Wednesday, May 27, 2015

That Sweet Roll Ain't So Sweet (and Omega-6 oils, Highly Processed Carbs, Sugars and Margarines Are Killing Us)

Dr. Dwight Lundell is the author of The Cure for Heart Disease and The Great Cholesterol Lie. He admits that the common knowledge regarding heart disease is based on flawed assumptions, and may just be making the matters. Must read for anyone concerned with health:

We physicians with all our training, knowledge and authority often acquire a rather large ego that tends to make it difficult to admit we are wrong. So, here it is. I freely admit to being wrong.. As a heart surgeon with 25 years experience, having performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries,today is my day to right the wrong with medical and scientific fact.

I trained for many years with other prominent physicians labelled “opinion makers.”  Bombarded with scientific literature, continually attending education seminars, we opinion makers insisted heart disease resulted from the simple fact of elevated blood cholesterol.

The only accepted therapy was prescribing medications to lower cholesterol and a diet that severely restricted fat intake. The latter of course we insisted would lower cholesterol and heart disease. Deviations from these recommendations were considered heresy and could quite possibly result in malpractice.

It Is Not Working!

These recommendations are no longer scientifically or morally defensible. The discovery a few years ago that inflammation in the artery wall is the real cause of heart disease is slowly leading to a paradigm shift in how heart disease and other chronic ailments will be treated.

The long-established dietary recommendations have created epidemics of obesity and diabetes, the consequences of which dwarf any historical plague in terms of mortality, human suffering and dire economic consequences.

Despite the fact that 25% of the population takes expensive statin medications and despite the fact we have reduced the fat content of our diets, more Americans will die this year of heart disease than ever before.

Statistics from the American Heart Association show that 75 million Americans currently suffer from heart disease, 20 million have diabetes and 57 million have pre-diabetes. These disorders are affecting younger and younger people in greater numbers every year.

Simply stated, without inflammation being present in the body, there is no way that cholesterol would accumulate in the wall of the blood vessel and cause heart disease and strokes. Without inflammation, cholesterol would move freely throughout the body as nature intended. It is inflammation that causes cholesterol to become trapped.

Inflammation is not complicated — it is quite simply your body’s natural defense to a foreign invader such as a bacteria, toxin or virus. The cycle of inflammation is perfect in how it protects your body from these bacterial and viral invaders. However, if we chronically expose the body to injury by toxins or foods the human body was never designed to process,a condition occurs called chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation is just as harmful as acute inflammation is beneficial.

What thoughtful person would willfully expose himself repeatedly to foods or other substances that are known to cause injury to the body?  Well,smokers perhaps, but at least they made that choice willfully.

The rest of us have simply followed the recommended mainstream diet that is low in fat and high in polyunsaturated fats and carbohydrates, not knowing we were causing repeated injury to our blood vessels. This repeated injury creates chronic inflammation leading to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity.

Let me repeat that: The injury and inflammation in our blood vessels is caused by the low fat diet recommended for years by mainstream medicine.

What are the biggest culprits of chronic inflammation? Quite simply, they are the overload of simple, highly processed carbohydrates (sugar, flour and all the products made from them) and the excess consumption of omega-6 vegetable oils like soybean, corn and sunflower that are found in many processed foods.

Take a moment to visualize rubbing a stiff brush repeatedly over soft skin until it becomes quite red and nearly bleeding. you kept this up several times a day, every day for five years. If you could tolerate this painful brushing, you would have a bleeding, swollen infected area that became worse with each repeated injury. This is a good way to visualize the inflammatory process that could be going on in your body right now.

Regardless of where the inflammatory process occurs, externally or internally, it is the same. I have peered inside thousands upon thousands of arteries. A diseased artery looks as if someone took a brush and scrubbed repeatedly against its wall. Several times a day, every day, the foods we eat create small injuries compounding into more injuries, causing the body to respond continuously and appropriately with inflammation.

While we savor the tantalizing taste of a sweet roll, our bodies respond alarmingly as if a foreign invader arrived declaring war. Foods loaded with sugars and simple carbohydrates, or processed withomega-6 oils for long shelf life have been the mainstay of the American diet for six decades. These foods have been slowly poisoning everyone.

How does eating a simple sweet roll create a cascade of inflammation to make you sick?

Imagine spilling syrup on your keyboard and you have a visual of what occurs inside the cell. When we consume simple carbohydrates such as sugar, blood sugar rises rapidly. In response, your pancreas secretes insulin whose primary purpose is to drive sugar into each cell where it is stored for energy. If the cell is full and does not need glucose, it is rejected to avoid extra sugar gumming up the works.

When your full cells reject the extra glucose, blood sugar rises producing more insulin and the glucose converts to stored fat.

What does all this have to do with inflammation? Blood sugar is controlled in a very narrow range. Extra sugar molecules attach to a variety of proteins that in turn injure the blood vessel wall. This repeated injury to the blood vessel wall sets off inflammation. When you spike your blood sugar level several times a day, every day, it is exactly like taking sandpaper to the inside of your delicate blood vessels.

While you may not be able to see it, rest assured it is there. I saw it in over 5,000 surgical patients spanning 25 years who all shared one common denominator — inflammation in their arteries.

Let’s get back to the sweet roll. That innocent looking goody not only contains sugars, it is baked in one of many omega-6 oils such as soybean. Chips and fries are soaked in soybean oil; processed foods are manufactured with omega-6 oils for longer shelf life. While omega-6’s are essential -they are part of every cell membrane controlling what goes in and out of the cell — they must be in the correct balance with omega-3’s.

If the balance shifts by consuming excessive omega-6, the cell membrane produces chemicals called cytokines that directly cause inflammation.

Today’s mainstream American diet has produced an extreme imbalance of these two fats. The ratio of imbalance ranges from 15:1 to as high as 30:1 in favor of omega-6. That’s a tremendous amount of cytokines causing inflammation. In today’s food environment, a 3:1 ratio would be optimal and healthy.

To make matters worse, the excess weight you are carrying from eating these foods creates overloaded fat cells that pour out large quantities of pro-inflammatory chemicals that add to the injury caused by having high blood sugar. The process that began with a sweet roll turns into a vicious cycle over time that creates heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetesand finally, Alzheimer’s disease, as the inflammatory process continues unabated.

There is no escaping the fact that the more we consume prepared and processed foods, the more we trip the inflammation switch little by little each day. The human body cannot process, nor was it designed to consume, foods packed with sugars and soaked in omega-6 oils.

There is but one answer to quieting inflammation, and that is returning to foods closer to their natural state. To build muscle, eat more protein. Choose carbohydrates that are very complex such as colorful fruits and vegetables. Cut down on or eliminate inflammation- causing omega-6 fats like corn and soybean oil and the processed foods that are made from them.

One tablespoon of corn oil contains 7,280 mg of omega-6; soybean contains 6,940 mg. Instead, use olive oil or butter from grass-fed beef.

Animal fats contain less than 20% omega-6 and are much less likely to cause inflammation than the supposedly healthy oils labelled polyunsaturated. Forget the “science” that has been drummed into your head for decades. The science that saturated fat alone causes heart disease is non-existent. The science that saturated fat raises blood cholesterol is also very weak. Since we now know that cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease, the concern about saturated fat is even more absurd today.

The cholesterol theory led to the no-fat, low-fat recommendations that in turn created the very foods now causing an epidemic of inflammation. Mainstream medicine made a terrible mistake when it advised people to avoid saturated fat in favor of foods high in omega-6 fats. We now have an epidemic of arterial inflammation leading to heart disease and other silent killers.

What you can do is choose whole foods your grandmother served and not those your mom turned to as grocery store aisles filled with manufactured foods. By eliminating inflammatory foods and adding essential nutrients from fresh unprocessed food, you will reverse years of damage in your arteries and throughout your body from consuming the typical American diet.

Wow, right?

This isn't new information. But from his background, it's very interesting.

You can see the videos and read more here:

http://m.disclose.tv/news/World_Renowned_Heart_Surgeon_Speaks_Out_On_What_Really_Causes_Heart_Disease/113103




Monday, May 18, 2015

He rides on the wings of the wind, and every storm must fulfill His word

Today I saw pictures of a powerful storm sweeping over open land. The pictures evoked in me the songs of praise of Israel, who saw the great deliverance of God in nature, and understood God as the God of the Storm, the One who "rides on the wings of the wind" (Psalm 104:3), the One before whom every storm must bow, fulfilling His holy word (Psalm 148:8).

First, the song of deliverance in Exodus 15:6-8, where God shatters the enemy in a storm:

Your right hand, LORD, was majestic in power. Your right hand, LORD, shattered the enemy.

In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble.

By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood up like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.

Selah.

And Psalm 29, a song of God's holiness and majestic power:

Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
    worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
    the God of glory thunders,
    the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful;
    the voice of the Lord is majestic.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
    the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
    Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord strikes
    with flashes of lightning.

The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
    the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord twists the oaks
    and strips the forests bare.
And in His temple all cry, “Glory!”

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
    the Lord is enthroned as King forever.

The Lord gives strength to His people;
    the Lord blesses His people with peace.

Alleluia!

Selah.

Tuesday, May 05, 2015

Secrets of Sovereignty: Providential diamonds often come in rough packages

The Lord’s loyal followers receive His guidance, and He reveals His covenantal demands to them. — Psalm 25:14

by A. B. Simpson

There are secrets of Providence which God’s dear children may learn. His dealings with them often seem, to the outward eye, dark and terrible. Faith looks deeper and says, “This is God’s secret. You look only on the outside; I can look deeper and see the hidden meaning.”

Sometimes diamonds are done up in rough packages, so that their value cannot be seen. When the Tabernacle was built in the wilderness there was nothing rich in its outside appearance. The costly things were all within, and its outward covering of rough badger skin gave no hint of the valuable things which it contained.

God may send you, dear friends, some costly packages. Do not worry if they are done up in rough wrappings. You may be sure there are treasures of love, and kindness, and wisdom hidden within. If we take what He sends, and trust Him for the goodness in it, even in the dark, we shall learn the meaning of the secrets of Providence.

Selah.

Our Lord can give a New Heart

These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind. — Deut. 6:6 NET

by J.R. Miller

There is a story in one of the sacred books of the Hindus of a devotee who had served a certain goddess with such faithfulness that she offered to give him whatever he might ask.

She offered him lands and wealth beyond price, but the man said, “Alas! I have no need of such things. I already have great estates, abundance of silver and gold, and all the good things of this life. But I am a miser. I cannot enjoy the things I possess. I die of famine, with plenty all around me, and I know nothing of the pleasures that that are common to generous minds. Give me, then, a new heart.”

The goddess looked at him in amazement, and said, “Thou hast asked a thing too difficult,” and she vanished.

But this is the very thing God does for those who ask it. He is able to change the miser’s heart, so that he may find pleasure in blessing others with his gifts. He does this by putting His words into the heart. Then the heart is changed, and the life that was all wrong is made all right.

Selah.


Saturday, May 02, 2015

May the fruit of the Spirit grow in me richly, today

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness... Gal. 5:22

A.B. Simpson

Nature's harshness has melted away and she is now beaming with the smile of spring, and everything around us whispers of the gentleness of God. This beautiful fruit is in lovely harmony with the gentle month of which it is the keynote. May the Holy Spirit lead us, beloved, these days, into His sweetness, quietness, and gentleness, subduing every coarse, rude, harsh, and unholy habit, and making us like Him, of whom it is said, He shall not strive, nor cry, nor cause His voice to be heard in the streets.

The man who is truly filled with Jesus will always be a gentleman. The woman who is baptized of the Holy Spirit, will have the instincts of a perfect lady, although low born and little bred in the schools of earthly refinement. Beloved, let us receive and reflect the gentleness of Christ, the spirit of the holy babe, until the world will say of us, as the polished and infidel Chesterfield once said of the saintly Fenelon, If I had remained in his house another day, I should have had to become a Christian. Lord, help us today, to so yield to the gentle Dove–Spirit, that our lives shall be as His life.

Selah.

This reading by A.B. Simpson convicted me. It called to mind the story told of John Welsh of Ayr, the son-in-law of the great John Knox. A visiting friar needed lodging, and so was welcomed to the home of Welsh, the Presbyterian Covenanter. The friar heard talking during the night, and thought it was the devil, living in the house of the famous Protestant pastor. He fully intended to move on before the next night, but when he mentioned the night whispers to a villager, the villager laughed. "That's just Welsh praying. He prays more than another other pastor in France."

The friar agreed to stay one more night, resolving to listen to the words more closely. So he did. And when he turned his ear toward discerning the words, he began to weep -- for he had never heard prayer like this in his life. The next day he confessed his need of grace to John Welsh, who prayed for him. And he became a pastor in the Covenant.

Selah.

Lord, grant that in me the fruit of your Spirit would grow so richly that others might be drawn to the harvest-beauty, the holy music.

Amen.

Friday, May 01, 2015

A May Day song of praise

Indeed you will go out with joy; you will be led along in peace; the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you, and all the trees in the field will clap their hands. — Isa 55:12

by C.H. Spurgeon

When sin is pardoned, our greatest sorrow is ended, and our truest pleasure begins. Such is the joy which the Lord bestows upon His reconciled ones, that it overflows and fills all nature with delight. The material world has latent music in it, and a renewed heart knows how to bring it out and make it vocal. Creation is the organ, and a gracious man finds out its keys, lays his hand thereon, and wakes the whole system of the universe to the harmony of praise. Mountains and hills, and other great objects, are, as it were, the bass of the chorus; while the trees of the wood, and all things that have life, take up the air of the melodious song.

When God’s Word is made to prosper among us and souls are saved, then everything seems full of song. When we hear the confessions of young believers and the testimonies of well-instructed saints, we are made so happy that we must praise the Lord, and then it seems as if rocks and hills and woods and fields echo our joy-notes and turn the world into an orchestra. Lord, on this happy May Day, lead me out into thy tuneful world as rich in praise as a lark in full song.

Alleluia!