Reader Question: "Is eating yogurt daily good for the average person?"

The short answer: Maybe... It depends... On a lot of things... like your personal biochemistry, the source of the dairy, and the ingredients in the yogurt to name a few. The longer answer: First let’s take a VERY short look at the history of dairy as a human food. Really we should not be able to digest milk beyond when we should be weaned from our mothers, by about the age of six. Waaaaaaay back during when human tribes were far flung around the globe and not in regular contact with each other, the northern European tribes, Egyptians, and other groups who were domesticating cattle began to exhibit a genetic mutation that left the gene responsible for making the lactase enzyme in the “on” position. This meant that these humans could continue to digest the lactose sugars in milk beyond childhood. The tribes who were not exposed to this mutation have maintained their “normal” adulthood lactose-intolerance. This is why many African and Asian populations are largely lactose-intolerant. Today this is changing as genetic material is rapidly mixing as we become a more global society. 



Dairy as a food has changed radically in the last 150 years with the advent of pesticides, industrial confinement dairies, growth-hormone injections, antibiotics and pasteurization. Let’s just look at pasteurization for a minute. This process was largely adopted in an effort to stop the spread of diseases such as typhoid, scarlet fever, and tuberculosis that sickened many people during the early 1900s by way of ingesting contaminated milk products. Pasteurization is now mandated in many states and dairy products must meet certain national standards to cross state lines. The two main pasteurization techniques subject raw milk to temperatures exceeding 161F for 15 seconds (high-heat-short-time; HTST) or 280F for 2 seconds (ultra-high-heat; UHT). The UHT or “ultra-pasteurized” process is becoming more popular so now you can even find milk in tetra-packs on unrefrigerated grocery shelves. 



What does this do to the milk? Consider that milk proteins, primarily whey and casein, are fragile. When they are subjected to high heat, vigorous shaking, or high-speed blending, they begin to break apart quickly into random amino-acid groups or singles in a process known as “denaturing”. The body likes to receive intact un-denatured proteins so it can break them apart into the puzzle pieces it knows how to use. Highly processed dairy products create dubious protein bioavailability for our human systems. In addition, the high heat damages the fats found in milk, including beneficial conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which helps trigger healthy body composition balance (i.e. supports lean mass and helps the body let go of extra body fat mass). 



Keep in mind that toxins tend to travel most effectively up the food chain in fats (the subject another upcoming post) and you’ll want to avoid any non-organic dairy product as well.



So back to the yogurt question: Yes, unflavored yogurt made from whole, organic milk from grass-fed, hormone-free cows can be healthy for people who are not allergic to dairy or lactose intolerant. Highly-processed, denatured, fat-free, "squeeze-pack" yogurts with loads of sugar or sugar-substitutes and carrageenan thickeners? not so much (and especially not for children). Get the good stuff. Get as close to milk from a happy, healthy Bessie as you can. Get REAL.

Reader Question: "What foods are the most important to eat organic?"

An excellent question and let me say, you aren't the only one confused about this! First let’s clear up some misconceptions about what organic is and isn’t. What exactly does “organic” mean anyway? According to the USDA National Organic Program website, “organically grown” means the food was grown and processed without any synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. However, this doesn’t exclude fertilizers or pesticides that are naturally derived, so, this doesn’t mean the foods were never sprayed with anything. Currently “organic” also means no sewage sludge, irradiation or genetic modification can be used in the production of the food or ingredient (whew!).

As of 2002 there are three sub-designations that are important to know about: “100% organic”, “organic” and “made with organic ingredients”. The “100% organic” designation is the only one that is just that. All the ingredients must be certified organic. In the case of “organic”, all agricultural ingredients must be certified organic except where a special “National List” allows them not to be. These non-organic ingredients can’t make up more than 5% of the total (not counting water and salt). In the case of “made with organic ingredients”, at least 70% of the finished product has to be certified organic (not counting water and salt). Any other ingredients that are not required to be organic on the National List can’t be produced but “excluded methods” (another special list).

Tricky? You bet! Political? Absolutely! Consumer friendly? Nope. That said, it’s still a good idea to eat as organically as you can afford to for your long-term health and the overall health of our interlinked ecosystems. But, what do you do when you can’t afford to eat all organically all the time? Here are a few simple things to keep in mind. First, the lower on the food chain you eat, the less intensely concentrated these toxins become before you consume them. As you move farther away from the original interaction between dirt, seed, sun and rain (ex: chard > beetle > chicken > egg; or grass > cow > milk > butter) the more the toxic residues from fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, hormones, antibiotics, and more become, so as the human at the top, you ingest much higher quantities via eggs or butter than you do via chard or oats. Spend your hard earned cash on organic butter (and other dairy), meats, poultry, and eggs. Breathe a little easier about whole grains, most veggies and most fruits. For a really good list of the top most contaminated and the top cleanest conventionally grown fruits and veggies, get the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean 15” lists. They even have an ap for your phone so you have it with you when you grocery shop. For starters, only buy organic apples and spinach, but don’t worry so much about broccoli or avocados.

Lastly, when you start reducing "food products" with lots of ingredients on the labels and start eating more whole foods, you eliminate places where toxins can easily get hidden. Keep it REAL! Bon appetite!

(also published on the Patch.com)

Man Parts

Why is it that the topic of “men’s health” always seems to be a synonym for prostate health or erectile dysfunction? Yes, the prostate gland is important, but there is a whole MAN attached to it and his overall health is vital to the health of all his parts. Let’s look at a few things that are important to consider in whole-body health trajectories that don’t get much attention.

Building blocks: We all played with them as kids. You learned about how a wobbly foundation meant that your castle would fall over more easily than a well built one. You learned about how certain blocks fit together better than others. And you learned that using the bigger blocks on the bottom gave your castle more stability.

Translation: There are a few big pieces to focus on for overall health at the foundation level that will make all the difference in the stability and maintainability of health in the long run. The really cool thing is that all of these are under personal control, not the purview of the pharmaceutical companies or the medical community. In most cases, the biggest contributor to health or dis-ease is what we do (or don’t do) every day.

What to Eat? Start with less... Over-consumption of food and the development of obesity is one of the leading causes of all chronic dis-eases in the US and is directly implicated in the development of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), prostate cancer, erectile dysfunction (ED), heart dis-ease, diabetes and more.

One of the greatest disservices perpetuated on the American public has been the idea that a low- or no-fat diet is somehow healthy. The key is the type of fat and where it comes from. You actually need some saturated fats along with essential fatty acids, but fake, damaged or contaminated fats are deadly. Low/non-fat conventional dairy products have been linked to prostate cancer, and high intakes of unprotected omega 3 fatty acids (i.e. not enough antioxidants) are linked to the development of BPH.

The same holds true for proteins, especially animal derived proteins. There are vast differences in health consequences between consuming organic, grass-fed, “happy” beef/dairy and commercial, feed-lot, grain (and “other”) fed beef/dairy. Our biggest problem, however, is likely to be highly processed carbohydrates including products made with refined sugars and flours, refined white rice, and starchy veggies that have been subjected to high heat. High-glycemic index carbohydrates (highly processed carbs and sugars) have been linked to prostate cancer and BPH. If I could make a one sentence recommendation for your overall health it would be this: Eat foods that were grown the way they were meant to live (organically) with the least amount of processing possible and prepared with care. If we all did this I would be willing to bet that 80% of our chronic health issues would magically disappear.

What to Drink: Simple, water. Those studies claiming that red wine is beneficial for heart dis-ease? Yeah, those have been found to be mostly false. Sorry. And beer is one of the worst things to indulge in daily, even more so than sodas which are looking worse and worse as the studies roll in. Coffee? Good news! One coffee drink per day is good for the liver and helps to prevent diabetes. The trick is to eliminate the sugar and only use organic grass-fed hormone-free whole milk or half and half. Soy milk? Let’s just say “don’t go there” and leave that for another discussion. Water. Clean, pure, non-distilled water.

What to Do: Another simple answer, move. If there were a medication that could provide all the benefits of exercise, MDs would be sued for malpractice if they didn’t prescribe it for everyone! Basically there are only benefits, even the side effects are beneficial! It’s no wonder because moving is what we were built to do. This modern age has seen a new ill health syndrome develop called SED or sedentary death syndrome. The less you move the greater your chances of early death or a long, drawn out, dis-ease riddled old age. And is it related to BPH, prostate cancer and ED? You bet. No surprise there. The research all shows that the better shape you’re in, the better ALL your man parts work! (And yes, the sex is better too...)

Get the gunk out. Get moving. Get serious about your health. Get REAL.