Hey guys!

I just read on this very site that cacao is actualy toxic for us! Is this true? coz i eat it at almost every meal! I dont understand, why would leading nutritionists like david wolfe for example, rave on about how healthy it is if it actualy isnt? It cant be all about the money, can it?

Does anyone here eat cacao? How can we know if its truley healthy or not? I eat alot of it and I feel fine, but i cant see into my liver etc to see the damage its supposedly doing to me.

Shed light anyone?

Cheers

Boyd

I eat it, but not every day. I don't believe it is toxic for me, at all. I can tell when something is toxic to my body, I react immediately and have never had an issue with raw cacao...although I don't use a ton of it or eat it all that often. *shrug*

I eat it multiple times a day, somewhere between 1/2 cup and 2/3 a cup sometimes. mostly mixing it with honey and coconut oil. I've never had a bad reaction to it from what i can tell. it doesnt make my stomach cramo or anythign like cooked food does.
I've wondered the same thing with people like david wolfe promoting it and also hearing about its toxicity. I honestly dont know but it taste so delicious, my SAD friends love the pudding i make. hehe

I eat bananas dipped in the nibs once or twice a week and haven't noticed anything negative. i love the taste and i still feel just as great after eating it as I did before....and that is good enough for me until my body tells me otherwise.

I can't stand cocoa. Raw cocoa makes me particularly sick. Cooked cocoa not as bad, but still no good.

Gosia


RawGosia channel
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I eat raw cacao daily. Not too much though, a handful of whole beans and occasionally a raw chocolate bar.

Rob

--
Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

I've been wondering about the health significance of cacao too. I brought about 2 kilos a while back and learned of the debate straight after. They've been sitting in my cupboard ever since.

If it truley was bad for us, im sure we would know by now from the stories people who eat it would have told.

Im still going to eat it daily, I love the way it wakes me up for the day ahead, one can only hope that raw cacao really is " the food of the gods"

Based on my experience with raw Cacao and my research, I do not believe that Cacao is Super food. I eat Cacao sporadically for pleasure only. I do not know why David Wolfe rave about it but again he mentioned some ideas in his earlier book and he learned differently later and change his ideas. We may need some time to find out.

I am a super-sensitive person.Over the years of dealing with health issues,my doctors started calling me "the guinea pig" A couple of the nat. doc's told me of all the patients they had ever seen,I reacted the most quickly to a substance that was toxic.Cacoa is a very strong stimulant and causes the body to put out adrenaline,which is not good.I react very violently to cacoa in any form.Also,if it will kill a dog,and rodents won't touch it,why on earth are WE eating it???I understand the people who say they will keep on eating it and that they feel good eating it.One feels great on any stimulant and cocoa is extremely addictive!! "THERE IS ONLY ONE DISEASE:MUCUS THERE IS ONLY ONE ADDICTION:ADRENILINE To learn more about how adreniline affects the body,go to www.karenhurd.com .......Does anyone know why a cat plays with a mouse after catching it? Why doesn't she kill it right away? As a little girl it made me upset to see my kitty do that!! When a cat plays with the mouse before eating it,the mouse puts out huge amounts of adrenaline (like we do when eating stimulants like cacoa) the adrenaline actually tenderizes the mouse flesh which the cat likes. In her book "And They Said it Wasn't Possible" Karen Hurd explains very thouroughly what happens to our body when we put out adrenaline day after day.Depending on how much adrenaline a person has will determine how long it takes to have problems show up...but they will show up as they adrenals finally become exhausted. Blessings!

Yeah, I enjoy it once and awhile. I think your right kris, I was watching those Shazzie videos on youtube and she says she only sleeps three hours a night! Its probably from all the raw cacao she eats, and that can't be good for you. Doesn't have a lot of fat in it too?

I was eating it every now and then, but I think it's probably going to go the way of kombumcha drinks for me--- I'm not as interested in it now. (I used to love those kombucha juice drinks in a bottle from the health food store, and now I can't stand them!) I'd probably still take cacao on my camping trips though; it's practically non-perishable and it's easy to eat and gives a little bit of a lift.

I didn't notice any immediate reaction or caffeine-like buzz from cacao, but I think I may have noticed I wasn't as grounded on the days I was eating it. I'm not sure, really. I have to admit I do like the taste. I like the crunch and even the way it feels when I chew, chew, chew to grind it all up. I'm not too keen on brushing afterwards though-- always lots of little caco nib fragments to brush out of my teeth!

Sharrhan:


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I loved cacao nibs, they were great for weening from chocolate.

They can be helpuful for transitioning (personal opinion), but once you start to find your body's natural vibrations - without stimulants such as caffeine or cacao and without depressants - for me, I find it taxing on my system and more of a "lifting" substance, "lifting" being stimulating, like a drug.

I no longer eat them but they were of value at a time when I was transitioning and my body could tolerate them. Watch your body's reactions, that will give you the answers.

btw, kwan, I recently just ended a love affair with Kombucha! It's been my transition for wine, but I've reached a place where it no longer feels good to drink. I just realized this when my grocery bills shrank from no longer paying the $3.00 per bottle that I was over it!

Good luck to all,

Chrissy

I ate the nibs for a couple of months and was fine afterwards.

After that, the 2 or 3 times I ate it, I got sicker each time. The last time, I got incredibly sick and all speeded up where I couldn't sleep and I felt all night like I was going to have a heart attack.

The raw beans do the same for me as the nibs.

I'll never touch the stuff again.

Thanks for sharing suncloud, I find experiential information a valuable reference.

I had some raw cacao last night at a raw restaurant. It is definitely a recreational drug! Also, it made it hard to fall asleep last night, but that also could have been all the spices that were in the food I ate.

I love raw cacao (just as I used to love 'cooked' chocolate, but I really do not think that it 'loves' me or that it is something that is good for me. I feel very strange after eating it and cannot sleep feeling so wide awake. The next day I feel as if I have a hangover and feel pretty grotty for at least the first half the day.

I find it is so very addictive and as soon as I have a little ... well it makes me want some more ... and some more. I find it very hard to have just a very small portion. In fact it is easier for me to have none at all than just a tiny amount.

I am affected far, far more by raw cacao than cooked chocolate.

I no longer buy any raw cacao to have in my home and just allow myself the odd raw cacao treat when I go to raw places.

John

Yes,
I too found it very addictive!Even though I would get very sick with a headache,I still found myself DRIVEN to eat more!Any time I find a food like that,I know it can't be good for me.Different ones in our raw group have been experimenting with nightshade family plants and we are finding the same thing! I did a search and found nightshades contain a lot of toxic alkaloids such as solanine. I have cut out and reintroduced nightshades,especially tomatoes several times and by the 3rd or 4th time,I reacted so violently with sneezing etc.,that I could hardly breath! I have been nightshade free for 2 yrs. now and if I accidently consume nightshade in a dish,my lips swell and I feel really "drained the following day.I wonder if solanine(which IS a drug by the way) makes me put out adrenaline like cacoa???My husband says cacoa and nightshades are the raw fooders downfall.I even came across one article that called nightshades mind altering drugs. Some of the others in our raw group experienced pain in back and other joints when eating tomatoes.I had real problems with some of my children bedwetting.When we cut out tomatoes...guess what??It stopped immediatly,and when we reintroduced them it started again...every time!I found that trying to quit was as difficult for me as cacoa.....makes me wonder....could this be the "forbidden fruit????"see
www.normanchilders.com

kris5194 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am a super-sensitive person.Over the years of
> dealing with health issues,my doctors started
> calling me "the guinea pig" A couple of the nat.
> doc's told me of all the patients they had ever
> seen,I reacted the most quickly to a substance
> that was toxic.Cacoa is a very strong stimulant
> and causes the body to put out adrenaline,which is
> not good.I react very violently to cacoa in any
> form.Also,if it will kill a dog,and rodents won't
> touch it,why on earth are WE eating it???I
> understand the people who say they will keep on
> eating it and that they feel good eating it.One
> feels great on any stimulant and cocoa is
> extremely addictive!! "THERE IS ONLY ONE
> DISEASE:MUCUS THERE IS ONLY ONE
> ADDICTION:ADRENILINE To learn more about how
> adreniline affects the body,go to
> www.karenhurd.com .......Does anyone know why a
> cat plays with a mouse after catching it? Why
> doesn't she kill it right away? As a little girl
> it made me upset to see my kitty do that!! When a
> cat plays with the mouse before eating it,the
> mouse puts out huge amounts of adrenaline (like we
> do when eating stimulants like cacoa) the
> adrenaline actually tenderizes the mouse flesh
> which the cat likes. In her book "And They Said it
> Wasn't Possible" Karen Hurd explains very
> thouroughly what happens to our body when we put
> out adrenaline day after day.Depending on how much
> adrenaline a person has will determine how long it
> takes to have problems show up...but they will
> show up as they adrenals finally become exhausted.
> Blessings!



Bassed on my reading, Im going to have to agree with this. By my understanding it is an irritant like coffee and it is more potent than chocolate because it is raw. C'mon people whats wrong with good old fruits and vegetables?

I have been making chocolate bars with raw cocoa, coconut butter,mesquite meal,lacuma,maca and agave nectar and selling it to customers at my local corner shop. I have taken it for granted that what david wolfe says about these superfoods is correct, maybe should have done research to find out other peoples stories before i sold the bars.
Foe example the book "Naked Chocolate" by david wolfe and shazzie goes into great detail about how good these foods are good for you. Who is doing the testing on cocoa and can we say it is correct if it has been written?

I am a bit worried now as i have been getting great feedback from customers but have i been telling them lies with regards to health benefits and lower calories in the raw bars. Surely they are better then cooked chocolate bars with sugar!

dave6

dave6 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>Surely they are better then cooked chocolate bars with sugar!

oh, i'm sure they are better. no chemicals for one thing, and raw for another!
i still have to agree with the addictive, stimulative qualities of cacao though.

The problem that I have with raw desserts in general, & raw chocolate desserts in particular; is that they seem to be just as addictive as regular high-quality cooked chocolate desserts..

As a pastry chef / chef I have created some outrageously good raw chocolate desserts..

My favotite so far is my version of the combination of two recipes; one of Shazzies in "Naked Chocolate, & the other one from Renee Loux in The Balanced Plate..

I call it my Raw Chocolate Coconut Maccaroon..

With cocoa powder, cocoa butter, coarsely ground cacao nibs, coconut butter, agave nectar, grade-B maple syrup, raw honey, sea salt, & coconut; they are neither inexpensive to make, nor low in calories..

Portioned with a #50 scoop, they weigh in right at 30g each before dehydration, loosing approximately 5g during dehydration..

Their physical size makes them look about 1/2 to 1/4 of the size of a coconut maccaroon that you would purchase in a pastry shop..

Their size is decieving, as there is a tremendous amount of adrenal gland boosting stimulants in each one..

The problem is that people can't stop eating them regardless of whether they are SAD or raw..

More than one person has eaten them until they are borderline nauseous..

This tells me that they are addictive to a greater or lesser degree, depending upon physiology & one's mental ability to say NO to oneself..

As a result of my experiences with the chocolate maccaroons, & other raw chocolate desserts; I have elected to eliminate raw chocolate from MY diet, much to the dismay & dissappointment of those around me..

Bruce

here is a great article on fruititarian1's website about addiction. after I read it I thought about cacao and other ancient superfoods.

Addiction


Learn how to escape the dietary pleasure trap!

By Douglas Lisle, Ph.D.

When you climb into a hot tub, it pays to edge in slowly. The water can be so hot as to be unpleasant—until you get used to it. Then it will feel pleasant. When you step into a swimming pool, the water sometimes feels cold. But after a few minutes, you get used to it. The scent of pine trees or fragrant flowers is wonderful—at first. But then you get used to it, and soon you may hardly even notice it.

How is it that our internal experience can change so dramatically, even when our environment is staying the same? How is it that we so easily "get used to" things? It turns out that scientists have carefully studied this striking phenomenon, which they refer to as neuro-adaptation. This process is called "neuro-adaptation" because it involves nerves and adaptation.

Our sensory processes are dependent upon the activation of sensory nerves. It is through the activation of various sensory nerves that we are able to see, hear, smell, sense touch, and to taste. The activity of these various sensory nerves tells our brains what is going on, and to what degree of intensity. For example, when you are sitting in a dimly lit room, and you turn on more light, your visual nerves become more active. They help your brain to notice an increase in brightness. Similarly, if you increase the volume on your stereo, your auditory nerves become more active. They help your brain to notice the increase in sound intensity. This same principle works for all of the five senses.
Relative perception

We tend to think that our nerves provide us with a very accurate depiction of real-world stimulation, but surprisingly, this is not the case. Let's go back to the example of sitting in a dimly lit room. If you turn on all of the lights, it will seem very bright. However, if you later go outside into full sunshine, that will seem brighter still. When you go back inside, it will seem dim—even though all of the lights are still on. Clearly, your nerves are not providing you with an "accurate" depiction of reality in these instances. They are providing a relative depiction. Your senses are highly responsive to change. They tell you when a new stimulus is brighter or dimmer, louder or softer, hotter or colder, and so forth, but not precisely how bright, or loud, or hot. Perception is largely a gauge of relative change.

The reason our nerves provide us with relative—rather than absolute—information is partly because our nerves are designed to adapt to a steady level of stimulation. When there is a sudden increase in stimulation, your nerves increase their rate of "firing" (the basic mechanism that communicates sensory information to the brain). Any change in the intensity of a stimulus results in a change in the firing rate of the appropriate sensory nerves. For example, when you brighten the lights, your visual nerves will increase their firing rate. When you later dim the lights, the firing rate will be reduced.
Dangerous adaptations

In this article, we shall focus on an aspect of "getting used to" things that can lead to enormous—often deadly—problems.

After we brighten the lights in a room, our visual nerves increase their firing rate—but only for a little while! After a few minutes, the firing rate will slow down, or "adapt," to the new, higher rate of stimulation. Sometimes, the nerves may even slow down their response to the level that they were previously firing at the lower level of illumination. This is why even a brightly lit room will seem merely "normal" after your sensory nerves adjust to it.

All of our sensory nerves work in this manner. When we first enter an office, we might be distracted by a noisy air conditioner. But after a while we will likely cease to notice it. When a person first starts smoking cigarettes, he is acutely aware of the smell of the smoke. He smells it on his fingers, in his clothes, and in his car. But before long, he won't notice it at all. He will have "gotten used to it." He may never notice it again unless he quits smoking. Only then will his sense of smell re-calibrate to a more smoke-sensitive state. Then he will be able to smell the smoke—just like everyone else does.
Taste troubles

Like our other sensory nerves, our taste buds also will "get used to" a given level of stimulation—and this can have horrific consequences. The taste buds of the vast majority of people in industrialized societies are currently neuro-adapted to artificially high-fat, high-sugar, and high-salt animal and processed foods. These foods are ultimately no more enjoyable than more healthful fare, but few people will ever see that this is true, because they consistently consume highly stimulating foods, and have "gotten used to" them. If they were to eat a less stimulating, health-promoting diet, they soon would enjoy such fare every bit as much. Unfortunately, very few people will ever realize this critically important fact!
A gruesome tale

If a frog is placed in a pan of water, it often just sits there. If the pan is heated, ever so slowly, the frog may never notice that the water temperature is rising. He will "get used to" the increasing heat—and may be unaware that anything is amiss. Even with no barrier to his escape, he is as likely as not to sit in the pan—and boil to death. His sensory capabilities may fail to adequately warn him that action is required for his survival, and he may only survive if the heat is turned down.

For the past several decades, the modern American diet has been increasing in animal protein, animal and vegetable fats, refined carbohydrates, and added oil, salt, and sugar. In just the past two decades, our caloric intake has slowly escalated by 650 calories per person, per day. Not surprisingly, obesity and other diseases of dietary excess are at all-time highs. But just a few decades ago, our nation's dietary habits were remarkably different. Meat was an expensive commodity—for some, a "treat." The same was true for refined flour products, refined sugar, and oils. But times have changed. Today, almost everyone in America can have all they desire of these rich foods—and they do, virtually every day.

From the perspective of our natural history, a daily life with such dietary choices is extraordinary. For hundreds of thousands of years, our ancient ancestors scratched and ssweet joyed, struggling against the harsh forces of nature in order to get enough food to survive. Even today, in undeveloped countries, significant food shortages are still a great concern, with millions dying each year from starvation. Yet, in a mere blink of history's eye—in just a few decades—industrialized societies have arisen from environments of scarcity and have transformed themselves into societies of unprecedented abundance. The most striking feature of that abundance is a virtually unlimited supply of food.
Artificial appeal

An abundance of food, by itself, is not a cause of health problems. But modern technology has done more than to simply make food perpetually abundant. Food also has been made artificially tastier. Food is often more stimulating than ever before—as the particular chemicals in foods that cause pleasure reactions have been isolated—and artificially concentrated. These chemicals include fats (including oils), refined carbohydrates (such as refined sugar and flour), and salt. Meats were once consumed mostly in the form of wild game—typically about 15% fat. Today's meat is a much different product. Chemically and hormonally engineered, it can be as high as 50% fat or more. Ice cream is an extraordinary invention for intensifying taste pleasure—an artificial concoction of pure fat and refined sugar. Once an expensive delicacy, it is now a daily ritual for many people. French fries and potato chips, laden with artificially-concentrated fats, are currently the most commonly consumed "vegetable" in our society. These artificial products, and others like them, form the core of the American diet. Our teenage population, for example, consumes 25% of their calories in the form of soda pop!

Most of our citizenry can't imagine how it could be any other way. To remove (or dramatically reduce) such products from America's daily diet seems intolerable—even absurd. Most people believe that if they were to do so, they would enjoy their food—and their lives—much less. Indeed, most people believe that they literally would suffer if they consumed a health-promoting diet devoid of such indulgences. But, it is here that their perception is greatly in error. The reality is that humans are well designed to fully enjoy the subtler tastes of whole natural foods, but are poorly equipped to realize this fact. And like a frog sitting in dangerously hot water, most people are being slowly destroyed by the limitations of their awareness.
A pleasure trap

Figure 1 (above left) depicts a devastating dietary trap. People consuming a whole natural foods diet will experience a normal range of pleasure from eating low-fat, high-fiber, unprocessed foods—shown as Phase I. However, if concentrated, adulterated, processed foods are consistently allowed in the diet, they quickly will become preferred.

In Phase II, we see that these products are typically experienced as better—that is, more pleasurable—than natural foods. This is the result of the heightened pleasure-inducing characteristics of artificially-produced foods. However, within a short period of time (a few weeks), the taste nerves adapt to this higher level of stimulation, and reduce their firing rate. This reduces the pleasure experience of artificially-stimulating foods back down to normal levels (Phase III).

Phase III is the culmination of a process of extraordinary importance. It is within Phase III that most people live out their lives. And it is from within Phase III that most people will engineer their own health crises. Phase III occurs when we have become used to the extreme levels of stimulation present in artificial foods, yet ultimately experience no more pleasure than had we remained on a simpler, more healthful diet! Yet, we will rarely notice this process—just as we rarely notice the process of getting used to a brightly-lit room.
A challenging escape

Once in awhile, a person may actually become aware of important dietary knowledge. Despite the tremendous commercially-motivated misinformation campaigns waged by the dairy, cattle, and processed food industries, sometimes a person actually comes to understand the truth about diet. At such times, determined individuals might attempt to change their diet toward whole natural foods—in spite of dire and unfounded warnings from their families, friends, and doctors.

But along the way, they are likely to be met with a formidable obstacle—their own taste neuro-adaptation to artificially-intense foods. This challenge is depicted as Phases IV and V, wherein a change to less stimulating foods typically will result in a reduced pleasure experience. In the early stages, this process is dramatic because natural foods often are not nearly as stimulating.

Scientific evidence suggests that the re-sensitization of taste nerves takes between 30 and 90 days of consistent exposure to less stimulating foods. This means that for several weeks, most people attempting this change will experience a reduction in eating pleasure. This is why modern foods present such a devastating trap—as most of our citizens are, in effect, "addicted" to artificially high levels of food stimulation! The 30-to-90-day process of taste re-calibration requires more motivation—and more self-discipline—than most people are ever willing to muster.

Tragically, most people are totally unaware that they are only a few weeks of discipline away from being able to comfortably maintain healthful dietary habits—and to keep away from the products that can result in the destruction of their health. Instead, most people think that if they were to eat more healthfully, they would be condemned to a life of greatly reduced gustatory pleasure—thinking that the process of Phase IV will last forever. This is an extraordinarily deceptive and problematic situation that I describe as a "pleasure trap."
A fast way out

For many people, knowing how this trap works is a great ally to their self-discipline. But for others, this trap can seem just too difficult to manage. For them, the road may seem too long, and even minor indulgences often keep them in the trap. Fortunately, there is a second method for escape—one that greatly speeds up the process of taste re-calibration.

A properly-supervised period of water-only fasting is a safe and effective way to quickly re-sensitize taste nerves so that whole natural foods can be fully enjoyed. At the Center for Conservative Therapy, we have noted that for most people, one week of consuming nothing but water in an environment of complete rest is enough to substantially re-calibrate their taste buds. Patients find that after a fast, healthful fare tastes as good as the artificially-intense foods that they may have been eating previously. Sometimes natural foods taste even better.
Avoiding the trap

The modern American diet contains concentrations of chemicals that we were never meant to consume. As food manufacturers have sought to compete with each other, foods have become increasingly artificial—loaded with ever-higher concentrations of pleasure-inducing chemicals, such as sugar, salt, and fat. But curiously, though the concentrations of these chemicals have escalated, the actual pleasure from eating has always stayed about the same. We now understand why.

As our modern foods have become increasingly stimulating, our taste nerves are becoming desensitized—neuro-adapting to the modern diet's excessive stimulation. This sets the stage for a devastating trap, wherein a health-promoting diet is relatively unappealing.

Fortunately, you now understand what it takes to escape this deceptive dietary trap. With consistent discipline, or perhaps an occasional period of supervised, water-only fasting, you can always get yourself back on track. In doing so, you will discover—or perhaps re-discover—that the diet of our natural design can be very enjoyable.

Addiction to Salt


The particular salt we refer to in human nutrition, unless otherwise specified, is sodium chloride. It is plentiful and cheap, but it wasn't always so conveniently available. Sodium chloride once was considered a great delicacy to be used sparingly because it was difficult to obtain and expensive. Roman soldiers of antiquity were often paid in salt, and this was called their "salarium," from which our word "salary" is derived. It was said a soldier was "worth his salt," a term still used for a worthy person. Once paid with salt, it could be used as money in exchange for other goods.

Sodium and potassium individually combine with bicarbonate, phosphorus or chlorine, to make the six major salts in the human body. Potassium and sodium are metals forming positive ions (cations, i.e., missing an electron) each with an electrical charge of +1. Phosphate, bicarbonate and chloride are negative ions (anions) with a negative charge of -1, having an extra electron. All these ions are found in the human body. In health, they all work together along with the kidneys to maintain the acid/base balance of the body within a very narrow, slightly alkaline range. Each cation is balanced by an anion, existing in an almost 1:1 ratio, with a slight excess of anions. Bicarbonate is a buffer, able to absorb and neutralize both acid and base, thus holding the acid/base balance within the narrow range necessary for life.

The concentration of these salts is very close to the concentration of the same salts found in ocean water, out of which our distant ancestors walked a few hundred million years ago to begin animal life on land. Our cells have maintained the memory of sea water from which our ancestors came.

Of all the salts present in the sea and in our bodies, the ones made from sodium are by far the most abundant. Therefore, sodium serves to maintain the concentration of salts in the body necessary for life. It exists in dynamic relationship with potassium — excessive amounts of one will result in depletion of the other — in order to maintain the proper concentration of salts in the body.

The kidneys work by filtration through glomeruli, millions of tiny filtering devices, and then reabsorption through the renal tubules, the passageways from the glomeruli to the bladder. In the distal (second) part of the renal tubules, there is a mechanism called the "sodium pump." Each renal tubule has such a pump, and there are millions of renal tubules. The Sodium Pump mechanism is a cellular/chemical way of recovering sodium from the urine before it is sent to the bladder for excretion. The amount of sodium recovered is related to the degree of need the body has for sodium. If the body is overloaded with sodium, most of the sodium filtered through the glomeruli is allowed to leave the body. If the body is sodium depleted, a large percentage of sodium is recovered and put back into circulation in the body.

There is no pump for potassium in the kidneys comparable to the Sodium Pump — so, we must have continuous replacement of potassium because the kidneys cannot conserve it. Plant foods are rich in potassium but low in sodium, in line with the needs of the body. Animal-derived foods and processed foods usually are the opposite.

Sodium is the pivotal actor among the important cations in the mechanism maintaining the all important acid/base balance of the body. As sodium goes, so goes the acid/base balance of the body. The problem with sodium, as with phosphorus, is not one of deficiency, rather of excess. Salt is plentiful in the soil, and all plants grown in such soil are sufficient in sodium. No supplementation is necessary. Nevertheless, almost all processed food manufacturers add sodium chloride along with sodium iodide to food for taste, promoting an addictive state in order to sell more of their product!

Sodium chloride (common table salt) is the usual form of sodium added to food, so common that the word "salt," in layman's language, refers to sodium chloride, although in the language of chemistry there are hundreds of different salts. To make matters worse, the social convention is to keep a salt shaker at the ready to add even further salt to food.

Most table salt is 70% sodium iodide and 30% sodium chloride. Sodium iodide tastes even saltier than sodium chloride and was originally mandated by the U.S. Government to be added to table salt to prevent goiter which was especially prevalent around the Great Lakes region of the U.S., an area where the soil is relatively deficient in iodine. Iodine is necessary for healthy thyroid function.

At age forty, the kidneys begin to lose their ability to rid the body of excess sodium, and, as you grow older, sodium sickness becomes more and more likely, especially if you salt your food and/or eat processed foods.

The body can deal with excess sodium by storing it in the spaces between cells (collectively called the "interstitial" space) to protect the acid/base balance of the blood. This condition is called "edema." It appears first around the ankles as puffy tissue, which, upon pressing with moderate force, will hold the impression of your finger for several minutes after pressure is removed. This is called "pitting edema."

When sodium is shunted to the interstitial space, anions are attracted there to balance the electrical charge of the sodium. To maintain the proper concentration, water also is drawn in with this soup. This all has serious consequences for the cells, which must keep out this excess of sodium using their own version of the Sodium Pump. If this mechanism fails in a cell, that cell dies. This pumping action burns a lot of calories, which should be used for other cellular processes. The cells become overworked keeping out the excess sodium.

When this line of defense has reached its limit, sodium appears in the blood in excessive quantities. The same phenomenon then happens, causing increased circulatory volume, elevated blood pressure, stress on the heart and depletion of potassium. If this process continues unchecked, the result is congestive heart failure and death. In affluent societies, elevated blood pressure is found in 25% of adults and 12% of children!

Recent research suggests that the chloride content of table salt is more important in the elevation of blood pressure than is sodium. Nevertheless, the solution is the same, since the two come together: restrict sodium chloride intake.

Sodium is necessary for proper transmission of impulses along the axon of every nerve in your body, and necessary for muscle contraction as well. Deficiency of sodium is difficult to achieve, because sodium salts are everywhere in nature.

Do not worry about deficiency of sodium. Be concerned instead about excess. While the daily requirement for sodium chloride is 50 mg., the average adult consumes 5,000 mg., 100 times more than is needed! Even a young person whose kidneys can handle sodium will feel much better restricting salt: more energy (the Sodium Pump drains a lot of energy), fewer headaches, and better sleep.

Love of the salty taste of salt is an addiction similar in quality to the addictions to alcohol, tobacco, sugar, caffeine and a host of others. The same principles apply to kicking the salt habit as apply to kicking any addiction.

Unless you have one of the conditions causing lowered sodium such as adrenal insufficiency, salt-losing renal disease, colostomy, or chronic postural hypotension, I strongly recommend that you get out of the habit of salting your food. Do not drink beer (25 mg. of sodium per 12 oz.), avoid baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), monosodium glutamate (MSG, a popular preservative), baking powder, sodium-laden laxatives (most are), and home water softener (adds sodium to the water). Do not eat meat. Do not drink diet soda. Look for the words "salt," "sodium," or the symbol "Na" when reading food labels.

Consume the following salt-laden items sparingly: dill pickles, soy sauce and canned vegetable juices. Stay far away from all a prepackaged foods and processed foods until you have carefully read the label and discovered no added salt, sugar, or preservatives (practically impossible). Do not eat salted popcorn or peanuts, and do eat only fresh foods, organically grown. Also, avoid salt substitutes, because they employ potassium, and an accidental overdose of potassium can be fatal.

That is what not to do. Here is what to do. Learn to enjoy the natural flavors of food. Your taste buds have been overstimulated for years with salt, among other items, to the extent that they cannot detect and enjoy subtle tastes. You may use spices in making the transition to the enjoyment of natural flavors. I suggest thyme, tarragon, paprika, sage, basil, dill and oregano. After the transition, you will discover that spices are unnecessary in most cases and the natural food tastes irreplaceable.

Remember, the preference for salt is learned, not natural, and it can be unlearned. If you use salt, use only sea salt, which contains all the other minerals your body needs in a balanced mixture, and use it sparingly.

If you kick the sodium chloride addiction, all things being equal, you will add vitality and a number of wonderful years to your life.

[www.medical-library.net]



Addiction to Sugar


"Sugar" is a term applied loosely to any of a number of chemical compounds. They all are simple carbohydrates, soluble in water, colorless, odorless and form crystals at room temperature. Sugars come in molecules with as few as three carbon atoms per molecule, to as many as nine carbon atoms per molecule. These are known by the family names trios, tetrose, pentose, hexose, heptose, octose and nonose. In each case, the carbons are formed in the shape of a ring with the "last" carbon atom being attached to the "first." Sugars come as single-ring, double-ring and triple-ring molecules called "monosaccharides," "disaccharides" and "trisaccharides," respectively.

Although all these forms are found in nature, by far the most common are the hexoses: six carbon structures with the empirical formula C6 H12 O6, which simply indicates the presence of six carbon atoms, twelve hydrogen atoms and six oxygen atoms.

The most important of the hexose sugars in human metabolism are glucose and galactose. One other "-ose" is important: the five carbon molecule (pentose) called "fructose" (also known as "fruit sugar".

The human body manufactures these simple sugars in the so-called "Kreb's cycle" (also known as the "citric acid cycle", which is designed to release the energy which is the driving force of life. Glucose is the major source of energy for the muscles and nervous tissue of the body. The body knows very well how to maintain a perfect balance of glucose unless it is presented with unnatural amounts.

Sugar is not ordinarily ingested into the body in the form of these simple monosaccharides, but rather as the disaccharide sugars maltose, lactose and sucrose. The body treats these disaccharides with enzymes and acid and quickly breaks them down to their component parts: two molecules of glucose in the case of maltose, one glucose and one galactose in the case of lactose and one glucose and one fructose in the case of sucrose. Sucrose is ordinary table sugar. The major source of lactose is milk and milk products and the major source of maltose is barley grain.

In human nutrition, the major source of concern for a person who wants to live a healthy life is sucrose and, to a lesser degree, lactose and maltose as all three frequently are used as food additives in processed foods.

As a basic foodstuff, sucrose supplies approximately thirteen percent of the energy derived from food. This is an average figure, of course, with some foods having more sucrose than others.

Food in natural form presents no metabolic problems when consumed in variety. Consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables, for example, presents no metabolic problems a normal body cannot readily deal with.


The Effect of Simple Sugars on the Human Body

The key to health is the moderate consumption of complex carbohydrates — from natural food sources, such as fresh vegetables and, to a lesser extent, cooked vegetables — balanced with intake of protein from a clean source, such as organically grown soy products. Anything less than this is a compromise and will eventually affect your health and/or longevity. While it is true that this stuff breaks down to simple sugars in a few hours, if you take your carbs in this fashion, the quantity will be tolerable, and it will come with other nutrients.

It is very likely that you are addicted to sugar. A sugar addict can find ways to rationalize the addiction. Sugar addiction is so common in industrialized Western nations as to be unrecognizable. If you grew up in a culture where everyone — every single person from the time a cigarette could be held in the hand — smoked and where practically nothing was said about it, you would come to accept it as a natural fact of life. (Europe is almost such a place.) You would not think of yourself as addicted to tobacco, as there would be no one in your environment with whom to compare yourself. They would all be busy smoking, just like you. Thus, it is with sugar. Fish in the ocean ask no questions about dry land.

Probably, you are saying to yourself, "Yea, I eat a little sugar but not too much." This is what I call "addict's logic": "I can smoke a cigarette here and there without becoming a smoker again"; "I can have just one drink without becoming an alcoholic again"; "I will just have a little cake, or a candy bar here and there." Certainly, and then revert to sucking down large quantities of hidden sugar in processed foods. Just because it's in the grocery store does not mean it is good to eat. Caveat emptor! Let the buyer beware!

Degenerative diseases caused by regular sugar consumption include the following. hypoglycemia
diabetes

chronic constipation
chronic stomach upset

intestinal gas
arthritis

asthma
headaches

osteoporosis
heart disease

obesity
chronic Candida infection

tooth decay
inflammatory bowel disease




This is not a complete list of the diseases believed to be caused by chronic long-term sucrose consumption, but these are the diseases in which it is easiest to see a relationship. Other diseases in which the consumption of sugar is implicated are: psoriasis
cancer

multiple sclerosis
canker sores

gall stones
cystic fibrosis




You can have any of these degenerative diseases and be unaware of it for years.

Your point of view may be "Okay, Dr. K., but I do not have any of these diseases." Right, you may not, and if not, it is only because you are young and have not yet done sufficient damage to the systems of your body. The diseases people ordinarily die from are degenerative diseases, and it requires at least several years to create a clinically symptomatic degenerative disease. Degenerative diseases exist long before they become obvious. If you are a sugarholic, you are somewhere to be found in the degenerative disease process.

Here is a list of the minerals required to digest sugar: calcium, phosphorus, chromium, magnesium, cobalt, copper, zinc and manganese. These minerals are the so-called "co-factors" necessary for the proper functioning of the enzyme systems, including the enzyme systems required to metabolize sugar. These minerals have been stripped away in the refining process which produces sugar. Also, the mechanisms which produce glucose from complex carbohydrates, proteins and fats simply shut down from disuse when you continue a steady diet of simple sugars. If you don't use it you lose it.

Thus, you become dependent on an outside source of glucose, i.e., addicted. This source usually is sucrose. Also, you lose the ability to metabolize sugar and keep it in a healthy range within the cells. You may have a normal blood sugar and a normal glucose tolerance test. Under these conditions, your doctor will tell you "no problemo." Don't believe it! A normal blood glucose and/or glucose tolerance test only proves that your pancreas is still healthy enough to shunt a large load of sugar to inside the cells. It is within the cells themselves where sugar does its damage.

The evolution of our enzyme systems required millions of years, and throughout those millions of years purified sugar was not available. Therefore, your body simply is not programmed to handle anything more than the quantity of simple sugars present in, for example, a couple of peaches or a couple of apples. Those peaches or apples, by the way, come with their mineral supply — and loads of other nutrients — intact. You can even overdose on natural foods and take a large hit of sugar from fruit, for example, especially dried fruit. It also is easy to juice six apples or six oranges and gulp your juice down in ten minutes whilst thinking what a wonderful thing you are doing for your body.

The first enzyme systems of your body which are upset by refined sugar are your digestive enzymes, because these are the first encountered by the sugar you put in your mouth. Because these enzymes are disabled by abnormal concentrations of sugar, food passes through your digestive tract in an undigested or a partially digested state.

Some of these large molecules enter your body through the walls of your small intestines in this undigested or partially digested state. Your body recognizes these large molecules as foreign tissue and makes antibodies to them. Thus, do food allergies develop.

Most people get twenty percent of their calories from refined sugar, an average of 130 pounds (59 kilos) per year. This is a massive and continuing upset for the body.

The usual calcium/phosphorus ratio in the serum is 10:2, a ratio of ten mg. calcium for every two mg. phosphorous per liter of serum. The ingestion of sugar alters this ratio by decreasing the phosphorus and increasing the calcium. Because calcium and phosphorus work together in the enzymatic systems of the body, a phosphorus deficiency is sensed by the body as a calcium deficiency as well as a phosphorus deficiency. The body has no readily available source of phosphorus; however, it certainly does have a ready source of calcium. Therefore, your bones and teeth are robbed of calcium to deal with this imbalance, and the result is osteoporosis of bones throughout the body and weakened tooth structure.

This extra calcium, without a complement of phosphorus to balance it, is toxic. Calcium can be in deficient supply, even though the concentration may be above normal, because insufficient phosphorus is present to enable the body to use it. Therefore, the odd situation arises of toxicity from calcium, which also is in deficient supply as far as availability to the enzyme systems is concerned.

This is called "nonfunctioning calcium," and it leads to kidney stones, arthritis, hardening of the arteries, cataracts and plaque on the teeth. In extreme imbalance, massive calcium tumors may form in the body.

Calcium caseinate, along with oxidized cholesterol, is a major component of atherosclerotic plaques found on blood vessel walls in people with hardened arteries. This is the major cause of heart attack, and this situation can develop at a very young age thanks to degenerative illness driven by habitual simple sugar ingestion.



MSG - Slowly Poisoning America
Author Unknown
5-1-4


I wondered if there could be an actual chemical causing the massive obesity epidemic, so did a friend of mine, John Erb. He was a research assistant at the University of Waterloo, and spent years working for the government.

He made an amazing discovery while going through scientific journals for a book he was writing called The Slow Poisoning of America. In hundreds of studies around the world, scientists were creating obese mice and rats to use in diet or diabetes test studies.

No strain of rat or mice is naturally obese, so the scientists have to create them. They make these morbidly obese creatures by injecting them with a chemical when they are first born. The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates, causing rats (and humans?) to become obese They even have a title for the race of fat rodents they create: "MSG-Treated Rats" .

MSG?

I was shocked too. I went to my kitchen, checking the cupboards and the fridge.

MSG was in everything! The Campbell's soups, the Hostess Doritos, the Lays flavored potato chips, Top Ramen, Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper, Heinz canned gravy, Swanson frozen prepared meals, Kraft salad dressings, especially the 'healthy low fat' ones. The items that didn't have MSG had something called Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, which is just another name for Monosodium Glutamate. It was shocking to see just how many of the foods we feed our children everyday are filled with this stuff. They hide MSG under many different names in order to fool those who catch on.

But it didn't stop there. When our family went out to eat, we started asking at the restaurants what menu items had MSG. Many employees, even the managers, swore they didn't use MSG. But when we ask for the ingredient list, which they grudgingly provided, sure enough MSG and Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein were everywhere. Burger King, McDonalds, Wendy's, Taco Bell, every restaurant, even the sit down ones like TGIF, Chilis', Applebees and Denny's use MSG in abundance. Kentucky Fried Chicken seemed to be the WORST offender: MSG was in every chicken dish, salad dressing and gravy. No wonder I loved to eat that coating on the skin, their secret spice was MSG!

So why is MSG in so may of the foods we eat? Is it a preservative or a vitamin?

Not according to my friend John. In the book he wrote, an expose of the food additive industry called The Slow Poisoning of America, (www.spofamerica.com ), he said that MSG is added to food for the addictive effect it has on the human body.

Even the propaganda website sponsored by the food manufacturers lobby group supporting MSG at [www.msgfacts.com] explains that the reason they add it to food is to make people eat more. A study of elderly people showed that people eat more of the foods that it is added to. The Glutamate Association lobby group says eating more benefits the elderly, but what does it do to the rest of us?

'Betcha can't eat just one', takes on a whole new meaning where MSG is concerned!

And we wonder why the nation is overweight? The MSG manufacturers themselves admit that it addicts people to their products. It makes people choose their product over others, and makes people eat more of it than they would if MSG wasn't added.

Not only is MSG scientifically proven to cause obesity, it is an addictive substance: NICOTINE for FOOD!

Since its introduction into the American food supply fifty years ago, MSG has been added in larger and larger doses to the prepackaged meals, soups, snacks and fast foods we are tempted to eat everyday.

The FDA has set no limits on how much of it can be added to food. They claim it's safe to eat in any amount.

How can they claim it is safe when there are hundreds of scientific studies with titles like these?

The monosodium glutamate (MSG) obese rat as a model for the study of exercise in obesity. Gobatto CA, Mello MA, Souza CT, Ribeiro IA. Res Commun Mol Pathol Pharmacol. 2002

Adrenalectomy abolishes the food-induced hypothalamic serotonin release in both normal and monosodium glutamate-obese rats. Guimaraes RB, Telles MM, Coelho VB, Mori RC, Nascimento CM, Ribeiro Brain Res Bull. 2002 Aug

Obesity induced by neonatal monosodium glutamate treatment in spontaneously hypertensive rats: an animal model of multiple risk factors. Iwase M, Yamamoto M, Iino K, Ichikawa K, Shinohara N, Yoshinari Fujishima

Hypertens Res. 1998 Mar

Hypothalamic lesion induced by injection of monosodium glutamate in suckling period and subsequent development of obesity. Tanaka K, Shimada M, Nakao K, Kusunoki Exp Neurol. 1978 Oct

Yes, that last study was not a typo, it WAS written in 1978. Both the medical research community and food "manufaturers" have known MSG's side effects for decades!

Many more studies mentioned in John Erb's book link MSG to Diabetes,

Migraines and headaches, Autism, ADHD and even Alzheimer's.

But what can we do to stop the food manufactures from dumping fattening and addictive MSG into our food supply and causing the obesity epidemic we now see?

Even as you read this, George W. Bush and his corporate supporters are pushing a Bill through Congress. Called the "Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act" also known as the "Cheeseburger Bill", this sweeping law bans anyone from suing food manufacturers, sellers and distributors. Even if it comes out that they purposely added an addictive chemical to their foods. Read about it for yourself at: [www.yahoo.com.http]? tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040311/ap_on_go_co/obesity_lawsuits_4

The Bill has already been rushed through the House of Representatives, and is due for the same rubber stamp at Senate level. It is important that Bush and his corporate supporters get it through before the media lets everyone know about MSG, the intentional Nicotine for food.

Several months ago, John Erb took his book and his concerns to one of the highest government health officials in Canada. While sitting in the Government office, the official told him "Sure I know how bad MSG is, I wouldn't touch the stuff!" But this top level government official refused to tell the public what he knew.

The big media doesn't want to tell the public either, fearing legal issues with their advertisers. It seems that the fallout on the fast food industry may hurt their profit margin.

So what do we do?

The food producers and restaurants have been addicting us to their products for years, and now we are paying the price for it.

Our children should not be cursed with obesity caused by an addictive food additive.

But what can I do about it? I'm just one voice, what can I do to stop the poisoning of our children, while guys like Bush are insuring financial protection for the industry that is poisoning us.


I for one am doing something about it.

I am sending this email out to everyone I know in an attempt to show you the truth that the corporate owned politicians and media won't tell you.

The best way you can help save yourself and your children from this drug-induced epidemic, is to forward this email to everyone. With any luck, it will circle the globe before Bush can pass the Bill protecting those who poisoned us.

The food industry learned a lot from the tobacco industry. Imagine if big tobacco had a bill like this in place before someone blew the whistle on Nicotine?

Blow the whistle on MSG.

If you are one of the few who can still believe that MSG is good for us, and you don't believe what John Erb has to say, see for yourself. Go to the National Library of Medicine, at www.pubmed.com
[www.pubmed.com] . Type in the words "MSG Obese", and read a few of the 115 medical studies that appear.
<br>We do not want to be rats in one giant experiment, and we do not approve of food that makes us into a nation of obese, lethargic, addicted sheep, waiting for the slaughter.

With your help we can put an end to this, and stop the Slow Poisoning of America. Let's save our children

[health.groups.yahoo.com]



Hidden Sources Of MSG In Foods
From the book 'Excitotoxins - The Taste That Kills'
By Dr. Russell Blaylock, MD
3-6-3

What if someone were to tell you that a chemical (MSG) added to food could cause brain damage in your children, and that this chemical could effect how your children's nervous systems formed during development so that in later years they may have learning or emotional difficulties?

What if there was scientific evidence that these chemicals could permanently damage a critical part of the brain known to control hormones so that later in life your child might have endocrine problems? How would you feel?

Suppose evidence was presented to you strongly suggesting that the artificial sweetener in your diet soft drink may cause brain tumors to develop, and that the number of brain tumors reported since the introduction of this widespread introduction of this artificial sweetener has risen dramatically? Would that affect your decision to drink these products and especially to allow your children to drink them? What if you could be shown overwhelming evidence that one of the main ingredients in this sweetener (aspartate) could cause the same brain lesions as MSG? Would that affect your buying decisions?

And finally, what if it could be demonstrated that all of these types of chemicals, called excitotoxins, could possibly aggravate or even precipitate many of today's epidemic neurodegenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, ALS, and Alzheimer's disease? Would you be concerned if you knew that these excitotoxin food additives are a particular risk if you have diabetes, or have ever had a stroke, brain injury, brain tumor, seizure, or have suffered from hypertension, meningitis, or viral encephalitis?

Would you also be upset to learn that many of the brain lesions caused by these products in your children are irreversible and can result from a SINGLE exposure of these products in sufficient concentration?

How would you feel when you learn the food industry hides and disguises these excitotoxin additives (MSG and Aspartate) so they can't be recognized? Incredulous? Enraged? The fact is many foods are labeled as having "No MSG" but in fact not only contain MSG but also are laced with other excitotoxins of equal potency and danger.

All of the above are true. And all of these well known brain toxins are poured into our food and drink by the thousands of tons to boost sales. These additives have NO OTHER purpose other than to enhance to TASTE of food and the SWEETNESS of various diet products.

Hidden Sources Of MSG
As discussed previously, the glutamate (MSG) manufacturers and the processed food industries are always on a quest to disguise the MSG added to food. Below is a partial list of the most common names for disguised MSG. Remember also that the powerful excitotoxins, aspartate and L-cystine, are frequently added to foods and according to FDA rules require NO LABELING AT ALL.
* Food Additives that ALWAYS contain MSG *

Monosodium Glutamate
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
Hydrolyzed Protein
Hydrolyzed Plant Protein
Plant Protein Extract
Sodium Caseinate
Calcium Caseinate
Yeast Extract
Textured Protein (Including TVP)
Autolyzed Yeast
Hydrolyzed Oat Flour
Corn Oil

* Food Additives That FREQUENTLY Contain MSG *

Malt Extract
Malt Flavoring
Bouillon
Broth
Stock
Flavoring
Natural Flavors/Flavoring
Natural Beef Or Chicken Flavoring
Seasoning
Spices

* Food Additives That MAY Contain MSG Or Excitotoxins *

Carrageenan
Enzymes
Soy Protein Concentrate
Soy Protein Isolate
Whey Protein Concentrate
Also: Protease Enzymes of various sources can release excitotoxin amino acids from food proteins.
Aspartame - An Intense Source Of Excitotoxins
Aspartame is a sweetener made from two amino acids, phenylalanine and the excitotoxin aspartate. It should be avoided at all costs. Aspartame complaints accounts for approximately 70% of ALL complaints to the FDA. It is implicated in everything from blindness to headaches to convulsions. Sold under dozens of brand names such as NutraSweet and Equal, aspartame breaks down within 20 minutes at room temperature into several primary toxic and dangerous ingredients:
1. DKP (diketopiperazine) (When ingested, converts to a near duplicate of
a powerful brain tumor causing agent)
2. Formic Acid (ant venom)
3. Formaldehyde (embalming fluid)
4. Methanol (causes blindness...extremely dangerous substance)
Common Examples:
Diet soft drinks, sugar free gums, sugar free Kool Aid, Crystal Light, childrens' medications, and thousands of other products claiming to be 'low calorie', 'diet', or 'sugar free'.
A Final Note...
Dr. Blaylock recounted a meeting with a senior executive in the food additive industry who told him point blank that these excitotoxins are going to be in our food no matter how many name changes are necessary...


Your Food Addiction is Great for Business



No mysterious ingredient. The Cadbury's secret is out. Chocolate is drug-like in its effect. Artificial taste explodes in the mouth with crunchy, smooth, sweet flavors, supplying intense pleasure. Every texture and nuance of taste contrived to stimulate your 9,000 taste buds into sending pleasure signals to the brain. The intensified pleasure effect is addictive. We don't care about the additives or empty calories. Chocolate junkies crave a fix, driven by the desire for that chocolate pleasure. Pleasure for which we will pay any price, even our health.

Chocolate bars are loaded with salt, sugar, caffeine and fat, up to 300 calories per bar. Like a body demanding heroin for its balance, the body will crave sugar, salt and fat. Take candy from a sugar junkie, and look out! Quitting causes withdrawals. Remove sugar, processed fat or salt from your diet, and you will crave them. You will go through the discomfort of facing withdrawal similar to the withdrawal from drugs.

Strawberries and bananas don't cause cravings. You never feel guilty about eating too many cantaloupes. You never hear little voices in the back of your head saying eat, eat, eat cantaloupe. No, because natural foods balance the body and physical cravings are caused by biochemical imbalance. Street drugs, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, salt, saturated fat, refined starch and refined sugars cause cravings because they imbalance the body's chemistry.

Addictive substances cause the body to become dependent on an unnatural substance for homeostatic balance. Removing it will cause withdrawals. During withdrawal, the addict suffers through the painful readjustment as the body cries out for the missing substance. In a desperate attempt to maintain homeostasis, (chemical balance) the body demands the very substance that caused the imbalance.

The body's homeostatic balance is affected by diet. Consumption of massive amounts of sugar, salt, caffeine or fried foods drastically affects homeostatic balance. Natural hunger becomes distorted as the body craves for the substances necessary for balance. The body reacts as it would to any addiction. Powerful cravings override the body's natural needs.

Food allergies can also cause an addiction-like dependence due to homeostatic disturbance. Your favorite foods are usually the ones to which you are addicted. You usually feel better immediately after eating the food that you are addicted to, but shortly afterward the allergic reaction produces a feeling of irritability. It causes flatulence, nausea, depression or headaches. Milk, wheat and eggs are the most common allergic foods. Each contains large protein molecules with strong glue-like bonds. If the appropriate enzyme necessary for digestion is not available, these protein molecules enter the blood undigested. The immune system attacks these fragments as if they were invaders. Homeostasis has been imbalanced, and if these foods are continually eaten, the body will need them for homeostatic balance, causing an allergen-based food addiction.

The brain has 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion connectors for memory alone. Each brain cell is dependent on homeostatic balance to function properly. High doses of sugar, salt, fat and caffeine can cause imbalances in the brain's normal chemistry. Eating natural foods allows the brain's chemistry to function normally. Natural foods assist homeostasis, supplying vitamins, minerals, soft fibers, cell salts and enzymes to assist the body in maintaining balance. In a balanced state, hunger is in relation to the body's need for nutrition.

Eating processed food creates cravings for more processed foods. Eat fried foods, and you crave more. Eat cooked food, and you crave it. Eat sugar-filled food, and you will crave it. The Hostess Munchies are nothing more than disguised cravings for salt and fat. They promise satisfaction, but artificial pleasure never satisfies. It is a pleasure that takes by first giving. It steals valuable nutrition from your diet by feeding your body empty calories.

Addiction in the Brain
Scientists are discovering that psychological addiction has a common factor. All mood-altering drugs elevate levels of the neurotransmitter in the brain, called dopamine. Tobacco, cocaine, heroin and caffeine elevate dopamine levels and cause a feeling of euphoria. Dopamine may be the master molecule of addiction.

Neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, control how the brain works and what we feel. When you feel pleasure from eating or falling in love, receiving a compliment, it is dopamine that causes the feeling. Every experience that humans find enjoyable may be linked to dopamine whether that be listening to music, savoring chocolate, sweetjoy or shooting heroin.

Fifty neurotransmitters have been discovered to date. A good half dozen are associated with addiction by causing a feeling of euphoria. Serotonin is another interesting neurotransmitter. It has a sedating effect. This neurotransmitter can be affected by rhythm, such as stroking the hair, slow deep breathing or a rocking motion. It is possible that the desire for the serotonin effect enforces repetitive habits such as nail biting, playing with hair or nose picking. There is a repetition and a rhythm to these habits. It may be an unhealthy attempt at trying to gain comfort from the serotonin effect. Starches have been known to have a calming effect on the brain due to increased levels of serotonin. We are using junk-food, starch, drugs, and bad habits to adjust our feelings through stimulating our neurotransmitters.

The pleasure effect of neurotransmitters is designed by God to form healthy, natural dependencies. A wholesome pleasure that motivates us to find good tasting food, comfortable shelter and loving relationships. Dopamine and serotonin reinforce healthy actions and behaviors.

Dopamine has a powerful ability to form triggers. During pleasure, neurological pathways are being formed that will trigger a physical and emotional reaction to repeat that pleasure. We know it as an urge. We feel impelled. Our minds can become fixed on pleasure until we think of nothing else.

Intense pleasure forms the most powerful triggers. For this reason, sweetjoy, drugs and food create the most powerful urges. A syringe, rolling papers, an X-rated video, McDonalds, anything that is associated with the pleasure, becomes a trigger for these powerful urges. Compelled by an urge, we feel pulled toward pleasure like steel to a magnet. The emotions overdrive and our body quivers with adrenaline. An addict may shake and sweat with the anticipation of pleasure. A tennis player may also experience the same reaction before a championship. The body and mind are being prepared for action.

Urges are powerful at motivating us towards good or evil. We can feel the urge to pray, the urge to be kind, the urge to create or build, or we can feel the urge to destroy. Yet, even the most powerful urge cannot negate our responsibility. We can never blame an urge for the action we have formed, built and accepted. We have given it power from the thoughts that we allowed to form.

Stolen Rewards
Drugs hijack the natural reward system of humans. Smoking a joint feels like the relaxation similar to two hours in the gym. Heroin gives a pleasure similar to "runners high," the euphoric state experienced during long distance running. But, like all mood-altering drugs, the pleasure is stolen. It has not been gained honestly through effort, achievement or challenge.

Processed food hijacks the taste buds, stealing pleasure without giving nutrition. In nature, foods that taste good are good for us. Sweetness is an indicator of calories. Saltiness is an indicator of mineral content. A bittersweet taste, like lemon, is a sign of cleansing acids and vitamins. We like food with fats and oils because they supply calories and essential fatty acids. Natural oils and fats are high in calories and fat-soluble vitamins. Healthy food has a wholesome taste, a pleasure intended to reinforce healthy behavior.

KEY: Compulsive addictive obsessive overeaters binge to find peace. By running from fear it controls them.

A Security Blanket
Food can be used to medicate our feelings. Its pleasure gives a predictable lift. When we feel cranky, tired or lonely, food offers comfort. A comfort on which we can depend. A comfort that brings peace in an emotional storm. However, the reliance on food or any substance to feel better forms dependence.

The pleasure offered by mood-altering drugs and food can easily become a security blanket, insulating us from a harsh world. An emotional crutch that makes us weaker by leaning on it. Each time we use it natural emotional responses deteriorate, and the addict becomes emotionally dependent on the pleasure to control mood.

When we are dependent on a chemical or food to feel good, our self-worth is eroded. We no longer are in control. We are dependent. An addict never feels good about needing a drug. There is a feeling of being powerless that destroys self-esteem.

Every time we are tired, upset or frustrated and use food to feel good, that behavior is being etched deeply into our neuropathways. Whether that be eating potato chips, gambling, sexual perversion, horror movies or healthy activities like exercise or playing an instrument, the pleasure is creating triggers to repeat that behavior. Every time you enjoy a food that is unhealthy, use a mood-altering drug, engage in a perverse fantasy or enjoy being lazy you are creating triggers. Triggers that will activate emotions, becoming powerful urges to repeat that behavior.

After a lifetime's worth of indulgent triggers and twisted behaviors, we are out of control. Tidal waves crash upon the shore of our soul. There is no peace. The storm is relentless and the pain is endless. Hope is darkened. Only a glimmer remains. But it is enough to see.

Place a huge CAUTION sign over your pleasures. Choose your pleasures with great care. The pleasure of dopamine can move us forward towards a healthy, fulfilling life or endless indulgence. Through discipline, we can receive dopamine's pleasure from healthy activities and actions. We can feel good about doing the right thing while enjoying the benefits of a clear conscience and a healthy body.

Through discipline, you can control your neurotransmitters. Imagine being able to create nice, warm feelings … a neurotransmitter high without harsh drugs or side effects. Just warm dopamine fuzzy feelings. Bet you'd be one happy person. In a few chapters you are about to discover how. We call it the Dopamine Diet Plan.

When emotional and physical cravings rise up like a tag team punching from both sides you can hit back with a few uppercuts. No more beatings from Mr. Big. Be the aggressor. Fight back. Chase those cravings away with a scowl. Flex some muscles. Show no mercy. Take no prisoners. This is war!!

Addiction is profitable. It sells. Cravings are good for business.

There is no mysterious i

I am glad you posted this. I have had moments of rapid heart beat for the past two days and I could not figure out why. But now I wonder if it is from the cacao that I have been throwing into my banana smoothies. I will cut back and see what happens.

my goodness, what a long article! copied into my files, it'll take me forever to read and appreciate it all, thanks for posting it!

i had a bizarre thing happen to me with a raw bar that had cacao ( and who knows what else)

but it hasn't happened to me since

so it may have been what was in the bar in addition to cacao ( its hard to tell)

well... let's just say that it put me "out of commission" for a while

i found it so unbelievable that it had that effect on me

it is hard to describe what happened except to say that i felt not only on the verge of a very rapid descent down some precipitously steep sinkhole

but that i actually descended

SPLASH!

it was not fun

only in retrospect can i look back and laugh about it and say " OMG... what was THAT all about"


but i have tried cacao stuff again on rare occasions and have not had that effect so i don't know what happened

the only other time i felt THAT much out of commission

was when i tried some powdered MACA

but i don't think they mixed the maca with the cacao in the raw bar that i ate


cuz i didn't notice it in the ingredients

whatever.... maybe there are different gradations that exponentially affect the system

it definetely is not a "grounding" food

it makes me a bit MORE veroniquey than i already AM LOL

goodness gracious!

allone01
wow! thanks for your great post!
cynthia