Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Power of a Decision



It only takes one decision to completely impact our lives... In January I made the decision to stop eating products with high fructose corn syrup "HFCS" (I haven't been perfect) but for the most part I've tried to stick with it being diligent and steadfast to my decision. I also made the decision not to eat pork. I have had pork only 3 times since January 1st and I can say that I'm glad I made the choice to stay away from pork. Because all 3 times I have eaten it I have felt yucky afterwards.


Some interesting facts I found @ http://bit.ly/1qmGUx

PIG & PORK FACTS

THE pig or swine is a very popular food item with most Christians. Yet Christians are unaware that the God they profess to believe in had condemned the eating of swine's flesh. The condemnation was based on some very sound biological principles. Here are some facts on pork that prove it to be a very unhealthy food to eat:

A pig is a real garbage gut. It will eat anything including urine, excrement, dirt, decaying animal flesh, maggots, or decaying vegetables. They will even eat the cancerous growths off other pigs or animals.

The meat and fat of a pig absorbs toxins like a sponge. Their meat can be 30 times more toxic than beef or venison.

When eating beef or venison, it takes 8 to 9 hours to digest the meat so what little toxins are in the meat are slowly put into our system and can be filtered by the liver. But when pork is eaten, it takes only 4 hours to digest the meat. We thus get a much higher level of toxins within a shorter time.

Unlike other mammals, a pig does not sweat or perspire. Perspiration is a means by which toxins are removed from the body. Since a pig does not sweat, the toxins remain within its body and in the meat.

Pigs and swine are so poisonous that you can hardly kill them with strychnine or other poisons.

Farmers will often pen up pigs within a rattlesnake nest because the pigs will eat the snakes, and if bitten they will not be harmed by the venom.

When a pig is butchered, worms and insects take to its flesh sooner and faster than to other animal's flesh. In a few days the swine flesh is full of worms.

Swine and pigs have over a dozen parasites within them, such as tapeworms, flukes, worms, and trichinae. There is no safe temperature at which pork can be cooked to ensure that all these parasites, their cysts,and eggs will be killed.

Pig meat has twice as much fat as beef. A 3 oz T bone steak contains 8.5 grams of fat; a 3 oz pork chop contains 18 grams of fat. A 3 oz beef rib has 11.1 grams of fat; a 3 oz pork spare rib has 23.2 grams of fat.

Cows have a complex digestive system, having four stomachs. It thus takes over 24 hours to digest their vegetarian diet causing its food to be purified of toxins. In contrast, the swine's one stomach takes only about 4 hours to digest its foul diet, turning its toxic food into flesh.

The swine carries about 30 diseases which can be easily passed to humans. This is why God commanded that we are not even to touch their carcase (Leviticus 11:8).

The trichinae worm of the swine is microscopically small, and once ingested can lodge itself in our intestines, muscles, spinal cord or the brain. This results in the disease trichinosis. The symptoms are sometimes lacking, but when present they are mistaken for other diseases, such as typhoid, arthritis, rheumatism, gastritis, MS, meningitis, gall bladder trouble, or acute alcoholism.

The pig is so poisonous and filthy, that nature had to prepare him a sewer line or canal running down each leg with an outlet in the bottom of the foot. Out of this hole oozes pus and filth his body cannot pass into its system fast enough. Some of this pus gets into the meat of the pig.

There are other reasons grounded in biological facts that could be listed to show why pigs and swine should not be eaten. But a true Christian should only need one reason why not to eat this type of food because God prohibited it.

"And the swine, because it divides the hoof, yet does not chew the cud, it is unclean unto you: you shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase." - Leviticus 11:7,8; Deuteronomy 14:8

Those who say Christ abolished the law condemning pork are motivated by their stomach not Scripture. The problems with pork are biological, and Christ never changed the laws of biology."

Can we say scary! Now that's definitely an incentive not to eat pork....that made me nauseous just reading the facts...

Since January 1st, with making the decision to stop eating HFCS and pork I've lost 12lbs. I had Marcus 11 months ago and was 134 lbs when I found out I was pregnant, gained 42 lbs during the pregnancy and now I'm down to 128lbs, if I loose 4 more pounds I will be down to what I was before getting pregnant with Kai 4 years ago. Making the decision to start lifestyle changes to better my health have been so beneficial that I will be able to start improving my family's diet also (well at least impact my children's health, which is important to me personally).

Good luck to all of you who are making life-style changes to better impact your own personal health.

Dangers and Side Effects of High Fructose Corn Syrup

It's made from corn silly! It's good for you!

Has anybody seen those ads? The ones put out by the Corn Refiners Association? I have.

Not only are there numerous dangers of high-fructose corn syrup, there's actually dangers of high-fructose corn syrup commercials - I laughed so hard when I saw those I nearly fell out of my chair and bonked my head.

The high-fructose corn syrup dangers all stem from the fact that it is completely devoid of nutrients, extremely sweet and addictive, and loaded with an isolated, refined form of fructose that is very difficult for the human body to properly process.

Astute researcher Gary Taubes calls fructose “the most lipogenic carbohydrate,” meaning that it has a tendency to get converted to fat more than any other type of carbohydrate food. This conversion takes place in the liver, where fructose is converted into triglycerides.

No wonder metabolic syndrome, a disease of having too much insulin production, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, and low HDL cholesterol has become so common with the increased use of high-fructose corn syrup. These abnormalities all go together and can be easily traced right back to the refined fructose molecule. Consider simply that to study drugs that lower triglycerides or blood pressure, lab rats are fed enormous quantities of fructose to induce those metabolic changes. Enough said.

High-fructose corn syrup, because it is so highly refined - like cocaine or heroin, has an extremely addictive, drug-like quality as well. High-fructose corn syrup side effects include a common list of opiate side effects, as ultra-sweet-tasting refined substances like high-fructose corn syrup trigger a strong release of an opiate substance known as beta-endorphin.

Beta endorphin, although normally a healthy neurotransmitter that makes us feel good, euphoric during exercise, and free of pain - can turn against us when the ingestion of high-fructose corn syrup, other refined sugars, and any highly sweet-tasting substance spikes endorphin levels far too high. This shuts down receptor sites, creates withdrawal symptoms, and thrusts the naturally addiction-prone people into a powerful addictive trap.

Any number of withdrawal symptoms can develop, such as negative thinking, depression, increased physical pain, and tendency to develop even stronger addictions to even more powerful substances - like alcohol or hard drugs.

Plus, common ingestion of high-fructose corn syrup leads to addictive eating behavior and theweight gain associated with eating a large quantity of fructose, which has unique fattening capabilities, while simultaneously draining our bodies of precious nutrient stores important for the prevention of all degenerative and infectious diseases.

In other words, the danger of high-fructose corn syrup is that it makes us all weaker, more prone to disease, more likely to become overweight or obese, and more unhappy. In no universe can a nutrient-devoid substance be ingested in such great quantities and not have a powerful net-negative effect.

White sugar has these same qualities as well, and has long been known to be the greatest nemesis of human health, but high-fructose corn syrup might just be worse than white sugar. There is an undeniable correlation between its widespread use beginning in the late 70's and the massive rise in obesity, type 2 diabetes, and countless other health problems in the United States, where it is used in greatest abundance.

Join 180DegreeHealth, and you'll never have to drool and nod your head in agreement at the Corn Refiners Association propaganda. Plus, you'll learn many of the great secrets of overcoming addiction - thus not wanting junk food, as well as how to realistically displace all such garbage with your own, decadent home cooking.

sited @

http://bit.ly/9JlbCB

10 Side Effects of High-Fructose Corn Syrup


You have heard the term high fructose corn syrup if you have spent any time on health websites, magazine articles or television shows. Commonly referred to as HFCS, the sweetener accounts for more calories than any other food option in the entire American diet.

Negative Effects of HFCS

High fructose corn syrup, so commonly found because corn has become one of the cheapest most widely available crops, acts as an alternative sweetener to normal table sugar. The fructose has a much sweeter taste and acts as a much more cost effective option for food producers and manufacturers. Ultimately, HFCS acts as the number one cause for obesity in the world, especially in the United States of America. The sweetener has the ability to decrease metabolism and hinder the natural production of insulin and other appetite controllers, amongst other problems.

1. Obesity

HFCS limits your body’s ability to produce insulin and leptin, making it difficult to metabolize food and regulate appetite. The pancreas remains insulin resistance to all types of fructose, including HFCS, severely hindering appetite control.

2. Diabetes

Due to obesity and an irregular fluctuation of insulin, HFCS leads to diabetes in many people. Continual pancreatic damage remains the main cause of diabetes.

3. Tooth Infections and Decay

Foods rich in sugars and sweeteners like HFCS rot teeth by decaying the enamel coating.

4. LDL Cholesterol and Triglycerides Increase

Sugars metabolize into fat, therefore increasing your unhealthy cholesterol levels along with the fat storages in your body. Since high fructose corn syrup does not cause the secretion of insulin or leptin, foods with high levels of the sweetener become nearly fully absorbed and metabolized into fat and cholesterol.

5. Increased Risk of Heart Attack and Heart Disease

High amounts of HFCS often result in higher cholesterol, which in turn blocks arteries and the flow of blood to and from the heart. This process weakens the heart muscles and the ability for new oxygen to circulate throughout the body. The increase in fat storages also harms heart health.

6. Anemia

In order for your body to digest HFCS and other sugars that contain no vitamins or minerals, you must use other storages of the valuable nutrients, depleting your body of its natural amounts.

7. Poor Immunity

HFCS interfere with the creation of hormones and enzymes in your body that normally defend major diseases.

8. Lack of Calories

Even though foods that contain high levels of HFCS provide a ton of calories, those calories have no nutritional value at all. This often gets labeled as the empty calorie phenomenon.

9. Fatigue

High levels of sugar cause your body to release greater amounts of hormones and endorphins that slow the body down.

10. Mood Swings and Withdrawal

Too much sugar and HFCS will cause your body to crave more, and when trying to cut back, the desire and cravings only increase.

sited @

http://bit.ly/gPythW

Monday, April 18, 2011

How I lost 12lbs since January

Do you want to shed a few pounds?
Keep reading and see how I shed 12lbs since January.

I've been trying to be really diligent not to eat any products that have high fructose corn syrup (which is found in most processed foods),




no artificial sweeteners,






and I stopped eating pork. You maybe wondering why I have cut these items out...
so let me proceed to explain=}

High-fructose corn syrup

(HFCS) — also called glucose-fructose syrup[1][2] in the UK, glucose/fructose[3] in Canada, and high-fructose maize syrup in other countries — comprises any of a group of corn syrups that has undergone enzymatic processing to convert some of its glucose into fructose to produce a desired sweetness. In the United States, consumer foods and products typically use high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener. It has become very common in processed foods and beverages in the U.S., including breads, cereals, breakfast bars,lunch meats, yogurts, soups and condiments.[4]

The most widely used varieties of high-fructose corn syrup are: HFCS 55 (mostly used in soft drinks), approximately 55% fructose and 42% glucose; and HFCS 42 (used in many foods and baked goods), approximately 42% fructose and 53% glucose.[5] HFCS-90, approximately 90% fructose and 10% glucose, is used in small quantities for specialty applications, but primarily is used to blend with HFCS 42 to make HFCS 55.[6]

In the U.S., HFCS is among the sweeteners that have primarily replaced sucrose (table sugar). Factors for this include governmental production quotas of domestic sugar, subsidies of U.S. corn, and an import tariff on foreign sugar; all of which combine to raise the price of sucrose to levels above those of the rest of the world, making HFCS less costly for many sweetener applications. Critics of the extensive use of HFCS in food sweetening argue that the highly processed substance is more harmful to humans than regular sugar, contributing to weight gain by affecting normal appetite functions, and that in some foods HFCS may be a source of mercury, a known neurotoxin.[7][8][9] (http://bit.ly/2tFjog)

another interesting article I found @ http://bit.ly/4pFeRg

Recommendations from the American Heart Association — not a part of official U.S. dietary guidelines — say that most American women should consume no more than 100 calories a day from added sugar from any source, and that most American men should consume no more than 150 calories a day from added sugar, and that even less is better. That's about 6 teaspoons of added sugar for women and 9 for men.

It's prudent to consume any added sugar only in moderation. Consider these tips to cut back:

  • Avoid sugary, nondiet sodas. Drink water or other unsweetened beverages instead.
  • Choose breakfast cereals carefully. Although healthy breakfast cereals can contain added sugar to make them more appealing to children, skip the non-nutritious, sugary and frosted cereals.
  • Eat fewer processed and packaged foods, such as sweetened grains like cookies and cakes and some microwaveable meals.
  • Snack on vegetables, fruit, low-fat cheese, whole-grain crackers, and low-fat, low-calorie yogurt instead of candy, pastries and cookies.
HFCS is a chemical that is hard for our livers to break down therefore it stays in our system a lot longer then it should and builds up in our systems. It's just plain ol' not good for your bodies. To say the least I have seen the results in myself by not consuming this chemical...I'm not perfect I have consumed it in a few items since January but for the most part I have done pretty good and have reaped the benefits by seeing the pounds come off. =}
(keep an eye out, I will post more on HFCS in the future and the side effects and how I'm continuing to make life changes that will impact my health and others around me...I'm so excited what the future holds =+}