing Traditions and the real food movement that has grown from it, in itself has begun to turn around the terrible incorrect modern high-fiber/low-fat dictates that have plagued our society since the dawn of industrial farming and the processed food industry. It is helping to change a food supply that has become so corrupted that it is causing epidemics of dietary-caused illnesses in people that have never been seen before. It is the basis of what needs to happen to bring an end to a broken, profit-driven food industry that has no true regard for your health.
In celebration of Sally’s work, Kim Knoch, a mom of teenage twin girls and wife to a picky eater husband, is going to cook all 773 recipes in Sally’s book before 12/31/2011! She states in her note to Weston A. Price chapter leaders that “I am having some challenges switching my family over to the ‘real food,’ Weston A. Price Foundation lifestyle, but we are doing it one step at a time. My blog is about the ‘real face’ of switching over to real food and replacing bad habits with good ones.
Her blog is called The Nourishing Cook. Please share in the celebration of the best cookbook ever written by following this blog.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
ShareAs you know from my blog by now–raw butter from grass-fed cows is an amazing nutrient-dense food. It is one of the foods that saved my life. It helped to heal my gut and gave me the important saturated fat I needed to be able to absorb the nutrients in my food. Dr. Weston A. Price found that healthy cultures ate plenty of traditional saturated fats–raw butter being extremely common, especially for the people in the Swiss Alps. In fact, raw butter in the spring time was considered a sacred food! Below is an interesting article I received about butter.
Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back. It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow colouring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavourings….
Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it open in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will notice a couple of things:
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareBest in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
By Lisa Abend Monday, Jan. 25, 2010
On a farm in coastal Maine, a barn is going up. Right now it’s little more than a concrete slab and some wooden beams, but when it’s finished, the barn will provide winter shelter for up to six cows and a few head of sheep. None of this would be remarkable if it weren’t for the fact that the people building the barn are two of the most highly regarded organic-vegetable farmers in the country: Eliot Coleman wrote the bible of organic farming, The New Organic Grower, and Barbara Damrosch is the Washington Post’s gardening columnist. At a time when a growing number of environmental activists are calling for an end to eating meat, this veggie-centric power couple is beginning to raise it. “Why?” asks Coleman, tromping through the mud on his way toward a greenhouse bursting with December turnips. “Because I care about the fate of the planet.”
Ever since the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization released a 2006 report that attributed 18% of the world’s man-made greenhouse-gas emissions to livestock — more, the report noted, than what’s produced by transportation — livestock has taken an increasingly hard rap. At first, it was just vegetarian groups that used the U.N.’s findings as evidence for the superiority of an all-plant diet. But since then, a broader range of environmentalists has taken up the cause. At a recent European Parliament hearing titled “Global Warming and Food Policy: Less Meat = Less Heat,” Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, argued that reducing meat consumption is a “simple, effective and short-term delivery measure in which everybody could contribute” to emissions reductions. (See the top 10 green ideas of 2009.)
And of all the animals that humans eat, none are held more responsible for climate change than the ones that moo. Cows not only consume more energy-intensive feed than other livestock; they also produce more methane — a powerful greenhouse gas — than other animals do. “If your primary concern is to curb emissions, you shouldn’t be eating beef,” says Nathan Pelletier, an ecological economist at Dalhousie University in Halifax, N.S., noting that cows produce 13 to 30 lb. of carbon dioxide per pound of meat. (See where cows eat and what it means for the environment.)
So how can Coleman and Damrosch believe that adding livestock to their farm will help the planet? Cattleman Ridge Shinn has the answer. On a wintry Saturday at his farm in Hardwick, Mass., he is out in his pastures encouraging a herd of plump Devon cows to move to a grassy new paddock. Over the course of a year, his 100 cattle will rotate across 175 acres four or five times. “Conventional cattle raising is like mining,” he says. “It’s unsustainable, because you’re just taking without putting anything back. But when you rotate cattle on grass, you change the equation. You put back more than you take.” (See the top 10 scientific discoveries of 2009.)
It works like this: grass is a perennial. Rotate cattle and other ruminants across pastures full of it, and the animals’ grazing will cut the blades — which spurs new growth — while their trampling helps work manure and other decaying organic matter into the soil, turning it into rich humus. The plant’s roots also help maintain soil health by retaining water and microbes. And healthy soil keeps carbon dioxide underground and out of the atmosphere.
Compare that with the estimated 99% of U.S. beef cattle that live out their last months on feedlots, where they are stuffed with corn and soybeans. In the past few decades, the growth of these concentrated animal-feeding operations has resulted in millions of acres of grassland being abandoned or converted — along with vast swaths of forest — into profitable cropland for livestock feed. “Much of the carbon footprint of beef comes from growing grain to feed the animals, which requires fossil-fuel-based fertilizers, pesticides, transportation,” says Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma. “Grass-fed beef has a much lighter carbon footprint.” Indeed, although grass-fed cattle may produce more methane than conventional ones (high-fiber plants are harder to digest than cereals, as anyone who has felt the gastric effects of eating broccoli or cabbage can attest), their net emissions are lower because they help the soil sequester carbon.
ShareBuying food from good sources–organic farms that pasture their animals–is essential to the future health of our population, animal kingdom and planet. Below is a shocking letter by Al Sears, MD from Florida to one of his patients.
The drugs in the commercial beef you buy at your local supermarket are getting so bad, even the vultures are dying. I just read a report that millions of vultures died in South Asia after eating cattle carcasses tainted with two drugs used to treat livestock. As scavengers, vultures have an iron-clad digestive system. Look at their diet – the birds eat nothing but putrid meat day in and day out. Yet their numbers have decreased – almost to extinction in some cases – because of the deadly effect of drugs we inject into cattle.
Imagine for a moment what would have happened had the meat made its way into your refrigerator. For millions of years, beef has been a healthy part of our ancestors’ diet. But our ancestors never had to deal with the commercial farming practices of today. I want to stress the importance of making certain the meat you eat is not commercially raised. My two biggest concerns are antibiotics and hormones…
Commercially raised cattle are force-fed grain laced with antibiotics – not because they’re sick, but to:
Did you know that 70% of all antibiotics in the U.S. are used – not in people – but in “healthy” livestock animals? This is a major crisis for us, because antibiotics create drug-resistant strains of bacteria that live in the food we eat. Because of this, many life-threatening diseases – such as E.coli, Salmonella, and Campylobacter – are almost impossible to treat.
The other major issue is hormones. Most beef in the U.S. is injected with synthetic hormones that are transferred to people. They are dangerous to children, dangerous to adults, and also cause cancer. It’s such a health concern that there’s been a ban on hormone-treated U.S. meat throughout the European nations since 1989.
It’s a sad commentary. I was lucky enough to grow up eating grass-fed beef. My mom and dad made sure we had locally grown, healthy, grazing beef from neighboring farms. They simply didn’t trust the commercial beef industry; my dad said they kept too many secrets. But they did trust what they could see in our neighbors’ fields and farms.
Finding quality grass-fed beef is tricky sometimes. Grocery stores often label meat as grass-fed because at one time in their life, a cow grazed on grass, but later was put on a grain diet. So it’s important to investigate.
By Al Sears, MD
Please know the source of your foods! Your health depends on it. The Weston A. Price website has a listing of co-ops throughout our country that have grass-fed, organic meats, poultry and dairy.
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
Asthma is one of the serious epidemics we are seeing in our population. Since just 1995, the number of diagnosed cases of this illness has jumped from 14.9 million to 34.1 million! Although one would assume this jump is a direct result of toxins in the air, this is not the underlying cause in many cases. You may be surprised to learn that 41.1% of non-smokers who have a chronic cough and 60% of those who have asthma also have acid reflux!
How does acid reflux cause asthma? First, the refluxed liquid may cause people to inhale tiny drops of acid into their lungs thus aggravating the delicate pulmonary lining and initiating spasms in the airways triggering an asthma attack. Second, the digestive acid may damage the esophageal lining and expose some of the nerves that are connected to the lungs. The irritation of the nerve endings can create a constriction of airways, thereby causing an asthma attack. Additionally, the acid can cause inflammation of the throat and larynx. To make things even more complicated, some asthma medications that dilate the bronchial tubes can produce acid reflux symptoms as they may cause the cardiac sphincter to relax—allowing acid to escape up through the esophagus. Therefore, treating the symptoms of asthma without looking at the possibility of acid reflux is like holding your finger over the hole of a sinking boat!
If the acid reflux issues are symptomatically treated with yet more medications, there may be a risk for serious long-term health issues. Acid reflux is most often treated with acid-lowering drugs. However, the true source of most acid reflux problems is a Candida, or yeast overgrowth, in the stomach that is actually caused by low acid in the stomach itself! A yeast overgrowth slows down digestion and foods will ferment under these conditions. As Candida will also paralyze the esophageal sphincter, the gases from the fermentation push the food up through the weakened esophageal muscles.
Because candida only grows in low acid conditions in the first place–acid lowering drugs are going to further compromise digestion. As Candida proliferates, it can promote severe dysbiosis, or poor intestinal flora. With poor intestinal flora, foods are not digested properly, nutrients are not absorbed, intestinal damage is forthcoming and eventually malnourishment will occur. Besides compromised nutrient absorption, intestinal damage causes leaky gut, which can initiate allergic tendencies such as asthma! Therefore, one problem incorrectly treated cascades into more problems.
If we can find the source of the asthma and acid reflux epidemic, we will have the answer to help millions of people. Both asthma and acid reflux have grown exponentially since the industrialization of our food supply that spurred the creation of processed, denatured and low-nutrient foods. Before this time, most people’s diets included foods that were high in nutrients and supported good digestion like meats, poultry, eggs and dairy from grass-fed animals and cultured dairy and vegetables like kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut and pickled beets. They also ate ample traditional fats like butter, lard and coconut oil and foods with natural sources of vitamins A and D like cod liver oil, liver and egg yolks, which are necessary for good digestion and nutrient absorption. With good digestion and a nutrient-rich diet, a person will diminish the probability of suffering from an illness like acid reflux, allergies and it’s related condition–asthma.
By returning to traditional farming and the foods that our ancestors ate, we will diminish the exponential growth of illnesses rooted in poor digestion. If we can move from the symptomatic treatment of asthma to solving the problem, we will help to support better health for generations to come.
For more information building health and treating acid reflux and its related illnesses such as asthma with nutrient-dense foods, see our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareSulfur is one of the most important minerals in our body. It is critical to help us detoxify and regenerate new tissue. Historically, the foods we ate had ample sulfur. However, since the industrialization of our food supply, our soils have been depleted of sulfur and even pastured, organically grown foods will often not provide our bodies with adequate levels of this mineral. The following study will help you to understand more about this important nutrient.
Early results of an experimental study using Organic Sulfur
By Patrick McGean, Director
Cellular Matrix Study
The Cellular Matrix Study (referred to here as “The Sulfur Study”) was organized in 1999. This study was inspired by a fatal type of breast cancer, a type of germ cell reproductive cancer that had been reported to respond to organic sulfur.
While researching this cancer, it became obvious that the sulfur cycle plays an important role in the regeneration of our cells. The Study also found that the use of chemical fertilizers had effectively broken the sulfur cycle in countries that use these fertilizers.
Diseases we hadn’t even heard of have become typical, cancer has grown at an unprecedented rate, and the quality of our food has been greatly diminished. Is there a correlation here?
Since 1954, rates of disease in the U.S. have gone up approximately 4,000 percent. And in 1954, chemical fertilizers were mandated by our government. Fertilizers such as ammonium nitrates and sulfates, which lack bioavailability, appear to have broken the sulfur cycle. This appears to have contributed to the decline of our health, wealth, mental acuity, and quality of life. We believe that when the Study is completed, it will clearly demonstrate a connection between the lack of sulfur and the inability of cells to regenerate in a healthy manner.
Linus Pauling said that all modern diseases can be attributed to a mineral deficiency. Though Pauling is best known for his work with vitamin C, his statement was about minerals. Most researchers say that sulfur is one of the most important of the trace minerals, around the fourth to sixth most important.
Sulfur enables the transport of oxygen across cell membranes, and oxygen is necessary for healthy cellular regeneration in mammals. Plants, on the other hand, require carbon dioxide for cell regeneration, and plants can store sulfur, while man cannot. Man eliminates carbon dioxide, and plants eliminate oxygen. Thus, the sulfur cycle is symbiotic and vital for life as we know it.
When many health professionals are asked about sulfur, they state as if reading from a cue card, “We get all the sulfur we need from the food we eat.” That was true until man decided to change the way we grow our food and what we feed our crops.
In 1920, Otto Warburg began his study of cancer in both plants and man, for which he received a Nobel Prize in 1931. He proved that cancer in man is anaerobic. Anaerobic, by definition, is cellular metabolism without oxygen. “Cancer” in plants is linked to too much intracellular oxygen, or aerobic metabolism. The use of a gas we are intended to eliminate for cellular regeneration is not a healthy program for plants or man.
The Study’s initial research of organic sulfur had its participants go to the store to buy MSM (methylsulfonylmethane). But what we hoped to observe did not coincide with what the literature said about MSM. Except for gastrointestinal improvements, our initial group had little improvement.
When we found an article about the 16 “deadly” additives found in MSM—the anti-caking additives, we realized why our early participants were not reporting any health improvements. These additives benefit only the packaging industry; our health is apparently a lesser concern to them.
Sulfur, with an atomic number of 16, is known to bond with almost every other mineral. Sulfur has demonstrated its ability to detoxify heavy metals in conjunction with the transport of oxygen across the cell membrane, thus allowing regeneration. Sulfur is also the key player as a precursor for the utilization of amino acids, the body’s building blocks. Of all of the amino acids, some 70 percent are sulfur-based.
This detoxification cannot happen with MSM that contains anti-caking ingredients, because these excipients block the bioavailability of sulfur to the cells. The same thing happens when organic sulfur is released into the ocean, or evaporates and falls with rain—that sulfur is bound up by the chemical fertilizers as sulfites and sulfates.
It soon became clear that the Study had to find a pure, uncontaminated form of MSM. After a thorough search, we believe we have found it in the form of Organic Sulfur—coarse crystal flakes which are fresh from the precipitator and have had no further processing. This Organic Sulfur is supplied to the members of the Study, and we follow them with photographs of their faces in an effort to observe the cellular regeneration they experience.
The photographic followup, the newest aspect of the Study, is too recent in its implementation to be able to share the results. However, the reports on health, diet, and medications have been very interesting. As in the beginning of the Study, many of these participants had been taking MSM in tablet or capsule form for many years. Our efforts to find a pure form of MSM was worth the effort, as their responses have clearly indicated.
We are seeing cellular regeneration in the face photographs of our Study participants, but it takes up to seven years to regenerate all the cells in the body when the cells are healthy. Damaged cells from trauma or chemical processes cannot regenerate unless the ability to transport of oxygen across the cell membrane is functioning. Oxygen is a large molecule, so nutrient uptake is also improved when the cell membrane becomes pliable and healthy. The purity of the sulfur is an important factor.
Old scar tissue and various types of fibroids have been reported to resolve. This is an example of cellular regeneration in cells that have been scarred and unable to regenerate over the years following a trauma.
The skin is the largest organ in the body, and it’s like a huge kidney or lung. Sulfur is known as “the beauty mineral,” and what we really are saying is that the skin is more beautiful if its cells are able to regenerate. The skin is the backup for the liver, and someone in liver distress shows it in the cells of their face and skin. When the internal filters are working well, the extracellular fluids are not polluted and the immune system is allowed to protect the body from infections.
Lab and clinical data have not been made available from the doctors or clinics who have seen our Study members. However, we can report the following dramatic examples of cellular regeneration:
Cellular regeneration appears to be closely tied to the body’s ability to transport oxygen across cell membranes. As stated earlier, this is a primary function of organic sulfur.
A study of the periodic table of elements shows sulfur, selenium, and tellurium as being the only three oxygen transport minerals. Further study shows that chlorine and fluorine are detrimental to such oxygen transport, yet these elements have been added to make our teeth “healthier” and our water “more pure” or free from bacterial infestation. These elements are poisonous at higher concentrations, and they block the uptake of both oxygen and sulfur. Drinking city tap water is discouraged in the Study for this reason.
The Study believes that a widespread deficiency in the mineral sulfur may be responsible for the great increase in disease in the U.S. Healthy cellular metabolism is the basis for cellular regeneration of all of our cells. This is the bottom line for the human body. Without intracellular oxygen, we begin to degenerate long before our biological clock runs out.
We began life as a single cell, and from that one cell we have made and regenerated all the cells of our body in a healthy manner, unless that regeneration is stymied by the food we eat.
Since 1954, our food supply has been devoid of sulfur, thanks to the use of chemical fertilizers and the overprocessing of our foods. Unfortunately, our nation is not about to cease the use of these profitable chemicals, which involve commercial agribusiness, medicine, insurance, as well as genetic and designer foods. However, we can regenerate our internal sulfur cycle with organic sulfur, provided that this sulfur compound has not suffered the same indignities of science that our food supply has and continues to suffer.
Finland, alarmed over the increasing disease rate of its population, took a hard look at chemical fertilizers and banned all of them, fearing the levels of cadmium. They were not aware of the sulfur connection or Krebs cycle. Since doing so, they have become a leading supplier of “Bio-Friendly” or completely organic foods in Europe. They have also seen their disease rates drop to one tenth of the 1985 levels. In 1985, the U.S. was at the same marked disease level as Finland. Why are we not following suit and banning all chemical fertilizers? It appears that the epidemiology of those countries using chemical fertilizers have an increase in disease, while those that use organically based fertilizing methods do not.
Organic sulfur is a food, not a drug. Organic Sulfur is not stored in the body and it is considered to be nontoxic. Attempts to kill mice, rats, and Oregon State Death Row inmates failed to reach a toxic level even at 200 grams or almost half pound a day.
Ear infections have become a common ailment in children. A child who suffers from frequent ear infections is at risk for permanent hearing loss. Although the most widely used treatment for ear infections is antibiotics, is this approach really addressing the underlying cause and are there long-term risks of not looking at the real health issue? When a society sees a common health problem and the answer is a medication, one must ask, “Is there is a great danger in following this path?”
What could possibly be an underlying reason for a mass epidemic in ear infections in children? What many people do not realize is that acid reflux is often present in a child with ear infections. As refluxed liquid enters the upper throat and inflames the adenoids, it causes them to swell. The swollen adenoids can block the passages of the sinuses and Eustation tube and fluid can build in the sinuses and middle ear. Acid reflux affects 1 in 5 people in our country. Therefore, looking at the acid reflux problem closely will not only help these children heal permanently, but also help to understand what our society as a whole faces to prevent this and other health epidemics that are related to poor digestion from continuing to escalate.
Acid reflux is caused from poor digestion. Hippocrates said that, “All diseases begin in the gut.” So treating ear infections with antibiotics is not only an incorrect long-term healing approach, it does not address the underlying problem of poor digestion and can be just one more element that puts a person at risk for other serious diseases.
The acid reflux epidemic in children is most often a direct outgrowth of a familial inheritance of poor gut flora when the child is born. When a child passes through the birth canal, it should acquire a healthy dose of gut flora from the mother. However, if the mother’s digestive health is poor or the child is born by a cesarean section, it’s gut flora, a first line of defense for illness, may be greatly compromised. If the child is breast-fed, this can help establish good intestinal flora for digestion, but only if the mother also has this asset.
Acid reflux and its related symptom, ear infections, have become epidemic since the drastic change to our food supply in the 1950s, where people began eating hard-to-digest foods that were very low in nutrient-density and stopped eating traditional probiotic cultured foods. This has caused a society laden with digestive problems. Hard-to-digest, low-nutrient foods slow down digestion and can promote the proliferation of a candida overgrowth in the stomach and intestinal tract. The gases from the fermentation of food create the acid reflux conditions that can cause ear infections.
The solution for permanent healing is to return to the types of foods that supported healthy digestion and optimal health in our ancestors. These foods are the nutrient-dense meats, poultry, dairy and eggs from pastured animals and the wide array of cultured and fermented foods that used to grace our tables and provide the body with the building blocks of optimal health. Cultured foods like raw milk kefir, yogurt, homemade sauerkraut, pickled beets and beet kvass were a part of the everyday meals of people worldwide for thousands of years. They insure the proper gut flora that is absolutely necessary for good digestion. By approaching ear infections from the much broader perspective of poor digestion and changes to our food supply, we have the tools to improve our own health and help future generations to free themselves of the far-reaching effects of a profit-based industrial food supply.
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareAny thinking, breathing, right-minded person who looks at the state of the health of the people in our country, would have to be extremely alarmed at the mounting signs of disaster. What happens when nearly every child born, faces a terrible condition that will not allow them to live a productive, healthy life? What happens when nearly every child is born with Autism? Do the math! Look at today’s statistics! We are not far from this except for the fact that a huge movement of people are healing themselves and supporting their health with the foods produced with sustainable agriculture–or pasture-raised foods–raw milk, raw butter and pasture-raised meat, eggs and poultry along with fermented cod-liver oil, and fermented dairy and vegetables. These are the foods of our ancestors. These are the foods that supported human life for thousands of years. These are the foods of small family farms who cared about the earth, animals and provided well for their families and friends. This is a movement of people that has embraced the historical relationship with the farmer who is the steward of the earth. These are the foods of our founding fathers. This is real food! Our children cannot be healthy without real food and we cannot expect anything less than a disaster when generations of people do not eat real food!
The raw milk rally in Viroqua, Wisconsin on Monday of this week was just the beginning of the many opportunities we must seize to make it very clear that the government can no longer attempt to control what kinds of foods people choose to insure their health and that of their children. A world without healthy children being born, is no world at all. Good food raised from small family farms is the only food that will support our future on this beautiful planet.
Get involved!! The time is now!! Every person must look at these seeds of disaster and look at the answers that are being provided and not be complacent.
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareIt seems that allergies are as common as ants on the sidewalk–everyone has at least one. They range from mild to ones that can cause anaphylactic shock. But why is this so? Surely our environment has fueled a wide list of allergies, but are there methods that can help you to overcome them so you are able to minimize the use of drugs, allergy shots or even holistic treatments?
The first approach we have to oversensitivity to foods, airborne allergens and other substances of course is avoidance. But what if a person is allergic to most foods and a huge list of airborne substances–then we have a real problem! An allergic reaction to anything is the immune system in motion. When the immune system is always reacting, it puts a great strain on the body’s resources for maintaining good health.
There is great hope in improving the body’s sensitivities by going to the source of the problem, which is often the digestive tract. Because of our poor food supply and incorrect high-fiber/low-fat health dictates, many people are suffering from a condition called “leaky gut.” Leaky gut is a result of intestinal damage from poor gut flora–usually a candida overgrowth. When the intestinal tract becomes weakened, it can become inflamed and proteins can escape into the blood system. This causes an immune response–so that the next time your body comes in contact with that substance–even if it is a healthy food–it will cause the same immune response. When the digestive tract is inflamed, the entire body can become ultra-sensitive to many other things such as airborne substances.
Foods that help to heal the digestive tract are nutrient-dense foods from pastured animals, wild caught fish and organic sources:
Another help to improving allergies is heavy metal detoxification. Carefully removing mercury amalgam fillings with a biological dentist and working with an experienced holistic health practitioner who understands how to gently detox heavy metals can also enhance the blocks to overcoming allergies. (see www.wholenutritionist.com and www.radicalmedicine.com.)
Healing the digestive tract and removing heavy metals is an exciting step to recovering from allergies. For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareWe learned about marine plasma at the Weston A. Price Conference through Dr. Louisa Williams who wrote the book Radical Medicine. It is a nutrient dense food from the sea that can offer the body trace minerals in a highly usable form unlike supplementation with vitamin pills. It has an amazing history of helping people recover from seriousness illness. It is available in its original form only through www.originalquinton.com.
The following is an incredible article on the marine plasma water supplement:
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Evolutionary Development of Our Internal Ocean: Restoring Bio-Terrain with Quinton Marine Plasma
©By Roy Dittman, OMD, USA & Raul Brugioni, Biologist, Brazil
Published in Explore! Volume 15, Number 6, 2006
In July of 2006, I published Part I entitled: “Bio-Terrain, Evolutionary Biology, and the Practice of Medicine in the Early 1900’s: An Intro to René Quinton’s Marine Plasma”, where I introduced Quinton Marine Plasma as a fundamental tool in restoring biological terrain.1 In Part II, Raul Brugioni and I will explore the role the oceans and more specifically marine plasma plays in supporting and evolving life on our planet. In addition, we will define how Quinton Marine Plasma restores biological terrain and provide clinical distinctions to better understand how and when to apply Quinton.
What Is Quinton™ Marine Plasma™?
In the overwhelming response to June’s article, we have heard many speculations regarding what marine plasma is. Let me just begin by saying what marine plasma is not.
First, Quinton is not merely seawater. You cannot simply collect and purify deep or coastal seawater and expect to duplicate the clinical results realized by Quinton Marine Plasma. Second, Quinton is not plankton, and does not contain plankton. Since Quinton is cold-filtered, all zooplankton and plankton are removed from the fluid.
Quinton Marine Plasma is the living fluid produced by dense fields of zoo-plankton as they consume smaller phyto-plankton. This fluid, discovered by French physiologist René Quinton, has been used successfully by clinicians throughout the world for over 100 years to restore our ‘internal milieu’ to its original marine inheritance.
Quinton is not just trace minerals. Trace minerals produced from salt beds on land are inorganic, because they have not been pre-digested by living microorganisms. In addition, the quantity of each trace mineral varies from sample to sample and does not mirror the ratios found in the human body. It is true that unlike land minerals, every major and trace mineral is present in Quinton in an ideal synergistic ratio, but Quinton is still much more.
Quinton Laboratoires was founded in 1905. In France, Quinton Marine Plasma was officially recognized as a medicine around 1907. In 1941, Quinton Isotonic, and Hypertonic products were ‘registered’ as medicines and included in France’s equivalent of the Physician’s Desk Reference (Dictionnaire Vidal). Quinton products remained listed in the Vidal until 1999, referencing oral and topical applications.
Today, forward-thinking scientists are beginning to understand what Quinton knew 100 years ago; that marine plasma has the power to regulate our own “internal ocean” as it informs our genetic potential and guides our very evolution.
Quinton’s Laws of Osmosis & Marine Constancy
The first animals evolved in sea water. As animals evolved, they developed a symbiotic strategy to ensure their survival. Their adaptation to life on land was a foundational evolutionary achievement, which required profound biological advancements – with the most critical factors of success being the ability to maintain a constant pH, mineral makeup, and temperature.
The more we study the ocean, the more we understand its fundamental role in guiding our evolution. In 1904, René Quinton asserted his foundational laws of osmosis and marine constancy – the idea that the earth’s oceans maintain a state of elemental equilibrium, known as “marine constancy.” He then demonstrated through years of research that our internal fluids obey the same laws.
His laws can be summed up best in his profound revelation: “We are truly a living marine aquarium!” The 1957 award winning movie, Hemo the Magnificent, produced and directed by Frank Capra, reaches the same conclusion, powerfully asserting that “blood is seawater.”
According to Quinton’s laws of osmosis and marine constancy, he asserted the following:
Our “Internal Ocean” Informs Our Genetic Expression
If Quinton’s laws are true, how do they apply to us? Even from the very beginning, the vitality of our internal ocean guides our individual gestational evolution. Before the neural tube forms in an embryo, the internal ocean or “tidal body,” which develops from the amniotic fluid, intelligently regulates and directs the formation of the nervous system and organs.
Additionally, the organic minerals saturated within the tidal body provides a conductive medium that transmits phasic and sound pulses received from the mother’s abdominal aorta that in turn develops the vestibular area of the embryonic brain. Later, these tidal “pulses” are sensed by the fetus’ skin, which in turn stimulates neuronal development. Indeed, as we are developing, the health of our “tidal body” directs how our genetic potential is realized.
Like the tidal body and the internal milieu, Quinton Marine Plasma’s rich store of organic minerals facilitates cellular conductivity by restoring the electrical potential of our cells. When we are born, our internal ocean feeds every single one of our billions of cells. This extra-cellular fluid is where all inter-cellular communication takes place and where critical nutrients are transported to the cell membrane.
So, while every cell contains its own genetic backbone, it is constantly being affected by the epigenetic influencers found within the extra-cellular fluid. Studies reveal that changes in our extra-cellular fluid have the ability to direct the cell to make 2,000 or more different proteins from the same gene blueprint. The upshot of this dynamic is that, while genetic makeup is important to the health and function of each cell, “a cell’s operations are molded by their interaction with the environment, not by its genetic code.”
The oceans contain the homeostatic blueprint of life – the original genetic code that has and is governing evolution. The mineral, nutritional, and genetic information found in marine plasma may “recharge” the extra-cellular fluid, enhancing cellular communication.
World famous biologist Craig Venter, the first to map the human genome, is now working on a new project to uncover the genetic origins of the human genome and all life on the planet to better understand how the oceans impact health. To accomplish this, he is cataloguing ocean water samples every 200 miles.
His team now estimates that there may be as many as 20 billion genes within the Earth’s oceans – a rich store of genetic information that tells the story of our oceanic origins. Through natural selection, humans inherited a mere 30,000 genes, of which as many as 18,000 have been labeled as “pseudogenes” or “junk genes,” Until recently scientists have considered pseudogenes to be merely obsolete remnants of our evolutionary past.
Today biologists assert that the junk genes may “inform” the genes next to them and may fulfill an immunological role in protecting us from both internal and external environmental stress. Our 30,000 genes interact with our internal ocean to respond to the billions of genes present in our environment.
It is likely that the “junk” genes help us to adapt to rapidly changing environmental circumstances – to upgrade our bodies’ genetic hardware as we move through an evolutionary maze. By drinking marine plasma, we may be accelerating this upgrade by exposing our bodies to a micro-dilution of the genetic and epigenetic information stored in the billions of genes and millions of life forms found in the dense plankton bloom.
Our Land-Locked Bodies Suffer From Chronic Cumulative Mineral Deficiencies
Since all life originated within the ocean, our internal biology depends upon the complete ratio of mineral salts found within the oceans. However, living off of the land no longer provides the raw material needed to maintain our internal ocean. Our land-locked bodies are nutritionally starved.
We overeat in a futile attempt to restore this fundamental “organic” mineral balance. The soil we use to grow the foods we eat and therefore the nutritional supplements we consume are devoid of the full spectrumof trace minerals we crave. As the former Minister of Agriculture Dr. André Voisin pointed out, most cancers are linked to a lack of key nutrients. Clearly, re-establishing mineral balance is one of the foundational requirements to restoring the biological terrain.
The health implications of soil depletion were forecasted in 1936, when the United States Senate issued Document 264, warning that our crops were being grown on mineral depleted soil and that human health was suffering as a result. The following is an excerpt from the report:
“Sick soils mean sick plants, sick animals, and sick people. Physical, mental and moral fitness depends largely upon an ample supply and a proper proportion of minerals in our foods. Nerve function, nerve stability and nerve cell-building likewise depend upon trace minerals.”
Over time, mineral deficiencies can lead to chronic acidification, which in turn sets in motion a positive feedback loop, defined by the cumulative depletion of vital minerals from the body and therefore further acidification, which weakens our cellular defenses.
Trace minerals account for approximately three (3) percent of the electrolytes in the ocean and our internal environment, where they form a complex interdependent synergy. One billionth of a gram (nanogram) of metal contains 2.5 billion atoms. One to ten atoms are all that is needed to activate an enzyme. Therefore, even a minute but consistent supply of organic “live” trace minerals has the ability to restore the balance lost from nutrient deficient foods.
Plankton Convert Minerals to Bioactive State
Microbes feed on inorganic minerals and convert them to their ‘organic’ crystalloid state. Marine plasma contains a full spectrum of organic crystalloid minerals, transformed by the trillions of plankton and zooplankton (i.e. microorganisms) found within the vortex plankton bloom in which marine plasma is produced.
Inorganic minerals are not available at a cellular level and must be transformed into their crystalloid state in order to pass through the cell membrane, and therefore to direct cellular activities. Crystalloid minerals are bioavailable at the epigenetic level both outside and inside the cell – interacting with the cell membrane to direct genetic potential.
“People can utilize inorganic salts or elements only by having plant life in their intestines in the form of bacteria to hook up the inorganic element with a carbon atom so it can be transformed into an organic form.” Unfortunately, with the advent of antibiotics and the proliferation of Candida, the intestinal flora’s ability to convert inorganic elements into their organic state has been significantly compromised.
The synergistic matrix of crystalloid minerals found within the extra-cellular fluids plays an integral role in determining the health of the biological terrain and therefore the health of the person. And, the quality of the minerals and water found within the extra-cellular fluid determines the quality of the communications that take place between cells.
In 1994, Pischinger, Chair of Histology and Embryology at the University of Vienna showed that cells are not in direct contact with each other, and that all inter-cellular information (nervous stimuli, metabolic, immunological and vascular processes, etc) flows through the extra cellular liquid. Pischinger asserted that: “Original seawater is the oldest system of communication between living cells.”
Does it not stand to reason, then, that the best way to re-mineralize the all-important extra-cellular fluid is by replenishing it with its original marine inheritance?
Quinton Marine Plasma Is Beneficial In Its “Live” State “The Whole is Not Equal to the Sum of It’s Parts”–Goethe
Through his research, René Quinton showed that:
In his landmark book, “L’eau de Mer Milieu Organique” (Seawater, Organic Matrix), René Quinton demonstrated that drying out or desiccating marine plasma irreversibly damaged the “live” mineral and protein complexes. He clinically demonstrated that it was impossible to reconstitute marine plasma and still achieve the same health benefits. This is because, when marine plasma is dried, minerals fall out of their “live” crystalloid state.
Water is the universal molecular and energetic solvent. It does not “forget” the information that dissolves in it. The minerals, organic compounds, and genetic material stored in the marine plasma form a matrix of biological information that may intelligently evolve us.
René Quinton himself summarized it best when he asserted that: “marine plasma tends to maintain its characteristic biological activity and the molecular balance of a living medium. The entirety of trace elements contained in marine plasma are to be found in the solution in their active states.” Unfortunately, eating dried sea salt provides a potent inorganic trace mineral complex, but fails to provide the biological information stored within marine plasma.
Quinton Restores Bio-Terrain
Maintaining an optimal internal environment or biological terrain, is critical to maintaining health. “To maintain a healthy body, homeostasis must be kept constant. A healthy organic terrain is the basis of health and conversely diseases develop on a depleted or congested terrain. Upstream of most diseases there is an unbalanced terrain.”
Targeted nutrients cannot fulfill their intended function on top of a depleted biological terrain. Quinton Marine Plasma directly and indirectly resolves many of the polarities listed below by replenishing the integrity of the “internal ocean.”
Bio-Terrain Clinicians Are Looking to Restore Balance to the Following:
Alkaline |
Acid |
Parasympathetic |
Sympathetic |
Catabolic |
Anabolic |
Yin |
Yang |
Deficiency |
Excess |
BioEnergetic, Information |
Material |
Internal (Mental/Emotional) |
External (Physical) |
Reduction |
Oxidation |
Whenever there is a chronic deficiency or excess of any critical nutrient, pathology is not far behind. Clinicians struggle to reconcile the fact that one nutritional supplement may balance out one polarity while negatively affecting another. For example, if a person takes B vitamins, they may be balancing out a deficiency, while at the same time the B vitamins may contribute to chronic acidity and dehydration through the generation of Excess Heat.
This is the “law of diminishing returns”, whereby the amount of energy it takes to absorb, assimilate, and eliminate a nutritional product is often greater than the energy gained by the product itself. The majority of most nutritional supplements are poorly absorbed, leaving the intestines, liver, and kidneys to eliminate the unassimilated portions, which further dehydrates and acidifies the body.
Quinton marine plasma, however, is taken up by the intestines through passive diffusion. Since the organic minerals and marine co-factors have been ‘pre-digested’ by the zoo-plankton, they do not require active digestion as a pre-requisite for assimilation.
The Future of Evolution
We are now beginning to understand the conditions for evolving and optimizing our health. In the past, the whole area of reproduction was a mysterious event often attributed to chance. Our impression was that at the time of birth, we were thrown into a hostile, threatening world and forced to learn to survive. Survival gave rise to an accidental form of evolution.
With Quinton, we have the tools to replenish and restore our bio-terrain – to thrive in our internal environment. Thriving is giving rise to a new kind of evolution. Now, we can direct, balance, and enhance our internal environment.
We assert that Quinton has a key role to play in the coming biotech age, by creating a homeostatic foundation that helps to guide, balance, and regulate the many nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and stimulants we consume to manipulate our physiology.
In our opinion, Quinton is an essential tool for clinician’s protocols, simply because it is so effective at restoring bio-terrain, which is primary to resolving secondary more immediate physiological objectives and symptoms.
The big revelation for us was that through the consistent application of Quinton marine plasma, many of the symptoms and complaints begin to resolve, simplifying patient evaluations, and thereby uncovering subtler conditions specific to the individual. Once the root causes begin to reveal themselves to the clinician, the clinician is able to competently address the personal imbalance using targeted therapies, nutraceuticals, and bioenergetic products, to arrive at optimal health.
Quinton™ – Distinctions for Clinical Use*
Quinton Marine Plasma is manufactured in two distinct forms:
While dosage is important, the clinical goal should be to encourage consistency. In general, Isotonic’s overall effect is gentler than Hypertonic and is therefore better suited for sensitive clients. The following summarizes how Quinton Isotonic and Hypertonic work in the body according to various clinical perspectives.
Naturopathic and Biological Terrain Distinctions
Osteopathic Benefits
Oriental Medical Distinctions
General Guidelines & Benefits
Quinton™ Isotonic*
General Guidelines & Benefits:
Recommended for children, elderly patients, people with a fragile immune system, and hypersensitive/ allergic patients. Isotonic is generally used to address nervous or anxious states. It supports the reduction of hypersensitivities to foods and other allergens.
Physiological Distinctions: For issues related to sympathetic dominance and fast oxidation.
Oriental Medical Distinctions: Yin, Cooling, Sedating, Balancing. Calms the Shen/Spirit. Reduces Heart Fire.
Ayurvedic Distinctions: Has a “moon” or calming quality.
Additional Distinctions for Use: Excellent for yoga, meditation, sleep, and recovery after exercise.
Quinton™ Hypertonic*
General Guidelines & Benefits:
Anabolic effect on metabolism. Improves endurance and strength. Excellent for high performance, and intense mental activity.
Physiological Distinctions: For conditions related to parasympathetic dominance and slow oxidation.
Oriental Medical Distinctions: Yang, Warming, Energizing, Replenishing, Building, Tonifying. Ideal for Menopausal Yin Deficiency. Restores reproductive drive and Chi.
Ayurvedic Distinctions: Has a “sun” or activating quality.
References
Dittman, R. “Bio-Terrain, Evolutionary Biology, and the Practice of Medicine in the Early 1900’s: An Intro to René Quinton’s Marine Plasma.” Explore, 2006.
Quinton, René: L’eau de Mer Milieu Organique, 1904.
Capra, Frank. Hemo The Magnificent. DVD. 1956.
Blum, T., Dittman, R. Prenatal, Perception, Learning, and Bonding. Leonardo Publishers. 1993.
Lipton, Bruce. 2005.
“Voyage of the Sorcerer: J. Craig Venter cracked the human genome. Now he’s set his sights on a new frontier: life under the sea” On Earth Magazine; Summer 2006, p. 8-9.
Gerstein, Mark; Zheng, Deyou. “The Real Life of Pseudogenes.” Scientific American. August 2006.
Voisin, André. Soil, Grass, and Cancer.
United States Senate issued Document 264, 1936.
Passebecq, André M.D., Ph.D., N.D., Soulier, Jean-Marc Soulier, Ph.D.: “Human Plasma and Ocean Plasma: A Comparative Study of the Therapeutic Properties of Seawater Preparations” 1992.
Murray, Maynard. Sea Energy Agriculture. 1976.
Pischinger, A. “Basal regulation system,” Ed. Haug 1994.
Dang Vinh Luu and Claudine Luu. “Connaissance de l’eau”. University of Montpellier. INDERPLAM 1993.
Mahé, André, Brugioni, R. O Segredo das Nossas Origens O Plasma de Quinton.”
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareMost people would agree that the skin beauty is a multi-billion dollar industry. However, most of the products we can purchase fail to discuss how much we can improve our skin through diet and how many issues with skin are signs of leaky gut, systemic inflammation and nutrient deficiencies.
One of the components of healthy, firm skin is collagen. One of the foods richest is collagen is old-fashioned bone broth from pastured animals or wild-caught fish. This historic traditional food was a mainstay of the diet for thousands of years. High quality eggs, meats and dairy from pastured animals also help to maintain collagen. As we have not only removed traditional fats from the diet, but also other nutrient-dense foods, many people today have signs of early aging skin.
The skin is the largest detoxifying organ of the body, so many issues of the skin are caused by this important protective function. Often, when people eat a high carbohydrate diet or one that is high in processed foods, they may develop a leaky gut. This is most often the result of intestinal damage from a candida overgrowth. With a leaky gut, the body has more difficulty detoxifying itself through the intestinal tract as it is often inflamed. A leaky gut can also cause the body to have allergic reactions to many foods and airborne molds and pollens. Under these conditions, the body frequently tries to rid itself of toxins through the skin and various types of epidermal eruptions may be prevalent. All the expensive creams in the world will not heal a leaky gut!
The best way to improve these types of skin problems is to look at the diet and the digestive system. Working on a long-term time line with a nutrient-dense diet that corrects digestion and malnourishment, will often dramatically improve skin quality. If you look at the remarkable pictures that Dr. Weston A. Price took of immune populations, you will be taken by the undeniable beauty of their skin.
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareWith winter in full swing, many people can really begin to feel that their skin gets very dry and the constant application of lotions is the only way to stay comfortable. But dry skin may actually be caused from a diet that is too low in old fashioned saturated fats. When your skin is constantly cracking and rough, looking at your diet as part of the problem is a good place to start. In fact when Dr. Francis Pottenger was working with nutrition and healing the chronically ill with nutrient-dense foods, he found that dry skin was relieved by adding fat to the diet. He said that dry skin is not caused from soaps or weather, but from the diet not rich enough in fat.
In his book, “Pottenger’s Cats, A Study in Nutrition,” he states that “Fats are present in every living cell and are essential to life. Intracellular fat is an important constituent in tissues such as muscle, brain, pancreas, and skin. Nerves are surrounded by a myelin sheath and largely composed of fats: leukocytes, the life-protecting scavengers of the body, are also largely composed of fats. ” Later he says, “In our experience, dry skin provides an index of disturbed fat metabolism. Most patients attribute their dry skin disorders to one of the following causes: hard water, improperly neutralized soaps, detergents, various household chemicals, exposure to the sun or wind, dry weather, dust or incompatible or excessive cosmetics. Few suspect deficiencies in their fat intake. Recognizing that fatty acids have largely disappeared from our modern dietary, we have worked out a high protein, high fat, low carbohydrate diet for general rehabilitation.”
When you start to add fats like raw butter, coconut oil and lard to your daily fare, you may notice over time that your skin improves dramatically. This will be especially true when your digestion improves and you are better nourished from eating a nutrient-dense diet that is rich in vitamins A and D for nutrient absorption. Remember, Dr. Weston A. Price found in his studies of healthy cultures that traditional fats were a very important part of the diet. He found that without both vitamins A and D from natural sources and adequate traditional fats you could not absorb the nutrients from you foods no matter how good the diet.
From this information you might consider that dry skin may be a sign of malnourishment. With the constant buzz that a low-fat /high fiber diet is so healthy, is it a wonder that many people are asking “why”, when their skin is dry and they just don’t feel well on this regimen?
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareThis is a terrific recipe for homemade nut crackers that is packed with nutrients and can be a nutrient-dense substitute for regular crackers. For even more nutrients, serve with homemade liver pate or seasoned cream cheese and caviar.
Makes 16-20
2 1/2 cups raw walnuts, almonds or pecans
2 tablespoons Celtic sea salt
1 small onion, coarsely chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh minced rosemary, thyme or garlic (optional)
2 teaspoons raw red wine or cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey (optional)
1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt (see Sources)
Soak almonds or walnuts overnight in filtered water mixed with 2 tablespoons Celtic sea salt. Drain in a colander. Place in a food processor along with or without optional remaining ingredients. Process to form a coarse paste. Spread mixture onto as thin as possible onto cookie sheets lined with buttered parchment paper. Place another sheet of parchment paper over paste and roll with a rolling pin. Press in cutting lines before drying. Dehydrate in a warm oven (preferably at 150 degrees) for 12-24 hours until completely dry. Adopted from Recipes for Life by Becky Mauldin.
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see our book, Performance without Pain and our e-book on healing acid-reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareHistorical records show us that marine liver oils have been used by cultures ranging from the South Seas, the Eskimos, and the Scandinavians to the ancient Romans. One of the earliest records shows its use as a cure for leprosy as early as 73 AD and in the work of Hippocrates.
For centuries, cod liver oil was mostly used as a topical treatment or balm for its general medicinal and strengthening properties. But in the Manchester Infirmary in 1766, it was shown to be a curative for rheumatism when ingested, after which it became a well known medicine. In 1841, the British physician, John Bennett wrote a treatise on cod liver oil and it’s use in healing Scrofula–a tuberculosis of the skin. Bennett noted that when people had one disease like tuberculosis they also had another like rickets–indicating a vitamin D deficiency.
Research between 1920 and 1940 began its wide use for preventing and treating measles, industrial absenteeism and puerperal fever. However, with the dawn of penicillin in the 1930s and 40s, came massive support for antibiotics (anti-life) and sulfa drugs and the pharmaceutical industry was born. Instead of focusing on building immunity with nutrition, we began an arms race against germs, trying to stay two jumps ahead of bacteria.
Today, as we are seeing the poor results of the “killing bacteria” approach, we are seeing a resurgence of interest in building immunity with nutrient-dense foods and cod liver oil is becoming again an important part of this health-building plan.
The beauty of a high quality cod liver oil is that it contains both vitamin A and D in the best ratio–which is a 10 to 1 relationship. Vitamin A is necessary for mineral metabolism, strong bones, immunity, normal growth, successful reproduction, healthy skin and good eyesight.Vitamin D is necessary for mineral metabolism, nervous system function, insulin production, immunity and protection against depression.
Commercial cod liver oil has been over processed and will not provide healing qualities that were seen historically, but fermented cod liver oil, made the old fashioned way, is now available thanks to the work of David Wetzel at Green Pasture. Along with cod liver oil, Dr. Price found that it was very important to have adequate traditional saturated fats in the diet. Price also developed high-vitamin butter oil to use in conjunction with cod liver oil as a powerful combination for the prevention and healing of cavities and a high immunity to disease.
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods, see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareThere are mountains of books on natural healing from digestive disorders. Considering that 1 in five people have GERD/acid reflux–the mountain of information does seem necessary. In most circles, an illness that affects 1 in 5 people would surely be considered an epidemic! I have gleaned all the health books that have natural remedies and have compiled a good list below. While all of these are helpful for healing the symptoms, they do not address the fact that with a digestive disorder there is serious long-term malnourishment. These books also do not ask the question, “Why do we have an exponential increase in acid reflux in our population?” Or–”Is acid reflux a precursor to other degenerative illnesses?” If we look at the two profound statements of leaders in the study of optimal human health; that “All diseases begin in the gut,” of Hippocrates and “All disease is caused from malnourishment,” of Dr. Weston A. Price, we can begin to ascertain the magnitude of the acid reflux epidemic and see that we are probably at the brink of a health disaster unless we begin changing our food supply. A nutrient-dense, traditional foods diet is an effective approach to healing symptoms and the underlying cause of acid reflux/GERD. When you purchase traditionally raised foods from small farms dedicated to bringing you the highest quality foods, you vote with your wallet! (For sources of nutrient-dense foods see www.realmilk.com)
Good Suggestions:
• Eat small, frequent meals
• Eat slowly
• Follow an anti-Candida diet
• Take enzymes and probiotics
• Eat fermented foods
• Eat an easy-to-digest diet
• Cut down on simple carbohydrates
• Cabbage juice, celery juice potato juice may be helpful
• Aloe Vera juice may be helpful for healing
• Helpful herbs: slippery elm, ginger, marshmallow root, licorice, bladderwrack, chamomile, fennel seed, lemon balm and turmeric, cumin, meadowsweet
• Orange peel extract may be helpful
• Papaya and papaya juice may be helpful
• Bitters may help digestion
• Colostrum may help to boost the immune system
• Raw honey and cinnamon before bed may be helpful
• MSM and Zinc Carnosine helps heal damaged tissue in stomach and intestinal lining (never found bone broth as a remedy, which will do the same thing much more effectively)
• Acupressure may be helpful
• Wear loose clothing
• Minimize stress
• Meditation is helpful
• Regular exercise is helpful
• Sleep 8 hours
• Elevate you bed
• Avoid eating 2-3 hours before bedtime
• Avoid allergenic foods
• Avoid grains
• Avoid vegetables that produce gas
• Avoid high-fiber foods
• Avoid fried foods
• Avoid juices and citrus fruits (except lemon)
• Avoid alcohol, coffee, chocolate, tomatoes, mint and mint flavorings
• Avoid spicy foods
• Avoid microwaving, food additives, vegetable oils and nutrient-poor foods
• Avoid NSAIDS and antibiotics
• Avoid smoking
For more information on a healing and building health with nutrient-dense foods, see our e-book on acid reflux and Performance without Pain.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareThere are many natural treatments that you can read about that help with the symptoms of GERD–also called acid reflux. One of the common suggestions that you will see is taking raw apple cider vinegar. This approach has a lot of merit as it will often help a great deal.
First, because with acid reflux, you have fermentation and actually low acid in the stomach caused from a yeast or Candida overgrowth, the acidic raw apple cider vinegar helps to change the PH in the stomach. Normal PH for good digestion is between .2 and 2.8, but when the PH rises to 4.0 and above, there will be a rapid colonization of yeast, bacteria and viruses in the stomach–this is not ideal! GERD or acid reflux is caused by fermentation in the stomach from low acid and a yeast overgrowth. So the raw apple cider vinegar can raise the acidity of the stomach to improve digestion and keep yeast, bacteria and viruses in check.
Second, the raw apple cider vinegar contains healthy bacteria like acidophiles that eat the yeast. As the yeast overgrowth disappears, the PH of the stomach will be normalized.
However, raw apple cider vinegar is mostly a symptomatic treatment for GERD and does not address the long-term malnourishment that goes along with any digestive disorder. Malnourishment is a precursor to chronic illness. The only way to truly heal from the nutritional ramifications of having GERD is to eat a diet that is rich in traditional, nutrient-dense foods.
For more information on healing and building health with nutrient-dense foods, see our e-book on healing acid reflux and our book Performance without Pain.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
While a nutrient dense diet is critical to building optimal health and maximizing your detox ability, removing toxic products from your menu of skin and hair care and cosmetics is also very important. The combination of all the poisons we are exposed to adds up and puts extra strain on our bodies. In the EWG study (Body burden, 2002) that tested 9 healthy subjects for 210 chemicals, they found 167 chemicals in every subject and 91 compounds were industrial toxins! Of these, 76 were linked to cancer, 94 were neurotoxic, 86 were hormonal disruptors and 79 were associated with birth defects or abnormal development.
If you read the ingredients on your shampoo, conditioner and cosmetics containers and they look like a chemical factory–think twice about using them!
The best way to begin to reduce this toxic load is to control what you can control. Here are a few links to sources of toxin-free body care products and cosmetics:
http://healing-scents.com/index.html
http://www.drrons.com/
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense-foods see our book Performance without Pain and our new e-book on acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareYou hear about corn-fed livestock and vegetarian-fed chicken–which also means corn-fed–but have you considered that you are what you eat-eats? In Dr. Francis Pottenger’s study of cats, he experimented with feeding them different types of raw milk. The health of the cats receiving raw milk from grain-fed cows was remarkably poor in comparison to those fed raw milk from grass-fed cows. These cats displayed all kinds of nutrient deficiencies. Their bones were weak, they had poor immune systems and they developed degenerative conditions of all kinds.
Just look around and see all the health epidemics. It does not take a brain surgeon to realize that corn-fed does not work!
If your health is your wealth, our country has a disaster waiting to happen! However, by purchasing foods that are traditionally raised, you will not only improve your own health, but be a part of a movement that is helping to insure the health of future generations!
For more information on healing and building health with nutrient-dense foods, see our book Performance without Pain and our new e-book on acid reflux.
Best in Health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareTraditionally cultured and fermented foods like plain whole milk kefir and yogurt from grass-fed cows, homemade sauerkraut, kimchee and pickled beets, and beverages like beet kvass and kombucha were common foods throughout history before refrigeration. They were a way to preserve foods worldwide. Would it surprise you to know that you absolutely cannot afford to live without them though?
In order to function properly–that is to break down our foods into usable components and detoxify our body– the human digestive system needs ample probiotic bacteria and enzymes. Fermented and cultured foods naturally provide these components. Without these kinds of foods, we may develop many serious digestive problems like candida overgrowth, which chemically change the way our foods are processed and we will not be able to get rid of toxins. Ultimately, poor digestion equals poor health. In fact, acid reflux, inflammatory conditions of all kinds and cancer can be linked to poor digestion and a toxic overload.
Do your health a big favor–devote time to learning to prepare these delicious cultured and fermented foods. As your digestion improves so will your health!
For more information on preparing cultured and fermented foods see our website at www.performancewithoutpain.com. Both of our books, Performance without Pain and our e-book on healing acid reflux are wonderful guides to optimizing digestion.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareYes indeed, of a heritage, native, wild turkey and stuffing.
Also on the subject of being completely full, the great 14th century poet-mystic-saint Rumi, founder of Sufism:
”
Even a candle, when it knows it will melt away, doesn’ t quit spreading its light out. Oh human! You, while completely full of the Power of the Creator, why do you hang back?
”
Something tells me Rumi was equally as full of highly saturated animal fats with high vitamin A and D. His words are dripping with abundant brain power.
SharePaul Yeager, guest blog writer here once again.
I’d like to ask on this day of Gratitude: just how good DO we have it now as humans living in most of America–and most of anywhere in the first world for that matter–where we are in fact capable of securing food on this day and mostly healthy enough to chew and swallow it?
And, I’d like to ask: just how good DO we have it now as humans living in most of the first world during this particular TIME in the whole history of human civilization, regarding the fact that we are mostly guaranteeably able to access food on this day, like we were able to access some food yesterday and like we will likely access some food tomorrow?
Relatively speaking, for the first time in *all “civilized” human history*, for the last few decades in just a few places on earth, many of us in the “first world” have generally been able to secure two or three meals a day, every day, and every day we know that likely tomorrow we will be able to do that again. And many of us in the “first world” even know that if the economy gets a little worse than it already is, we and our loved ones will likely ourselves continue to keep eating, one way or another. Even if our forms of income are cut off, we can in many cases get at least some food via the social safety net our society has constructed for itself.
This situation we are in is a TRUE novelty of novelties amongst the vast spread of geographies and histories amidst the total spread of human life on this planet. Many of us are able to eat today! And what’s more, many of us will be able to eat tomorrow and the next day! This is a miracle! For hundreds of centuries, our evolutionary ancestors did not possess this situation of constant access to food, having to continually remain in fight-or-flight mode to attain access to meals.
But does this sudden burst of access in the last century necessarily imply a similar or higher quality of nutrient density in the food? Quite the opposite I’m afraid, according to overwhelming scientific evidence.
What our nearby evolutionary ancestors DID have, even if they did not have constant *access*–provedly amidst 14 different tribal/indigenous societies that Weston A. Price formally studied for around 10 years in the 1930’s in his magnus opus “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration”–were consistently much more nutrient-dense foods consisting of highly saturated animal fats with high vitamin A and D, cartilaginous and highly elastin-containing bone stocks, raw/unpasteurized milk, truly homemade lacto-fermented foods, soaked/sprouted and naturally-leavened grains, soaked/sprouted nuts, seeds, berries, beans/legumes, and many other such foods, which had not yet been divorced from their traditional indigenous wisdom by the poison of industrialization’s influence on mainstreaming the human food supply.
Again, perhaps these isolated, untouched tribes did not always have these foods in plenty (and yes, these peoples did often get some of the diseases which modern medicine has been able to deal with such as tuberculosis, THEN AGAIN: they did not get heart disease, cancer, allergies, cavities, rampant mental disease, or difficult childbirth–all of which modern medicine and industrialization has had a hand in creating!), but their foods nearly always had extremely superior nutrient density to the processed, packaged, mass-produced food of today, and one of the most common traits this created in those people was the radiant quality of their general mental quietude and “general ease and contentment with life,” according to Dr. Price’s notes.
Which leads me to: just how good DO “we” have it, “we” who know something of these “deep secrets” of traditional, nutrient dense foods (i.e. yours truly), AND get to live in this technological world! –All thanks to the printed and electronically published works of communication-genius health luminaries such as Kathy Pirtle, Sally Fallon, Mary Enig, Kaayla Daniel, Natasha Campbell McBride, Sandor Ellix Katz, and of course Dr. Weston A. Price and his partner Dr. Francis Pottenger (and the list goes on and on)–along with numerous other food revolutionaries and visionaries who have re-unearthed the ancient, archaic, timeless knowledge of countless ancestors’ *Innate Wisdom* on “how our foods are meant to be,” then cleverly re-applying it to how we can use this timeless knowledge to actually heal our own bodies of countless diseases (such as how to heal acid reflux for starters).
As for me, without these people and their work, today I would likely be dead. I am living with an HIV+ diagnosis, yet I do not require the medicines and I survived nearly dying from chronic wasting and diarrhea five years ago, thanks to them and their food help. I am truly thankful for them.
Lately I’ve been watching a BBC documentary about a year spent in Tibet, which was filmed just a few years ago. Tibet is a rather severe example of food gone wrong, or more simply no food being available to much of the population much of the time, because of the harsh oppression of the Chinese communist regime, and no doubt their influence on the food supply. Last night the episode I watched had us observing a family who does not get to eat anything but barley dough and potatoes. When asked what else they eat, they said “barley dough and potatoes.”
Barley is very native to Tibet. When the Chinese tried to replace all barley with wheat, because of the fact that they found the Tibetans dirty and uncivilized and inferior for eating barley, the Tibetans couldn’t grow wheat (perhaps because the soil and harsh climate of the Tibetan plateau wouldn’t allow it or because they didn’t understand how to cultivate the new crop, I’m not clear on that), and as a direct result much of the Tibetan population starved to death. The Chinese, fearing more uprising, and wanting to keep a decent number of Tibetans alive for their value as human commodities, gradually let them return to growing barley.
So, today Tibetans are apparently quite happy to be able to grow and eat barley. A favorite past-time of Tibetan farmers is also barley beer, to the extent that now much of the Tibetan population has a serious alcoholism problem because of how much they enjoy their barley beer.
As a person sensitive to gluten, which is plentiful in both wheat and barley, I simply cannot imagine this way of living, but it does seem as though the Tibetan gene pool may not have such a big issue with gluten. Gluten aside, there’d be the situation of eating only a grain and some starches most or all of the time if I suddenly had to subsist on a Tibetan diet in Tibet. I’m pretty sure I would die on such a diet quite quickly. I’m not sure exactly how fast my immune system would collapse, but one thing is certain: I would go insane first, because the gluten would bring back the crippling mental illness I dealt with all my life prior to realizing that gluten was one of the biggest culprits in my severely faulty brain chemistry.
And just a little irresistible side-note: where COULD I go to eat in Tibet to try and get off the gluten and starch? Just guess where. American-based fast food, that’s where! –which is apparently slowly making its way into Tibet through dealings with the Chinese government! Oh yes, I could find a homogenized, pasteurized, hormone-injected, forced-to-prey-on-its-own-kind super-industrialized yak-burger at the nearby B**ger *ing, and maybe even on a PROCESSED glutenous barley bun! If this doesn’t tell us something about the intentions of fast food mega-conglomerates, and the precise ethical integrity of their visions for the world, I don’t know what does. They seem to get a real kick out of “nourishing” the third world, don’t they? < / end_sarcasm >
It is really too bad Dr. Weston A. Price didn’t get to visit Tibet and study indigenous Tibetan diet in the 1930’s! I’m sure it would have added to his disappointments of indigenous cultures not being vegetarians (and doubly so because of their Buddhist and therefore supposedly vegetarian-leaning morality), because I have heard through the grapevine, from many actual practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism, that actually Tibetan Buddhists aren’t at all natively vegetarians (why am I not surprised–none of the rest of Dr. Price’s indigenous tribes were vegetarians, after all).
Actually the lamas (or high Buddhist teachers) were known to consume a good deal of yak, a very high-protein/high-amino-acid source of meat with no doubt very highly saturated fat. I was happy to hear in the BBC documentary I was watching that at least the Tibetans have a somewhat constant supply of no-doubt highly saturated [and raw] yak butter from their own few yaks, to balance their high barley-n-potato intake. So my guess is that before the devastation of the communist invasion 50 years ago, they likely consumed yaks aplenty.
Perhaps they still traditionally ferment their barley beer, and it isn’t so bad after all? Hm…
Anyhow, what a Blessing to be alive in the nutrient dense here and now. Today, Thanksgiving Day, I am eating so much yummy, nutrient dense food, with a wide diversity of plants and animals, highly saturated animal fats with high vitamin A and D, highly lacto-fermented foods, foods that kill candida and keep my immune system strong, turkey gravy from bone stock, wild turkey with amino acids that will make my soul sing, and much more!
Unlike the Tibetan farmers living under Chinese communist oppression, I have access to it, I was able to buy it, and now I will be able to eat it because I am healthy enough to eat it, thank God! And with my friends/family! And the day after that I will feel like eating again, and eat!
Is 1500 words enough to express my thanks? Or 100,000 words? Or a million words? No.
But I will continue, while I continue to be able to breathe in and out, to try and get both the knowledge of these foods and access to these foods to as many human beings living on this planet as possible. Because the truth is: ALL human beings REQUIRE access to these foods FOR REAL HEALTH and the knowledge of that state of REAL HEALTH which is contained at websites like performancewithoutpain.com .
Kathy Pirtle has done a much clearer/better job at communicating this sacred knowledge than I to large numbers of people, and this site delivers two powerful vehicles of that transmission; one an extremely powerful eBook on how to permanently heal your acid reflux, and of course the classic printed book, Performance Without Pain, from which this website derives its name. Get a hold of these sources of information while you are able, for you and your loved ones, for the good of all sentient beings ASAP! You will live much longer, stand much taller, and act forever out of Gratitude for your new found life of high nutrient assimilation!
And someday–in those very same moments in which we all realize together that WE are the Masters of our own Health (and not some corporation, pharmaceutical company, or fast food restaurant), with all the knowledge of our ancestors boundlessly alive within us– as a result of that Immense Supernova of Gratitude-in-Action which is on its way and already happening, a FR** TIB-ET (and maybe even a fully free Ch*na, for that matter) will fully return to their traditional, nutrient dense foods. 
Although nuts, seeds, grains and beans are not considered nutrient-dense foods, careful preparation can improve their digestibility and nutrient availability. Historically, people worldwide took careful steps to prepare these difficult-to-digest foods as they all contain anti-nutrients and enzyme inhibitors.
Soaking grains and beans in acidulated water overnight–that is water with yogurt, kefir, vinegar or lemon juice–will prepare them for easier digestion. As an example, if you are serving oatmeal to your family in the morning, the night before, slightly warm the water required for the recipe in a pan and stir in some yogurt and the dry oatmeal and cover. Place the pan on top of your refrigerator. The next morning cook as usual. Make sure you add lots of butter or cream when serving as this will also greatly enhance the nutrient value. If you are preparing beans, cover them with warm water and stir in some yogurt or vinegar and let them soak for at least 12 hours, drain and cover again with water and cook as usual. Always serve beans with a meat and a fat so that your meal is nutrient-dense.
For nuts, you will want to make sure you start with “raw.” Unfortunately, except for pecans and walnuts, it is difficult to find truly raw nuts in the health food store. For peanuts and almonds, you will have to look online. Here’s a website that offers high quality organically grown raw nuts. http://www.livingtreecommunity.com/store2/products.asp?catid=17&gclid=CMzfreyipp4CFQjyDAod5×66nQ To prepare 1 pound of nuts, simply cover them with water and add 1 tablespoon of Celtic Sea salt and let them soak for about 8 hours. Drain and dehydrate in a dehydrator or place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper on the lowest setting in your oven for about 12 hours or until crispy.
Taking the time to prepare nuts, grains and beans will make them a wonderful addition to a nutrient-dense diet.
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense, traditional foods, see www.performancewithoutpain.com.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareHave you thought about the how the decisions you make today will affect people in seven generations? Most of us do not consciously think in these terms, but maybe when it comes to the foods we choose for ourselves and our family, it should be our priority. We are at a critical juncture in history where the poor decisions about our food supply are affecting the health of our entire population. It has only been since 1950 that our food production, the types and quality of foods we have available and what foods we are told to eat have been affected by how much profit was made by an entity behind the scene of this drama.
It is certain that as we choose to support foods because of their health-providing qualities we will naturally turn to foods that are not produced in this industrial system. However the integrity of this decision goes farther than this, because by choosing these kinds of foods, we are supporting the health of the soil, the animals, the water, the air, and the economic stability of small family farms dedicated to bringing these high quality foods to our tables. For this utmost reverence given to the circle of life we can celebrate a true Thanksgiving.
For more information on a healing diet and building optimal health with traditional, nutrient-dense foods see http://performancewithoutpain.com.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareWith a few adjustments to the Thanksgiving feast, you can make your dinner even more nutrient-dense. I like to think of meal planning from the perspective of what foods were available before the industrialization of the food supply and do everything possible to obtain these types of foods for my family. Although they are more expensive, they are also more filling and nourishing and their health benefits are far reaching. When you “Put your money where your mouth is,” you are helping to insure your family’s good health. Remember–”Your health is your wealth!”
Here are some guidelines:
Your wonderful turkey has more gifts to offer as you can use the carcass to make a fantastic nutrient-dense bone broth soup. Cover the bones, fat and skin with water and put in a few tablespoons of vinegar. Simmer for about 12 hours and strain. You will have a beautiful broth for a marvelous soup that you can freeze.
For more information on a healing diet and building optimal health with traditional, nutrient-dense diet foods, see http://performancewithoutpain.com
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareGuest blog writer, Paul Yeager here. 
As of late, a lot of folks I’ve run into seem to hold two predominating notions concerning diet (perhaps one more than the other in many populations of dietary thinkers): one is that raw veganism is the ultimate end-all of human diet, and the other is that cutting edge science is able to successfully dictate to us what we should eat based on accurate findings. I’d like to deal a little bit with both, although this could of course be an entire book (a book I happen to have written by the way, email me at paulchfs@gmail.com if you’re interested).
I myself used to be among the folks I describe above. I was a serious follower of Gabriel Cousens, David Wolfe, Victoras Kulvinskas, Anne Wigmore, and many of the other figure-head pioneers of the raw vegan movement. I almost even moved to Tree of Life in Arizona–Gabriel Cousens’ raw vegan retreat center–so I could live in the desert practicing shaktipat yoga, doing sweat lodges, and eating nothing but soaked and sprouted nuts, seeds, salads, etc. –the typical raw biogenic vegan diet. However, during my obsession with attempting to be a raw vegan (and I say attempting because it never did/could work for me!) the fact of the matter is: my health completely collapsed.
I trusted Cousens’ writings (i.e. “Conscious Eating”) because they seemed to present a merge of science and new age spiritual thinking about the Divine in a way which I felt was cozy and quite socially comfortable. It brought everything together into a unified ideology of community and a supposed return to “tribal” ways of doing things. And if I could just follow this ideology completely and 100% of the time, then I would finally heal my digestion and achieve the results Cousens’ scientific references and supposed sort-of-clinical observations seemed to describe. And yet, during this time my health completely collapsed. My gut was an absolute mess, and by the way: I had a serious sugar addiction (and I have since realized many vegetarians and vegans also have this problem, which makes perfect biochemical sense to me now since animal protein with its full complement of amino acids supports blood glucose regulation).
I’d like to point out something which I now realize in hind-sight, which I did not at the time, which I find rather interesting, and a very weak point of the supposed “new” age movement; that is that the “New Age” consistently identifies with indigenous elements, cultural, mystical, etc. and seems to be offering a sort of revival of archaic and/or tribal ways of doing things. In fact, it is not doing that in a dietary sense at all. And here is how I discovered that…
One fine day I came across a book by Weston A. Price called “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.” Weston A. Price was a dentist in the 1930’s who was interested in why so many of his Western patients were suddenly getting more and more (exponentially more) cavities. He had this hunch that isolated tribal peoples (which he, in our current politically [quite] incorrect language referred to as “primitive”) might have better teeth. He spent a decade visiting nearly all of the remaining completely isolated tribal societies he could find on the planet, and their non-isolated relatives (the ones nearby near train tracks who had access to modern transportation and commerce, where they could get white sugar, white flour, and processed and packaged foods which had only recently been invented by industrialization).
He of course found, not unsurprisingly to me today, that the isolated counterparts of each anthro-genetic set of peoples which were not exposed to white flour, white sugar, still drank their milk raw, did NOT have access to modern medicine, often did not brush their teeth, still fermented their grains in a community grainery, lacto-fermented their raw veggies, drank raw unpasteurized milk, etc etc. –these peoples had always nearly ZERO dental cavities, space for their wisdom teeth to come in, better dental arch spaces, better mental health, easier childbearing, longer lives, no death from cancer, no allergies, and the list goes on and on. He cataloged all of this data as a true scientist does, with charts of very precise figures based on population gradients and detailed survey reports.
Of key significance to all of his findings, and *much to his disappointment*: among all of the indigenous tribes with these remarkably resilient states of bone, teeth, mental, and reproductive health (most notably), not ONE of them ate a completely vegetarian–and certainly not a VEGAN–diet. The nearest thing to it was the African Dinka peoples who, although they did eat mostly raw milk, eggs, and mostly cooked vegetables, still did eat fish every so often as they loved to dwell near water for this purpose. The Dinka stands out quite rarely in this regard, however. The neighboring Masai for instance, which had nearly the same number of cavities per population (almost zero, as with the Dinka), ate an extremely primal diet of raw milk and raw blood, both of which are extremely high in catabolic-supportive amino acids which support bone growth, muscle/ligament/tendon repair, and immune reconstitution.
And another major commonality to ALL of the tribes Dr. Price studied with these remarkable states of health and longevity were consuming saturated animal fat high in vitamin A and D, which of course flies squarely in the face of the current supposed “scientific” thinking of our day about fat and cholesterol–to further this discord, one of Price’s findings was that these cultures had literally zero presence of death from cardiac arrest–which shouldn’t have been a possible finding according to our current prevalent, supposedly “scientific” dictates concerning cholesterol.
Why have our current researchers and others wearing white lab coats working in expensive university labs kept this *very scientific* research of Dr. Price’s from the public? Just as a simple potential explanation: it doesn’t keep the funding coming–medical academia is thoroughly enmeshed in the industrial-pharmaceutical complex, and knows little (although it often attempts to purport otherwise) about nutrition.
Again, Weston Price was *very disappointed* that he didn’t find more vegetarian indigenous cultures with remarkable health. He too, even in the 1930’s, was of the popular persuasion that vegetarianism, being more “ethical” would of course naturally be supported by his investigation into indigenous cultures. But this was not what the data supported. And today, the data still falls squarely against veganism (for instance, with extremely high levels of osteoporosis in the elderly vegan population, since veganism is low in bone building amino acids and fat-soluble vitamins that support calcium metabolism–not to mention how veganism fails to properly limit harmful raw fiber intake [see Konstantin Monastyrsky's truly cutting-edge research] and doesn’t provide enough fat altogether, and this is a giant subject on its own).
So, it’s interesting to me that everywhere we have a popular culture purporting to be part of a “new” age, consistently collectively claiming that it is supposedly reviving archaic or indigenous ways of doing things, when in fact the actual last recorded nutritional scientific observations (those of Dr. Weston Price) of archaic, indigenous societies are in direct contradiction with any semblance to this supposed “archaic revival”. We are what we eat, so the “new” age has certainly not succeeded at an archaic revival in the dietary sense, and I think that if it truly wants to be “new” then perhaps it could look more deeply and think farther outside the box in terms of exactly what the true archaic revival would really look like on an eating plane.
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Paul Yeager
ShareHistorically, traditional lacto-fermented foods were a mainstay of people’s diets worldwide before refrigeration. The lacto-fermentation process was very important in preserving foods. There were countless recipes from all cultures that created a wide array of delicious condiments like sauerkraut, pickles, pickled beets, kimchee and chutneys–and beverages like beet kvass, kombucha, kefir and ginger ale. Consuming these foods will help to maintain good digestion as they are high in enzymes and and probiotics. Sadly, when we buy these foods from most grocery stores today, they are pasteurized and will lack the wonderful health-building components.
Here’s a wonderful holiday recipe for a traditionally fermented cranberry chutney.
Lacto-fermented cranberry chutney
* 3 cups of cranberries
* 1/2 cup of nuts (pecans was suggested in the recipe I found, we used hazelnuts)
* 1/2 cup of rapadura
* 2 teaspoons of salt
* 1/2 cup of whey (easy whey can be made by draining 2 cups of plain organic yogurt through a smooth dish towel or cheesecloth-the drained liquid is the whey)
* 1/2 cup of prune juice or other juice (I used apple juice)
* 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon of cloves
* juice from 1 orange
* juice from 1 lemon
* 1/2 cup of raisins (optional–I like the chutney without raisins better)
Pulse all, except raisins, in food processor. Stir in raisins. Place ingredients in a 1 quart glass jar. Leave 1 inch room at the top of jar. Cover. Ferment 48 hours, then refrigerate. Serve with meat or poultry.
Usually the fruit ferments are good for 1-2 months. My chutney is still excellent after one year!!
For more information on healing and building health with traditional foods, see www.performancewithoutpain.com.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareSo many people today suffer from serious problems having to do with calcium absorption. People are purchasing calcium supplements by the tons in hopes of preventing calcium deficiencies. We have epidemic numbers of people with osteoporosis, poor dental health, weak bones and diseases that have to do with calcium being deposited in the wrong places, like the arteries and organs. What are some of the factors of this trend?
First, most diets do not have adequate vitamins A and D from natural old fashioned foods like high quality cod liver oil (see www.greenpasture.org.) egg yolks and liver. Without these key nutrients, the body cannot absorb calcium or any other vitamins well.
Second our diets are low in vitamin K2, which is ample in foods from animals on pasture. Vitamin K2 acts like the mortar for the bricks of both vitamin A and D in putting calcium in the right places in the body, like the teeth and the bones and not in the arteries. With the corn feeding of our livestock, we have an entire population deficient in this vitamin.
Third, low fat diets do not support calcium absorption. Without traditional fats in the diet like butter, coconut oil and lard, we cannot utilize calcium properly.
Next, our diets lack the easy-to-digest traditional foods that are rich in calcium. Bone-broth soup and cultured raw dairy from grass-fed cows and goats are foods that were eaten for thousands of years, yet they largely disappeared from our diets with the industrialization of our food supply.
Finally, diets lacking the probiotic foods that support good digestion, will also hamper calcium utilization.
Unfortunately all the calcium supplements in the world will not make up for the nutritional building blocks available in real food–no matter how much they cost or how many commercials support that product!!
The key to improving calcium absorption is eating a nutrient-dense, traditional diet. For more information see www.performancewithoutpain.com.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareAs silly as this question sounds, it is a very important subject for good health. Sitting down to enjoy eating a meal and taking the time to chew each bite is another step you can take for maximizing the digestion and nutrient availability of your foods. The impact this ritual will make in your life can be astounding. As you literally bless the food with gratitude for nourishing your body and take the time to appreciate the every aspect of your meal, you will also notice over time an increased awareness of your connection to the earth and all its amazing gifts.
My favorite mantra is “Present moment–I am grateful.” May you be strengthened and enriched by each bite of life!
For more information on a healing diet and nutrient-dense foods see www.performancewithoutapain.com.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareEating a diet that is high in enzymes is very important to healing and building optimal health. Enzymes are not only necessary for digestion of our foods, they play an important role in every process of the human body. Dr. Edward Howell’s research on enzymes determined that we have an “enzyme bank, ” and for good health and longevity, it is important to eat foods that will not draw upon these reserves. (See his books Enzyme Nutrition and Enzymes for Health and Longevity.) Eating a diet where the foods themselves are high in enzymes keeps the pancreas from having to secrete them for digestion, thus saving them for the repair and maintenance of cells, organs, tissues, muscles and tendons.
High-quality, naturally raised raw proteins like raw and cultured dairy, raw egg yolks, raw meats and fish are the highest in enzymes. However, eating cooked foods with high-enzyme fermented vegetables like unpasteurized sauerkraut, pickled beets and kimchee as well as cultured beverages like beet kvass, kombucha and lacto-fermented drinks also saves the body’s enzyme reserves.
Some raw foods have anti-nutrients and enzyme inhibitors, and require special preparation to digest well. Nuts, seeds, grains and legumes all contain these difficult-to-digest elements in their raw form and need to be soaked in acidulated water to break down these components.
Our book, Performance without Pain, contains a wealth of information on high-enzyme foods, preparing cultured foods and the proper preparation of foods containing enzyme-inhibitors. It can get you started on understanding how to maximize the healing energy of your diet. For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareThe media entices people into thinking that using vaccines protects people from many serious illnesses. What is reported in the media about vaccines and what has historically occurred with vaccines is quite different. But the actual track record may surprise you. In fact, from the beginning of their use, there was never clear evidence that the vaccines were alleviating the diseases for which they were created.
When we look at both polio and small pox we will see the evidence for prevention through vaccine is very questionable. The death records from about a ten year span before both polio and small pox show that the numbers of people dying from these two diseases went down significantly. And when the vaccine was introduced with polio, the amount of people who contracted polio went up!! With small pox, the disease had also already gone down significantly before the vaccine was produced and the person who developed the vaccine reported years later that it was a failure! Measles was yet another illness that had declined by 98% between 1915 and 1958 just before the vaccine was introduced.
The other very serious problem with vaccines is that they have many toxic ingredients. Many of them still many still have thimerosal–which contains mercury. The adult flu vaccine still has this ingredient unless you ask for a “thimerosal-free” dose. Mercury in very small doses is extremely toxic. In fact, after a three hour exposure, mercury causes cell membrane damage and death in only “very tiny ” amounts. In many of today’s vaccines, aluminum–also toxic–is replacing mercury. It depletes minerals, targets the myelin tissue, can cause fatigue, numbness, paralysis etc.
With so many vaccines being developed today, there has never been a scientific study (double-blind, controlled) proving their efficacy! Yet, we are told that our children need to receive a record amount of vaccines throughout childhood! This is very disturbing. Luckily, many people are “going against the grain” and the entire Autism community has clear guidelines against vaccines for the health of children.
The following are websites to give you more information:
www.thinktwice.com
www.uninformedconsent.org
www.safeminds.org.
www.opednews.com
www.thimerosal-news.com
In the worldwide studies of 14 healthy cultures, Dr. Weston A. Price found that immunity to all disease was clearly through a nutrient-dense diet. He saw that “All disease is caused from malnourishment.” For more information about healing and building optimal health with traditional, nutrient-dense foods see www.perfromancewithoutpain.com.
Best in Health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareThis being the 3rd of three days of your substitute blog writer’s (Paul Yeager’s) appearance, I thought I would just shortly share a powerful and inspiring quote from Thich Nhat Hanh’s “Peace is Every Step” which has helped me foster the energies of spiritual creativity, concentration, and gratitude necessary to maintain a diet of nutrient dense foods and to eat this way on a consistent basis, eating and living fully in the present moment.
It’s no easy feat to resist the temptations of Standard American Diet at every turn, and running these thoughts through my head (and through my energy and heart) on occasion have really helped me return to my daily practice of eating according to nourishing principles, instead of sliding back into the “old way” of fast food, lousy restaurants, and inferior eating choices.
And eating in gratitude, aware of the immense fortune of being able to eat this way, and having that in perspective–I find this is the ultimate starting point for optimal digestion. I may often be eating nutrient dense, traditional food, but if I am not present to taste this food, which so few are able to have and eat, then it is not as nourishing.
On page 23 of “Peace is Every Step” in “Eating Mindfully,” Thich Nhat Hanh states:
“Eating a meal in mindfulness is an important practice. We turn off the TV, put down our newspaper, and work together for five or ten minutes, setting the table and finishing whatever needs to be done. During those few minutes, we can be very happy. When the food is on the table and everyone is seated, we practice breathing: ‘Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile,’ three times. We can recover ourselves completely after three breaths like this.”
ShareHi there. Kathy Pirtle’s substitute blog writer Paul Yeager has resurfaced for the 2nd of three days that Kathy Pirtle is away at the Weston A. Price Conference in Chicago!
Today I’d like to write about erosive gerd / acid reflux.
Just how erosive is erosive GERD? Is it really more erosive than nonerosive acid reflux? What defines it as more erosive? Is nonerosive gerd really *completely* nonerosive? Or is one just more erosive than the other? Just how advanced is modern science in making these kinds of distinctions? Well, I was interested in understanding the answers to these questions, so I started searching PubMed for some solid research literature.
Surprisingly like many things in modern science, I found the “most cutting-edge” answer I could find to be puzzlingly full of seemingly circular logic, with hordes of observations seeming to be made based on assumptions with little or no reference material. It surprises me that such studies even make it into PubMed, but then again, how scientific is science? Is science not based fundamentally on observations, or more acutely *our perceptions*?
For instance, Sir Isaac Newton and others found the acceleration rate of gravity to be quantifiable as 9.8 meters per second squared. He could throw an apple up into the air 10,000 times and predict with reasonable certainty that it was going to accelerate towards the earth at that rate. But then Einstein came along. And then Niels Bohr. And Schroedinger, etc. They–and then we (by going to space, studying eclipses, etc.)–discovered that that “law” had only been the result of living within the confines of our earth’s gravitational field–it still of course had an application, but it wasn’t *completely true* everywhere, all the time.
And such is HARDLY the case concerning distinctions such as those between erosive gerd and nonerosive gerd–here we’ll find that the conclusion simply completely contradicts the initial assumptions. At least with Newton, he started out with the “hunch” that there was something uniform about gravity and then found out he was pretty much right. Here we start out with the assumption that erosive gerd is more erosive than nonerosive gerd (or better yet that erosive gerd is just plain erosive and nonerosive isn’t) but we seem to find out, well… I won’t spoil it just yet. I’m just going to copy-paste the study I found below:
”
Foroutan M, Doust HM, Jodeiri B, Derakhshan F, Mohaghegh H, Mousapour H, Poursaadati S, Kiarudi MY, Zali M.
Department of Gastroenterology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. swt_f@yahoo.com
INTRODUCTION: Ineffective esophageal motility (IEM) is a frequent finding in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). It is responsible for delayed acid clearance as it affects esophageal emptying and saliva transport. Since erosive GERD is a more severe disease than nonerosive GERD, it may be associated with IEM, which delays esophageal clearance. Objective : We investigated the role of IEM in patients with erosive and nonerosive GERD. METHODS: We enrolled 100 patients with heartburn and a primary diagnosis of GERD referred to the GI motility department of RCGLD of Shahid Beheshti University between January 2002 and January 2005. Based on endoscopic findings, the patients were classified into two groups of erosive GERD and nonerosive GERD. Manometry and 24-hour ambulatory pH-metry was performed in all patients. RESULTS: Seventy-seven patients completed the study: 31 (40.3%) with erosive GERD and 46 (59.7%) with nonerosive GERD. IEM was present in 38.7% of patients with erosive GERD and in 28.3% of those with nonerosive GERD (p=0.18). A low lower esophageal sphincter pressure was present in 45.2% of patients with erosive GERD, and in 45.7% of those with nonerosive GERD (p=0.97). Abnormal acid reflux was present in 32.3% and 41.3% of patients with erosive and nonerosive GERD, respectively (p=0.42). CONCLUSION: There was no difference in the prevalence of IEM between patients with erosive and nonerosive GERD. IEM could be an integral part of GERD and may not always be associated with mucosal injury.
”
Now wait a minute. The study says at the top “Since erosive GERD is a more severe disease than nonerosive GERD, it may be associated with IEM, which delays esophageal clearance.” But WHY is erosive GERD a more severe disease than nonerosive GERD?! The study just assumed that was known right off the bat! And then after making such assumptions, the study actually winds up proving that this IEM (“ineffective esophageal motility”) is actually only a little more than 10% more prevalent in the erosive gerd control group?! So first we have an assumption that erosive gerd is more “erosive” than nonerosive gerd, and then we have evidence to show that nonerosive gerd is actually ALMOST AS EROSIVE AS EROSIVE GERD!
This is entirely broken circular logic!
Here’s why I suspect the logic is broken: because as the study clearly provides statistics to support (which is the statistic showing that 28.3% of the supposedly nonerosive gerd group HAD “ineffective esophageal motility” aka EROSION), nonerosive GERD is actually VERY EROSIVE!
And what would happen if that many more people with gerd (which we know from Kathy and John Turner’s ebook on a true gerd natural remedy make up 1 in 5 people in the population at large) were to be told by doctors that their “plain ol’ not-a-big-deal gerd” (which they’re currently happy swallowing a purple pill for) is in fact EROSIVE?
They would think “woah, this is a serious disease!” And guess what? This IS ALREADY a serious disease, because as the above study clearly proves, even nonerosive gerd is erosive.
So what can we do about this erosion, both of our GI tracts and of our ability to think clearly (with its attempted subversion by the poor logic in studies such as that above, AND by inferior food choices)? This is another reason many doctors might not want folks to think their gerd is creating erosion, because what we CAN do is change our diets.
We can start eating nutrient-dense, traditional foods consisting of the building blocks of optimal digestion and optimal assimilation, these being the true cornerstones of good health all around. These foods are the foods that countless ancestors of traditional isolated peoples have been eating for millenia: saturated animal fats high in cholesterol and therefore GOOD, bone-broth from cartilaginous and marrow-rich bones with its high content of colloidal stomach-acid-ATTRACTING (yes, that’s GOOD for gerd! not bad!) properties, truly lacto-fermented foods with its high content of probiotics, enzymes, and lactic acid, plenty of high-quality protein from pastured animals, and a wide array of plant-based vitamins and minerals from seasonally-attuned veggies like squash, zucchini, collards, kale, etc.
We can make these changes now, regardless of whether our acid reflux has been labeled erosive or nonerosive–which as we have seen, is largely a misnomer anyhow, possibly even designed simply to keep people thinking their nonerosive gerd is no big deal.
ShareHi there. My name is Paul Yeager and I’m a close friend of Kathy Pirtle’s. I also happen to be the developer/webmaster for PerformanceWithoutPain.com. Both Kathy and I have been eating nutrient dense, traditional foods for years now and we in fact met initially over the Internet, as the result of our crossed healing paths. We also both happen to be classical musicians with an immense love for music.
Kathy asked me to do a little writing on the blog in her stead, as a result of her immense dedication to as-close-to-daily-as-possible blog writing. I have to say, in all my years of reading–and then developing–blogs of various sorts, I have NEVER in my almost 20 or so years of life on the Internet seen *anyone* write such high-quality material on such a constant basis, and on such an important issue as this one.
So, when she asked me to be her substitute blog writer, I was greatly humbled and made sure to tell her, as I am telling you, that I am not the kind of writer she is, but that I would try my best to measure up. However, having gone through quite a bit of health crisis and resulting healing crises of my own, I do feel qualified to write on a few things (just not as elegantly and clearly), so I went ahead and created myself another administrative blog account named paulchfs–chfs stands for Certified Healing Foods Specialist by the way–and so here I am.
I’ve learned from Kathy and others some remarkable things about acid reflux, and this has been an incredible learning curve for me, not only because I know what she and others are saying is strikingly true about powerful, traditional, nutrient-dense foods healing acid reflux–from first hand experience–but also because the new things she keeps telling me about this disease make me realize that to some very degree, I am very much STILL healing from it!
Not only that, but I think I, just like the rest of society to some degree, tend to disregard many of the facets of this disease as “normal” when such a state of health is in fact, not normal at all. Kathy’s work continues to guide me in this way.
One thing that continues to startle me is that 1 in 5 people have acid reflux disease; ONE IN FIVE. Go back and read that again, because it means there’s a one in five chance you have acid reflux disease! That’s just a “delicious hors d’ouevre” of the plethora of startling acid reflux facts and statistics Kathy’s got around. Another is that last year there were 470,000 hospitalizations and 1.9 million visits to the emergency room for this illness.
The last one doesn’t startle me quite as much because I am actually amongst those people; just three or four years ago, I went to the emergency room with this illness! My acid reflux had turned into what the ER doctor labeled “acute gastritis” and he just told me I had too much stress and to go home and take it easy. Let me tell you, there’s a lot more to this disease than “go home and take it easy.” I mean sure, the life of a professional violinist and computer coder geek is stressful, but if there are 1.9 million visits to the ER over this thing, than that obviously isn’t a complete explanation!
Thankfully, I started talking to people like Kathy more than ER doctors. Kathy has enlightened me also to the fact that asthma and ear infections are a symptom of gerd, and all throughout my childhood I suffered from chronic ear infections and asthma! (By the way. all of this incredible information and more, along with what kind of menu of foods for gerd to have on a regular basis, will soon be able to be found in her ebook via the previous link.)
In relation to acid reflux and these symptoms of it I now know about, my health-life begins to make a lot of sense. Basically, I realize now that I had BAD acid reflux all my life until, about five years ago, I found out about and started constantly consuming traditional foods like fermented cod liver oil, bone broth from cartilaginous and marrow bones from pastured animals, lacto-fermented sauerkraut and other fermented foods (fermented the way our great-great-grandparents made things like this, not just jars of pickles from off the store shelf), and powerful healing fermented drinks like beet kvass and kombucha.
Also incremental to healing my acid reflux was the fact that I realized, with Kathy’s help and the help of Sally Fallon and Mary Enig’s books and the Weston A. Price Foundation, that saturated animal fat is GOOD FOR ME! That’s a lengthy subject all on its own, and for another post.
By now you might be wondering OKAY OKAY so what might acid reflux and bad breath have in common? Well get this: there are approximately 20 people a day google-searching for “gerd bad breath” –advertisers are willing to pay OVER a dollar per click to get potentially interested buyers to find them via their google search for “gerd bad breath” (oh, being a web developer is fun stuff)!
Along with my asthma and chronic ear infections, all my life prior to beginning to heal my gerd/acid reflux, is it possible that this has been another of my symptoms as well?! My mother and sister have complained of my bad breath literally ALL my life, until the complaints began to finally sizzle out STARTING five years ago when I got on traditional foods and began to heal my gut.
And that is what acid reflux and bad breath seem to have in common: they are both results of poor digestion and malnourishment. Both occurred all MY life UNTIL I began to fix my digestion with traditional foods in the ways that Kathy Pirtle eBook describes. This ebook also described chronic belching and flatulence as a symptom of this disease, and these are things that I’m not afraid to admit largely healed as well when I stopped eating Standard American Diet and ultimately switched to a traditional foods, Weston Price diet.
And also admittedly, these things (chronic belching, flatulence, and bad breath) are things that will come back if I begin to fall off the wagon (i.e. I love to eat Thai food out at restaurants out on occasion, but I know that if I do, these signs–and eventually gerd itself–will return since my digestion is “sliding backwards”). And now I know I’m not alone on my thinking that gerd and bad breath have something to do with each other–I’m simply amongst a statistic to add to Kathy’s incredible acid reflux statistic-heap: 20 people a day are google searching for gerd bad breath! That’s 20 * 365 = 7300 people a year! Coincidence?
Ah, the beauty of the Internet.
Ciao, Paul
ShareSoy foods and beverages have been given tremendous attention in the media as a wonderful health food. Soy is advertised as a great protein, a nutritious milk substitute and an aid for the symptoms of menopause and bone loss. It is also widely used in infant formulas. Unfortunately, the research dollars aimed to taut soy’s attributes are coming straight from the soy industry.
Historically, cultures that consumed soy, did so by a long fermentation preparation as in miso, natto or tempeh. (See www.southrivermiso.com) This important traditional process breaks down the difficult-to-digest phytates and enzyme inhibitors. Additionally, cultures who consumed soy, did so in small quantities and most often with meat or fish.
Commercial soy products are made from unfermented soy or refined protein isolates that are highly processed at very high temperatures, thus making the proteins indigestible. They are also high in mineral blocking phytates, thyroid-depressing phytoestrogens and enzyme inhibitors that hamper digestion and may be a factor in cancer. Soy in infant formulas have caused many problems for the long-term health of growing children.
The book, The Whole Soy Story, by Dr. Kaayla T. Daniel, CCN, PhD, is a superb guide to the enormous problems with the modern consumption of soy.
The best way to build health is to eat a diet rich in nutrient-dense, easy-to-digest traditional foods.
For more information see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareThe physical challenges that performing artists and athletes face have a lot in common especially in the area of pain in muscles and tendons. It is normal to have occasional muscle soreness after a heavy workout or practice. However, as most people know the difference between muscle soreness and chronic inflammation, it is important to understand that there is often a biochemical component in chronic inflammation that may not addressed even in traditional holistic therapies including massage and chiropractic.
Chronic inflammation is a frightening condition as pain may be present even when you have done very little and may be excruciating if you do the slightest bit more. It often does not go away–even with rest– and it can haunt you day and night.It also often moves from one area to another and you can end up literally “chasing” the pain in your physical therapy sessions to no avail–for just as you solve the problem in one area, another area becomes sore.
Ongoing inflammation cannot be solved permanently with physical therapy–sorry–as this kind of inflammation is systemic. If you don’t look at the “why” deeply, you will continue to suffer and this symptom may be just the start of more serious health problems down the line.
Systemic inflammation often is a sign of poor digestion and “leaky gut syndrome.” Leaky gut is most often caused from eating difficult-to-digest, nutrient-poor foods that create intestinal flora imbalances like Candida overgrowth. With poor gut flora or “gut dysbiosis,” intestinal damage is likely. When the intestinal tract becomes damaged, undigested proteins can “leak” through the intestinal wall, causing an immune system response and inflammatory chemicals to constantly circulate throughout the body.
Permanent healing is possible if you change your diet to focus on easy-to-digest, nutrient-dense, traditional foods that will heal the intestinal tract and build optimal health. Although at first this may seem like a daunting task, the benefits far outweigh the difficulty. You have spent your entire life dedicated to top performance, so isn’t your future worth the care that it took for you to come this far? Remember–”Your health is your wealth!”
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in Health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareThis is an interesting article from the Weston A. Price Foundation website.
Myth: Heart disease in America is caused by consumption of cholesterol and saturated fat from animal products.
Truth: During the period of rapid increase in heart disease (1920-1960), American consumption of animal fats declined but consumption of hydrogenated and industrially processed vegetable fats increased dramatically. (USDA-HNI)
Myth: Saturated fat clogs arteries.
Truth: The fatty acids found in artery clogs are mostly unsaturated (74%) of which 41% are polyunsaturated. (Lancet 1994 344:1195)
Myth: Vegetarianism is healthy.
Truth: The annual all-cause death rate of vegetarian men is slightly more than that of non-vegetarian men (.93% vs .89%); the annual death rate of vegetarian women is significantly more than that of non-vegetarian women (.86% vs .54%) (Am J Clin Nutr 1982 36:873)
Myth: Vitamin B12 can be obtained from certain plant sources such as blue-green algae and soy products.
Truth: Vitamin B12 is not absorbed from plant sources. Modern soy products increase the body’s need for B12. (Soybeans: Chemistry & Technology Vol 1 1972)
Myth: For good health, serum cholesterol should be less than 180 mg/dl.
Truth: The all-cause death rate is higher in individuals with cholesterol levels lower than 180 mg/dl. (Circulation 1992 86:3:1026-1029)
Myth: Animal fats cause cancer and heart disease.
Truth: Animal fats contain many nutrients that protect against cancer and heart disease; elevated rates of cancer and heart disease are associated with consumption of large amounts of vegetable oils. (Fed Proc July 1978 37:2215)
Myth: Children benefit from a low-fat diet.
Truth: Children on low-fat diets suffer from growth problems, failure to thrive & learning disabilities. (Food Chem News 10/3/94)
Myth: A low-fat diet will make you “feel better . . . and increase your joy of living.”
Truth: Low-fat diets are associated with increased rates of depression, psychological problems, fatigue, violence and suicide. (Lancet 3/21/92 v339)
Myth: To avoid heart disease, we should use margarine instead of butter.
Truth: Margarine eaters have twice the rate of heart disease as butter eaters. (Nutrition Week 3/22/91 21:12)
Myth: Americans do not consume enough essential fatty acids.
Truth: Americans consume far too much of one kind of EFA (omega-6 EFAs found in most polyunsaturated vegetable oils) but not enough of another kind of EFA (omega-3 EFAs found in fish, fish oils, eggs from properly fed chickens, dark green vegetables and herbs, and oils from certain seeds such as flax and chia, nuts such as walnuts and in small amounts in all whole grains.) (Am J Clin Nutr 1991 54:438-63)
Myth: A vegetarian diet will protect you against atherosclerosis.
Truth: The International Atherosclerosis Project found that vegetarians had just as much atherosclerosis as meat eaters. (Lab Invest 1968 18:498)
Myth: Low-fat diets prevent breast cancer.
Truth: A recent study found that women on very low-fat diets (less than 20%) had the same rate of breast cancer as women who consumed large amounts of fat. (NEJM 2/8/96)
Myth: The “cave man diet” was low in fat.
Truth: Throughout the world, primitive peoples sought out and consumed fat from fish and shellfish, water fowl, sea mammals, land birds, insects, reptiles, rodents, bears, dogs, pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, game, eggs, nuts and milk products. (Abrams, Food & Evolution 1987)
Myth: Coconut oil causes heart disease.
Truth: When coconut oil was fed as 7% of energy to patients recovering from heart attacks, the patients had greater improvement compared to untreated controls, and no difference compared to patents treated with corn or safflower oils. Populations that consume coconut oil have low rates of heart disease. Coconut oil may also be one of the most useful oils to prevent heart disease because of its antiviral and antimicrobial characteristics. (JAMA 1967 202:1119-1123; Am J Clin Nutr 1981 34:1552)
Myth: Saturated fats inhibit production of anti-inflammatory prostaglandins.
Truth: Saturated fats actually improve the production of all prostaglandins by facilitating the conversion of essential fatty acids. (Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation Journal 20:3)
Myth: Arachidonic acid in foods like liver, butter and egg yolks causes production of “bad” inflammatory prostaglandins.
Truth: Series 2 prostaglandins that the body makes from arachidonic acid both encourage and inhibit inflammation under appropriate circumstances. Arachidonic acid is vital for the function of the brain and nervous system. (Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation Journal 20:3)
Myth: Beef causes colon cancer
Truth: Argentina, with higher beef consumption, has lower rates of colon cancer than the US. Mormons have lower rates of colon cancer than vegetarian Seventh Day Adventists (Cancer Res 35:3513 1975)
© 1999 Weston A. Price Foundation All Rights Reserved.
For more information on building optimal with nutrient-dense foods and a healing diet, see www.performancewithoutpain.com
Best in Health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareInstrumentalists, dancers and athletes depend on muscle and tendon flexibility for top performance. If you need to do yoga just to function–this is not optimal. If muscles and tendons are overly stiff, it may be due to a nutrient-poor diet and poor digestion.
In my 30’s, I had a lot of trouble with muscle and tendon stiffness. Without a daily yoga regime, I felt like my arms, back and fingers were stuck. In my 40’s when I became deathly ill with a digestive disorder resulting from years of eating a high-fiber/low-fat “healthy diet” and turned to easy-to-digest, traditional, nutrient-dense foods to heal, I noticed that eventually all of my stiffness melted away. So–in my 50’s I am more flexible than ever before!
Weston A. Price’s research on healthy cultures worldwide determined the nutritional elements that are necessary for optimal health. Most people today are following a high-fiber/low-fat diet thinking that this is healthy. However, this kind of diet was not even close to the kind of diets that Price found in optimally healthy populations. To the contrary, all 14 healthy cultures, though their diets were all different, consumed ample traditional fats and nutrient-dense, easy-to-digest foods that provided over 10 times the amount of vitamin A and D and 30 times the amount of other vitamins compared to diets in the US. Price found that without adequate traditional fat (butter, cream, lard, coconut oil) and Vitamin A and D from natural sources in the diet, you could not absorb the nutrients in your foods–no matter how good the diet.
Below are some of the basic elements of a good diet:
For more information on traditional, nutrient-dense foods for optimal health and a healing diet see www. performancewithoutpain.com.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareThe following report from the International Food Information Council demonstrates just how thorough the high-fiber/low-fat dictate has infiltrated the choices that the general public makes about healthy eating. This list puts vegetables/salads, fruits and whole grains as the top three picks. These foods are difficult to digest and low in nutrients in comparison pastured animal foods. Eating low-nutrient, hard-to-digest foods as the main part of the diet puts you on the fast track to digestive disorders and malnourishment. Considering that 60 million people have acid reflux–or 1 in 5 people–and that this condition alone is so common that we have billions of dollars spent dedicated to advertising meds for it–this should serve as a wake up call that this approach to eating is not working.
Simply put–”All disease begins in the gut.” Hippocrates and “All disease comes from malnourishment,” Dr. Weston A. Price.
Related topics: Consumer Trends
The latest report by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) finds that out of those Americans trying to improve their diets, 79 percent are changing the types of foods they eat, 69 percent are changing the amount of foods consumed, and 19 percent are changing their use of dietary supplements.
“The 2009 Food & Health Survey found that healthfulness, among other product attributes, is an important factor that influences consumers’ purchasing decisions. When consumers are choosing foods for themselves and their children, they are interested in healthful components such as fiber, whole grains, protein, vitamin C, and calcium, which all play a role in building strong bodies and improving overall health,” wrote IFIC.
This is the sixth survey conducted by IFIC since 1998 in order to track consumer awareness and attitudes to functional foods.
Commissioned by IFIC, Cogent Research of Cambridge, MA, conducted an online survey of 1,000 American adults in May this year. Questions were either open-ended (unaided), or participants were prompted and asked to rate specific responses.
More foods for more health
Around 55 percent of participants (553) said they are changing the types of foods or food components they eat in an effort to improve their health. Of those, 64 percent said they are eating more of a particular food.
The foods consumers cited most often (unaided) as products they are trying to eat more of include:
When asked to rank the top three food components they look for when choosing foods for themselves (aided), consumers opted for:
For those purchasing foods for their children, the top components were (aided):
Functional food awareness
The survey also revealed a slow but steady increase in people’s awareness that functional foods are foods with benefits that go beyond basic nutrition (89 percent in 2009 compared to 85 percent in 2007).
The top ‘functional foods’ named by consumers (unaided) are: fruits and vegetables, fish/fish oil/seafood, dairy (including milk and yogurt), meat and poultry, herbs/spices, fiber, tea and green tea, nuts, whole grains and other grains, water, cereal, oats/oat bran/oatmeal, and vitamins/supplements.
As in previous surveys conducted in 2007 and 2005, nine out of 10 consumers were able to name, on an unaided basis, a specific food or food component and its associated health benefit (92 percent in 2009 and 2007 and 91 percent in 2005). This compares to 84 percent in 2002; 82 percent in 2000; and 77 percent in 1998.
The survey also examined consumers’ top health concerns and the foods they think address these. It also looked at people’s perception of nutrigenomics – or personalized nutrition – as well as the communication and sources of information on health and nutrition.
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For more information on a nutrient-dense foods and a healing diet see www.performancewithoutpain.com
Best in Health,
Kathryne Pirtle
Although drinking the “healthy” recommended 6 to 8 glasses of water a day to stay hydrated sounds like a great idea, this may cause problems for your health. Water may not be as hydrating as you think. If you consider that when you drink a lot of water, you are in the restroom a lot–maybe this means that all that water isn’t really doing the job you want it to do. Maybe your body tries to rid itself of this excess and the kidneys are working overtime! Drinking too much water often pulls minerals from the body and can create electrolyte imbalances.
Before refrigeration, people drank beverages that were much more hydrating, nutritious and helpful to digestion. Fermented drinks like kombucha, beet kvass, and countless other lacto-fermented drinks were consumed that were high in nutrients, enzymes and probiotics. Cultured dairy like yogurt and kefir were a mainstay of the diet as were bone broth and bone broth soups–all of which are loaded with health benefits.
You may also be surprised to learn that low-fat diets tend to make people thirsty. Water is a byproduct of fat digestion–so being thirsty all the time may indicate that your body needs more traditional fats. Traditional fats are critical to nutrient absorption and they offer you a natural source of hydration at a much deeper cellular level.
As a guideline, daily total liquid consumption–including foods and beverages–should equal about 8 cups. By adding more fermented and cultured beverages, bone broth and traditional fats to your daily diet, you will stay naturally hydrated and be improving your health with nutrient-density.
Our book, Performance without Pain, has a wealth of recipes for broths, fermented and cultured beverages. For more information on a healing diet and nutrient-dense foods see www.performancewithoutpain.com.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareI hope you all got a chance to see the fantastic movie “Julie and Julia.” Although this movie is not about health, it teaches us, through Julia Child’s passion to learn and share the timeless art of French cooking, that wonderful food has wonderful whole food ingredients–including butter and cream. And that slow food is worth preparing–and of course–eating!
Butter and cream were never avoided for thousands of years. Heart disease was almost never heard of before 1920. In fact, in the 1920’s a machine was developed that would test a person’s heart health. This invention was considered fairly useless!
It was only with the industrialization of food and the corn feeding of livestock, that there was a push to make a profit with vegetable oils and demonize traditional fats. Thus the Framingham study was launched, which tried to determine that as cholesterol levels rose, there was a higher incidence in heart disease. Unfortunately, the study results were tainted, and if read accurately, didn’t show any change in heart disease rate with higher cholesterol. Since then, billions of dollars have been put into more flawed research to try to eek out a positive result that cholesterol is the culprit! It is only when trans-fats are used that there is a rise in heart disease–wonder of wonders!!! What are trans-fats made of?—-vegetable oil!
So enjoy butter and cream–it’s good for you–especially if it comes from pastured animals!! As we move back to nutrient-dense, traditional foods to heal and nourish our bodies and souls, let us look to the past–to those who have shown us how a passion for these foods can fill our lives with zest and sparkle–a true sign that we are well and whole and that we will have the nutritional ingredients for a life well-lived as we fulfill our dreams.
For more information on a healing diet and nutrient-dense foods, see www.performancewithoutpain.com.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareOf course, the best kefir and yogurt in the world is made of whole-fat raw milk from pastured animals. Both kefir and yogurt are wonderful sources of enzymes, probiotics and nutrition. People who are lactose intolerant can most often tolerate cultured dairy–especially if it is from raw milk, as the lactose is nearly gone.
However, kefir has some benefits that yogurt lacks. The beneficial bacteria in kefir will colonize better in the intestinal tract where that of yogurt tends to move through the system. Also, kefir has a beneficial yeasts that eat candida such as Saccharomyces Kefir and Torula Kefir, which help balance the intestinal flora by penetrating the mucosal lining. They form a virtual SWAT team that housecleans and helps strengthen the intestines. Kefir is therefore an incredible partner in overcoming compromised gut flora.
Kefir’s active yeast and bacteria may provide more nutritive value than yogurt by helping digest the foods that you eat and by keeping the colon environment clean and healthy. The curd size of Kefir is smaller than yogurt, so it’s also easier to digest
It’s very easy to make your own yogurt and kefir with a good source of whole raw milk–see www.realmilk.com If you cannot obtain that, you can use a high quality whole organic milk–preferably unhomogenized. You can obtain fantastic cultures from www.bodyecology.com. Just follow the instructions on the package. Our book, Performance without Pain, has recipes as well.
For more information on a healing diet and nutrient-dense foods, see www.performancewithoutpain.com.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
SharePeople have consumed milk for health benefit for over 30,000 years. Until refrigeration became available in the last century, most milk was consumed in a preserved form as a cultured beverage or as cheese. Also, for most of this time, milk came exclusively from animals on pasture. This can be truly called real milk.
Today, raw milk with all its healing benefits is becoming more and more available through the cow-share program, the Weston A. Price Foundation and www.realmilk.com.
The trend of pasteurization only became necessary when the cows were taken off pasture and given foods that were not appropriate for their species. Giving cows unnatural food became a practice in the 1800’s in the US when whiskey distilleries housed cows and fed them the waste–called slop–from the distillation process. This tainted milk was sold to people on the east coast for nearly 100 years and caused the highest infant mortality rate ever seen. Pasteurization became the solution to selling this tainted milk. Sadly, pasteurization became the rule. And with the industrial farming industry practices of today, commercial milk must be pasteurized.
However, milk for thousands of years was considered a mainstay of the diet for cultures throughout the world. It was so revered that Thomas Jefferson declared it a matter of national security and worked to make sure that cows were brought safely from England to the United States. In fact, in the early 1900’s, at the Mayo Clinic, the “milk cure” was used for healing many illnesses. Here is an interesting article written by Dr. Ron Schmid, who wrote the important book, The Untold Story of Milk, (pub. by New Trends):
by realmilk.com
The following is an edited version of an article by Dr. J. R. Crewe, of the Mayo Foundation, forerunner of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, published in Certified Milk Magazine, January 1929. We are grateful to Dr. Ron Schmid, ND of Middlebury, CT for unearthing this fascinating piece. The “Milk Cure” was the subject of at least two books by other authors, written subsequently to Dr. Crewe’s work. The milk used was, in all cases, the only kind of milk available in those days—raw milk from pasture fed cows, rich in butterfat. The treatment is a combination of detoxifying fast and nutrient-dense feeding. Note that Crewe quotes William Osler, author of a standard medical textbook of the day. Thus, this protocol was an orthodox, accepted therapy in the early 1900s. Today the Mayo Clinic provides surgery and drug treatments, but nothing as efficacious and elegant as the Milk Cure. (To find out about Raw Milk in Australia contact Real Milk Australia – Ed)
For fifteen years the writer has employed the certified milk treatment in various diseases and during the past ten he had a small sanitarium devoted principally to this treatment. The results obtained in various types of disease have been so uniformly excellent that one’s conception of disease and its alleviation is necessarily changed. The method itself is so simple that it does not greatly interest most doctors and the main stimulus for its use is from the patients themselves.
To cure disease we should seek to improve elimination, to make better blood and more blood, to build up the body resistance. The method used tends to accomplish these things. Blood conditions rapidly improve and the general condition and resistance is built up and recovery follows.
In several instances, Osler (Principles and Practices of Medicine, by William Osler, MD eighth edition) speaks of milk as being nothing more than white blood. Milk resembles blood closely and is a useful agent for improving and making new and better blood. Blood is the chief agent of metabolism. Milk is recognized in medical literature almost exclusively as a useful food and is admitted to be a complete food.
The therapy is simple. The patients are put at rest in bed and are given at half hour intervals small quantities of milk, totalling from five to ten quarts of milk a day. Most patients are started on three or four quarts of milk a day and this is usually increased by a pint a day. Diaphoresis (copious perspiration) is stimulated by hot baths and hot packs and heat in other forms. A daily enema is given.
The treatment is used in many chronic conditions but chiefly in tuberculosis, diseases of the nervous system, cardiovascular and renal conditions, hypertension, and in patients who are underweight, run-down, etc. Striking results are seen in diseases of the heart and kidneys and high blood pressure. In cases in which there is marked edema, the results obtained are surprisingly marked. This is especially striking because so-called dropsy has never been treated with large quantities of fluid. With all medication withdrawn, one case lost twenty-six pounds in six days, huge edema disappearing from the abdomen and legs, with great relief to the patient. No cathartics or diuretics were given. This property of milk in edema has been noted in both cardiac and renal cases.
Patients with cardiac disease respond splendidly without medication. In patients who have been taking digitalis and other stimulants, the drugs are withdrawn. High blood pressure patients respond splendidly and the results in most instances are quite lasting. The treatment has been used successfully in obesity without other alimentation. One patient reduced from 325 pounds to 284 in two weeks, on four quarts of milk a day, while her blood pressure was reduced from 220 to 170. Some extremely satisfying results have been obtained in a few cases of diabetics.
When sick people are limited to a diet containing an excess of vitamins and all the elements necessary to growth and maintenance, which are available in milk, they recover rapidly without the use of drugs and without bringing to bear all the complicated weapons of modern medicine.
Under the head of Treatment in Chronic Gastritis, Osler has said, “A rigid milk diet should be tried” (Principles and Practices of Medicine, by William Osler, M.D., eighth edition). And quoting from George Cheyne, he wrote, “Milk and sweet sound blood differ in nothing but color: milk is blood.” Under the heading of treatment in many diseases, it was true that he had little to say about drugs but did say a good deal about diet and particularly as in most every instance he recommended large quantities of milk.
Under chronic Bright’s disease (p 704) he says, “Milk or buttermilk should constitute for a time, the chief article of food.” Under treatment of cancer of stomach (p 505), he says many patients do best on milk alone. Under treatment of rheumatic fever (p 378), he says, “Milk is the most suitable diet.” With Olser as a background, one need not hesitate to go a bit farther. In fact, practically all medical men are agreed as to the value of milk as a food, and as an important part of the diet in the treatment of many diseases. But as the chief remedy in the treatment of disease, it is seldom used.
For more than 16 years I have conducted a small sanitarium where milk is used almost exclusively in the treatment of various diseases. The results have been so regularly satisfactory that I have naturally become enthusiastic and interested in this method of treating disease. We used good Guernsey milk, equal to 700 calories to the quart.
Interestingly, diseases that have no similarity respond equally to this treatment. For instance, psoriasis clears up beautifully. The improvement in tuberculosis or nephritis is equally interesting but there is no similarity in these diseases. I once heard a very distinguished medical man discussing a case of psoriasis. He said, “This was the worst case of psoriasis I have ever seen. This boy was literally covered from head to foot with scales. We put this boy on a milk diet and in less than a month he had a skin like a baby’s.” To me, this means that there was evidently some nutritive substance or vitamin or glandular secretion lacking, that was furnished by the milk.
It is well known that there is no time in the life of practically any mammal, but especially of the human, when the body is so beautiful and perfect as during the period when milk is the only food. It will be admitted that there is no period in life when the body is so perfect as in infancy, the infant being fed on milk from a healthy mother.
The Arabs are said (Encyclopedia Brittanica) to be the finest race, physically, in the world. Their diet consists mostly of milk and milk products with fruits and vegetables, and some meat.
You are all familiar with the writings of Colonel McCarrison, a medical officer in the British Army. He tells us that for nine years he was stationed in India in a district in the Himalayan Mountains. He said that the natives were very fine physically, that they retained a youthful appearance to advanced age and lived long and that they were very fertile. During the nine years of his residence there he saw practically no disease, no cases of malignancy or of abdominal disease. The diet of these people was simple and consisted principally of vegetables and fruits and milk and milk products.
Steffanson wrote most interestingly of the Eskimo, who, when uncontaminated by civilized conditions were hardy and robust. Their diet of course was almost entirely of meat and fish. He tells us, however, that the habits of meat-eating people are similar to those of carnivorous animals. The wolf first attacks the heart and gets the blood and later eats the glandular organs and viscera, leaving the muscle meats till the last. The Eskimo does the same thing.
During one expedition Mr. Steffanson and party started on a nine months’ trip over the Arctic ice with only one day’s provisions. All previous Arctic explorers had said that civilized men could not live in the Arctic regions without bringing in their supplies. Mr. Steffanson and his party, during the nine months, were almost never without an abundance of food, and much of it was eaten frozen and raw. I wish to show from Steffanson’s experience, first, that it is possible for people to be robust and maintain good health on various types of food of limited variety. That the condition common to all types of diet is, that much of the food is eaten raw. I wish to say here that our very excellent results obtained in the treatment of disease were had with uncooked food and raw milk.
The experience of seeing many cases of illness improve rapidly on a diet of raw milk has suggested more and more the feeling that much of modern disease is due to an increasing departure from simple methods of preparing plain foods. The treatment of various diseases over a period of 18 years with a practically exclusive milk diet has convinced me personally that the most important single factor in the cause of disease and in the resistance to disease is food. I have seen so many instances of the rapid and marked response to this form of treatment that nothing could make me believe this is not so.
We have often seen most satisfactory results in the treatment of anemia, including pernicious anemia, on a milk diet. I have repeatedly seen a marked reduction in the size of simple and toxic thyroid, with improvement in the symptoms of the toxic one. In prostatic diseases and associated conditions, this treatment will achieve rapid and marked improvement in the infection and in the reduction of the gland and lessening of obstruction. A professor of surgery in one of our state universities once said to me, “Since I have used your method in preparing prostate cases, I have had most excellent results and no mortality.” I replied that if he had continued the treatment a little longer, he would not need to operate. All infections of the urinary tract are greatly improved by this treatment.
An old friend of mine, a woodworker, aged 74, had a marked heart lesion and complete prostatic obstruction, so that it was necessary to use a permanent catheter. He had been taking digitalis but this was discontinued, and he received no medication of any kind. The prostate was very large and the residual urine very foul. His recovery has been rapid, and he has been able to work since that time and is now in very good health at 77 years of age. Another local man was treated six years ago for a severe chronic winter cough and prostatic disease, which necessitated his getting up many times at night. He volunteered the information a few days ago that he had no more trouble with any illness since that time.
Indeed we had a number of patients who took the treatment for “beauty treatment.” The tissues become firmer and the general appearance is markedly improved.One patient with very advanced cardiac and nephritic disease lost over thirty pounds of edema in six weeks. One would expect the large quantities of fluid would increase the edema but the above experience has been repeated many times in lesser degrees.
Hypertension responds with equal gratification. The blood pressure improves rapidly. I have never seen such rapid and lasting results by any other method. One of the patients lived almost exclusively on milk for more than three years.
About ten years ago a very sick man came to the Sanitarium suffering from a severe cystitis and nephritis. He was a diabetic. As milk contains about five percent milk sugar, it was feared that he could not manage this amount of sugar. But he did manage it, and improved in every way and in eight weeks was sugar free. My experience with milk diet in diabetes has been limited, but very interesting. These few patients, only seven or eight, have been much pleased with the results. Insulin was used for a time in some of the cases. They all became sugar free, or nearly so, after from four to ten weeks. From the fact that these patients were able to use a much more liberal diet than diabetics usually can take (after the treatment), it would seem to indicate that at least a partial regeneration of the pancreas is not impossible.
Recently I received a letter from a soldier who was confined in a government hospital in Arizona (for tuberculosis). He said a former patient of mine had induced him to try this method. He said that he had done so well that a number of the men were also attempting it and he had written for more definite instructions. He also said that the patients had to buy their own milk and received no encouragement from the hospital authorities.
There is a large class of patients who are ill but in whom no definite organic lesion can be found. These patients are often underweight. They may consume a fairly large amount of food but they do not gain in weight or strength. These patients do respond admirably to our system of large quantities of milk.
The chief fault of the treatment is that it is too simple. Patients attempt to do it at home, but there are many pitfalls, and it does not appeal to the modern medical man.
Real milk comes from real cows that eat real cow food. It contains no additives, is not pasturized or homogenized nor is it fed to humans skimmed. Real Milk can save Family Farms and the health of many millions of people.. Join a campaign for Real Milk. A project of The Weston A. Price Foundation For international Real Milk Activism go to the the Weston A Price Foundation’s Real Milk Site.
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareRegularly eating bone broth soup has many wonderful health benefits. There is an old Latin saying, “Good broth raises the dead.” So what are the magical attributes to this slow food that have given it such an honor?
Bone broth is one of the easiest foods to digest. It is loaded with a wide array of easy-to-assimilate critical nutrients like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, cartilage, marrow, amino acids and vitamins. The cartilage in broth will help you heal your own cartilage. Bone broths are also rich in gelatin, which can aid digestion and help to heal the intestinal tract.
In today’s world where everyone seems to have calcium and other nutrient deficiencies, good old-fashioned bone broth is the form of these nutrients that we can best utilize.
Bone broth can be made from chicken, fish or beef bones (for beef and chicken, pastured is best–free-range, organic is next best. For fish–wild-caught.) The most important thing is to add a little vinegar or wine to the water when simmering the bones as it pulls the nutrients out of the bones and into the broth. Here is a wonderful bone broth soup recipe made from beef bones.
Rich Beef and Vegetable Bone Broth Soup
1 oxtail
1 knuckle bone
several marrow bones
several soup bones
2 T. vinegar
1-2 lb. stew meat
2 -3 large onions-chopped
4 large carrots-sliced
4 large beets-sliced
1/4 lb. Swiss chard-chopped
1 large bunch of parsley-chopped
other vegetables of your choice
2 cups dry red wine
filtered water to cover bones
Celtic Sea Salt to taste
In a large stock pot or crock pot, take the bones and cover them with water and put in the vinegar. Cover the pot and let the water come to a boil. Turn to simmer. When the meat from the soup bones and oxtail is cooked, take the meat off these bones and set aside in the refrigerator. Put bones back into same pot and continue simmering for about 24-36 hours!! (This is how you get nutrient-rich broth.) You may have to add water from time to time. After 24-36 hours, strain the broth and skim off the fat. Add the wine, meat from the bones, stew meat and vegetables. Simmer for about 2 hours. Salt to taste. (For easy lunches take a thermos of soup! Never heat in the microwave–it destroys the nutrients.)
For more information on a healing diet and nutrient-dense foods, see www.performancewithoutpain.com.
Best in health,
Kathyrne Pirtle
ShareArtists know very well that the ability to concentrate is critical to both practicing and performing. However all of us need these concentration skills to do well in our everyday lives. In addition mood instability that curtails a sense of well-being may impact our success. Today the cutting edge treatments for working with children who have autism, ADD, ADHD and mental health issues is a dietary protocol based on nutrient-dense foods that also maximizes digestion and absorption. This is because this scientific community has proven that this approach has offered remarkable advances in the reversal of all of these problems. These very same advances for serious ailments in children have a direct relationship on how we can look at what is helpful for optimal concentration and mood in less critical health situations.
When the diet is high in difficult-to-digest foods like high-fiber, complex carbohydrate and processed foods or sugar, digestion can slow down and cause an overgrowth of candida in both the stomach and the intestinal tract. The byproduct of sugars broken down by yeast (candida) is alcohol and acetaldehyde. The byproduct of poorly digested gluteomorphine protein from gluten grains is a morphine-like chemical. Need I say more! That alcohol and morphine would affect both the mood and the ability to concentrate even in small amounts is obvious. Acetaldehyde will bind itself to proteins we consume and make their nutrients unavailable to the body. Additionally, these foods become very addictive because of the chemicals they produce under these circumstances.
Therefore–changing your diet to foods that are easy-to-digest and nutrient rich is the best way to insure that your body and mind are able to function at peak performance.
Optimal digestion requires certain components.
For more information on healing and building optimal health with nutrient-dense, traditional foods, see www.performancewithoutpain.com.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareMany people today are getting extra omega-3 fatty acids in their diet with fish oil. Omega-3s have decreased in our diets today largely because of vegetable oils and corn-feeding of our livestock. From beef to chicken and now, even our farm-raised fish, unless a person chooses to get their food from a farm co-op that pastures their animals, foods that used to have a balance of omega-3 to -6 fatty acids are now overabundant in omega-6. In fact, because of today’s foods, omega-6 fatty acids can dominate omega-3 fatty acids by as much as between 20 to 1 or 30 to 1! (Another important reason to purchase pastured foods.)
An overabundance of omega-6 fatty acids can sometimes be a factor in inflammation as it may cause an imbalance in the production of important hormones called prostaglandins. Because of this, many people turn to omega-3-rich fish oil supplements like salmon oil. These are beneficial, but when you take a high quality cod-liver oil you will not only get the omega-3 fatty acids, but you will also get both vitamins A and D, which are critical to nutrient absorption. Dr. Weston A. Price’s research of healthy populations worldwide found that these cultures consumed 10 times the amount of vitamin A and D compared to diets of his patients in the US–in the 1930s! So that figure now would be much higher today considering how depleted our food supply has become.
Unfortunately, commercial cod liver oil is not the always the best choice, as the natural vitamin A and D has been removed in processing and a synthetic version of these vitamins is put back. The Weston A. Price Foundation recommends fermented cod liver oil from www.greenpasture.org as an excellent choice for this supplement. It is the only cod liver oil in the world that is made in a traditional way. It is also much more dense in vitamin A and D than commercial brands so the dose is much smaller.
Cod liver oil has been recorded as being an elixir for good health by cultures all over the world as far back as in the Roman empire. Even your great-grandmother took cod liver oil! So take your cod liver oil!! And while you are at it, take it with high-vitamin butter oil, which was Dr. Price’s prescription for healing (also available at www.greenpasture,org.)
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareAccording to the government and media health pundits the top 14 foods are:
This uninspiring list reflects the current establishment “angels” (anti-oxidants and omega-3 fatty acids) and “demons” (saturated fats and animal foods). Unfortunately, a diet containing only these foods is a fast track to nutritional deficiencies.
For more information on a healing diet and nutrient-dense foods, see www.performancewithoutpain.com.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareThrough the work of Dr. Weston A. Price we know that diets built on nutrient-dense foods can heal the body and build optimal health. Below is a list of the 14 top nutrient-dense foods.
For more information on a healing diet and nutrient-dense foods, see our website at www.performancewithoutpain.com
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareWhen you are deciding which foods to eat, choosing a diet where most of the foods give you the most nutrients per gram makes good sense for building and maintaining good health doesn’t it? In fact Dr. Weston A. Price found through his research of healthy populations worldwide that “All disease comes from malnourishment.” (see www.westonaprice.org)
Next, it makes sense to choose proteins that are easy-to-digest so that the nutrients that they contain are available to the body, which was another aspect of the work that Dr. Price did. When he sought to find cultures of people that had perfect health, he was hoping that he would find one that was vegetarian as he believed in the principle of vegetarianism. Unfortunately, he was very disappointed to find that cultures whose protein sources were from plants displayed degenerative conditions. This is because proteins from legumes, nuts and seeds are difficult to digest and do not have the nutrient-density of animal foods as they do not have the full array of amino acids.
As you can also imagine, fractionated proteins like “whey protein” and other protein powders are highly processed, difficult to digest and are therefore poor choices for nutrient-dense foods. These are among the “new-fangled” food inventions of today that rob your pocketbook and promise results, when in fact, they are not real food!
So shopping for foods that will comprise a good diet is at best confusing when there is so much conflicting health advice–especially when we have been literally brainwashed into believing that a healthy diet is low-fat and high-fiber.
How can we go about making an educated choice about what proteins to include in our daily fare. If we are looking at nutrient-density alone, the foods highest in nutrients are not only organic, but they come from animals eating their natural diets. So finding a source of eggs, dairy, meat and fish from good sources is critical to good health as there is a remarkable difference in the nutrients in for instance, eggs from a pastured chicken and even an organic egg from a “vegetarian-fed” chicken (chickens are not vegetarian by the way–their natural diet is comprised of bugs and worms). Price also noted that in all cases healthy cultures ate ample amounts of traditional fats with proteins like butter, meat with its fat, cream, lard, coconut oil or palm oil.
Also, all healthy cultures that Dr. Price studied had sacred foods for good health, couples who wanted to conceive and growing children. One of the sacred protein foods that they consumed was organ meats like liver. Liver from a grass-fed cow or other pastured animal is one of the most nutrient-dense animal foods that you can eat. If you consume liver just once a week, you will greatly magnify the nutrients available to your body for building and maintaining good health. Some people think the liver stores toxins, but in fact it acts as a filter. However, it is also very important to get liver from good sources-see http://www.westonaprice.org/localchapters/index.html for a list of local Weston A. Price chapters in your area to locate farm coops that carry naturally raised foods.
Below is a fascinating list of the comparative vitamin content of various kinds of liver. From this list, you will see just what nutrient-density really means.
From: Nutrition Almanac, by John D. Kirschmann
| Beef | Lamb | Veal | Chicken | Duck | Goose | Turkey | |
| Amount | 1lb | 1lb | 1lb | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Weight: gm | 454 | 454 | 454 | 32 | 44 | 94 | 102 |
| Vitamin A | 199130 | 229070 | 102060 | 6576 | 17559 | 29138 | 18403 |
| Vitamin B1 | 1.16 | 1.81 | .9 | .044 | - | .528 | .062 |
| Vitamin B2 | 14.79 | 14.9 | 12.3 | .628 | - | .838 | 2.21 |
| Vitamin B6 | 14 | 1.36 | 3.04 | .24 | - | .72 | .78 |
| Vitamin B12 | 363 | 472 | 272 | 7.35 | 23.7 | - | 64.6 |
| Biotin | 454 | 454 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Niacin | 61.6 | 76.5 | 51.8 | 2.96 | - | 6.11 | 10.35 |
| Pantothen Acid |
35 | 32.7 | 36.3 | 1.98 | - | - | 7.81 |
| Folic Acid | .99 | .99 | - | 236 | - | - | 752 |
| Vitamin C | 140 | 152 | 161 | 10.8 | - | - | 4.6 |
| Vitamin E | 6.36 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Calcium | 36 | 45 | 36 | 3 | 5 | 40 | 7 |
| Copper | 12.7 | 25 | 36 | .126 | 2.62 | 7.07 | .512 |
| Iron | 29.5 | 49.4 | 39.9 | 2.74 | 13.4 | - | 11 |
| Magnesium | 59 | 64 | 73 | 6 | - | 23 | 21 |
| Manganese | 1.23 | 1.04 | - | .083 | - | - | .294 |
| Phosphorus | 1597 | 1583 | 1510 | 87 | 118 | 245 | 319 |
| Potassium | 1275 | 916 | 1275 | 73 | - | 216 | 303 |
| Selenium | 206 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Sodium | 617 | 236 | 331 | 25 | - | 132 | 98 |
| Zinc | 17 | - | 17 | .98 | - | - | 2.53 |
| Total Fat | 17.5 | 19.6 | 21.3 | 1.23 | 2.04 | 4.03 | 4.05 |
| Saturated Fat | 6.8 | 6.9 | - | 42 | .63 | 1.49 | 1.28 |
| Unsaturated Fat | 5 | 6.63 | - | .5 | .59 | 1 | 1.73 |
| Cholesterol | 1360 | 1361 | 1361 | 140 | 227 | - | 475 |
So when considering how to build good health for a lifetime, choosing foods according to nutrient-density will go a long way to helping you achieve that goal, and we have history and good research on magnificently healthy people as our example.
For more information on a healing diet and nutrient-dense foods see www.performancewithoutpain.com
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareFood addictions can be much more than just talk–they can be real biochemical dependencies that may be signs of health issues. Today, many people are addicted to carbohydrates, like breads, chips, cookies, candy, soda pop, etc. From the aisles of “organic” junk food products in our health food stores to literally hundreds of junk foods that sit on the shelves of grocery, discount and countless other stores, and the billions of dollars that are spent on advertising these products especially to growing children, it is almost unfathomable that these types of “foods” were by-and-large created in the last 60 years. But why do people crave them?
Because there was no refrigeration, our ancestors consumed many foods that were preserved through lacto-fermentation like yogurt and kefir and fermented vegetables, such as traditionally prepared sauerkraut and pickled beets, which contained probiotic bacteria that helped to maintain a healthy digestive system. With refrigeration and the industrialization of our food supply we stopped making these probiotic foods and started consuming more and more new-fangled food creations. These new fascinating “foods” have wreaked havoc on our digestion and the health of our population as they are very nutrient deficient and hard to digest.
When we consume foods that are hard to digest–even organic foods, digestion slows down in our stomach and stomach acid diminishes. Low acid in the stomach can cause an overgrowth of candida . In addition, without adequate stomach acid, the gluteomorphine proteins in gluten containing grains may not to be properly broken down before they reach the small intestine. In the small intestine the resulting byproduct of poorly digested carbohydrates is alcohol and acetaldehyde as well as morphine-like chemicals. We all know that alcohol and morphine are extremely addictive substances. Acetaldehyde is a very toxic chemical that can bind itself to proteins and make them unusable as nutrients. Therefore, carbohydrate addiction is a real chemical problem and without healthy digestion, candida overgrowth and poor gut flora will ultimately cause intestinal damage and malnourishment.
The best way to end the candida cycle and food addictions is to focus on eating a diet of easy-to-digest, nutrient-dense foods. Foods with real nutrients will eventually help you end the cravings as digestion and nutrient absorption improves. For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareIf you are getting hungry two hours after eating breakfast, you may be choosing the wrong kind of foods for your morning meal and this may be a sign that you have absorption problems as well. Let’s look at both of these important issues.
First, a breakfast of cereal, toast or a bagel with non-fat spreads and a piece of fruit may not be the breakfast of champions! For years before I got deathly ill with a digestive disorder, my favorite breakfast was bagels, no-cholesterol “buttery flavor” spread and a piece of fruit. Another choice was a bowl of cold cereal. However by 10AM, I was very hungry again. This is not good. A healthy breakfast is not one that would leave you hungry in just a few hours.
Instead, a breakfast with higher amounts of protein and fat from traditional foods will literally nourish you until the afternoon and will offer far greater levels of nutrients. In our book we recommend a few great breakfasts that besides being nutrient-dense, will also help improve digestion. Smoothies made with 16 oz. whole fat kefir or yogurt (preferably raw milk from grass-fed animals), 2-4 raw egg yolks (from pastured chickens–not commercial eggs), fruit and 1 T. coconut oil are a fabulous breakfast. Another is old fashioned bacon (organic, no-nitrate) and eggs (from pastured chickens). Nutrient density is the key to building optimal health and maintaining blood sugar meal to meal. Nutrient-dense foods have ample high-quality traditional fats, protein and carbohydrates.
However, another reason that you are hungry just two hours after eating may be that you are suffering from inflammation in your intestinal tract. Inflammation is usually caused from bacterial imbalances in the gut flora like a candida overgrowth. When inflammation is present, nutrient absorption will be hampered and a person will feel hungry very quickly after eating a meal. After years of malabsorption, malnourishment is sure to follow.
For optimal health we need eat foods that are high in nutrients and also those that will support good digestion. For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
Concurrent pivotal research in the 1930s by Dr. Weston A. Price and Dr. Francis Pottenger determined that there was a profound relationship between nutrition and fertility in both humans and cats. Dr. Price found that in the 14 healthy populations he studied, women had no fertility issues or problems in pregnancy or childbirth, and their children were very sturdy. In fact he noted that the Eskimo women had one healthy baby after another. However, people from these same cultures who had moved away and obtained access to “modern foods” –pasteurized milk, white flour, refined sugar and vegetable oils, had fertility and pregnancy problems, and the children born from these mothers had structural imperfections like narrowed faces and crooked and crowded teeth as well as health problems–the very same issues that he had seen in his own patients in the United States.
During this same time period, Dr. Francis Pottenger was working with nutritional healing for the treatment of tuberculosis and other diseases at the Pottenger Sanatorium in Monrovia, California. He always focused healing on a proper diet based on the principles discovered by Weston A. Price, and served liberal amounts of liver, butter, cream and eggs to his patients.
He also kept colonies of cats who had had their adrenal glands removed to help him determine how much adrenal cortex to give to his own patients. He found that when the cats consumed a species appropriate diet of raw milk and raw meat that they thrived from one generation to the next. However, if they received either a diet of pasteurized milk and raw meat, raw milk and cooked meat or pasteurized milk and cooked meat that the cats developed degenerative conditions. In fact, with these problem diets, in the second generation, the cats had narrowed faces and crooked and crowded teeth, and in the third generation, the cats could produce no more young!
These astonishing independent yet parallel outcomes between both Dr. Price and Dr. Pottenger can teach us the keys to the exponential percentage of fertility problems that we are seeing today. Both humans and cats who have superior nutrition will have no fertility problems and their offspring will be healthy. But when nutrition is inadequate, the first sign is in fertility problems, structural problems and the presence of health issues.
What we must wake up to understand is that widespread fertility problems are truly a sign of something very wrong with our foods and nutritional beliefs. And if we are really honest, by not choosing and supporting a supply of nutrient-dense foods, this lack of fertility really will ultimately translate into extinction. What both Pottenger and Price revealed can help us to be determined to help to turn the clock back.
For more information on a nutrient-dense diet, see www.performancewithoutpain.com
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareToday we are seeing an exponential increase in health conditions like osteoporosis and atherosclerosis that are caused by poor calcium absorption or calcium going in the wrong places in the body–like in the arteries and organs and not in the teeth and bones. This is partly due to a deficiency of foods that contain both vitamin A and D and also vitamin K-2, which is found abundantly in foods from pastured animals like raw butter and cheese. This vitamin works with vitamin A and D to promote the proper deposition of calcium. Historically, when people consumed foods from naturally raised animals, these deficiencies were not seen. Dr. Price called this special vitamin “activator X’ as it worked as a “mortar” for the building blocks of vitamin A and D foods like cod liver oil to create the correct genetic expression of the skeletal structure. Here is an excerpt from the Weston A. Price Foundation website that further explains this principal:
In 1945, Dr. Weston Price described “a new vitamin-like activator” that played an influential role in the utilization of minerals, protection from tooth decay, growth and development, reproduction, protection against heart disease and the function of the brain.
Using a chemical test, he determined that this compound—which he called Activator X—occurred in the butterfat, organs and fat of animals consuming rapidly growing green grass, and also in certain sea foods such as fish eggs.
Dr. Price died before research by Russian scientists became known in the West. These scientists used the same chemical test to measure a compound similar to vitamin K.
Vitamin K2 is produced by animal tissues, including the mammary glands, from vitamin K1, which occurs in rapidly growing green plants.
A growing body of published research confirms Dr. Price’s discoveries, namely that vitamin K2 is important for the utilization of minerals, protects against tooth decay, supports growth and development, is involved in normal reproduction, protects against calcification of the arteries leading to heart disease, and is a major component of the brain.
Vitamin K2 works synergistically with the two other “fat-soluble activators” that Price studied, vitamins A and D. Vitamins A and D signal to the cells to produce certain proteins and vitamin K then activates these proteins.
Vitamin K2 plays a crucial role in the development of the facial bones, and its presence in the diets of nonindustrialized peoples explains the wide facial structure and freedom from dental deformities that Weston Price observed.
By eating traditional foods from pastured animals, you can help protect yourself from common degenerative conditions. For more information on traditional diets, see our book at www.performancewithoutpain.com
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
We have discussed the critical importance of the vitamins A and D from natural sources. Dr. Weston A. Price found that without adequate amounts of these nutrients you could not absorb the nutrients from your foods no matter how good the diet. The best sources of these vitamins are from fermented cod liver oil (see www.greenpasture.org.), pastured animal foods like egg yolks, liver, butter, lard and from fish eggs. Healthy cultures consumed these foods liberally and yet today we are told to avoid most of these because of their cholesterol levels.
But what about getting vitamin A from the beta-carotene in vegetables? The following article by Sally Fallon discusses this issue.
by Sally Fallon
This article has since been expanded and updated on the Weston A Price Foundation site as Vitamin A Saga
“Eat carrots for vitamin A.” Such statements, found in many popular diet and nutrition books, create the impression that the body’s requirements for this essential nutrient can be exclusively met with plant foods like carrots, squash, green leafy vegetables and orange colored fruits. The low fat school of nutrition benefits greatly from the fact that the public has only vague notions about vitamin A; for the family of water-soluble nutrients called carotenes are not true vitamin A, but are more accurately termed provitamin A. True vitamin A, or retinol, is found only in animal products like cod liver oil, liver and other organ meats, fish, shell fish and butterfat from cows eating green grass.
Under optimal conditions, humans convert carotenes to vitamin A in the upper intestinal tract by the action of bile salts and fat-splitting enzymes. Of the entire family of carotenes, beta-carotene is most easily converted to vitamin A. Early studies indicated an equivalency of 4:1 of beta-carotene to retinol. In other words, four units of beta-carotene were needed to produce one unit of vitamin A. This ratio was later revised to 6:1 and recent research suggests an even higher ratio.1 This means that you have to eat an awful lot of vegetables and fruits to obtain even the daily minimal requirements of vitamin A, assuming optimal conversion.
But the transformation of carotene to retinol is rarely optimal. Diabetics and those with poor thyroid function, a group that includes at least half the adult US population, cannot make the conversion. Children make the conversion very poorly and infants not at all —they must obtain their precious stores of vitamin A from animal fats —yet the low-fat diet is often recommended for children.2 Strenuous physical exercise, excessive consumption of alcohol, excessive consumption of iron (especially from “fortified” white flour and breakfast cereal), use of a number of popular drugs, excessive consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids, zinc deficiency and even cold weather can hinder the conversion of carotenes to vitamin A3, as does the low-fat diet.
Carotenes are converted by the action of bile salts, and very little bile reaches the intestine when a meal is low in fat. The epicure who puts butter on his vegetables and adds cream to his vegetable soup is wiser than he knows. Butterfat stimulates the secretion of bile needed to convert carotenes from vegetables into vitamin A and at the same time, supplies very easily absorbed true vitamin A. Polyunsaturated oils also stimulate the secretion of bile salts but can cause rapid destruction of carotene unless antioxidants are present.
It is very unwise, therefore, to depend on plant sources for vitamin A. This vital nutrient is needed for the growth and repair of body tissues; it helps protect mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, throat and lungs; it prompts the secretion of gastric juices necessary for proper digestion of protein; it helps to build strong bones and teeth and rich blood; it is essential for good eyesight; it aids in the production of RNA; and contributes to the health of the immune system. Vitamin A deficiency in pregnant mothers results in offspring with eye defects, displaced kidneys, harelip, cleft palate and abnormalities of the heart and larger blood vessels.
Nutrition pioneer Weston Price considered the fat soluble vitamins, especially vitamin A, to be the catalysts on which all other biological processes depend. Efficient mineral uptake and utilization of water-soluble vitamins require sufficient vitamin A in the diet. His research demonstrated that generous amounts of vitamin A insure healthy reproduction and offspring with attractive wide faces, straight teeth and strong sturdy bodies. He discovered that healthy primitives especially value vitamin-A-rich foods for growing children and pregnant mothers. Working in the 1930’s, he found that their diets contained ten times more vitamin A than the typical American diet of the time. This disparity is almost certainly greater today as Americans have forsworn butter and cod liver oil for foods based on polyunsaturated oils.
In third world communities that have come into contact with the West, vitamin A deficiencies are widespread and contribute to high infant mortality, blindness, stunting, bone deformities and susceptibility to infection.4 These occur even in communities that have access to plentiful carotenes in vegetables and fruits. Scarcity of good quality dairy products, a rejection of organ meats as old fashioned or unhealthful, and a substitution of vegetable oil for animal fat in cooking all contribute to the physical degeneration and suffering of third world peoples.
Supplies of vitamin A are so vital to human health that we are able to store large quantities of it in the liver and other organs. Thus it is possible to subsist on a diet low in animal fatfor a considerable period of time before overt symptoms of deficiency appear. But during times of stress, vitamin A stores are rapidly depleted. Strenuous physical exercise, periods of physical growth, pregnancy, lactation and infection are stresses that quickly deplete vitamin A stores. Children with measles rapidly use up vitamin A, often resulting in irreversible blindness. An interval of three years between pregnancies allows mothers to rebuild vitamin A stores so that subsequent children will not suffer diminished vitality.
One aspect of vitamin A that deserves more emphasis is its role in protein utilization. Kwashiorkor is as much a disease of vitamin A deficiency, leading to impaired protein absorption, as it is a result of absence of protein in the diet. High protein, lowfat diets in children induce rapid growth along with depletion of vitamin A supplies. The results —tall, myopic, lanky individuals with crowded teeth, and poor bone structure —are a fixture in America. Growing children actually benefit from a diet that contains more calories as fat than as protein.5 Such a diet, rich in vitamin A, will result in steady, even growth, a sturdy physique and high immunity to disease.
So it’s a bit embarrassing to the low-fat people, especially as the truth is beginning to come out, even in orthodox publications. A recent New York Times article noted that vitamin-A-rich foods like liver, egg yolk, cream and shellfish confer resistance to infectious diseases in children and prevent cancer in adults.6 A Washington Post article hailed vitamin A as “cheap and effective, with wonders still being (re)discovered,” noting that recent studies have found that vitamin A supplements help prevent infant mortality in third world counties, protect measles victims from severe complications and prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV virus.7 The article lists butter, egg yolk and liver as important sources of vitamin A but claims, unfortunately, that carotenes from vegetables are “equally important.” So vagueness about vitamin A continues, even among science writers.
Those familiar with the work of nutrition pioneer Weston Price are not so easily fooled. They know that vitamin-A-rich foods like liver, eggs, and cod liver oil are vital to good health. If you–or your children–don’t like liver, eggs and cod liver oil, don’t despair. Studies show that the best and most easily absorbed source of vitamin A is butterfat,8 a food relished by young and old alike. So use plenty of butter and cream from pasture-fed cows for good taste and wise nutritional practice.
Vitamin A Vagary was first published in the Price-Pottenger Health Journal. (619) 574-7763
Endnotes
1. Solomons, N.W., and Bulus, J., “Plant sources of provitamin A and human nutriture”, Nutrition Review, Springer Verlag New York, Inc., July 1993, v. 5 1, pp 199204.
2. Jennings, I.W., Vitamins in Endocrine Metabolism, Charles C. Thomas Publisher, Springfield, Illinois.
3. Dunne, Lavon J., Nutrition Almanac, Third Edition, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, 1990.
4. Solomons, Op. Cit.
5. Personal communications, Mary G. Enig, Ph.D.
6. Angler, Natalie, “Vitamins Win Support as Potent Agents of Health”, New York Times, March 10, 1992.
7. Brown, David, “It’s cheap and Effective, With Wonders Still Being (Re)discovered”, The Washington Post, November 7,1994.
8. Fraps, G.S., and Kermerer, A.R., “The relation of the Spectro Vitamin A and Carotene Content of Butter to its Vitamin A potency Measured by Biological Methods”, Texas Agricultural Bulletin, N.- 560, February 1938.
Sally Fallon M.A., food historian and nutrition journalist, combines extensive background in nutrition with training in French and Mediterranean cooking. She is the author of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, a full spectrum nutritional cookbook with a startling message —animal fats and cholesterol are not villains but vital factors in the human diet, necessary for reproduction and normal growth, proper function of the brain and nervous system, protection from disease and optimum energy levels. Mrs. Fallon’s book also provides information the values of Real Milk products, both to the consumer and the conscientious farmer. She is President of the Weston A. Price Foundation and editor of Wise Traditions, the Foundation’s quarterly magazine.
To order Nourishing Traditions, call 877 707-1776 or visit New Trends Publishing.
A Campaign for Real Milk is a project of The Weston A. Price Foundation
PMB 106-380, 4200 Wisconsin Ave, NW, Washington DC 20016
Phone: (202) 363-4394 | Fax: (202) 363-4396 | Web: www.westonaprice.org
For more information on healing and building health with nutrient-dense foods and seminars on this subject, see www.performancewithoutpain.com
Best in Health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareThere is so much information about this or that vitamin–but Dr. Weston A. Price’s pivotal research on the diets of healthy populations worldwide determined the critical importance of foods that contain ample vitamin A and D. He found that while the 14 healthy cultures that he studied had different diets, one common element were foods rich in these two nutrients. These cultures consumed more than 10 times the amount of vitamin A and D than people in the US–in 1930! And this level would be much higher today. Foods that are particularly dense in these nutrients are high quality fermented cod liver oil (see www.greenpasture.org), egg yolks, liver and butter (from grass-fed animals) and fish eggs.
Dr. Price found that without adequate amounts of these two nutrients that a person could not absorb the other nutrients in the diet no matter how good the diet. In fact, he found that deficiencies in these vitamins caused noticeable genetic changes in the skeletal structure–a narrowing of the skull and face causing crooked and crowded teeth. We are seeing this narrowing in almost every child born today.
Vitamin A and D are the only vitamins that function as hormones. They help express the correct genetic material in the cells. When there is a deficiency, genetic changes can occur.
The best way to insure that your diet is rich in these fat-soluble vitamins is to eat traditional, nutrient-dense foods–foods from animals eating their natural diet.
For more information see www.performancewithoutpain.com.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareWhen a performing artist suffers from unusual uncontrollable muscle weakness of any kind or an overall lack of stamina, poor digestion and nutrient deficiencies are often part of the problem. In determining if you have a digestion problem, ask yourself if you have any of the following symptoms:
Any one of these symptoms may indicate that you are having trouble with digestion and also may have a candida overgrowth and bacterial imbalances in your intestinal tract. Digestive problems are extremely common today because our health dictates tell us that a high-fiber/low-fat diet is a healthy diet. However, high-fiber foods are often hard-to-digest, low in nutrients and can over time give rise to bacterial imbalances in the gut flora. We also absolutely need ample high quality saturated, traditional fats like butter and cream from grass-fed cows or coconut oil in our diet to absorb nutrients. So if we you trying to eat a healthy diet by listening to common dictates, you may ultimately develop digestive problems and nutrient deficiencies.
With both nutrient deficiencies and digestive problems, we can lack the energy needed to fuel our muscles for long periods of time–especially the small muscles used to play musical instruments.
Therefore, the first step to correcting stamina problems is to carefully evaluate your symptoms and understand their root cause. The most powerful road to recovery is to eat a diet rich in traditional, nutrient-dense foods that will heal and support good digestion. Although nutritional healing takes time, there are no short cuts to overcoming long-term malnourishment. This process is absolutely necessary to achieve permanent healing. Considering the years you have spent mastering your instrument, dedicating yourself to protecting your continued ability to perform is well worth the same effort.
For more information on a healing diet of nutrient-dense foods, see our book information at www.performancewithoutpain.com
To your health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareThese profound words of Dr. Weston A. Price came as a result of a 10 year meticulous study of healthy populations worldwide. Dr. Price, a prominent dentist in the 1930’s, was a pioneer on the quest to understand why the majority of his patients in the United States had crooked and crowded teeth, cavities, facial deformities and degenerative illnesses of all kinds. He did not feel that this was normal and traveled during the summers of a ten year period to see if he could find populations of people with perfect health. He found 14 cultures who had completely different diets that had this perfect health–no cavities, perfect facial structure with plenty of room for the teeth and no degenerative diseases–including TB.
Although their diets were different, Price found certain common key components. First, the diets had 10 times the amount of vitamin A and D from natural sources–like cod liver oil, egg yolks, organ meats, fish eggs and traditional fats–like butter and cream from grass-fed animals–foods that we are largely told to avoid. Next, he found that their diets had ample traditional fats such as butter, cream, lard, coconut oil and meat with its fat. He found that without both adequate vitamin A and D and traditional fats, that a person could not absorb the nutrients from the foods they ate no matter how good the diet. Lastly, he found that their diets consisted of high quality proteins from animals eating their natural diets, and they ate no refined foods whatsoever.
Importantly, Price found that when people from these same cultures moved to areas where they were able to have access to modern foods–white flour, pasteurized milk, refined sugar and vegetable oils–that they developed cavities and degenerative illnesses and in the next generation, the children had crooked and crowded teeth, cavities and poor health as well.
Today, cavities are commonplace, our entire population is exhibiting crooked and crowded teeth and the percentage of people–adults and children alike–affected by degenerative disease of all kinds, is growing at an exponential rate. Our modern food supply is a large part of the reason this is happening as our foods are highly nutrient-deficient.
If we follow Dr. Price’s work, we will see that the future of the health of our people lies in improving our broken food supply in favor of traditionally raised, nutrient-dense foods. When we correct malnourishment, healing and building optimal health are possible.
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareSupply and demand. When we support locally grown foods and those from small family farms who follow traditional farming techniques like pasture farming, we are improving the quality of foods that we have available to us. More and more people are turning to these foods to support optimal health.
Foods raised with traditional methods, such as dairy, eggs, meat and poultry from pastured animals have far more nutrients than foods from factory farms. Pasturing animals is also an ecologically sound system that puts nutrients back into the soil without polluting the earth from either fertilizers or the trucks that transport corn and cattle to factory farm systems.
Since your health is your wealth, by purchasing foods with the highest nutrients from farms that value the health of their animals, the earth and you, we can insure our choice of foods in the future.
See www.westonaprice.org and realmilk.com. for sources of pasture-raised foods.
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareDeciding what is a healthy diet can be full of conflicting advice. However, if we ask ourselves what foods can offer our bodies the most nutrients, we will begin to understand what foods will best support our health. Unfortunately, the common dietary dictate that we hear over and over—ie. “Eat a lowfat/high-fiber diet and you will be healthy,” does not have nutrient density as an underlying principal.
However, even finding a good source of nutrient-dense foods can be confusing. When it comes to foods with the highest level of nutrients, eating organic meats, poultry, dairy and eggs does not guarantee a nutrient-rich product as organic can mean many things–like feeding the animals an unnatural diet of organic corn and other grains–or even donuts (hard to believe)…etc. It also does not guarantee that the animal has not been raised in a confinement system either. Organic–which often is accompanied by the highest price tag, therefore does not necessarily mean nutrient-dense.
However, we can be assured of the highest level of nutrients in the foods we eat when the animal has been eating its natural diet and is pastured on organic pastureland. It’s almost comical to remind people that cows eat grass and chickens eat bugs and worms. The nutrient levels of the foods from animals eating their natural diets is quite remarkable. In fact the book Pasture Perfect, by Jo Robinson, (pub. Vashon Island Press) compares the level of nutrients from the foods of factory raised animals and pastured animals–and hands down–there is an enormous difference. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that eating corn all day inside a barn would not be a very good idea for a cow….
Pastured foods are becoming more and more available from small family farm coops and in some health food stores. For a good source of pastured foods in your area check out www.realmilk.com. Who’s your farmer?
For more information on a healthy diet see our website at www.performancewithoupain.com
To your health!
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareAcid Reflux—a National Epidemic and a Precursor to Chronic illness
Treatment of Acid Reflux/GERD with Traditional Foods
There are endless radio, television, internet and magazine ads dedicated to medication that treats acid-reflux and other related digestive complaints. In fact, 60 million Americans have acid-reflux and many people have acid reflux without knowing it. In addition to the typical symptom of acid-regurgitation, other less-known symptoms include hoarseness, belching, chronic throat clearing and sore throat, persistent cough, difficulty swallowing, nausea, asthma and wheezing and persistent hiccups in adults. In infants and children, frequent ear infections, excessive crying, nausea with or without vomiting, excessive coughing, respiratory problems, refusing food, excessive belching and burping.
What is the cause of this massive increase in GERD—there has been a 56% increase in the last few years of medicine for acid-reflux and digestive disorders in infants and children from 0-4 years old! Should our entire population succumb to these medications that magically “heal” the symptoms of these discomforts, thereby inadvertently expanding the wealth of drug companies? Could it be that there is a great danger in the “purple pill solution”—that the “purple pill” is the wrong answer to your health challenge? In fact, what you need to know is that untreated or incorrectly treated acid reflux may lead to serious, life-threatening illness—that it may be a precursor of severe degenerative conditions.
The most effective approach to the treatment of acid reflux with traditional foods. Through a diet of nutrient-dense, easy-to-digest foods from pastured animals and wild-caught fish, adequate vitamin A and D, and cultured foods that correct poor intestinal flora, acid reflux and intestinal damage can be permanently healed.
For more information see www.performancewithoutpain.com
ShareThe “healthy” high-fiber/low fat diet diet that has been given the greatest press by doctors, ads and news reports may actually be quite harmful for your digestive system and leave you over time with chronic inflammation, allergies of all kinds and malnourishment.
High fiber foods are quite difficult to digest as they are high in cellulose. First, when we eat a high amount of fiber, it can expand in our stomach and cause digestion to last longer. This can lower the stomach acid in the stomach making it difficult for the food to be broken down. As soon as stomach acid lowers, bacteria, viruses and fungi can thrive in the stomach where they normally will be kept at bay. This can cause over time a candida overgrowth.
A candida-or yeast-overgrowth-in the stomach will pass into the intestinal tract causing bacterial imbalances and dysbiosis. Some of the symptoms of dysbiosis are acid reflux, flatulence and bowel disorders of all kinds like constipation or diarrhea. With a candida overgrowth, our foods are not broken down properly, we cannot absorb nutrients well, our intestinal tract can become damaged and inflamed and we eventually can become malnourished. This cycle can cause systemic inflammation throughout the body as well as allergies.
Traditional fats are essential for nutrient absorption. Dr. Weston A. Price (www.westonaprice.org) found that the diets of healthy populations worldwide included ample fats, like butter, cream, lard and meat with its fat from pastured animals, coconut oil and eggs from pastured chickens. He determined that without adequate fat in the diet, a person could not absorb the nutrients from the food no matter how good the diet. When the Indians and explorers could only find lean meat, they starved to death. Adaquate fat from traditonal foods is absolutely necessary to good health and without it, good digestion will not be possible and eventually one will become malnourished and have chronic inflammation.
Following the media’s “healthy” diet may not provide you with a life-time of good health. Building health with traditional nutrient-dense foods can offer healing and protection from digestive disorders and chronic inflammation.
For more information see www.performancewithoutpain.com.
ShareSlaying the Cholesterol Lowering Demon
By Kimberly Hartke
The Devil is in the Absence of Details
The work of Weston A. Price determined the critical importance of cholesterol in the diet as he found that the diets of healthy cultures worldwide were all very high in traditional fats of all kinds–from butter, lard, coconut oil, egg yolks and meat with the fat to even blubber. Cholesterol plays a key role in body chemistry, hormone balance, longevity. But if that is the case, why are we not told? Unfortunately, because the health information released through the media to the public often has a marketing objective. The objective is to sell more drugs.
Cholesterol lowering drugs (know as statins) have serious side effects. They suppress the immune system, they cause cancer, they cause muscle wasting. The pharmaceutical companies promote statins to doctors doing organ transplants, because they know these drugs have immuno-suppressant affects. One should think long and hard about going on them. There are even lifestyle changes that can dramatically improve ones blood lipid profile. But, it is also important to know all the facts. Cholesterol is a valuable and healing substance, it is a vital part of your immune system. If the public knew the whole truth, they would only lower their cholesterol as a last resort.
There is one organization setting out to slay the big fat demon who wants to lower everybody’s cholesterol.
Learn the Health Benefits of Cholesterol
The nutrition education non-profit, Weston A. Price Foundation is an important source of science based facts about the nutritional qualities and health benefits of cholesterol. Our cells are comprised of 50% cholesterol. Cholesterol is very important in the proper functioning of our hormones. Our nervous system needs cholesterol. Our digestion and source of vitamin D depends on cholesterol. Turns out, cholesterol is our friend, and we have been misled into believing otherwise.
When government officials will stress cholesterol reduction as a top priority, claiming that “high levels of cholesterol significantly increase the risk of heart disease.” However, the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nonprofit nutrition education organization, urges citizens to learn about the vital roles of cholesterol in the body chemistry and by embracing nutrient-dense, cholesterol-rich foods.
“Cholesterol is deemed a deadly poison. Most people are afraid of eating foods containing cholesterol and of receiving a diagnosis of ‘high’ cholesterol,” says Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation. “Yet, having adequate cholesterol levels in the body is key to good health. The notion that cholesterol is a villain in the diet is a myth, based on flimsy evidence and opposed by many honest scientists, including prominent lipids researcher, Dr. Mary Enig. But, this theory was promoted by the food processing industry to demonize animal fats, which are competitors to vegetable oils and by the pharmaceutical industry to create a market for the sales of cholesterol-lowering drugs.”
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods, see www. performancewithoutpain.com.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareNew Options for Relieving Chronic Pain and Muscle Weakness
”All diseases begin in the gut.” Hippocrates (460-370 BC)
Imagine: You are a successful professional musician, having spent your entire life mastering your instrument. You however, are fighting a difficult struggle—you have chronic tendonitis, embouchure weakness, or other debilitating problems that make performance a constant struggle. You have researched thoroughly and tried every physical therapy treatment—chiropractic, massage, yoga, Alexander Technique, muscle balancing, Rolfing, etc., etc., etc…You are even eating a very healthy diet—but you continue to have recurring problems that are manageable only with a strict regimen of physical therapy treatments. Is this you? When chronic pain is ongoing, a digestive disorder may be to blame.
This was my story. Although I had been playing professionally and teaching for more than 25 years, I had spent much of that time in pain. Beginning in my late teens and 20s, I experienced musculoskeletal inflammation and early symptoms of digestive troubles such as flatulence—a sign of poor digestion. I relieved my pain through physical therapy-type approaches common to the field of music—you name it; I did it! In my late twenties and throughout my thirties, I was constantly “chasing” pain from practicing and performing. When I would solve the discomfort in one area, another area would become irritated. At 40, I developed acid reflux and in the fall of 2001, at 45, I became chronically ill with an inflammatory condition in my spine that left me with debilitating pain in my shoulders, fingers, arms, and hands. As my illness worsened, my embouchure shook uncontrollably and I suffered from chronic diarrhea and malabsorption. I thought would not survive.
Ultimately, I was diagnosed with a long-term digestive problem, intestinal damage, and malabsorption—all the result of Celiac disease (an intolerance for gluten grains), and surprisingly, following the common low-fat, high-fiber nutritional dictates. I found the answers to healing through a dramatic change in my diet, adopting the principles of Dr. Weston Price, whose research on healthy cultures worldwide during the 1930s led to the book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration and the Weston A. Price Foundation (www.westonaprice.org.), a foundation that helps people understand accurate dietary principles of human health and is helping to improve the food supply in our country.
I knew the problems I suffered were common not only to musicians, but to people in all walks of life as our country’s food supply has drastically changed since the 1950s. I decided to help others have access to this life-saving information by writing a book with Dr. John Turner, the chiropractor who helped me recover who is a former national qualifying gymnast, and Sally Fallon, the founder of the Weston A. Price Foundation. Our book is called Performance Without Pain: Healing Pain, Inflammation, and Chronic Ailments in Musicians, Athletes, Dancers—and Everyone Else (New Trends, 2006).
In my book, we discuss what foods cause digestion problems and chronic ailments. We also discuss the vital necessity of eating traditionally raised foods, adequate amounts of vitamin A and D and traditional fats—fats that people ate for 1000s of years. Without these foods, digestion and nutrient absorption can eventually be severely compromised.
We also cover the importance of traditionally cultured foods that promote healthy intestinal flora, without which our foods are not broken down properly and unhealthy bacteria can thrive in the intestinal tract causing bacterial fermentation and intestinal damage. When the intestinal tract becomes damaged, undigested proteins can “leak” through the intestinal wall, causing an immune system response and inflammatory chemicals to continually circulate throughout the body. For musicians, dancers, or athletes, this can lead to a predisposition to injury and inflammation.
From his research, Dr. Price established a set of dietary requirements necessary for optimal human health that involve nutrient-dense, easy-to-digest foods with adequate traditional fats from pastured animals and wild-caught fish. These include:
• High-vitamin A and D foods—cod-liver oil, egg yolks, liver
• High quality traditional fats—butter, coconut oil, lard
• Bone-broth soups made from chicken, beef, or fish.
• Traditionally cultured foods such as kefir, yogurt and homemade sauerkraut and pickled beets.
• High quality proteins—meats, raw dairy, poultry, eggs, and fish—from animals eating their natural diets.
Through this approach, I reversed my acid reflux and intestinal damage, and provided my body with the nutritional elements necessary for building health. I am now recovered and vibrantly healthy! For the first time in 25 years I have had no pain or inflammation in my body for over four years. My embouchure is completely strong and I have excellent stamina.
Although finding high-quality foods and changing your diet may at first be complicated, your health is your most important asset. The dietary principles that Dr. Price found that supported optimal human health were the permanent answer to healing my digestive tract, and therefore, my long-term pain. The exciting news is there is a growing movement of people across the country that is turning to these same foods to improve chronic illness of all kinds.
For more information about our book and seminars see www.perfoprmancewithoutpain.com.
ShareThis important book gives insight into today’s challenge to keep the right to a supply of the nutrient-dense foods we need to nourish our bodies. Our book, Performance without Pain, www.performancewithoutpain.com is another story of the critical issue of how nutrient-dense foods are necessary for well-being, and how modern foods and dictates severely jeopardize health.
For a preview including the Foreword by Joel Salatin, Introduction, and part of Chapter One see http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_raw_milk_revolution:paperback/prepublication_preview
The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America’s Emerging Battle Over Food Rights
David E. Gumpert, Foreword by Joel Salatin
ISBN 9781603582193 ▪ $19.95 paperback ▪ 288 pages
“David Gumpert has chronicled the Raw Milk War with insight and humor. He provides an important record of systematic government bias against Nature’s perfect food. Must reading for raw milk fans and government officials alike.”
—Sally Fallon Morell, President, The Weston A. Price Foundation
“David Gumpert has become the official chronicler of the ‘raw milk movement’ in the United States . The Raw Milk Revolution is a highly readable expose that successfully captures how the controversy over raw milk is at the center of a larger battle between the industrial food system and the local food movement. Gumpert explains how raw milk, more than any other food, threatens proponents of the ‘germ theory,’ centralized food production, and the ‘nanny state.’ The Raw Milk Revolution is an extremely important book because it sounds a clear warning that upholding the right to produce and consume raw milk is critical in preserving our food freedoms in general.”
—Peter Kennedy, President, Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund
“The raw milk underground is one of the most contentious battlefields in the revolution to reclaim our food from industrialization, over-processing, and corporate control. In this book, David Gumpert investigates in great detail the health claims of both raw milk advocates and public health officials, as well the legal tactics being employed by government agencies to stop the growing movement to obtain and supply raw milk. His comprehensive analysis effectively deconstructs and illuminates the many complex issues of health, safety, and freedom that are raised by this debate.”
—Sandor Ellix Katz, author of Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods and The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America’s Underground Food Movements
ShareWith all the dire warnings, where is the message about building natural immunity?
You are all aware of the dire warnings about swine flu, the outbreak that started in the Mexican village of La Gloria and which local residents blame on infection and/or toxins coming from local confinement hog operations.
The internet is abuzz with warnings bordering on hysteria (conventional media) to a variety of conspiracy theories, and even to allegations that the pandemic is a government fabrication designed to sell stockpiles of anti-viral medications.
Conventional medical advice ranges from wearing face masks to taking the anti-viral drug called tamiflu (which can have many serious side effects, see http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=21087&name=TAMIFLU.)
It is interesting to note that not once in all the media broadcasts have we heard any mention of building natural immunity.
NATURAL IMMUNITY
Fortunately, we do not have to sit back and listen to the news about swine flu feeling helpless and anxious. We can be proactive by simply nourishing ourselves and our families.
Vitamins A and D in cod liver oil offer strong protection against infection of all types, as well as against environmental toxins.
Vitamin C is important-either from vitamin C-rich foods like sauerkraut, or from one of the natural vitamin C supplements recommended in our Shopping Guide.
Healthy gut flora provide 85 percent of our protection against disease. Be sure to consume healthy lacto-fermented foods and beverages every day and avoid the foods that disrupt gut flora, especially refined carbohydrates.
Bone broth plays a double role of supporting the immune system and helping the body detoxify.
My book, Performance without Pain, offers a clear plan on how to build health and immunity with nutrient-dense foods. See www.performancewithoutpain.com
COCONUT OIL
We are grateful to Beth Beisel, registered dietitian and WAPF member for reminding us about the protective factors in coconut oil. Swine flu is a lipid coated virus (http://www.pnas.org/content/98/5/2115.full.pdf+html), and thus is inactivated by sufficient amounts of monolaurin. (Our bodies convert lauric acid, found in coconut oil, to monolaurin).
According to our own Dr. Mary Enig, two to three tablespoons of coconut oil per day appears to be an adequate dosage to fight infection, even from virulent antibiotic-resistant organisms such as MSRA.
There are lots of ways to get coconut oil into the diet: stir coconut oil in some tea; make macaroons; replace some of the butter in baking with coconut oil; and use it in cooking/sautéing. Mary’s oil blend (see below) is a good way to incorporate coconut oil in cooking and salad dressings.
MARY’S OIL BLEND
1/3 melted coconut oil
1/3 sesame oil – expeller pressed
1/3 100% olive oil
Combine oils, store in a tight container, in an area free from sunlight, and use in cooking or on salads.
COCONUT SMOOTHIE
Beth has shared this great smoothie recipe with us.
1 banana
1 cup frozen mango
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup pomegranate/blueberry juice
1/2 cup natural yogurt or kefir, preferably homemade from raw milk
1/2 can coconut milk
Whirl in blender and drink to your health!
ShareThere is so much fear around breast cancer that we must know that there are many effective ways of prevention that do not involve the often risky damaging test procedures. Given the possibility that we can attract what we fear–instead of focusing on early diagnosis and a cure, let’s dance to life-long health and breast health with a nutrient-dense diet and learning the wonderful technique for breast health called Lymphatic Breast Self-Massage. (see www.breasthealthproject.com ) Also, women should know that thermographies are a better way to have the breasts examined as they do not use x-rays.
One of my health goals has been to prevent cancer—three of my mother’s sisters died from breast cancer and my mother had a prophylactic mastectomy. Unfortunately, until I began eating a traditional diet eight years ago, I was probably on the cancer track without knowing it. Like many health seekers, I had rigorously followed a very “healthy” high-fiber, low-fat diet high in salads, grains, fruits and vegetables, and only a little meat, eggs and dairy—and no butter of course. Sadly, this “healthy” regimen left me very malnourished with a severe digestive disorder. Luckily, I learned about the work of Weston A. Price recovered my health and felt sure that I had found the key to cancer prevention.
Despite this, I recently found a painful lump in my breast that really frightened me. How could this be happening with my diet? Was breast cancer inevitable given my family history? After some initial panic, I did my research and learned that most women get these lumps from time to time and that they are cysts. I also learned that regular self-massage will improve circulation, help existing cysts drain, and help prevent them from forming in the future. Within three days of massaging, the cyst had shrunk substantially and it was gone within a week. What a revelation! Unfortunately, because of the media, most women are scared to death when they find a lump and panic. I was so thankful to have learned this holistic, caring information from a project called “The Breast Health Project.”
Here is the site on breast self-care: www.breasthealthproject.com. It says “Women find that this massage reduces breast pain, breast swelling, PMS breast symptoms, cystic issues, calcifications and even fear of breast cancer” and that “The Breast Health Project has created a new model of breast care based on holistic medicine, using the best of eastern and western therapies.”
Another very important step in the prevention of breast cancer is removing mercury amalgams–or silver fillings–from our mouths. Mercury is one of the most toxic substances known to man and silver fillings can be up to 50% mercury! The mercury in our mouths can travel through our lymph system and accumulate in the breast tissue. This is the body’s way of protecting vital organs such as the brain and heart by dumping toxins in less necessary parts of the body like the breasts and the ovaries. Many times breast lumps are accumulations of toxins that have been encapsulated. The removal of amalgams needs to be done very carefully with a highly qualified biological dentist who understands a safe protocol.
Lastly, wearing your bra loosely so that lymphatic drainage is not curtailed will help to keep toxins from accumulating in the breast tissue. This can be done easily by cutting and pinning an extension from an old bra to the clasp portion of the bra adding more room around the rib cage or buying bras that are slightly larger.
Paired with a nutrient-dense, traditional diet, lymphatic massage and amalgam removal sheds a refreshing light on the possibilities of truly taking charge our health. For more information on healing and building health with nutrient-dense foods and seminars on this subject, see www.performancewithoutpain.com
Best in Health,
Kathryne Pirtle
ShareBy Konstantin Monastyrsky
Ageless Press
The striking cover illustration of Fiber Menace—a cereal bowl full of gold screws—primes the reader for its startling message: the USDA-endorsed high-fiber diet has a disastrous effects on the digestive system.
Fiber Menace describes major health problems that can develop from eating what’s considered a modern healthy diet high in fiber from grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes and even fiber supplements. The author details how high-fiber diets cause large stools which stretch the intestinal tract beyond its normal range–eventually resulting in intestinal damage–and a drastic upset of the natural bacterial flora of the gut. The end results manifest as hernias, hemorrhoidal disease, constipation, malnourishment, irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease. He also provides numerous medical references to show that high-fiber diets do not confer the benefits claimed for them.
The author of this book is a brilliant professional man who suffered a life-threatening illness from years as a vegetarian living on high-fiber foods. Konstantin Monastyrsky was trained as a pharmacologist, but after immigrating to the US from the Ukraine, pursued a career in high technology. He worked in two premier Wall Street firms: as a senior systems analyst at First Boston Corporation and as a consultant at Goldman-Sachs & Co. He has also written two best-selling books in Russian: Functional Nutrition: The Foundation of Absolute Health and Longevity, and Disorders of Carbohydrate Metabolism.
Monastyrsky explains that human teeth are fashioned to chop flesh and that our digestive system is built to handle mainly protein digestion, with only small amounts of fiber. When we eat too much fiber, digestion lasts longer and fermentation occurs, damaging the bacterial flora and causing problems such as bloating, flatulence and enlarged stools, leading to constipation or diarrhea, IBS and diverticular disease.
One fascinating chapter of Monastyrsky’s book details the problems with drinking too much water. Drinking the recommended eight glasses of water a day may cause problems such as mineral depletion and imbalances, which can contribute to digestive disorders, kidney disease, degenerative bone disease, muscular disorders and even cardiac arrest from electrical dysfunction. Paradoxically, overconsumption of water may also cause constipation. When too much water is added to a high-fiber diet, the fibrous foods swell and ferment in the intestinal tract, leading to gas, bloating and other uncomfortable effects.
Traditional peoples did not drink large quantities of water. Instead, they stayed hydrated with milk, fermented beverages and bone broth soups, which have incredible nutrient qualities and do not upset the body’s homeostasis. Plus, traditional peoples consumed plenty of fat, which renders much more water during metabolism than proteins or carbohydrates.
I was very interested with this author’s perspective as I also suffered a life-threatening digestive illness and recovered through eating a nutrient-dense diet, which happens to be a low-fiber diet. For years, I ate lots of fruits and vegetables—mostly raw—ate tons of grains and faithfully drank eight glasses of water daily. I ate some meat and dairy but avoided fat— and definitely no butter! I developed severe intestinal damage from undiagnosed Celiac disease and a hiatal hernia. The material presented in Fiber Menace makes me wonder whether my digestive disorders—which led to intestinal damage and severe malnutrition–may have been caused by all the fiber I was eating, rather than gluten intolerance.
For those who worry about getting enough nutrients without eating raw vegetables and fruits, the author reminds us that nutrient-dense animal foods contain concentrated nutrients because the animals spend their whole lives chowing down literally bushels of fresh green grass and other plant matter. The result is meat and fat containing all the vitamins and minerals found in fresh produce, not only in more concentrated form, but also one that is easy to digest.
Fiber Menace gets a Thumbs Up, but the book is not without flaws. The book becomes repetitive in the later chapters in the descriptions of various diseases caused by eating the way the doctors tell us to. Monastyrsky’s audience would have been better served with a concise presentation of what to eat. He is firmly in the WAPF camp, recommending butter and small amounts of cod liver oil, but in this book he fails to emphasize the healing effects of bone broths, fermented foods, medium-chain fatty acids and liberal amounts of the fat-soluble activators A and D. (His book in Russian, Functional Nutrition, does emphasize these foods, and Monastyrsky tells us that he will be translating these sections into English and posting them at fibermenace.com.) The author does warn his readers not to eat anything that your great, great, great, great grandparents wouldn’t eat . . . but our grandparents did include high-fiber foods like grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables in their diets. They could do this without ill effects because they knew how to prepare these foods by soaking and sour leavening or, in the case of vegetables and even many fruits, by cooking and because they did not weaken the mucosal tissue by following a low-fat vegetarian diet.
Monastyrsky warns readers of problems when switching to a low-fiber diet. It is important to gradually cut down on fiber and make sure you are getting adequate fats and foods that build the intestinal flora. As stools are smaller, the urge to go to the bathroom will be less pronounced, so it is very important to pay attention to the “urge” signal; otherwise stools may harden and cause constipation. Interestingly, he points out that a healthy stool is easy to pass, rather small in diameter and is mostly composed of bacteria leaving the body rather than protein residue—the human digestive tract is design to digest proteins completely. He stresses the fact that it is not necessary to consume fiber to have regular stools as we have been led to believe. Some of the healthiest cultures had very little fiber in their diets.
Dr. John Turner, DC, CCSP, DIBCN, who lectures with me on building health through traditional nutrient-dense foods notes that, “my training as a physician included many hours of nutrition, but fiber was only mentioned in regards to the effects of a deficiency. Never once did any of my professors consider the possibility that too much of what has always been considered a ‘good thing’ could have such harmful or far-reaching consequences. The author’s detailed description of the trauma imposed to the gastrointestinal mucosa by the expanding fiber is a vivid reminder that returning to the basics of GI function and logically thinking through what our bodies actually are designed to do with the food we eat, should be the first step on anyone’s journey to recovery from digestive disorders. Thanks to the insights in this book I have slowly begun to change my approach to common patient symptoms, which I traditionally would have treated by suggesting increased fiber and more water to correct! So far the results are promising.”
Many thanks to Konstantin Monastyrsky for writing this important book.
Review by Kathryne Pirtle
For more information about our book and seminars, see www.performancewithoutpain.com
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On a summer visit back to the farm here where I grew up, I think I figured out the central problem with modern industrial agriculture. It’s not just that it produces unhealthy food, mishandles waste and overuses antibiotics in ways that harm us all.
More fundamentally, it has no soul.
The family farm traditionally was the most soulful place imaginable, and that was the case with our own farm on the edge of the Willamette Valley. I can’t say we were efficient: for a time we thought about calling ourselves “Wandering Livestock Ranch,” after our Angus cattle escaped in one direction and our Duroc hogs in another.
When coyotes threatened our sheep operation, we spent $300 on a Kuvasz, a breed of guard dog that is said to excel in protecting sheep. Alas, our fancy-pants new sheep dog began her duties by dining on lamb.
It’s always said that if a dog kills one lamb, it will never stop, and so the local rule was that if your dog killed one sheep you had to shoot it. Instead we engaged in a successful cover-up. It worked, for the dog never touched a lamb again and for the rest of her long life fended off coyotes heroically.
That kind of diverse, chaotic family farm is now disappearing, replaced by insipid food assembly lines.
The result is food that also lacks soul — but may contain pathogens. In the last two months, there have been two major recalls of ground beef because of possible contamination with drug-resistant salmonella. When factory farms routinely fill animals with antibiotics, the result is superbugs that resist antibiotics.
Michael Pollan, the food writer, notes that monocultures in the field result in monocultures in our diets. Two-thirds of our calories, he says, now come from just four crops: rice, soy, wheat and corn. Fast-food culture and obesity are linked, he argues, to the transformation from family farms to industrial farming.
In fairness, industrial farming is extraordinarily efficient, and smaller diverse family farms would mean more expensive food. So is this all inevitable? Is my nostalgia like the blacksmith’s grief over Henry Ford’s assembly lines superseding a more primitive technology? Perhaps, but I’m reassured by one of my old high school buddies here in Yamhill, Bob Bansen. He runs a family dairy of 225 Jersey cows so efficiently that it can still compete with giant factory dairies of 20,000 cows.
Bob names all his cows, and can tell them apart in an instant. He can tell you each cow’s quirks and parentage. They are family friends as well as economic assets.
“With these big dairies, a cow means nothing to them,” Bob said. “When I lose a cow, it bothers me. I kick myself.” That might seem like sentimentality, but it’s also good business and preserves his assets.
American agriculture policy and subsidies have favored industrialization and consolidation, but there are signs that the Obama administration Agriculture Department under Secretary Tom Vilsack is becoming more friendly to small producers. I hope that’s right.
One of my childhood memories is of placing a chicken egg in a goose nest when I was about 10 (my young scientist phase). That mother goose was thrilled when her eggs hatched, and maternal love is such that she never seemed to notice that one of her babies was a neckless midget.
As for the chick, she never doubted her goosiness. At night, our chickens would roost high up in the barn, while the geese would sleep on the floor, with their heads tucked under their wings. This chick slept with the goslings, and she tried mightily to stretch her neck under her wing. No doubt she had a permanent crick in her neck.
Then the fateful day came when the mother goose took her brood to the water for the first time. She jumped in, and the goslings leaped in after her. The chick stood on the bank, aghast.
For the next few days, mother and daughter tried to reason it out, each deeply upset by the other’s intransigence. After several days of barnyard trauma, the chick underwent an identity crisis, nature triumphed over nurture, and she redefined herself as a hen.
She moved across the barn to hang out with the chickens. At first she still slept goose-like, and visited her “mother” and fellow goslings each day, but within two months she no longer even acknowledged her stepmother and stepsiblings and behaved just like other chickens.
Recollections like that make me wistful for a healthy rural America composed of diverse family farms, which also offer decent and varied lives for the animals themselves (at least when farm boys aren’t conducting “scientific” experiments). In contrast, a modern industrialized operation is a different world: more than 100,000 hens in cages, their beaks removed, without a rooster, without geese or other animals, spewing out pollution and ending up as so-called food — a calorie factory, without any soul. August 23, 2009
This marvelous article from the New York Times reminds us how important traditional food from sustainable farms is to our country. By opting out of factory farmed food and getting back to the simple basics of connecting to farmers and real food, we will regain our own health as well as the health of our nation.
For more information about the book and seminars on this subject, see www.performancewithoutpain.com
Review
Gut and Psychology Syndrome:
Natural Treatment for Autism, Dyspraxia, A.D.D., A.D.H.D., Dyslexia, Depression and Schizophrenia
By Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, MD, MMed(nuerology), MmedSci(nutrition)
(Published by Medinform, 2004)
Just as Dr. Weston A. Price was baffled by the amount of chronic illness in his patients and sought to identify the parameters that could foster such a trend, so too does Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride advance our understanding of the underlying factors present in a growing percentage of people who are suffering from brain disorders and mental illness. The latest estimates are that 1 in 150 children is diagnosed for autism alone and 1 in 94 boys is on the autistic spectrum. She states that although genetics is often given as an explanation for brain disorders such as autism and ADD/ADHD and psychiatric illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, genetics could never cause an exponential increase in health or developmental problems—because genetics work much more slowly. As a parent of a child diagnosed with learning disabilities, Dr. Campbell-McBride has boldly sought to identify elements common to people with brain disorders and mental illness and craft an effective approach to improving their condition. When genetics is no longer used as a “scapegoat” for health problems, then and only then will accurate knowledge and solutions be found.
Through studying the health of hundreds of patients with autism, learning disabilities, psychiatric illness and other problems, Dr. Campbell-McBride discovered that in all cases these children and adults had digestive problems, often of a severe nature. Through her research, she has determined that there is a distinct correlation between unhealthy intestinal flora, poor digestion and toxicity from chemicals created by undigested foods that can severely affect brain chemistry. She coins this as “Gut and Psychology Syndrome,” or GAPS.
But if a child develops problems such as autism or ADD/ADHD at an early age, how can that child have already developed poor digestion? This is where Dr. Campbell-McBride so brilliantly defines that the probable source is familial and generational, which moves past genetic theory. Just as Dr. Price ascertained that without adequate nutrition, each generation would produce less healthy children—so Dr. Campbell-McBride postulates that poor intestinal flora and digestion is being passed down from one generation to the next. When a child is born it acquires the flora of the mother during the passage through the birth canal. If the mother has a history of antibiotic or contraceptive use and poor digestive health, her flora will likely be far less than healthy. If she does not breast-feed her baby, the gut flora of the child will be further compromised. The infant will often develop digestive problems such as colic, bloating, flatulence, diarrhea, constipation, feeding difficulties, intestinal damage and malnourishment very early in life and is typically afflicted by a host of allergies. The child usually has frequent ear infections that are treated with many rounds of antibiotics, which only make the situation worse.
Poor bacterial flora and digestion are at the heart of serious health problems. When children are born with intestinal bacterial imbalances or “gut dysbiosis” they tend to have a compromised immune system and are prone to illness. Dr. Campbell-McBride states that often the intestinal tract of children who have autism is caked with hard fecal material. This terrible condition of course would lead to enormous and serious health consequences. She brings to light the profound statements of Hippocrates (460-370 BC) that, ”All diseases begin in the gut,” and of the father of modern psychiatry, French psychiatrist Phillipe Pinel (1745-1828), that “The primary seat of insanity is the region of the stomach and intestines.”
But what exactly happens in the gut that can upset brain chemistry? Dr. Campbell-McBride provides us with a magnificent explanation of the cascade of events that can occur when digestion is not supported by a healthy gut flora. A child or adult who eats a diet that is high in difficult-to-digest carbohydrates such as grains and processed foods, will continue to encourage the underlying condition of gut dysbiosis. Dr. Campbell-McBride states that people with damaged flora will even crave the very foods that support the survival of the unhealthy bacteria often to the exclusion and refusal of others.
Where most research on poor digestion focuses on unhealthy intestinal flora, Dr. Campbell-McBride’s work uniquely points to many problems with gut flora actually beginning with an unnatural growth of the fungus, Candida Albicans, in the stomach when it is not producing enough acid. She discusses that this overgrowth interferes with the first step of digestion by causing the stomach to produce inadequate amounts of the hydrochloric acid necessary to break proteins into “peptides” before entering the small intestine. For instance, under normal circumstances, the gluteomorphine and casomorphine proteins in wheat and milk are broken down in the stomach in the presence of proper amounts of stomach acid. However, with less stomach acid, these foods in fact begin to ferment in the stomach and are not broken down into peptides before passing into the small intestine. Besides causing an inadequate digestion of foods, the pressure of the gas created from this fermentation can lead to acid reflux, esophageal problems and even hiatal hernias, which are some of the most common digestive problems that people experience.
When insufficiently digested food enters the small intestines without adequate stomach acid, the pancreas in turn does not get the signal to release adequate pancreatic juices. Because people with GAPS lack healthy bacterial flora, they also lack production of enzymes called “peptidases.” These enzymes normally are produced by the enterocytes on the microvilli of the small intestine and will further break down proteins and carbohydrates into usable nutrients. With poor flora, the mucosal lining of the intestinal tract also becomes damaged and “leaky gut syndrome” develops. Therefore, the undigested casomorphine and gluteomorphine proteins, which resemble the chemical structure of opiates like heroin and morphine, are absorbed into the bloodstream unchanged and can cause severe interference with brain and immune system function. Dr. Campbell-McBride states that “There has been a considerable amount of research in this area in patients with autism, schizophrenia, ADHD, psychosis, depression and autoimmunity, who show high levels of casomorphines and gluteomorphines in their bodies, which means that their gut wall is in no fit state to complete appropriate digestion of these substances.”
Undigested carbohydrates, poor digestion and candida overgrowth in turn result in the production of the chemicals ethanol and acetaldehyde, which have profound consequences on brain chemistry and development. With these chemicals, a person can technically be considered “drunk” after a meal of carbohydrates even though they consumed no alcohol. We all know that alcohol is extremely toxic, especially to a developing fetus or a child. Besides reduced stomach acid and pancreatic enzymes, the following are some of the effects of a prolonged presence of alcohol from an overgrowth of candida in the body: damage and inflammation to the gut lining and resulting malabsorption; nutrient deficiencies; stress to the immune system; liver damage; accumulation of toxins, old neurotransmitters and hormones that can cause abnormal behavior; brain damage that can lead to lack of self control, impaired coordination and speech development, aggression, mental retardation, loss of memory and stupor; peripheral nerve damage; muscle tissue damage and weakness; metabolic alteration of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids and pancreatic degeneration.
Dr. Campbell-McBride reveals that there are many other toxins and bacteria created by poor digestion that are routinely found in stool samples of patients with GAPS. Of particular importance are those of the Bacteriods and Clostridia Family. These bacterium are present in all of us but kept under control when a healthy bacterial flora is in place. The Bacteriods are almost always found in infected tissues of the digestive tract, mouth, and gums, lungs, urinary tact, blood, heart valves and in diseased teeth, etc. Members of the Clostridia Family are also usually present in the stools of people with schizophrenia, psychosis, severe depression and those with other muscle, neurological and psychiatric conditions. Although many Clostridium species are normally found in the healthy gut, when gut dysbiosis in present, these bacterium may cause problems. If, for instance, the bacterium that causes tetanus, Clostridium tetani, which generally lives in check in a healthy gut, begins to thrive with gut dysbiosis; the toxins from this bacterium can infiltrate the tissues of the body. Some of the symptoms of the presence of a low exposure to the tetanus infection are sensitivity to light and noises and abnormalities of muscle function, i.e. the extensor muscles and flexor muscles may not function properly. Thus, children and adults with autism may exhibit the behavior of walking on tiptoes and stretching their muscles unusually in self-stimulation.
She also discloses some of the troubles with many countries’ vaccination programs. Where vaccinations in the past may have protected our children from a host of serious diseases, today, a young child with unhealthy gut flora and resulting digestive and immune system problems, receiving vaccinations for multiple diseases such as the MMR and DPT vaccine, may not produce an expected reaction to the vaccine. The vaccinations tend to put an enormous strain on the immune system. She therefore suggests a very cautious use of single vaccinations for a limited number of diseases, given to the child only when their digestive health is improved.
What then are the solutions to helping turn poor digestion into that which can help a person thrive. Dr. Campbell-McBride outlines a nutrient-dense dietary plan that is totally void of grains and at first, dairy, and provides high quality, organically grown meats, poultry, fish, nuts, eggs—especially raw egg yolks, cooked, non-starchy vegetables and fresh fruit with bone-broth soups, traditionally fermented foods, and ample traditional fats. She suggests supplements of cod liver, fish oil, digestive enzymes, a stomach acid supplement called Betaine HCL with added Pepsin and a non-enteric coated probiotic (minimum of 8 billion cultures per gram) to rid the stomach of bacterial growth and help develop healthy intestinal flora. Through a grain, sugar and dairy-free diet, the focus will be on removing foods that either feed the candida overgrowth, cause morphine-like peptides or an allergic response. She advises replacing the grains that most children crave with breads and crackers made from nut flours. After the gut flora is improved, she recommends adding homemade yogurt gradually to the diet and eventually cheeses. Once the stomach acid is normalized, a healthy gut flora is developed, nutrient rich foods take the place of depleted foods, the intestinal tract heals and digestion is repaired, both mental and physical health improvements are sure to follow.
She advises that the earlier these dietary changes are made, the more likely the success. She realizes, however, the difficulties that parents have with making changes to the diet of a young child and thoughtfully provides a method of encouraging new foods with a reward structure in place. She does not cover the challenges of changing the diet of an adolescent or adult, but we feel her information can aid both health practitioners and parents, friends and caregivers in understanding the necessity of helping their patients and loved ones to incorporate as much of this nutritional plan as is possible—certainly, the effort is well-worthwhile. It would seem, however, that the best time to implement Dr. Campbell-McBride’s recommendations is when the child is very young. This would minimize the damage induced by the neurotoxins that are produced by the dysbiotic flora. This would also minimize the psychosocial consequences of the abnormal behavior that accompany the neurotoxic affects on the brain.
Dr. Campbell-McBride makes another important point about the modern, commonly held belief that a gluten-free, casein-free dietary approach will help people with autism. She has found that most people do not improve with this diet because the gluten-free foods on the market are really just another form of nutrient-deficient junk food that foster the growth of candida and contribute to poor digestion. She states that this is also often true for people with Celiac disease. She sites research that even attributes the development of Celiac disease not to genetics as much as to an overgrowth of Candida. In fact she discusses that the best treatment for Celiac, Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis and other digestive disorders is a grain-free diet that was developed more than 60 years ago called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, by the renowned American pediatrician, Dr. Sidney Haas. She has used many of the principles of this diet to develop her own program.
While Dr. Campbell-McBride suggests problems with milk, she does not discuss the difference between pasteurized commercial or organic milk and raw milk from grass-fed cows. Within the Weston Price Foundation research, there are abundant examples of the benefits of raw milk in improving the function of people with autism, learning disabilities and mental illness. The pasteurization of milk alters its proteins, making them difficult to digest and of course destroys the enzymes. It seems prudent, therefore, to differentiate the use of raw milk and explore its possible benefits in her plan. Additionally, recommending the use of nuts that have been soaked in sea salt and dehydrated, thereby increasing their digestibility and nutrient availability could enhance her suggestion of replacing grains with nuts and recipes made with nut flours.
After the thorough discussion of her nutritional plan, the book contains a wonderful section of recipes followed by details of important supplements. At the end of the book, she outlines a significant natural approach to treating ear infections and constipation. She also again stresses the need to move away from finding answers to difficult problems with human health by merely turning to genetics.
Through the study of the principles that Dr. Campbell-McBride provides, alternative medicine practitioners, who frequently encounter patients that are plagued with allergies, may want to re-evaluate their approach to treatment. Food allergies are a source of constant stress to a patient’s immune system. Not only do they manifest as dyspepsia, abdominal pain and altered bowel function but they can also result in a variety of non-local symptoms such as headaches, joint pain and eczema, to name a few. In light of Dr. Campbell-McBride’s approach, a thorough review of a patients history and symptoms may lead a conscientious practitioner down a frequently traveled path that has it trailhead nestled between the cardiac and pyloric sphincters.
Although Dr. Campbell-McBride’s pivotal work focuses on the correlation between the often-severe digestive disorders and the development of brain disorders, learning disabilities and mental illness, we must not underestimate that these same digestive disorders are at the heart of the exponential increase of degenerative illness in our country. If we observe the amount and kind of medications that we as a nation consume, we will coincidently find that most of the top 10 prescriptions written in the US correlate to gut and psychological disorders—two were for ulcers and acid reflux, two were for depression, one was for schizophrenia, two for high cholesterol, one for sexual dysfunction, one for anemia and one for chronic pain. It appears that we need a paradigm shift when looking at the cause and treatment of what is ailing us as a nation and that Dr. Campbell-McBride has suggested a starting point.
The disturbing, far-reaching consequences of the mass-consumption of foods produced by the industrial farming industry and inaccurate dietary trends are affecting the health of our entire population. Besides the knowledge that we have gained on the nutritional requirements of optimal health and the nutritional causes of degenerative conditions from Dr. Price’s work, Dr. Campbell-McBride’s thorough discourse detailing the effects of faulty digestion on brain function and chemistry can serve as a template for the further exploration and explanation of the source of a multitude of diseases that plague our modern culture.
Reviewed by Kathryne Pirtle and Dr. John Turner, DC, CCSP, DIBCN
Co-authors, with Sally Fallon, of Performance without Pain
For more informationabout the book and seminars on this subject, see www.performancewithoutpain.com
ShareBeyond a “Gluten-Free Diet”
Harnessing the Power of Traditional, Nutrient-Dense Foods—
the Keys to Maximizing Treatment Success for Digestive Disorders
Healing from any long term digestive disorder is a very complicated issue. For Celiac disease, eliminating gluten is, of course, the first step to recovery. However, following this protocol alone may not be entirely effective in helping to overcome intestinal damage and the resulting long term malnourishment that ultimately may lead to many more serious health problems. While avoiding gluten is essential, to build optimal health where nutrient absorption has been severely impaired, a nutrient-dense diet is the only approach that will lead to true healing.
This was my experience. I am a professional clarinetist with a national career. Although I had been playing professionally and teaching for more than 25 years, I had spent much of that time in pain. Beginning in my late teens and 20s, I experienced musculoskeletal inflammation and early symptoms of digestive troubles such as flatulence—a sign of poor digestion. I relieved my pain through physical therapy-type approaches common to the field of music—you name it; I did it! In my late twenties and throughout my thirties, I was constantly “chasing” pain from practicing and performing. When I would solve the discomfort in one area, another area would become irritated. At 40, I developed acid reflux and in the fall of 2001, at 45, I became chronically ill with an inflammatory condition in my spine that left me with debilitating pain in my shoulders, fingers, arms, and hands.
Ultimately, I was diagnosed with a long-term digestive problem, intestinal damage, and malabsorption—all the result of Celiac disease. I then strictly followed a gluten-free diet. In fact, after my diagnoses, I ate only meat, eggs, vegetables and salad, fruit and olive oil—I ate no sugar or grains. My pain disappeared within a month, but six months later, my illness worsened and I suffered from chronic diarrhea. I thought would not survive.
What was I going to eat? I had cut out all the offending gluten foods plus sugar and didn’t even eat grains. My diet should have been completely therapeutic for Celiac disease but yet, I was still very ill as my intestinal damage had profoundly affected nutrient absorption.
I found the answers to healing through a dramatic change in my diet, adopting the principles of Dr. Weston Price, whose research on healthy cultures worldwide during the 1930s led to the book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration and the Weston A. Price Foundation (www.westonaprice.org.), a foundation that helps people understand accurate dietary principles of human health and is helping to improve the food supply in our country.
I learned that my diet was severely lacking in the foods and nutrients necessary to healing my digestive tract and malnourishment and that many of the foods I ate were difficult to digest—especially the raw vegetables and fruit—and were not healing to the intestinal tract. In fact, my low-fat, high fiber “healthy diet” was actually killing me!
I discovered that in order to maximize the nutrients I ate, that all the meat, eggs, dairy, poultry that I consumed needed to come animals eating their natural diets—ie. the cows had to eat grass, the chickens needed to eat bugs and worms, and the fish needed to be wild caught. I found these foods by locating a farm co-op that delivered these foods to our area through www.realmilk.com. The nutrients in naturally raised foods are immensely higher than even “organically” raised and especially factory farmed foods.
The first powerful food that I learned would help me recover was homemade bone-broth soup—traditional soup that people had made for thousands of years. I have eaten a bone-broth soup every day for the last seven years. There is a South American saying “Good broth raises the dead.” Good bone broth soup is loaded with easy-to-digest nutrients that will give the intestinal tract all the elements needed for repair and improvement of absorption. It is made by taking high quality chicken, beef or lamb bones, skin, tendons and ligaments–and simmering them in water with a little vinegar or wine for 12-36 hours, and then straining it. Soups can then be made by adding meat and vegetables to the broth and the broth can also be used in countless other recipes for added nutrition.
Next, through studying Dr. Price’s work, I found that all healthy cultures ate foods naturally high in vitamin A and D—such as cod liver oil, liver and egg yolks. They also consumed liberal amounts of traditional fats such as raw butter, cream, coconut oil and lard—fats that people had also eaten for thousands of years. Without both adequate vitamin A and D and traditional fat, you will not be able to absorb the nutrients in your food and your digestion can eventually be severely compromised. Thus, without adequate vitamin A and D and traditional fats in my diet, I was literally starving and chronic diarrhea was one of the symptoms. In fact, in historical records of expeditions to Antarctica and the lives of Indian tribes, when only lean meat was available, people starved to death.
I began to consume high-quality cod liver oil and butter oil (www.greenpasture.org). I also added raw butter, coconut oil, raw cream, egg yolks daily and liver twice a week to my diet for the first time in my life. Little did I know that adding fat and vitamin A and D were also the missing links to recovery.
I then learned the importance of traditionally cultured foods—like whole-fat, raw-milk kefir, homemade sauerkraut and beet kvass—that promote healthy intestinal flora and supply enzymes, without which our foods are not broken down properly and unhealthy bacteria can thrive in the intestinal tract causing bacterial fermentation and intestinal damage. When the intestinal tract becomes damaged, undigested proteins can “leak” through the intestinal wall, causing an immune system response, such as chronic inflammation and food allergies.
From his research, Dr. Price established a set of dietary requirements necessary for optimal human health that involve nutrient-dense, easy-to-digest foods with adequate traditional fats from pastured animals and wild-caught fish. These include:
• High-vitamin A and D foods—cod-liver oil, egg yolks, liver
• High quality traditional fats—butter, coconut oil, lard
• Bone-broth soups made from chicken, beef, or fish.
• Traditionally cultured foods such as whole-fat kefir, yogurt and homemade sauerkraut and pickled beets.
• High quality proteins—meats, raw dairy, poultry, eggs, and fish—from animals eating their natural diets.
Through this approach, I reversed my intestinal damage, and provided my body with the nutritional elements necessary for building health. I am now recovered and vibrantly healthy! For the first time in 25 years I have had no pain or inflammation in my body for over six years.
Although finding high-quality foods and changing your diet may at first be complicated, your health is your most important asset—your health is your wealth! The dietary principles that Dr. Price found that supported optimal human health were the permanent answer to healing my digestive tract, and therefore, my long-term malnourishment. The exciting news is there is a growing movement of people across the country that is turning to these same foods to improve chronic illness of all kinds.
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
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