Deadly Harvest: The Intimate Relationship Between Our Heath and Our Food (57 page)

Factor 8—Grains.
The antinutrients in grains and their acidification of the blood can encourage osteoporosis.
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The effect is particularly marked in those who have acute sensitivity to gluten.
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Factor 9—High Blood Sugar.
High blood sugar levels, notably in diabetics, can aggravate osteoporosis.
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Factor 10—Alcohol Abuse.
Chronic alcoholism and even binge drinking destroy bones.
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Factor 11—Vitamin C Deficiency.
Lack of vitamin C can lead to osteoporosis. This deficiency is surprisingly common in some populations, particularly in inner cities, who eat hardly any fresh fruit, salads, and vegetables.

Factor 12—Iron Overload.
An excessive intake of iron leads to osteoporosis. This can happen in some communities that use iron cooking pots, anyone who supplements with iron, or sufferers of the condition called hemochromatosis, whose bodies do not know how to handle iron in the diet.

Factor 13—Calcium Overload.
Overdosing on calcium supplements can have a number of drawbacks. The main ones are kidney stones, the depletion of other essential minerals like zinc and magnesium,
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and toxic levels of blood calcium leading to kidney failure.
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Factor 14—Vitamin D Overload.
Overdosing on vitamin D either in food or in supplements promotes bone thinning. Vitamin D is such an important compound for bone building that people mistakenly self-medicate with pills and overdo it. Vitamin D in excess is toxic to the bones and promotes the development of osteoporosis.
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Some Reassurances About Osteoporosis

Changing the lifestyle factors outlined above can help you maintain good bone health right up to old age. It is not a coincidence that these factors are, without exception, measures that fit into the Savanna Model. There are many misconceptions about what factors might be harmful to bone health. Here we provide some reassurances.

Fluoride:
The savannas of east Africa are regions of high fluoride availability, particularly in the water. In such circumstances, we would predict that the human organism came to depend on it. Indeed, tests show that the human skeleton does well on a good fluoride intake.
⁴⁷⁸
This is not an argument to go out and take fluoride supplements, but rather a reassurance that, if your water is fluoridated or you use fluoridated toothpaste, it is fine to accept it.

Caffeine:
Moderate consumption of caffeine, such as two cups of American coffee per day, is harmless to calcium metabolism.
⁴⁷⁹

Alcohol:
Moderate consumption of alcohol, such as one glass of wine per day, is innocuous and can even be modestly helpful.
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Estrogen Therapy:
If anyone still needed convincing that osteoporosis is a hormonal problem, just consider this: the only medication prescribed by doctors that is truly helpful is the hormone estrogen. Estrogen is used successfully to slow the deterioration in bone health of menopausal women. But if you get your lifestyle patterns right, osteoporosis will be a non-issue.

Pregnancy and Breastfeeding:
We all have the idea that women who are pregnant or breastfeeding have an extra need for calcium. After all, they are building bones in a fetus or making milk for a nursing baby. So, does the mother need to consume more calcium? The San mothers certainly did not do anything special and we can suppose that our Pleistocene ancestors did not either. Humans have no instinct whatsoever to seek out calcium-rich foods. Pregnant and nursing mothers’ bodies take no account whatsoever of any increase in calcium intake.

Instead, the mother’s body meets the demand for extra calcium by triggering three main activities. First, specialized hormones instruct the intestines to absorb a higher percentage of calcium from the ordinary foods that she eats. Second, the kidneys are instructed to recover a higher percentage of calcium from the urine.
⁴⁸¹
Third, specialized hormones instruct the osteoclasts to release calcium from the bone bank. Nothing that the mother eats, supplements, or does changes this process. Whatever she does, her bones lose mass, but as soon as menstruation restarts, the hormones go into reverse. In no time at all, her bones recover their normal density.
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Even though doctors conventionally prescribe calcium pills during this time, they are ineffective and can even be harmful.
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This is a graphic illustration of how little control we can exercise over the way our bodies maintain bone health. Our interventions, albeit well-intentioned, are usually in vain and might make matters worse. Also, we can draw a lesson from our Pleistocene past: our ancestors (quite naturally) spaced their pregnancies by some four years, which gives the bones ample time to recover before the next pregnancy. The good news is that women who have had several pregnancies are at no greater risk for osteoporosis.
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SUNDRY DISORDERS

Menstrual Cramps and Pain

Both muscle constriction and pain sensitivity are increased or decreased by the hormones called “prostaglandins” that we met in Chapter 4. These are the famous products of the consumption of essential fatty acids. Which oil turns up the dial on cramping and pain? Omega-6 once again is the culprit; omega-3 turns it down. A double blind, placebo controlled study
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in Denmark, tested what happened when women had their omega-3 fish oil consumption increased. They had a stunning improvement in menstrual cramp and pain when their omega 6 to omega-3 ratio was equalized. Moral? Follow the essential fatty acid guidelines in Chapter 5, cut down on the omega 6 foods and boost the omega 3 foods.

Pre Menstrual Tension Syndromes (PMTS)

These syndromes can be divided into several sub-groups. They afflict women in Western societies much more commonly than those in the third world. Is this a self-inflicted phenomenon? Seemingly in large part it is. The symptoms of the most common subgroup, PMT-A, consist of premenstrual anxiety, irritability and nervous tension. In one study, women who consumed dairy products on a regular basis were five times more likely to have PMT-A than those who consumed no dairy products. The researchers also found a strong link with high sugar consumption
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.

In another study
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, a low fat, vegetarian diet was found to be helpful. Does this mean that you have to be a vegetarian? No, it turns out that it is the low fat part that is important and that the fats were plant fats. Vegetarians do not consume the dreaded saturated fats from red meat. Saturated fat blocks essential fatty acids from doing their work, so triggering the nervous mood and other disagreeable symptoms of PMTS. In this regard, dairy fats are also saturated animal fats, so this is how they too cause their mischief (previous paragraph).

The second-most-common subgroup, PMT-H, has symptoms of water and salt retention, abdominal bloating, breast pain and weight gain. One study found that micronutrient deficiency was the problem
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.

Many other studies show that we need our sunlight to control the PMTS depression just like regular depression earlier. Women who submitted to high powered lighting on a daily basis found their symptoms greatly improved
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.

In other words, PMTS does not have to be as bad as it usually is. We just have to remember our savanna origins. In particular, eat a diet which is low in saturated fat and omega-6 oils, rich in omega-3 fatty acid, high in non-starch plant food (rich in micronutrients) – and get sensible exposure to bright light or sunshine.

Macular Degeneration

Macular degeneration is a progressive and irreversible deterioration of the retina in the eye. When that happens, eyesight degenerates too, making it the most common cause of blindness in people over 65. The retina is protected by pigments called “lutein” and “zeaxanthin”. These compounds are plant antioxidants and their job is to mop up retina-destroying free radicals (sidebar Chapter 4).

The Micronutrient Connection:
Virtually all non-starch plant food contains “lutein” and “zeaxanthin”. Studies show that people who consume a high plant diet, notably spinach, cabbage and broccoli, have a 60% lower risk of developing the disease
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. In another study
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, Heidelberg researchers found that kiwi-fruit, orange bell peppers, red grapes, zucchini, eggs, and even red wine are equally effective.

The Fat Connection:
In an unexpected discovery, a research team led by Dr. Johanna Seddon of Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, found
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that macular degeneration is strongly connected with the kinds of fats the sufferer has been in the habit of eating. A diet high in omega-6 fats, such as margarine, corn, sunflower and safflower oil had an 86% increased risk.

In contrast, people who reported diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids had a decreased risk of the disease – but on one condition – that their intake of omega-6 oils was low. Here we have a clear example of the competition between omega-3 and omega-6 to get behind the steering wheel. If omega-3 wins, then macular degeneration is avoided. If omega-6 wins, you almost double your risk of going blind as you get older.

With macular degeneration, it is not enough to say that prevention is better than cure; prevention is the only way to go – there is no cure. Here we have mentioned two critical nutritional measures to observe. They fit straight into the Savanna Model. Have a good intake of non-starch plant food; consume fats and oils according to the conforming fatty profile.

Candida, Candidiasis

Candida is a yeast-like fungus that is present in everyone’s colon. It is a harmful organism but, when the bowel is functioning healthily, it is kept at bay by the “friendly” bacteria. Candidiasis is the condition caused when the candida organism escapes from its original site and spreads throughout the body.

This happens when the fungus sends out tendrils through the gut wall into the bloodstream. It can only do this when the colon is unhealthy and, in particular, when dietary errors have made its wall “leaky”.
Once in the bloodstream, the fungus gorges on blood sugar. The more sugar there is, the more the fungus spreads. When it reaches other parts of the body, it causes discharges from various mucus membranes, particularly the mouth and vagina. It also causes gastrointestinal upsets, constipation, itching rectum, gas, cramps and flu-like symptoms.

The main way to get rid of candida is to starve it to the point where your immune system takes back control and finishes it off. So the chief measures are:

The Low Glycemic Connection:
Keep blood sugar levels low – eliminate starches and sugars. In this connection, modern fruits contain too much sugar of all kinds and must be eliminated until the condition is under control. See “Blood Sugar Control”, Chapter 4.

The Immune System Connection:
Do everything to keep your immune system functioning at full capacity. See the “Immune System” sidebar in the Cancer segment earlier in this chapter.

The Colon Health Connection:
Ensure good intestinal health. See Colon Function, Chapter 4, and Digestive Disease segment earlier in this chapter.

Candida is an implacable foe that gives no quarter. When you fight candida, you can give no hostage to fortune. Strictly follow the Savanna Model and you give yourself every chance of ridding yourself of this parasitical overgrowth.

Cellulite

There is a multi-million dollar cellulite industry peddling all kinds of creams, remedies and nostrums to the gullible, hopeful and vulnerable. The fact is that none of it works. So why does cellulite happen? What
does
work? There is still much investigation to be done. But already the main principles are clear.

The Hormone Connection:
First of all, cellulite afflicts many more women than men. Furthermore the cellulite develops during hormonal changes such as puberty, pregnancy, menstruation and menopause. Significantly, hormonally feminized men are also afflicted by cellulite, just like a woman. This gives the most important clue of all: cellulite is, in great part, a
hormonal
problem. And, if you’ve learned nothing else in this book, it is this: that what you put in your mouth is the greatest force, for good or for bad, that manipulates hormones. In particular, cellulite sufferers generate hormones that disrupt capillary flow, disrupt lymphatic drainage, disrupt fat-cell function, and disrupt connective tissue creation. We do not know yet just how this happens. But that is not necessary. It is enough to pull back to the big picture – the mismatch between the way we feed ourselves and the Savanna Model.