YourBodyCode™ Online Official Blog

Your Body Code Healthy Zucchini Bread

1 whole egg
4 egg whites
2 cups organic applesauce
1 1/2 cups organic sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups white wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup cran-raisons
3 cups zucchini, shredded

Combine first 5 ingredients and mix well.  Mix next 4 ingredients together and add to wet mixture.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Pour into misted (olive oil spray) loaf pans.  Bake at 325 degrees for 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
Remember, it does not have to be high fat to taste great!
Each 1 inch slice contains 80 calories and 1 gram of fat... Enjoy!  

Before we get started with details, let me start by saying the Swine Flu is "only" a different strain of flu, it is just an influenza A H1N1 virus.  It is the same type virus that causes all our other typical seasonal flu symptoms.  The reason it has become such a "topic" and a scare for everyone is that this current swine influenza A (H1N1) virus is "new" and most people have simply not built any immunity to the virus.  Because of this fact and it is easily transferred from one person with a low immune to the next, globally it spread quickly and caused panic.  One of the real killers is the vaccine itself.  I have personally worked with several clients that have been diagnosed with having the swine flu and within the course of a week no longer have it.  Holistically there are many things you can do to build your immune system up or help it fight any type of flu bug.  

Firstly let's examine symptoms of other types of colds, allergies or flu's in comparison to the Swine flu.
Swine Flu symptoms are very similar to other flu strains in infection:

1.    Fever - usually higher than the normal flu bug and hard to bring down.
2.    Sore throat
3.    Cough - usually with mucus and may involve respiratory issues.
4.    Body aches
5.    Headache
6.    Chills
7.    Extreme fatigue
8.    Vomiting
9.    Diarrhea

Allergy symptoms:
1.     Runny nose
2.    Congestion
3.    Itchy eyes
4.    Cough

The Common Cold symptoms:
1.     Low grade fever
2.     Fatigue
3.    Cough
4.    Sore throat
5.    Stuffy, runny nose

Sinus Infection symptoms:
1.     Congestion
2.    Headache
3.    Runny nose
4.    Cough
5.    Fever
6.     Pressure around head, cheeks and eye area

Strep Throat symptoms:
1.     Extreme sore throat
2.    Extreme fatigue
3.    White globules on tonsils
4.    Fever

The big question I get asked is how do I build my immune system up to combat this disease or if I get the Swine Flu, what is the best way to get well?
1.)    At the first sign of any of the symptoms mentioned above, take action.  Stay hydrated; drink 64 to 100 ounces of water per day and in some cases more, depending on your activity levels.  If your body has such sever diarrhea that even water is an issue, use Pedialyte - mix 6 ounces of white pedialyte (no other flavors) with 2 ounces of yellow Gatorade (no other flavor) which will keep you hydrated and help rectify the diarrhea and dehydration.  Drink as much as you want of this mix throughout the day.  You can do this with no water for 24 to 72 hours if necessary.  This will replicated an IV in the hospital for keeping the system hydrated.

2.)    Eat quality foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh juice such as beet, carrot, celery, spinach, kale, cabbage or a mixture of them all to bring high levels of antioxidants into your system.  An Orange contains a decent amount of vitamin C; however a kiwi is like eating 4 oranges in a sitting, a mango is like eating 8 kiwis.  Blueberries also contain high levels of antioxidants.  We are what we eat!  However if really ill stick with a bland diet and do small amounts of "fresh" not pasteurized juice and fruits throughout the day.

3.)    Stay away from highly processed refined foods high in sugar, sodium, chemicals and preservatives to keep them shelf stable.  These types of foods tear your immune system down very quickly.

4.)    Drink herbal teas that help to build the immune such as Pau d' arco or maitake tea which fights bacterial and viral infections.

5.)    Add correct herbs and vitamins that work to build and fix the immune system such as:
Olive leaf extract with oleuropein which is a powerful healer of microbial infections.  Add garlic to this to create a natural antibiotic.  
Wild oregano oil can be used as an antiseptic which is excellent in killing a range of fungi.  Acerola can be very useful for diarrhea and fever and is one of the richest natural sources of vitamin C.  Chickweed leaves can relieve nasal congestion, help with bronchitis, colds, and coughs and in addition is a good source of vitamin C.  Maca Root will increase energy and supports the immune system.  It is also high in protein and contains high amino acids.  These are just a few herbs that have no harmful side effects and can help the body in healing.  
Vitamins I recommend would be Vitamin C with bioflavonoid to the tune of 1,000mg every 3 hours until you hit 5,000mg. Twin Lab is a good brand that I would recommend.  Ensure herbal by Zand must be this one and in a liquid form.  This not only has many of the herbs mentioned above in it, but additional as well to help the body both fight and heal.  Pantothenic Acid (B5) 1 capsule - 250mg by Twin Lab.  B-Complex 1 capsule by Twin Lab.    This remedy will knock out a viral cold even the Swine flu fairly quickly.  

6.)    If dealing with a high fever the worst thing to do is to put a person - especially a child or the elderly in a "cool" bath.  This is a very good way to bring on pneumonia and respiratory failure.  Instead, keep the patient in bed covered up especially with chills and put cold wash cloths on 4 points of the body - the forehead, hands, feet and under the arm pits.  In addition with cases of 106 fevers rotate Tylenol and Advil every three hours.  Swine flu tends to bring on high fevers and the constant rotation of 200mg to 500mg depending on age range with the cold washcloths will keep the fever low grade and then dissipate completely within as little as 24 to 48 hours.  Other products that are very helpful in fever reduction and sore throat or other cold symptoms are products by a company called Natra Bio.  
Most repeatable health food stores will carry all of the products mentioned above.  In closing, the worst thing to do is a flu shot/vaccine which just gives you the virus and in most cases has been the only cause of you catching it.  Ask yourself something, if you wanted to avoid getting cancer would you inject yourself with this disease in hopes it would not manifest in your body's cells?  Of course you wouldn't, so why would you do it in the case of a virus infection.  Most all of the new Swine flu vaccines will be made by Novartis which will be made in the human retina cells and contain MF59 which is an oil-based adjuvant primarily composed of squalene which is  debilitating  on our system.  Studies done on rats injected with squalene adjuvants developed a debilitating disease which left them crippled.  This drug injected can cause severe arthritis and lupus once again breaking down and debilitating our immune system.  The federal health officials are recommending that we get up to three flu shots one regular and two new swine flu shots.  It is also been made public that mass vaccinations in schools may be made mandatory.   This is setting our next generation up for mass sickness and weakened immune systems, which in turn creates disease.  Please reference "Survey of human-use adjuvants" by Kenney, RT. Edleman R.  This was an excellent read on the review of vaccines.  You have but one body; get serious about knowing what you are putting in it before you allow false claims to sway your judgment.

Help your body don't hinder it.

I have told my clients for the last 20 years some of the harmful effects of the high protein/low carbohydrate diet.  I found this article on "high protein diet shrinks the brain" very informative on problematics of development of the brain when feeding the body incorrectly and out of balance.   Balance in diet is extremely important for all parts of our body as a whole to function and maintain correctly.  Another problem with the high protein/low carbohydrate diet is its ability to dehydrate our cells.  Once our cell is dehydrated, it does not want to burn fat, it wants to burn muscle.  This makes trying to lose fat and maintain muscle virtually impossible.  We need protein, but too much protein will cause adverse effects as you will additionally read by medical news today:
21 Oct 2009

One of the many reasons to pick a low-calorie, low-fat diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and fish is that a host of epidemiological studies have suggested that such a diet may delay the onset or slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Now a study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Molecular Neurodegeneration tests the effects of several diets, head-to-head, for their effects on AD pathology in a mouse model of the disease. Although the researchers were focused on triggers for brain plaque formation, they also found that, unexpectedly, a high protein diet apparently led to a smaller brain.

A research team from the US, Canada, and the UK tested four differing menus on transgenic mouse model of AD, which express a mutant form of the human amyloid precursor protein (APP). APP's role in the brain is not fully understood; however it is of great interest to AD researchers because the body uses it to generate the amyloid plaques typical of Alzheimer's. These mice were fed either (1) a regular diet, (2) a high fat/low carbohydrate custom diet, (3) a high protein/low carb version or (4) a high carbohydrate/low fat option. The researchers then looked at the brain and body weight of the mice, as well as plaque build up and differences in the structure of several brain regions that are involved in the memory defect underlying AD.

Unexpectedly, mice fed a high protein/low carbohydrate diet had brains five percent lighter that all the others, and regions of their hippocampus were less developed. This result was a surprise, and, until researchers test this effect on non-transgenic mice, it is unclear whether the loss of brain mass is associated with AD-type plaque. But some studies in the published literature led the authors to put forward a tentative theory that a high protein diet may leave neurones more vulnerable to AD plaque. Mice on a high fat diet had raised levels of plaque proteins, but this had no effect on plaque burden.

Aside from transgenic mice, the pressing question is whether these data have implications for the human brain. "Given the previously reported association of high protein diet with aging-related neurotoxicity, one wonders whether particular diets, if ingested at particular ages, might increase susceptibility to incidence or progression of AD," says lead author, Sam Gandy, a professor at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and a neurologist at the James J Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the Bronx NY. The only way to know for sure would require prospective randomised double blind clinical diet trials. According to Gandy, "This would be a challenging undertaking but potentially worthwhile. If there is a real chance that the ravages of AD might be slowed or avoided through healthy eating. Such trials will be required if scientists are ever to make specific recommendations about dietary risks for AD."

Notes:
Dietary composition modulates brain mass and amyloid beta levels in a mouse model of aggressive Alzheimer's amyloid pathology
Steve Pedrini, Carlos Thomas, Hannah Brautigam, James Schmeidler, Lap Ho, Paul Fraser, David Westaway, Peter Hyslop, Ralph Martins, Joseph Buxbaum, Giulio Pasinetti, Dara Dickstein, Patrick Hof, Michelle Ehrlich and Sam Gandy
Molecular Neurodegeneration (in press)

Heart disease includes many conditions affecting the heart; a few to mention would be myocardial infarction or better known as a heart attack, palpitations, coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure and angina.  When one has a heart attack, it is caused from a sudden blockage of a coronary artery created by a blood clot.  Heart disease is one of the highest forms of death in the United States.  Roughly one million Americans suffer from heart disease each year and almost half that number dies as a direct result of a heart attack.  

The number one key to prevention is diet.  By changing habits and lifestyle such as maintaining a healthy weight and exercise program, quite smoking, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure – which is easily done through a correct diet and exercise program, one can avoid most all heart disease issues that could arise as we age.   I would like to add that over the last 28 years in practice I have had numerous clients come into my office after seeing their Medical doctors and were told to "go home and pray" there was nothing more that could be done for them.  They all were similar in many ways.  Most all had by-pass surgeries or triple by-pass surgeries, most had stents put in their arteries – some as many as nine that were now collapsing.  Many were on oxygen and taking up to 9 different medications daily.   In addition, others were now on walkers and had virtually no energy.  This is very sad indeed especially when you know that if you had simply just changed your diet this all could have been avoided.  To prove this point, everyone of these people mentioned above who adhered to Your Body Code plan, despite the mess their bodies were now in, have all healed.  Most all are no longer on all those medications, but 3 vitamins, none that were on oxygen now need it, their arteries opened back up and the stents are now re-working and no longer collapsing.  These clients now have their energy and vitality back, reincorporated their exercise, golf game, and travel - activities they thought they would never experience again.  Something to think about when you are ready to say "life is over" and give up.  Believe me – there is another alternative!

There are safe alternatives such as chelation therapy as a place to start if you have a 50 or 90% blockage along with changing your diet.  Chelation therapy removes the toxic metals in the body.  It has been proven that toxic metals increases the amount and activity of free radicals in our system.  When we have large amounts of free radicals built up in the body, this will in turn create damage in the cells of our arteries.  Free radicals as we age enter our system through environmental causes such as chemicals, herbicides, pesticides and hormones found in our foods and within our homes and environment.  We invite them in when we go to the dentist, doctor, hospitals and get a CAT scan or X-ray.  Once we have this damage due to free radicals in the artery, we now have a secondary effect to deal with which is cause by this chain of events, excessive calcium inside the cells. Free radicals and poor diet are two factors that cause heart disease.    

I have seen many amazing results over the years due to change in diet and chelation therapy and quite honestly In over 20 years in practice I have never seen one "bad" thing through either one.  In fact I remember about 10 years ago there was a client that as a side effect of chelation and changing her diet – received her site back.  Not a bad side effect.  I feel the education is lacking unfortunately in our society for a better understanding of how chelation and diet can help rectify these types of health issues.  An elderly gentleman came into my office several years ago with a 90% reported blockage, he did not want any form of treatment other than to change is diet.  Within a few weeks of being on Your Body Code Plan, he noted more energy, within 3 months after a check up with his regular medical doctor; his blockage went from 90% to 20%.  He states he feels better than he did in his 50's.  Another client that participated in Your Body Code plan and Chelation Therapy stated his doctor warned him about chelation and the "bad effects", how it did not work and in addition, how diet has nothing to do with what is ailing us.  After 3 open heart surgeries his doctor told him to "go home and pray" that nothing more could be done for him.  He decided to come into our office and the chelation office and participate in both.  He was on a walker, oxygen and medication, no energy and walking up a few stairs was out of the question.  After 6 months participating in both diet and chelation this man was riding a bike 26 miles a day, re-roofing his home and what I thought was really amusing was he went back to his surgeons office  and stood in the door wearing a shirt that said "Chelation and Diet for life, not the knife".  The surgeon paid him to go home.

Bad food choices, poor lifestyle habits are what created this in the first place.  Does it not make sense to reverse this "now" situation or what may be a hereditary situation while you can?  It is never too late to make a lifestyle change; your body can heal itself if you give it the right tools to work with.  If you are constantly eating a "McLunch" high in fat, cholesterol and sodium how can you expect any change but in the wrong direction?  Yet if you give your body the correct foods low in fat, cholesterol, sugars and sodium, you will be amazed at how quickly your body responds.  Your energy will pick up, swelling and pain will start to cease, color returns to normal, your weight drops – especially if you are watching portions and maintaining balance in nutrient with complex carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Your cholesterol and blood pressure will start to drop and you can do this without medication.

It has been proven that more people die of a heart attack that are on cholesterol or blood pressure medication than not.  If you are eating incorrectly and just taking a temporary fix – such as a pill to alleviate symptoms, then going out and eating all those incorrect foods which put you in the position of having high cholesterol and blood pressure, which in turn creates heart disease, the pill will just mask your symptoms.  A pill is a temporary fix at best and does nothing to help the real problem that was caused by your bad nutritional choices in the first place.

Most all diseases are directly due to a nutrition deficiency that we have.  Most all diseases can be corrected by correct diet and exercise.  Remember it is 80% diet and nutrition, 20% exercise.  It may sound difficult to create a lifestyle change... It sounds even more difficult to be in pain, suffer and die at an early age.

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Twin global epidemics of obesity and diabetes are out of control and could reduce life expectancy in the future, health
experts said on Friday.

Obesity, a major risk factor for diabetes, already affects 300 million people worldwide while an estimated 194 million suffer from diabetes.

By 2025 the number of obese people is expected soar to 333 million.

"I suspect that within a short period of time we will begin to see a reduction in life expectancy because of the twin epidemics," said
Professor Claude Bouchard, president of the International Society for the Study of Obesity (IASO).

He was speaking at the 13th European Congress on Obesity here, being attended by some 2,500 doctors and health experts. Professor Rhys
Williams, a vice president of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), noted that a fall in deaths from cardiovascular disease in the United States is now showing signs of stopping.

He suspects it is due, at least partly, to the obesity epidemic, which is also contributing to rising levels of diabetes and is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

"The rise in Type 2 diabetes is, in great part, due to weight gain," said Professor Pierre Lefebvre, president of the IDF.

As many as 80 percent of cases of Type 2 diabetes are linked to overweight or obesity, particularly abdominal obesity. The disease was once thought to be limited to adults but obese children are now developing the illness.

In the United States, the prevalence of excess weight and obesity in adolescents has nearly tripled in the past two decades.

In 30 years time, the number of people in the U.S. with diabetes is expected to increase by 57 percent, according to Lefebvre. In some countries in the Middle East and Asia the number will double.

"We are facing a huge, huge, epidemic," Lefebvre added.

A new report on diabetes by the IDF and the IASO, released at the conference, estimated that at least half of all diabetes cases would be eliminated if weight gain could be prevented.

Even a small weight loss, of about five percent, can decrease or slow down the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and other complications of the illness, such as a raised risk of cardiovascular and kidney disease and some forms of cancer.

"A slight decline can have a beneficial effect on diabetes risk," said Lefebvre.

The report described the twin epidemics as a global health crisis and stressed the importance of eating a low-fat healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise.

"If left unchecked, the outlook for world health is bleak," the report concluded.

Why do we develop Alzheimer's and where does this disease come from?  
 
This seems to be a wide spread question with a simple answer.  Research reveals a number of interesting clues, many of which point directly to nutritional deficiencies that we have and continue to develop as we age.
 
Alzheimer patients all had very similar traits, all were lacking in vitamin B12 and zinc.  Our highly processed foods which we consume today are lacking in essential nutrients especially B vitamins which are needed for cognitive functioning.  B12 is needed in particular for vegetarian or vegan diets for assimilation of nutrients.  When one is deficient in zinc, characteristics of this disease shows high in the development of the neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques in the brain.
 
In addition, alcohol and medications further deplete crucial vitamins and minerals from our system as we age.  Autopsies on Alzheimer's patients reveal that there have been large amounts of aluminum in the hippocampus area and the cerebral cortex which is the area of the brain that functions our abstract thinking, judgment, memory and speaking ability.  High levels of aluminum and toxic levels of mercury combined with a lack of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals can help predispose one to developing this dreaded disease.
 
As we age our cells slough off and die and if we do not work on our health today, giving it correct nutrient to allow cells to regenerate as we age and not deplete then these are just a few of the type of diseases we can expect to generate in our golden years.  Hereditary is only 25% in development of any disease - 75% you can do something about with correct diet to address the problem before it becomes one.
 
By Dr. Amanda Beckner CN, HHP, PhD
 
AD/PD 2009: Are We Experiencing an Alzheimer's Epidemic?

Pauline Anderson

Medscape Medical News 2009. ? 2009 Medscape

March 25, 2009 (Prague, Czech Republic) ? The world may be experiencing an epidemic of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that is not entirely attributable to an aging population, new research suggests.

Presented here at AD/PD 2009: 9th International Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases, Murray Waldman, MD, from St. John's Rehabilitation Hospital, in Toronto, Ontario, found that while citations in the medical literature for femur fractures rose from 1706 to 3730 between 1996 and 2000, citations for AD and other dementias shot up from 1274 to 21 569 during the same time period.

Femur fractures make a good comparison for AD because both increase with age and treatment for both conditions has not changed significantly in the past 40 years, said Dr. Murray.

Little Mention Of AD Before 1960

Although AD is one of the most common diseases of the elderly, Dr. Waldman could find little mention of it before the 1960s. "I looked everywhere. I looked on 3 continents and in every medical library I could find, including the Library of Congress and the British Museum library," Dr. Waldman told Medscape Psychiatry.

"I also looked at psychiatric literature and at the pathology literature, but no matter where I looked, I couldn't find anything that indicated there was very much AD prior to the 1960s."

This lack of reference may indicate that AD did exist but nobody noticed it, "which I don't believe for a second, because of all diseases, Alzheimer's is one of the most difficult to miss," said Dr. Waldman. The only other plausible explanation, he said, is that it was less frequent then than it is now.

After 1960, the number of femur fractures rose in a linear fashion, reflecting the aging population. There were 1706 citations for these fractures from 1966 through 1970; 2077 from 1971 through 1975; 2356 from 1981 through 1985; 3235 from 1990 through 1995; and 3730 from 1996 through 2000.

In contrast, the number for AD and other dementias rose exponentially: 1274 citations from 1966 through 1970; 1733 from 1971 through 1975; 5465 from 1981 through 1985; 16 204 from 1991 through 1995; and 21 569 from 1996 through 2000.

This dramatic spike over 40 or so years, he said, cannot be accounted for by an aging population, "because what we were looking at was incidence, not prevalence."

Incidence Has Soared

Epidemiological data collected over a 25-year period shows the incidence of AD in the 1960s was 2% in people over the age of 85 years, whereas today, most experts accept that the incidence of AD in this population is 50%. It is 20% over the age of 75 years and 10% in individuals over the age of 65 years, he added.

"So the incidence seems to have soared enormously in this brief period."

The "exponential curve" pattern showing the rise in incidence of AD is similar to that of AIDS, said Dr. Waldman. Both patterns seem to fit the conditions of an epidemic. For example, the increased AD incidence began in Europe, moved to North America, then to Japan, China, and finally to India. India, he added, just started reporting AD cases in the past 5 years.

Dr. Waldman has his own theory of what might explain this spike in AD cases and wrote about it in his book Dying for a Hamburger (Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart, 2004). He's convinced that AD is due to prions, extraordinarily rare but extremely infectious agents. Prions apparently caused an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in England over a decade ago.

He added he was disappointed that the AD/PD conference where he presented his work did not seem to feature research probing the causes of AD. "I didn't hear anything new," he said. "Nobody seems to be looking at what's causing this. No one seems to be asking the most fundamental question: Where does this disease come from?"

AD/PD 2009: 9th International Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases: Abstract 90. Presented March 12-13, 2009

 

Our society has gone through much hi-protein misinformation with diets offered over the years. It seems that because most weight loss clinics judge by the scale and not what you are actually losing, meaning fat, and not muscle.  Even medical readings when we test our blood and cholesterol can initially produce a false reading. That is why many medical doctors have been fooled into believing that hi-protein diets really work.

We have all lived our lives a certain way, eaten a certain way, had different stress levels which will affect us over the years, possibly developing into different diseases.  When we look at a "diet," it generally is concentrated on losing weight.  I have even seen diets that say "personalized" - but this really means is that they will go as far as to gear the diet around your "likes" of food with no consideration for your body's "needs" as an individual person.  Instead, everyone is thrown on a "hi protein" type of plan built around the illusion that it is "personalized."

The only true way to get your body fat tested is through biological impedance. This method works like an EKG. It's much like being water weighed but you don't get wet. Biological impedance correctly measures hydration, muscle, and fat.  Other methods do not accurately test your fat because they do not measure hydration.  Your Body Code has been in business for 28 years and my clients can attest that any time they cut out their complex carbohydrate intake - they loose muscle.  It is a visible notable drop in muscle and they feel it.  

Unfortunately, when you are initially on a higher unbalanced protein diet you have no way to compare the experience. You see the weight dropping and your cloth size may decrease somewhat, and you may feel better initially, but mainly because of your excitement over watching your scale weight drop.  But more than likely, you are losing muscle. Your energy will not be what it should be.  Again, my clients can attest to the fact that when they lose muscle and not fat at any particular time - especially when they have experienced what they feel like when they are losing fat, they have a loss in energy without fail.

If you are losing fat, maintaining your muscle and exercising, you will have more energy than you know what to do with.  You will not need naps in the day, you have a tight look in your face and body, and there is no sag.  When you go for a 3 to 5 mile run, you should not feel tired at the end of that run - but energized.  As I tell my clients, healthy weight loss is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise.

When you use hi-protein diets, you greatly limit or cut out your complex carbohydrates, creating an imbalance of nutrients and cell dehydration, which leads to muscle loss and little fat loss.  Most people on a low carbohydrate diet (i.e., "hi-protein") can probably sustain the weigh loss for 6 months but once they put the carbohydrate back in - the scale goes up, your weight creeps back. Only this time, you're not gaining fat; you are putting precious muscle back on top of the fat you have retained and gained through incorrect nutrition. There is no gimmick to this folks, your body works one way - it will not succumb to tricks and what you think should work.  Don't be fooled into being a skinny fat person, be an athletic looking healthy person.  

Let's take a look at how genetics plays a unique role part in your diet choices.  When you take on a popular diet such as eating for your blood type, you are not so much putting yourself into the "hi-protein" mode as much as you are playing the genetic card. The problem is that the diet is making the dangerous assumption that you and everybody else with your blood type should be treated the same way.  The problem with this strategy is that genetics is only 25% of the solution - you can do a lot with the remaining 75%.

You can change your potential for disease with a diet that is balanced to provide what your body needs to stay healthy.  For instance, if you are predisposed to cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol - you can plan your nutrition to minimize or even eliminate their effect.

Our cells have a memory, so as we age our cells slough off and die. With the correct diet, you can stop the on-set of just about any predisposed disease.  Your body undergoes a cell change every seven years. If you eat according to your 25% hereditary situation and 75% to fix the problem, when your cells go through that cycle they will create and generate new and healthy cells that are more resistant to our 25% hereditary issues.  If you do not and your cells slough off and die in the cycle change, you will exacerbate any predisposition to disease, simply because  you are eating incorrectly for your disease disposition.   You cannot take a group of people who all have different diseases, different needs and who want to accomplish completely different things and put them all on the same diet plan and expect good results - that is ludicrous.

Everyone wants a quick fix but this is not the way to accomplish long-term goals. Your health should be your main concern even if you are not sick or on medication. Fat loss should be the bonus.  Yet without correct balance in nutrient, this cannot and will not be the result.  We have heard marketers and some pundits of diet say that "as long as you eat the correct calories, you can eat anything you want." Does this mean that we can eat candy bars all day as long as we don't go over 1,500 calories?  I think there is good reason to doubt that such a diet will work.

On an ending note, if your protein consumption overtakes your carbohydrate intake in the balance for your body and its personal needs - you will dehydrate and you will burn muscle and only muscle.  You need balance with carbohydrates and fats, vitamins and minerals that meet your dietary, medical and lifestyle needs.  That is the definition of a personalized diet; that's what Your Body Code specializes in providing.

There seem to be many myths regarding the amino acid L-Carnitine.  Such as if you take this amino acid you will lose fat, your energy will increase, it will automatically lower your cholesterol levels, helps you to avoid a heart attack, stops food cravings and seems to help with side effects on medications.  While, this all sounds wonderful, it is not as simple as it sounds.  Lets take a look at the plain and simple facts.
 
L-Carnitine is an amino acid that your body naturally produces.  As you age your body slows down on the amount that it produces, yes, causing a lack of energy and therefor being that your not as active, you may gain a little weight.  If you take the amino acid L-Carnitine as a supplement, you should take 250mg if your a woman and 500mg if your a man.  The supplement should be taken first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and wait 30 minuets before you eat.  When you first start to take L-Carnitine, you need to take it every day for one week, then you only take it on the days you workout.  However you need to workout at least 3x per week for 30 minuets or longer.  If you do not workout there is no need to take this amino acid because L-Carnitine needs the production of collagen to work correctly with your system.  When you workout you naturally increase serotonin levels, endorphins and the production of collagen.  As these processes are naturally happening, the amino acid L-Carnitine is put to use.  You will notice your mental focus will improve, energy will increase, oxygen will flow through the capillaries at a steady rate and increase heart function.  This in turn with correct diet will help lower cholesterol and triglycerides. 
 
The key is to correctly use the supplement so your body can get the complete benefit out of it and utilize it to your body's full capacity.  Now that you are using it correctly, L-Carnitine can help you to maintain your fat-loss goals.  Scientific evidence shows that increased levels of carnitine lead to increased fat burning when working out.  It does this by increasing the metabolic rate while maintaining the levels of muscle tissue.  Remember for every pound of muscle you gain, you burn 50 more calories in your day.  Because you are maintaining the muscle and losing the fat your energy levels are increasing, your cravings are lessening and your immune function is improving and so is your overall health.
 
 

Sugar, whether it enters the body in the form of fructose, corn syrup, honey, or refined will react the exact same way in the body.  One exception is when fructose is eaten in its natural state such as what is in a whole apple or banana; the body's blood sugar will not drop as low as with other sugar.

Sugar effects lean people differently than heavy people.  Sugar can actually improve an athletes performance, but with heavy people where the body is not effective at burning fat, it tends to constantly burn glucose (sugar stays in the blood and does not pass to the cells to use as energy) or glycogen (sugar stores in the muscles or liver) as fuel.

Sugar is empty calories with very little if any nutritional value to the body; it robs the body of essential vitamins and minerals.  Sugar is responsible for hyperactivity, depression, fatigue and obesity.  With the exception of complex carbohydrates, which break down very slowly and enter the blood, sugar causes the blood glucose level to raise and drop drastically; this drop causes sleepiness, emotional withdrawals (blue moods), cravings for more sugar and constipation.

Every time you eat sugar the pancreas squirts out some insulin to help remove the sugar from the blood and into the cells to be used as energy.  The heavier the body the less sensitive the cells are to insulin and won't open up and let the sugar in, so it is directed to the fat cells that are always open and welcome to visitors.  The pancreas is a small gland and does wear out from overuse which causes diabetes.  Hypoglycemia is a symptom of the body's inability to handle sugar and is the next step to diabetes.

Sugar needs to be limited in all people; some studies show it actually increases the body's risk of certain cancers.  Complex carbohydrates (whole grains, beans, brown rice and pastas, potatoes), eaten in moderate amounts at one time, whole raw or lightly steamed vegetables and whole fresh fruits are the best form of sugar for the body.  These foods break down very slowly and enter the blood stream like a trickle and seldom affect the blood glucose levels.

The best advice if you want to be healthy is limit or eliminate "sugar" from your diet.

Americans consume over 125 pounds of sugar per person each year.  No wonder we keep our hospitals and dentists in business.  Sugar offers us 4 "empty" calories per gram and has little or no nutritive value.  Always check your labels for these types of "sugar" listed below and remember when manufacturers list "sugar", they are referring to sucrose only.

COMMON SUGARS

Sucrose is common table sugar - refined, raw, turbinado, brown, cane molasses and powdered.

Lactose or "milk" sugar which occurs naturally in milk products.

Fructose or levulose - in its natural state is the "sugar" found in fresh fruit and honey; it is also made commercially from corn sugar.

Corn syrup is produced by the action of enzymes or aids in cornstarch.  High fructose corn syrup is derived from corn.

Dextrose or glucose - is also known as "blood" sugar.  All carbohydrates in the body break down into glucose.

Maltose - is manufactured from starch.

Total inert sugar -  is a mixture of glucose and fructose sold only in liquid form.

Sorbitol, mannitol, malitol and xylitol are actually "sweet" alcohols or polyols.  They occur naturally in fruit but are commercially produced from such sources as dextrose.

Agave nectar - a sweetener commercially produced in Mexico from several species of agave including Agave tequilana or blue agave, and Salmiana, green, grey, thorny and rainbow varieties.  Agave syrup is sweeter than honey, though less viscous.  Viscosity is a measure of resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by stress -  its thickness.  For example water is thin; having a lower viscosity, while vegetable oil is thick having a higher viscosity.

Stevia - is derived from the root of a plant and has no adverse effects to the body.  It also has no calories but the best part it is harmless and if you use the leaf instead of the root it can actually bump your immune system.  The root is very sweet and comes in a powder or clear liquid, where the leaf comes in liquid only and is not as sweet.  Either form can effectively be used as a sweetener.

Breast Thermography - A new method for Breast Cancer Prevention- we think so...

What is this?  It is a non-invasive, radiation-free, FDA-approved, fairly inexpensive procedure that detects early tumor and pre-cancerous changes, therefor having the capability of true prevention.  This is about identifying woman's breasts that are at risk for developing tumors and should be a routine part of women's health care.  If this method can identify tissue in which tumors are more likely to emerge with no radiation, but by picking up infrared emission from the surface of the skin and displays detailed termperature patterns, less routine mammography or the need at all, would be necessary.  Research over the last 40 plus years has shown a consistent relationship between abnormally high breast tissue temperature and increased vascularity suggestive of angiogenesis (sterns EE, et al. Cancer. 1996; 77; 1324-1328; Head JF, et al. Ann NY Acad Sci. 1993; 698; 153-158).  This in turn, correlates with cancer. Thermography allows early detection safley with no radiation or side effects.  According to an article written in Holitic Primary Care magazine, Dr Neil Hirschenbein, MD who has been using the technique for over 2 years, says "The most powerful argument for thermography is that with thermography, you are looking at physiology, whereas mammography looks at anatomy; and physiology almost always changes before anatomy changes.  So this is extremely helpful for prevention".  This information can be very empowering and you should ask your health care provider about this new method of detection. 

I was diagnosed with Adrenal Cancer in 2001 and after meeting with several oncologists who had never worked with this type of cancer I had the fortunate experience of being involved in a clinical research program at the University of Michigan.  I went through chemotherapy treatments as well as radiation and "experimental" injections.  I was then placed into remission in 2003.  Just 1 year later my cancer had returned and I again went through the same routine of chemo and the experimental injections.

After 6 months of a stronger chemo and different injections it came to the point where they wanted to take out my adrenals, which would leave me dependent on supplemental hormones, etc.  It was to the point where I could not physically receive anymore treatments, it was too risky and also found out that the cancer was now in my thyroid and my right breast.  Thyroid cancer is one of the side effects of the chemo I was being given.  That was the last straw for me and I was not going to go through any more chemo and did not want any type of surgery to where I would be dependent on synthetic hormones.  I already had an unbelievable cocktail of hormone supplements and pills that I would take every day (17 to be exact) and the treatments I was going through seemed barbaric.  I was so frustrated... I couldn't be a wife or a mom - it took every ounce of energy I had to be able to do homework with my children or sit down for a family meal (a meal that would never stay down long enough to get any nutritional value from it).
 
I had seen Amanda in the past, but this time I went in with my husband and together we made the decision to go full force with a cancer diet.  Michigan weaned me off of my pills and I stopped my chemo treatments.  This was a difficult journey, but worth every step!  Throughout my cancer I would have friends tell me about some "magic" pill or tell me if I just drank this antioxidant juice, my cancer will disappear.  Well there is no magic pill or special juice, but there is the ability for the body to be able to heal itself.
 
With the help and guidance of Amanda I was able to achieve just that - A healthy body!  I stopped all forms of synthetic injections and chemo and REALLY stuck to the diet that Amanda had put together for me.  Today I am cancer free in my thyroid and my breast.  This was achieved without chemotherapy or radiation, just diet and the support of Amanda, my wonderful family and faith in God.  I have 10% of my adrenal tumor left and have no doubt that it will be gone by the end of this year.  I continue to be in the clinical study through the University of Michigan and hope that I can be an example of how proper nutrition and a positive attitude can truly heal.
 
My family and I are forever grateful to Amanda.  She has an incredible knowledge of nutrition and the human body.  If it was not for the decision to see her and STICK to her recommendations I would probably not be writing this today.  Cancer is an awful thing and there are other answers besides the conventional chemo, radiation and surgery. I'm so thankful for what I've been through, this has been an incredible journey for me - it has given me the opportunity to make a difference.
 
Thank you Amanda!
 
Shannon Bedard

San Diego resident Carrie Wang, trying to lose the extra baby weight after the birth of her second child invested more than $100 dollars in the Wu-Yi Source Tea, a diet aid she found over the Internet claiming to shed more than 25 pounds in just a couple of months.
 
Click here to watch the video. Story reported by KFMB-TV CBS 8

Even though these diseases are different, they are treated very much the same as far as food enzyme to consume and avoid.
 
Diverticula are a pea or grape size protrusion in the intestinal wall. Without sufficient fiber to soften and add bulk, constipation will occur and stools are harder to pass.  This pressure creates weak points in the wall of the colon. Symptoms can be mild to chronic and usually are accompanied with sharp pain on the left side of the abdomen, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, bloating. Drinking a lot of water, and consuming adequate amounts of fiber correctly in the diet is the key to controlling this disorder.
 
Colitis can quickly turn into diverticulitis if not treated correctly. With colitis, the mucous membrane lining the colon becomes inflamed and develops ulcers which can cause bloody diarrhea, gas, pain, bloating and many times hard stools. When the colon muscles are working extra hard to move the stools, the mucous lining of the colon wall can bulge out into a pouch like projection called diverticula.
 
IBS also known as spastic colon can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract also known as reflux, because it can affect from the mouth to the colon. As in the above two conditions, food greatly affects the pain threshold. The normal muscular contractions of the digestive tract become irregular which interferes with the normal movement of food and bowel movements. This in turn leads to the accumulation of mucus and toxins in the intestines. This in turn can cause an obstruction in the digestive tract, trapping gas and stools and causes bloating, pain and constipation.
 
Foods to avoid with these conditions would be: alcohol, caffeine, carbonated beverages, red meat, citrus fruits, apples ( apple sauce is fine), grapes, melon ( watermelon is fine), corn, broccoli, iceberg lettuce, white potato (red potato is fine), tomato (white or purple are fine), onion, peppers, cucumber, chocolate, white refined simple carbohydrates and sugars, fried foods, spicy sauces, all dairy products ( use rice milk or almond milk), nuts & seeds (almond butters are fine), and any food additives such as sorbitol, sucralose, mannitol etc. In initially bad cases in any of these conditions, wheat can initially be eliminated and put back in once the condition is under control. Eat Papaya every day it aids in healing and digestion as does peppermint (not the candy).

By studying the diets of 52 normal-weight adults and 52 overweight or obese adults, researchers found that normal-weight adults ate more fiber and fruit each day than their overweight and obese counterparts.
 
"These findings suggest that the composition of a diet, especially low dietary fiber and fruit intake, play a role in the (development) of obesity," concludes the study team in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
 
For all study subjects, Dr. Jaimie N. Davis of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and colleagues determined the dietary amount of 60 food items using a food frequency questionnaire, assessed physical activity levels and determined percent body fat. All of the subjects were about the same age and height.
 
Davis' group found marked differences in the dietary habits of the two groups. The overweight and obese subjects consumed more total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol, and less carbohydrate, specifically dietary fiber and complex carbohydrate, than normal weight subjects.
 
The differences in diet composition "may have played a vital role in promoting or preventing obesity," they write. Normal-weight adults consumed an average of 33 percent more dietary fiber and 43 percent more complex carbohydrates daily than their overweight and obese counterparts. Dietary fiber and complex carbohydrate intake were inversely related to body weight and "most strongly" to percent body fat.
 
Compared with normal-weight subjects, overweight and obese subjects consumed about one less fruit serving daily, which may partly explain their lower fiber and carbohydrate intake. There are several mechanisms by which dietary fiber may reduce the risk of weight gain or obesity. Dietary fiber, for example, slows digestion, prolonging that "full" feeling and foods high in fiber are usually low in fat and calories.
 
"The public is still attracted to popular weight-loss strategies that emphasize decreasing carbohydrate and increasing fat and protein," the study team notes in their report."  Although there is evidence that high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets produce substantial weight loss in the short-term, to date there are no long-term studies that examine the effects of these regimens."  While there is no magic formula for weight loss, in the current study, "dietary fiber, complex carbohydrates and fruit were associated with lower body fat stores in adults," Davis told Reuters Health. "These results suggest that increasing dietary fiber, complex carbohydrates and fruit in an individual's diet should be an important part of dietary interventions," the researcher concluded.

According to the American Diabetes Association, 15.7 million people in America have diabetes and it is considered to be the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. If Diabetes is not properly controlled, it can lead to many other disorders such as heart and kidney disease, nerve damage, edema and infections with the skin, lungs, feet and mouth.
 
There are two different types of diabetes:
 
Type 1 where the individual is insulin dependent your body produces no insulin and usually starts at an early age. It is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
 
Type 2 which is non insulin dependent, and usually starts a little later in life but can affect any age, usually starts pertaining to diet.
 
In type 2, the pancreas produces a small amount of insulin, yet not enough to fuel the cells. Medication is used in both 1 and 2 to combat resistance the cells may have to what little insulin or none that there is in the bloodstream.
 
With type 1 diet can greatly help you lesson the amount of medication needed, but you will always need some medication. With type 2 in most all cases, with diet, you can eliminate medication altogether. Always check your blood sugar levels with meals, when on the correct diet for this disease, you can easily drop to a very low blood sugar level if you do not monitor your medication and that may run the risk of falling into a diabetic coma. Diabetes requires eating little and often through the day, putting a protein with each meal and correctly balancing your day with complex carbohydrates, proteins and fats.