As we discussed last week, dietary saturated fat actually has little influence on your blood cholesterol levels, and many researchers have shown this time and time again. As recent May 2013 article in Medscape journal stated, "the meager effect that saturated fats have on serum cholesterol levels, and the lack of any clear evidence that saturated fats promote any of the conditions attributed to them makes one wonder how saturated fats got such a bad reputation in the health literature."

The truth is coming out, and the truth is that fat was never the culprit in the diseases it has been condemned for causing. In fact, there are many positive health benefits to eating reasonable amounts of good fats.

But what are "good fats"?  How do you find them, and how do you tell if the ones you find are good or bad?  After all, there's nothing on the label that tells you if the fat is good or bad for you, is there?

Actually, there is. The way in which a fat is processed can tell you a lot about whether it is a healthy substance to consume, or an unhealthy one - devoid of nutrients, or even downright harmful.

One of the greatest (and possibly most dangerous) health myths out there has been a source of great confusion and frustration for many people over the past 60 years. People who subscribe to this myth in the interest of maintaining good health, have tried in good faith to follow the recommendations which somehow have now become "common knowledge," and have instead grown more and more unhealthy. Not only that, but they have sacrificed enjoyment of foods that were meant to be enjoyed, and now, all these years later, they are sicker than ever - is it any wonder why more and more people are seeking out information about nutrition and good health for themselves?

The Low-Fat Myth:

I've been reading a lot lately about how much of our health depends on the health of our stomachs - or more specifically, healthy microbial activity in our digestive tracts.  Many of my favorite health writers are certain that more and more attention will be paid to this area in the next few years, and I tend to agree. We are coming to a crisis point in the health of our nation, so obviously many of the things we've been doing for the past 50 years are not working so well....

Of course, this isn't just related to the health of our gut flora, but an overall neglect of our health as a holistic system, much to our detriment. Addressing symptoms (as modern medicine does) does little to nothing to correct the imbalances which caused these symptoms in the first place. It is akin to, as one of my favorite health writers often says, sticking a piece of masking tape over the "check engine" light on your car, and going on as if the problem is fixed. Eventually, whether it be 10, 20, or even 30 years down the road, things WILL fall apart - it's just a matter of time. Many of us are starting to experience this "falling apart" effect now, and wondering, "why now?," and "why me"?  But that's a topic for another day! Stay tuned to this blog for more on maintaining comprehensive (or holistic) health, such as the article posted two weeks ago on the "systems model" of health.

Today, what I want to talk about is an important piece of that healthy system - in fact, maybe one of the most important pieces.... Those little bugs in your belly!

This week I read an excellent article by Deepak Chopra - one of my favorite revolutionary thinkers on health and spiritual well-being. In it, he dug a little deeper into a topic we often talk about here - finding a balanced state of health.

He described the four major models of health and the human body that we humans have subscribed to over the course of our existence, starting from viewing the body as a collection of elements from nature, through the Christian view of the body as merely the temple of the soul, Eastern views of the body as expression of life force, up until today's current model of the body as a machine.

The way we approach health and healthcare depends on which model we are currently using. For example, if you view the body as a machine, then solving a health problem is as simple as "fixing the part" - which is how our current medical system deals with illness and disease (and we're seeing the results of this piecemeal approach in our declining health as a nation - not to mention our skyrocketing healthcare costs).

However, as we are coming to find today, as we start to recognize more and more the connections within and between ourselves and the universe, all of these previous models are in some way incomplete. For example, as Dr. Chopra points out, it's obvious that your body is not just a machine! For one thing, it can heal itself - which no machine can do. It is self-regulating and self-organizing, with no outside inputs. It is self-renewing - which also means that, as Chopra notes: "Exercise makes it stronger, whereas a machine, if used more often, begins to wear out."

We are learning that, indeed, it is time for a new model - of the body, and of our health as a whole. Dr. Chopra calls this the "systems model" - in that "every cell is intelligent. The body holds together through a constant stream of information that reaches every cell. Homeostasis - a state of dynamic balance - represents health." This model recognizes the reality that "your body is a process -  not a thing."

One of the biggest shifts in building this new way of thinking about our health will be recognizing the powerful part that our brains and minds play in our physical health. Or, as Chopra puts it simply in systems terminology, "Positive input promotes well-being; negative input impairs well-being."  Obviously this is logical even in the machine model, BUT input will no longer just mean physical input like food, exercise, sleep, etc., but also include positive and negative ways of thinking.

This will mean an entirely new approach to healthcare - one that comes from YOU - not your doctor - as I've been saying for years! In the systems model, "self-care becomes primary care." Chronic disease and disorders of the bodily system are then preventable through routine maintenance of the whole, your beliefs and attitudes towards your body take on as much importance as physical inputs, and mindfulness practices such as prayer and meditation have a recognized impact on the health of your system.

As you can see, this is a pretty major shift in approach towards our health - but it's one that's long overdue. I hope that, as Dr. Chopra seems to believe, this model is well on the way to becoming a reality in the way we treat our bodies and care for our health.

Lastly, Chopra makes one more major point in relation to listening to your body - as I just talked about a couple of weeks ago: http://www.newholisticliving.com/1/post/2014/02/your-body-is-smarter-than-you-think.html 

And lest you think that this shift will require unrealistically drastic changes in the way you live, Dr. Chopra puts it in very simple terms which should make sense to just about anyone: "In short, we need to let the body take care of us, for that is what it's actually doing. The one thing this amazingly self-sufficient system needs from you is better input."

This "better input" can come in many forms, but in general, most are summed up by habitually listening to your body's feedback, loving and caring for yourself and others - as well as the world around you, and developing your spiritual awareness.

For more tips on giving your body better input, read Dr. Chopra's full article here.

And be sure to stay tuned to this blog, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and connect with us regularly - this entire blog and website is designed to support this new "systems model" - which is what holistic living truly is all about!

Many of us don't necessarily think of our bodies as intelligent beings. After all, our dominant conscious mind is a function of the brain, not the body, right? But there are literally thousands of impulses moving throughout our bodies, to our brains, and back, every second that we're alive. And some of those impulses actually are conscious, and even more of them have the potential to be - if we just listen....

Eastern mystics and yogis for centuries have learned to consciously regulate things as "automatic" as their heartbeat, and meditation is a way of consciously altering brain function. So why do so many of us treat our bodies as inanimate objects - sacks of blood and bones, incapable of doing anything other than responding to stimuli unless told to do so by our almighty brains? If you stop and listen to your body once in a while, you might be surprised at what you might learn.

Obviously you know that your body can tell you things like when it's hungry, thirsty, or needs to sleep. But did you know it can also tell you what food is good and bad for it? How to relieve pain? What kind of exercise it needs? Actually it tells you these things all the time. We just don't notice, as most of us aren't trained to listen.

This week at the office was a tough one, as we were all rather shocked by the loss of one of our colleagues, who passed away suddenly last weekend. The final word is not in yet, but it seems likely that he succumbed to a diabetic coma, as he had quite severe Type 1 diabetes, and had frequent problems controlling his blood sugar.  I had known him for several years, and a more caring, kinder soul would be hard to find. I was deeply saddened, and have spent the week pondering mortality, the shortness of life, and the value of the people I love.

However, I was not as surprised by his untimely demise as some. You may have heard me mention him from time to time as "my vegan friend." Not even 50 years old, he had the look of someone older, and always looked rather sickly and pale to me. I am not necessarily attributing this to his veganism, although, as you may have read in previous blog posts, I don't see it as the healthiest way to eat. I remember thinking as he vehemently espoused the vegan lifestyle to anyone who would listen (or even look in his direction), that I wondered if he would live to 60.... A terrible passing thought to have, but he was one of those I would call a "rabid vegan," who sought constantly to convert others to his way of eating, though the effects it seemed to have had on his body and health didn't really appear to be all that positive.

Don't get me wrong: I feel there is room in the world for all types of eaters - vegan, vegetarian, omnivore, whatever floats your boat - it's ultimately up to you. However, I also know that unhealthy eaters can be found in all of these genres. Affiliating yourself with a certain type of eater doesn't automatically make you healthy, although many people seem to think it does.

Last week we talked about corn, and especially about the detrimental effects of corn being fed to animals - particularly cattle. We left you with the surprising fact that each person in the US consumes about 1 ton of corn per year. How does one person possibly eat that much corn? Besides feeding meat animals, and your gas tank, here's what happens to most of the rest of that corn:

It is processed.

First, the grains of corn are usually soaked in an acid bath, then ground, the germ separated out, the kernels crushed, then further ground, filtered, spun, etc. Water is added, more acids are added, dissolving, pulverizing, separating  into different components, and the process goes on. If it sounds like quite an intensive process, it is. According to Michael Pollan's book, The Ominivore's Dilemma, for every calorie of processed food produced from corn, 10 calories of fossil fuel energy are burned.

Along with corn syrup (not surprisingly one of the largest uses), corn also becomes corn starch, citric and lactic acid, glucose, fructose, maltodextrin, ethanol, sorbitol, mannitol, xanthan gum, modified and unmodified starches, dextrins, cyclodextrins, and MSG - among hundreds of others. Most all of these will be familiar to you if you've ever looked at the label of most processed food items. It's no wonder that you eat a lot more corn than you might think you do!

Happy New Year everyone!!  I hope you had a wonderful, safe, happy and healthy holiday season! It's hard to believe it is 2014, and the new year stretches ahead full of possibility. Let's make it a wonderful year to remember! I know it will be for me, as I'm getting married this year! :-)

I know I promised to report on The Omnivore's Dilemma, and I will share more soon, but I'm not quite finished with it. I read quite a bit of it on Christmas vacation, and it's really such an amazing book! Today I wanted to share just a few tidbits that you may not know - I certainly didn't!

The first part of the book goes into the history of corn, which you would think would be a less than fascinating subject, but it is very well written, and I found myself drawn into the strange world of this exotic and unique plant, which has shaped so much of our culture and food chain, and without which our country would probably look very different right now.  Interestingly enough, it is a very co-dependent relationship, as without humans, corn would likely not have survived as a species either!

It is hard for me to adequately explain the ridiculous and convoluted system that has made corn the basis of our entire food system, or the full scope of destruction this system is wreaking on our land, our farmers, and our health. The book goes into it in depth, and for a more detailed explanation I recommend you grab a copy, but here are the highlights:

Last week I was lucky enough to attend a training conference in Orlando.  It was a wonderful change from the below-freezing temperatures we have endured in Ohio for the past month! I took with me to read on the plane, a book I've had sitting on my coffee table for months, but hadn't gotten around to reading yet. Shocking, funny, infuriating, and above all, eye-opening, The Omnivore's Dilemma, by best-selling author (and truly excellent writer) Michael Pollan, exposes things about your food you never knew - and once you know them, you'll never look at food the same way.

I didn't expect the book to be so engaging, and my alternate horrified gasps, frustrated sighs, and surprised laughter drew several odd looks from my fellow passengers. Not the least of which was my young seatmate and co-worker, who asked with interest what the book was about. I explained briefly, but then shared a few examples of what I was learning, after the last of which, she replied - "Never mind - don't tell me any more - I don't want to know!" When I replied, but "knowledge is power," my ever-quick-witted protege countered with "ignorance is bliss."

Witty though her response may have been, this sort of thinking frustrates me to no end, and I encounter it everywhere! Somehow we humans seem to have evolved away from our natural inclination to learn what is bad for us so we can avoid it, and into some strange ostrich-like mindset that, "what we don't know can't hurt us." When it comes to food and what we put into our bodies every day, nothing could be further from the truth!

Pardon me for climbing onto my soapbox for a bit today.... It seems that one of our greatest flaws as human beings is laziness. Or perhaps this is a particularly American flaw?

We were not founded on laziness - indeed, our founding fathers (and mothers) espoused just the opposite. Personal responsibility was the word of the day, and is even the basis for our Constitution - the government was to give us the freedom to take responsibility for our own lives in most areas.

But somewhere these values seem to have been lost along the way.... Indeed, it now almost seems that we equate "freedom" with LACK of responsibility. In America today, we seem to think that to be "free" means to have others take care of everything for us, and that is a dangerous philosophy indeed.

Relying on someone else, whether it be your government, the industrial food system, your doctor, or even your spouse to decide what is in your best interest and make your decisions for you is to be well on the way to losing all freedom entirely.

But I will try not to get too political today! As you may suspect, one of the areas where I am most concerned about this trend is health and our healthcare. (I use the term "healthcare" loosely here as what we commonly call "healthcare" is really sickcare.) While you may have your own views on politics and how much control we have over the direction of our country and our nation, one thing we all DO have control over (at least so far) is our own health. And I'm not talking about health insurance or the "Affordable Care Act" or anything like that. (That, again, goes back to "sickcare.")

What I am talking about is our ability to take charge of our own health, and stay healthy and well - so that we hopefully rarely, if ever, truly need to resort to the use of our current "sickcare" system.