PJ's Pointers for the Journey

One Disease – Two Causes: Cause #2 – Toxicity

PJsJourney — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:47:49 +0000

Our bodies are “fearfully and wonderfully made”, and given all the right raw materials, the body has an amazing ability to heal itself. However, dramatic changes in this past century, the declining quality of our diets and lifestyles, along with the accelerated introduction of toxins into our lives, has interfered tremendously with our chances of experiencing optimal health. Our diet, lifestyle, and toxic overload has changed in this past century more than all man’s previous centuries of existence combined. There are over 81,000 chemicals registered with the EPA and about 1,000 new chemicals introduced each year. However, only a small fraction of these chemicals have ever been tested for their affect on human health. (epa.gov) Also, these chemicals are tested in isolation. However their synergistic (combined) effect is exponentially higher (for example 1+1=8, or 7). We are all involved in a huge toxicological experiment where we are the “guinea pigs”. What will the outcome be?

Actually, we have been seeing the results of this “experiment” for a long time. We just seem to ignore or be ignorant of the connection. For example,

In America:

In 1900 about 3 in 100 contracted cancer

In 2006 about 1 in 2.5 contracted cancer

The figures gradually increased through the years, and began to pick up speed at 1950.

In a MSNBC report July 14, 2005 by Tracie Potts, the cord blood of unborn infants reveal that our unborn babies are soaking in a chemical stew of 287 contaminants, on average. You would think the womb would be the safest, most non-toxic place to be. Not so! Scientists are finding that mothers are passing along a great portion of their toxic load to their unborn children. According to Tracie Potts, of the 287 contaminants found in the umbilical-cord blood:

“180 cause cancer in humans and animals

217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system

208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests”.

(As a public school elementary teacher I am wondering if there could be a link here with ADD/ADHD.)

Our bodies have not been equipped to withstand the constant bombardment of toxins and chemicals to which it is subjected in our modern world. A LOT of our nutrient stores are used up in the fight to clean toxins out of our systems, leaving less nutrition to repair and rebuild our bodies—resulting in accelerated degeneration and aging. We need those nutrients to build the one trillion cells (approx) a day that our body makes. If our nutrient stores are partially depleted, we will be building inferior cells for a number of days.

And if that weren’t enough of a problem, as our immune system is kept busy cleaning these offenders (toxins) out of the body, cancer and other diseases can sneak in unchecked. Remember, there is “One Disease & Two Causes”. Cellular malfunction, the one underlying disease, is brought on by deficiencies of what our cells need (+) and an overload of toxins (-) which further exaggerates our deficiencies.

In today’s world, health doesn’t just happen. “The deck is stacked against us”, so we must aggressively fight to regain and hold onto our health.

(Ponder: In the 1950’s, how many times per year was a child sick? Maybe one or none on average Today, the average elementary child is sick 7-8 times a year, and doesn’t feel good most of the rest of the time. Shouldn’t our children be feeling better than this?)

Till our paths cross again,

Cause #1 — Deficiencies

PJsJourney — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:43:50 +0000

The idea that Americans are the best fed people on earth is a very misleading myth. Actually, the average American lives in the “breadbasket of the world” yet has multiple nutritional deficiencies………and our children are not doing any better. Several of us are starving on a full stomach because we are gorging on all the wrong foods. Even when we try to eat correctly, we are still malnourished because we are eating the cells of unhealthy plants and animals, which cannot produce health in us. We are not getting the full spectrum of vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids (building blocks of proteins), antioxidants, phytonutrients, etc. that we need. Much of our food is toxic, and is filled with hormones, antibiotics, nitrates, heavy metals, and parasites (the meats and dairy), or pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, chemical fertilizers, and is genetically modified (the fruits, vegetables, and grains). As our bodies try to rid themselves of all these toxins from our foods, valuable nutrients are used up and that equals more deficiency.

Then we cook our food – which destroys up to 85% of the nutrients and kills all the enzymes (the life force). We eat too little of the foods we need to nourish us and too much of the “Big Bad 4” – sugar (comes under 50+ names), white flour, heat processed oils, and cow’s milk. I can hear you now……….. “Hold on, you’ve gone to meddlin’. Don’t we all need our dairy products?” True, we all need our “calcium”, but what other animal do you know that drinks the milk of another animal? It seems like nature didn’t teach us to do this. Nobody but humans do this. And it takes a baby cow 4 stomachs to digest his milk. Our bodies find it hard to digest and use the proteins in cow’s milk, leading to a host of health problems and deficiencies we didn’t expect. For example, just think about this, we can hardly get through one meal without having dairy products, yet we’re all getting bone issues. I know lots of people in their 20’s whose knees crackle, and just look at the number of young elementary aged kids who are experiencing broken bones—more than ever.

Back to the “Big Bad 4”, next time you enjoy a good ole’ American pitch-in dinner, just see how many foods are available that don’t have one of these four. Good luck finding enough truly healthy food to fill your stomach. Been there, done that!

On with the story..then our commercially handled food goes through a lot of nutritional abuse on its way to market. Food is grown on chemicalized soils, harvested while still green (hasn’t peaked nutritionally), stored for long periods, chemically ripened, and often irradiated (killing the life force—enzymes). Many nutrients are GONE by the time we buy them. Then you bite into that nice, red, beautiful apple (which isn’t at all the nutritional masterpiece you think it is) and find red dye down ¼ of an inch deep into the flesh.

Most of what we eat is “processed food” with half the un-pronounce-able ingredients being chemicals, sugars, and artificial colorings and flavorings. What has happened to real, healthy food? Do you realize you can eat all day long and never eat real food? You can start off with decaffeinated coffee with artificial creamer and sweetener, artificial eggs, and artificial bacon. I’ll let you imagine the rest of the day’s menu.

The Standard American Diet today is just that — S. A. D. and will not bring about optimal health. Even though we know this, most of us are using very poor quality or no supplementation at all. Supplementation is no longer an option in today’s world, if you want to achieve optimal health. I personally use Shaklee supplements because I’ve done my homework and they are of the highest quality. I’m a walking testimony of that. They have made a real difference in my health. They are made from the highest quality raw ingredients, alive, cool processed, organic or better, natural unaltered whole food supplements, tested all along the manufacturing process, clinically tested, and proven to be very bio-available. (Find out more at www.shaklee.net/integriteam ).

Some of us are deficient, in part, because of parasites that we all have. Many of these reside in our intestines and eat up many of the nutrients we were hoping would feed us. Some of us have digestion or absorption problems that further interfere with our ability to use the nutrients that enter via our mouths. For example, many of us have inflamed intestines that are gummed up with white flour (ever make paper mache?), etc. and coated with candida (from too many starches and sugars). Anyone out there have IBS? That’s what I’m talking about.

If we are dehydrated from a lack of adequate water (sorry, but most drinking water in our country contains multiple toxins), our cells can’t rid themselves of toxins or even function properly. We depend on water to flush out toxins through our kidneys, lymph system, and sweat glands. The water is also helpful to the lungs and liver as they detoxify our bodies.

Lack of exercise contributes to a multitude of health problems and bodily malfunctions. Every cell in our body depends on this movement to help them function properly, remain vibrant, and get rid of toxins. More exercise for the body means more oxygen for each cell— one of its basic needs. According to Raymond Francis in his book, Never be Sick Again, “Much of the disability in our elderly population attributed to aging actually is the result of decades of inactivity.”

The average American receives at most 7 hours sleep per night while 8-9 are needed. During deep sleep we build new cells, repair the older ones, and refuel our cellular energy. Our cells NEED for us to get adequate sleep.

Chronic stress is the most harmful of all elements for creating deficiencies for the cells. Stress causes us to use up about 5-6 times more of many nutrients than the norm. It’s difficult to impossible to fuel our bodies with adequate nutrition when we’re under constant stress. The stress chemicals (cortisol is one), when over-produced, go through the body like a fire, burning everything in its path—causing silent destruction to every bodily system.

The bad news is— There are many reasons our cells are so deficient leading to their malfunctioning.

Want some good news?

Many of these “deficiency demons” we CAN get rid of or minimize so they have less of an effect on our health. And, you CAN learn to eat a much healthier diet. It’s a process that takes time and lots of education as we take lots of baby steps toward change. Let’s pledge to become healthier “one bite at a time”.

Until our paths cross again,

One Disease — Two Causes

PJsJourney — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:09:09 +0000

Many doctors would have us believe there are thousands of different diseases, thousands of causes, thousands of different cures, and to figure out and correct any one person’s health issues always requires a lot of expertise. Then we are expected to take a combination of several potent medications to treat our “symptoms” while rarely addressing the cause of our illness or disease. Then these medications bring on a plethora of side effects and needs for other medications, as they overwhelm our liver and kidneys with toxic substances that further damage our health. We become dependent on the doctor as we become his “cash cow” with our frequent visits and need for more and more medications and “expert” advice as he “treats” us but never “heals” us. And we find our health is on a fast downhill slide, and we feel powerless to change our state.

To really take control of your health and prevent, slow, or reverse degeneration, you must hear Raymond Francis’ revolutionary new health theory that is making in-roads into our present medical community, and empowering many to take back the power to reclaim their own health. He says:

“There is ONE disease and TWO causes.”

The one disease is cellular malfunction. All degeneration begins at the cellular level. The cell is the smallest unit of life. This is where the battle for health rages. Cells make up tissues, tissues make up organs, organs make up systems, and all our systems make up this body we live in. When cells continue to malfunction, your tissues begin to malfunction, and then organs and later whole systems malfunction. However, when your cells are well cared for, your body will not become sick.

So, there is ONE disease and only TWO causes:

The cells are not getting enough of what they need. (+) = deficiency
The cells are getting too much of what they do not need or want. (-) = toxicity

Your health is a sum total of all the (+) positive things you do for body, minus all the (-) negative things you do to your body. And you will begin to break down first at your weakest “genetic” link.

Health is a choice, and we must learn to choose it. Any serious approach to creating a healthier life must holistically address both deficiencies and toxicity. We must learn what our cells need and give it to them. We must also learn what our cells don’t want or need and keep these things from our cells and our bodies. The human body has a phenomenal ability to heal itself given the right environment and raw materials. I’d like to encourage you to take back the power to rebuild your health.

As I continue to blog, you will be surprised to learn all we are unconsciously doing to destroy our health “one decision at a time”.

Till our paths cross again,

Credit for the concept of “One Disease, Two Causes” is given to Raymond Francis, M.Sc. and his book Never be Sick Again.

What are Degenerative Diseases?

PJsJourney — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:02:46 +0000

Degenerative diseases kill more people in the USA than all other causes combined. Degenerative diseases are often called “chronic” diseases and are the “lifestyle” diseases that we choose by the way we live and eat. These diseases are not caused by a germ such as a bacteria or virus. They are diseases of bodily deterioration that, most of the time, we choose because of a long-term lack of maintenance of our bodies.

Most of us take better care of our cars than we do our own bodies. When the “Check Engine Soon” light catches our eye, we don’t put a sticky note over it and ignore it until the engine decides to quit. But that is exactly what most of us do to our bodies. We ignore the warning lights—the symptoms—until we are faced with a “health crisis” and then it may be too late, if too much degeneration has taken place. Our #1 enemy is not a germ, it is us. Some people may say “Well, you only go around once in life, and you’re going to die anyway so why not live like you want?” I don’t know about you, but I’m not as concerned about death as I am about living with a dreaded disease or disability added to another, and another, and another. We can do a lot toward choosing our quality of life. Whatever life I have left, I want it to be full of energy and health instead of pain, depression, disease, loss of ability to care for myself, and becoming a burden to my family and society. How about you…isn’t that what you also want?

Degenerative diseases include such conditions as cancer, heart disease and stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, autoimmune diseases, etc., etc. The list goes on and on. These conditions are, for the most part, preventable and even reversible. Yet it takes a lot of self-education to know how to do this and self-discipline to actually do it. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) “Chronic diseases are among the most prevalent, costly, and preventable of all health problems.” Have you ever noticed that people degenerate much more severely as they reach “old age” than do the animals? They are doing something right that we, who are supposed to be so much more intelligent, just don’t get.

So, HOW do we keep our bodies from deteriorating into a diseased state?

The answer is simple. All you have to understand is “There is only ONE disease and TWO causes”. Look for answers in my next blog.

Until our paths cross again,

Why Are We So Sick?

PJsJourney — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 01:25:52 +0000

If you have lived very long, perhaps you have noticed how sick everyone seems to be today as compared with the state of people’s health 20, 30, or 40 years ago. With each decade it seems like people have to fight harder to maintain their health. And this is not just because we are getting older. As a 3^rd grade school teacher for 20 years, I have seen the health of children, in general, decline during that time period. On any given day I can ask my students, “Who feels really good today?” and less than a third of the class will usually raise their hands. Even my fellow teachers have made comments like, “What is going on?” in reference to all the sickness, and the dramatic increase in asthma and ADHD among our students. For example, when I began teaching 20 years ago, I had one child in the classroom with ADHD and none with asthma. This was the norm for a few years. Then it began to pick up. My 19^th year of teaching (in a rural school where kids breathe “fresh” air and get lots of exercise) I had 8 students with ADHD and 8 with asthma. Interestingly enough, all the children with asthma had a person in the home who smoked.

This past December (2008), I decided to do a little analysis on a church prayer list which included 70 names. The ailments of most of these people were listed beside their names. I did a little investigation to find the major health concerns of the others, and here were the results:

2 were on the list because of accidents

9 had heart issues

23 had cancer

26 had other degenerative diseases, especially of the bones and eyes

In the heart of cold and flu season in the Midwest USA, none were on the list for a germ related illness.

We tend to automatically think most illnesses are caused by germs. But could it be there are other factors hastening the degeneration of our bodies?

Until our paths cross again,

PJ J