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.
In 1931, Dr. Otto H. Warburg investigated the metabolism of tumors and the respiration of cancer cells, and in 1931 was awarded the Nobel Prize for his research and findings. Dr. Warburg made it clear in his conclusions that the root cause of cancer is oxygen deficiency, which creates an acidic or toxic state in the human body.
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 average American is over ten times more likely to contract diabetes today compared to fifty years ago. Heart disease, cancer, and stroke continue to increase in epidemic proportions. In 2006, the United States was number 1 in terms of health care spending per capita but ranked 39th for infant mortality, 43rd for adult female mortality, 42nd for adult male mortality, and 36th for life expectancy. So why do we spend so much and get so little?
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 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.
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.
We have been given incorrect knowledge regarding dietary fats by the Food and Drug Administration. Saturated fat has been a huge part of the diet of the homo sapiens species for the last 25,000 years. It’s only been in the last 1/10 of 1% (5000 years) where agriculture has gradually replaced fats with sugars (from complex carbohydrates), that our source of fuel for the body has dramatically shifted.
Our paleo ancestors maintained a diet where blood glucose levels were consistently low. This allowed the body to depend on ketones, rather than blood sugar for fuel. Ketones are the energy units of fat and are a much more reliable and abundant source of energy for our brain and other organs to depend on. Only the red blood cells require glucose for fuel instead of fats.
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.
