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Doc Kelley's Compendium
Perpetua Magazine
Easter Morning, 1993
I watched a thirteen year old boy and girl, with boundless energy, searching unselfconsciously for hidden Easter eggs. This is probably the last year either will allow themselves to do something which, by this time next year, both shall, in all likelihood, consider too childish. It wasn't this transition between childhood and adulthood, however, ultimately capturing and holding my attention.

It was later, when the feasting, on hard boiled eggs and candy, was followed by their breakfast of heaped pancakes, maple syrup, orange juice and turkey bacon. They ate it all. And still there is not an ounce of fat on either one. How do children do it? Here we are, a nation idolizing the fit, the sleek, the athletic. And, as a nation, we are fat and getting fatter. Why?

Is it just a matter of age? In the introduction to Dr. Edward Howell's book, Food Enzymes for Health & Longevity, he says "enzyme levels drop significantly in aging." Also, "researchers, at the Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, found that old people have only one-thirtieth as much enzymes in their saliva as young people." It is further noted "as the body gets weaker and the enzymes get fewer, old age symptoms manifest."1

Could it be, as we age, we digest food less efficiently because we have fewer enzymes, as well as less hydrochloric acid, to assist in digestion? And, added to this problem, we cook almost everything we eat.

Heat destroys the enzymes found naturally in every food. If not destroyed, these enzymes could help digest the foods in which they are found. Improperly, inadequately digested foods do not supply the nutrients our bodies require. The result, of a dissatisfied hunger center in the brain, is the demand for more food. How do we generally satisfy this demand?

"The diets of adolescents...are characterized by frequent snacking, high energy intake, fast foods, missed meals and...meals such as hamburgers, steaks, chicken, sweet foods, and soft drinks. French fries are high on the list. Fast foods can be associated with high caloric intake, saturated fat, cholesterol, and salt."2

"The top 15 fast food chains spent over $1.2 billion on advertising in 1989. Much of their ads were directed toward children. When children under the age of 17 eat at a restaurant in the United States, 83% of the time it is a fast food chain restaurant."3 Lessons learned in childhood, especially food choices associated with happy times, are frequently carried with us throughout our lives. When we are in a hurry, depressed or want some quick energy, we make food choices that usually contain too many "empty" calories. These are readily changed to fat.

"Being overweight is generally defined as weighing 20% or more than your normal weight, based on standard height/weight charts. For people who are heavily muscular, the 20% figure is usually not accurate. A calculated body fat percentage, with consideration for bone structure, is usually a much more valid determination.

"According to most authorities, the principal cause of obesity is regularly taking in more calories than the body uses. The extra energy is stored in adipose (fat) tissue."4

It is not, however, just how much we eat. "The Chinese, on average, take in only 15 percent of calories from fat, and eat about a fifth more total calories than Americans. Over the last 70 years, the average caloric intake of Americans has dropped by 3 percent, but the average person weighs more (even when taking into account the increase in height during that period). Today about 37 percent of the calories in the typical American diet come from fat.

"When the sources of calories are compared, we find that proteins are almost never turned into fat. Carbohydrates are the body's main source of energy and almost all the calories from carbohydrates are burned up. In contrast, fats in foods are not only easier to turn into body fat, but are far more likely to be stored as fat rather than burned.

"Among the worst foods, for being changed into body fat, are commercially raised meats, butter, milk, many milk products and the oils used in many packaged foods.'5

Seven factors involved in becoming and remaining overweight:

  1. "Genetic: Obesity tends to run in families. Statistics show that 80% of the offspring of two obese parents are overweight; 40% of the offspring of one obese parent; while only 10% of the offspring of normal parents are overweight. It is not clear, but likely, that the principal cause is a combination of family eating patterns, environmental factors and genetics.
  2. "Psychologic: Although many overweight people admit they overeat when emotionally upset, there is no clear understanding, in conventional medicine, of the physical connections between mood and overeating. However, "there does not appear to be a single personality type that characterizes severe obesity."6
  3. "Endocrine: Endocrine (glandular) disorders are usually a result of obesity and not the primary causes for people becoming overweight. Apparently, the only true endocrine disorder which causes obesity is hyperadrenocorticism, although hypothyroidism (low thyroid function) can clearly lower the metabolism enough to cause weight gain and prevent weight loss.
  4. "Physical Activity: The sedentary lifestyle of Western societies is frequently recognized as a major reason for the obesity seen in those societies. "There is documented evidence of increases in obesity in children and in adults as a direct result of increased time watching television, probably as a result of decreased amounts of exercise."7,8,9 Physical activity not only burns calories directly, but increases the metabolism between exercise periods, leading to a generally higher use of calories.
  5. "Social Factors: These factors are gaining importance as key determinants of obesity.
  6. "Developmental: There are three types of obesity:
    1. Hypertrophic, which means an increase in fat cell size. This type is seen in adult-onset obesity.
    2. Hyperplastic, which means an increase in the number of fat cells. This type is seen in childhood-induced obesity.
    3. Hypertrophic-Hyperplastic is a combination of the two. It is often seen in childhood-onset obesity. As the obese child ages, s/he must severely limit the amount of fat deposited in each cell to maintain a normal weight, because they have developed so many more fat cells than normal.
    "Obesity is also generally associated with aging. The caloric intake (amount and types of food consumed) frequently remains as it did when the person was younger, while metabolism and physical activity generally slows.
  7. "Brain Damage: Brain damage may cause obesity, though the reports are extremely rare in humans.

Physical effects of obesity:

"Excess weight increases morbidity (frequency of diseases) and mortality (death rate from diseases), usually from cardiovascular system (heart and circulatory system) disorders, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol), and hypertension (high blood pressure.)

"Other illnesses and problems associated with being overweight include hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), diabetes, some cancers, gallbladder disease, gynecologic disorders, osteoarthritis, gout, surgical complications, social discrimination, low self-esteem and dislike of self and body, and anxiety and depression over inability to lose weight.

"Weight-loss programs are notoriously ineffective, especially for obese children.

What Does Work?

"Wholistic approaches, involving metabolic enhancement, lifestyle counseling, dietary modifications and exercise programs are usually effective where compliance is maintained, and where pathological abnormalities (due to a disease) are absent."4

  • Aerobic Exercise:
    Especially mild intensity, of long duration (greater than 30 min.). Recommended activities include swimming, walking, yoga, low impact aerobics, and equipment such as mini-trampolines, stair steppers, stationary bicycles and cross country skiers.

    Combining or alternating several of these activities helps avoid boredom and improve overall conditioning. Regular exercise also helps prevent a lowering of the basal metabolic rate (the normal resting metabolic rate) that goes along with restriction of calories. Regular exercise should be done at least three, and no more than, six days a week.

  • Eating Suggestions:
    1. Caloric intake should be based upon your calculated average daily calorie requirements and, most importantly, how you feel.
    2. Low fat, high complex carbohydrate, high fiber diet
    3. Eat meals, when possible, after exercise, before you cool off
    4. Proper Food Combining (See the Wellness Center Program below)
  • Specifically Helpful Foods:
    Spirulina, cucumber, watermelon, squash, pomegranate, mulberry, parsley, zucchini squash and herbal (caffeine-free teas) (Shefi.)
  • Fresh Juices That are Good for Weight Loss:
    1. Beet greens, parsley, and celery
    2. Parsley, grape, and pineapple
    3. Lemon
  • Foods to Avoid:
    1. Food intolerances (any foods that cause reactions of any sort)
    2. Processed and refined foods [especially chocolate, cakes, cookies, candies, jelly, jam, ice cream, sugar, honey (unheated, natural, comb honey is the best sweetener, except for infants under 1 year old), soft drinks and chips], alcohol, fried foods, fatty foods [especially fatty meats and especially pork, butter/margarine (and their substitutes), mayonnaise and most other hydrogenated (hardened) fats], rich foods, salty foods, sweet foods (including sweetened juices and dried fruits), caffeine, dairy products (milk and cheeses) and things made with them (low (1 or 2%) or no-fat cottage cheese and yogurt may be used occasionally, depending upon your blood type)
  • Suggested Supplements (available at most health food stores):
    A well-formulated Multiple Vitamin/Mineral Supplement, such as Rainbow Light Nutritional System: 1 to 3 with breakfast and 1 to 3 with lunch according to your activity and energy levels.

Wellness Center Weight Normalization Program

  1. (Optional): Supplemental, vegetable-source, food-grade enzymes to be taken with meals to assist proper digestion, absorption, and utilization of foods
  2. Organically grown, raw or minimally cooked foods with 60 - 70% of calories from complex carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, and whole grains), 20 - 30 % from protein (deep ocean fish, turkey, chicken, wild game, legumes), and 10 - 20% from fats (meats, seeds, nuts, extra virgin olive oil, ghee (clarified organic butter), and organic coconut oil

With the above suggestions and the following program, most people see a significant change in their metabolism and body fat within three to six months. Many require much longer to reach their normal weight, depending, of course, on their unique body chemistry.

Strictly following this program every day, with every meal, is difficult, if not impossible, in this day and age. It can really become awkward when you plan a meal with friends, family members or business associates who do not understand or agree with your food choices. Even more unlikely is trying to make selections of foods in a restaurant that precisely match these recommendations.

So, what can you do? Make selections of foods to match the requirements as frequently and as consistently as you can. When it is inconvenient socially, or you cannot find the foods you want, then properly combine what you choose to eat to minimize the energy required by your body to digest and use those foods.

  1. Proteins include three categories:
    1. Protein Flesh includes seafoods, eggs and all animal foods. Seafoods, wild game and organically raised turkeys or chickens are the best choices in this group.
    2. Protein Starches include dried beans and dried peas. This group is half protein and half starch. When properly combining, use one of these choices as a protein or as a starch, but not as both.
    3. Protein Fats include olives, nuts, seeds and avocados. Besides being eaten with green and non-starchy vegetables, these may also be used with acid fruits (SEE BELOW) or with fats (SEE BELOW).
  2. Fats may be eaten, sparingly, with green and non-starchy vegetables, starches and with protein fats (See above.) This group includes the oils listed previously - meats, seeds, nuts, extra virgin olive, ghee (clarified organic butter) and organic coconut oil.

    (See the food combining notes below.) In addition, always select foods with fewer calories from fats.

    Percent of Calories from Fat:
    When reading food labels it is very easy to simply accept printed advertising which states that a product is 96% fat free or whatever it may claim. When you actually calculate the percent of calories from fat, you may find a somewhat different answer.

    For example, let's say that you choose a packaged food which claims to be 96% fat-free. You read the label and see that a two ounce serving contains 100 calories. These 100 calories come from 15 grams of protein, 1 gram of carbohydrates and 4 grams of fat. Four from 100% equals 96% fat-free, right? Wrong! Each gram of fat provides 9 calories. Four grams of fat times nine calories per gram equals 36 calories from fat in each two ounce serving. The number of fat calories divided by the total number of calories equals the percent of calories from fat per serving.

    In this example, 36 fat calories divided by 100 total calories equals 36% fat in each serving. Since you are trying to get below 20%, and closer to 10% fat in your diet, this would not be a healthy food choice.

  3. Starches include breads, grains (wheat, oat, rice, barley, millet, rye, etc.), pumpkins, squash, pasta, arrowroot, fresh lima beans, Jerusalem artichoke, corn, taro, poi, tapioca, crackers, cereals, peanut, chestnuts, sweet potato, yam and all root vegetables like potato, beet, parsnip, rutabaga, carrot, turnip, etc. As noted above, these may be used with fats, non-starchy vegetables and with green vegetables.
  4. Non-Starcy Vegetables and Green Vegetables may be eaten with starches, with fats, with all types of protein and with acid fruits. This category includes all of the vegetables which are not starches or protein starches.
  5. Fruits have four categories:
    1. Acid Fruits should be eaten alone, but may be eaten with non-starchy and green vegetables and with protein fats. This group includes acerola cherry, sour apple, citron, cranberry, currant, gooseberry, grapefruit, sour grape, kumquat, lemon, lime, loganberry, orange, sour peach, pineapple, sour plum, pomelo, pomegranate, strawberry, tangelo, tangerine, tomato, etc.
    2. Sub-acid Fruits are eaten absolutely alone as a separate meal or snack. This group includes sweet apple, apricot, blackberry, blueberry, boysenberry, breadfruit, sweet cherry, dewberry, elderberry, fresh fig, guava, huckleberry, kiwi, mulberry, nectarine, sweet peach, pears, plum, prickly pear, quince, raspberry, salmonberry, etc.
    3. Sweet Fruits are also eaten absolutely alone as a separate meal or snack. Included in this group are all dried fruits, banana, black currant, mango, Muscat grape, papaya, plantain, persimmon, Thompson grape, etc.
    4. Melons are likewise eaten absolutely alone as a separate meal or snack. Melons include cantaloupe, casaba, Christmas, Crenshaw, honeydew, muskmelon, Persian, watermelon, etc.
  6. Sweeteners are in many packaged products and should be avoided whenever possible. Look for sugars disguised as sucrose, maltose, dextrose, fructose, corn syrup, and too many others to be listed. All sugars are treated the same by the body. The healthiest sweetener is unheated, untreated comb honey. When there is no time for anything else, a few tablespoons of comb honey may be eaten as a meal or snack replacement (sweeteners should never be used with other foods). A better choice, when possible, would be fruit or cut-up vegetables.

Proper Food Combining:

This involves two, very simple, rules:

  • Combine one or, sometimes, two starches or starchy vegetables at any one meal with non-starchy and green vegetables only.
OR
  • Combine only one protein at any one meal with non-starchy and green vegetables only.

All of the above suggestions are simple to make and sound very easy. To maintain a normal body weight requires a life-long commitment and a change in mental attitude. Most of us continue to eat as we did when we were younger, while our activity level tends to decrease as we age. Yes, we should eat more complex carbohydrates and fresh, uncooked foods. Yes, we need to eat far less fats, sugar and salt.

However, above all else and most important for a lasting change, you must decide that you can become and will remain your normal weight. Without making and accepting this decision, your chances of lasting success, with this or any weight normalization program, are drastically reduced.

There are innumerable, documented cases throughout history of people healing themselves, and being healed, of almost every affliction known to humanity. Faith and belief have always been, and continue to be, the least expensive and most readily available therapies we have.

As often as possible:

  • Choose your foods intelligently
  • Eat in pleasant, quiet, comfortable surroundings with people you enjoy
  • Bless the foods that give you life
  • Thoroughly taste and chew each bite of every meal
  • Love life and yourself

See yourself the way you wish to be. Know that you can become and will remain your normal weight for the rest of your life.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Kelley is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Newport, OR. 541-265-5132

REFERENCES

  1. Dr. Edward Howell, Food Enzymes for Health & Longevity, Woodstock Valley, Connecticut: OMANGOD PRESS, 1980.

    2, 3, 6, 7, 8 & 9 from Clinical Pearls in Nutrition and Preventive Medicine, 1990, 1991 and 1992, copyright 1991, 1992 and 1993 by Kirk Hamilton, PA-C.

  2. "Fast Food and Snack Food: Beneficial or Deleterious", Heald, Felix, M.D., Journal of Adolescent Health, 1992; 13:380-383.
  3. "More on Fast Foods and Quick Plaques", Roberts, William Clifford, M.D., The American Journal of Cardiology, July 15, 1992; 70:268-270.
  4. DATA BASE: IBIS (Interactive BodyMind Information System), copyright 1992 by AMR'TA, Inc. (The Alchemical Medicine Research and Teaching Association), Portland, OR.
  5. "The F Word", Moll, Lucy, Vegetarian Times, May, 1990; 40-45 and 64-65.
  6. "Psychological Aspects of Severe Obesity", Stunkard, Albert J. and Wadden, Thomas A., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1992; 55:524S-32S.
  7. "Inactivity, Diet and the Fattening of America", Gortmaker, Steven L., Ph.D., et al, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, September, 1990; 90(9):1247-1252.
  8. "Body Fatness, Television Viewing and Calorie-Intake of a Sample of Pennsylvania Sixth Grade Children", Shannon, Barbara, et al, Journal of Nutrition Education, December, 1991; 23(6):262-268.
  9. "Television Viewing and Obesity in Adult Females", Tucker, Larry A., Ph.D. and Bagwell, Marilyn, RN, Ph.D., American Journal of Public Health, July, 1991; 81(7):908-911.

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