Posts Tagged ‘false’

These supplements are easily found at our favorite department stores, but are they good for us?

I’m often asked about supplements: where to purchase them or why is it necessary to buy them through recommended manufacturers.  I explain that there may be unnecessary fillers (such as a food like rice bran, gluten, soy, corn and even dairy) and even chemicals that can create more harm than good.  Even moreso, as a practitioner, I’m concerned about the manufacturing process, especially when the supplements are significantly cheaper than products that are manufactured under strict practices.  

In February, 2015, the New York State’s Attorney’s office found that 4 out of 5 supplements tested from Target, Walmart, GNC and Walgreens did not contain any of the herbs listed on their labels!  

Walmart offered a gingko biloba, to improve memory, that contained radish, houseplants and wheat even though it stated it was a wheat-free product!  

GNC sold products that had unlisted fillers including peanuts, legumes and soybeans.  These are highly allergenic foods that can create damaging consequences. Read more here 

Unfortunately, these are just two examples of gross negligence sold by major department chain stores.  The New York State’s attorney is the first governmental agency to make legal claims against these chain stores which needs to be commended.

It is very important is that you understand that you are potentially creating more harm than good by purchasing and consuming supplements from these major chains.  When it comes to your health, please consider investing in manufacturers that have certified their practices.  

Please share.

Be well,
Lynn

 

Gluten Intolerance is “fake”?

Articles are surfacing claiming that gluten intolerance is not an actual experience and that it’s a “fad” or even “fake”. I’ve had a few of my clients raise this issue with me. The facts are that even the ‘nay-sayers’ can’t argue that science is disproving gluten intolerance. I love research but I’m happy to say I didn’t have to do that for this argument. The well-respected, researcher, Chris Kresser did it for me.

Here’s his article.

When Gluten-Free Is Not a Fad

Be well,
Lynn

If there is no such thing as “bad” cholesterol then why the increase in heart disease?

So why did it take so long for researchers to identify that Ancel Keys study was seriously flawed? The rise of obesity and chronic illness has finally forced health professionals to question why fat has been so largely discouraged. The deeply falsified details of Ancel Keys findings are surfacing. “When researchers went back and analyzed some of the data from the Seven Countries study, they found that what best correlated with heart disease was not saturated fat intake but sugar,” http://time.com/96626/6-facts-about-saturated-fat-that-will-astound-you/ .  Several studies to date confirm that in fact it is sugar that increases the risk of heart disease, not fats.

Recently published by the JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association) was its findings that sugar is the major culprit leading to heart disease among many other chronic diseases. USA today featured an article summarizing its findings:

“• People who consumed more than 21% of daily calories from added sugar had double the risk of death from heart disease as those who consumed less than 10% of calories from added sugars.

A person on a 2,000-calorie diet who consumes 21% of their daily calories from added sugar would be eating 420 calories from added sugar, which would be roughly three cans of regular soda a day.

• People who consumed between 17% to 21% of daily calories from added sugar had a 38% higher risk of death from heart disease than people who consumed less than 10% of calories from added sugars.

• People who consumed seven or more servings a week of sugar-sweetened beverages were at a 29% higher risk of death from heart disease than those who consumed one serving or less.

• The findings were consistent across age groups, sex, physical-activity levels, weights and dietary habits.

• Added sugar intake has changed slightly over the past 20 years, from 16% of daily calories in 1994 to 17% in 2004 to 15% in 2010.

The paper’s senior author Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, says excessive intake of added sugar appears to negatively affect health in several ways. It has been linked to the development of high blood pressure, increased triglycerides (blood fats), low HDL (good) cholesterol, fatty liver problems, as well as making insulin less effective in lowering blood sugar.

Rachel Johnson, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association and a nutrition professor at the University of Vermont, says, “Now we know that too much added sugar doesn’t just make us fat, it increases our risk of death from heart disease.””

(Taken from USA Today’s “Eating too much added sugar may be killing you”. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/03/added-sugars-heart-disease-death/5183799/) .

Stay tuned for the next part in this series on the technical side of how sugar increases the risk of heart disease.

Be well,

Lynn