What caught my eye among the loads of information collected here was the discovery of “sensory taste cells” in the stomach. Just as those mighty taste buds on our tongue stimulate saliva production, the taste buds in our gut prepare for digestion, even if there is nothing to digest, as is the case for diet soda, sugarless gum and the like. So, when we taste something sweet, even if it has no calories, all the metabolic functions are initiated to digest a high-energy source. This means insulin production is stimulated regardless of the actual glucose in the bloodstream.

Physicians have long wondered why glucose administered intravenously doesn’t effect blood sugar levels in the same way it does when administered orally. Those gut taste buds are at least part of the answer.

This is exciting territory, but difficult for the scientific community to investigate due to differences in what tastes sweet to different animals, laboratory rats, included. However, the new frontier of gastrointestinal taste buds may propose answers to much needed questions as we continue to stare at today’s health crisis.

None of us likes to be deceived. When we offer our system a false indicator like artificial sweeteners, we’ve been tricked and mayhem follows. Offer this bit of information to those you love who use artificial sweeteners. They will thank you from their gut!

Discovering what U.S. citizens spend on food today, I went digging for a historical perspective. Come to find out, on average we (those of us who make up the U.S. population) spend only 12.4% of our income on food. Of that, close to, but not quite 50% is spent on dining away from home.¹ Compare those expenditures with the population of our country in 1963 when compatriots spent nearly one-third of their paycheck on food.²

Where are we spending all the money we are saving on the grocery bill? Here’s what I found. In 2006 the average annual amount spent by every man, woman and child in this country for health care goods and services was $7018. In 1960, it was $143 per person.³

The nutritional values of raw foods have diminished in the past 50 years. Our soils are increasingly depleted and we can now factor in long distance transportation affecting quality. We would have to eat eight oranges today to receive comparable nutrition to that of one orange in 1960. Given that, it seems logical that our grocery bill should be higher, not lower.

But somewhere between 1960 and 2010, sodium-rich processed foods that are made to taste appealing by the use of artificial flavorings and questionable ingredients have trumped beautiful vegetables. It seems we still think health is important for quality of life, but most of us seem to be chasing health rather than preserving it.

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions…I’m going outside to plant beautiful vegetables and call it a holiday.

References:

¹Consumer Spending, U. S. Dept of Labor, U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, April, 2009.  How the Average US consumer spends their paycheck

² How Much Should We Spend?, Debra Pankow, Family Economics Specialist, North Dakota State University and U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating extension service, FE440 (Revised), June 2009. How Much Should We Spend?

³U. S. National Health Spending, Samuel L. Baker, University of South Carolina, Arnold School of Public Health, Dept. of Health Services Policy and Management, HSPM J712 , Updated 20 months ago, August 26, 2008.

Why don’t I lose weight? I’ve been so good. Why bother? I may as well eat whatever comes to hand if this is the way it’s going to be. All these messages fly through my mind as I stand staring down.

Almost every weight loss program centers its existence on the results of that scale. The power of such programs is based on losing weight. People will pay dearly ($30 billion per year) to see the scale go down. The proof and effectiveness of these programs has to be evident when you step onto the scale-right? Not necessarily. The greatest foe for anyone who is trying to get thinner is the very thing that so logically seems to be the barometer of success — the scale.

When you use the scale as a measurement of success it only works as long as you are losing the amount of weight you think you should be losing. If you do not lose as much weight as you think you should — or horror, actually gain weight — this trusted tool of the weight loss program backfires and the whole process is sabotaged by the traitorous scale.

Weight by measure is an indicator of health. The Body Mass Index is an important gauge in the medical community. To compute yours enter your weight and height below:

Another simpler measure is waist circumference. Waist measurements over 34.5 inches for women and 40 inches for men indicate glycemic stress and the related Metabolic Syndrome, which is the precursor to chronic degenerative disease including diabetes, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, stroke and cancer.

And while the measure of scale has some relationship to this, the weight itself is not the problem, only the indicator of the problem. Much like a fever is the indicator of infection. The fever is what makes one uncomfortable and lethargic, but simply taking a fever-reducing tablet will not solve the problem of the infection, only the symptoms. Losing weight will improve health, no doubt. However, how one loses weight and the ability to sustain the lifestyle of healthy weight is of great importance.

The scale becomes foe when it indicates our success or failure. Better to have other indicators of success. Do you have sugar cravings? No? Then celebrate. Sugar quickly available to the bloodstream over months and years is what trod this path to Metabolic Syndrome and Insulin Resistance, the underlying problem. Solve that problem and the weight will come off. Just because it doesn’t come off in a week or two or more, is not an indicator that your efforts are in vain. Rather, as your metabolism heals, your weight will be released. The healing comes first.

If you haven’t already seen it, click here to take a look at the clinical research of Dr. Ray Strand documenting the results of his program upon which our program heavily relies.

A study reported at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Conference in Orlando reported a strong association between reduced vitamin D levels and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Brent Muhlstein, MD and his colleagues followed over 27,000 subjects for a little over one year. Those with very low vitamin D levels were 45% more likely to develop heart disease, twice as likely to develop heart failure, 78% more likely to experience a stroke, and 77% more likely to die than those with normal levels. This is just another reason to check your vitamin D status via a 25-hydroxy vitamin D level and make sure it is greater than 60 ng/ml.

This information makes it well worth knowing your vitamin D levels. Ask your doctor to include a 25-hydroxy vitamin D level on your annual laboratory prescription. The cost-benefits are a no brainer.

For more information on vitamin D, it’s use by the DNA, risks associated with deficient supplies and disease prevention, visit #mce_temp_url#. Here is an excerpt from their site:

Risk Factors for Vitamin D Deficiency

• Exclusively breast-fed infants: Infants who are exclusively breast-fed and do not receive vitamin D supplementation are at high risk of vitamin D deficiency, particularly if they have dark skin and/or receive little sun exposure (20). Human milk generally provides 25 IU of vitamin D per liter, which is not enough for an infant if it is the sole source of vitamin D. Older infants and toddlers exclusively fed milk substitutes and weaning foods that are not vitamin D fortified are also at risk of vitamin D deficiency (19). The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all infants be given a vitamin D supplement of 400 IU/day (20).
• Dark skin: People with dark-colored skin synthesize less vitamin D on exposure to sunlight than those with light-colored skin (1). The risk of vitamin D deficiency is particularly high in dark-skinned people who live far from the equator. One U.S. study reported that 42% of African American women between 15 and 49 years of age were vitamin D deficient compared to 4% of White women (25).
• Aging: The elderly have reduced capacity to synthesize vitamin D in skin when exposed to UVB radiation, and the elderly are more likely to stay indoors or use sunscreen, which blocks vitamin D synthesis. Institutionalized adults who are not supplemented with vitamin D are at extremely high risk of vitamin D deficiency (26, 27).
• Covering all exposed skin or using sunscreen whenever outside: Osteomalacia has been documented in women who cover all of their skin whenever they are outside for religious or cultural reasons (28, 29). The application of sunscreen with an SPF factor of 8 reduces production of vitamin D by 95% (1).
• Fat malabsorption syndromes: Cystic fibrosis and cholestatic liver disease impair the absorption of dietary vitamin D (30).
• Inflammatory bowel disease: People with inflammatory bowel disease like Crohn’s disease appear to be at increased risk of vitamin D deficiency, especially those who have had small bowel resections (31).
• Obesity: Obesity increases the risk of vitamin D deficiency (32). Once vitamin D is synthesized in the skin or ingested, it is deposited in body fat stores, making it less bioavailable to people with large stores of body fat.

1. Holick MF. Vitamin D: importance in the prevention of cancers, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004;79(3):362-371. (PubMed)

Nutr. 2003;89(5):552-572. (PubMed)

19. Wharton B, Bishop N. Rickets. Lancet. 2003;362(9393):1389-1400. (PubMed)

20. Wagner CL, Greer FR, and the Section on Breastfeeding and Committee on Nutrition. Prevention of rickets and vitamin D deficiency in infants, children, and adolescents. American Academy of Pediatrics. 2008;122(5):1142-1152. Available at: http://www.aap.org/new/VitaminDreport.pdf .

25. Nesby-O’Dell S, Scanlon KS, Cogswell ME, et al. Hypovitaminosis D prevalence and determinants among African American and white women of reproductive age: third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994. Am J Clin Nutr. 2002;76(1):187-192. (PubMed)

26. Harris SS, Soteriades E, Coolidge JA, Mudgal S, Dawson-Hughes B. Vitamin D insufficiency and hyperparathyroidism in a low income, multiracial, elderly population. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2000;85(11):4125-4130. (PubMed)

27. Allain TJ, Dhesi J. Hypovitaminosis D in older adults. Gerontology. 2003;49(5):273-278. (PubMed)

28. Dawodu A, Agarwal M, Hossain M, Kochiyil J, Zayed R. Hypovitaminosis D and vitamin D deficiency in exclusively breast-feeding infants and their mothers in summer: a justification for vitamin D supplementation of breast-feeding infants. J Pediatr. 2003;142(2):169-173. (PubMed)

29. Glerup H, Mikkelsen K, Poulsen L, et al. Commonly recommended daily intake of vitamin D is not sufficient if sunlight exposure is limited. J Intern Med. 2000;247(2):260-268. (PubMed)

30. Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. Vitamin D. Dietary Reference Intakes: Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Vitamin D, and Fluoride. Washington D.C.: National Academies Press; 1999:250-287. (National Academies Press)

31. Jahnsen J, Falch JA, Mowinckel P, Aadland E. Vitamin D status, parathyroid hormone and bone mineral density in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Scand J Gastroenterol. 2002;37(2):192-199. (PubMed)

32. Arunabh S, Pollack S, Yeh J, Aloia JF. Body fat content and 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in healthy women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003;88(1):157-161. (PubMed)

As the wine requires the chalice for delivery, so the spirit requires the body for expression.  As our eyes meet, there our souls mingle.  As our arms embrace one another, there is our solace.  Jesus without a physical body would eliminate Easter as a celebration of our freedom in new life.

With prayers and holy stories we bless the food and partake with mindful awareness of what it represents.  From the bitter herbs of life to the sweetness of the wine to the unleavened bread as manna from heaven we are reminded that food alone is far from enough.  However, the food is critical to sustain these lives we have.   It is that which enlivens our daily life with nutriments for cellular health and the perpetuation of these holy vessels in which we live.

Take care with your food this week full well knowing what you choose influences your quality of life as well as it’s longevity.  Adorn your personal temple with the most beautiful nutrient rich selections available to you in this country of plenty.  As we celebrate the rites of this holy week extend it to your personal hearth to honor the sacred in you, your family and all those into whose eyes you gaze.

Since awakening to the facts that my food choices had put my life at serious risk, a major lifestyle change happened at my hearth.  Before my diabetic health crisis, I thought I knew what I was doing in the kitchen.  College nutrition classes and a lifetime of kitchen duty for family and for pay inveigled me with confidence that I was on the right track, regardless of the shape of my body.

While in the hospital recovering from my blood sugar induced coma, I was very hungry.  The IV’s draining into my system were far from satisfying.  Starring at the ceiling at 3 a.m. planning tantalizing menus, I vowed I’d never go hungry again, no matter how radically I had to change my food plan.

But the problem I encountered when I got home was this:  how to make slow, whole food more convenient and readily accessible.  After lots of work and imagination, I’ve gleaned strategies and methods to make healthy food choices full of nutrition and great taste, and I’ve unearthed a bounty of essential nutritional information in the process.  Some of the information is old; some is quite recent, some is common sense overlooked.  I’ve begun to decipher what is true and healthy from the puzzle of marketing misinformation. I’d love for you to join me in this quest for health in an experiential workshop, complete with a bounty of food.   Let me share with you the array of healthy, convenient choices at hand and spark a movement toward greater health for a long and full life.

Oh, and by the way, I lost 70 pounds in the process.  If you’d like to know more about this unique opportunity, see the web sites below:

For the Austin workshop go to:  http://thh1.eventbrite.com

For the workshop at Dripping Springs see: http://thh2.eventbrite.com

What a trip,
Tina