Health Benefits of ANCIENT GRAINS

MANINIS^® Gluten Free uses 7 ancient grains in the certified gluten-free blending of our mixes.  MANINIS Gluten Free Mixes contain at least four and as high as 6 in various combinations of the following ancient grains which are naturally gluten-free: Organic Millet, Teff, Organic Quinoa, Certified Gluten Free Oats, Flax, Organic Amaranth, Organic Sorghum.  Each grain in itself has amazing nutritional qualities.  Most important of all, because MANINIS Gluten Free is a family living with celiac disease, we have carefully chosen the growers of these ancient grains after many years of testing and retesting to be sure they could provide us with consistent gluten-free results.  The following information gives you an overview of the origin and nutritional content of each of these grains:

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Three Hidden Ways Wheat Makes You Fat

Gluten-free is hot these days. There are books and websites, restaurants with gluten free menus, and grocery stores with hundreds of new gluten-free food products on the shelf. Is this a fad, or a reflection of response to a real problem?

Yes, gluten is a real problem. But the problem is not just gluten. In fact, there are three major hidden reasons that wheat products, not just gluten (along with sugar in all its forms) is a major contributor to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia, depression and so many other modern ills.

This is why there are now 30 percent more obese than undernourished in the world, and why chronic lifestyle and dietary driven disease kills more than twice as many people as infectious disease globally. These non-communicable, chronic diseases will cost our global economy $47 trillion over the next 20 years.

Sadly, this tsunami of chronic illness is increasingly caused by eating our beloved diet staple, bread, the staff of life, and all the wheat products hidden in everything from soups to vodka to lipstick to envelope adhesive.

The biggest problem is wheat, the major source of gluten in our diet. But wheat weaves its misery through many mechanisms, not just the gluten! The history of wheat parallels the history of chronic disease and obesity across the world. Supermarkets today contain walls of wheat and corn disguised in literally hundreds of thousands of different food-like products, or FrankenFoods. Each American now consumes about 55 pounds of wheat flour every year.

It is not just the amount but also the hidden components of wheat that drive weight gain and disease. This is not the wheat your great-grandmother used to bake her bread. It is FrankenWheat — a scientifically engineered food product developed in the last 50 years.

How Wheat — and Gluten — Trigger Weight Gain, Prediabetes, Diabetes and More

This new modern wheat may look like wheat, but it is different in three important ways that all drive obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia and more.

1. It contains a Super Starch — amylopectin A that is super fattening.
2. It contains a form of Super Gluten that is super-inflammatory.
3. It contains forms of a Super Drug that is super-addictive and makes you crave and eat more.

The Super Starch

The Bible says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Eating bread is nearly a religious commandment. But the Einkorn, heirloom, Biblical wheat of our ancestors is something modern humans never eat.

Instead, we eat dwarf wheat, the product of genetic manipulation and hybridization that created short, stubby, hardy, high-yielding wheat plants with much higher amounts of starch and gluten and many more chromosomes coding for all sorts of new odd proteins. The man who engineered this modern wheat won the Nobel Prize — it promised to feed millions of starving around the world. Well, it has, and it has made them fat and sick.

The first major difference of this dwarf wheat is that it contains very high levels of a super starch called amylopectin A. This is how we get big fluffy Wonder Bread and Cinnabons.

Here’s the downside. Two slices of whole wheat bread now raise your blood sugar more than two tablespoons of table sugar.

There is no difference between whole wheat and white flour here. The biggest scam perpetrated on the unsuspecting public is the inclusion of “whole grains” in many processed foods full of sugar and wheat, giving the food a virtuous glow. The best way to avoid foods that are bad for you is to stay away from foods with health claims on the labels. They are usually hiding something bad.

In people with diabetes, both white and whole grain bread raises blood sugar levels 70 to 120 mg/dl over starting levels. We know that foods with a high glycemic index make people store belly fat, trigger hidden fires of inflammation in the body and give you a fatty liver, leading the whole cascade of obesity, pre-diabetes and diabetes. This problem now affects every other American and is the major driver of nearly all chronic disease and most our health care costs. Diabetes now sucks up one in three Medicare dollars.

The Super Gluten

Not only does this dwarf, FrankenWheat, contain the super starch, but it also contains super gluten which is much more likely to create inflammation in the body. And in addition to a host of inflammatory and chronic diseases caused by gluten, it causes obesity and diabetes.

Gluten is that sticky protein in wheat that holds bread together and makes it rise. The old fourteen-chromosome-containing Einkorn wheat codes for the small number of gluten proteins, and those that it does produce are the least likely to trigger celiac disease and inflammation. The new dwarf wheat contains twenty-eight or twice as many chromosomes and produces a large variety of gluten proteins, including the ones most likely to cause celiac disease.

Five Ways Gluten Makes You Sick and Fat

Gluten can trigger inflammation, obesity and chronic disease in five major ways.

1. Full-blown celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that triggers body-wide inflammation triggering insulin resistance, which causes weight gain and diabetes, as well as over 55 conditions including autoimmune diseases, irritable bowel, reflux, cancer, depression, osteoporosis and more.

1. Low-level inflammation reactions to gluten trigger the same problems even if you don’t have full-blown celiac disease but just have elevated antibodies (7 percent of the population, or 21 million Americans).

1. There is also striking new research showing that adverse immune reactions to gluten may result from problems in very different parts of the immune system than those implicated in celiac disease. Most doctors dismiss gluten sensitivity if you don’t have a diagnosis of celiac disease, but this new research proves them wrong. Celiac disease results when the body creates antibodies against the wheat (adaptive immunity), but another kind of gluten sensitivity results from a generalized activated immune system (innate immunity). This means that people can be gluten-sensitive without having celiac disease or gluten antibodies and still have inflammation and many other symptoms.

1. A NON-gluten glycoprotein or lectin (combination of sugar and protein) in wheat called wheat germ agglutinin (WGA)[1] found in highest concentrations in whole wheat increases whole body inflammation as well. This is not an autoimmune reaction, but can be just as dangerous and cause heart attacks.[2]

1. Eating too much gluten-free food (what I call gluten-free junk food) like gluten-free cookies, cakes and processed food. Processed food has a high glycemic load. Just because it is gluten-free, doesn’t mean it is healthy. Gluten-free cakes and cookies are still cakes and cookies! Vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds and lean animal protein are all gluten free — stick with those.

Let’s look at this a little more closely. Gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt and oats, can cause celiac disease, which triggers severe inflammation throughout the body and has been linked to autoimmune diseases, mood disorders, autism, schizophrenia, dementia, digestive disorders, nutritional deficiencies, diabetes, cancer and more.

Celiac Disease: The First Problem

Celiac disease and gluten-related problems have been increasing, and now affect at least 21 million Americans and perhaps many millions more. And 99 percent of people who have problems with gluten or wheat are NOT currently diagnosed.

Ninety-eight percent of people with celiac have a genetic predisposition known as HLA DQ2 or DQ8, which occurs in 30 percent of the population. But even though our genes haven’t changed, we have seen a dramatic increase in celiac disease in the last 50 years because of some environmental trigger.

In a recent study that compared blood samples taken 50 years ago from 10,000 young Air Force recruits to samples taken recently from 10,000 people, researchers found something quite remarkable. There has been a real 400 percent increase in celiac disease over the last 50 years.[3] And that’s just the full-blown disease affecting about one in 100 people, or about three million Americans. We used to think that this only was diagnosed in children with bloated bellies, weight loss and nutritional deficiencies. But now we know it can be triggered (based on a genetic susceptibility) at any age and without ANY digestive symptoms. The inflammation triggered by celiac disease can drive insulin resistance, weight gain and diabetes, just like any inflammatory trigger — and I have seen this over and over in my patients.

Gluten and Gut Inflammation: The Second Problem

But there are two ways other than celiac disease in which wheat appears to be a problem.

The second way that gluten causes inflammation is through a low-grade autoimmune reaction to gluten. Your immune system creates low-level antibodies to gluten, but doesn’t create full-blown celiac disease. In fact, 7 percent of the population, 21 million, have these anti-gliadin antibodies. These antibodies were also found in 18 percent of people with autism and 20 percent of those with schizophrenia.

A major study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that hidden gluten sensitivity (elevated antibodies without full-blown celiac disease) was shown to increase risk of death by 35 to 75 percent, mostly by causing heart disease and cancer.[4] Just by this mechanism alone, over 20 million Americans are at risk for heart attack, obesity, cancer and death.

How does eating gluten cause inflammation, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer?

Most of the increased risk occurs when gluten triggers inflammation that spreads like a fire throughout your whole body. It damages the gut lining. Then all the bugs and partially-digested food particles inside your intestine get across the gut barrier and are exposed your immune system, 60 percent of which lies right under the surface of the one cell thick layer of cells lining your gut or small intestine. If you spread out the lining of your gut, it would equal the surface area of a tennis court. Your immune system starts attacking these foreign proteins, leading to systemic inflammation that then causes heart disease, dementia, cancer, diabetes and more.

Dr. Alessio Fasano, a celiac expert from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, discovered a protein made in the intestine called “zonulin” that is increased by exposure to gluten.[5] Zonulin breaks up the tight junctions or cement between the intestinal cells that normally protect your immune system from bugs and foreign proteins in food leaking across the intestinal barrier. If you have a “leaky gut,” you will get inflammation throughout your whole body and a whole list of symptoms and diseases.

Why is there an increase in disease from gluten in the last 50 years?

It is because, as I described earlier, the dwarf wheat grown in this country has changed the quality and type of gluten proteins in wheat, creating much higher gluten content and many more of the gluten proteins that cause celiac disease and autoimmune antibodies.

Combine that with the damage our guts have suffered from our diet, environment, lifestyle and medication use, and you have the perfect storm for gluten intolerance. This super gluten crosses our leaky guts and gets exposed to our immune system. Our immune system reacts as if gluten was something foreign, and sets off the fires of inflammation in an attempt to eliminate it. However, this inflammation is not selective, so it begins to attack our cells — leading to diabesity and other inflammatory diseases.

Damage to the gastrointestinal tract from overuse of antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs like Advil or Aleve and acid-blocking drugs like Prilosec or Nexium, combined with our low-fiber, high-sugar diet, leads to the development of celiac disease and gluten intolerance or sensitivity and the resultant inflammation. That is why elimination of gluten and food allergens or sensitivities can be a powerful way to prevent and reverse diabesity and many other chronic diseases.

The Super Drug

Not only does wheat contain super starch and super gluten — making it super fattening and super inflammatory — but it also contains a super drug that makes you crazy, hungry and addicted.

When processed by your digestion, the proteins in wheat are converted into shorter proteins, “polypeptides,” called “exorphins.” They are like the endorphins you get from a runner’s high and bind to the opioid receptors in the brain, making you high, and addicted just like a heroin addict. These wheat polypeptides are absorbed into the bloodstream and get right across the blood brain barrier. They are called “gluteomorphins,” after “gluten” and “morphine.”

These super drugs can cause multiple problems, including schizophrenia and autism. But they also cause addictive eating behavior, including cravings and bingeing. No one binges on broccoli, but they binge on cookies or cake. Even more alarming is the fact that you can block these food cravings and addictive eating behaviors and reduce calorie intake by giving the same drug we use in the emergency room to block heroin or morphine in an overdose, called naloxone. Binge eaters ate nearly 30 percent less food when given this drug.

Bottom line: wheat is an addictive appetite stimulant.

How to Beat the Wheat, and Lose the Weight

First, you should get tested to see if you have a more serious wheat or gluten problem.

If you meet any of these criteria, then you should do a six-week 100 percent gluten-free diet trial to see how you feel. If you have three out of five criteria, you should be gluten-free for life.

1. You have symptoms of celiac (any digestive, allergic, autoimmune or inflammatory disease, including diabesity).
2. You get better on a gluten-free diet.
3. You have elevated antibodies to gluten (anti-gliadin, AGA, or tissue transglutaminase antibodies, TTG).
4. You have a positive small intestinal biopsy.
5. You have the genes that predispose you to gluten (HLA DQ2/8).

Second, for the rest of you who don’t have gluten antibodies or some variety of celiac — the super starch and the super drug, both of which make you fat and sick, can still affect you. So go cold turkey for six weeks. And keep a journal of how you feel.

The problems with wheat are real, scientifically validated and ever-present. Getting off wheat may not only make you feel better and lose weight, it could save your life.

My personal hope is that together we can create a national conversation about a real, practical solution for the prevention, treatment, and reversal of our obesity, diabetes and chronic disease epidemic. Getting off wheat may just be an important step.

To learn more and to get a free sneak preview of The Blood Sugar Solution where I explain exactly how to avoid wheat and what to eat instead go to www.drhyman.com.

Please leave your thoughts by adding a comment below.

To your good health,

Mark Hyman, MD

References:

[1] Saja K, Chatterjee U, Chatterjee BP, Sudhakaran PR. “Activation dependent expression of MMPs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells involves protein kinase.” A. Mol Cell Biochem. 2007 Feb;296(1-2):185-92

[2] Dalla Pellegrina C, Perbellini O, Scupoli MT, Tomelleri C, Zanetti C, Zoccatelli G, Fusi M, Peruffo A, Rizzi C, Chignola R. “Effects of wheat germ agglutinin on human gastrointestinal epithelium: insights from an experimental model of immune/epithelial cell interaction.” Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2009 Jun 1;237(2):146-53.

[3] Rubio-Tapia A, Kyle RA, Kaplan EL, Johnson DR, Page W, Erdtmann F, Brantner TL, Kim WR, Phelps TK, Lahr BD, Zinsmeister AR, Melton LJ 3rd, Murray JA. “Increased prevalence and mortality in undiagnosed celiac disease.” Gastroenterology. 2009 Jul;137(1):88-93

[4] Ludvigsson JF, Montgomery SM, Ekbom A, Brandt L, Granath F. “Small-intestinal histopathology and mortality risk in celiac disease.” JAMA. 2009 Sep 16;302(11):1171-8.

[5] Fasano A. “Physiological, pathological, and therapeutic implications of zonulin-mediated intestinal barrier modulation: living life on the edge of the wall.” Am J Pathol. 2008 Nov;173(5):1243-52.

Mark Hyman, M.D. is a practicing physician, founder of The UltraWellness Center, a four-timeNew York Times bestselling author, and an international leader in the field of Functional Medicine. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, watch his videos onYouTube, become a fan on Facebook, and subscribe to his newsletter.

For more by Mark Hyman, M.D., click here.

For more on diet and nutrition, click here.

For more on personal health, click here.

For more on weight loss, click here.

MANINIS GLUTEN FREE MAKES MIXES AND FRESH PASTA MADE WITH ANCIENT GRAINS!

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Acid / Alkaline Food Chart

Balanced body chemistry is of utmost importance for the maintenance of health and correction of disease. Acidosis, or over-acidity in the body tissues, is one of the basic causes of many diseases, especially the arthritic and rheumatic diseases.

All foods are “burned” in the body–more commonly called “digested”– leaving an ash as the result of the “burning”, or the digestion. This food ash can be neutral, acid or alkaline, depending largely on the mineral composition of the foods. Some foods leave an acid residue or ash, some alkaline. The acid ash (acidosis) results when there is a depletion of the alkali reserve or the diminution in the reserve supply of fixed bases in the blood and the tissues of the body.

It is, therefore, vitally important that there is a proper ratio between acid and alkaline foods in the diet. The natural ratio in a normal healthy body is approximately 4 to 1 — four parts alkaline to one part acid, or 80% to 20%. When such an ideal ratio is maintained, the body has a strong resistance against disease. In the healing of disease, when the patient usually has acidosis, the higher the ratio of alkaline elements in the diet, the faster will be the recovery. Alkalis neutralize the acids. Therefore in the treatment of most diseases it is important that the patient’s diet includes plenty of alkaline-ash foods to offset the effects of acid-forming foods and leave a safe margin of alkalinity.

A healthy body usually keeps large alkaline reserves which are used to meet the emergency demands if too many acid-producing foods are consumed. But these normal reserves can be depleted. When the alkaline-acid ratio drops to 3 to 1, health can be seriously menaced. Your body can function normally and sustain health only in the presence of adequate alkaline reserves and the proper acid-alkaline ratio in all the body tissues and the blood.

For optimum health and maximum resistance to disease, it is imperative that your diet is slightly over-alkaline. The ideal ratio, according to the world’s foremost authority on the relationship between the acid-alkaline ratio in the diet in health and disease, Dr. Ragnar Berg, is about 80% alkali-producing foods and 20% acid-producing foods.

Below are tables of common foods with an approximate potential acidity or alkalinity, as present in one ounce of food.

Alkali-Forming Foods

 

Figs	30.0	Potatoes	2.0
Soy Beans	12.0	Pineapple	2.0
Lima Beans	12.0	Cabbage	1.8
Apricots	9.5	Grapefruit	1.7
Spinach	8.0	Tomatoes	1.7
Turnip/Beettops	8.0	Peaches	1.5
Raisins	7.0	Apples	1.0
Almonds	3.6	Grapes	1.0
Carrots	3.5	Bananas	1.0
Dates	3.0	Watermelon	1.0
Celery	2.5	Millet	0.5
Cucumber	2.5	Brazil nuts	0.5
Cantaloupe	2.5	Coconuts	0.5
Lettuce	2.2	Buckwheat	0.5
Watercress	2.0
Neutral (near/neutral) Ash Foods
milk		Vegetable oils
Butter		White sugar
Acid-Forming Foods
Oysters	5.0	Rice	2.5
Veal	3.5	W.Wheat/Rye bread	2.5
Most Fish	3.5	Most nuts (X-almond/brazil nut)	2.0
Organ meats	3.0	Natural Cheese	1.5
Liver	3.0	Lentils	1.5
Chicken	3.0	Peanuts	1.0
Fowl	3.0	Eggs	3.0
Most Grains	3.0

Most grains are acid-forming, except millet and buckwheat, which are considered to be alkaline. Sprouted seeds and grains become more alkaline in the process of sprouting. All vegetable and fruit juices are highly alkaline. The most alkali-forming juices are: fig juice, green juices of all green vegetables and tops, carrots, beet, celery, pineapple and citrus juices.

MANINIS Gluten Free mixes are made with millet.

Disclaimer

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The information contained in this site is presented for general education purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for special medical advice, which the visitor can obtain only from a qualified health professional .

Neither the author or management of this site assume responsibility or liability for any consequences of the reader to obtain such specific medical advice from a qualified health professional, nor for any consequences of the reader attempting to treat his own health problems using any or all of the information contained in this site or others managed by Maninis.

We strongly advise that in any case of ill health, the reader seek the advice of a qualified health professional.

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Resistant Starch – the third kind of fiber that is fermented

“Numerous studies document the impact of nutrient malabsorption caused from
Celiac Disease in both children and adults. Calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, and fiber,
especially soluble fiber, are also limited in the gluten free diet.”

 

Cynthia Kupper, Gluten Intolerance Group

Resistant starch – particularly RS2 type resistant starch derived from corn can act as a replacement for wheat products in foods that are required to be gluten-free.

Gluten Intolerance

Celiac Disease is a condition in which there is a chronic reaction to certain protein chains, commonly referred to as glutens, found in some cereal grains. This reaction causes destruction of the villi in the small intestine, with resulting malabsorption of nutrients. Symptoms range from short-term gastrointestinal distress after gluten exposure to chronic nutritional deficiencies. Some individuals display no symptoms despite the presence of disease-specific antibodies. Estimates of celiac disease prevalence range from 0.3 to 2% of the general population. Detailed peer-reviewed information on this disease can be found on the Celiac and Gluten-Free Diet Support Page,http://www.celiac.com/.

The specific proteins responsible for reactions in celiac patients are present in wheat gluten, the elastic protein that is left behind after wheat starch is washed away from wheat flour dough. Similar proteins appear to be present in rye, barley and oats. Corn also contains proteins known as “glutens” but these are chemically distinct from the wheat and wheat-related glutens and do not contain the proteins associated with the celiac reactions. Therefore, corn consumption is completely safe for individuals with celiac disease. In fact, the American Dietetic Association specifically recommends corn products for individuals with celiac disease as an essential component of a gluten-free diet.

The strongest risk factor for development of celiac disease appears to be genetic. There is no evidence that exposure to corn or corn products is associated with the pathogenesis of this condition.

The Stats¹

It has been estimated than more than 2 million people in the United States have celiac disease – or approximately 1 in 140 individuals.

The role of resistant starch

 

Eating natural resistant starch is important for colon health.  Recent scientific studies suggest that resistant starch’s fermentation within the colon may be important because it produces more butyrate than other fibers tested.  Butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid, has been shown to have anti-carcinogenic properties and anti-inflammatory properties, which may be useful for preventing and/or treating Celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease.

 

1 Source: Fasano A, et al, 2003 “Prevalence of Celiac Disease in at-risk and not-at-risk groups in the United States” Arch Intern Med 163:286-292. Farrell RJ and Kelly CP 2002 “Celiac sprue [review]” N Eng J Med 346:180-188.

 

Dietary fiber is the part of plant foods that resists digestion. Folk medicine tells us that “roughage” is important, but most of us are still confused about why something that isn’t even digested is so critical to human health. This FAQ explains the types of fiber, its benefits and what to eat to get enough fiber. Feel free to share it with your patients and your loved ones.

Q What’s the big deal about fiber? Why do we need it?

A Fiber promotes healthy intestinal function, influences weight control and is a critical part of a balanced diet in many ways.

Q I’m not constipated; my bowels work fine. So I don’t need fiber, right?

A There’s more to intestinal and digestive-tract health than avoiding constipation. Recent studies have found that certain types of fiber –

• · slow the absorption of glucose and reduces insulin requirements¹
  • · remove bile acids from the intestines and blocks synthesis of cholesterol, lowering cholesterol levels ²
• · reduce the likelihood of colorectal cancer³
• · discourage overeating, by filling the stomach⁴

In fact, your intestines are a major component of your immune system. Adequately maintained and nourished, your intestines can help protect you against scores of pathogens and diseases. When you consume dietary fiber, you accomplish this goal. It is important to eat a variety of fibers to obtain the optimal benefits of each type.

Q I’ve heard there are different kinds of fiber. Which is better?

A It’s long been thought that there were only two kinds of fiber – soluble and insoluble. Now there is a third kind – resistant starch. All three kinds of fiber are essential to health, so we can’t say that one is “better” than another.

• · Soluble Fiber like pectins, gums, mucillages, and some hemicellulose): These help lower blood cholesterol levels and controls blood sugar.
• · Insoluble Fiber such as cellulose, lignan and hemicellulose. These provide bulking and helps keep us “regular.”
• · Resistant Starch – the ‘trendiest’ form of dietary fiber – is insoluble but is fermented like soluble fiber, giving us some of the health benefits of both – plus some unique advantages of its own.

Q What should I eat to get all three kinds of fiber?

A Fiber comes only from plant foods; it isn’t found in meats, fish or dairy products.

In general, soluble fiber is found in oatmeal, barley and rye; beans, peas and lentils; fresh and dried fruits, and most vegetables.

Insoluble fiber is found in the skins and seeds of fruits and vegetables; in wheat bran; and in whole grains – including popcorn.

Resistant starch is found in whole grains, seeds, legumes, under-ripe fruit, and is especially prevalent in cooked starches that have been cooled – such as pasta salad, potato salad and sushi rice. It can also be found in packaged foods that contain selected new ingredients designed to provide resistant starch.

Many foods contain all three kinds of fiber, so your best plan is to eat the widest variety possible of fruits, vegetables and grains.

Q How much fiber should I eat every day?

A In 2002 the US government⁵ set the daily recommended intake (DRI) for fiber at 38g per day for men under age 50, and 30g per day for older men. For women, the DRI is 25g per day under age 50 and 21g per day over 50.

Men and women, young and old require about the same proportion of fiber in their diets; the actual fiber amounts vary only because these different groups eat different levels of calories.

Q That doesn’t sound like much. I probably get that much already.

A Probably not. The average American gets only about 13 grams (women) to 17 grams (men) of fiber per day, much less than recommended. Europeans on average eat more fiber, but still fall short of recommended levels.

Q Then what are the best ways for me to get more fiber?

A Below is a table⁶ that shows some common foods and their fiber content.

Food	Serving size	Total fiber	Soluble	Insoluble
All-bran cereal	1/3 cup	8.43g	.59g	7.84g
Oatmeal, regular	1 cup	4.45g	1.64g	2.81g
Shredded wheat	2/3 cup	3.16g	.31g	2.86g
Apple with skin	1 medium	2.76g	.28g	2.48g
Strawberries	1 cup	2.68g	.60g	2.09g
Prunes	1/2 cup	6.00g	3.60g	2.40g
Kidney beans	1/2 cup	6.66g	1.41g	5.25g
Broccoli, raw	1/2 cup	2.57g	.23g	2.34g
Potato, with skin	1 medium	5.05g	1.21g	3.84g
Carrots, raw	1 medium	1.80g	.14g	1.66g
Peas, green	1/2 cup	2.80g	.24g	2.56g
Bread, whole wheat	1 slice	2.59 g	.57g	2.02g
Bread, white	1 slice	.65g	.15g	.50g

Eating foods with added resistant starch is another good way to get more fiber. Resistant starch added during processing often increases the fiber in foods by up to 200%

Q You’ve convinced me. I’ll eat much more fiber, starting today.

A Take it slowly. If you increase the fiber in your diet too quickly, you may suffer from constipation and gas while your body adjusts. Ramp up gradually, over about three weeks, and make sure to drink plenty of liquids (6-8 glasses a day) to balance a higher-fiber diet.

References

1 Chandalia M et al. Beneficial effects of high dietary fiber intake in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. N Engl J Med. 2000; 342:1392-1398.

2 Brown L, Rosner B, Willett WW, Sacks FM. Cholesterol-lowering effects of dietary fiber: a meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 Jan;69(1):30-42

3 Bingham SA et al. Dietary fiber in food and protection against colorectal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC); an observational study. The Lancet, 361: 9368,May 3, 2003.

4 Liu S, Willett WC, Manson JE, et al. Relation between changes in intakes of dietary fiber and grain products and changes in weight and development of obesity among middle-aged women. Am J Clin Nutr 2003;78:920–7

5 National Academy of Science Institute of Medicine, Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein and Amino Acids.September 5, 2002.

6 Adapted from Marlett, JA. Content and Composition of dietary fiber in 117 frequently consumed foods. J Am Diet Assoc 92:175-186, 1992. As reprinted by theUniversity ofNebraska Cooperative Extension.

Miracolo Pane Classic Peasant Bread Mix is made with resistant starch.

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GMO – Genetically Modified Food Health Risks

GM–Genetically Modified Food

Health Risks

In 2009, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) stated that, “Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with genetically modified (GM) food,” including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system. The AAEM has asked physicians to advise all patients to avoid GM foods.[1]

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Symptoms of Gluten Intolerance

By Ronald R. Parks, MD

It has been estimated that 8% of the population in the United States has some form of auto-immunity, and probably a much larger percentage has some form of environmentally related sensitivity illness. Autoimmune disorders occur ten times more commonly in gluten caused celiac disease than in the general population. In people with gluten triggered celiac disease, the mortality rate for cardiovascular disease was increased by 60%.

In people with autoimmune disease or severe gluten intolerance, there could be an association or increase risk of conditions: as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, primary biliary cirrhosis, type 1 diabetes and possibly many other inflammatory related illnesses — which could include heart disease, cancer, skin disorders, and mental illness as depression and schizophrenia.

It is being found that celiac disease is just the tip of the iceberg, representing a much smaller percentage of the many diseases occurring outside of the bowel where there is the need to suspect gluten sensitivity. This has led to the association of gluten intolerance and triggered auto-immunity to many other conditions that occurred even in the absence of any bowel or celiac problems. This includes the many varieties of autoimmune disorders; and behavioral, emotional, learning, developmental, psychiatric, neurological, cognitive dysfunctions and constitutional problems — such as diabetes mellitus type I, dermatitis herpetiformis, alopecia, Sjögren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroiditis, auto immune hepatitis, psoriasis, irritable bowel syndrome and microscopic colitis.

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Vitamin B17 (Laetrile)

By Ningthoujam Sandhyarani

Vitamin B17 is not actually a vitamin, but a glycoside. It is found in high percentage in majority of berries and seeds. Its health benefits are more evident with vitamin B17 rich foods rather than its supplements.

Vitamin B17 is commercially known as amygdalin or Laetrile. Amygdalin is a compound that belongs to cyanogenic glycosides. It was isolated for the first time by Pierre-Jean Robiquet and A.F. Boutron-Charlard in 1803, from the seeds of bitter almond (scientific name Prunus dulcis). Following its discovery, subsequent studies have been carried out regarding its medicinal importance. Though, amygdalin is not a vitamin, Ernst T. Krebs (a biochemist), promoted it as Vitamin B17. Vitamin B17, in its purified form, is called Laetrile (laevomandelonitrile) and is administered for the treatment of cancer.

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New Proof that Bread and Rice Increase Heart Disease

Posted By Dr. Mercola | May 01 2010

It is not a mystery that eating many refined carbohydrates — bread, rice, pasta, cereal, bagels, etc. — is not a smart move for your heart.

When you eat more carbohydrates than can be used, the excess carbohydrate energy is converted to fat by your liver. This process occurs to help your body maintain blood sugar control in the short-term, however it will likely increase triglyceride concentrations, which will increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.

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Genetically Modified Health Risks

GM–Genetically Modified Food

Health Risks

In 2009, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) stated that, “Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with genetically modified (GM) food,” including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system. The AAEM has asked physicians to advise all patients to avoid GM foods.[1]

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Symptoms of Gluten Intolerance

By Ronald R. Parks, MD

It has been estimated that 8% of the population in the United States has some form of auto-immunity, and probably a much larger percentage has some form of environmentally related sensitivity illness. Autoimmune disorders occur ten times more commonly in gluten caused celiac disease than in the general population. In people with gluten triggered celiac disease, the mortality rate for cardiovascular disease was increased by 60%.

In people with autoimmune disease or severe gluten intolerance, there could be an association or increase risk of conditions: as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, primary biliary cirrhosis, type 1 diabetes and possibly many other inflammatory related illnesses — which could include heart disease, cancer, skin disorders, and mental illness as depression and schizophrenia.

It is being found that celiac disease is just the tip of the iceberg, representing a much smaller percentage of the many diseases occurring outside of the bowel where there is the need to suspect gluten sensitivity. This has led to the association of gluten intolerance and triggered auto-immunity to many other conditions that occurred even in the absence of any bowel or celiac problems. This includes the many varieties of autoimmune disorders; and behavioral, emotional, learning, developmental, psychiatric, neurological, cognitive dysfunctions and constitutional problems — such as diabetes mellitus type I, dermatitis herpetiformis, alopecia, Sjögren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroiditis, auto immune hepatitis, psoriasis, irritable bowel syndrome and microscopic colitis.

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