AWARENESS – PROTEIN ARTICLE

How Aware Are You?  Are there toxins in food?  Is protein, with its added toxins healthy?  Isn’t too much protein hard on your kidneys?  Can I eat sun dried tomatoes?  Is pot (marijuana) good for me?  Smoking pot occasionally is o.k., isn’t it?  Why would reverse osmosis water be bad?  Can I just put some lemon juice in my water and let it sit there in a plastic container in the sun for a couple of hours and then drink the water?  Would doing this be good for me?  Why should I eat protein every two hours?
These are the sorts of questions that I get from my patients all day long every day.  The body is specific.  George Goodheart, the founder of Applied Kinesiology used to say that “The body is intricately simple and simply intricate.”  Dr. Goodheart was truly a genius.  He was also a very humble and down to earth person.  Small changes in lifestyle, diet and environment make a HUGE impact on a person’s health.
Would you mind if I shared with you some very general facts about diet, nutrition, toxicity and the environment?  Thank you.  Here are a few facts below:

1. Prior to World War II people were exposed to less than 10 or 20 man made chemicals on a daily basis it is believed.  Post World War II many things changed.  The chemicals used to preserve food for the troops were unleashed onto the American public.  We see many of the disastrous effects of this today.  Heart Disease, Cancer and Stroke and Depression are among the 9 leading causes of death today and have been for more than 10 years.  These diseases were almost unheard of prior to 1900.
2. Americans are exposed to more than 10,000 man made chemicals on a daily basis.  This is the general consensus among scientists.
3. There is no longer any pure clean water on earth due to pollution, atomic bomb testing, use of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, emulsifiers, stabilizers, colorings, additives, plastics, industry, drugs, etc.  However, some waters are better than others.  Also, most rain water in most states tends to be quite safe as well as spring water from certain springs.  Ozonation is a relatively safe way to purify water – meaning that the water does NOT become LESS drinkable after ozonation.  However, reverse osmosis is a process which breaks down the hydrogen bonds of the water so that the water is no longer water.  The water is essentially nucleated.  I have never had a patient respond well to water which has been through a reverse osmosis system.  There are good water filters and bad water filters.  Regardless of the quality of the water filter…..water filters do only one thing; they filter the water.  So, while there may be a lot of chemicals and contaminants in the water prior to filtration, there are usually fewer chemicals and contaminants after filtration.  However, there are still SOME chemicals and contaminants after filtration.  So, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather have some toxic chemicals in my water that kill me or no toxic chemicals in my water that kill me?”  Let me give you an example.  Let’s say that there is just a very small amount of cyanide (a deadly poison) in the water and then we filter out 90% of the cyanide.  How much cyanide is left after we filter out 90% of it?  There would be 90% less than the small amount that we began with, however, there will still be 10%.  A different question than the question above could be: “Do I want to get sick and die slowly in about 15 years or do I want to live to a ripe old age and die in about 40 years from now and still be able to think clearly and walk around and function?”  So, if you have a little bit of poison in your water you may die slowly, but if you have a lot of poison in your water you will die quickly, and if you have no poison in your water then you will live until a ripe old age.  There is a difference.  I discuss the ideal types of water to drink in my Health Tips email newsletter which you can sign up for on the www.triadofhealth.net website.
4. Many people are unknowingly exposing themselves to chemicals that cause cancer every day.  You can look at the ingredients in your shampoo and conditioner if you would like. Often you will see chemicals like paraben, methyl paraben, propyl paraben, butyl parabens, Sodium laurel sulfate, ether, and other chemicals such as dies and colorings which are known to cause cancer.  It would be better not to have exposure to chemicals which cause cancer.
5. Perfume.  Yes, perfume, deodorant and cologne tend to get patients into big trouble.  Most of these scented products have deadly toxins in them.  It would be better to walk the other way when you smell them coming.  There are good and safe deodorants on the market, however, most are not.  There are also some very rare and hard to find essential oils on the market that are safe, but most are not.  If you put someone into a gas chamber with a deadly gas, they tend to get sick and die.  Many people put colognes and/or perfumes onto their skin that then go into their blood stream and they then absorb into their livers where they cause lots of difficulties.   Many people wonder why they get headaches and why it is so easy for them to gain weight.  Well, this is one of the many, many reasons why.  The liver is responsible for metabolizing fat and if it becomes toxic then a person can gain a great deal of weight.
6. More than 66% of the population is overweight.  Of this large percentage, most are obese.  The average life span in this country is 10 years less than it was 45 years ago due to obesity alone.  Wow.
7. Our country ranks number 60 or 61 in terms of the quality of our health care system according to the World Health Organization.  That means that at least 59 other countries have better health care than in the United States: land of the free and home of the brave.  Many of these countries that have better health care systems are 3rd world countries which means that they do not have very good running water or sanitary conditions.  Wow.
8. Still births are one of the highest in the United States compared to other countries.  That means that more babies are born dead in the United States than in 58 to 60 other countries.
9. The number one cause of death in the United States is Western Medicine.  What this means is that hospital mistakes, drug Interactions, and other mistakes due to the medical establishment cause more death in the United States than any other cause.  Car accidents come in second after hospital and prescription medication deaths.
10. Wheat causes skin disease, asthma, celiac disease, crohn’s disease and many other health problems.  This is not my opinion.  This is not my fault.  Don’t blame me.  I am innocent.  I just thought that you may want to know the facts.  A good book to consult is called “Gut and Psychology Syndrome” by McBride
11. Dairy has casieomorphin chemicals in it which are the same chemicals found in opium.  These chemicals are addictive.  When I was a little boy my parents would have me drink a glass of milk before going to sleep.  Now I know why.  Morphine and opium could certainly help you to sleep.
12. Corn causes dermatitis, dementia, diahrea and other problems.  You can check out the movie “King Corn” which is available on the Internet if you would like.  There is no longer any “organic” corn left on the planet due to the help of the friendly company Monsantos.  High fructose corn syrup does kill nerve cells on contact and destroy the brain.  This is a medical fact and known by nearly all neurologists.
13. Muscle testing is standard procedure and training among all orthopedic surgeons.  They use muscle testing because it works.
14. Mold, yeast and fungus are not “safe” or “o.k..”  These are toxins that, when present in our environment can cause us to be infected and get sick, very sick.  I have had patients who have had to have their toes amputated due to fungal infection.  I have had other patients who have had asthma most of their lives due to fungal infections.  I have had yet other patients with 40% of their body covered in plaque psoriasis due to fungal infections.  Of course, this is not good.
15. The wrong kind of Mousse or hairspray or hair gel will negatively affect your health.
16. Most nail polish or nail polish remover has toluene in it.  Toluene is a toxic chemical which is known to cause brain damage.  This chemical is easily found in some deodorants as well as a variety of skin care and hair care products and even water!  It is the active ingredient in most whipped cream found in a can!
17. You could drink more than a gallon of water a day and weigh only 150 pounds and still be dehydrated.  It is important to drink the correct kind of water that hydrates you.
18. Most spring water is polluted and so it is not safe to drink.
19. Going on a juice fast or other fast may not be such a good idea for your health due to the major changes in blood sugar that it causes as well as other negative effects.  (This can be helpful to some people at some times in some situations.)
20. All antidepressants, especially SSRIs, cause brain damage.  They cause the brain to shrink
21. The use of antidepressants in the United States has nearly doubled in less than 10 years according to the CDC..
22. 50% of Americans are currently using 1 or more prescription medication.
23. 75% of people over the age of 70 are on more than one medication.

Let’s answer some of the questions that came at the beginning of this article:

1. Question: Is protein healthy?

Answer: Protein is not healthy or unhealthy.  Protein is necessary.  Protein comes from the Latin word “Proteus” which means “of utmost importance” or “most important.”  It may be shocking to hear about this in California; land of the fruits, nuts, and veggies, but good health is not possible without an adequate source of protein.  This is a scientific fact.  It is not my personal opinion or something that I just made up because it sounds good.  It is a vital part of human nutrition.  Your body requires an adequate protein source regularly.  Our distant ancestors from Georgia, Russia had huge fangs and small brains.  They ate predominantly protein.  They were nomads which means that they were constantly traveling and so they were not able to eat many fruits and vegetables or gather nuts or berries, they mainly just killed and ate whatever animals they were able to get their hands on.  This is what was happening during the majority of our existence on the planet for a couple of million years.  It is believed by archeologists and other scientists that what allowed humans to develop such large brains later was their enormous intake of protein and fat.  This makes perfect sense; especially when you consider that the brain is made predominantly of cholesterol and fat.  There is lots of cholesterol in animal flesh and some can be found in fat.  Fat is the best source of energy of all food types.  Humans burning fat are able to get twice as much energy from fat as they do from sugar and nearly twice as much energy from fat as they do from protein.
When it comes to protein, often in life, you get what you pay for.  Cheap protein from a diseased cow that was raised in a cage will probably not make you very healthy.  Quality protein from a grass fed cow that never ate any grains in its life and was allowed to roam free and was raised organically from a company like Marin Sun will probably make you quite healthy if you have an adequate supply of it.  Fish is an excellent source of protein – the best.  Things that fly and swim and walk around on the ground are all good sources of protein.

2. Question: Isn’t too much protein hard on your kidneys?

Answer: No, too much protein is not hard on your kidneys.  However, too much protein is hard on your digestive tract and hard on your colon.  Plus, most American’s do not have good stomach function and so large amounts of protein would cause some stress to their stomachs.  Protein is digested (broken down) in the stomach and it is absorbed in the small intestine.

The concern with many people and in the field of biochemistry has been one surrounding dietary ketosis.  There was some belief for a while that eating only vegetables and meats (protein) would cause ketosis.  However, eating large amounts of green leafy vegetables with animal protein does not cause ketosis.  This was a rumor.  A high protein diet such as the one our ancestors had does not cause ketosis and it does not cause calcium to be leached from our bones.  It is not hard on our kidneys.  In fact, large amount of animal protein contains large amounts of bioavailable calcium – so much so that often the consumer of the protein has extra calcium that they do not need and so they urinate this extra calcium out.  Additionally, the large amounts of Vitamin D and K and A found in animal fat and protein are the main nutrients that support good kidney health.  How could the very thing that allowed humans to evolve be bad for them?  This wouldn’t make sense.  But, there are a lot of fads and a great deal of misinformation out there and so people actually believe this nonsense which has no bearing in science or human history.  The breakdown of purines and pyrimidines as part of the urea cycle is a normal part of kidney function.  According to THE AMERCIAN JOURNAL OF KIDNEY DISEASE 27(5):652-662 (1996), it was concluded that for every 0.2 gm/kg/day of protein increase there was a 29% GFR (Glomerular Filtration Rate) decline associated with a 41% prolongation in the time before the patients experienced renal failure.  This is a little bit out of context, but what the research showed was that the MORE protein a patient had in their diet, the LESS likely they would be to get kidney disease.  Therefore, it really makes very little sense to think of excess protein as being hard on the kidneys.  It simply is not.  Another study  in THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE 330(13):877-884 (1994) found benefits for patients who already had kidney disease (severe renal insufficiency) that consumed reasonable amounts of protein and absolutely no benefit to these same kidney disease patients who had extremely low amounts of protein.  Two other studies on children with chronic renal failure showed no benefit for protein restriction [ARCHIVES OF DISEASES OF CHILDHOOD 68(3):371-375 (1993) and LANCET 349(9059):1117-1123 (1997)].  There is quite a bit of research in the most prestigious medical journals in the world all indicating the same thing: a diet with an adequate protein supply supports human health and does not harm human health.  This is especially so when it comes to kidney function.
There are many other studies that show different things.  Again, many of these studies were done using soy protein that is known to deplete the body of calcium and minerals and cause hormonal imbalances.  There are a large number of the studies done on people who eat almost no fish and mainly eat red meat.  Even though it was previously believed that a  diet of predominantly red meat will cause cholesterol levels to rise and will also put stress on the kidneys – this is not so.  The numerous studies done on the Masai and Samburu tribes of Africa conclusively show that a diet of predominantly red meat is excellent for the heart.  There are very, very few studies that show what happens to the kidneys and the rest of the body when a person is given a healthy diet of fish, meat and vegetables with an adequate supply of green leafy vegetables AND protein.  One of the highest levels of folic acid found anywhere in the human body is found in the kidneys.  Folic Acid comes from green leafy vegetables.  Also, the enzyme arginase which is necessary to breakdown arginine which is an amino acid metabolized during the Urea Cycle in the kidneys, comes from green leafy vegetables.  So, it should be crystal clear that green leafy vegetables are very important for good kidney health

Again, increased protein intake does increase calcium loss in the urine of some people, but this calcium has never been found to be coming from bone, it is most likely coming from the increase in calcium found in the animal protein being eaten.  Additionally, the correlation between increased calcium in the urine and increased protein intake is only found in some people and not in everyone.  Many of the studies on this subject were done with isolated soy protein and not with an animal protein.  It is well known that soy protein depletes the body of numerous minerals that include calcium and magnesium and zinc, etc.

3.  Question: Is pot (marijuana) good for me?  Smoking pot occasionally is o.k., isn’t it?

Answer: Pot is not a health food.  Pot will severely stress your adrenal glands (the stress glands) by causing your blood sugar to be imbalanced.  This is why you get the munchies when you are stoned.  Pot allows you to get away from the world instead of participate in it.  It would probably be better not to smoke pot.  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

4. Question: Can I just put some lemon juice in my water and let it sit there in a plastic container in the sun for a couple of hours and then drink the water?  Would doing this be good for me?

Answer: If the lemmon is fresh it is o.k..  Lemmon only stays fresh for about 45 minutes and then the hydrogen bonds dissociate.  What this means is that if you drink or eat lemmon that is fresh the hydrogen bonds will dissociate inside of you so that even though lemmon is acidic, it becomes alkaline once swallowed.  However, if you let the lemmon sit before swallowing it then the hydrogen bonds have already dissociated which means that you are causing your blood and body to become acidic.  Therefore, you are actually dehydrating yourself rather than hydrating yourself.  This is not a good idea.  I do not recommend that any of my patients drink out of plastic containers.  Plastic is not a health food – it is not found naturally anywhere on the planet.  It is best to drink out of glass and metal is a second best.  Many plastics have chemicals called xenoestrogens that mimick hormones.  When these chemicals get into your body they wreck havoc and cause hormonal imbalances that can be drastic.  The warmer and older the plastic is the more it will dissolve into your water.  Soon you are drinking plastic water instead of just regular water.  Stainless steel and glass do not tend to do this.  Glass does not have any xenoestrogens in it.  Stainless steel of a good quality tends to be relatively non-reactive with water.

5.  Question: Why should I eat protein every two hours?

Answer:  Not everybody needs to eat protein every two hours.  There is no one size fits all approach to results oriented health care.  However, if you do need to eat protein every two hours then it is probably to stabilize your blood sugar.  Over 60% of the population is hypoglycemic (Food and Behaviour, Barbara Stitt) and Diabetes is among the top 9 causes of death in the United States.  Over 66% of the American population is currently considered to be obese or overweight.  With these facts in mind, stabilizing your blood sugar may not necessarily be such a bad idea.

These are just a few tidbits of information that many people are not aware of.  In the 1920s through the late 1950s the medical establishment used to be excellent at diagnosing what was wrong with a person and then treating them.  However, things have changed a great deal.  Medicine is a big profitable business.  Hospital births that used to take about 8 hours are now done in less than an hour.  Headaches that used to require aspirin or medicine now sometimes require a surgical procedure.

The medical establishment usually treats symptoms and not what causes them.  This is not entirely bad because if a symptom is ugly enough, it would be a good idea to get rid of it right away.  However, people are no longer thinking about their health holistically like they did a long time ago.  To many Americans, a chronic and long term knee pain means the need for a knee surgery from a highly trained orthopedic surgeon.  So, the problem has little to do with the orthopedic surgeon or his/her training, the challenge is with the person who is convinced that the only solution to their knee pain is a surgical intervention.  I have had a couple of patients who were planning on getting a knee surgery come in to see me and then chose to no longer go under the knife.  Because there is so much misinformation in the public and so many fads and hype, it is difficult to know where to turn for guidance about your health.  It is very, very, very confusing.  I know.  When I was looking for a great chiropractor years ago, I had to go to at least 3 or 4 before I could find someone I was happy with.  And, I was a chiropractic student.  You would think that a chiropractic student would have access to better health care than the majority of people would, wouldn’t you?  Not necessarily.

Americans are taught to believe that a nutritional deficiency is due to a deficiency of nutrients.  This is not necessarily the case.  More often, in fact, a nutritional deficiency is due to a metabolic imbalance.  What this means is that a person has trouble digesting and absorbing nutrients and they have a number of body systems that are not functioning properly.  This causes their nutrients levels for certain nutrients to be imbalanced.  Hypocrates, the father of modern medicine used to say: “The Highest Good is to Find the Cause.”  This means that the diagnosis is very important.  Makes very little sense to diagnose a “disease” because a “disease” is just a name.  However, it makes perfect sense to examine a person, diagnose what is causing their disease and then to treat the cause of the disease.  Remember, “The Highest Good is to Find the Cause.”  It would be better to say the Highest Good is to Find the Structural, Chemical, Emotional, Electromagetic, Toxic, and Spiritual Causes of the disease and then to treat the Structural, Chemical, Emotional, Electromagetic, Toxic, and Spiritual Causes of the disease.  This is what Total Kinesiology does.  This is what we do at Triad Of Health Family Healing Center.  We treat all these causes.  This is how the Total Chiropractic Kinesiologist is able to get such phenomenal results in clinical practice.  Be sure to call us at the office to schedule an exam today if you are not currently under care or are unhappy with the results of care that you are receiving.  The office number is (415) 459-4313.  Mention this blog post and ask us if we have any specials for you.