Wisdom of Healing

Below, you will find statements that I have found in articles or advertising about health, wellness, fitness and nutrition. (Some have been modified for conciseness.) The unfortunate thing for those of us who eat whole foods and practice holistic therapies is that much of what we read is either not quite accurate, poorly researched half-truths, or out-and-out fibs (lies) told to sell a product or idea.

The following is the first part in a series of posts where I will attempt to dispel some of these myths, providing you with the information and research necessary for you to see more clearly where the truth about health and nutrition actually lies.

Wonder bread builds strong bodies.

Wonder bread is made from the following list of ingredients:
Whole wheat flour, water, wheat gluten, high fructose corn syrup, contains 2% of less of: soybean oil, salt, molasses, yeast, mono and diglycerides, exthoxylated mono and diglycerides, dough conditioners (sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium iodate, calcium dioxide), datem, calcium sulfate, vinegar, yeast nutrient (ammonium sulfate), extracts of malted barley and corn, dicalcium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, calcium propionate (to retain freshness).

Remember; if you can pick it from a stem or vine, dig its root, or consume it in its whole state as harvested, it is truly natural. And likewise; if it sounds like a chemical, it’s a chemical. So, we have in the ‘natural’ category:
Whole wheat flour
soybean oil
molasses
yeast
vinegar
extracts of malted barley and corn

I didn’t list salt because the salt used is purified sodium, not naturally occurring salt as it was harvested. And I didn’t list high fructose corn syrup, as this, too, is highly refined and could not possibly be considered ‘natural’ by anyone who is aware of the refining process (which I will go into someday).

Did you ever make a sculpture or relief map in elementary school from flour, sugar and water? It essentially turns into a rock, right? This is similar to what happens in our digestive tract when we eat such highly refined ‘white’ foods. Is this your idea of a ‘strong body’? It is certainly not mine!

In an attempt to imply that there is any redeeming value at all to eating such products, the isolated, purified chemical forms of some nutrients are added so that the label may state that nutrition is contained. This is done because the nutritional values of the ingredients used, the B vitamins, etc, have been removed to provide the bread with an excessively long shelf life.

If you’ve been reading my previous posts, you’re likely becoming aware of the fact that these isolated, purified chemical forms of nutrients do not act the same within our bodies’ cells as the nutrients found within the complexity of whole foods. Please see “Most Natural Vitamins are not Really Natural”, posted to this site very soon, for a more complete story.

Two or more glasses of milk daily improves bone density.

Here’s one that I’ll bet a lot of folks still believe to be true. We’ve been told for more than 50 years that milk makes strong bones, but research shows that the truth may be exactly the opposite. Surprised?

More than a dozen years ago, because of considerable research findings to the contrary, the dairy council was forced to stop their advertising campaign that told the public that milk built strong bones.

The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study, one of the largest and most reliable studies of its kind, began in 1989 by Dr. Walter Willett. They released findings on osteoporosis in 2004, which showed that drinking two or more glasses of milk daily was associated with a measurable increase, not a decrease in osteoporosis, hip and arm fractures.

Other studies have also shown similar results. For more information on the truth about bone health, please read: Strong Healthy Bones at Any Age

Whole grains such as oatmeal or whole wheat bread are always healthy and nutritious.

Complex whole grains are certainly considered to be far better for us than products made with refined white flour, devoid of virtually all nutrient value, fiber and germ. The statement is not completely true, however. Oatmeal, although still containing all of its parts, is thoroughly crushed. Something that is crushed cannot be considered truly whole. Whole oat groats take hours to cook and are slightly higher in nutrients than the flattened, rolled oats, especially quick oats.

The other concern here is that wheat contains gluten (and oats may, as well). Gluten is a protein found in wheat and barley, and it has become one of the leading food sensitivities, causing or contributing to dozens of health concerns. Oats, because they are often processed in facilities where wheat has been processed, may contain trace amounts of gluten, as well.

Celiac disease is also on the rise. Celiac is a very serious digestive disease that causes damage to the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from the food that is consumed. People with Celiac have severe reactions to even minute quantities of this protein known as gluten.

Vitamin E supplements prevent heart disease and keep skin looking youthful.

Hundreds of studies done over several decades have shown that eating a diet containing a high number of foods rich in Vitamin E supports heart health and radiant, youthful skin and hat the more ‘natural’ Vitamin E supplements (which, by the way, are not truly natural at all) have also been associated with good heart and skin health.

But we cannot expect these kinds of results from all Vitamin E products. There are products on the market that are called Vitamin E, but alas, in reality they are by-products from the smelly chemicals used in the photograph developing industry! They can call it Vitamin E on the label, but it’ll never be remotely similar to a vitamin in my mind, and it will probably never work in the human cell like real Vitamin E from food, either.

In 2004, a meta-study was released that showed that Vitamin E is not as effective as was once believed. Firstly, a meta-study is when researchers review several, sometimes dozens of studies to find patterns. In this case, the Vitamin E meta-study simply looked at 19 previous studies–18 of which showed no greater mortality with E supplementation–and one that did. This study did not distinguish between the isolated, purified chemical form (the Vitamin E that’s considered more ‘natural’ and the synthetic chemical version, formerly part of a photo finishing chemical soup.

I hope you feel a bit wiser now, better equipped to decipher the stories we’re told about our health. Happy trails.

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