Reinforces Chapter 6: The Seeds of Ill-health
You may have read recently that, because of the use of recycled newspapers being used in the manufacture of cardboard used to make breakfast cereal boxes the boxes pose a serious cancer risk.
How times have changed.
I remember, many years ago, reading a study conducted on rats, which tested the relative nutritional merits of different breakfast cereals. In this study, the rats were divided into groups and each group was given a different breakfast cereal to live on. Then the last group was fed on the chopped-up cardboard breakfast cereal boxes.
Guess which group lived longest.
I expect you chose correctly: Yes, it was the group that ate the chopped up cereal boxes.
I regret that I can't find the reference for this study now, but the American consumer advocate, Robert Choate, quoted the study to a U.S. Senate subcommittee in Washington in 1970 as an example of the woeful nutritional inadequacy of breakfast cereals.
So this latest news must have come as something of a bombshell to the masses. Now, it seems, the only healthy thing about breakfast cereals you could rely on - the cardboard boxes they come in - can no longer be trusted either.
Oh dear! What on earth are we going to eat now? some will cry.
Me? I'll stick to my scrambled eggs for breakfast.
56 comments:
According to Sally Fallon the cardboard box study was never published. It was supposedly done in 1960 at Ann Arbor University.
More information on http://editor.nourishedmagazine.com.au/articles/puffed-grains-should-we-eat-them
Hi John
Since Sally published that story of study by Loren Zanier it has appeared all over the Internet. Zanier appears in her free ebook of Nourishing Traditions as a contributor, so she could have learned of the study from the horse's mouth.
The question then is: If it wasn't published, where did I learn about it? I'm sure I've known about it probably since the 1970s.
Barry
Hi Barry
After just reading your very convincing book 'Trick & Treat' I have decided reduce carbs (including cereals and boxes!) but am struggling to know exactly what to eat, especially regarding fat. This is obviously due to 30 years of brainwashing. Please could you direct me to a good source of high fat recipes?
Many thanks
Jen
Hi Jen
I don't like to be prescriptive as people have their own favourite foods. But what you should aim for is a 'natural' amount of fat. That is the amount which would be found in nature. In terms of foods from animal sources, that would be about one part fat to between three and six parts lean. These days the difficulty is getting enough fat; there is little need to worry about getting too much.
There are some menu and recipe ideas at my Diabetes-Diet website which might help you.
Barry
Some of the things you write are very smart and grounded in thinking but others are very ignorant and not supported by scientific evidence just speculation. Also to make the assumption or claim that changing to a high fat low carb diet would decrease delinquency is absurd. It makes you sound completely insane. I hope your soul and conscious can survive selling the death and inaccuracies your so called "high fat" diet will bring such as diabetes and heart disease just to name a few.
Anonymous, you made may day. Thank you for reminding me about the dire threats of the high fat low carb diets, presumably like the one I have been living on since 1999, happily consuming about 150g of animal fat daily.
Heretic
Barry,
Regarding your article on
prostate paper
(ref: paper)
The most likely culprit behind the higher inflamatory markers in their mice is the transfats and sugar based feed. In every study I have seen of this kind, hydrogenated vegetable fat has always been the base of such diet so chances are it was the case there as well. The other ingredients are typically caseine and dextrine sugar.
If you have an access to the full text (I don't), it would be interesting to have their mice feed reviewed.
Best regards,
Stan (Heretic)
Hi Anonymous
You don't read medical journals, research papers, epidemiological studies and historical or anthropological research, do you?
High-animal fat, low- or no-carb diets have been shown to prevent, cure and reverse a wide range of diseases. Many of these are documented - with supporting evidence - on my websites and in my books. I never make statements without also publishing the evidence, which is why Trick & Treat has 54 pages of references.
Barry
Hello Stan
You could well be right about the mice's chow.
I'm afraid, I haven't got the full study as I don't subscribe to Prostate.
Barry
Hi Barry
Thanks for the info - I will check out the website now. After always looking for low cal foods I am shocked to notice how little 'natural' food is available. Having said that, I am determined to continue following your advice since I have noticed very positive results so far. Thanks again! Jen
Jennifer,
I have been following Barry for over 2 years and I believe it's the correct path to follow.
- Triglycerides <0.79 mmol/l (70mg/dl in USA)
- HDL almost doubled.
Just eat real food with plenty of saturated fat.
--Bob
- Triglycerides <0.79 mmol/l (70mg/dl in USA)
- HDL almost doubled.
Just eat real food with plenty of saturated fat.
I'm lucky in working in a place that gives us check-ups every year, including a blood test.
After cutting out carbs a few years ago, my total cholesterol and fasting glucose were unchanged. However, the rest:
HDL - approx 30% increase.
LDL - approx 20% decrease.
Trigly - approx 50% decrease.
AST - 30% decrease.
ALT - 50% decrease.
Pretty amazing results. In May I'll have my next check-up and should have ten years of data.
Steve
my daughter, atype 2 diabetic, has now ended up in the situation of being type 1 diabetic and tolerates no carbs at all. She was told this after five days at the local hospital. She now runs good blood sugars on a minimum of long acting insulin and has reduced her insulin. She wouldn't listen to me about low carb until this emergency admission to hospital a month ago.
Sue
Hello Steve
I look forward to your next check-up results.
Hello Sue
I am sorry that your daughter is diabetic, but delighted that she is managing her condition so well and so healthily.
But look out for trouble from her diabetes nurse if she finds out :-)
Barry
from Sue to Barry
Regarding my diabetic daughter, the endochrinologist at the local hospital told her she could not tolerte any carbohydrate at all. He over rode the diabetic nurse and consultant. Nothing other than in greens, salads etc. This has proved to be the case. An apple sends her to 15 but does finally reduce to normal levels without a further injection of short acting Lispro. However, she has got the message at last. She was very ill when admitted with ketones completely out of control and sugars off the scale. They discovered through standard hospital diabetic diet she could not tolerate 20z of potatoe even with the insulin injectin.
It is extreme I know,but aqt least one consultant is on the ball.
many thanks,
Sue
Remember my cholesterol of 315mg/dl last December? My oncologist told me I had a greater risk of dying of heart disease than recurrence of breast cancer. 3 months later, it was down to 270mg/dl. Just upped the fat and decreased the (cheating) carbs. He was amazed. It also helped to be 3 months further away from the chemo they gave me (think liver stress) and the steroid inhaler for asthma. Beware the pharmaceuticals.
Hi Nightingale
How true that is! But with a cholesterol level where yours is, the evidence suggests that both conditions will benefit.
best wishes
Barry
I miss reading your blogs, even though you don't blog much I still check about once a month to see if anything is new here. I had also read the card board box story somewhere too. You won't catch me eating cereal.
Shauna
Thank you, Shauna, for your kind comment.
I apologise for not blogging more over the past year. There has been much in the news I could - and should - have written about but, unfortunately, I have been too tied up with trying to complete another book, which wasn't going well, and a serious family problem.
All being well, I should be able to do more soon.
Barry
Sorry to hear you've been having problems, Barry.
Have you seen this in the Daily Mail?
Low-fat diets can actually increase the risk of heart disease, new research has revealed.
For years people wanting to protect their hearts have avoided eating fatty foods such as red meat and dairy products.
But the study suggests that low-fat diets weaken the immune system and slow the body’s healing process and make it less effective.
A lack of fats and cholesterol can allow damage in arteries and veins to reach critical levels and lead to heart attacks, strokes or organ failure.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1375687/Low-fat-foods-INCREASE-risk-heart-disease-nutritionist-says.html
Regards,
Jean.
Low-fat is bad for you? That is not at all surprising if you consider the fact, that cholesterol/fatty acids are the stuff that is essential for making so many things: cell walls, brain food, hormones, nerve signalling etc. etc. etc. No cholesterol - no body...
How true that is, Ruth!
Barry
Barry.
I was just down in the US and a recent Lipitor commercial made the claim that 80% of heart attack and stroke sufferers had high cholesterol. I had never seen that specific claim before.
their sales must be softening, or sign up rates stagnant.
This is a significant claim, but is it backed up by anything substantive?
tw
Vancouver
Hi TW
In fact, the majority of people who have heart attacks have normal or low cholesterol. But, I suppose if you set the cholesterol bar low enough, everyone who has a heart attack is going to have 'high' cholesterol!
But, as to where Pfizer get that 'fact', why not write and ask them? Although, that said, I did just that a few weeks ago and I haven't had a reply yet, so don't hold your breath
Barry
Thanks Barry.
Judging by the many commercials either by drug sellers or nurse/doctors adds, anything that helps the cholesterol/chd/stroke story is widely used. Usually the claims are less specific: may be, has shown to be, a relationship...etc. Which is why a specific number was so surprising.
The big thing here in North America is plant sterols. It seems to be appearing in everything all of a sudden. I also noticed in the US on that recent trip that "no fat" or Less fat is very prevelant on many items.
In the US if you eat from a package you are in heaven; but you have to read every label if you want to avoid sugar, soy and endless chemicals. I'm not sure whether it is better to eat the package or it's contents sometimes....
The people that work at various grocery stores tend to like me because I'm the one going for the fatty cuts of meat, bacon and ask for full fat cream and cheese. (thanks of course to your books). With people looking for low fat and plant sterols, I suspect service at the meat counter will be even better. Lipitor be damned.
tw
Lipitor is going off patent this year... Signs of desperation...
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Hello Netherland
Yes, you may use what I write, so long as it is attributed correctly.
Barry
Mr Groves, Barry,
I really appreciate your efforts to help us getting healthy. Remember that song? : "then I saw your site, now I'm a believer" (Monkees?).
I have one question,though.
I read somewhere you have a chocolate drink twice a day. I can't imangine you put sugar in it ;-).I really love chocolate. Could you please put the recipe for you chocolate drink on the site?
Best to you,
André
Hello André
Not chocolate, I drink cocoa. I use a heaped teaspoon of 100% cocoa powder (not the made-up cocoa), mixed with hot water in a half-pint (300ml) mug, just as you might make instant coffee, then I add about 1/4 inch (5mm) of double (heavy) cream. That's it - no sweeteners.
You might find it a little bitter at first but, once you've gotten used to it, it's very refreshing.
My preferred cocoa powder is Waitrose own brand
Barry
Hi Barry,
I've just sent you an email about the World Cancer Research Fund report mentioned today in the Guardian, and no doubt elsewhere.
It is yet another attack on red meat. Also processed meat. I worry about the latter myself and avoid it except at hotel breakfasts in Europe where it is often the only meat available.
However, I don't have any worries about good quality red meat.
I would be interested in your comments.
BTW thanks to you I discovered cocoa. I find I can enjoy it just with water, and no cream and of course no sweetener.
Regards,
Mike
Hi Mike
This isn't a new study, just a review of the old ones and, just as they did not find any harm from eating red meat then, a review isn't going to either.
But that, of course isn't 'politically correct' these days.
As I commented on the Daily Mail website: "So, if red meat is so dangerous, why is it that the Maasai, Samburu, Marsh arabs, Berbers, Nagas, Siberians, Saami, Lapps, Gauchos, and many other peoples around the world, who eat practically nothing but red meat, not only DON'T get bowel cancer, they don't get any cancer - until they adopt our ideas of what constitutes a 'healthy' diet?
I also have no problems with continental sausages, salamis, chorizo and bacon. It seems to be only ours that is full of rubbish and spits gunge all over the frying pan.
Barry
Thanks for the recipe; I definitely will try it. No double cream in Holland, but I if I use a litte less water the result should be fine. Thanks again.
Kind regards,
André
I did try the cocoa drink! And I love it. Certainly a substitute for some cups of coffee (won't give that up!)
Besides the great taste if you love chocolate, I assume the high magnesium content and ORAC value are among the reasons you drink it. Thanks again for the recipe; this is really a great addition to my diet.
On the face of it, this would seem to remove any last vestiges of doubt about the effectiveness (or not!) of statins!
Statin Drugs Provide No Benefit: Study of 4 Million People on http://wibi.us/llCvb7 (via @wibiya)
Hi Diana
Yes it does. But that really doesn't matter to Big-Pharma as the patents for most statins have run out; Lipitor's patent will run out in June this year; and the last statin, Crestor's patent will expire in 2016.
Naturally the drug companies have already tried other ways of maximising the potential in modifying cholesterol by developing other drugs -- but so far with very little success. So, it now looks as if they are giving up on cholesterol -- it is not really the cause of heart disease -- and focussing on other body processes which could be modified with new, patentable, drugs.
For example, research, funded by the British Heart Foundation, found an 'ultrabad' cholesterol, called MGmin-low-density lipoprotein (MG-LDL), which is more common in people with type 2 diabetes and the elderly, appears to be 'stickier' than normal LDL. This makes it more likely to attach to the walls of arteries. The notion is that when LDL attaches to artery walls it helps form the dangerous 'fatty' plaques' that cause coronary heart disease.
Interestingly, MGLDL seems to be caused by glycation of 'normal' LDL. The glycation is the result of chronic high levels of glucose in the blood. And it is no secret that this condition happens as a consequence of eating a carb-rich, 'healthy' diet. So, do they suggest changing diet? No! They'll find another drug to mitigate the symptoms!
And I have no doubt that the drug companies will invent other diseases for which they can develop drugs, so that they haven't got all their eggs in one basket.
Barry
please check out my blog at
kellogsneurastheniaandceliacgluten.blogspot.com
Hi Robert
Sorry to be so long replying - I've been guest lecturing on board the MS Balmoral around the cities of Norway - without the benefits of wifi!
Now back in civilisation, I agree with you. How can the inability to tolerate a toxin recently introduced to our diet be considered a disease? Put that way, it is obvious that our health advisers are not thinking along the right lines.
Keep up the good work.
Barry
Hi Barry
Last year November I was 155 kg's and one Saturday morning I tested my bloodsugar and wow 33!!! As a diabetic that lived in denial I now had the proof that I could not ignore. The Monday I found your website and it all made sense.
I have now lost 25 kg's, over 7 months and stopped using my glucophage medication.
I really enjoy sharing my high-fat diet with, especially my doctor friends. They are always shocked, but cannot say anything nasty because I am living proof that it works.
Breaking news in California: the Los Angeles County school board is looking at banning chocolate milk in favor of "healthy" eating. What is that healthy diet going to look like? Sushi (rice); Pad Thai (noodles); meatless meals. Yup, high carb, low protein.
God help our kids.
Thought this may be of interest.
You will note the only subject not discussed here is diet.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/jun/23/epidemic-mental-illness-why/
tw
Hey Barry!
Hope you enjoyed the eclipse the other night.
I have a question regarding peanut allergies; why are they so prevalent today?
I heard somewhere that it has to do with the fats in the peanut accumulating all the pesticides. I don't know how true or not this is though.
Hi tw
I see that the 'epidemic' is based on the numbers of prescriptions issued. So, there might not be such an epidemic at all, just an aggressive medication programme promoted by Big Pharma. That said, I am not surprised that diet is not mentioned as 'we all know' incorrect diet doesn't cause anything! At least that seems to be the current thinking!!
Hi Matthew
There seems to be an increase in allergies and intolerances across the board. I don't think anyone knows for sure why that is but there are several hypotheses: from the hygiene hypothesis to increasing lacks of minerals and vitamins in soils and, thus, in the foods grown on those soils.
Plants also manufacture toxins naturally to protect themselves from being consumed. Many of these toxins have been selectively bred out of them over the millennia to make them less toxic to us. But hese toxins could also be a cause, particularly if the plants have been genetically modified with greater amounts of these toxins to act as a pesticide.
Barry
Hey Barry,
I have seen references to the heart using saturated fat as a fuel source in many places. I was wondering if you could provide a reference or citation on this fact. I can't even find the preferred energy source of the heart on the wikipedia article for it.
Thanks!
Another article of interest from science daily, although they seem to have missed a major point.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110615094514.htm
Dawn of Agriculture took a toll on Health.
tw
Hey anonymous
The references given for saturated fats being the preferred energy source for the heart are:
Lawson LD, Kummerow FA. beta-Oxidation of the coenzyme A esters of vaccenic, elaidic, and petroselaidic acids by rat heart mitochondria. Lipids. 1979 May;14(5):501-3.
Garg ML, Wierzbicki AA, Thomson AB, Clandinin MT. Dietary saturated fat level alters the competition between alpha-linolenic and linoleic acid. Lipids. 1989 Apr;24(4):334-9.
Hi TW
Yes, you are right. The part missed is that we went from a diet which was about 90% from fat meat to one which contained only about 10%. That's not only energy deficient but also deficient in a wide variety of micronutrients necessary for good health and growth.
Even so, it's nice to see that more people are acknowledging the link between the agricultural revolution at the end of the last great Ice Age and the growth of ill-health.
Barry
Hey Barry
An interesting problem. My girlfriend is vegetarian - but not for any of the more common reasons. Rather, she was raised by strict vegetarian grandparents. They basically instilled in her when she was young that the animals suffer when they die. While now that isn't he reason for being veg, it has caused a serious taste aversion; even if she is completely unaware of the presence of meat in a foodstuff, the aversion is strong enough to induce vomiting. Her parents tried throughout her youth to 'trick' her into eating meat, and it's bad enough that she can't even eat things like mushrooms due to their umami.
I was wondering if you have an idea how to include more animal fats or at least on what a more 'healthy' vegetarian regime could be, or alternatively, any ideas of how to eventually work around it.
Hi Anonymous
This is a difficult one as it is a psychological problem, and not within my field of expertise.
However, if she is a 'normal' vegetarian who will eat dairy, eggs, etc, you can use these to increase fat intake. Buy full-fat cheeses; scramble eggs in lots of butter; make cheese omelettes; put butter on cooked veges; and so on. It is not ideal, but better than using either a low-fat diet or vegetable oils and margarines.
The only other option I can think of is aversion therapy which will require the skills of a hypnotherapist - and probably for some time.
I wish you luck
Barry
Barry -
I've been waiting to write you. I've been waiting for 24 months to be over! Jan 2009 I was faced with a massive kidney infection. It got worse, blurry vision, huge rashes, heart problems, severe intestinal pain, intense nervousness, weakness .. I couldn't work. For over a YEAR I went to 15 doctors, 3 hospitals and took a TON of prescriptions and over $100,000 in tests. Nothing. Then I took probably over 300 different 'holistic' substances hoping for relief. Nothing helped. Then I stumbled on your book (T&T). After 2 months of eating that way, I knew something was happening. After 6 months I knew I was on the right path. Now after 18 months - I have to remind myself that I was once really sick. I even had this chronic arthritic shoulder from weightlifting in college that I hurt 30 years ago. I had it operated on, cortisone - nothing helped. I never got back into lifting. Well - it got better!! Wasn't even trying there! Now I'm doing military presses with 200 lbs. I have bought over 20 copies of your book and recommended it to hundreds of people. Most don't buy it but some do. I will be in touch with you more. You saved my life and support for my family. I owe you so much!!
Albert C
Albert
Wow! What can I say. Over the years, many people have written to thank me and to say how much better they feel. But none has said that they have got better from such an experience as yours. I am delighted to have been of so much help.
Were you able to find out what the exact problem was?
If you prefer to write to me privately, my email address is on this blog (my profile), or you can contact me via my websites.
Best wishes for your continued good health.
Barry
Hi Barry,
Should we be worried about the oxalate naturally present in cocoa beans, when we drink cocoa (from powder, with no added sugar)?
Theoretically, it seems it can inhibit calcium absorption.
However, if there is also magnesium in it, then perhaps that tends to help the calcium absorption, i.e. counter the effect of the oxalate.
Thanks,
Mike
Mike
In theory, drinking cocoa could inhibit the absorption of calcium. But in practice, as so little cocoa powder is used per drink, it probably would not inhibit absorption of any more calcium than the amount in the cocoa powder itself.
There are foods which are much more likely to inhibit calcium absorption, we should beware of, because we probably eat larger amounts of them: Soy; cereal bran; Brazil and pine nuts; blackberries, blueberries and strawberries; beets, collard, dandelion, kale, mustard, spinach, endive, okra, celery, green beans, lima beans and waxed beans, Brussels sprouts, green peppers, tomato, carrot, radish, aubergine (eggplant), sweet potato and squash, garlic; tea, coffee, colas, cranberry juice.
And if that weren't enough, bacteria produce oxalates from oxidation of carbohydrates.
The good news is that foods from animal sources, including dairy are free of oxalates.
Barry
Barry
I noticed your diabetes-diet website is suspended. I was wondering if your recipes are available anywhere else?
I was trying to find your ice-cream recipe at the time, haha.
Hi Anonymous
Slight cock-up with my Website's host. DD should be back online shortly.
Barry
I'm waiting for surgery on my back but have been told I have high blood pressure which will have to come down before they will operate. Help!
I was following your advice until just before Christmas but unfortunately had a relapse.
I am now back on track and eager to lose weight. Due to my back pain (spinal stenosis caused by a prolapsed disc) I am on so many pain killers (anti inflammatories, opiates etc) I am not as active as I would like and can hardly walk.
Any advice as to what I can do to reduce my blood pressure?
Hi Anonymous
I'm sorry to her about your back and hope it will be better soon.
Don't worry too much about not being active. Exercise is not necessary for weight loss or blood pressure reduction. One thing with will make both worse is worry or any other mental or physical stress, as they raise levels of cortisol in the blood which is counter-productive for both conditions.
The only things I can suggest which might help are: 1) relax as much as possible, and 2) cut right down on carbs and increase animal fats.
Best wishes
Barry
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