Jonathan Campbell, Health Consultant
Natural Therapies for Chronic Illness & Health Maintenance

ToxicAlert

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Obesity - There IS a Diet That Works!

Overweight seems to be a national plague. Diets, books on dieting, dieting organizations, and exhortations from doctors and health professional do not seem to be enough. Millions of people have turned to dangerous prescription drugs or fad diets to stave off their hunger. What is really going on here?

The meat industry and the fast-food restaurants have more to do with America's weight problem than anything else. Each day we are barraged with powerful TV and radio ads promoting the idea that it's perfectly OK to have bacon and eggs for breakfast, hamburgers and french fries for lunch, and fried chicken and french fries for supper.

A high-fat diet such as this causes subtle changes in metabolism. The body's ability to burn fat is compromised. Levels of insulin, which "demobilizes" fat metabolism, increase, while insulin "receptors" in our cells become less effective or shut down entirely. In a downward spiral, the body collects more fat, and the fat-burning mechanism is further compromised. Combined with a profound deficiency in vitamin C (most Americans get about 1% of the vitamin C they need for proper metabolism), heart disease and diabetes are next in line.

Meat Is Toxic

Furthermore, because of the dioxin contamination of all meat products, meat-consuming diets don't just cause overweight. Meat should be considered toxic. A typical 1/4 lb. hamburger has 100-1000 times as much dioxin in it as the EPA thinks is "safe." Unfortunately, politics and economics are more powerful forces than reason and rationality. The EPA's report on dioxin, completed in 1994, has not yet been made public except as a "draft" document. One of the known health effects of dioxin is disruption of insulin metabolism, leading to diabetes. Dozens of other nasty afflictions - from endometriosis to chronic fatigue syndrome - are attributable to dioxin.

Is there a healthy diet that people can use to lose weight and permanently keep themselves slim and fit? There is indeed. But it requires removal of meat, fish, and milk products from the diet - forever. (If you have an underlying eating disorder, therapy and/or a group program such as Overeaters Anonymous is also essential).

This is, coincidentally, the only way to have a low-dioxin diet. Because of the long-lived nature of this super-toxic chemical, and its distribution all over the planet, meat, fish, and milkfat are going to be highly contaminated with dioxin for many years, even after we stop producing it.

A Healthy Diet

A healthy diet-and-exercise regimen is actually pretty simple to accomplish once meat, fish, and milk products are out of the picture completely (and I do mean completely).

• Follow the nutritional supplementation regimen suggested in the Lifestyles page.
• Do not eat any meat, fish, eggs, or milk products. No cheese, no ice cream, no pizza, no butter.
• Eat only low-fat, low-sugar foods. Eat fruit (in reasonable amounts) for desserts.
• As much as possible, avoid caffeinated beverages, such as coffee, tea, or colas. Caffeine causes over-production of insulin, which stops your body from burning fat and causes you to crave food.
• Eat vegetarian meat substitutes. They are easy to find, and most of them are also low-fat.
• Use soy drinks instead of milk. Soy drinks are high in protein and generally fairly low in fat.
• Eat cereals, grains, bread, and pasta in reasonable portions (with no cheese!), but always with high-protein foods (see below).
• Jog or fast-walk at least one mile per day. If you are unused to this level of exercise, start with smaller distances and build up to a mile. (Do not do this if you have arthritis in your foot joints. Use a stationary bicycle, to increase circulation without bearing weight on the compromised joints.)
• If you are seriously overweight, you may consider using a thermogenic diet formula such as Xenadrine EFX that does not contain ephedra.
• The supplement 5-HTP has been shown in several studies to be helpful in reducing weight.

It has been known for years that it is possible to get all the protein we need from high-protein vegetarian foods. The meat substitutes (usually made from soy), when eaten with grains (bread, pasta, or rice) complement each other to provide enough complete, wholesome protein for a healthy diet. Many restaurants now serve vegetable-protein meals, such as veggie-burgers or refried bean tacos and burritos; be sure to ask for them without cheese or sour cream!