Dr. Oz’s show is a great platform for publicizing important health and nutrition information.

On Monday, April 22, 2013, he did a segment on the Paleo Diet, which is based on the cave men of Stone Age times.  This diet claims to help people lose weight and ward off debilitating diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, all without hunting gear. He interviewed Dr. Loren Cordain, PhD researcher of evolutionary medicine, along with Nell Stephenson.

There was a lot of quality information shared such as, obtain your animal protein from grass-fed or pastured animals, consume more vegetables than fruit,  don’t fear the healthy fats in avocados and nuts,  avoid soy, and consume more pastured, raw eggs by including them in smoothies.

Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation (PPNF) applauds Dr. Oz for educating people on nutrition.  However, the Dr. Oz show is subject to television time limits which prevent thorough coverage of topics.  PPNF would like to add to the following helpful information regarding diet:

The Paleo diet rightfully contends it is important to include quality animal fat in one’s diet.  This might include butter, the fat of beef and lamb, the skin on chicken and duck and the omega-3s found in wild-caught salmon. The fat of healthy animals eating as nature intended is actually very healthy for you, and, these animals, even beef and chicken, contain decent amounts of omega-3 fats.

Why should one eat fewer fruits than vegetables?  Fruit contains fructose, a sugar, which is metabolized by the already hard-working liver. Furthermore, too much sugar in the diet creates an inflammatory response in the body. The tribes studied by Dr. Price consumed fruit only when it was in season. Much of the western hemisphere’s population is of mixed ancestry so it can be challenging to follow an ancestral diet. In that situation, it may be best to choose fruit that is in season in the area where you live.

Agave nectar, like fruit, contains fructose. However, agave nectar is a much, much more concentrated source of fructose than a whole piece of fruit, such as an apple, with its fiber.  It stresses the liver and creates an inflammatory response in the body. Stevia, an herb, is a much healthier sweetener as it does not affect the body’s glucose levels or blood sugar levels. To read about other healthy sugar alternatives click here.

Nuts can be an allergen for some people. However, those who do not have tree nut allergies should enjoy these legumes as they are a healthy, nutrient-dense food. Ideally, your nuts are organic, raw, and soaked for 24 hours to eliminate the phytates, or anti-nutrients that can cause digestive woes and scrape vitamins and minerals out of your body.

The Dr. Oz show was correct about milk being inflammatory. The Paleo diet believes in avoiding dairy. PPNF holds that it can be inflammatory if it is pasteurized (pasteurization destroys the nutrients and enzymes), or, if someone is allergic to casein.  Keep in mind that cows in captivity eating unnatural foods (such as grain) are sick.  Their milk is loaded with dangerous bacteria and must be pasteurized to make it safe for consumption.  If you have access to whole, raw, organic milk from healthy animals eating grass, it can be a healing food, not an inflammatory food.  Seventy percent of people who are allergic to pasteurized cow’s milk do well on whole, raw milk from healthy cows.  Often those allergic to the casein, even in raw cow’s milk, can handle goat’s milk with no problem. Dr. Price found tribes consuming milk from cows, camels, goats, sheep- all variety of animals while on his travels. While milk is not for everyone, PPNF does not agree that this nutrient-dense food should be eliminated from all diets.

The Paleo diet recommends avoiding grains on the basis that our cavemen ancestors were not agriculturalists, but were hunter-gatherers.  One should stay away from all hybridized and genetically-modified grains where the gluten does not resemble the gluten of heirloom grains. And,If you want to lose weight, yes, we recommend stay away from all grains – even the healthy ones.  But, if optimal health is your main concern, small amounts of heirloom  grains that have been soaked and fermented a minimum of sixteen hours can be incorporated into your diet.

Soy doesn’t need to be avoided if it is not genetically modified and if it is fermented.  However, if you prefer to follow the tenets of the Paleo diet, and consume what your ancestors ate, keep in mind that soy was primarily consumed by Asian tribes in small amounts.

The best way to find the most nutritious food is to source it. You should know if the farm where your chicken eggs come from allows hens to run around pasture, with plenty of access to sunshine and the yard area where they can search for their food. Ideally, your produce is locally and organically grown, and your beef and raw milk come from healthy, grass-fed cows.

Learn more from Loren Cordain in the documentary, In Search of the Perfect Human Diet, by C. J. Hunt, available from the PPNF store. 

You now have an excellent idea of what fats are bad for you-trans fats, cottonseed and canola oils-but what fats are actually good for you?

Sesame, peanut, sunflower, macadamia nut and walnut oils are all good for you, so long as these oils are truly cold-pressed and are not overheated when used in cooking. Organic, cold-pressed is ideal. Any of the nut oils are healthy if they are pressed properly. Two of the healthiest nut oils are coconut oil and palm kernel oil. Coconut oil in particular is an ideal choice because as a stable oil, it can be heated to very high temperatures when used for cooking. Heating coconut oil does not cause lipid peroxides, and coconut oil has been shown to be beneficial in alleviating symptoms of many diseases, such as Candida, thyroid disorders and Alzheimer’s.

What makes an oil cold-pressed? In the United States the designation cold-pressed requires that no heating device be used during, or after, the pressing of the oil. However, keep in mind that an oil can become heated during processing because of how fast the seeds and nuts are pressed and because during pressing, thousands of pounds of pressure are applied to the food. Therefore, the practice of processing an oil may allow that oil to be overheated to the extent of damaging the oil, which in turn, makes it detrimental to your good health. Therefore one must do research when shopping for cold-pressed oils. Luckily, David Getoff, CCN, CTN, FAAIM, your Attaining Optimal Health in the 21^st Century instructor has done some of this homework for you.

Omega Nutrition, Flora Health and Rapunzel all produce high quality nut, seed and fruit oils. These companies do not expose the oils they produce to temperatures hotter than 120°F. If the press grows to warm during oil production, it is shut off until it cools down before pressing resumes. Rapunzel oils are available through Whole Foods. Omega Nutrition oils can be purchased directly through their website . Flora Health oils can be purchased directly through their website at or in various health food stores. The safflower oil from any of these three companies is also acceptable. However, David recommends that safflower oil from any other company not be used, as it has most likely been overheated.

Oils are excellent for satiation, and can be used to make homemade salad dressings and mayonnaise. David prefers to make his mayonnaise with walnut oil.

David also recommends extra-virgin olive oil, although olive oil has a low smoking point and should not be used for cooking. Extra-virgin olive oil indicates that the olive oil is from the first pressing and is therefore 100% cold-pressed. This also means there is very little water in the oil, which makes it more nutrient-dense than other olive oils. David’s favorite brand of extra-virgin olive oil is Bariani olive oil. Bariani produces only olive oil. Spectrum also makes a healthy extra virgin olive oil. However, any other Spectrum oils have been over-processed and overheated, and are not suitable for consumption.

David also recommends avocado oil. Avocado oil is high in tocopherols, which are vitamin E molecules. Vitamin E is an important (fat-soluble) nutrient which protects fats. You’ve already learned that fats are sensitive, some more than others and some fats and oils can be harmful to you if overheated and over-processed. Nature’s secret to protecting fats is vitamin E which prevents fat and oil oxidation. Vitamin E can even protect omega-3s (and other fats) in the body, and prevent them from oxidizing, until they enter the cell wall and nourish your cells. David’s favorite avocado oil is Bella Vado, which is available at some Whole Foods locations or at http://www.bellavado.com/.

Raw, organic, butter from grass-fed cows is another healthy fat that David recommends. Butter is an excellent source of absorbable vitamin A and also contains vitamin E to protect the fats and other nutrients in butter, making them accessible to the body. During his travels in which he studied the nutrition habits of different cultures across the globe, Dr. Weston A. Price found many people considered butter a sacred food. Dr. Price realized butter is full of fat-soluble nutrients which allow the body to easily absorb minerals. On many occasions Dr. Price used high quality butter from pastured, grass-fed cows to bring people back to health. Butter is a stable cooking oil at low temperatures, and contains medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs), as does coconut oil. The body can use MCFAs for fuel and generally does not store MCFAs as excess body fat.

Another butter product that is nutrient-dense is ghee. Ghee is easily made at home by heating butter and skimming the resulting foam from the top. Ghee is easily digested by those who cannot tolerate lactose and casein because both of these offenders are removed. Use ghee for high-temperature cooking, as it contains less water than butter and is more heat stable.

Lastly, don’t forget the fats from healthy, properly-raised animals. If the chicken you are eating was allowed to roam a yard and eat worms, weeds and grasses that it found itself, rather than the typical corn-and-grain diet in a confined-animal-feeding-operation (CAFO), it is a healthy chicken. This type of chicken is excellent for consumption because it is nutrient dense. Not only is the meat nutrient-dense, the skin from the chicken is nutrient dense and the fat from this skin allows the body to absorb the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients from the meat.  David advises you answer the following questions when determining animal fat consumption: What did the animal eat?  How was it raised? And are you overcooking the meat?

Next week, we’ll talk about how to choose animal protein and why consuming fats and animal protein together is important. In the meantime, have fun experimenting with the various fats and oils that are imperative for your optimal health, and which have been consumed by your healthy ancestors for centuries.  

There may be more misconceptions about dietary fats and oils than any other food item on the planet.  This is a travesty because fats are absolutely essential to maintain optimal health. Luckily, we have the research of Dr. Weston A. Price with the modern-day application by David Getoff, CCN, CTN, FAAIM, your Attaining Optimal Health in the 21^st Century instructor. Both Dr. Price and David have observed the reversal of degenerative diseases when a diet included ample amounts of these healthy fats. David has researched proper fats and bad fats, and can tell you which are best for you and why, as well as which to always avoid.

Fats and oils are both classified as lipids. Generally, if lipids are semi-solids at room temperature they are labeled fats, and if they are liquid, they are labeled oils.

Fats are usually grouped into Omega-3s, omega-6s and omega-9s. The proper ratios of omega-3s to omega-6s and omega-9s varies, in part, based upon ancestry. It’s difficult to give a “one-size-fits-all” approach to the exact ratios each individual should consume for optimal health.  However, we do know that the typical American diet ratio of 18 to 1 to 25 to 1, omega-6 fats to omega-3 fats, is unhealthy and partially responsible for a wide variety of degenerative diseases. Americans need to consume more of the omega-3s (from salmon and grass-fed beef), and less of the omega-6s which are found in grains and processed foods.

Government regulations and labeling have misinformed consumers about sources of omega-3s. Flax seed oil is often considered a quality source of omega 3s, but in fact, the omega-3 conversions from flax seed oil happen in the body and only if the body is in great health. The specific omega-3s we need are EPA and DHA and these do not exist in flax seed oil. Many people cannot make that conversion efficiently, so they do not obtain the omega-3s they believe they are consuming. Salmon, krill and cod liver oil consist of readily absorbed, already converted omega threes. The EPA and DHA in Omega-3 fats can only be obtained from animal sources, and are necessary to sustain life.

We have been warned for several years that saturated fats are bad for us. Actually, the saturated fat in inhumanely raised animals is potentially harmful to humans because fat is where toxins and excess hormones are stored in both humans and animals.   Inhumanely raised animals eat an improper diet (such as grains for cattle when they should be eating grass) and are stuffed with hormones to unnaturally accelerate growth and to prevent the diseases caused by overcrowded living conditions. However, the saturated fat in properly raised animals (truly free-range chicken and pastured beef and lamb, wild-caught salmon, etc.) is not the health hazard the American government claims it is. Neither is healthy, nutrient-dense butter or coconut oil. Did you know the heart is wrapped in a muscle of saturated fat and that the brain is made of over 60 percent saturated fat?

Brain and heart health are clearly imperative to survival, so feeding these organs is important.

Saturated fat is an important source of vitamin A. Vitamin A, in its true form, does not exist in carrots and other vegetables as nutrition labels claim. Vitamin A in vegetables is actually beta-carotene and a healthy body usually possesses some ability to change beta-carotene into vitamin A. An unhealthy person may only be able to turn a minute amount of beta-carotene into vitamin A, and a healthy person will not be able to convert all of the beta-carotene consumed into vitamin A. This is why it is very likely a vegan will be very vitamin A deficient. And, as a vegan grows more and more unhealthy, they rapidly lose the ability to convert the beta carotene from all their kale and carrots into vitamin A. Kale and carrots are very nutritious foods. But they cannot promote optimal health without the additions of fats to the diet.

It is on the beta-carotene conversion basis that the FDA allows so many non-animal foods to claim they contain high amounts of vitamin A. This is why it is very likely a vegan will be very vitamin A deficient. Vegans consume no food that actually contains vitamin A. True vitamin A is a fat-soluble nutrient and can only be found in its proper form in saturated fats, including full-fat dairy products, butter, etc.

Contrary to popular belief, trans fats (unsaturated fat with trans-isomer fatty acids) are not simply overheated oils and fats. Over-processing and over-heating oil does form lipid peroxides which, when consumed, can damage human cell walls. David Getoff often hears people stating that overheating oils causes them to form into trans fats. This is incorrect. Oxidizing fats does not lead to a new chemical structure of trans fats. Trans fats are formed via partial hydrogenation rather than overheating. To hydrogenate oil, hydrogen is added to the oil and is bonded onto the oil molecules via a catalyst (usually nickel).

Food labeling laws have been formatted so that if a food contains a small amount of trans fats, it is allowed to be labeled as “0% trans fats.” The ingredient list is the best way to check and see if a food contains trans fats. If a food states “hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, or shortening” then it definitely contains trans fats, even if the label claims 0% trans fats.

It is now known that trans fats are responsible for a multitude of health woes, from hardening of the arteries and incidences of heart disease, to raising blood sugar levels and interfering with the body’s functions on a cellular level. No amount of trans fats is safe to consume, and a health-conscious individual will want to keep his diet free of this toxic, unnatural fat.

Oils that were once considered healthy but are now known to affect the body negatively include canola oil and cottonseed oil. Canola oil (an omega-6 oil) is a genetically modified fat, also known as rapeseed oil. The oil is pressed from the genetically modified rapeseed. The term “canola oil” stems from combining the words “Canada” and “oil,” as this oil was first made in Canada. This oil is known to interfere with thyroid hormone production, and like other genetically-altered foods, can cause nerve damage.

Cottonseed oil is unnatural for human consumption as it comes from cotton. Typically boll weevils, not humans, eat cotton! Cotton is usually sprayed with a wide variety of chemicals and toxins not permitted on foods, since it is not generally intended for human consumption. Oil pressed from heavily sprayed plants is not a health food.

Next week we’ll explain healthy oils and fats that promote optimal health, as well as brands and locations to purchase these oils.

Nuts are good for you. Nuts are bad for you. Nuts have too many calories. Some nuts have saturated fat.

Current health and diet information is so contradictory and confusing that it is easy to be misled. Nuts are a great example of this information. Some experts recommend nuts as a healthy addition to our diet but only in small quantities. Other experts caution that some nuts are more nutritious than others because they contain less saturated fat.

David Getoff, CCN, CTN, FAAIM, says, “Nuts to all the contradictory information!”

David states “Unless you are allergic, raw, organic nuts are one of the best snack foods on our planet!”

As long as you are still here on planet earth, we at Price-Pottenger and David Getoff recommend eating raw, organic nuts and seeds because they are a nutrient dense food that satiates. Different varieties of nuts have different levels of various nutrients (almonds are high in Vitamin E and Brazil nuts are one of the best dietary sources of selenium, for example).  So, how to decide what nuts to eat? There are so many different varieties- Brazil nuts, pignoli nuts, pine nuts, cashews, macadamias, almonds-it can be difficult to decide. The best route is to choose via your taste buds’ preference. Regardless of the type, it is best that you choose raw, organic nuts and seeds.

Nuts are high in good fats, which is why they are such a healthy addition to your diet. The fat in nuts actually makes you full, does not negatively affect your glycemic index and contains valuable health-promoting nutrients. However, fat tends to bind onto chemicals easily, so it is best to consume this high-fat food in its natural, pesticide-free form. Numerous studies have also found that organic food contains more nutrients than its pesticide-laden counterparts. Yes, organic nuts may be more expensive, but you get more nutrient bang for your buck. If you look at the long-term investment into your health, you may end up saving money with organic foods by avoiding expensive health conditions later in life.

David specifies that truly raw (never heated above 109° F) nuts are the most nutritious because they contain enzymes and other nutrients which are depleted during modern processing. Modern processing can include roasting, shelling and salting with nutrient-deficient sodium.

Both cashews and macadamia nuts can be very difficult to find in their truly raw form. The shells of these nuts are very difficult to open, so most producers will steam the shell in order to make this process easier. This causes the nut to be exposed to temperatures upwards of 150° F. While this may not mean all of the living, beneficial enzymes are destroyed, certainly some of them are, making these nuts no longer truly raw nuts. Current regulations state that a nut exposed to heat up to 160°F can be labeled as raw, but many of the beneficial enzymes found in raw nuts will be destroyed well before that temperature is reached. David believes for a food to be truly raw it must still contain all of its health-promoting enzymes. It is best to do your research than when purchasing nuts. Call your producer and find out how they shell their macadamias and cashews.  One of David’s favorite producers is Jaffe Brothers.

Currently, California almonds are another nut that is not going to be raw when you find it in the grocery store. Ironically, a European almond grower can actually sell their “truly” raw almonds in California grocery stores, but California almond growers cannot. They may ship their raw, organic, unpasteurized product to other nations but they cannot sell it in the U.S. Unfortunately, FDA labeling requirements allow almonds which have been heated over 150°F and often gassed with propylene oxide to be labeled “raw.”  Obviously this is neither raw nor organic! Similar to how one must research how cashews are harvested, it is best to research how the almonds you consume are grown and processed.

Peanuts, which are not actually a true nut, but are legumes, are also a healthy option. Nuts typically grow on trees (hence the term tree nuts). Peanuts grow on a low plant. Like tree nuts, peanuts are high in the fats your body needs, and unless one has an allergy to them, they are another health-promoting food.

Nut butters are also a great way to snack on nuts. Again, make sure they are truly raw, organic nut butters. Peanut butter, almond butter and cashew butter are all great options. Some type of nut butter on a piece of fruit can make a healthy and filling snack and can slow down the absorption of sugar from the fruit in the body as well.

Roasted nuts can actually be harmful, not just because the high temperature they are roasted at destroys beneficial enzymes found in truly raw nuts, but because good fats can be harmed when exposed to high temperatures. Furthermore, nuts are often roasted in harmful substances such as vegetable oils and canola oils. Consuming genetically modified vegetable oils and canola oil can easily negate the health benefits of eating nuts.

That was a lot of information about nuts! Don’t worry-we’ll give you the following check list to make your nut-and-seed-purchasing easier.

1. Be sure your nuts are truly organic.
2. Be sure your nuts are truly raw. Call the producer and/or grower to confirm how cashews and macadamias are shelled. Ask if the nuts have been exposed to any heat at all. For all types of nuts, don’t be afraid to ask questions about the entire harvesting, shelling, packaging, etc. processes.
3. Don’t purchase California-grown almonds.
4. Source places to purchase truly raw nuts, and be sure to tell others about your findings.
5. Prepare your nuts for optimal digestion and nourishment. Soak them for 24 hours to release the phytates and than dehydrate them at a low temperature (90°F is optimal) for as long as you like, depending on how crispy you like your nuts.
6. Enjoy nuts whenever you like as part of health-promoting diet!

Besides being delicious, there are a variety of reasons to consume legumes.  They are full of healthy enzymes and nutrients, needed by the body, and unlike other starchy foods, legumes satiate.

While beans (legumes) are 70 percent starch, they are not on our sabotage foods list because they convert much more slowly to sugar in the body than any other of the starchy foods. The slow conversion of beans to sugar in the body causes much less of a glycemic response than the conversion of grains to sugar in the body. Beans have a glycemic index of 25 to 30.

You may think that because the glycemic index is low, beans are an easy, go-to “health food.” However, like most food choices, beans must be carefully considered. Legumes have been a staple of many healthy cultures for centuries, a factor which would also point to beans as a healthy food choice. However, remember the pesky GM (genetically modified) issue that is cropping up in legislation these days? It applies to beans as much as it does to any other food. Beans have been hybridized and genetically modified along with other crops such as wheat and corn. Remember, we already learned that genetically modified American wheat does not even resemble its original form, and that the gluten in this wheat can be toxic? Genetically modified beans might not contain toxic gluten but they also may not contain many nutrients that their heirloom cousins possess. Genetically modified, non-organic beans can contain pesticides and other toxins. It’s easy to see that beans can rapidly become a disease-causing food as opposed to a health-promoting food.

How then, does one incorporate beans into their healthy diet? By careful selection. It’s best to choose organic beans (and organic produce in general), not just to avoid pesticides, but also because organic crops tend to contain more nutrients. A healthy diet is a nutrient-dense diet. Secondly, do your best to choose heirloom varieties of beans. Delicious heirloom bean types could include adzuki, turtle, anasazi, mung, pinto, cannellini and rice beans. Red, black, green, or crimson lentils are also healthy choices. And perhaps most importantly, after choosing a nutrient-dense, organic bean, make sure you combine it with healthy fats, a protein and lots of non-starchy vegetables, in order to have a nutrient-dense meal. Remember when you used to be able to get Mexican refried beans that were creamy and delicious because they were made with lots of nutrient-dense lard?  Try enjoying your beans this way again, and shun the tasteless, canola-oil filled beans popular in restaurants today.

David Getoff, CCN, CTN, FAAIM, Vice President of the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation also enjoys beans mixed with full-fat coconut milk. He substitutes one cup of water for one cup of coconut milk while cooking his beans which results in a creamier dish containing heart-healthy saturated fat, necessary for maximum nutrient absorption. He recommends Goldmine Natural Foods (http://www.goldminenaturalfoods.com) as a source of heirloom beans and lentils.

In order to make legumes more digestible, soak them for 24 hours before cooking. This will release their phytates (anti-nutrients) that are responsible for the tummy aches so many feel after eating beans. Phytates prevent your digestive enzymes from doing their job of breaking down the food you consumed. They bind to the minerals and nutrients in your food, making these nutrients unavailable to the body. If you still have digestive woes when consuming beans, David Getoff recommends adding Beano to the beans while they are cooking. Another option is to take digestive bitters, which have been used for centuries as a digestive aid. Bitters are a liquid herbal formula and help stimulate the production of digestive enzymes.

If selected carefully, prepared properly, and consumed with the appropriate foods, beans can make a tasty and healthy addition to a nutrient-dense diet.

Hal Huggins is known as “the most controversial dentist” for his anti-amalgam (mercury-silver) filling stance, and anti-root canal crusade, via lectures, books, articles and television appearances. Consider him the arch-enemy of the American Dental Association (ADA), an organization whose members administer over 25 million root canals a year.

Huggins began practicing dentistry in 1962 and received a post-doctorate masters in immunology/toxicology. Today, Huggins continues to share his knowledge of disease and dentistry, and runs a dental DNA lab, where he continues to make discoveries linking autoimmune diseases to root canals.

To date, Huggins has successfully treated (and pioneered many of these treatments) over 5,000 patients with autoimmune disorders, caused by dental toxins.

You could say Huggins has come a long way, considering that early in his practice, he modestly acknowledges (in a presentation he gave at Price-Pottenger’s headquarters) that he was “quite good” at doing root canals.

So what changed?

Huggins was introduced to the work of Dr. Weston A. Price, DDS, who, in the early 20th century, was one of the first dentists to make the astute observation that infected teeth from root canals led to chronic disease in many of his patients.

Supporters of PETA might be upset to learn how Price researched the reasons behind his observations. He removed teeth which had undergone root canals from patients and sterilized these teeth. After sterilization, fragments of these teeth were inserted under the skin of a live rabbit. Incredibly, the rabbit would develop the same disease as his patient, including arthritis.

Although animal lovers might shudder to learn that Price’s studies involved some 60,000 rabbits, (which is why, jokes Huggins, “there are no rabbits left in Ohio,” home state of Dr. Price), keep in mind that in the early 1900s, animal welfare lacked the consciousness and support of contemporary times. However, through his studies, Price and subsequent dentists who studied and advanced his work, such as Huggins, have been able to reverse autoimmune disorders in thousands of patients.

What is a root canal?

In an attempt to save an infected tooth, a dentist will recommend a root canal, perhaps out of noble, but ignorant intentions, or perhaps out of economic incentive, since root canals are the most profitable dental procedure.
The pulp chamber (a mini-canyon) in all 32 teeth house blood vessels and nerves. Conventional dental schools teach future dentists that each tooth has one to four major canals. But Dr. Price discovered up to 75 ancillary canals in some teeth, forming an intricate maze similar to how the human body’s large blood vessels trail off into tiny capillaries. On a micro level, the teeth are like the Pentagon, containing a maze of tubules that if stretched out would extend for a mind-boggling three-and-a-half miles.
This complex network of tubules is actually located within the teeth.

Now that you have a picture of this micro superhighway of dental arteries, ask yourself if a root canal makes sense, whereby a dentist drills into the pulp chamber and “sterilizes” (at least that’s what the dentist thinks is happening, says Huggins) the canal with chemicals. Where the nerves and blood supply once were, the dentist fills in with a wax, which is dipped with a lubricating agent and heated. This mixture can have a toxic effect because it contains the poison chloroform which Huggins has observed can easily vaporize when heated.

The dentist performing the root canal then jams the wax into the end of the removed nerve canal. Huggins refers to this procedure as a “violation of physics.” Even though the chloroform is heated, the wax cools and shrinks. This, says Huggins, results in “bacterial heaven.”

Root Canals Lead to Bacterial Infections

Huggins deftly explains that any type of antibiotic (including those natural pathogen-fighters found in our body), and white blood cells (also microscopic pathogen fighters) cannot get into the sealed-off canal, but food and germs can, leading to a horror-show of surviving and mutating bacteria.

Normal, harmless bacteria do an about face, akin to Dr. Jekyll morphing into Mr. Hyde, turning nefarious due to oxygen deprivation around the deadened nerve canals. These bacteria are anaerobic, so although they are encapsulated by a dead tooth they are able to reproduce easily.

Bacteria, such as forms of streptococcus, duplicate in the canal and double every 24 hours. One cell of strep mutates into one billion in just one day. These anaerobic bacteria can eventually lead to chronic disease.

Painful teeth are good

Dr. Huggins, towards the end of the first part of his presentation, explains that a painful tooth signifies that the immune system is doing its job, trying to fight unwelcome bacteria; if the pain goes away, it’s quite possible, Huggins warns, that the bacteria may have migrated, perhaps to the heart, possibly leading to heart disease or a heart attack. Huggins strongly suggests that Crohn’s Disease, ALS, Alzheimer’s and other chronic and autoimmune diseases are relative newcomers, appearing shortly after heavy metals first became administered in dental practices, such as the use of amalgam (mercury and copper) fillings.

Answer this: how many medical procedures leaves deadened tissue in the body? The answer: one…root canals. It’s no wonder that many people who have received a root canal have their immune systems go hay wire.

“Milk does the body good.”

Remember this popular advertising tagline from the American Dairy Council from a couple decades ago?

Truth in advertising is often a slippery slope, and nowhere is this more apparent than in food marketing. Yes, milk can do the body good, but only if it has the same beneficial bacteria and other nutrients that you likely drank when you were breast-fed as an infant. In other words, milk does the body good–if it’s raw (unpasteurized).

Mark McAfee, the CEO of Organic Pastures, one of the largest organic, raw dairy producers, is pre-med trained, an educator for various health departments, and has lectured at Stanford Medical School, Rutgers and several other institutions. He educates farmers, consumers, legislators and government officials about the safety and nutritional benefits of raw dairy products.

McAfee recently spoke at Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation’s San Diego headquarters about the health benefits of raw milk and the politics behind its production. The 90-minute lecture is the latest lecture in PPNF’s educational videos. Access it here on YouTube. Read on to learn some of McAfee’s key points and why YOU should drink raw milk in your pursuit of optimal health!

Raw Dairy Controversy

Raw dairy is a controversial subject, often caught up in the political machinations of Washington, D.C., pitting the likes of McAfee and other raw dairy producers and raw milk consumers against  conventional dairy (read: pasteurized) lobbyists and regulators from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and officials from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Currently, only eight states in the U.S. allow the sale of raw milk. Even in the states that allow the sale of it, however, sheriff’s deputies and SWAT teams have raided purveyors of raw milk at gun-point, such as this Amish dairy farmer in Pennsylvania or this food co-op in Los Angeles. There have been dozens of other raids coordinated at the behest of the FDA, with agents sweeping in as if these farmer’s market merchants were selling weapon’s grade uranium or anthrax.

On the FDA’s website, it states that 1500 people from 1993 to 2006 became sick as a result of raw milk. That comes out to 115 people a year during that time frame. Interestingly, according the Nutrition Institute of America  there are over 783,000 deaths a year from medicine, yet medicine does not inspire the same reaction in the FDA.

According to McAfee, nobody in the U.S., in the modern era, has died from drinking raw milk.

A bio-diverse, living, whole, delicious food

Raw milk offers beneficial enzymes and healthy bacteria. It’s a natural, whole, real food, contrary to the irradiated, sterilized, boxed and preserved foods common in the American diet. Although the FDA prohibits McAfee’s Organic Pastures dairy from posting any testimonials on its website, plenty of testimonials about raw milk exist on websites such as the Raw Milk Institute documenting how people have turned their health around from consuming raw milk.

Why is raw milk so beneficial?

It’s only been in the last decade that researchers are discovering the mind-boggling intricacies of the immune system. And what is the immune system? It’s the billions of bacteria in the gut. We now know that approximately 80 percent of our immune system is located in the gut. It is very difficult to maintain optimal health when the gut is not properly populated with good bacteria.

McAfee, in his lecture at PPNF discusses how researchers recently learned that bacteria seems to act democratically, that is, majority rules. If there’s a prevalence of healthy bacteria, the bacteria will “decide” to fight against harmful pathogens. It’s only when we colonize our guts with enough beneficial bacteria that our immune system activates, acting like a benevolent army, protecting us from foreign invaders.

Raw milk, since it is unpasteurized, contains a diverse portfolio of beneficial bacteria.

It’s important to consume raw milk from healthy cows, eating the grass that nature intended. Why? Eating grains and other unnatural foods causes the milk from cows to be nutritionally deficient in the vitamins and minerals needed to sustain life. A cow consuming grains is deficient in nutrients and will produce a nutritionally deficient milk. Furthermore, cows eating grains are loaded with antibiotics as they are usually kept in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and are not obtaining the nutrition they need from their food to keep healthy. Ideally, your dairy (and beef) consumption will come from cows that are 100% grass fed.

Dr. Weston Price and raw milk

Nutrition pioneer Dr. Weston A. Price who studied the nutrition legacies of several different tribes found that many of the tribes consumed raw milk and recognized its nutritional value, particularly for growing children. Price found that different cultures used milk from different animals. For example, Arabic and African peoples consumed camel’s milk, while Asian peoples consumed both camel’s milk and sheep’s milk. The Swiss in the Loetschental Valley, whom Dr. Price observed to be in almost perfect health consumed cow’s milk and goat’s milk and particularly prized the milk produced during the summer months when their cows consumed nutrient-dense green grass.

Dr. Price observed that in cultures where skimmed, pasteurized milk was primarily consumed, along with other “foods of commerce,” dental caries were rampant and poor health the norm. Dr. Price was able to treat a boy suffering from convulsions and bone fractures which would not heal until he gave him a diet that included raw, whole milk. Dr. Price treated another boy suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatic fever and heart issues with the same type of diet.

Price, in his travels observing the traditional diets of various peoples, and in his treatment of nutritionally-deficient children, observed that whole, raw milk, in its original form as nature intended, allowed consumers to reap the benefits of good health. Raw, whole milk in its original form is a living food. Not only does it contain life-giving fat soluble nutrients such as Vitamins A, D and calcium, but it contains the good bacteria and enzymes (which are killed when milk is pasteurized), that allow the body to absorb these vitamins and minerals. Think of the beneficial bacteria and enzymes as the co-factors to the fat-soluble nutrients in whole milk from properly-raised cows. The gut needs to be populated with those good bacteria in order to ensure optimal absorption of the nutrients and the enzymes that are essential to the proper digestion of the milk.

Beware of raw dairy that isn’t raw

More caveat emptor when it comes to food marketing: McAfee cautions that some dairy products labeled “raw” are not really raw. An unscrupulous dairy producer can take dirty, improperly produced milk, cook it at 160-degrees (which is within the conventional ‘raw’ limits, though well above the actual raw threshold of approximately 104 degrees), killing the beneficial bacteria and subsequently adding cultures, producing so-called ‘raw cheese.’

Lactose intolerance

There’s a misconception that certain races, specifically African-Americans and Asians, are lactose intolerant, meaning these groups lack the enzyme, lactase, that breaks down milk sugar, lactose.

In reality, these groups, and the majority of the 30 percent of the U.S. lactose-intolerant population, are pasteurization-intolerant, not lactose-intolerant. Pasteurized milk is one of the most allergenic foods. Raw milk, according to McAfee, stabilizes cells and prevents allergies from forming; pasteurized milk kills bacteria at high heat and triggers, in McAfee’s words, an intracellular mass cell degradation, which leads to allergies and their unpleasant symptoms such as phlegm and mucous.

The destruction of the cells creates a foodstuff, which is not recognized by the body, hence the lactose intolerance and/or allergies and/or autoimmune disorders. In other words, pasteurized milk creates unpleasant immune responses to dead bacteria.

If you’d like to learn more about the latest raw milk news and its standing with federal health officials as well as the latest research on immunology and raw milk’s role in boosting immunity, watch McAfee’s lecture.

PPNF’s Vice President, David Getoff, also discusses raw dairy in his streaming video natural wellness series, Attaining Optimum Health in the 21^st Century,  the Internet’s most comprehensive and affordable natural wellness course.

There are many diseases which fall under the arthritic umbrella, affecting over 20 million adults in the U.S. The two most common varieties of arthritis are rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disease, and osteoarthritis (OA), a gradual wearing and tearing of the cartilage. Polymyalgia and fibromyalgia also could be considered arthritic diseases. Collectively, these joint disorders form the most common disability in the U.S.

NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory) and steroidal prescriptions or over the counters may speed up the debilitating conditions, despite providing temporary relief.

There are natural ways to prevent, or help reverse arthritic symptoms, though self-administering natural supplements without scrutinizing the diet or levels of exposure to pollutants will not find the root cause of arthritis.

What is the root cause of arthritis?
In one word: inflammation. A major cause of joint inflammation is eating pro-inflammatory foods and not getting enough nutrients to lubricate the joint and support the cushioning cartilage in between the joints.

PPNF Vice President David Getoff says that in traditional societies that Weston Price studied (link book) and enjoyed perfect health, arthritis was virtually non-existent. “Look at some of the societies that ate no processed food and weren’t exposed to chemical pollution…people who are 80 or 90 years old in those cultures are able to lift heavy sacks with no problem,” says Getoff. This would indicate arthritis and other inflammatory diseases are not a natural part of the aging process.

Inflammation caused by modified wheat, soy, and sugars of all kinds, as well as exposure to herbicides, pesticides, compounds in plastics, lead, mercury, aluminum and other chemicals both organic and inorganic are major factors why some people in their 50s and 60s can barely walk in modern, western societies.

Exposure to chemicals
“We must reduce our exposure to chemical solvents that were made in a laboratory and did not exist a relatively short time ago. If we do not curb the exposure, we risk drastically reducing the body’s ability to heal,” says Getoff.

Arthritis was absent from the societies that Weston Price studied. “Rheumatoid arthritis did not exist in other places where people aren’t exposed to toxic chemicals because the body can repair itself like it’s supposed to,” Getoff adds.

Why not treat arthritis with pain-reducing Western medicine?
Drugs that alleviate pain also may, for reasons that are not entirely understood, accelerate the progression of the disease. So the paradox is the progression of the disease will escalate, even though you’re feeling better.

Natural supplements to treat arthritis
Glucosamine, if it’s a good brand, administered at the right dose for the right person may help joint repair; however, this is not a one-size fits all solution. Getoff recommends a supplement that contains both glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate. Hyaluronic acid in other people may work so effectively that they may no longer need arthritis drugs. A fatty acid—cetyl myristoleate—isolated in Swiss albino mice, who for some genetic fluke never get arthritis, helps lubricate joints.

Getoff says that cetyl myristoleate can be taken orally or from an injectable source.

Be wary, however, of treating a symptom (joint pain) with a natural remedy if the problem that caused the symptom does not stem from a deficiency in a certain nutrient. This would be no different than taking pharmaceutical drugs instead of finding out the root cause.

Protocols to help alleviate arthritis

Consider seeing a naturopath, certified clinical nutritionist or other wellness professional whose beliefs and practice are steeped in sound nutrition. Eat healthy for at least two months. One month will not cut it. It takes six weeks for wheat, an autoimmune trigger (the body starts attacking itself) for many people, to clear out of the body.

For at least one month, eliminate all forms of sugar, including fruit (curb fruit, you don’t have to eliminate completely), honey, molasses, or foods like grains that turn to sugar rapidly in the body, such as candy, alcohol and sweetening agents like high fructose corn syrup. After 30 days, the body has the opportunity to start healing itself.

To learn more about arthritis and how to prevent chronic illness, PPNF offers the most comprehensive and affordable online natural wellness course (taught by David Getoff). Click here to learn more.

Now that it’s the middle of January, let’s assess whether or not you are following your healthy New Year’s resolutions. If you need more specific ways to address these , take a look at the following three tips:

1.     Eliminating foods that initiate a quick insulin response:

Most diseases and chronic health conditions that end with the suffix ‘itis’ are caused by inflammation. These include osteoarthritis, colitis, tendonitis, gastroenteritis, rhinitis, and myocarditis. Each of these conditions and dozens of other inflammatory diseases may be attributed, at least in part, to excessive sugar consumption in the Standard American Diet (SAD).

And it’s not just Big Gulp sodas, Twinkies and other typical SAD junk food staples that promote inflammatory responses (partially caused by insulin resistance) in the body.  Seemingly-healthy carbohydrates such as rice, be it white or brown, butternut squash and potatoes are examples of carbohydrates that have the potential to quickly convert into simple sugars, setting off a chain reaction that may lead to mineral depletion, enzymatic disruption, and, ultimately, inflammation.

Also curb your intake of cleverly-marketed sweeteners that appear to be healthier than regular white table sugar, as they are not. These include agave nectar, cane sugar, raw honey, brown sugar and fructose, and any sweetener that ends with ‘ose’.  Don’t be fooled by organic sweeteners; though better than conventional, they create a rapid insulin response as well. Fructose, may cause a slower insulin response but can be worse for the body than traditional sweeteners because it also affects the liver. Eat foods with a low-glycemic load. Keep grain consumption to a minimum. Healthier grain options include mahogany rice, Thai red cargo rice and heirloom varieties of barley, spelt or kamut. Bean flour pasta also comes highly recommended by PPNF Vice President, David Getoff.

Whole fruits, though more nutrient dense than their juiced derivatives, should also be limited, due to their fructose levels.

 2.     Don’t worry about cholesterol; educate others why cholesterol is vital to optimal health.

If your doctor told you that a certain substance is vital for, among other things, cell membrane structural integrity, sex hormone production, repairing arterial scars, regulating blood sugar and mineral metabolism (minerals are like spark plugs for enzymes), and may prevent Alzheimer’s disease and anti-oxidant deficiency, you’d be crazy to take a drug that would greatly reduce the substance in your body, right?

It’s crazy, then, that record numbers of adults in Western nations are prescribed statin drugs, designed to lower the substance in question—cholesterol, still vilified by the likes of the American Heart Association. This is nearly six decades after Ansel Key’s “Seven Nations Study” convinced doctors that a low-fat diet reduces the incidence of coronary heart disease. (It does not. However, a diet high in sugars does promote heart disease.)

Traditional societies, such as those studied by Weston A.Price and documented in his pioneering book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, thrived on high-fat foods, many of those cholesterol-laden from animal sources, such as unpasteurized dairy.

If most of our cholesterol is made by the liver, we need not worry about the cholesterol from dietary sources, as long as those foods derive from unadulterated, minimally-processed, pasture-raised sources. If you don’t want your cholesterol levels to skyrocket, avoid alcohol, most starches and simple sugars, as well as all vegetables oils other than olive oil, and not overcooking (“blackening”) meats and vegetables.

Teach friends and family who are not PPNF readers, that cholesterol is a repair substance, and blaming cholesterol on heart disease is like blaming firefighters for responding to a fire.

Also share with others that LDLs and HDLs are not “good” or “bad” types of cholesterol.  Rather, cholesterol levels are indicators of what environmental conditions you have been exposed to, what toxins lurk in your body and whether or not your body is in repair mode. Your total cholesterol level cannot tell you this information and is not indicative of a heart attack risk or any other heart health condition.

You may be congratulated by your doctor for having an HDL level of 125 (about 2.5 times higher than the normal level), because the medical community regards this as “good” cholesterol. This cholesterol is in fact a protective substance and a high level of HDL indicates your body contains too many toxins (i.e. heavy metals or any of numerous chemicals from pollution, pesticides and other exposures). To protect itself from too many toxins, your body will work overtime, producing higher than normal amounts of protective HDL. This is the equivalent of a band aid solution to a deep puncture wound. The issue of why your body is producing so much HDL needs to be addressed in order for you to maintain optimal health.

On the flip side of the cholesterol equation, a low LDL level, particularly for those in the 50-90-years old age bracket, could indicate that the body is unable to manufacture enough of this repair substance to protect itself. Remember, HDL is a protective substance, LDL is a repair substance. By the age bracket mentioned above, most people living in our modern industrialized societies have accumulated enough toxic substances and inflammation in their bodies, that their bodies need to be able to respond by producing the repairing LDL cholesterol. An inability to produce such cholesterol (indicated by low levels of LDL) could mean that these people are in far worse health than those with an overall high level of cholesterol.

3.     Avoid Wheat

PPNF highly recommends drastically limiting wheat intake, as most modern wheat is genetically altered and contains lectin, pro-inflammatory “invisible thorns” that puncture tissues, both neural and connective. PPNF’s David Getoff recommends Emmer wheat, which has more of the healthy nutrition profile of ancient wheat varieties, devoid of  modern hybridization. However, remember that limiting your overall consumption of all grains is ideal for optimal health.

Adopting these three nutrition resolutions and sharing them with others will lead to optimal health and help drive down the astronomical cost of health care, currently devouring approximately twenty percent of the U.S. government’s budget.

One simple way you can spread health consciousness is to share this article with others through social networks or email.

Have a happy, healthy 2013 and beyond!

It can be extremely challenging to eliminate all gluten from your diet. If all of these products contain gluten, how is one supposed to avoid gluten? Not eating in restaurants is a great way to begin a non-gluten regiment as most restaurants cook with substances such as soy sauce, malt vinegar, and tomato paste. Even that innocent-looking salad might not be harmless if topped with a house dressing. However, if you feel overwhelmed by the elimination of gluten from your diet, remind yourself you are trying a six-week experiment to see if the removal of this food will improve your health and wellbeing. You are worth a six-week experiment aren’t you?

Spelt and Kamut are our more ancient grains.  Less people react to these, but they are still an issue for some people.  You simply have to give it a try and see what happens.  Barley contains gluten, but if you try an heirloom grain like Buffalo Barley found at Goldmine Natural Foods, you may discover you don’t react at all.  Others to experiment with are millet, sorghum, teff, buckwheat, wild rice, quinoa, and amaranth.