Published June 22, 2011

Animal products I still eat — and recommend you do as well

As you may know, I’m a vegetarian, largely vegan. I try to encourage you and my patients to eat as many Living Foods as you can. But that doesn’t mean I recommend being vegan. While there are some animal products you should avoid, I don’t tell my patients to give up all animal products. There are nutrients found in animal products that you’ll not find easily in plants. And, as you’ll see in a moment, there are great health reasons to eat certain animal products.

You have probably heard about trans fatty acids. If you buy chips or other bagged foods, you’ve probably seen a new label saying “No Trans Fats!” That’s because trans fats are toxic. Trans fatty acids increase the risk of vascular diseases, immune dysfunction, and damage cell membrane integrity. We certainly want to avoid ingesting them!

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Published June 16, 2011

The only time salt makes asthma worse

I recently received a letter that asked a very important question about asthma. Marshall K. asked, “I’ve heard that eating salt can aggravate asthma. Is this true?”

Depending on where you go in this world you will find greater or fewer cases of asthma. We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of cases here in the U.S. in recent years. Of course, we can attribute the most likely cause for the disease to differences in the environment and/or cultural differences in diet. And, as you’ve probably heard, several observational studies have suggested that dietary sodium (table salt) may play a role. But is this true?

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Published June 15, 2011

E. coli epidemic sprouts attacks against organic vegetables

By now, you’ve probably heard about the horrific epidemic of E. coli fast spreading around Europe. So far, over three dozen people have died and over 1,600 are sick — many needing kidney dialysis or transplants. The source of the outbreak was claimed to be an organic bean sprout farm near Hamburg, Germany. As a result, the attacks against organic foods are on the rise.

Even if this source of E. coli is from organic food, are organics really to blame? First, E. coli is usually a harmless resident of our intestinal tracts. But, even inside us, sometimes our friendly flora can turn nasty. In this case, the E. coli strain has developed genetic traits that make it highly invasive, and toxin producing.

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