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Quotes about Western Diets from the world's top natural health / natural living authors

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"This might help explain why so many groups have adopted western diets as soon as they get the chance. It should be said that researchers working on omega-3 s can sound a bit like Dr. Casaubon in Middlemarch, hard at work on his "Key to all Mythologies." Likewise, omega-3 researchers seem to be in possession of a Theory of Everything, including happiness. The same population studies that have correlated omega-3 deficiency to cardiovascular disease have also found strong correlations between falling levels of omega-3 in the diet and rising rates of depression, suicide, and even homicide." - Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (Get the book.)

"The most harmful change that has occurred in western diets over the past century has been the partial replacement of natural carbohydrate foods by an increased consumption of fat and animal foods and refined sugar and flour." This change led Dr. Burkitt to conclude that fiber is the single most important nutritional element in our foodstuffs. We are in agreement about one thing: if the food is eaten live, it will have all of its fiber intact. The Proper Dietary Proportions of Carbohydrates, Fats and Proteins Definitions of the macronutrients ?carbohydrates, fats and proteins ?" - Susan E. Schenck, The Live Food Factor: The Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit & Planet (Get the book.)

"What led to the interest in N-3 oils as a protector against vascular disease, especially heart attacks and strokes, was the observation that Greenland Eskimos rarely developed cardiovascular diseases as compared to people eating western diets.587 When these Eskimos began to eat western diets, they developed heart attack and stroke rates equal to most Americans, demonstrating that it wasn't genetic. Subsequent studies of other populations with fish as a dietary staple showed the same thing. In fact, even eating fish once or twice a week significantly lowered disease rates." - Russell L. Blaylock, M.D., Health and Nutrition Secrets (Get the book.)

"These changes in rates of diabetes in countries where little or no diabetes previously existed have been directly correlated with the introduction of western diets, specifically with the arrival of American fast-food restaurants like McDonald's and Wendy's. In fact, in 2006 A. Hauber, an economist from Bear Stearns International, and E. Gale, a doctor at the University of Bristol in England (an unusual collaboration between the world of finance and that of medicine and science), wrote: There are two dimensions to each new treatment for diabetes." - J. Douglas Bremner, Before You Take that Pill: Why the Drug Industry May Be Bad for Your Health (Get the book.)

"According to Simon Maxwell, senior lecturer at the Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Leicester Royal Infirmary, United Kingdom, black tea may account for more than half of the flavonoid intake of western diets. Theaflavins, a group of catechins formed during the processing of black tea, are much weaker than EGCG but do show antioxidant activity in laboratory studies." - Lester A. Mitscher and Victoria Toews, The Green Tea Book (Get the book.)

"Nutrition Cancer 37:119-27, 2000; Neoplasia 8:112-24, 2006] While both of these oils are essential for life, omega-3 oils are in such short supply in western diets as to favor tumor growth. Omega-3 oil is virtually absent in tissues of many human beings. Use of omega-3 oils should be considered one of the most powerful ways to prevent or treat cancer. Evidence continues to mount for omega-3 oils in the battle against cancer. There are many examples. A remarkable investigation was conducted among Eskimos, known as Inuit." - Bill Sardi, You Don't Have to be Afraid of Cancer Anymore (Get the book.)

"Increased levels of estrogen and related hormones are a result of the consumption of typical western diets, high in fat and animal protein and low in dietary fiber.3,13-18 The difference in estrogen levels between rural Chinese women and Western women19 is all the more remarkable because a previous report20 found that a mere 17% decrease in estrogen levels could account for a huge difference in breast cancer rates when comparing different countries." - T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and Thomas M. Campbell II, The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health (Get the book.)

"Western diets typically provide 5 grams per day. The body also produces ornithine. Ornithine has been used in connection with the following conditions (refer to the individual health concern for complete information): Rating Health Concerns þ?ft Liver cirrhosis (page 290) (hepatic encephalopathy) (L-ornithine-L-aspartate) Recovery from illness (ornithine alpha-ketoglutarate) þftft Athletic performance (page 43) (for body composition and strength) Who is likely to be deficient?" - Alan R. Gaby, M.D., Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., Forrest Batz, Pharm.D. Rick Chester, RPh., N.D., DipLAc. George Constantine, R.Ph., Ph.D. Linnea D. Thompson, Pharm.D., N.D., The Natural Pharmacy: Complete A-Z Reference to Natural Treatments for Common Health Conditions (Get the book.) "However, average-size adults require approximately 800-1,000 mg of methionine per day—an amount easily obtained ot even exceeded by most western diets. Are there any side effects or interactions? Animal studies suggest that diets high in methionine, in the presence of B-vitamin deficiencies, may increase the risk for atherosclerosis (page 38) (hardening of the arteries) by increasing blood levels of cholesterol (page 223) and a compound called homocysteine (page 235).15 This idea has not yet been tested in humans." - Alan R. Gaby, M.D., Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., Forrest Batz, Pharm.D. Rick Chester, RPh., N.D., DipLAc. George Constantine, R.Ph., Ph.D. Linnea D. Thompson, Pharm.D., N.D., The Natural Pharmacy: Complete A-Z Reference to Natural Treatments for Common Health Conditions (Get the book.) "Severe vitamin C deficiency is uncommon in people who consume western diets, but mild insufficiency is found in 6% of healthy adults59 and larger numbers of college students60 and smokers.61 On the basis of extensive analyses of published vitamin C studies, some authorities have suggested that optimal intake for disease prevention may be at least 90 to 100 mg per day.62' 63 However, supplementation with over 200 mg per day of vitamin C by healthy people does not result in higher vitamin C concentrations in the body64 and may be no more helpful for preventing disease than smaller amounts." - Alan R. Gaby, M.D., Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., Forrest Batz, Pharm.D. Rick Chester, RPh., N.D., DipLAc. George Constantine, R.Ph., Ph.D. Linnea D. Thompson, Pharm.D., N.D., The Natural Pharmacy: Complete A-Z Reference to Natural Treatments for Common Health Conditions (Get the book.)

"Cancer Research 41: 3771-73, 1981] Japanese women who move to the United States and consume western diets experience an increased risk for breast cancer within one generation. [Network 10: 1-2, 1989] Breast Cancer Mortality And Sugar Consumption Source: Medical Hypotheses 11:319-27, 1983 Mortality per 100,000 by age groups Country 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 Average grams sugar intake per day Britain 23.0 64.7 96.9 122.2 131.8 Holland 20.7 56.5 94.2 117.6 125.1 Ireland 19.3 69.0 72.2 112.5 126.8 United States 16.9 51.0 83.0 98.9 133.7 Sweden 13.4 33.9 66.2 94." - Bill Sardi, You Don't Have to be Afraid of Cancer Anymore (Get the book.)

"One group was given sunflower oil, a typical oil used in western diets, and one group was given the good stuff: extra virgin olive oil (about which more in a moment). The olive oil decreased the second group's blood pressure by a significant amount; it also decreased their need for blood pressure meds by a whopping 48 percent. As the English might say, "not too shabby." Olive Oil Decreases Risk of Colon and Bowel Cancer Dr." - Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What You Should Eat and Why (Get the book.)

"When these Eskimos began to eat western diets, they developed heart attack and stroke rates equal to most Americans, demonstrating that it wasn't genetic. Subsequent studies of other populations with fish as a dietary staple showed the same thing. In fact, even eating fish once or twice a week significantly lowered disease rates. In one such study, it was found that men who ate as little as 1.2 ounces of fish daily, as compared to men who ate no fish, reduced their risk of coronary heart disease (heart attacks) by 38 percent and death from heart attacks by 67 percent." - Russell L. Blaylock, M.D., Health and Nutrition Secrets (Get the book.)

"The difference between rural Chinese diets and western diets, and the ensuing disease patterns, is enormous. It was this distinction, as much as any other, that made this study so important. The media called the China Study a "landmark study." An article in the Saturday Evening Post said the project "should shake up medical and nutrition researchers everywhere."8 Some in the medical establishment said another study like this could never be done. What I knew was that our study offered an opportunity to investigate many of the most contentious ideas that I was forming about food and health." - T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and Thomas M. Campbell II, The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health (Get the book.) "Like the Nurses' Health Study, these studies all involved typical western diets highly skewed toward the consumption of animal-based foods, where people are tinkering with the intake of only one nutrient or one food at a time. Every study failed to take into account a broader range of dietary choices—including those which demonstrated positive effects on breast cancer risk in the past." - T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and Thomas M. Campbell II, The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health (Get the book.)

"Although most western diets contain ample or even excessive amounts of phosphorus, older people who supplement with large amounts of calcium may be at risk of developing phosphorus deficiency. For this reason, the authors of this study recommend that, for elderly people, at least some of the supplemental calcium be taken in the form of tri-calcium phosphate or some other phosphorus-containing preparation. Vitamin D (page 607) s most important role is maintaining blood levels of calcium." - Alan R. Gaby, M.D., Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., Forrest Batz, Pharm.D. Rick Chester, RPh., N.D., DipLAc. George Constantine, R.Ph., Ph.D. Linnea D. Thompson, Pharm.D., N.D., The Natural Pharmacy: Complete A-Z Reference to Natural Treatments for Common Health Conditions (Get the book.)

"Modern western diets typically have ratios of omega-6 to omega-3 in excess of 10 to 1, some as high as 30 to 1. The optimal ratio is thought to be 4 to 1 or lower. The most healthful of the omega-6s are those that contain linoleic acid. These convert in the body to gamma linoleic acid (GLA) and ultimately to prostaglandins, hormone-like molecules that help regulate Inflammation and blood pressure as well as heart, gastrointestinal, and kidney functions." - Jan Lovejoy, Get Balanced-the Natural Way to Better Health with Superfoods (Get the book.)

"Why do Asian men who emigrate and adopt western diets also adopt Western prostate cancer rates? One major reason, among others, is Asian men's dependence on soy-based foods for protein. Soy bioflavonoids, specifically isoflavones, are converted to other cancer-preventing substances by our intestinal flora. Evidence for this reasoning comes from a number of different types of research, but no matter what method scientists follow, they end up with the same results." - James Scala Ph.D., 20 Natural Ways to Reduce the Risk of Prostate Cancer : A Mind-Body Approach to Health and Well-Being (Get the book.)

"I would say that most western diets are so bad for the colon that by the time you reach 30, your colon has been through enough to look like it would if you were 60. The idea of physically cleansing the colon is a good one. It has a long history in health practices and is especially appropriate if you are overweight, constipated (even with probiotics), or eating a diet with little or no roughage. There are two physical methods for cleaning the colon that involve using water to soak and then remove hardened fecal matter. One is a do-it-yourself approach called an enema." - John K. Pollard, The Digestive Awareness Diet: You Are HOW You Eat (Get the book.)

"In particular, I see magnesium as an important research topic for survival considering its limited availability from our western diets and due to its ability to inexpensively cure and prevent many expensive diseases, life threatening or not. "I know how bad depression can be, because I spent September of 1999 through April of 2000 in a clinical depression that worsened from the beginning. By Christmas the depression suddenly became much worse, nearly suicidal in intensity, and remained that way for four more months." - Mark Sircus, Transdermal Magnesium Therapy (Get the book.)

"The dietary intake of gamma-tocopherol is at least two times that of alpha-tocopherol in western diets. The results of a 1997 study suggest that the mixed forms of vitamin E found in food may be more beneficial than the alpha tocopherol form which is the main ingredient in supplements. About 75 per cent ofthe vitamin E found in food is the gamma tocopherol form while supplements may not contain any gamma tocopherol and it is possible that taking very high doses of alpha tocopherol may displace gamma tocopherol." - Jan Lovejoy, Get Balanced-the Natural Way to Better Health with Superfoods (Get the book.)

"In fact, the culprit seems to be lurking in our western diets. The inescapable fact is that the problem is not carbohydrates (that is, sugar and starch). The problem is in how the body processes them. If we can repair your body's ability to absorb and use carbohydrates, not only can you enjoy healthy carbohydrate-rich foods without worry, but diabetes itself ought to improve—perhaps even go away. A look inside your body will show you what I mean. A LOOK INSIDE YOUR BODY Your pancreas, an organ in your abdomen, produces insulin." - Neal D. Barnard and Bryanna Clark Grogan, Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes Without Drugs (Get the book.)

"Because most western diets have a tendency to defeat this aspect of the stomach, we are often obliged to help the stomach by providing an aid to stomach digestion. This is where the next digestive awareness tip comes in handy. Drink Diluted Apple Cider Vinegar Before Each Protein Meal The best thing you can do for your stomach to help it to digest proteins properly is to drink diluted apple cidervinegar before each meal. Drinking diluted apple cider vinegar before or with a meal is the easiest and cheapest treatment for gas, reflux, and other associated gastric problems." - John K. Pollard, The Digestive Awareness Diet: You Are HOW You Eat (Get the book.)

"The consumption of omega-3 oils in a favorable balance over omega-6 oils is attributed to the prevention of a variety of diseases seen commonly in populations consuming western diets. [Biomed Pharmacotherapy 56:365-79] Miracle triad of flaxseed Too much has been made of the phytoestrogen content of flaxseed, and for that matter all herbal estrogen modifiers, while its other components have been overlooked. Whole ground flaxseed exhibits unique properties for health promotion over and above those provided by other plant estrogens such as red clover, black cohosh or vitex." - Bill Sardi, You Don't Have to be Afraid of Cancer Anymore (Get the book.)

"He found that people living in cities on western diets only excreted 5 1/2 oz of stool each day, with average transit times of 48 to 72 hours. People on native diets had extremely low incidences of diseases common to Western civilization, such as appendicitis, diabetes, diverticulitis, gallstones, coronary heart disease, hiatal hernia, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, colon cancer and obesity. When these people moved into cities and ate a Westernized diet, they too developed these diseases. Dr. Burkitt attributed much of this disease to poor dietary fiber intake in a modernized diet." - Elizabeth Lipski, Digestive Wellness: How to Strengthen the Immune System and Prevent Disease Through Healthy Digestion (Get the book.) "Western diets only excreted 5 oz of stool daily, whereas Africans eating traditional diets passed 16 oz. Well-formed stool tells us when it wants to come out; we don't need to coax it. It looks like a brown banana with a point at one end, is well-hydrated and just slips out easily. Stool that looks like little balls all wadded together has been in the colon too long. The longer waste materials sit in the colon, the more concentrated the bile acids become; concentrated bile acids irritate the lining of the colon. Frequency of bowel movements is a good health indicator." - Elizabeth Lipski, Digestive Wellness: How to Strengthen the Immune System and Prevent Disease Through Healthy Digestion (Get the book.)

"Women on western diets have unusually high levels of estrogens during their reproductive years and a dramatic change at menopause. They have a much worse time with menopausal symptoms, including much more aggressive bone loss, than do women on plant-based diets. They also have much more breast cancer and other hormone-related cancers. More on all of these in chapter 5. Men on western diets have a far higher risk of prostate problems. It is hard to imagine that the prostate gland in the lower abdomen could be affected by your dinner." - Neal Barnard, M.D., Eat Right, Live Longer: Using the Natural Power of Foods to Age-Proof Your Body (Get the book.)

"Indeed, most of us are eating ourselves to death: only about 10 percent of Americans eat the foods that would enable them to be free of chronic disease and premature death. Our western diets are literally killing us. While man evolved on a plant-based diet more than fifty thousand years ago, our modern diet—the one our parents ate and the one we're eating—developed only during the past fifty to eighty years. It is not serving us well. We humans are genetically "wired" for starvation, not an overabundance of food." - Steven G. Pratt, M.D. and Kathy Matthews, SuperFoods Rx: Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life (Get the book.)

"Spirulina also contains an omega-3 oil - GLA - that's critical for proper brain nutrition (and is almost always lacking in western diets). • Chlorella contains CGF (Chlorella Growth Factor) which actually rebuilds damaged nerve tissue in the body. • The high chlorophyll content of both chlorella and spirulina demonstrate powerful cleansing effects on the body's blood and organs (liver, kidneys, spleen, etc.) • These micro-algae have been shown to help reverse cancer, fight diabetes, prevent heart disease, and much more. They are truly amazing food sources." - Mike Adams, Grocery Warning: How to recognize and avoid the groceries that cause cancer, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and other common diseases (Get the book.)

"Unfortunately, the amount of manmade, partially hydrogenated oils known as "trans-fatty acids" is extremely high in modern western diets. These trans-fats are so similar to cholesterol that our bodies cannot tell the difference. They are mistakenly used in place of good cholesterol to build cell membranes. This then causes these cell membranes to lack a vital electrical charge that would normally attract oxygen. Without sufficient oxygen, the cellular environment becomes more and more anaerobic." - Tanya Harter Pierce, Outsmart Your Cancer: Alternative Non-Toxic Treatments That Work (Get the book.)

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