Written by Dr. Welsh, Article reviewed and edited by Dr. Fine M.D.. Published on 12 April 2014
Juicing
Pros and Cons
by
Dell Allen
Juicing
machines, books about juicing - even juice bars - are starting to
pop up all over the place. And the claims made about juicing are
amazing, enticing, and provocative. People in the developed world eat
far too few fruits and vegetables (and way too much processed and
junk foods), and juicing can make up for that by making it possible
to get the food value of many, many servings of fruits and vegetables
in a single glass. The proponents of juicing - which involves
removing all or almost all pulp and fiber from these foods and making
them into a drinkable "juice" - have said that drinking these
juices allows greater nutrient intake and density, more exposure to
antioxidants (which can retard the aging process), can kill pain, and
reduce the need for medication. What's the real story?
Pros
of juicing:
1.
Some people simply don't like to eat fruits and vegetables. So they
avoid them as much as possible, missing out on a lot of good basic
nutrition and trace elements. Such people also tend to fill up on
other foods to compensate, which in some cases can lead to excessive
calorie intake, weight gain, and nutritional imbalance. Juicing can
make it quick and simple to get many servings' worth of vegetable
or fruit goodness in a single quickly-prepared glass. For example,
it's quite possible for a large serving of juice to contain all the
enzymes, calories, water, trace elements, and natural sugars from
five
full pounds
of fruits and vegetables. Can you imagine trying to eat five pounds
of anything
for breakfast - and succeeding? I didn't think so.
2.
Not only are the "juiced" nutrients more densely packed than they
are in the whole fruit or vegetable, but for many people juicing is
easy and fun and encourages them to try out new and potentially
healthy additions to their diets that they wouldn't have tried
otherwise. There are now a huge number of juicing recipes that you
can find on the Internet, and thousands of other juicing enthusiasts
have discovered combinations that, they say, make the most prosaic of
veggies taste delightful. And, whatever recipes you might find, you
can add your favorite ingredients to the blend and find the mix
that's just right for you!
3.
It's possible to add protein to the mix for more complete nutrition
and even better flavor. Some high-protein ingredients are yogurt,
flax seed, peanut butter, finely ground nuts, and almond milk.
Cons
(and things to watch out for):
1.
Juiced fruits and vegetables can go bad very quickly. The same good
stuff that your body craves is attractive to microorganisms too. And
juiced veggies and fruits don't have the chemical preservatives
that processed foods and drinks do, so they start to rot almost
immediately. So, to prevent your new juice blend from going bad, make
sure and make just enough for you and your family to drink that same
day (and immediately freeze whatever portion you're going to drink
later). In fact, for maximum freshness it's best to make just
enough to consume right there on the spot (and make sure your
sources, like your farmers' market or grocery store, provide
absolute freshness too). Frozen juice can keep its full food value
for up to three days.
2.
Though juicing fanatics might regard this as blasphemy, consider
blending (yes, in a common kitchen blender) instead of juicing on
some occasions. Blenders retain the fiber, unlike juicers which
remove it. And fiber is very, very good for you. So why eliminate
all of it, all the time? Fiber adds bulk and helps fill you up too
(especially important if you're trying to lose weight).
3.
Be very skeptical of "too good to be true" claims: they probably
are "too good" and "not true." High-pressure sales of juicing
products, even sometimes with celebrity endorsements and multi-level
marketing, accompanied by claims of "total life-changing" or
"cheating death" experiences, should make you leery. These kinds
of sales pitches are almost always linked with wildly overpriced
juicing products. And you should discount claims that you ought to
avoid solid food and subsist only on juice; that could lead to
serious nutritional deficiencies. Claims that juicing gives you more
nutrients than you'd get from eating the same foods whole (because,
supposedly, the fiber that juicing removes "gets in the way" of
absorption) are also suspect, and decrease the credibility of those
making them.
4.
Look around the major online marketplaces like Ebay and Amazon to see
what price ranges the different kind of juicing supplies are falling
into these days. Then you'll know what's out there and how much
it usually costs if you decide to explore the many juicing specialty
sites that are online these days.
5.
Don't neglect health and juicing discussion forums on the Internet.
There you can find uncensored and (usually) unbiased personal stories
and reviews by those who've tried juicing and juicing products.
6.
If you concentrate your juicing efforts mainly on fruits (and many
do), you'll be getting a lot of sugar in your diet, and that can
add up. Try to strike a balance between fruits and vegetables. (And
nutritionists recommend varying the colors of the foods you choose,
too, to get a good mix of nutrients.) These days, there are many
sites on the Internet which give calorie counts for almost any
conceivable food. Remember, you're in charge, and you're doing
this to take control of your own nutrition, so take the job seriously
and do the research.
7.
Make sure and thoroughly clean your juicer after each use. The bad
bacteria that can make your juice start to go bad after sitting out
for even as little as half an hour also start working - just as
fast - on the food residues and particles in all the nooks and
crannies of your juicing machine. You don't want to be adding this
morning's bacteria population to this evening's juice! Also wash
all utensils, wash the fruits and vegetables themselves to remove any
dirt, pesticides, or bacteria, and also keep all your implements and
cutting boards scrupulously clean at all times.
Bottom
line: Juicing doesn't give you anything that eating non-juiced
whole veggies or fruits wouldn't give you. And there's a lot of
healthy fiber that you don't get if you just consume juiced fruits
and vegetables - the juicing process removes it all. But, if you
already have enough fiber in your diet, and if you have historically
been doing very poorly at eating a healthy number of servings of
these essential foods, then juicing can be an easy way to ramp up
your consumption of some of the healthiest foods you can eat, and you
can have a lot of fun in the process! Just don't go too hog wild on
the fruits and ignore the vegetables, since many fruits have a high
sugar content that can lead to weight gain and other problems if
carried to excess. Juice away!
REFERENCES
Nguyen,
Anna. "Juicing for Health and Weight Loss," WebMD,
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/juicing-health-risks-and-benefits,
retrieved April 5, 2014.
O'Neil,
C.E., et al. "100% Orange juice consumption is associated with
better diet quality, improved nutrient adequacy, decreased risk for
obesity, and improved biomarkers of health in adults," National
Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2003-2006. Nutrition
Journal.
2012;11:107
Duyff,
R.L., American
Dietetic Association Complete Food and Nutrition Guide. 4th ed.
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons; 2012.
Rampersaud,
G. "A comparison of nutrient density scores for 100% fruit juices,"
Journal
of Food Science.
2007;72:S261
Written by Dr. Welsh, Article reviewed and edited by Dr. Fine M.D.. Published on 15 March 2014
The
Truth About the Zone Diet
One of the
most effective ways to safeguard your health, live longer, and
alleviate the impact of aging on your body is to eat a good diet. The
Conscious Evolution Institute offers strong diet and nutrition plans
in combination with our various Hormone Replacement Therapy options
in order to help you maximize the potential benefits of therapy. The
Age-Free Zone Diet is one of many viable diet options if you are
looking to improve your health and reduce your risk of a number of
Age-Related Medical Conditions
Age-Free
Zone Diet
This diet
was created by a man named Doctor Barry Sears. The goal of this diet
is to simultaneously help you lose weight and help you live an
optimized life full of vitality. The central premise of the Age-Free
Zone Diet is that there certain factors which contribute to the aging
process which can be controlled, and that four of the factors which
speed up the aging process the fastest are free radicals, cortisol,
blood glucose, and insulin. The goal of this diet is to control and
reduce the levels of these Aging-Associated Factors through lifestyle
and diet so that you can balance them in order to significantly
reduce your mortality risk.
Zone
Diet Overview
Goal
of the diet is to balance hormone levels in order to slow down aging
Calorie-restricted
diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates
Involves
the use of diet supplements
Who
Should Consider the Zone Diet?
This diet
is best for individuals that love meats like chicken, fish, and pork,
and also for individuals that don't feel that they can completely
restrict their carbohydrate consumption but would be able to limit
their consumption modestly.
Who
Should Not Consider The Zone Diet?
This diet
is not suitable for individuals that need to limit their protein
consumption, such as individuals with kidney problems. If you have
Type-Two Diabetes, you should discuss this diet with your physician
before initiating your plan because most medical professionals
recommend eating slightly more carbohydrates than are allowed in this
diet.
The
Specifics of the Zone Diet
This diet
is not explicitly designed as a plan to lose weight, but
caloric-restriction plays a significant role in the diet, making it
also effective for people that want to lose weight. Sears is a fan of
caloric restriction because he is of the opinion that restricting
calories is an effective means to limit the impact of aging even in
individuals at a healthy weight.
The
Age-Free Zone Diet is a combination of lifestyle changes and diet,
which combine in an effort to optimize health and wellness. The three
primary factors of this health plan are dieting, moderate physical
activity, and meditation.
Although
lifestyle choices play a big role in this diet, the primary focus of
the plan is scaling back calories consumed in the daily diet by
avoiding simple carbs and limiting total carb consumption. By tightly
controlling the consumption of carbohydrates, the body does not rely
so heavily on insulin, which is responsible for converting
carbohydrates into glucose.
In
addition to controlling insulin, the diet plan also impacts the
balance of a number of different hormones, including Melatonin, DHEA,
Testosterone, Human Growth Hormone, Progesterone, Estrogen, and
Thyroid Hormone, all of which are important to maintain properly in
order to optimize one's health. In men, for example, efforts are made
to optimize Testosterone and Human Growth Hormone Secretion and to
limit DHEA and Estrogen Levels in the body.
How
Does the Zone Diet Slow Down the Effects of Aging?
Based upon
the theory behind this diet, Caloric Restriction is an effective
means both to lose weight while also limiting the negative impacts of
elevated Insulin and Blood Sugar. Living by this health plan also
limits the impact of Free Radicals on health. Free Radicals are the
byproducts of oxygen reactions in the body which can damage cells if
not controlled effectively.
Sears does
not recommend severe caloric restriction, however. The goal of his
diet is to intake just enough carbs to function optimally without
experiencing unnecessary side-effects of over consumption.
Maintaining these limited-yet-optimal levels will still give your
body all the energy it needs to sustain itself effectively while also
keeping Insulin, Glucose, and Free Radicals in check.
A
high-protein, low-carb diet is the central feature of this diet plan,
but the Zone Diet also involves the use of anti-aging supplements and
antioxidants. In spite of these recommendations, Sears insists that
exercise and foods play the most significant role in balancing
hormone production in order to enhance longevity.
How is
the Age-Free Zone Diet Organized?
The Zone
Diet takes a common approach to stimulate metabolism: spreading out
meals and snacks throughout the day. In the case of this particular
method, the dieter will ideally eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner with
two snacks distributed between meals. Every meal will involve four
courses per meal for men, and three courses per meal for women. Each
meal will have one source of fat, one source of carbohydrates, and
one source of protein. This diet plan even comes with a diet cookbook
which provides fourteen days worth of meals as well as a number of
additional, helpful recipes.
To provide
a more clear vision of what you can expect from your meals with this
diet, breakfast might involve fruit salad, low-fat cheese, and soy
patties. Lunch would involve reduced-fat cheese, turkey breast,
lightly dressed tossed salad, and a fruit choice. An example of a
Zone Diet Dinner would be grilled fish, grapes, green beans, and
tomatoes topped with olive oil and Parmesan cheese.
In
addition to meal plans, the Age-Free Zone Diet Book will provide you
with examples of a number of quality choices for your meals and
snacks in general, and provide you with knowledge needed to maintain
a healthy diet.
The
Rules of the Zone Diet
Eat
within an hour of waking up.
Never
wait for longer than five hours between meals and snacks. Eat
something light even if you aren't hungry.
Every
snack and meal should involve protein.
Place
an emphasis on vegetables and fruits and make strong efforts to cut
back starches, grains, pastas, and breads.
Never
skip snacks.
Consume
at least sixty four ounces of healthy drinks every day.
Always
have a small snack a half-hour before physical exercise.
How Do
Nutrition Experts Feel about the Age-Free Zone Diet?
Experts
agree that there are a lot of good ideas behind the Zone Diet, but
there are certain aspects which have not been fully proven. One
niggling point with regard to the Zone Diet is that Sears asserts
that an important aspect of the diet is discovering ideal
carbohydrate consumption to slow down aging, but he makes no special
effort to help the potential dieter to discover what that personal
limit is. The Diet Plan also provides no specific information
regarding how to make the diet fit the needs of the individual.
A lot of
what Sears supports is backed by compelling medical research.
Responsible caloric restriction is highly correlated with reduced
mortality. Elevated Insulin Levels do wreak havoc on the body and
increase the risk of conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.
Finally, free radicals do have the capability to damage healthy cells
and increase the rate of aging from wear and tear as well as
potentially damage the genes themselves.
The
potential issue with regard to these scientifically-backed aspects of
Sears' diet approach is that he takes the basic scientific wisdom and
goes further, inferring benefits that may or not be the reality. One
major issue that many nutritionists have with this diet is that the
Zone Diet involves a lot of unneeded supplements that are sometimes
combined in potentially damaging ways.
The Zone
Diet is based on 1,500 calories per day for males and 1,200 calories
per day for females. This level of caloric restriction will guarantee
weight loss for individuals that are overweight or obese, but his
plan does not provide necessary levels of certain nutrients, such as
calcium and B-Vitamins, from nutrition alone. The lack of these
vitamins from the diet is mitigated through the use of mineral and
vitamin supplements.
In
general, this diet recommends too much protein and not enough fiber
and carbs. The result of this is that you may experience constipation
and fatigue. Also, Sears believes that this diet is ideal for men and
women with Type-Two Diabetes, but most experts with experience with
diabetes patients generally advocate a diet with more carbs than the
Zone Diet recommends. Of course, you could take the advice of the
Zone Diet and alter it slightly to account for these dietary
discrepancies in order to amplify the positive potential of a diet of
this kind.
Still, the
diet is too high in protein and too low in complex carbohydrates and
fiber, which could leave you low on energy and constipated. And while
Sears advocates the diet for people with type 2 diabetes, most
diabetes experts recommend a diet much higher in carbohydrates than
the plan provided in the book.
Age-Free
Zone Diet Approved Recommendations:
Healthy
Fats, Limited Complex Carbs, Proteins with Every Meal, Vegetables,
Fruits, Caloric Restriction
Age-Free
Zone Diet Things to Avoid:
Low-Fiber,
Processed, High Fat, and High Carb Foods
Written by Dr. Welsh, Article reviewed and edited by Dr. Fine M.D.. Published on 15 March 2014
The
Schwarzbein Principle
Every diet
and nutrition plan presents itself as the new solution and the easy
way to lose weight and be healthy. Don't always trust the information
that you read in these diet books however. There are a number of
diets which can produce real benefits, including the Origin Diet and
the Eat Right, Live Longer diet, but many can actually be bad for
your health. This is especially true for certain fad diets.
One diet
that we strongly suggest to avoid is the Schwarzbein Principle. The
title of the book that contains this weight loss plan is “The
Truth about Weight Loss, Health, and Aging.” The stated goal of
this diet is to help you lose weight, reverse or soften the effects
of aging, and strengthen the body's resistance to disease through
changes in diet. We are going to explain why this diet is a bad idea.
The
Schwarzbein Principle at a Glance
High
fat, high protein diet
Denies
foods with a high glycemic-index, including processed carbohydrates
Purports
to be able to balance Hormone Levels in the body
Places
an emphasis on foods that you could hunt, gather, pick, milk, or
fish for
Who
Should Consider the Schwarzbein Principle
No one
should consider this diet.
Who
Should Avoid the Schwarzbein Principle
Pretty
much everyone should avoid this diet.
The
Basics of the Schwarzbein Principle
The
Schwarzbein Principle is a diet that was invented and proliferated
via an Endocrinologist named Diana Schwarzbein. Her diet is a
variation on diets like the Origin Diet in that it is both Low-Carb
and High Protein, but there are a number of differences between the
two diets as well. She claims that the diet has the ability to
control Insulin.
Avoiding
high insulin levels is the central tenet of the Schwarzbein
Principle, and she considers high insulin levels incredibly
dangerous, leading to a number of different adverse medical and
health issues, including weight gain, low metabolism, mood swings,
and accelerated aging. It also increases the intensity of food
cravings. She says that elevated insulin levels are directly the
result of the combination of a low fat and high carbohydrate diet.
Many
diets, as well as the diet recommended by the USDA, utilize a food
pyramid, but Schwarzbein's diet revolves around a food box which
includes four classes of foods – carbohydrates, non-starch
vegetables, fats, and proteins. She believes that these four groups
need to be eaten simultaneously in particular amounts in order to
properly balance the hormones of the body to encourage longevity and
promote Anti-Aging.
Schwarzbein
is also an adamant believer in the idea that refined sugar is both
addictive and dangerous. In addition to her diet plan, she also
advocates heavy use of supplements, including Omega-3 and Omega-6
Fatty Acids, 5-hydroxytryptophan, calcium, magnesium, and a
multivitamin.
The
Rationale of the Schwarzbein Principle
The
principal idea behind Schwarzbein's nutrition plan is that a diet
that is high in healthy fats and proteins while low in carbs helps to
balance insulin and prevent insulin spikes as well as regulate levels
of Glucagon. Glucagon is a peptide hormone secreted by the pancreas
that directly stimulates an increase in blood sugar. Increased
Glucagon Levels lead directly to increased Insulin Levels, which can
be a terrible cycle is your Insulin Levels spike too often. The
author of the diet believes that by controlling and balancing the
body's hormones, it is possible to limit cravings for food and
increase metabolism through diet.
There are
a number of ways that she claims that it is possible to reduce hunger
pangs and food cravings. A big part of balancing hunger under this
system is to eat lots of fiber and “good” fats and oils.
Balancing serotonin levels also plays a role in Schwarzbein's diet,
and serotonin levels can be controlled by avoiding sugar, chocolate,
refined carbs, caffeine, and alcohol. She claims that regulating
serotonin can reduce cravings.
The
Schwarzbein Principle calls for regulation of Carbohydrates, because
the diet revolves around the belief that there is no way to overeat
“good” fats and proteins. Only carbs have the ability to
spike insulin levels, which she believes is the leading cause of
weight gain. She believes that sugar is the culprit of most of the
physiological ills related to aging, because it causes Insulin
production to stay high and it prevents the body from utilizing
nutrients with maximum efficiency.
The
Meal Plan of the Schwarzbein Principle
The book
that accompanies this diet plan includes a month's worth of daily
menus in order to show how to institute a “healing”
program which claims to balance hormones and encourage health and
weight loss. The goal of this first month of meals is both to enhance
your metabolism and to increase your insulin resistance. She also
includes a month of daily menus and recipe options for vegetarians.
The
primary goal of these menus is to balance Insulin and Glucagon
production while balancing the glycemic index. It attempts to
accomplish this by only including fifteen grams of carbs with each
meal and including meals from her four specified food groups provided
in her recommended portions.
Under the
Schwarzbein Principle, a days breakfast would be along the lines of
oatmeal with cream and butter, sausage, sliced tomatoes, and
scrambled eggs. Lunch would consist of an olive oil-dressed cobb
salad and an apple. Finally, an example of a Schwarzbein dinner would
be roasted pork loin, asparagus and brown rice topped with butter,
and another salad with olive oil. This diet does not recommend
snacking, but allows it, providing examples such as almonds with
string cheese and sunflower seeds.
Expert
Opinion on the Schwarzbein Principle
The diet
outlined with the Schwarzbein Principle shares a number of
similarities with other diets. There are a number of effective and
safe weight loss and anti-aging diets that suggest both low-carb
consumption and high levels of protein.
One thing
that experts are very quick to point out with regard to this diet is
that hormone manipulation plays no role in any weight loss that
occurs as a result of this diet. Any weight loss accomplishments
earned while on this diet would explicitly be the result of caloric
restriction, no thanks to the increased fat consumption and severely
limited carbs. Although it is healthy to be conscientious with
carbohydrates, it can actually be counterproductive and even bad for
your health to limit them to the extent outlined in this diet plan.
One of the major issues that people on this diet would face would be
fatigue and exhaustion, because a diet with severely limited
carbohydrates would not provide sufficient calories for day to day
activity.
Besides
the issue with severely limited carbs, the other major issue with
this diet is that it recommends far too much saturated fat and
cholesterol. Nutrition experts and medical professionals are quick to
caution that there is no significant evidence that severely limiting
carbs and eating a lot of fat will exert any positive pressure over
your hormone balance. Even more specious is the idea that this diet
will be able to enhance weight loss gains or have any Anti-Aging
effect.
There
is No Guarantee that You Will Lose Weight with the Schwarzbein
Principle
It may be
possible to lose weight on this diet if portions are controlled
effectively, but the Schwarzbein Principle does not include any
discussion of portion control as a means to lose weight. The example
menus don't include calorie counts or portion sizes, and they usually
include a lot of butter and other fatty ingredients with a lot of
calories. The author simply does not place sufficient emphasis upon
the link between caloric consumption and weight gain (she actually
claims that the link is exaggerated), which is significantly if not
infinitely more important than balancing hormones through fat
consumption.
While it
may be possible to lose weight with this diet if portions are tightly
regulated, based specifically on the nutrition plan provided, it
would actually be very easy to start gaining weight on this diet, if
one ate portions that were too large. Even if you did manage to lose
weight on this diet, you would lose weight very slowly, even if you
ate a sensible number of calories each day. This is because the diet
actually limits the consumption of a number of foods which are
nutrient dense and can help with weight loss, and can lead you to be
deficient in a number of vitamins and minerals, including Fiber,
Folic Acid, Vitamin D, and Calcium.
What
Type of Calorie Count is Recommended on this Diet?
With the
information provided in the Schwarzbein Principle, there is no real
limitation on caloric consumption. Because there are no
recommendations with regard to serving size, there is absolutely no
way to estimate the number of calories that you would be consuming
with this diet.
Recommendations
of the Schwarzbein Principle
Range-Fed
Poultry and Meat Untreated with Antibiotics or Hormones, Limited
Starch Vegetables and Whole Grains, Foods High in Fat and Protein
Things
to Avoid on the Schwarzbein Principle
Foods with
Hydrogenated Fat, High Sodium, Processed Sausage, Vegetable Oils,
Foods with a High Glycemic Index, and Processed, Refined
Carbohydrates
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