Naturally, “natural” is a much used and abused word in the health food/drug/supplement industry. We see it being bruited about in big bold letters on product labels. So it’s only but natural for us to seek the help of Dr. Elizabeth Micaller, the indefatigable spirit behind Organix Nutraceuticals International Inc. (www.organix-ph.com) who also happens to be an iridologist. Here, she lets us sink our teeth into this absorbing topic.
According to Dr. Micaller, “natural” legally means it should not contain any artificial ingredients, coloring ingredients or chemical preservatives. In terms of meat and poultry, it should be minimally processed. “On the other hand, meat from animals treated with artificial hormones can and is in fact labeled ‘natural,’ just like meat that has been injected with saline solution to add flavor and weight to a product sold by the kilo. Then we have those foods containing ‘natural flavors,’ such as processed meat like our longganisa and tocino which can legally sport the label ‘natural.’”
Clearly, this is a baffling issue as there are no strict rules on the use of the word “natural” in the food industry. It may as well be an empty word — you see it on labels even if the product contains just one little real natural ingredient and is in fact fully loaded with artificial additives. So, if you’re really interested in pure and whole foods and minimally processed or unprocessed foods, your best bet to find out if what you’re buying is healthy is to read the label in detail.
Read these top tips from Dr. Micaller: “Instead of the word ’natural,’ I now look for labels that claim ‘100% natural,’ ‘no artificial ingredients and additives,’ ‘certified organic,’ and ‘non-GMO.’ These are my guidelines in choosing the food I eat and are also the new buzz words of the health food industry that are so far not yet abused as there are organized authorities that monitor the use of these words in labels.”
Naturally, if you want the best natural foods, simply go back to nature and eat what is grown organically in its raw form, as much as possible. That means eating food just the way the Lord made it, unhampered and untampered by science, which is best for the body.
“Eat it raw and see what wonders it will do to your body,” Dr. Micaller stoutly suggests.
But today, there are the superfoods, generally recognized as food that is high in nutritional density and low in calories, high in fiber, high in omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, and rich in phytochemicals that have the potential to prevent or even reverse disease.
“The beauty and great benefit of eating superfoods would be getting more nutrition without synthetic additives and supplements while eating less, which is healthy for most of us because there’s less of a digestive/elimination burden on our bodies from eating more than we need,” Micaller shares a mouthful. “Adding superfoods to your daily diet will give a big boost to the immune system and the effects will be subtle but long-lasting.”
She highly prescribes the following superfoods — take some daily:
• Sea algae: This comes in the form of chlorella, spirulina, and the best which is Klamath blue green algae. These single-celled, water-grown, chlorophyll-loaded algae boost the immune system, help detoxify, and assist in curbing an overactive immune system, which is often responsible for autoimmune diseases.
• Green food concentrates: As in alfalfa, wheatgrass, and barley, either in live sprout form, which is highest in nutrient density, liquid or powder. These foods are rich in individual vitamins and enzymes and have been known to help balance the pH of the body.
• Aloe vera: The juice of this plant is commercially prepared to drink in small quantities as a health tonic. The best quality is one that is organic and not adulterated through processing, and should have no preservatives.
• Pure powdered whey from contented grass-fed cows: This type of whey should come from cows that haven’t been injected with antibiotics or hormones, and processed into powder with pharmaceutical grade purity. Add to smoothies or mix into soft foods to help your body create abundant glutathione, the master antioxidant that creates and regenerates antioxidants. Pure unadulterated powdered whey is the top glutathione precursor, which is needed for the body to create glutathione, which heals and detoxifies the liver while building overall massive immunity. Note that this is not the whey that is readily available in sports stores, and if it is from grass-fed cows, it is usually stated in the label.
Now, if you wish to turn over a new (green) leaf and shift to a healthier diet, you will find so much conflicting information out there as to which foods are healthy and which are not.
“The health food industry is so full of assorted marketing gimmicks to sell their products even if many are less than what we call healthy,” Dr. Micaller notes with much concern. “Processed foods are technologically modified either for preservation or to convert into ready-to-eat items for longer storage and they come in a box, can, bag, and carton. They definitely have poorer quality than what is fresh and more expensive for the value they deliver.”
Truth of the matter is processed foods have been known to cause many ailments, to name some:
• Obesity because they are rich in calories but low in nutrition.
• Diabetes because there are a lot of hidden sugars.
• Heart disease because they use high quantities of a dangerous type of fat called trans-fatty acids, which have a highly refined salt content that affects the heart.
• Cancer because processed meats contain a lot of food additives such as nitrates in hot dogs and sausages that increase the risk of pancreatic cancer.
Dr. Micaller gives yet another friendly warning: “There is a grouping of foods, too, that we should avoid if we wish to stay healthy till we are older (as I say in my seminars: Stay healthy till the day you die). These will be a bit difficult to avoid for a majority of us, but a conscious effort to reduce or eliminate some of the toxic foods will mean a great improvement in your health.”
Here’s the must-avoid list:
• Diet sodas and beverages sweetened with artificial chemicals. Some people think that if they take sugar substitutes, they are doing something healthy. This is farthest from the truth. Many studies reveal that artificial sugars (like aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose) are bad for your health — they can cause obesity. It is best to stick to either raw sugars like muscovado or coconut sugar and natural sugar substitutes like stevia extract.
• High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), the silent killer. This is a toxic sweetener, also known as glucose-fructose syrup, that should be avoided at all costs since it is linked to obesity, brain damage, low IQ, and even mercury poisoning. This may be difficult to avoid as many foods contain HFCS — such as breads, cereals, fruit drinks, dried fruits, and almost any processed food.
• Most vegetable oils, including hydrogenated and trans-fat varieties. This sad myth is that a lot of people think that vegetable oil is the better alternative to saturated fats. Many of our vegetable oils, whether from coconut , canola, corn, soy or palm ( aside from being sourced from GMO or genetically modified seeds ) are processed with so much chemicals and high heat, they have been the source of heart disease and other degenerative ailments. Best to stick to healthy fats like butter from grass-fed cows, virgin coconut oil, and virgin olive oil, which will greatly improve your health and lower your risk of disease.
• White bread, pasta, and other refined flour foods. These white flour products are cheap and plentiful but are the top destroyers of health or carcinogenic because they are bleached and bromated, and they also lack vital natural nutrients that are stripped away during processing.
• Monosodium glutamate (MSG) and refined salt. Of course, you have been amply warned against MSG, which is really almost always a hidden pervasive salt chemical in most foods and is linked to headaches, heart problems, brain damage, and other problems. Processed salt, which is added to just about everything these days, lacks the trace minerals normally present in sea and earth salts, which means it ends up robbing your body of these vital nutrients. There’s iodized salt, but refining the salt removes the natural minerals and replacing one with a chemical one does not make it a healthy choice. Hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and stroke are just a few of the conditions that can result from refined salt intake, so it is best that you stick to unrefined sea salts, preferably without the chemical potassium iodide.
“It is heartwarming that there is now a greater awareness among our countrymen on what is healthy and what is detrimental to one’s health,” Dr. Micaller is happy to note. “When we opened our holistic center 22 years ago, only a handful was delighted. Now, every major city has a center that caters to natural wellness and hopefully, the right diet is instilled in their clients’ minds. This is the core of the wellness missions of CIPAP (Comprehensive Iridology Practitioners Association of the Philippines). We are promoting lifestyle changes and letting people return to the era of our grandparents when there were no fast and junk foods. It is evident that they lived healthier, longer, and happier lives, and they left this earth due to old age and not a debilitating disease. To change to a healthier lifestyle comes with a commitment and desire and it can only be done by you alone and no one else — not your doctor or your natural health practitioner — but it is all worth the effort.”
It’s about time we took (health) matters into our own hands.
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