WHITE RICE... PRETTY LITTLE GRAINS OF BERI-BER

This was the conclusion the 1929 Nobel Prize winner, Christian Eijkman declared in 1896 on his return to the Netherlands, after ten years of research in Batavia, Java in the Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta, Indonesia). If you want to learn about his research an his findings that white rice does indeed cause beri-beri, a
horrible disease that killed many people, click here to read about him.

Perhaps a good place to start this discussion  and comparison is with the question of why we have white rice. The same questions and
answers also apply to refined and unrefined sugar and refined and unrefined flour. In all cases the unrefined is healthier and the refined is more frequently used. The answer is based on economics and history. 

 

First, the economics, live plants have a shorter shelf life before they spoil. The refining process removes matter that will decay. Most bugs won’t even bother to get into white rice because they sense that there is nothing to sustain their lives in it.

Now, for the history...When the milling of grains started and the resulting flour was so fresh and clean looking, the wealthy and the aristocracy felt that they deserved to have this delicacy and even kept it from the common people. The same thing happened with white rice and white sugar. 

 

That feeling of having something special, carried over even after the common people were allowed to have it, just because they were allowed. That made them feel special. Fortunately, at that time, the products were more expensive so a lot of people still couldn’t afford them. Because of that, many people have been convinced that white bread, white sugar, and/or white rice are more desirable. So, one bottom line is that we, the consuming public, choose to buy less healthful products and convenience. 

 

The differences between brown and white rice begins shortly after harvest.  The rice we eat is the seed of the rice plant. For brown rice, the outer husk of the seed is removed by milling. This leaves the product that we call brown rice. Whole grain Basmati rice looks more like white rice but has the benefit of being very healthy. White rice is the result of a polishing process in which the germ (the nutritious part that spoils sooner) and bran of the rice are also removed.

Removing the germ and bran results in a considerable nutrient loss. Brown rice offers a number a health advantages. The body’s insulin response to brown rice is significantly lower that for white rice. Brown rice is higher in fiber, B vitamins, Vitamin E, potassium, magnesium and macronutrients than all types of white rice.  Brown rice also has more dietary fiber than white rice, and it has been shown to maintain a superior microflora in the intestine. Studies show higher numbers of beneficial bacteria and lower numbers of harmful bacteria in the colon.   This is very important because many disorders including diverticulitis, cancer, and constipation are known to result from larger numbers of harmful bacteria and insufficient numbers of beneficial bacteria in the colon.

Fortified white rice is sold, and in some cases the label may indicate higher vitamin and/or mineral levels than brown rice. But, the synthetic vitamins used in fortifying are less bioavailable; that is they
are not assimilated as well for purposes of feeding the cells. Thus the brown rice is still a healthier choice. This is another example of a good principle, whenever you take a natural food from nature and change its composition or strip nutrients from it, you will always have less human nutritional benefits. Mother Nature really knows best.

GLEAMING WHITE FLOUR...THE BEAUTIFUL POISON

What is it? Refined bleached or unbleached wheat flour.

Why eliminate it? It is essentially converted by the body back into the same simple sugar as sucrose. It has all the same effects of sucrose so you could almost think of it as white sugar without the sweetness. By the way, if you can chew a piece of white bread or cracker long enough without having to swallow it, you will notice that the change to sugar starts in your mouth and you can actually taste it getting sweeter.

The origin of white flour is a whole grain. In making white flour, the whole grain is “refined.” In making white bread the refined flour is then, “enriched.” The refining process removes the fiber rich bran outer layer and the nutrient rich embryo, called the germ. So we start with a healthy food that has both fibers and nutrients and we end with negative nutrition...it takes more nutrients to deal with the resulting “food” than that food provides. If the flour is used to make white bread, the flour is also “bleached” with chemicals.

One such chemical, chlorine oxide, is allowed by the FDA even though it destroys beta cells in the pancreas and is linked to diabetes. Another chemical used in bleaching is alloxan, which selectively
destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas when administered to rodents and many other animal species. This causes an insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (called "Alloxan Diabetes") in
these animals, with characteristics similar to type 2 diabetes in humans.

Over 50 years ago studies showed that because of the “refining” process, more vitamin B complex and iron deficiencies were appearing. The government requires that white bread be “enriched,” because bread is a staple. Although refining the flour totally removes 15 nutrients, the “enrichment” process adds back only 3 B vitamins and iron. “Refining” robs a larger amount of healthful natural nutritional ingredients and then to prevent severe vitamin deficiencies returns a minimum amount of synthetic B vitamins and iron.  In “refining” flour, we also destroy complex carbohydrates (the fiber rich bran) and are left with a simple carbohydrate. Complex carbohydrates are processed during digestion without causing sudden spikes in sugar. Additionally fiber enhances healthy elimination. The lack of fiber is
related to constipation, and white flour is one contributor.

Simple carbohydrates cause sudden spikes in sugar which then causes the pancreas to release insulin in order to protect the brain from too much sugar. This cycle of spikes in sugar followed by a demand for insulin from the pancreas leads to Type 2 Adult Onset Diabetes. Sadly, Type 2 Diabetes is more and more often diagnosed in children under the age of 15 now.  While many people have consciously reduced their use of sugar, they may not be as careful in monitoring their white flour intake. As I
mentioned above, white flour essentially is converted to the equivalent of white sugar and produces very similar results in your body. They both are major contributors to diabetes and weight gain, and other degenerative diseases.

There are unbleached enriched breads. Don’t be fooled! These breads are slightly darker in color, but present all the same nutritional deficiencies of the enrichment process, just without the bleach toxins.
Remember, a diet that includes a lot of refined foods results in many women being malnourished, constipated, and vulnerable to chronic illness. Fertility problems and difficulty carrying a baby to term can also frequently be related to nutritional deficiencies that are so often related to the Standard American Diet... S.A.D!

WHITE SUGAR…SWEET TREAT OR TOXIC TRICK?

What is it? Sucrose.
This is another name for plain old refined white sugar
Why eliminate it?  
When we refine sugar, we remove every nutrient that comes with it in nature that helps our bodies use it to promote good health.

Isn’t it interesting how words can be used! A “refined” person is defined as one who is cultured and has cultivated fine manners. The word “refined” as misapplied to foods would seem to mean that the food has been freed of impurities or unwanted ingredients. In fact just the opposite is true. What refined sugar, refined flour, and refined rice have in common is that they all have been stripped of the most
important nutrients. They actually provide negative nutrition, meaning that your body has to work harder to utilize or eliminate them and so uses up other nutrients in trying to do so. Over time they all also cause health problems.

When little Hawaiian kids would to go out to the fields and chew on the canes, none of them got a bunch of cavities; they didn’t get a sugar high, or hypoglycemia. This is because in the natural form, it was a whole food and it contained all the vitamins and minerals needed to use the sugar properly. An influx of sugar, sucrose, into the bloodstream upsets the body's blood-sugar balance, triggering the release of extra insulin, which the body uses to keep blood-sugar at a constant and safe level and which inhibits the release of growth hormones. That extra insulin means that your body is not burning the sugar and that promotes the storage of fat, so that when you eat sweets high in sugar, you're paving the way for rapid weight gain and elevated triglyceride levels, both of which have been linked to
cardiovascular disease.

Complex carbohydrates are absorbed more slowly, lessening the impact on blood-sugar levels. Once your body signals that it has too much sugar and the extra insulin is released, it has to take that sugar and store it. There is only a tiny storage area for that sugar, which is stored as glycogen. There isn’t enough stored to even last for a full day of activity, so it doesn’t give you much “wiggle room”, and once it is full, then the rest of that sugar is simply stored as saturated fat. Now you know one of the reasons you may not be able to maintain your weight. It can be so frustrating.
Another problem with a high insulin level is that it also depresses the immune system. This is not something you want to happen if you want to avoid disease. Just think of how many times you or someone you know has worked and fretted over a party, wedding, holiday meal wanting it to be perfect, and got terribly stressed. At those times most of us reach for the comfort foods, sweets, great rolls, and sodas. Many times that just set them up to get sick because it compromised their immune systems.

Each time we eat, insulin is released into the bloodstream. This vital hormone, secreted by special cells in the pancreas, encourages our tissues our muscles in particular - to gobble up the glucose surging through the bloodstream after we eat a meal. Insulin has many other vital roles as well. That's good news, because glucose hanging around in the blood is dangerous stuff. It can stick to proteins and destroy their ability to do their job. Kidney damage, blindness, and amputations may result.

But after a meal, insulin stops the liver from releasing any fat, a potential metabolic fuel, into the blood. Why after a meal? It turns out that just like glucose, these fats, released as triglycerides, are dangerous if they hang about in the blood too long. Because refined dietary sugar is so lacking in minerals, vitamins, and fiber, and has such a deteriorating effect on the endocrine system, major researchers and major health organizations (American Dietetic Association and American Diabetic Association) agree that sugar consumption in America is one of the 3 major causes of degenerative disease they must draw upon the body's micro-nutrient stores in order to be metabolized into
the system.

The health dangers which habitually ingesting sugar creates are certain. Here is a list of just some of the ways sugar affect your health. It can: suppress the immune system, speed the aging process, causing wrinkles and grey hair, cause hypertension, increase total cholesterol, upset the body's mineral balance contribute to weight gain and obesity, cause drowsiness, anxiety, and decreased activity in children, contribute to diabetes, compromise the lining of the capillaries contribute to osteoporosis. contribute to hyperactivity, depression, and concentration difficulties in children, cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity, raise adrenaline levels and crankiness in children, lead to decreased glucose tolerance, produce a significant rise in triglycerides, Increase systolic blood pressure, reduce helpful high density cholesterol cause toxemia during pregnancy., promote an elevation of harmful cholesterol (HDLs). (LDLs), cause food allergies, cause hypoglycemia, cause atherosclerosis, cause kidney damage. contribute to eczema in children, contribute to a weakened defense against bacterial infection, increase the amount of fat in the liver, cause depression. cause headaches, including migraines, increase the risk of chromium deficiency, increase bacterial fermentation in the colon, lead to coronary heart disease. cause free radical formation in the bloodstream, increase the body's fluid retention., cause hormonal imbalance, cause copper deficiency. overstress the pancreas, causing damage, interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium, increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney produce an acidic stomach, cause liver cells to divide, increasing the size of the liver, increase fasting levels of blood glucose, increase blood platelet adhesiveness, promote tooth decay. cause an increase in delta, alpha and theta brain waves, which can alter the mind's ability to think clearly cause cardiovascular disease, high sugar diets compared to low sugar diets increase risk of blood clots and strokes lead to periodontal disease, high intake of SUGAR increases the risk of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Bad Sugar, Good Sugar, Healthier Ways to Feeling Better

Image on left, goes with this discussion.  Natural verses unnatural.  Yummy sugar is found in fruits and veggies.  It provides us all sorts of good nutrition including natural sugar, fiber, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals.  Too many times do we reach for the chocolate bar- while just one small square of a Hersey bar contains bad sugar, wax, chemicals, and some antioxidants.  Candy and junk food in general pretty much is absorbed directly on our tongue straight into the blood stream, while fruit and veggies go through the entire digestive process ending up depositing nutrients along the way--mostly in our colon- where the best nutrients are then absorbed. 

When we eat candy and junk food we end up on this roller coaster for blood sugar (highlighted in red).  This creates very high levels responses of: anxiety, depression, dizzy, headaches/migraines, tingly feeling, allergies get worse, spacey, ADD, ADHD, panic attacks, etc.  When we are coming down from the sugar (sometime identified as 'food coma') we experience the following: fear, confusion, tiredness, cravings, suicidal thoughts, hungry, phobias, clamy skin, nightmares, heart palpitations, etc.  Not to mention being on this roller coaster puts us in high risk for diabetes and the inability to lose weight.

Essentially what is happening when we eat bad foods (high in sugar, fat, salt, etc) our cells crave begin to crave these things all the time, but at higher levels- as if we are building up a tolerance.  Each cell has this spot, almost like a door where insulin naturally enters, but when we bombard our system with sugar constantly, the door can't open because of the sugar levels, so when the sugar levels drop this creates more insulin to rush in, but then at this point there is not enough sugar so levels drop making the body crave more sugar.  This also throws the adrenal glands off-- stress also contributes to this. 

5 things people are going to crave going through this cycle

1. Sugar

2. Simple Carbs

3. Caffine

4. Nicotine

5. Alcohol

6. Drugs

To quite all this and to get back on the good foods will take 3 weeks without cheating.  The key is fruit- fiber helps slow down sugar. Best things to do:

1. Raw Protein

2. Fiber

3. Excersise

4. Vitamins and Minerals

5. Enzymes

* All these should be in the most natural/ raw form as possible.