Top Secret Fat Loss Secret Review

What have parasites got to do with fat loss?

Are you one of those trying to lose weight and wondering why you are not? You have tried everything possible, as well as including "healthy" and organic foods in your diet.

The fact is modern foods are filled with unnatural things which prevent us from remaining healthy. These foods are responsible for obesity and other related diseases. This may be the reason why
American dairy and meat products are not allowed in Japan.

Then why do we eat these foods?

There are parasites in our stomach, which dictate to the brain to eat these junk foods. Despite intense exercise and strict diets, obese people do not see results because of these parasites controlling their eating habits.

7 best ways to Fat Loss

1. It is always advisable to consult your physician before you get onto a weight loss regime.

2. You should always eat the right food. Be careful to choose only healthy foods.

3. Exercise and fat loss are closely related. Do regular stretching exercises. 20-30 minutes of exercise are good enough to begin with.

4. Quit drinking alcohol, as well as smoking.

5. You should rest adequately. 8 hours of sleep at night are necessary for an adult.

6. Never skip breakfast and drink 8-10 glasses of water everyday.

7. Keep your bowel clean. Drink two glasses of warm water in the morning everyday on an empty stomach.

Dr. Suzanne Gudakunst, a doctor from Arizona made a significant discovery recently, which shocked the entire multi-billion dollar fat loss industry. Her finding was that parasites are responsible for chronic obesity.

Suzanne's natural treatment methods for fat loss have been compiled into a downloadable e-book called "Top Secret Fat Loss Secret". I personally think this e-book is one of the best resources for fat loss.

You will learn how to get rid of these harmful parasites and little critters forever, using different natural herbs, extracts and organic constituents.

The Right to Food

Most of us living in big and action-packed metropolises have a similar life pattern. All through our lives, we use the assets and gifts with which the Almighty Has blessed us without giving anything a second thought. Perhaps, we have taken everything for granted. Living in our air-conditioned rooms, we avoid a wrenching reality that 60% people around the world live below the poverty line with absolutely no concept of housing and electricity what so ever. With education easily accessible to us, we never realize that only 1 out of 8 children in the world ever gets to see a school. With our refrigerator and food supplies at just some steps, we tend to forget an eye opening and heart shattering fact that it's just a game of destiny that we are born in the right part of the world and into the right social class. If we hadn't, then we might have gone hungry all our short life, as 800 million people do, who were born in the wrong place or wrong conditions or into the wrong social class. This has to change. With caring and nourishing our own selves, we need to know and develop a better understanding of Human Rights and when do we actually start misusing them.

According to the Declaration of the United Nations, "Human rights are those basic standards without which people cannot live in dignity. To violate someone's human rights is to treat that person as though she or he were not a human being. To advocate human rights is to demand that the human dignity of all people be respected." It also refers to a concept that all human beings are free and have universal rights, or status, regardless of legal jurisdiction, and likewise other localizing factors, such as ethnicity and nationality, race, color and family background. This concept is not very new. The Theory of human rights is based on the dogma of "Moral Universalism", initially put forward by Greek philosopher Aristotle. In "Nicomachean Ethics," Aristotle presents his argument in support of the existence of "a natural moral order" and says that such a "natural" order should be the basis for all truly rational systems of justice. This concept of moral universalism implies that morality is not dependent on social and historical conditions and applies to all human beings regardless of place and time, and forms the basis of human rights. Roman Stoic philosophers such as Cicero and Seneca, also supported 'moral universalism' and argued that all moral laws originated in the rational will of God and the authority of such moral law transcended all local legal codes. Christianity, which emerged later, maintained the belief of a universal moral code in the ensuing centuries. Islam, one of the most believed and fastest growing religion of the world also makes a resounding effort to ensure equal rights to all people. Standing on these strong historical and religious grounds, much has been done to date to ensure rights to every individual living on this planet. United Nations along with its associate agencies in collaboration with hundreds and thousands of NGOs is trying to make this possible. At the same time, a great emphasis has been given to the fact that all the rights are inter related and solving one problem at a time would need to tackle all the other issues. While U.N.E.S.C.O is working for education and U.N.I.C.E.F for children, agencies like W.H.O, F.A.O and W.F.P are dealing with one of the most intense issues of our world and going every length to ensure one of the most basic rights to all humanity.

The Right to Food.

The Center for Economic and Social Right states "The right to food guarantees all people the ability to feed themselves. It also obligates states to cooperate in the equitable distribution of world food supplies. As part of the more general right to an "adequate standard of living," the right to food contributes to a broader question of whether people live in basic dignity. People have a right to the basic amount of food necessary for survival, but they also have a right to food of high enough quality and quantity to live in adequate dignity". This generalizes that hunger, malnutrition and inaccessibility of food is not only violation of a very basic human right but is also an obstacle for attaining social, political and economic stability and harmony. It stresses towards a fact that irrespective of all social, political, economic and geographical differences, every human being has a birth right to lead a life with access to adequate supply of food and water.

Providing adequate food and work has always been seen as prime moral obligation for the kings and monarchs with large empires and those ruling the common men. The only basic difference between these moral responsibilities and human rights is that the human rights give the poor and unprivileged people a claim, which principally is enforceable.

In those times of monarchy, people had no option other than to revolt against the king or state that failed to meet this obligation and responsibility to feed its citizens.

This signifies a fact that the idea of human right to food is to establish a practical and legal channel for fulfillment of this basic right and to seek remedies against authorities which fail to guarantee access to food. This idea is barely 200 years old-and not yet legally implemented in most states even today.

The right to adequate food is a human right and is well established and recognized on several premises under the international laws. Just after three years of the World War II, On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 25 of this declaration states that everyone has a right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food. This universal declaration of human rights sets a common and realistic standard of achievement for all people and nations. Keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, states and nations shall strive to achieve the common global goal and emancipate their respective people from the curse of hunger, malnutrition and starvation. Nearly 20 years later, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) developed these concepts more fully, stressing "the right of everyone to adequate food" and specifying "the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger". The Universal Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition (1974) and the World Employment Conference (1976) also pressed to this fact asking for an inalienable right of food for all humans in order to develop their physical and mental faculties. Conferences and declarations such as The International Conference on Nutrition (ICN), World Declaration on Nutrition (1992), the Rome Declaration on World Food Security (1996) and the Plan of Action of the World Food Summit (1996) all stressed up to ensure right to food throughout the world. Agencies working under the United Nations such as Food and Agriculture Organization (F.A.O), World Health Organization (W.H.O) and World Food Program (W.F.P) are taking all considerable and necessary steps to eradicate the nuisance of hunger and starvation from the entire humanity. "Achieving food security for all" is the main point of focus of F.A.O's efforts. And to make sure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. F.A.O's mandate is to raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, better the lives of rural populations and contribute to the growth of the world economy. They also provide assistance to those nations who need to increase their crop yields but lacks technical skills. With a staggering budget of $765.7 million, F.A.O aims to achieve its goals on community, national and international levels. On the other hand, the largest international food aid organization, World Food Program, combats hunger in underdeveloped nations of the world with severe shortage of food. This hard and strenuous fight has been carried out through plan action of Rescue, Rapid Reaction and Rehabilitation. Expanding its activities into 78 countries around the world and with direct expenditure of US$ 2.9 billion, W.F.P is distributing food to 87.8 million poor people in the world which is the largest relief and aid operation of its kind ever since the dawn of human history. Most recent relief operations of W.F.P include earth quakes of Pakistan in 2005, floods in Bangladesh of 2004 and recent famine in Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, every year on 16th October, World Food day is celebrated to re-think and re-plan the strategies for present and future.

But despite the fact that the international community and UN has frequently reaffirmed the importance for the right to adequate food and launched multitudes of operational projects, a disturbing gap still exists between the standards set and the situation prevailing in many parts of the world. The target of reducing world hunger by the year 2015 which was set in World Food Summit in 1996 still appears a far cry. Statistics show that since 1990, the number of hungry and underfeed people is constantly and unceasingly increasing. In developing countries spread across 5 continents, it has started to increase at a rate of almost four million per year. By the advent of 21st century, the total number of undernourished people worldwide has risen to 854 million (14% of the world's total population): 820 million in developing countries, 25 million in countries in transition and nine million in industrialized countries. Today, only one out of seven people do not get enough food to lead an active and healthy life which is the birth right of everyone. According to a research conducted by F.A.O about the state of food insecurity in the world in 2006, 25,000 lives are lost everyday due to poverty and hunger. In the developing world, every second a child dies due to hunger and malnutrition. Moreover, 27 percent of children under 5 are moderately to severely underweight. In 2005, about 10.1 million children died before they reached their fifth birthday. Almost all of these deaths occurred in developing countries, 3/4 of them in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the two regions that also suffer from the highest rates of hunger and malnutrition. Today, one in nearly seven people does not get enough food to lead an active and healthy life which is the birth right of everyone. Adding to this, malnutrition and undernourishment leads to many chronics and deficiencies leading to physical and mental restraints which they effected carry all through their lives. All these numbers and statistics lead us to the loop poles in international working bodies and their incomplete strategies and approach in dealing with these intense issues. At the same time, it indicates the presence of many other factors and causes that are still making hunger, malnutrition and violence of right of food the number one risk to health worldwide with greater number of victims annually than AIDS, malaria and cancer combined.
In order to understand the factors of this prevailing state of hunger and violence of the right to food, one needs to understand that inadequate food access can be due to two prime reasons: There is absolutely no food available, or the food is available but far from the access of deprived and unprivileged people. Stereotypically all importance and emphasis has been given by the states and the welfare organizations on the overall food availability and it has been thought that mainly through increasing food production and quality, hunger and malnutrition can be overcome and target of ensuring food rights to all can be achieved. Such a strong emphasis is only reasonable when the production of food by the poor is for themselves. But there is another view point to this situation. According to different experts, adequate quantity of food is available or can be produced with the current resources almost in every country of the world. Many of the countries considered poor, produce food enough for not only their domestic markets but for export as well. Nonetheless, hunger and malnutrition still persists. It may surprise us but according to the annual report presented by F.A.O in 2004, only 10% of the total hunger death is due to famine and malnutrition. This leads us to re-examine and arrive at some more obvious causes. Lack of food isn't the only cause of malnutrition and hunger but is also due to social injustice and political, economic and social segregations. There are almost one billion people around the world who earn less than $1 a day. These poor people are deprived of the rights to have their resources while the rich and those in power monopolize these resources for their own luxury and comfort. Billions of people all around the globe in their respective countries are never given opportunity to have a secure economic life and hence have food security. This statement is well proved by the facts like the total assets of the three wealthiest men in the world constitute 47% of the world's total monetary assets, and all three of them belong to the United States of America. On the other side, most food productions whether agricultural products or food obtained from oceans or rivers, goes towards feeding livestock whose meat and by-products are consumed mainly in the countries of the industrialized North.

The other reason for this number of deaths is global debt-trap. The World Bank has admitted that today, the developing countries pay $13 in debt as repayment for every $1 it receives in grants. Due to this, tens of billions of dollars which can be used to improve infrastructure, development of rural communities, education and health care are just being wasted in paying those debts to the World Bank. Thus, it would be rational to say that "Global Capitalism" and "Unequal distribution of resources" are the main monsters under the disguise of hunger and food shortage which are responsible for the massacre of human lives on such a massive scale.

Today, in order to bring hunger and malnutrition to an end and make access to food possible for all, long term attempts should be made on International, National and Individual grounds. Globally, the world has to re-realize a fact that right to adequate food is inherently linked to the dignity of humanity and is inseparable from the fulfillment of all human rights for all. Eradication of poverty, ensuring equal rights, education, employment, better and fast ways of transportations and better facilities for health would also improve food security. Necessary steps should be taken to ensure economic democracy and micro- finance should be made available on local level to reduce the global dominance of big industries on agriculture sector.

Internationally, accumulation of wealth should be reduced by massive redistribution of wealth and other resources. This also includes cancellation of debts to the Western banks and increased investment in rural and under-developed sectors. The West and those belonging to the industrialized and developed world should join hands today and try to improve the infrahuman conditions in many parts of the world such as Africa, South America and South Asia. At the time of a natural calamity, the welfare organizations and NGOs should establish a check and balance system to make sure that all the aids go to the deserving and those in need. As declared by the Economic and Social Council, "The role of the United Nations agencies, including through the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) at the country level, in promoting the realization of the right to food is of special importance. Coordinated efforts for the realization of the right to food should be maintained to enhance coherence and interaction among all the actors concerned, including the various components of civil society. The food organizations, FAO, WFP and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in conjunction with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), UNICEF, the World Bank and the regional development banks, should cooperate more effectively, building on their respective expertise, on the implementation of the right to food at the national level, with due respect to their individual mandates."

On national level, the state government should design and adapt a national strategy based on human rights principles to ensure food security for all its citizens. It should formulate policies and take all necessary steps to make sure that everyone is free from hunger and can enjoy his right to adequate food. It should also identify the resources available to meet the objectives and the most cost-effective way of using them. The national strategy should give particular attention to prevent discrimination in access to food on different aspects such as color, caste, creed, gender, financial standing and geographical location. Moreover, the state government should take all necessary measure to ensure transparency and accountability in all aspects of food system including production, processing, distribution, marketing, food safety and nutritional value. Adding to this, those who suffer the violation of the right to food should have full access to the judicial system of the country and all necessary steps for compensation and prevention for any further cases should be taken.

Last but not the least, every one of us who has got sufficient amount of resources to feed ourselves, must thank the Almighty for His blessings and should take small steps on individual and community basis to help those millions of our brothers and sisters who suffer from famine, hunger and malnutrition and are deprived of their right to food. We all must try not to waste the food and should contribute through our money, time and knowledge in ensuring the right to food to every human being on our mother Earth.

The ABCs of Food Allergies

Approximately 8% of children and 2% of adults suffer from true food allergies. When the culprit food is eaten, most allergic reactions will occur within minutes. Skin symptoms (itching, urticaria, angioedema) are the most common, and occur during most food reactions. Other symptoms can include nasal (sneezing, runny nose, itchy nose and eyes), gastrointestinal (nausea, vomiting, cramping, diarrhea), lung (shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, chest tightness), and vascular (low blood pressure, light-headedness, rapid heart beat) symptoms. When severe, this reaction is called anaphylaxis, and can be life threatening.

Allergy or Intolerance?

Most reactions to food are probably not allergic in nature, but rather intolerance.

This means that there is no allergic antibody present against the food in the person. Intolerance can be classified as toxic and non-toxic. Toxic reactions would be expected to occur in most people if enough of the food was eaten, examples include alcohol, caffeine or in cases of food-poisoning. Non-toxic food intolerance occurs only in certain people, such as lactose intolerance, which is due to the deficiency of lactase, the enzyme which breaks down the sugar in milk and dairy foods. Patients with lactose intolerance experience bloating, cramping and diarrhea within minutes to hours after eating lactose-containing foods, but do not experience other symptoms of food allergies.

Non-allergic Immunologic Reactions

A less common form of non-allergic reactions to food involves the immune system, but there are no allergic antibodies present. This group includes celiac sprue and FPIES (food protein induced enteropathy syndromes). FPIES typically occurs in infants and young children, with gastrointestinal symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea, bloody stools, and weight loss) as the presenting signs. Milk, soy and cereal grains are the most common triggers in FPIES. Children typically outgrow FPIES by 2 to 3 years of age.

Common Childhood Food Allergies

Milk, soy, wheat, egg, peanut, tree nuts, fish and shellfish compromise more than 90 percent of food allergies in children. Allergy to milk and egg are by far the most common, and are usually outgrown by age 5 years. Peanut, tree nut, fish and shellfish allergies are typically the more severe and potentially life-threatening, and frequently persist into adulthood.

Cross-Reactivity and Cross-Contamination

Cross-reactivity refers to a person having allergies to similar foods within a food group. For example, all shellfish are closely related; if a person is allergic to one shellfish, there is a strong chance that person is allergic to other shellfish. The same holds true for tree-nuts, such as almonds, cashews and walnuts.

Cross-contamination refers to a food contaminating another, unrelated food leading to a "hidden allergy". For example, peanuts and tree nuts are not related foods. Peanuts are legumes, and related to the bean family, while tree nuts are true nuts. There is no cross-reactivity between the two, but both can be found in candy shops and in a can of mixed nuts, for instance.

Diagnosing Food Allergies

The diagnosis is made with an appropriate history of a reaction to a specific food, along with a positive test for the allergic antibody against that food. Testing for the allergic antibody is typically accomplished with skin testing, although can be done with a blood test as well.

The blood test, called a RAST test, is not quite as good of a test as skin testing, but can be helpful in predicting if a person has outgrown a food allergy. This is especially true since in many cases the skin test can still be positive in children who have actually outgrown the food allergy.

If the diagnosis of food allergy is in question despite testing, an allergist may decide to perform an oral food challenge for the patient. This involves having the person eat increasing amounts of food over many hours under medical supervision. Since the potential for life-threatening anaphylaxis exists, this procedure should only be performed by a physician experienced in the diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases. An oral food challenge is the only way to truly remove a diagnosis of food allergy in a patient.

Managing Food Allergies

Treat the reaction: If a reaction to the food is present, the person should seek immediate emergency medical care. Most patients with food allergies should carry a self-injectable form of epinephrine, or adrenaline (such as an Epi-pen®, with them at all times. These medications can be prescribed by a physician and the patient should know how to use this device before an allergic reaction occurs.

Avoid the food: This is the main way to prevent future reactions to the culprit foods, although can be difficult in cases of common foods such as milk, egg, soy, wheat and peanut. Organizations such as the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network offer help and support to patients and parents of children with food allergies.

Allergy physicians can also offer additional information and advice on avoidance.

Read food labels: Since accidental exposure to the allergic food is common, reading labels on foods and asking questions about ingredients at restaurants is important and recommended.

Be prepared: Patients with food allergies should always be prepared to recognize and treat their reaction, should one occur. Remember, since exposures to the allergic foods are frequently accidental, being prepared to treat the reaction with epinephrine is paramount. Emergency medical care should always be sought if an allergic reaction to food occurs, whether or not epinephrine is used.

Food Safety to Help Avoid Bears in the Wilderness

If you plan on venturing into the wilderness on a camping or hiking trip, you need to be prepared to deal with potentially dangerous wildlife. Bears in particular need to be respected and avoided. One of the easiest ways to avoid bears is to be careful with storing and preparing food.

Choosing the Safest Camping Food

Strong smelling food like tuna or garlic can attract bears easiest. When you choose which foods to pack, try to avoid foods that have strong odors. Canned or dried food is a much better choice. Not only do these types of food last longer, but they give off fewer odors too. Individual packaged food is better than larger packages that have to be manually resealed.

Safely Storing Your Camping Food

One mistake many campers make is not taking adequate precautions for storing food. All too often food is stored either in the same tent you sleep in or in a nearby cooler. This can be a very bad idea. You are essentially drawing the bears right to wear you are vulnerably sleeping.

Your food should be stored a good distance away from your tent (at least 100 meters). To prevent food odors from blowing through your campsite, your food storage location should also be downwind from your campsite. When picking a location to store food, think of how close to your campsite you would be comfortable having bears. Obviously that is not very close at all.

For actual food storage, you have a few choices. There are bear proof containers available in a variety of sizes. These bear proof storage lockers make it nearly impossible for bears to get at your food. It might not be practical to carry one of these durable containers to camp though.

The more traditional method for camping food storage is to hang your food up in a tree in an airtight bag. Since bears do have some tree climbing capabilities, it is best to hang the food at least 5 meters above ground and at least 4 feet away from the trunk of the tree. A bear could easily reach a bag if it is too low or too close to the trunk of the tree. This is not the most secure method because using too small a branch makes it possible for a bear to break the branch and using too large a branch makes it possible for a bear to climb out to your bag. Bears can also chew through ropes holding bags up in trees. So if you plan on hanging your food, counterbalance the rope with a second bag. Then use a long stick to retrieve tour bags afterwards. Or you can suspend the food bag between two trees. Some camps have existing ropes or poles setup to use instead of hanging food from branches.

As a last resort, you could also store your food in the trunk of your vehicle. This should be avoided though, as vehicles are not airtight and odors could leak out. This could lead to a bear scratching up your vehicle to get at your food. Bears with previous human contact may recognize coolers or other food containers. So don't just put food easily in sight in the front seat of your vehicle.

As your garbage may also have food odors, it is recommended that you also safely store your garbage with your food supply. Other fragrant items such as soap, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant and perfume should be stored with food too. If any of your clothes smell like food, be on the safe side and store these garments with your food. Ensure that no extra snacks are still in your daypack when you go to sleep. Tampons, napkins and toilet paper can also lure bears if not stored properly.

Safely Cooking Food While Camping

Another mistake campers make is to cook food in the middle of the campsite. This will leave traces of food odors throughout your camping area. Assume that bears will come investigate your cooking area and position it away from your tent with your food supply.

While you are cooking, try to keep the area well ventilated. If you are inside a tent, open the flap to air out some of the odors. You don't want these areas still strongly smelling like food when you go to sleep. Do not cook in the tent you plan on sleeping in! Covering any frying food prevents excess odors too. When you are done frying food, completely burn any excess grease and oil.

Many people like to go fishing while they camp. If you are one of these people, don't clean your fish near your camp. Ideally, you would gut the fish in the middle of a lake where a bear would not smell the remains. Burying fish remains nearby is a bad idea.

Another tip for camp cooking is to avoid cooking too much food. Don't cook more than you can eat as leftovers smell more than packaged food.

Cleaning Up To Prevent Bears

Keeping your campsite clean of garbage and food scraps will help keep bears away. Immediately after cooking and eating, you should thoroughly clean all your dishes. Strain the pieces of food from your dishwater and store that with the rest of your garbage and food. To dispose of the dishwater, dig a shallow pit. Then poor in the dishwater and cover it with ashes or disinfectant. This will stop odors and decomposition.

While some people do not recommend burning any garbage while camping, it may be a good idea for any food scraps and food wrappers. It is better to burn these items leaving a temporary odor rather than keeping the items emitting bear attracting odors.

Always pack out what you pack in. Leaving any garbage behind can turn the campsite into a regular bear hang out.

Conclusion

Be aware of the necessary food storage and cooking precautions while camping. Do everything you can to keep food odors away from your camp. Taking these precautions is the easiest way to prevent a bear encounter.

Dog Food - Facts, Fiction and Everything in Between

Choosing The Best Dog Food

Browse any grocery store or pet food store to buy Dog Food and you will agree that trying to decide on what is best for your dog is an exhausting task. Scanning the shelves of products available, you are bombarded by foods extolling different health benefits as well as a huge range of prices. The pet food industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and pet food manufacturers are eagerly marketing for every dollar. Not only are they marketing us to death, but also developing new products to put in front of us. Those products include "dry", "canned", "semi-moist" and health targeted products such as "senior", "premium" and "gourmet.

So which food is best for your dog? Finding that out takes time and research. The truth is, the best dog food is the one that meets your dog's nutritional requirements, which vary based upon the dog's age, breed, body weight, genetics, and amount of activity... and one that fits within your budget. It is definitely worth consulting a veterinarian to get the best advice and nutrition plan for your dog. But for those of you that want to take matters in your own hands, you will find detailed below the most important things you will need to know.

Dog Food Labels

Susan Powter comes to mind when thinking about food labels. Remember this iconic infomercial star with the coined phrase "Stop the Insanity"? Her gospel about nutrition and the importance of studying the ingredients on the side of the packaging to distinguish the various elements and how each plays its role in overall nutrition, was novel at that time. It seems that this was the beginning of the mass movement to better nutrition, label reading and choosing products more carefully.

With all the recent pet food recalls, millions of dog owners have extended this scrutiny to selecting a dog food. But we can't pull from the Susan Powter gospel for this, because dog foods are manufactured under a series of different standards and regulations, put forth by the AAFCO ( The Association of American Feed Control Officials ). There are special labeling requirements that require all dog foods to have certain information on the label. So, in order that we can all make a proper choice for our dogs, we must know how to read and understand the dog food label.

The AAFCO puts out an official publication, on a yearly basis, detailing special requirements for dog food. Among all the different requirements, they request all dog food manufacturers to adhere to label regulations and must include on the package the following:

Product Name
Guaranteed Analysis
Nutritional Adequacy Statement
Feeding Directions


The Name Game

When shopping for dog food, what is the first thing you look at? The product name, of course. We've all walked down the pet food aisle and seen the product names jump out as us...calling us. Displayed in bold type and fancy fonts such descriptions as "With Chicken", "All Life Stages", "Duck Entree", "95% Beef", "Natural Dog Food". But what do these descriptions really mean? Is it just fancy marketing? The AAFCO has set forth rules that dictate how ingredients can be used in a product name.

95% Rule

Applies to most canned dog food that consists mostly of meat, poultry or fish.
Specifies that at least 95% of the dog food must be the named ingredient on the label, not counting water and preservatives added for processing.
Counting water, the product must still consist of 70% of the product.
If the name consists of a combination of ingredients, the two combined must equal 95%.
The rule only applies to ingredients of animal origin, so grains and vegetables cannot be used as part of the 95% rule. So if the product name was "Beef and Brown Rice", the product would still have to consist of 95% beef.


25% or "Dinner" Rule

This rule applies to many canned as well as dry dog foods.
If the named ingredient, or a combination of ingredients, found on the label consists of 25% of the weight (but less than 95%) excluding water for sufficient processing.
The name must include a descriptive term, such as "Dinner", "Platter", "Entree", or "Formula".
If more than one ingredient is in the name, they must both total 25% combined, with each named ingredient equaling or exceeding 3%.


3% or "With" Rule

Originally, this rule was intended to apply only to ingredients highlighted on the package, outside of the product name.
It allows manufacturers to highlight minor ingredients.
The ingredient must have at least 3% added.
The rule now allows manufacturers to use the term "With" in the product name.


Be careful when reading the dog food label because "Beef Dog Food" and "Dog Food with Beef" are not the same. The first must have 95% beef, whereas the latter only needs 3%.

Flavor Rule

A percentage of any one ingredient isn't required.
The word "Flavor" must appear on the label in the same font size and color as the ingredient name.
The flavor might be the corresponding ingredient, but more often than not, it's another substance such as "meal", "by-product", a "stock" or a "broth".


Guaranteed Analysis

The guaranteed analysis is the next component that needs to be on a dog food label. It serves as a general guide as to what the percentages of the main nutrients and other items are in the total makeup of the product. At the bare minimum, the guaranteed analysis must consist of the following:

Minimum Percentage of Protein
Minimum Percentage of Fat
Maximum Percentage of Fiber
Maximum Percentage of Moisture

Go ahead and look at your label at this point. See it there? Good. Now, if you have a can of dog food and a package of dry dog food at your disposal, take a look at both labels. After careful analysis you might want to ask, "Hey Michael, I notice when looking at both labels that the dry dog food has way more nutrients. I thought canned food had way more protein...what gives?"

Keep this in mind, as I have noticed this as well, that the amounts of protein and other nutrients stated on the labels appear to be less for canned versus dry, but looks are deceiving. The reason? Differences in moisture content. Canned dog food, on average, consists of 75% water, while dry dog food contains about 10%. So to make a true comparison of the nutrient levels, we need to put both types on the same playing field. To do this, we will be converting both products to dry matter.

To convert the nutrients, we need to dust off our calculators that we last used in high school, in order to perform a little math. (And you said to your math teacher, "I'll never use this in the real world!"), But I digress. Here's the formula we will be using:
% Guarantee divided by % Dry Matter multiplied by 100

Example
In one corner, we have a canned dog food that has a guaranteed analysis consisting of 9% protein, 6% fat, 1.5% fiber and 78% moisture.
In the other corner, we have a dry dog food that has a guaranteed analysis consisting of 24% protein, 14.5% fat, 4% fiber and 10% moisture.

Dry matter of canned: 100 - 78 = 22
Dry matter of dry: 100 - 10 = 90
Now we can do our calculations


Canned Dog Food

Protein: 9 / 22 x 100 = 40.9%
Fat: 6 / 22 x 100 = 27%
Fiber: 1.5 / 22 x 100 = 6.8%


Dry Dog Food

Protein: 24 / 90 x 100 = 26.6%
Fat: 14.5 / 90 x 100 = 16.1%
Fiber: 4 / 90 x 100 = 4.4%

So after were done, do you notice the protein? The canned dog food actually has 14% more protein.
Nutritional Adequacy Statement

You've seen it on the labels..."Complete", "Balanced", "For All Lifestages", among others. But how are these claims substantiated? What rules are in place to regulate such verbage? The answer is set forth, once again, by the AAFCO.

The Nutritional Adequacy Statement is required and is one of the most important aspects of a dog food label. This statement assures us that a product meets all of a dog's nutritional requirements. So how is a dog food substantiated for nutritional adequacy? They must use one of two ways:

Calculations
The method whereby the dog food contains ingredients formulated to provide levels of nutrients that meet an established profile
Calculations estimate the amount of nutrients either by an average nutrient content of ingredients or results of laboratory tests using standard chemical analysis.
If it meets the profile set by the AAFCO, the label will carry a statement as follows: "(Name of product) is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO (Dog) Food Nutrient Profiles for (specific life stage)."

Feeding Trials

The product (or a similar product made by the same company) has been tested in dogs under strict guidelines and found to provide proper nutrition
If it meets the profile set by the AAFCO, the label will carry a statement as follows: "Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that (name of product) provides complete and balanced nutrition for (specific life stage)."

The Nutritional Adequacy Statement will also include a statement about which life stage(s) the dog food is suitable for. Two profiles are used. Below is a definition of each and additional information about other profiles:

Growth/Lactation - A product intended for growing puppies, for pregnant dogs or lactating females.
Maintenance - Suitable for any adult, non-reproducing dog of normal activity level, but may not be sufficient for a growing, reproducing, or hard working dog.
Terms like "Senior" or "Formulated for Large Breed Adults" means the dog food meets the requirements for the Maintenance profile, but nothing more.
A product that doesn't fit within the two profiles above must state that "This product is intended for intermittent or supplemental feeding," except if it is conspicuously identified as a snack or treat.


Feeding Guidelines

Feeding guidelines are very broad, to say the least. At a minimum, they should include instruction like "Feed ___ Cups Per ___ Pounds." But keep in mind that these instructions are very rough estimates. Most people feed their dogs way too much. In fact, 25% of all dog's are overweight...causing problems such as:

Diabetes
Arthritis
Heart and Liver Problems
Bladder Cancer

You should treat the guidelines as a place to start. Talk with your veterinarian about your dog food and how much to feed. They understand that nutritional requirements vary and, by knowing your dog, they will be able to recommend a feeding schedule based upon several factors including:

Age
Body Weight
Breed
Genetics
Activity Level

Natural Dog Food provides detailed information on dog food, treats, supplements, vitamins and more. Natural Dog Food is affiliated with Dog Food.

Benefits To The Raw Food Diet

The raw food diet is gaining much attention and press lately. After all, it has strong supporters from high profile celebrities such as actor Woody Harrelson, model Carol Alt, designer Donna Karan, and Chicago-based celebrity chef Charlie Trotter. The raw food diet sure sounds like a healthy diet. But is it only a fad? What are the benefits to the raw food diet?

The raw food diet is one that is about the consumption of uncooked, unprocessed and largely organic foods. This means that foods are not allowed to heated above a certain temperature. What this temperature is depends on the type of raw food diet you are on. Yes, there is more than one to choose from. But typically, maximum temperatures range from 92 degrees farenheit to 118 degrees farenheit.

If you equate raw food to only vegetarian food, then this is not entirely true. For some raw food diets, only vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts are allowed. In others, it can also include fish, meat and unpasteurized dairy products such as raw milk, cheese or yoghurt. This will help ensure that you get much needed protein from other food sources as well.

There are many benefits to the raw food diet. One of the main reasons why people go on a raw food diet is because they believe that raw food can heal or treat several diseases. Raw foods contain live enzymes, thus aiding in digestion. It frees the enzymes of your own body to work on its various metabolic processes. Unfortunately, most enzymes in foods are destroyed through heating when we cook and through processing for preserving them for sale.

Another benefit to the raw food diet can be on your weight. This is simply because raw food usually has fewer calories than other types of food. A raw food diet can help you achieve weight loss as you will have to cut out all junk or processed foods.

Raw foods also contain bacteria and other micro-organisms that are said to be helpful for the balance of your intestinal flora. They can help stimulate your immune system and improve on the digestive process.

Another benefit to the raw food diet is that you can find yourself having loads of energy. This happens because your body can more easily digest and use the fuel from raw foods rather than meats and refined foods. Also, raw foods have higher nutrients than foods that are cooked, since they are not all destroyed via cooking.

However, to be on a raw food diet means that you should refrain from eating even the smallest amount of cooked food. Your body will find it more difficult to process the raw foods, because the acid levels in your stomach will be increased.

You also need to ensure that you take supplements especially if you are on a vegetarian-only raw food diet. Vitamin B12 is one supplement that many vegetarians are deficient in, because it is found in meats and other animal products. It is difficult to get this in raw vegetables and fruits. Some other supplements that are normally needed are zinc and copper, because they are primarily found in meats. Eating seeds and nuts may help you to get some of the vitamins, because they are a very good protein source that can help you to rebuild your tissues and create new ones. Calcium and protein deficiency must also be looked into, with a raw food diet.

You may find that your appetite increases with a raw food diet. You can eat a lot of food and still be hungry and will be tempted to eat more. Although raw foods contain less calories, you may find that you undergo more severe detoxification side effects such as headaches and mild nausea, if your stomach cannot take too much raw foods suddenly and all at one go.

The raw food diet is also not suitable for those who are pregnant, young children, anemic people or those at risk with osteoporosis. Those who go on a raw food diet tend to have lower bone mass.

Also, implementing a raw food diet takes up considerable time, effort and commitment. You need to make many of your foods from scratch. Not all food ingredients are as readily available as the ones catering to a normal diet.

Despite the various criticisms, the raw food diet movement is gaining popularity. The many benefits to the raw food diet is tempting: balanced body weight, clear skin, more energy and less sickness. It is also much easier to find restaurants offering raw food meals in large cities now across the world. A raw food diet is not boring either. There are several cookbooks published with appetizing recipes that you can easily follow if you want to go on this diet.

Fast Food and Calories

Here in the technology and information age, we have more knowledge and advancements than ever before in history. Sixty years ago, who would have ever thought that you could send an instant message over a phone, let alone take a picture with it? Sixty years ago, who would have thought we would be capable of sending a man to the moon, but fail the war on obesity and cancer?

Isn't it oddly shocking that America is so well-advanced in everything except health and fitness? While the fitness industry tells us to count calories and exercise for fat loss, we grow fatter and fatter as a nation.

Running parallel to the fitness industry is the fast food chains, doing their best to keep on the top of "healthy eating" trend. It seems the fast-food industry can tailor to anyone's dieting needs with "fat-free," "low-calorie," and "low-carb" menu items.

Today, fast food is considered a normal eating venture among the average person. People aren't just eating out on special occasions or weekends anymore; they are eating out all the time. But is it the calories in fast food that's so destructive to the body and waistline or does the problem lie deeper?

Fast Food and Obesity

Fast food is simply tasty, ready-cooked meals packed to go. Fast food has been around since the early 1900's, but its popularity sparked and grew in the 1940's with the birth of good ole' Mickey D's; quick food priced cheaply. Within a few years similar fast-food operations popped up everywhere in the blink of an eye.

With the compelling rise in fast-food restaurants since the 1940's, oddly, too, started the rise in obesity and cancer during that same time period. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math and link fast food to the obesity and cancer crisis.

Fast Food and its Nutritional Value

To say fast food has a "nutritional value" is an oxymoron. There is absolutely nothing nutritional about fast food. Fast food simply feeds hunger and/or your immediate craving. Fast food does not feed your body in the form of usable lasting energy or building materials, the essence your body thrives on for life itself.

Fast food is highly processed with a wide array of additives. The concept of fast food is obviously, food ready-to-eat and served quickly. To ensure fast food's low cost to the consumer, the fast food products are made with highly-processed ingredients to give it shelf-life, to hold consistency, and to enhance flavor. Fast food is altered from its original healthy form it was meant to nourish the body with, to a denatured form that lacks any nutritional value whatsoever.

According to Diana Schwarzbein, M.D., "The FDA Total Diet Study found that fast-food hamburgers, across the board, contained 113 different pesticide residues." So my question is why does the FDA want to regulate the sale of vitamins, minerals, and herbs that are actually beneficial for the body when there's a linking fast-food / cancer / obesity crisis on our hands?

Why Fast Food is Fattening and Dangerous

Wake up people. It's not the calories in fast food that's damaging to your health and waistline, it's the chemical additives such as aspartame and MSG (monosodium glutamate). These chemical additives are approved by the FDA and studies show that they lead to weight and disease issues.

Synthetic chemicals added to processed food, including fast food, damage your body's cells. Your body is made up of nutrients found in plants and animals you eat. Man-made food items loaded with pesticides, as well as aspartame, margarine, and other man-made chemicals do not nourish your body. If your body can't use what you put into it you will gain fat and decrease health.

Since we can't visually see what actually happens at the molecular level when we eat processed food, we discount it and rely on the FDA to do our thinking for us. After all, if its FDA approved, it MUST be okay to eat, right? Not at all.

Nutrients from the food we eat allow us to burn fat and be healthy. Your body cannot process synthetic chemicals. If a food item can't be processed, it will end up lodged in areas of your body, primarily fatty areas and tissues, creating an acidic pH.

A simple fast-food chicken breast can contain everything from modified corn starch to hydrolyzed corn gluten. Hello? Chicken comprised of corn? A fast-food chicken nugget is nearly 60% corn, and corn is what farmers use to fatten up cattle.

Michael Pollan, author of, The Omnivore's Dilemma says it perfectly - "How did we ever get to a point where we need investigative journalist to tell us where our food comes from?"

A good visual that Dr. Mark A. Gustafson found is that it takes fifty-one days to digest fast food chicken nuggets or French fries. FIFTY-ONE DAYS! Does that sound healthy? I could care less about the caloric, fat, or carbohydrate content. That's not the problem, people. The problem with fast food is that it's void of nutrients and loaded with chemicals not recognized by the body.

What's even more devastating is the book The Fast Food Diet written by Stephan Sinatra, M.D. This is a sad state when a doctor promotes eating chemically-altered food with addictive chemicals and damaged fats that scars the artery walls and contribute to total metabolic damage.

Eating Good and Avoiding the Hidden Dangers

Granted, calories do count to an extent, but what counts more is the quality of the calorie. If you want to lose fat then you have to change your eating habits. This doesn't mean opt for Healthy Choice® and Smart One's® frozen meals because they appear to be healthy. Food manufacturers use deceptive marking tactics to create an illusion to make people buy their product.

To lose fat and keep it off you should choose foods in their natural state, such as fresh organic cuts of meat, fresh organic fruits and vegetables, essential fats, and plenty of filtered water. It's vital that you go back to the basics.

Make eating fresh and organic food choices the bulk of your diet. If you do that, you will never have to count calories again. The quality of food outweighs the quantity every time.

References: Schwarbein, Diana M.D. The Schwarzbein Principle. 1999. 287 Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma. 2006. 1

Super Natural Foods

When do natural foods become, super natural foods?

Can Mother Nature's super natural foods cure everything from cancer to hay fever?

Natures foods give modern health consumers everything we need.

A hit of essential nutrients in an edible form (even if it's not always to your taste).

There's also that hint of the exotic which appeals to consumers willing to experiment with peculiar foodstuffs.

It's pretty clear that our appetite for natural foods is becoming increasingly insatiable.

Super Natural Foods - To you and I, it seems that super natural foods are popping up faster than birds infected with the avian flu virus.

Barely have you managed to track down a good source of the latest data when it seems it has been superseded by another.

Super Natural Foods - Pomegranates are already yesterday's news.

The latest super natural foods is the wolfberry.

This deep-red, dried fruit is grown in China. It's about the size of a raisin and tastes like a cross between a cranberry and a cherry.

It's a small powderkeg of goodness, containing 500 times the amount of vitamin C by weight than oranges, with even more antioxidants than pomegranates, and it is the richest source of beta-carotene of all known foods.

Wow, how's that for a heavy hitter?

Super Natural Foods - Recent research has found that wolfberries, also called goji berries, significantly reduced blood glucose levels, bad cholesterol and triglycerides (fatty acids in the blood stream that lead to heart disease, diabetes and weight gain).

Meanwhile the journal International Immunopharmacology has reported that wolfberries had a significant effect on the size of cancer tumours in mice.

Further research in China has found the fruit to be effective in preventing the growth of leukaemia cells.

Chinese studies also suggest that wolfberries have anti-ageing properties.

Super Natural Foods - perhaps if the wolfberry isn't appealing, you could opt for maca.

This addition to the super natural foods group is a root vegetable, sort of like a sweet potato but sold in the West as a powder.

It's been dubbed "natural Viagra", with double-blind trials suggesting that it improves sexual desire, sperm count and sperm mobility.

Super Natural Foods - then there's hemp oil, one of the richest sources of essential fats.

Hemp oil plays a key role in our brains function, reproduction and food metabolism, also in ailments such as heart disease, Alzheimer's, cancer and arthritis.

This oil is also a good source of GLA, which is believed to help in the treatment of pre-menstrual tension.

A recent study published in the Journal of Dermatological Treatment, compared dietary hemp oil with topical treatments for dermatitis and significant improvements were noted in the group taking the hemp oil.

The problem with our super natural foods list is that the foods themselves are often expensive and can be hard to come by.

Super Natural Foods Update - The humble broccoli stalk no longer quite cuts it in the "new" super natural foods category.

It seems the more far-flung the source, the more we love it.

More importantly, there is no single authoritative definition of what makes foods "super" natural.

Ask your doctor which super natural foods will work best to combat heart disease, alleviate osteoarthritis or normalise the pH of your stomach or prevent cancer (claims all being made for the pomegranate) and chances are you'll get a blank stare.

We believe that foods become "super" if they are nutrient-dense and capable of combating serious disease and restoring our body.

Super Natural Foods - There are over 200 fruits and vegetables that have already been called superfoods or are awaiting the necessary publicity -- such as the strawberry which, it appears, is going to be this years blueberry.

Super Natural Foods - A true super natural food provides the most concentrated, usable form of nourishment to cells which govern our immune systems, our hormones, our weight and our ageing processes.

It's important we not rely on a single super natural food and expect it to achieve wonders.

Many can only be eaten or taken in small quantities.

They do provide extra help, but the most important path is to maintain a varied and healthy diet.

Super Natural Foods - The British Nutrition Foundation agrees.

While acknowledging the benefits of less common super natural foods such as bee pollen and sea vegetables.

The key message is that a wide variety of the less expensive fruits and vegetables is necessary to keeping us all healthy.

Super Natural Foods - What identifies super natural foods comes down to who you ask.

A nutritionist is more likely to opt for natural foods that are the most nutrient-packed and most easily digested.

A doctor might list those fruits and vegetables that have been subjected to the most scientific research. Among the recent being broccoli, which is rich in isothiocyanate and sulphoraphane.

These are substances that are believed to help the body fight cancer.

Any fruit and vegetable will help your health and the more the merrier.

Super Natural Foods - According to a recent study in the medical journal The Lancet, reports that there is strong evidence that we should eat more than five servings a day of these foods if we want to maximise our protection against heart disease and stroke.

Super Natural Foods - Our "Core 4" super natural foods.

1) GREEN SUPERFOODS

What are they?

Wheatgrass, barley grass, spirulina and chlorella.

How do they help?

Well, they each contain chlorophyll, which is similar to the haemoglobin in our blood. They are also said to ease constipation.

Barley and wheatgrass are rich in superoxidase dismutase which some studies suggest have the same anti-inflammatory effects as aspirin.

Super Natural Foods - Dr Robert Gallacher, of the Morrison Hospital in Swansea, has researched natural ways to treat digestive problems such as IBS and diverticulitis.

He notes that chlorella, one of the richest sources of chlorophyll, B12 and zinc, helps to balance the pH of the stomach and to repair the gut lining.

Supergreens are often freeze-dried to preserve their enzymes and nutrients and sold as powders to be mixed with fruit juices. I mix mine with orange juice each morning, quite tasty actually.

2) SEA VEGETABLES

What are they?

Marine algae, including fucoidan, dulse, kombu, nori and Arctic wrack.

How do they help?

Sea Vegetables are rich in minerals and protein, they also have as much beta-carotene as carrots. They're excellent sources of calcium and minerals for those who avoid dairy and meat.

They're rich in iodine and therefore vital for the thyroid gland, which produces hormones to govern metabolism and balance female hormones.

3) SPROUTED SEEDS

What are they?

Any seed, grain or nut that has been soaked in water and has sprouted -- including chickpeas, sunflower seeds, lentils and mung beans. Sprout mixes and kits are readily available in most super markets

How do they help?

When a seed germinates into a sprout, its' enzyme, protein, vitamin and mineral content increases and the seed becomes very easy to digest.

Super Natural Foods - Dr Barry Mack, of the University of Pennsylvania, found an average vitamin increase of more than 500 per cent when seeds have been sprouted.

Super Natural Foods - Dr Paul Talalay, at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in New York, found that one broccoli sprout gives as much cancer protection as the full-grown plant.

4) BEE POLLEN

What is it?

It's the powder collected by bees from plants and bound with enzymes to aid digestion in their pollen sacks. The powder is then collected from the bees' legs.

How does it helps?

Bee Pollen contains a full range of vitamins and enzymes, including 27 minerals, 22 amino acids, plus the antioxidants which help to prevent many degenerative diseases.

Super Natural Foods - French research suggests that its greatest benefit lies in helping with intestinal problems. But this was achieved only using frozen fresh pollen, rather than the standard dried pollen.

Super Natural Foods - Allergy UK reports anecdotal evidence that hay fever sufferers also benefit from bee pollen. Holistic practitioners suggest slowly building up to a teaspoon a day at the approach of the hay fever season.

When it comes to phytonutrients, experts say we've only scratched the surface. With each new study, watch for more antioxidant-rich foods to arrive at a store near you.

Super Natural Foods Update

Here are a few creating the most recent buzz;

Pomegranate: The newest research coming out is pointing to pomegranates as the next great super-licious food powerhouse, with three times more antioxidant power than green tea and red wine. It's sort of like dental floss for your arteries.

Acai (ah-sigh-ee): Touted to contain 10 times more antioxidants than red grapes and 10 to 30 times more anthocyanins than red wine. This little berry from the Brazilian rainforest is poised to climb its way into our hearts and diets.

The acai berry contains vitamin A, vitamin C and omega fatty acids 6 and 9.

Gogi or goji (go-gee): A berry from Tibet, is high in antioxidants. Goji is described as a cross between a cherry and a cranberry. "There isn't a lot of science on it yet, but you know there isn't a bad berry on the planet."

Gold kiwifruit: It's an odd-looking, fuzzy fruit originally from New Zealand. It's become a mainstream supermarket item.

Rich in vitamin C, it has more vitamins and potassium than a banana and more fiber than a bowl of bran flakes.

Quinoa (keen-wah): With the whole-grain emphasis, watch for less familiar grains to make it into the mainstream.

A staple of the ancient Incas, quinoa is considered a complete protein because it contains all eight essential amino acids.

Super Natural Foods Lingo

Phytonutrients: These natural compounds are found in plants. They appear to be potent disease fighters because of their antioxidant properties.

Antioxidants: Think of antioxidants as rust fighters. They protect the body from rust (oxidation) by those dreaded free radicals.

Oxidation is the enemy because it speeds up aging and leads to disease.

Carotenoids: Are found in the red, orange and yellow pigments of fruits and vegetables, carotenoids include beta-carotene, one of the best-known antioxidants, as well as lutein, lycopene and zeaxanthin.

Polyphenols: A large group of antioxidants, including anthocycanins, catechins, ellagic acid, quercetin and other substances.

Food Allergies

The foods that adults or children react to are those foods they eat often

A Food Allergy is defined as an individual's adverse reaction to food. Almost any food can trigger a reaction in a person who is susceptible. Other terms for Food Allergies are "Food Intolerances and Food Sensitivities."

For adults, the common foods that cause allergic reactions include: shellfish such as shrimp, crayfish, lobster, and crab. (Of note; if you are allergic to one of the shell fish, you are probably allergic to others or all of them.); peanuts, a legume ; tree nuts such as walnuts; fish; and eggs. Adults usually do not lose their allergies.

Children are somewhat different. The common food allergens that cause problems in children are eggs, milk, and peanuts. Children can sometimes outgrow them. Children are more likely to outgrow allergies to milk or soy than allergies to peanuts, fish, or shrimp.

These food allergies can cause catastrophic events to happen . Reactions range from rashes, pain, to anaphylactic shock.

When trying to figure out if and what food you have a problem with, it is very important to keep an accurate diary of your daily food and drink intake. You also need to write down in detail the symptoms that you are felling. Without doing this, there is no hope in finding what is ailing you. Keep detailed records!

Can drug allergies affect the way you eat? Absolutely!. For instance, Any of you who has an allergy to penicillin for instance must be careful when buying and eating penned animals such as chicken, turkey, pork, etc. These animals who are kept in tight quarters climb over each other constantly and scratch each other causing skin infections. These animals can not be sold with these infections. Their keepers are known to give these animals penicillin to clear up these infections so that they can be sold.

The quantity of the drug can remain high in some of these animals. Anaphylactic reactions and even death from penicillin allergies have occurred from people eating these animals. Just be careful. Buy the meat from penned animals that has no antibiotics and you will be fine.

I can't believe that I'm allergic to food! Could it be something else? Absolutely! Its a little thing called preservatives. Preservatives are placed in food so they last a longer time so that their financial value will be realized.

Currently, canned foods for instance have a shelf life of 7 years. What does that mean? It means that the can of food can be eaten and therefore sold for that period of time. Years ago, the shelf life for canned foods was 3 years. How did they prolong the time? Preservatives!.

Did you know for instance that a popular brand of peanut butter has over 120 preservatives in it. Doesn't that sound astounding? It does to me. Individuals like you can be allergic to any of these preservatives. Its very difficult to find the one preservative that you are allergic to.

Also, don't forget food colorings. Many individuals are allergic to the different food colorings. Most common is red dye #3

How do you find out if you have an allergy or sensitivity to a food, preservative or food coloring?

The first thing that you have to do is have a suspicion that you have a problem. There is a difference between an overt allergy and a sensitivity. The allergy will cause overt symptoms such as hives, rashes to in some cases anaphylaxis. (Hypersensitivity especially in animals to a substance, such as foreign protein or a drug, that is caused by exposure to a foreign substance after a preliminary exposure.). A food sensitivity will cause subtle discomforts such as a generalized uneasy felling. Maybe an increase in your heart rate, excessive belching or flatulence or stomach distension. You may also feel fatigued.

The next thing that you have to do and maybe its the most important is to read the labels of the foods that you buy. You must become a detective! Most food items use the same preservatives. If after reading the labels you identify a preservative that stands out, by that I mean a preservative that is only in one of the foods that you eat, that preservative may be the culprit. Simply eliminate that food. You will know after 4 days if that is the food and preservative that is causing your problem. Now to discern if you are sensitive to the food or the preservative, eat the food fresh and see if it causes you to have the same sensitivity reactions. If the answer is yes, then your sensitivity is to the food. If the answer is no, then the sensitivity is to the preservative. At that point, you need to then eliminate that preservative from your diet. The only way to do that successfully is to read all the labels.

Simple Test!

There is a simple and effective way to determine a food either alone or with a preservative may be causing you a problem. Its not 100% effective. However, it will give you an indication. Its the "Pulse Test." Its simple to perform. Prior to eating the food, take your pulse for a complete minute. Simply count the number of times that your heart beats in a 1 minute period. Now take a small potion of the food that you are planning to eat. Place it in your mouth. Don't chew it, simply place it in your mouth. Wait about 30 seconds and then start counting your heart beats again for another minute. If your heart rate increase 4-5 beats per minutes, then there is a good chance that the food you are about to eat will cause you to have a sensitivity reaction.

Not That Easy?

If what we described above doesn't help you identify your culprit food or preservative, then you need to resort to the Elimination Diet. The Elimination Diet is very effective. However, it takes time. As the diet's name states, you need to eliminate foods from your diet. You do this one food at a time.

We suggest that prior to making your first elimination that you write down exactly how you are feeling. Then eliminate that one food. This food needs to be eliminated for 4 straight days to determine if it is causing you any problems. Each day of the elimination, you need to journal how you are feeling. At the end of the forth day, compare your journal entries. If you are feeling the same at the end of day 4 as you did before the elimination, then that food is not the culprit. You need to keep trying different food one at a time for the 4 day period until you find the culprit. It could take a while.

Remember, your problems may be caused by more than one food. That is why the journal is so important. If say prior to the first food elimination you had 6 symptoms. Now after the elimination of this food, you have 3 symptoms. Then you need to eliminate that food from your diet. Don't stop there though! You now need to eliminate another food. If you feel the same after that food is eliminated for 4 days, then try another food. This process can take over a month to complete!

The Best Food

Everyone eats so everyone has an opinion about food. But if health is the objective, mere opinion doesn't count nor does fad or majority rule.

Most people think the average cooked diet based upon official food pyramids is just fine. Some eat predominantly fast food. Others advocate veganism (eating only plant foods), or lacto-ova vegetarianism (plants plus milk and eggs). There are also proponents of special foods such as fresh juices, soybean products and macrobiotic cooked grains and rice.

Everyone can make arguments on behalf of their beliefs. They can cite examples of people who have escaped disease and lived long. Some argue morality and ethics, such as those who say sentient animal life should not be sacrificed for food. Others set their eating practices by the standards of holy writ that eschew certain forms of foods and sanctify others. Others just eat what tastes good and that's logic enough for them.

Eating beliefs seem to take on an almost religious character. People feel guarded and pretty zealous about food and don't like others meddling. But since health is intimately linked to what we take into our mouths, thinking, honest reflection and willingness to change are in order.

It is easy to be deceived because wrong food choices may not manifest their full impact until late in life. Nutrition can even pass through genetically to affect later generations. In this regard, food ideas are also like religion in that hundreds of different sects can each claim to have the truth. But none of them needs to fear disproof since adjudication will not occur until everyone is dead and gone to the afterlife.

The body is extremely adaptable and will attempt to survive on whatever it is given. If the food is incorrect there is usually no immediate harm. But the body will eventually be stressed beyond its ability to adapt, resulting in disease, degeneration and loss of vitality. Unfortunately, such consequences are so far removed in time from the eating regimen that caused them that few understand the relationship.

So be careful before subscribing to bold claims about what is or is not good to eat. The true test of any health idea lies too far out into the future. Our best hope then is to be well grounded philosophically before we slide our legs under the dinner table.

How do we develop a healthy eating philosophy and sort through all of the competing eating ideas? I am going to explain here a very simple principle that is so reasonable you need not even look for proofs. Follow along with me and see if you don't agree.

Consider the following three premises:

1. Just like a tree is genetically adapted to absorb certain nutrients from soil, and a lion is genetically adapted to thrive on prey, and a deer is genetically adapted to browse on vegetation, so too, are humans genetically adapted to certain kinds of food.

2. The majority of foods we are presently exposed to are a product of the Agricultural/Industrial Revolution and occupy a small part of the genetic history of humans. (Refer back to the 276-mile time-line in which only a few inches represent industrial-type eating practices.)

3. The natural, genetically adapted to food for humans must predate them. In other words, how could humans exist before the food they needed to survive existed? We were completely developed biologically prior to agriculture and any method of food processing. That means whatever diet archetypal humans ate was the perfect diet because that was the diet responsible for the existence and development of the incredibly complex human organism. That diet was the milieu, the environmental nutritional womb, if you will, from which we sprung.

If you consider these three premises, the logical conclusion derived from them is that the best food for humans is that food which they would be able to eat as is, as it is found in nature.

Our tissues were designed to be bathed in food nutrients derived from natural living foods, not with dyes, preservatives, synthetics, nutritiously barren starches and refined sugars and oils. Make no mistake; if we are not eating according to this principle, our bodies are in constant deficiency, imbalance and toxin exposure. The result of generations ignoring this principle is an epidemic of obesity, chronic degenerative diseases and the exhaustion of our digestive processes.

A feature of all natural food is that it is raw - alive if you will. This is consistent with the Law of Biogenesis that says life can only come from preexisting life. Life begets life. In spite of scientists' dreams to the contrary, we have never observed life springing from non-life, nor have we ever even been able to create life from non-life in a laboratory. If we eat living foods, we enhance our own life. If we eat dead, devitalized foods we become devitalized and dead. Granted, this will not happen all at once, but as the adaptive reserves are exhausted we become just like the dead food we eat.

So a fundamental feature of our natural diet was that it was raw. Yes, even the meats, organs, eggs and insects - raw. Remember, we're far back in time, even before the use of fire (much less the microwave, stove, oven, grill, deep fryer or extruder). Studies of the diets of past cultures and today's still-primitive societies reveals that they ate exactly as their genes and the environment dictated.

We were not suddenly dropped from outer space onto Earth with fry pans, matches and rotisseries. We began on the forest floor, not in a line to a fast food counter. We had only our natural bodies in a natural world, exactly like every other creature. Every other organism on Earth eats raw foods exactly like they are found in nature. Do you think nature doesn't notice our decision to change all that?

Would tofu qualify? No, because tofu is found nowhere in nature. Would oatmeal porridge qualify? No, because oatmeal porridge is found nowhere in nature. Would hamburgers, French fries, pop, breakfast cereals, granola, canned foods, candy, sports drinks, muscle building powders, vitamins and minerals, mashed potatoes, carrot cake, croissants, bagels, Jolly Ranchers, Ding Dongs, Cocoa Krispies, Good 'n Plentys or Fig Newtons qualify? No. None of these are found as such in nature.

For those of you who are by now panicking (if not gagging) at the thought of eating raw foods, yes, there is danger of food-borne pathogens. But if you are careful and clean, the danger is far less than the danger of a lifetime eating devitalized processed foods. Raw natural foods must be safe or our ancestors would have not survived and we would not exist!

It is a choice. When faced with a choice, why not opt for the wisdom of nature? Is it not strange we are the only creatures on the planet to cook our foods? Is it a wonder, given this, that we succumb with every imaginable chronic degenerative disease virtually unknown in creatures eating the raw natural diet?

Simply think of yourself placed in nature in the total absence of modern technology. Ask yourself the question, what would I eat... and what could I eat? You could eat and digest fruits, nuts, insects, a few plants, honey, worms, grubs, eggs, milk and animal flesh. These are about the only food substances in nature humans are capable of digesting without technological (including fire) intervention. These are, in fact, the very foods that are the mainstay of nomadic primitive societies. Only when these foods become scarce do unpalatable, inedible foods such as most grains and vegetables become cooked and processed to change their palatability, neutralize toxins and increase digestibility.

So that is where we have been. But does this have anything to do with us here today in the 21st century microwave age? It has everything to do with us because it is this expansive historical context that served as the womb that shaped and defined us. It is this natural wild setting that occupies the vast majority of our history and predominates our genetics. It is the incubator within which life on planet Earth has developed.

What would have been the predominant food in the wild? Likely prey. Envision yourself placed back in time in that setting with a family to feed. You would be looking for the most calorie- and nutrient-dense foods you could find. That would not be a few wheat seeds, some grass or a root. You would let the herbivores do all the grazing and digestion with their specialized stomachs that are capable of converting essentially any plant material into edible protein and fat. Then you would eat them. I don't like that either, but that is the way it is.

Pretty simple isn't it? We should eat what nature provides that we can digest. Yet this is not explained in nutrition textbooks, and PhD nutritionists graduate without even grasping it. It cuts through all the theory, belief, and guesswork. It matches our natural bodies with our natural food.

Our immersion in modern cookery and food processing has misled us. Foods such as granola, tofu, cauliflower and lettuce, which are marketed as the ultimate health foods, are in fact not natural human foods at all. These products either do not exist in nature, are so scarce as to never possibly be a sustaining food, or in their raw precooked form are unpalatable and even toxic.

For example, raw soybeans contain a variety of chemicals that can stunt growth and interfere with the body's digestive enzymes. Eat enough of them and you'll die. Modern grain products are a result of agriculture and in their raw form are unpalatable, indigestible and also toxic. In nature one would never find enough kernels of rice, wheat or barley to even make up a meal, even if they were edible in their raw form. (Sprouted seeds and grains are an exception to this since they are digestible, raw and nutritious.)

Who, if they were really, really hungry - and options were available - would eat raw broccoli, cauliflower or lettuce? These foods are only now made palatable by cooking or doctoring with manufactured dressings.

Now this creates somewhat of a dilemma. Knowing what our natural diet is and consuming it are two different things. We are so acclimated to the modern diet that the notion of eating raw meat, for example, is nauseating to most. Nevertheless, as evidenced by primitive (but nutritionally advanced) peoples, raw meat and organs can be eaten with great nutritional benefit to humans, and they are totally digestible and nontoxic. Some cultures even bury raw meats and let them rot (ferment) and then consume them with gusto. These societies are robustly healthy until modern foods encroach. Then, like a dirty bathtub ring, modern degenerative diseases decimate those people at the periphery in contact with modern foods.

It would be very difficult today to achieve the ideal raw, natural diet. But if the basic principle is kept in mind it helps remind us of our origins and points us to the appropriate, genetically adapted-to foods.

This does not mean no processed or cooked foods should be eaten. It simply means that consistently doing so will stress the body's genetic capabilities and will ultimately result in less than optimal health.

Look around the grocery store (usually the outside aisles) and consider what it is that could be eaten in its natural state. Increase the proportion of those foods. Processed foods should be chosen that compromise natural principles the least and are as close to nature as possible. They should be whole foods, packaged carefully to protect nutrient value and be free of synthetics, refined oils and sugars.

For example, whole milk yogurt that has not been homogenized or pasteurized is ideal. The same thing pasteurized would be next best. The same thing pasteurized and homogenized next. Worst would be non-fat, pasteurized, homogenized, artificially flavored and sugared yogurt (which is, of course, what the majority eat because it tastes most like what they are used to - candy).

Eat the best foods you can find in variety and moderation and you will be doing the best that can be done.

There, you have in a nutshell what has taken me decades of research, study and thinking to discover. It is simple and obvious, but that is the way of all great truths.