Sticking with it in 2011 – Week 4 – The 3 White Poisons

OUT WITH Processed White Flour!

For some, these nutritional facts will be shocking and scary! To some, this will be the necessary eyeopener to change their diets once and for all!

You will think twice before eating your next sandwich on white bread or any processed breads or serving peanut butter jelly sandwiches to your kids. Studies show that alloxan, the chemical that makes white flour look “white” and “clean”, destroys the beta cells of the pancreas. Without the beta cells, the pancreas is not able to produce insulin!  That’s right; you may be devastating your pancreas and putting yourself at risk for diabetes and Pancreatic Cancer, all this to taste spongy “clean” looking bread!?

Scientists have known of the alloxan-diabetes connection for years; in fact, researchers who are studying diabetes commonly use the chemical alloxan to induce the disorder in lab animals. In the research sense, giving alloxan to an animal is similar to injecting that animal with a deadly virus, as both alloxan and the virus are being used specifically to cause illness. Every day, consumers ingest foods made with alloxan-contaminated flour. Would they just as willingly consume foods tainted with a deadly virus? Unless they had a death wish, they probably would not. Unfortunately, most consumers are unaware of alloxan and its potentially fatal link to diabetes because these facts are not well publicized by the food industry.

How does alloxan cause diabetes? According to Dr. Hari Sharma’s Freedom from Disease, the toxin alloxan damages the beta cells of the pancreas, causing the cells to malfunction and die. When these beta cells fail to operate normally, they no longer produce enough insulin, or in other words, they cause one variety of adult-onset type 2 diabetes. Alloxan’s harmful effects on the pancreas are so severe that the Textbook of Natural Medicine calls the chemical “a potent beta-cell toxin.” However, even though the toxic effect of alloxan is common scientific knowledge in the research community, the FDA still allows companies to use it when processing foods we ingest.

If you’ve been eating white bread for years and you have a family history of diabetes, you still have a good chance of recovery. Studies show that you can reverse the effects of alloxan by supplementing your diet with vitamin E. According to Dr. Gary Null’s Clinicians Handbook of Natural Healing, vitamin E effectively protected lab rats from the harmful effects of administered alloxan. Now, I know you’re not a lab rat, but you’re also a mammal and vitamin E is definitely worth adding to your daily regimen of nutritional supplements, especially if you have a history of eating foods made with white flour and are at high risk for diabetes.

The next time you serve your child processed white bread, buns and McDondald’s, I want you to think about the fact that you might be damaging your child’s pancreas to the point where he/she gets diabetes or worse -cancer!
If you take your health and life seriously, then you can’t ignore Week 4! Got it? Good!

• NO Processed Sugars – you know why
  
• NO Foods with Processed White Flour
• NO Artificial Sweeteners
  

Now, if you just had a bagel with cream cheese, a muffin and a coffee with a pack of sweetener – I think  you can do better at lunch time!

Enjoy your Week 4

Monika Baechler

www.monikabaechler.com

Sticking with it in 2011 – Week 3

This is for most people the toughest week. Cut out all sugars, fast foods and candy as well as chocolates and sweets. I understand how this is a big one to conquer but you have no choice, you have to do it.

Cravings will challenge your will-power for a couple of days until they completely disappear. You can fight the lingering craving-monster by drinking lots of water or tea during the day. Sugar makes you want more sugar, it’s a scary merry-go-round to be on. Cut the sugar habit with fresh fruit or chew some sugar-free gum with xylitol. Don’t be surprised if your body reacts to sugar-detox with a day-long headache. It’s absolutely normal and medically nothing to worry about. If the headache becomes to overwhelming, a small aspirin is known to help.

You hear a soft voice screaming for carbs or sweets – answer the call with water or herbal tea

ADD an Enzyme Supplement

There is no breathing, no digestion, no growth, no blood coagulation, and no reproduction without enzymes. Each enzyme has a very specific job and one job only. Enzymes are made by the body and are involved in all body processes, including breathing, thinking, talking, moving and immune function. Our body manufactures digestive enzymes, which are mainly manufactured by the pancreas but also in the mouth, stomach and small intestine. Enzymes are very critical for digesting food properly. For more info on enzymes, visit www.theenzymerevolution.com

Your body will learn to adjust and cope with the changes.

Time for a well-deserved water break…

Monika Baechler

How to Raise a Healthy Child (page 2)

How can I make sure my child drinks enough?

The amount of water we need depends on our body size, physical activity and the weather. Most men and women need about 8-12 cups of water per day. Children need less because they are smaller.

Children’s water requirements vary with age. Recommendations from the US National

Academies Food and Nutrition Board suggest that: (2)

• 1-3 year olds should drink 0.9 liters per day (4 cups)
• 4-8 year olds should drink 1.2 liters per day (5 cups) and
• 9-13 year old girls should drink 1.6 liters per day (6.5 cups), and boys should drink 1.8 liters per day (7.5 cups)
• 14-18 year old girls should drink 1.8 liters per day (7.5 cups), and boys should drink 2.6 liters per day (11 cups)

Water intake should be higher in warm weather or when the child is exercising. A good way to make sure they drink enough is measure out the water they should drink a day and label the water bottles with their names. As soon as they get up in the morning you should offer them water, room temperature with some lemon. Lemon water in the morning stimulates the cleansing process.

How sugar can impair your child’s defenses against infectious disease.

In Dr. Mercola’s article “This Addictive Commonly Used Food Feeds Cancer Cells, Triggers Weight Gain, and Promotes Premature Aging” he says that, in addition to limiting your intake of fructose, you should eliminate all sweetened beverages and fruit juices (including all artificial sweeteners) and drink only pure water. (3)

It’s not that high fructose corn syrup is bad for you, but it’s the huge amounts of HFCS that makes it dangerous and overwhelmingly toxic to our bodies. You can find HFCS in all kinds of products. The worst products are sodas/pops. These days high fructose corn syrup is in bread, candy, crackers, soups and juices.

Nancy Appleton, PhD, author of the book “Lick the Sugar Habit”, contributed an extensive list of the many ways sugar can ruin your health from a vast number of medical journals and other scientific publications. (4)

Just to name a few:

• Sugar can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease (4)
• Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline, hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children (4)
• Sugar contributes to obesity (4)
• Sugar can damage the pancreas (4)
• Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines (4)

What is the difference between simple sugars and starches?

Carbohydrates are the body’s most important and readily available source of energy. Even though they’ve gotten a bad rap in the 2000s and are often blamed for the obesity epidemic in America, carbs are a necessary and important part of a healthy diet for both kids and adults.

The two major forms of sugar are:

• simple sugars (simple carbohydrates), such as fructose (from fruit), glucose, and lactose (milk sugar), and also found in nutritious whole fruits
• starches (complex carbohydrates), found in foods such as starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn, beets, carrots and peas), grains (brown rice, millet, quinoa), and breads (whole grain bread)

Where do the healthy carbohydrates come from?

You probably ask yourself, how do I know which one is a good carb and which one is bad. It’s really quite simple. All carbohydrate sources coming from a whole food like fruits, vegetables and whole grains are good for you and your children. Bad carbohydrate coming from sugar, white flour and all processed foods are bad for you and should be limited to small treats once in a while. For more on the worst foods possible, check out my video “The Worst Foods Possible”

There is no need for counting carbohydrate or sugars in whole foods. Whole foods are fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, seeds and meats in its whole – meaning unprocessed. If it’s grown like that, it’s a whole food.

How can dairy harm my child?

To quote Prof. Gary Null “In all respiratory conditions, mucous-forming dairy foods, such as milk and cheese, can exacerbate clogging of the lungs and should be avoided,” writes Professor Gary Null in his Complete Encyclopedia of Natural Healing. It’s quite simple really, when more mucus accumulates in the lungs than can be expelled, inflammation results and asthma attack develops. Many children who suffered from asthma have recovered from frequent attacks just by eliminating dairy from their diet.

Dairy is also linked to lowered immunsysteme, which invites more infectious disease, colds and ear infections.

How living food can save your children from disease.

According to “Enzymes: The Fountain of Life”, by D.A. Lopez. They are a measure of our life and immunity. “The immune system depends heavily on enzymes to conduct its protective functions. When enzyme activity stops, life stops and the person or organism dies!” In other words, enzymes are our supply of the vital energy of life. (6)

Many nutritional studies have shown that a regular diet of cooked, microwaved or canned foods causes the development of chronic degenerative diseases and premature aging followed by early death. How is this possible? Cooking food destroys the important plant enzymes.

They are more heat-sensitive than vitamins and are the first to be destroyed during cooking. They are destroyed by being heated above 118 degrees Fahrenheit and are deactivated or destroyed by pasteurizing, canning, and microwaving. (6)

This means that you need to feed your children’s body more raw fruits and vegetables. The easiest way to do this are raw juices and smoothies. Smoothies should be made fresh and not store bought. Fresh smoothies are mode with some kind of raw liquid like fresh raw fruit juice or almond milk, fresh fruit with a handful of spinach, and maybe some raw honey. Start you child’s day with a full glass of vital energy so they can be productive in school. More about enzymes

How can I be a positive role model to my kids?

No matter how old your children are or what their level of fitness is, remember that he or she looks to you for guidance and needs your support and encouragement. Also it’s important to be a great role model, so don’t make negative remarks about your own exercise or weight, and look for chances to be physically active as a family.

It’s also important to teach your child proper eating habits with a whole food diet and home cooked meals without overcrowding the day with treats.

Some fun autumn activities you can try with your own family are:

• hiking
• collect colorful autumn leaves
• walk trough the forest, explore
• visit farms and learn about fall vegetables
• fly a kit
• go to an indoor pool (ask around for a non-chlorinated pool)

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How to Raise a Healthy Child

“The percentage of overweight children in the United States is growing at an alarming rate, with 1 out of 3 kids now considered overweight or obese.”

Are your children hooked on electronics?

Hours and hours of video games, on the phone with friends, on the computer chatting with friends and too much junk food can lead to overweight children and later overweight adults. You already knew this and it’s no wonder with all the “excess” in this world today.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average child is watching about 3 hours of television a day. And the average kid spends 5½ hours on all screen media combined (TV, videos and DVDs, computer time outside of schoolwork, and video games). (1)

The combination of to much excess and not enough of the healthy components can leave your child lethargic, depressed and unhappy. What follows is craving more of the bad stuff like TV, candy, fast food, and more junk.

How can I get my kids to exercise?

Don’t refer to exercise as exercise. Just ask them if they want to go play outside or ride their bike. Children love to play and run. They don’t know that playing tag and soccer is exercise. Well, not consciously anyway.

Adults usually think of exercise as something negative, a chore, something like a never ending treadmill session. For children, exercise is fun. Remember your school recess? Running after others, being chased by your friends, ( hopefully they were playing a game of tag!), skipping rope and so forth. Remember how much fun you had climbing trees and spending hours outside with classmates monkeying around on play structures?

How important is outside play to children?

You as a parent can provide the happy childhood you had to your children, by replacing the negative habits with positive ones.

Let them play almost everyday outside, even if there is a chill in the air or it’s rainy. I understand how that might not seem like fun to you, but hear me out. Children love to play in wet leaves, in puddles and on forest trails. Why not, how much harm can they get into if it’s a little wet outside. Put them in warm clothing, a pair of rain boots and a hat. Fresh air detoxifies the lungs and body and can clear your mind.

Exercise doesn’t only control obesity, exercise helps them:

• develop stronger muscles and bones (1)
• have a leaner body because exercise helps control body fat (1)
• decrease the risk of developing type 2 diabetes dramatically (1)
• possibly lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels (1)
• fell positive about themselves (1)
• fit in better with their peers (1)

How to spot dehydration symptoms in my child?

The human body is about 60% water. It is necessary for our health and well-being. Water is part of our cells, blood, digestion, and waste elimination. Water also controls cravings. We can’t live more than a few days without water – water is life.

Too little water can lead to dehydration and the following symptoms:

• Fatigue
• Headache
• Dry mouth
• Dry and itchy eyes
• Muscle weakness
• Dizziness
• Lightheadedness
• Lack of concentration
• Overeating

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My Personal Story of Transformation

Let me say, that I was never a skinny teenager. Growing up in Switzerland, I always had to work hard to keep my figure in check. You could always find me close to the bakery or sweets. With that said, heart break was the best diet when I was 16 years old. Couple of month later I met my husband. Lucky me!

We got married in 1996. As Newlyweds we moved to the US and had our first son in 2000.

I gained some weight during pregnancy. In my third trimester I got diagnosed with borderline gestational diabetes. With keeping meals balanced, I was able to control my blood sugar naturally.

Pregnancy was a beautiful experience for me and I had enough time to study for my Nutritionist Certification.

After having a healthy little boy in 2000 – with the doctors OK in week 6 – I started to hit the gym. The baby weight came off surprisingly fast and I was back in shape in a couple of months. Thinking that I did the work and now I’m safe, I stopped working out – not sure why.

On a 2002 Asheville summer vacation, I realized that I gained close to 20 pounds. I was so mad and unhappy. My husband and I decided to try the EAS Transformation Challenge. Just days after getting back from Asheville we got ourselves into the gym again and started eating balanced meals.

The EAS 12 Week Transformation Challenges

Placing in the first 6% of all competitors was a great personal accomplishment.

The Nutritionist Certificate was a great idea and I loved helping others like me. Everything was going great and I was never happier in my life.

Then in 2003 we decided to have another baby.

This pregnancy wasn’t going as smoothly as I hoped. I developed gestational diabetes again. This time they had to give me oral blood sugar lowering medication. Most of my third trimester I felt sick and low on energy. As a side effect, I gained lots of weight, the scale showed 221 lbs.

My second son had to be delivered by C-section. We are very thankful that the little guy was as healthy as can be, even though I had medical problems during pregnancy.

The baby weight put me in a dark depression and I couldn’t really cope with being overweight. At the same time, my dad was diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer.

Even though I was miserable, I managed to lose 20 something pounds for a beach wedding in Key West. After attending the wedding, my weight kept creeping back up again and I didn’t have the strength to stop it from happening. Meanwhile my dad was getting worse.

It wasn’t until the end of 2005 that I realized my dad is losing the fight with cancer and I needed to get my act together. At this time we were traveling in Australia and decided to cut our journey short – I had to see my dad. I was so depressed, sick and miserable that I bought a juicer and started a 30 day juice fast in Australia. The fresh fruits and vegetables were abundant in Perth, so nothing was stopping me! For two weeks, I couldn’t get off the couch, I was expelling mucus from everywhere, my nose, lungs eyes and places and couldn’t believe. Everyday I thought, it only can get better than yesterday. Well some days it did, other days it got worse. Nevertheless, I pulled it through and after two weeks my body started to clean out and I stopped coughing up mucus.

The rest of my 30 day juice fast, I felt pretty strong and I even went for jogs, walks and did Tae- Bo. I lost about 31 pounds, gained 4 pounds back after I started adding smoothies and pureed vegetable soups and salads. I felt mentally ready to face the thought of losing my father.

Sadly, 10 days after we arrived my dad died in the hospital and nothing could have prepared me for what I felt that day.

Nothing made sense after that and nothing was important anymore, not even my health. It took me about two and a half years to get out of that funk.

Slowly but surly, I kept reducing my weight and started to see the end of the tunnel. During hard times, Tae-Bo and Chalene’s Turbo Jam kept me motivated to stick to my workouts.

With my Personal Trainer and Nutritionist Certificate, I felt ready for almost anything that would come my way.  Just before moving back to North America in 2007, I managed to get back to my healthy self.

This is me from pregnancy in 2004 to 2007

You see, I went through every possible hurdle you can imagine.

• Death of a Parent
• Depression
• Moving (two times)

The most important things I learned:

1. Never give up!
2. Even if it might take years to come around!
3. The Knowledge alone doesn’t mean success – determination is the key!

Now, I wish you all the success and determination you need to make it through your weight loss challenge.

Stay Healthy!

Monika Baechler

P.S. everybody has a story, what’s yours!