Practical Living » Disease Prevention http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php Practical Solutions for Modern Living Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:26:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc Is MSG Lurking in Your Food? http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/disease-prevention/is-msg-lurking-in-your-food/ http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/disease-prevention/is-msg-lurking-in-your-food/#comments Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:18:55 +0000 admin http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/?p=247

Monosodium Glutamate, otherwise known as MSG, is a dangerous flavor enhancer and food additive. And although many people think they are being healthy by avoiding foods that explicitly list MSG as an ingredient, what they don’t know is that MSG comes in other forms and is often renamed without the consumer even knowing.

What Is MSG, and Why Is It Dangerous?

Although many people usually associate MSG with asian food,it is found in:

  • Most processed foods
  • Fast food
  • Frozen food
  • Canned food

Consumption of foods containing MSG have damaging effects to the human body which include:

  • Alzheimers, Huntington’s disease, Dementia, and other neurodegenerative disease.
  • Cancer
  • Increase in free-radical production in the brain and other tissues in the body.
  • Excites brain cells to the point of degeneration and death.
  • Triggers the onset of autoimmune disorders like Type I Diabetes, Type II Diabetes, and Insulin Resistance.

  • Damages the DNA within human reproductive cells.
  • Obesity
  • Low metabolic rate
  • Decrease in testosterone production in males.
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Retina damage

The fact that many diseases in America are rising, including cancer, diabetes, and obesity is no coincidence. People are ingesting foods that are not at all nutritious and in fact, quite harmful to their health.

Disguises for MSG

Even when people are trying feverishly to watch what they eat and avoid MSG, among other additives, they still end up consuming it. That’s because MSG happens to be in a particular ingredient, so the next time you decide to buy food, even if it says “no MSG added”, look for these ingredients:

  • Accent
  • Ajinomoto
  • Autolyzed yeast extract
  • Beef broth
  • Carrageenan
  • Caseinate
  • Chicken broth
  • Chinese seasoning
  • Glutacyl
  • Glutamic acid
  • Glutavene
  • Gourmet powder
  • Flavorings
  • Hydrolyzed protein
  • Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
  • Kombu extract
  • Mei-jing
  • Monosodium glutamate
  • Monoammonium glutamate
  • Monopotassium glutamate
  • Natural flavor
  • Natural meat tenderizer
  • Protein hydrolystate
  • RL-50
  • Soy protein extract
  • Soy protein isolate
  • Subu
  • Vegetable broth
  • Vegetable powder
  • Vetsin
  • Wei-jing
  • Zest
]]> http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/disease-prevention/is-msg-lurking-in-your-food/feed/ 4 Balance Your Body pH http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/disease-prevention/balance-your-body-ph/ http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/disease-prevention/balance-your-body-ph/#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2009 06:21:29 +0000 admin http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/?p=217

The balance of acid and alkaline within the body is referred to as pH, and is measured on a scale ranging from pH 1 to pH 14 with pH1 being the most acidic and pH 14 being the most alkaline.

Why Body pH Balance is Important

If you really want to be healthy, what you eat plays a huge part. That is because the foods you eat either make your body pH levels acidic or alkaline. By having a body pH consistently acidic, you are risking getting chronic diseases like:

  • Cancer
  • Fatigue
  • Increase of body fat
  • Kidney stones
  • Loss of bone mass
  • Loss of lean muscle mass
  • Obesity and being overweight
  • Poor bone health and osteoporsis
  • Reduction of growth hormone levels
  • Sleeping problems
  • Suppression of the immune system

Foods that Cause an Acidic Body pH

By avoiding the following foods, and eating these foods, you
Can make your body pH alkaline.

  • Commercial breakfast cereals
  • Pasta
  • Refined Wheat Flour
  • White rice
  • Meats like:
    • Beef
    • Pork
    • Poultry
    • Cold-water fish
    • Venison
    • Wild game
    • Shellfish
  • Cheese
  • Cream
  • White rice
  • Margarine
  • Artificial sweeteners
  • Candy
  • Coffee
  • Synthetic Multivitamins
  • Roasted peanuts
  • Prescription drugs
  • Soft drinks
  • Protein isolates like:
    • Soy protein isolate
    • Whey protein isolate

Foods that Cause an Alkaline Body pH

By consuming the following foods, you can attain better health by making your body pH alkaline.

  • Vegetables like:
    • Aparagus
    • Beets
    • Bell peppers
    • Broccoli
    • Carrots
    • Cauliflower
    • Celery
    • Chicory
    • Dill
    • Dulse
    • Green beans
    • Leeks
    • Mixed greens
    • Onion
    • Parsley
    • Parnips
    • Sea vegetables
    • Sprouts
    • Squash
    • Sweet potatoes
    • Yams
    • Zucchini
  • Pseudograins (Seeds) like:
    • Amaranth
    • Buckwheat
    • Millet
    • Quinoa
    • Wild rice
  • Fruits like:
    • Apples
    • Avocados
    • Bananas
    • Berries(most)
    • Cantaloupe
    • Cherries
    • Dates
    • Grapes
    • Grapefruit
    • Lemons
    • Limes
    • Mangos
    • Melons(most)
    • Nectarines
    • Papayas
    • Peaches
    • Pears
    • Persimmons
    • Pineapple
    • Pomegranates
  • Gingeroot
  • Green tea
  • Herbs
  • Rooibos
  • Yerba mate
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Balsamic Vinegar
  • Garlic

]]> http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/disease-prevention/balance-your-body-ph/feed/ 1 Your Vitamins May Be Killing You http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/disease-prevention/your-vitamins-may-be-killing-you/ http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/disease-prevention/your-vitamins-may-be-killing-you/#comments Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:30:01 +0000 admin http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/?p=28

Although you may think you may doing yourself a favor by taking multivitamins everyday and being health conscious. You may also be causing your body great harm
What you may not realize that just like in food, in many vitamins there are additives that are actually harmful to your health like Magnesium Stearate.

Why Is It Added?

Magnesium Stearate, also known as stearic acid, is added to vitamins by manufacturers because it enables them to save money in the production of these vitamins. Good for them, bad for us.

Dangers

Magnesium Stearate has been shown to cause:

  • Cell death
  • Liver damage
  • Suppress the immune system

Although you may think you are doing yourself a favor taking vitamins, it is important to be sure to avoid this harmful additive that is in so many supplements. Good Luck!

]]> http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/disease-prevention/your-vitamins-may-be-killing-you/feed/ 1 Lemon with your Tea: A Toxic Combination http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/disease-prevention/lemon-with-your-tea-a-toxic-combination/ http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/disease-prevention/lemon-with-your-tea-a-toxic-combination/#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:46:03 +0000 admin http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/?p=11

Although you may think you may be living healthier by substituting sugar and sugar substitutes when putting lemon in your tea, quite the contrary is true.

Why it is a Toxic Combo

The fact is that because tea has aluminum in it, adding lemon, which contains citric acid makes the bioavailability increase, which means you are absorbing more aluminum in your body.

The reason why you want to avoid ingesting aluminum is because aluminum:

  • Increases release of free iron
  • Increases free-radical production
  • Increases lipid peroxidation
  • Increases pro-oxidant copper and chromium effects
  • Decreases total lipids, glycolipids, and phospholipids
  • Impairs the following enzyme functions

    • Enolase
    • Myosin
    • Calpain
    • Proteinase K
    • Phospholipase A2
    • Argenase
  • Increases brain glutamate absorption
  • Becomes a neurotoxin when combined with Fluoride
  • Activates microglia
  • Is associated with Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimers
  • Is active in formation of neurofibrillary tangles
  • Depletes brain lipids

Alternative Choices

So what are your other options to sweetening up your tea? Well, you want to avoid all artificial sweeteners, including Splenda, because they are all dangerous for you. Can you think of anything man-made that is actually good for you? I think not.

So you could try to put conservative amounts of sugar because you do not want to take in too much, you could go without adding any sweeteners, or you could use natural sweeteners like Xylitol and Stevia.

What is Xylitol?

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol sweetener used as a naturally occurring sugar substitute. It is found in the fibers of many fruits and vegetables, including various berries, corn husks, oats, and mushrooms. Xylitol is about as sweet as sucrose with only two-thirds the food energy.

Initial consumption can result in:

  • Bloating
  • Diarrhea
  • Flatulence

Benefits of Consuming Xylitol

The benefits of consuming xylitol are :

  • Better dental health
  • Does not cause a spike in blood sugar levels
  • Used to treat osteoporosis
  • Helps with eat and upper respiratory infections
  • Fights bacteria that cause infections and disease
  • Fights candida yeast

Xylitol has also been shown to reduce the probability of transmitting the Streptococcus Mutans bacteria, which is responsible for tooth decay, from mother to child during the first two years of life by as much as 80%.

What is Stevia?

Stevia is an herb that is native to the subtropical and tropical South and Central American regions. The crops are grown for its sweet leaves, and as a sugar substitute, its extracts have up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar.

Stevia is perfect for people who are diabetic, or simply trying to watch their glucose intake because it has a negligible effect on blood sugar levels.

Benefits of Consuming Stevia

Consumption of Stevia has been used to treat:

  • Obesity
  • Hypertension
  • Heart Burn

So if you are looking for a safe, low-carb sweetener, and do not want to use chemicals or lemon, Xylitol or Stevia would be great choices. Good luck.

]]> http://www.practicalliving.com/index.php/disease-prevention/lemon-with-your-tea-a-toxic-combination/feed/ 5