Yes, You Can Have Your Cheeseburger And Keep Your Health Too!Written by Melanie Jordan
I still get a kick out of looks of disbelief I get when I tell people that as part of my healthy, meatless diet, I eat cheeseburgers every chance I get. They tell me, "that's ridiculous--if you eat cheeseburgers, of course you're eating meat". Wrong!I had been a healthy eater for years, but when I took next step and decided to go what I call "NMP" (no meat or poultry), I knew that if making that transition was going to work, I had to find a way to eat food I'd actually heard of and wanted to eat. I didn't see myself regularly eating tofu. I didn't want to eat like a rabbit. I was a child when fast food franchising really came into its own, and today we live in a world where you can have four branches of exact same fast food chain within six miles, and twelve different places to buy a hamburger in one mile's distance! I also had my favorites from family dinners, restaurants and clipped magazine recipes. It took some time, but I eventually came to realize that virtually anything I wanted to eat, had a more healthful non-meat/poultry version. Forget everything you've heard about going meatless either full-time, or from time-to-time. I follow an "NMP" eating style full-time, and I regularly eat delicious food like cheeseburgers, chicken parmesan, tacos, BLTs and chicken caesar salad (in their non-meat/poultry versions of course). I feel that one of big reasons that most people will not consider going without meat and poultry, or that those who try it do not successfully stick with it, is because they try to make themselves eat things they don't enjoy, and toss a lot of their old favorites out window. This goes against many of their natural eating patterns, so it ends up being only a matter of time before they can't stand it anymore and go back to what was familiar and enjoyable. Add to that what I call "meat and poultry eaters peer pressure" from friends, family and co- workers, and "NMP" lifestyle becomes too difficult.
| | Cholesterol And Your Body's HealthWritten by Rita Lambros-Segur, M.H.
Just what is this matter we call cholesterol, anyway? Webster's College Dictionary, 1995 edition, states: "a sterol, abundant in animal fats, brain and nerve tissue, meat and eggs, that functions in body as a membrane constituent and as a precursor of steroid hormones and bile acids: high levels in blood are associated with arteriosclerosis and gallstones." That's a mouthful. But without cholesterol body cannot make sex hormones, adrenal hormones, and vitamin D. Excess cholesterol is converted in liver to bile acids, which are normally eliminated in feces. Some experts feel high levels of cholesterol have very little to do with dietary intake of it. There is a correlation between blood cholesterol levels and incidence of coronary artery disease. One must, however, distinguish between total blood cholesterol level and cholesterol portion in blood carried by HDL (high-density lipoprotein). Before you begin a strict program to reduce cholesterol blood levels, check total cholesterol to HDL-cholesterol ratio first. This risk ratio can be determined by a simple blood test by any medical doctor There does exist hope, however, when one has reason for concern over their blood work. But remember--the body is a fantastic mechanism and always moves itself toward health. To help it along, it needs proper information. This "information" that I speak of has to do with more than adequate nutrition. In addition to eating more raw fruits and vegetables, and drinking pure water, try to locate a sound nutritional supplier. Years ago, Dr. Linus Pauling's work demonstrated value of Vitamin C in helping body dislodge and eliminate harmful arterial plaque. If you were to go to your favorite health store or drug store for Vitamin C, you probably would not receive same benefits as Dr. Pauling did. Why is that? (Pauling, Linus & Cameron, Ewan. "Cancer and Vitamin C." Camino Books. Philadelphia, PA, 1993.) Because nutrients must be in an appropriate electrical matrix or else they are not functional to human body. For instance, Vitamin C is sold worldwide but as a synthetic supplement, usually in a chewable tablet. Unfortunately, isolated Vitamin C is not in a proper electrical matrix making it as useless to human body as sawdust. Instead, Vitamin C must be combined in a matrix form with trace minerals, bioflavonoids and electrolytes. Only when introduced in this particular matrix or pattern can human body actually use nutritional information present in Vitamin C.
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