Recently, I picked up a copy of Dr. Mark Hyman’s book, “The UltraMind Solution”(which by the way, I highly recommend), with the intent of researching two important aspects of balance for healthy individuals – a healthy body & a healthy mind. I’ll most likely be writing more about that issue in future blogs. Here though, my reasoning for mentioning Hyman’s book is that one of his chapters reminded me of a point that I think many of us overlook, especially in today’s tough economic times. Also, keep in mind that what I write here isn’t strictly my opinion or just the opinion of others in the fitness, nutrition and health related fields. Rather, it’s a point that is overwhelmingly supported by many health specialists, scientists and practitioners – and one that Dr. Hyman himself, a medical doctor, reiterates strongly about vitamins and minerals.

Vitamins & Minerals – a Metabolic Tune-Up or Just Expensive Urine?

Catchy title for a chapter! Well,here’s how he begins this chapter on the topic:

“I don’t think people need vitamins and they are a waste of money . . .”

Are you shocked at his opinion? I was, at least until I read further. Below is Mark Hyman’s follow up to that statement, in context.

Point taken – We all need vitamins (this is a link to some good sources). If you want to know more about why, get his book – it’s a great read!

The Cost of Vitamin and Mineral Supplementation

Quite honestly, I can tell you that there are times when I forget to take my vitamins and minerals. Usually it’s due to laziness, a lack of convenience or a disregard for their metabolic importance. Lately, though, I suspect that many are neglecting vitamin and mineral supplementation due to their expense. The question is, what is it really costing us NOT to take vitamins and minerals? Not only is it costing us money, but it may very well be robbing our bodies of desperately needed nutrition – nutrition that we’re not getting from the severely deficient and convenient foods that we’re eating – especially during the current economic down-turn.

My point here is simple – quick, easy and cheap are not always best. Cutting corners nowadays may seem to be the only solution, but we need to keep in mind our health for the future. If in the present we continue to rob our bodies of required nutrition by eating bad, dirty or cheap foods, while NOT supplementing with the much needed vitamins and minerals, eventually we will pay a much larger price than what is currently apparent.

Dr. Hyman’s premise is well stated – in order for our minds to function properly – as God intended – our bodies must first have all the proper nutrients for optimum function and balance. His focus is on mental health – in that, if the bodily processes are not being properly nourished, the mind will not function properly either, hence depression, mood swings, anxiety and ultimately Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease – just to name a few.

The Organic Transformation 2 Step Weight Loss Program

I agree with Hyman’s book. Recently, Barry Bragg, Barry Seneri and I wrote a comprehensive eating program called the Organic Transformation 2 Step Weight Loss & Wellness Program. Our point is very similar to Dr. Hyman’s, except that our focus is more specifically on the body and how eating right, along with the right supplementation promotes weight loss and overall body wellness. We believe that great health, weight loss, fitness and well-being are largely a product of a balanced, healthy lifestyle – as detailed in our program – some of which include:

• Good Sleep
• Clean, Alkaline Water
• Chemical-Free, Unprocessed, Natural Foods
• Regular Detoxification
• 80% Alkaline / 20% Acidic Foods Daily
• Regular Vigorous Exercise
• Rotation of Foods for Balanced Nutrition

Dr. Hyman, in his book, takes it to another level by describing how proper metabolic balance (due to proper diet) promotes healthy mental function. In essence – a truly healthy body equals a healthy mind.

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Have you ever gone for Chinese food, eaten until you were about to pop, only to find yourself ravenously hungry an hour later? Well, if you don’t know already, the culprit is most likely MSG (Monosodium glutamate). But what most people (even the health-conscious) don’t know is that many of the foods we eat every day are laced with some form of MSG.

Food manufacturers are very sly about this – carefully masking the term “MSG” – calling it something, even as innocent as “natural flavoring”. Read what my friend, Barry Bragg, a nutritionist and fitness trainer for Transformation LLC in Raleigh, NC has to say about this and how it could be negatively affecting your health.

Click to read the full article!

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For all of the details, click the graphic link below:

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Did you know that soy products can actually cause weight gain, PMS, bloating, stubborn fat, contribute to prostate enlargement, cancer and other disorders?

Many think that soy is the new dairy. It may be used as such, but what most people don’t realize is that it actually has a metabolic estrogenic effect in the body. If you’re male, you may want to think twice before consuming soy products, as soy can be feminizing. Do you want to be increasing the estrogen content in your body when excess estrogen is a known cause for gynecomastia (fatty breasts in men), prostate enlargement and cancer? Or, if you’re female, do you really want excess estrogens circulating throughout your body when estrogen dominance is a known cause for bad PMS, breast cancer and other female disorders? It’s important that we all understand the consequences of consuming soy based foods. I’ve spoken to numerous people who think they are eating “healthy” by replacing all dairy with soy. Some may initially lose weight, but at what cost? Furthermore, many can’t figure out why the stubborn fat and metabolic disorders increase or persist. The problem very likely lies in the soy. Whether it’s soy milk, soy ice cream, veggie burgers, tofu or other soy based products, all overwhelmingly contribute to an excess of estrogen in the body.

Why soy causes estrogen dominance or excess estrogen

Briefly, soy actually contains phytoestrogens. Although natural, phytoestrogens have an estrogenic effect on the body. In a world already overwhelmed by estrogenic chemicals, the last thing needed is to mistakingly consume a food or ingredients that contribute to the problem. One of the most obvious signs of excess estrogen in the body is the formation of stubborn fat, particularly in the belly in men, and more commonly in the hips and thighs of women.

In addition, here’s what the Weston A. Price Foundation lists as some of the dangers of eating soy:

• High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.
• Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
• Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
• Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
• Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body’s requirement for B12.
• Soy foods increase the body’s requirement for vitamin D.
• Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.
• Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
• Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.
• Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.

But soy is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many other particular estrogenic chemicals that we are ingesting on a regular basis that are causing us problems. I’ll write more on these later.

Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about soy and the estrogen issue now, you can check out the book that I co-wrote with Ori Hofmekler – The Anti-Estrogenic Diet: How Estrogenic Foods and Chemicals Are Making You Fat and Sick, by North Atlantic Books – available at Amazon.com.

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