We Americans spend 17% of our GDP on healthcare. That’s roughly double what other countries spend. So, if we’re spending $1.2 Trillion a year, why are we dropping like flies from diseases such as cancer, heart disease and stroke? I believe that the major contributing factors include our stress-induced lifestyle, diet, and our body’s inability to rid itself of toxins. More specifically, most diseases in our culture are directly related to our dependency on sugar for energy.
Currently, autoimmune disorders are the number three killer, behind heart disease and cancer, in the United States. A study published in the peer-reviewed Gastroenterology found a 400% increase celiac disease from just fifty years ago. Today it effects 1 in 105 people in the U.S. and since most people who have it are unaware of the fact that they have it, these figures are probably much greater. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease of the small intestine that is caused from a reaction to prolamin, a gluten protein found in wheat, and other similar grains such as barley and rye. Upon exposure to gliadin, the enzyme tissue transglutanminase modifies the protein, and the immune system cross-reacts with the small bowel tissue, causing a highly inflammatory reaction.
The Serbian tennis player, Novak Djokovic is on fire. After winning 43 straight matches, including 41 in 2011– something that hasn’t been done since 1984 — he plowed through the quarter finals then the semi-finals at Wimbledon this year. Even hadn’t won Wimbledon, his winning streak would have rewarded him with enough points to put him in the top spot, ranking him as the #1 men’s tennis player in the world. But, of course, he did win.
The human body consists of over fifty thousand different proteins. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and are essential, meaning that they must be derived from the diet and cannot be recycled by the body. These essential aminos are: L-tryptophan, threonine, lysine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine, valine, and phenylalanine. Without the intake of a complete protein from the diet, a healthy protein synthesis is simply not possible.
The brain occupies only five percent of our total body mass, but it needs at least 25 percent of our body’s energy supply to meet its considerable metabolic demands. Despite what many people think, the brain does not require glucose for its energy needs. Instead, it prefers the energy units that are found in fat known as ketones.
Recent studies have shown that Vitamin D lowers the risk of cancer (including skin cancer) up to 60 percent in men and up to 77 percent in women. It has also been shown to prevent type 1 and type 2 diabetes, reduce inflammation, prevent seasonal affective disorders, help prevent Parkinson’s disease, help prevent cardiovascular disease, help prevent autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as help support brain health. Al Sears, M.D., in his book, “Your Best Health Under the Sun,” said that “we are designed, cell by cell, as creatures of the sun….[vitamin D] may be the single most important organic nutrient for your over all health.”
The most common food sensitivity associated with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is gluten. Some research has shown that up to 80 percent of all people with ADHD are gluten sensitive, with many of them having celiac disease.
A three-month study in Sweden compared the blood sugar effects of a prehistoric (very low-carb) diet with a diet comprised of whole grains, low-fat dairy, fruits, vegetables, and unsaturated fats. After the study, participants’ blood sugar levels dropped 26 percent with the prehistoric diet and only 7 percent with the diet containing dairy and grains.
In 1995, I was introduced to a specific type of chiropractic care known as “upper cervical care”. At that time, X-rays were taken by a chiropractic physician of my skull and upper spine and it was revealed that I had developed an abnormal curvature of my top vertebrae known as a vertebral subluxation. I was then shown an X-ray of a normal, healthy spine and the difference was astounding.
The health benefits of the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids were discovered in the 1970s by researchers studying the Greenland Intuit Tribe. The Greenland Inuit people consumed large amounts of fat from seafood, but displayed virtually no heart disease. The high intake of omega-3 fatty acids by the Inuit actually showed to reduce heart rate, triglycerides, blood pressure, and atherosclerosis.
