Before the proliferation of processed foods and fast foods in our diets, people weren’t shaped the way they are today. Just look at a group photo taken in the 1960s and you will see there are very few if any “spare tires” in sight.
But our fast food and processed food diets have changed things dramatically.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), 34.3 percent of American children and adolescents get a significant portion of their daily food intake from fast food restaurants. The NCHS actually said they get a significant portion of their daily nutrition from fast food restaurants, but fast food is not nutrition. It is food intake, but it is merely foodless food.
Is this the seed of the growing epidemic of chronic degenerative diseases, obesity, and issues like asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and exzema?
A study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives conducted over seven years and taking data from 9,000 people found that those who reported eating fast food in the last 24 hours had elevated levels of several industrial chemicals in their bodies. These chemicals, called phthalates, aren’t found in nature but are commonly found in cosmetics, soaps, food packaging, flooring, window blinds, other consumer products and… fast food.
Researchers believe the phthalates leach into the food through the processing machinery and from the vinyl gloves food preparers use throughout the process of getting the food to your table.
Phthalates are endocrine disrupters. And they are among some 20 different compounds now being called obesogens because they are associated with obesity in humans and animals, and with increased waist circumference and abdominal obesity.
Fast foods are loaded with chemical additives and preservatives.
The meat — which is taken from animals medicated with synthetic growth hormones and antibiotics and grown in unhealthy and unnatural conditions — is often more meat by-products and fillers than real meat. The “beef” version of these meat by-products is often what the U.S. Department of Agriculture has come to term “pink slime,” which is beef trimmings and fat treated with ammonia.
A diet of processed and fast foods is highly acidic and creates a condition called acidosis. Acidosis in the body (except in the stomach, which should be highly acidic) is a cause of disease unrecognized by medical people. Symptoms of acidosis may take the form of chronic degenerative disease, which may include cancer, diabetes, arthritis, emphysema, arteriosclerosis or heart disease.
Fast foods are a plague on the people’s health but a boon to the medical-industrial complex. They are also highly addictive. Commercial food processors are committing the most serious crimes against the American people with approval of the FDA and the silence of the medical establishment.
For maximum health, your diet should be free of fast foods and processed foods and sugar or chemical sugar substitutes. It should consist mostly of vegetables (organic is best) with a small amount of free-range meat.
A powerful ally you can use to help you eliminate the toxicants you have already ingested is the herb milk thistle. Ancient Romans and Greeks often used milk thistle as a remedy for liver problems. Many modern medical practitioners also believe milk thistle is one of the most effective herbs for relieving liver disorders and related problems.
Why is that important? Because as I wrote to you yesterday, your liver is like a “traffic cop” for many activities that occur in your body. For example, it eliminates or neutralizes toxins in the blood. It also plays a role in controlling infection. Regarding our subject today, you need to know that milk thistle contains a chemical substance called silymarin, which is believed to help:
• Cleanse and detoxify your liver
• Relieve inflammation of liver cells (hepatitis)
• Treat symptoms of a fatty liver
Research shows milk thistle may also help protect your kidneys from the dangers of medications. It can even play a role in protecting your prostate from abnormal cell growth.
By Bob Livingston
