Last night I had the wonderful experience of sitting in a room with 150 people being entertained and educated by none other than Dr William Sears - pediatrician of 40 yrs, nutrition educator and author of 33 books on raising healthy children, preparing for the "prime time" years, and most recently, a book on healthy pregnancies. Next year, his new book on inflammation is due to hit the shelves. His genius is taking very complicated scientific truths and presenting them in a way that a 6 yr old can understand yet no adult is insulted. He uses slides, short videos, cartoons and real props - showing for instance, the difference between Wonder Bread and Whole Grain Sprouted bread. (one you can squish like a marshmallow - making "squishy muscles" - and other one couldn't be squeezed - "making strong and firm muscles so you can kick a soccer ball farther." The 2 6yr olds helping with the demonstration totally "got it." Last night's topic was taking a Nobel science award discovery and turning it into a cartoon that everyone in the audience, from 5 yr old to 95 yr old could understand. The scientific question: What makes blood "sticky" and therefore lead to coronary heart disease? (the actual discovery was what makes blood not sticky) What we learned last night is this: Every blood vessel in our body is lined with a one-cell-think layer of cells called "endothelial cells." These cells are capable of releasing "internal medicines" (nitric oxide) when the conditions are right and the endothelium is healthy. The Nobel prize in physiology went to Dr. Lou Ignarro in 1998 for this discovery. Dr. Sears, explained in "kid-speak" what the factors are that keep this lining healthy - there are two: 1. exercise: the more we move, the faster the blood flows. The faster the blood rushes by this endothelial lining, the more nitric oxide (NO) is released. A well-exercised body releases more NO even when we are notexercising because it has been "trained" to do so. 2. the food we eat: when we eat "food" that turns into glucose in the body quickly (all boxed foods, cereals, crackers, sweets, fast foods, in other words: foods made in a factory), that extra glucose raises insulin (a highly inflammatory hormone) and creates AGEs - advanced glycylation end-products. They are exactly their name: they AGE us. These end-products create "sticky-stuff" in the bloodstream, closing off the ability of those endothelial cells to release NO. The result: faster aging, creation of heart disease and diabetes. Dr Sears sage advice: 1. get out and move! get those cells to create nitric oxide 24/7. This keeps the blood flowing and lowers blood pressure and reduces risk of heart disease. 2. eat real food: Salmon twice a week, other fish that are small (NO swordfish or shark), lots of vegetables and some fruits, especially blueberries, nuts, and whole sprouted grains. He does not recommend any supplements except JuicePlus+. Since JuicePlus+ is "just food" it is a super-helpful way to get the 9 - 13 servings a day of the fruits and vegetables we are supposed to eat on a daily basis. (new recommendations by the Dept of Health and Human Services) Since almost no one does this day in and day out, he feels JuicePlus+ is the only proven way to get the phyto-nutrient protection we need from consuming large quantities of plant foods. By avoiding manufactured "food" and eating only real food and exercising on a regular basis we can not only reduce our risk of heart disease but also slow down the aging process in general. The more than 30 published studies on JuicePlus+ give Dr Sears the science he needs to endorse this and only this product in his books. Watch for the release of "The Inflammation Solution" due out next year. Note to parents: He says there is no such thing as ADD or ADHD: it's actually NDD: nutrition deficiency disease. In his practice of 40+ years, he has cured every case of ADD with diet: removing "sticky-foods" and introducing whole foods, real foods, the "right" fats, and encouraging children to run around the playground perimeter a few times a day. The brain is food-responsive. Wrong food = poor thinking, poor motor function and lowered or no attention-span. Eat well! Be healthy! If you need a reminder of what "real foods" are, watch my video again by hitting my website below. Mary Anne Robinson, MS Bio-Nutrition |
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