Health Hints November

Have you heard about the swimming White Bengal Tiger named Odin? I received these pictures from one of our "Inner Health Circle tm" members (thanks Deb!) and it made me think about many different things. I deliberated over what a shame it is that we've decimated the wild population of these beautiful animals. I also realized that if I were ever attacked by one of these wonderful creatures, even in a dream, I couldn't escape them by jumping in a lake or river. So much for that theory! Seeing the pictures of Odin eating "raw meat" also made me think of "Pottenger's Cats". Francis M. Pottenger, Jr., M.D. researched the effects of heat-processed foods on cats between 1932 and 1942. Learn more about Dr. Pottenger's research through the Price Pottenger Nutrition Foundation. I will attempt to give you an abridged overview of his 10 years of painstaking research. Dr. Pottenger did generational studies of cats that were fed diets consisting of the following: cooked or raw meat, whole raw milk, pasteurized milk, evaporated milk, or sweetened condensed milk, and cod liver oil.

Dr. Pottenger's findings were amazing. Not only were the cats that were fed a "raw diet" healthier based on criteria which included body weight, agility, fur quality, skeletal structure, and fertility rate; these changes were compounded from generation to generation. He also found that the negative health changes in the same criteria in the cats fed a nutritionally "deficient", processed diet were compounded from generation to generation. By the fourth through seventh generations, many of the effects were irreversible! They were infertile and had a lower survival rate. Sound familiar? The bottom line: the cats that ate whole raw foods were healthier and had longer, more enjoyable and productive lives.

How does this relate to people today? First let's talk about a great deal of research currently being done in a field called Epigenetics which is the up or down regulation of our genes based on our life style choices. One of those life style choices is what we eat. Another factor is how many generations have done it wrong before us. This is the reason for my urgent and passionate appeal to my patients, Inner Health Circle tm members such as yourself, and anyone else who will listen. Depending on your age you may be in the second or third generation raised eating out of a box, a bag, or from a drive through window. You can turn this around starting today by eating one raw whole food. It could be an apple, pear, banana, or steamed organic broccoli or cauliflower. Make one change this week and another next week and the following week. By next year you will be exhilarated with the changes you see and feel, which will spark more positive changes. Just Get Started!