WARREN KING, L.Ac.

AMAZING UNIVERSE FACTS

The incredible diversity of the cosmos is illustrated in the following examples:

• About 99% of the stars seen on a typical night are larger, more massive and brighter than the Sun. Each one is cruising through the milky Way Galaxy at about 50,000 kilometers per hour (30,000 mph).
• The star PSR 1937-214 is no wider than the city limits of a medium-sized city but it weight 500,000 times as much as Earth and is spinning on its axis 642 times a second. This record holder among the twirling stars we call pulsars is rotating so fast, its equator is moving at one-tenth the speed of light.
• Pulsars are incredibly dense. A thimbleful of pulsar material would weigh as much as all the water in Lake Erie. This density produces enormous gravity. If a spaceship could land on a pulsar, it would be instantly crushed by gravity into a puddle of subatomic particles about the thickness of the nucleus of an atom.
• A black hole with the mass of earth would be smaller than a golf ball. A black hole with the mass of the entire galaxy would be 10 times wider than the solar system.

How Many Galaxies?

The average galaxy is a colossal island of 100 billion stars, although much larger and smaller galaxies are known. But how many galaxies are there in the universe? To calculate this number astronomers use the longest exposures obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope and count the galaxies-typically a few thousand. That average is then multiplied by the number of photographs it would take to cover the entire sky. Of course, this technique misses an unknown number of galaxies that are either too dim or too remote to be picked up, but it does provide a minimum number of galaxies in the universe: 50 billion! The total number could be twice this.

The Universe Train

The universe is so vast that it’s difficult to establish a scale of reference, but this freight-train analogy might help put it into perspective. Imagine each star in the known universe is represented by a grain of sand. A thimble would hold all the stars visible on a clear, dark summer night. A dump truck would contain the Milky Way, the galaxy in which the Sun resides. To demonstrate all the stars in the universe, we need a freight train with hopper cars filled with sand. The train begins to pass at a level crossing. We count the cars as they roar by at one per second. The minutes pass, then hours, then days. We would have to keep count 24 hours a day for three years before the universe train would complete its pass. The universe train would use all the sand on all the beaches on Earth and would be long enough to stretch around the planet 25 times.

Safe Body & Breast Cancer Screening via Thermography

There has been a lot of debate in the press about the government decision to suggest that woman between age 40 and 50 do not need yearly mammograms. This may not be from a desire to save money, but because mammograms do not improve breast cancer survival rates over just getting a careful physical examination alone.

A mammogram can expose your body to radiation that can be 1000 times greater than that from a chest x-ray. Moreover research has shown that high risk women who have gotten mammograms are at a 1.5 times elevated risk for breast cancer than high risk women who were not exposed to low dose radiation. What’s more, women at high risk for breast cancer who had been exposed to low-dose radiation before age 20 or who had five or more mammograms were 2.5 times more likely to develop breast cancer compared to those who were not exposed.

Fortunately there is a newer and safer cancer screening tool. It a technique that can visualize inflammation which has now been shown to be a precursor to cancer and many other diseases. This new diagnostic tool is called thermal imaging or thermography. Basically it crates a digital map of your body that illustrates heat patterns. The images created will show if there is a hot spot or thermal asymmetry in the body. Thermography can detect irregular patterns in the breast, conditions that occur before a noticeable lump is formed.

Since one in eight women will get breast cancer at some point in their life, it behooves you to do something that can detects this scourge as early as possible. You can get a baseline of your “thermal signature” then get annual thermograms to allow you to map changes in your body’s heat patterns over time.

You can also get a scan done of your whole body. It is the best methods to find hidden inflammation such as painful areas or hidden sinus or digestive inflammation, or dental issues. It can detect inflammation in areas like the carotid arteries, which can help prevent a blood clot or stroke.

Here are the simple steps you’ll follow when you get a thermogram:

Step 1: You sit in a temperature-controlled room to allow your body to cool from any external conditions. At that time, you’ll complete some simple paperwork, including a health survey.

Step 2: You’re positioned in front of a Thermal Imaging Camera, and the technician takes digital pictures (5-15 minutes). You will be able to see yourself “live” on the computer screen, which can help give you a better understanding of your body.

Step 3: Your pictures are sent out to a certified physician for analysis of 1) the amount of heat and 2) the symmetry of the heat patterns. Heat patterns may indicate inflammation, infection, or a variance from your body’s norm.

Step 4: You’ll receive a report of findings in your mail shortly thereafter. This will help you and your doctor determine any next steps. We also provide recommendations for ways to reduce inflammation, if present, and provide personal health coaching programs if desired.

Step 5: It is recomended that you return for thermograms annually to monitor your health and watch for changes. Since everybody’s body is different, the best way to detect problems is to measure changes from your own body’s norm.

Valerie Zumbusch will be in my office periodically for anyone interested in getting thermography done. Then next date will be Wednesday, January 27th. Call the office at 952-930-3575 to set up an appointment.

The New Paradigm in Healing Newsletter | Winter 2010

Newsletter Articles:

• Safe Body & Breast Cancer Screening via Thermography
• Helpful Tips for Handling Winter
• Sugar Addiction
• Amazing Universe Facts
• Smoking Tooth Video -- Expose of Mercury Amalgam Fillings

Safe Body & Breast Cancer Screening via Thermography

There has been a lot of debate in the press about the government decision to suggest that woman between age 40 and 50 do not need yearly mammograms. This may not be from a desire to save money, but because mammograms do not improve breast cancer survival rates over just getting a careful physical examination alone.

A mammogram can expose your body to radiation that can be 1000 times greater than that from a chest x-ray. Moreover research has shown that high risk women who have gotten mammograms are at a 1.5 times elevated risk for breast cancer than high risk women who were not exposed to low dose radiation. What’s more, women at high risk for breast cancer who had been exposed to low-dose radiation before age 20 or who had five or more mammograms were 2.5 times more likely to develop breast cancer compared to those who were not exposed.

Fortunately there is a newer and safer cancer screening tool. It a technique that can visualize inflammation which has now been shown to be a precursor to cancer and many other diseases. This new diagnostic tool is called thermal imaging or thermography. Basically it crates a digital map of your body that illustrates heat patterns. The images created will show if there is a hot spot or thermal asymmetry in the body. Thermography can detect irregular patterns in the breast, conditions that occur before a noticeable lump is formed.

Since one in eight women will get breast cancer at some point in their life, it behooves you to do something that can detects this scourge as early as possible. You can get a baseline of your “thermal signature” then get annual thermograms to allow you to map changes in your body’s heat patterns over time.

You can also get a scan done of your whole body. It is the best methods to find hidden inflammation such as painful areas or hidden sinus or digestive inflammation, or dental issues. It can detect inflammation in areas like the carotid arteries, which can help prevent a blood clot or stroke.

Here are the simple steps you’ll follow when you get a thermogram:

Step 1: You sit in a temperature-controlled room to allow your body to cool from any external conditions. At that time, you’ll complete some simple paperwork, including a health survey.

Step 2: You’re positioned in front of a Thermal Imaging Camera, and the technician takes digital pictures (5-15 minutes). You will be able to see yourself “live” on the computer screen, which can help give you a better understanding of your body.

Step 3: Your pictures are sent out to a certified physician for analysis of 1) the amount of heat and 2) the symmetry of the heat patterns. Heat patterns may indicate inflammation, infection, or a variance from your body’s norm.

Step 4: You’ll receive a report of findings in your mail shortly thereafter. This will help you and your doctor determine any next steps. We also provide recommendations for ways to reduce inflammation, if present, and provide personal health coaching programs if desired.

Step 5: It is recomended that you return for thermograms annually to monitor your health and watch for changes. Since everybody’s body is different, the best way to detect problems is to measure changes from your own body’s norm.

Valerie Zumbusch will be in my office periodically for anyone interested in getting thermography done. Then next date will be Wednesday, January 27th. Call the office at 952-930-3575 to set up an appointment.

Helpful Tips for Handling Winter

The winter is upon us and people are coming in to see me for colds and infections. It seems that sugar, dairy and red meat are the main foods that the body is seeking to discharge. It is important to change our diets with the seasons. In the hot summer we eat more cooling expansive energy foods like tropical fruit, watermelon, salads, cold drinks. As the weather cools it is as if the body contracts, much like a saturated sponge, which when squeezed releases it’s excess water. So when we contract the body discharges the excess through our watery eyes, sinus drainage and coughs. So eating more cooked and baked foods is helpful and less raw and sweet.

Root vegetables are good to add to your diet in the colder weather. Add more winter squash, carrots, cooked onions, rutabagas, turnips and beets. Recently I have made a simple squash dish that my family loves called Winter Squash Puree. I take winter squash (especially buttercup, Hokkaido, or butternut) and cut it in half and scoop out the seeds. Then I peel the skin off (not necessary) and cut it in large cubes and steam it until soft (about 15 minutes) Then I put the squash in a blender or food processor, and add the steaming water and some grain milk (I like the new Hempseed milk, but almond, soy or rice milk will work), some maple syrup and a few dashes of cardamon and cinnamon and puree until smooth. Delicious.

The kidneys tend not like getting cold, which tightens and restricts the kidney circulation. Feeling chilled, tired, sleepy, low back pain and sexual dysfunction can all relate to the kidneys. Bags or discoloration under the eyes can reflect what is happening in the kidneys as well.

There is a wonderful home remedy to restore kidney circulation, it is called the Ginger Compress. It consists basically of dipping a towel in a strong ginger tea and placing it over the kidneys. Finely grate fresh ginger root to the size of about a golf ball (Use smallest holes on a grater or buy a ceramic ginger grater). Put the ginger ball in few layers of cheesecloth and tie off, or in a cotton bag or sock. Boil 2 quarts of water and turn down low to simmer. Squeeze the ginger juice into the water then drop the ginger bag into the water. Let simmer for 5 minutes and take off the stove. It is easiest to have someone else apply the compress, but not necessary. You may want to put some plastic and blanket or towel down to protect the bed or rug you will be lying face down on. Fold a cotton kitchen towel into a strip and dip the middle part into the hot ginger water.

Wring slightly, so towel is damp but not dripping. When tolerable to the skin, but still very hot, gently lay the towel across the lower back over the kidneys. Cover with a dry towel to insulate. Dip it again when towel cools. Continue for 15-25 minute or until lower back is very red. You can save the water for another compress, as you might want to do it every 3rd day for 3 applications. It’s worth the effort.

Sugar Addiction

I have a very informative blog post about the addictiveness of sugar. You can read the full article via this link: SUGAR ADDICTION.

Amazing Universe Facts

The incredible diversity of the cosmos is illustrated in the following examples:

• About 99% of the stars seen on a typical night are larger, more massive and brighter than the Sun. Each one is cruising through the milky Way Galaxy at about 50,000 kilometers per hour (30,000 mph).
• The star PSR 1937-214 is no wider than the city limits of a medium-sized city but it weight 500,000 times as much as Earth and is spinning on its axis 642 times a second. This record holder among the twirling stars we call pulsars is rotating so fast, its equator is moving at one-tenth the speed of light.
• Pulsars are incredibly dense. A thimbleful of pulsar material would weigh as much as all the water in Lake Erie. This density produces enormous gravity. If a spaceship could land on a pulsar, it would be instantly crushed by gravity into a puddle of subatomic particles about the thickness of the nucleus of an atom.
• A black hole with the mass of earth would be smaller than a golf ball. A black hole with the mass of the entire galaxy would be 10 times wider than the solar system.

How Many Galaxies?

The average galaxy is a colossal island of 100 billion stars, although much larger and smaller galaxies are known. But how many galaxies are there in the universe? To calculate this number astronomers use the longest exposures obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope and count the galaxies-typically a few thousand. That average is then multiplied by the number of photographs it would take to cover the entire sky. Of course, this technique misses an unknown number of galaxies that are either too dim or too remote to be picked up, but it does provide a minimum number of galaxies in the universe: 50 billion! The total number could be twice this.

The Universe Train

The universe is so vast that it’s difficult to establish a scale of reference, but this freight-train analogy might help put it into perspective. Imagine each star in the known universe is represented by a grain of sand. A thimble would hold all the stars visible on a clear, dark summer night. A dump truck would contain the Milky Way, the galaxy in which the Sun resides. To demonstrate all the stars in the universe, we need a freight train with hopper cars filled with sand. The train begins to pass at a level crossing. We count the cars as they roar by at one per second. The minutes pass, then hours, then days. We would have to keep count 24 hours a day for three years before the universe train would complete its pass. The universe train would use all the sand on all the beaches on Earth and would be long enough to stretch around the planet 25 times.

Smoking Tooth Video -- Exposé of Mercury Amalgam Fillings

Watch this amazing “Smoking Tooth” video to find out more about the relationship between mercury amalgam dental fillings and your health:

Recipe for Squash Puree

• 1 Sweet Winter Squash
• 1/2 cup (approximately) of Natural Milk (hempseed, almond or rice milk)
• Natural Sweetener, such as maple syrup or agave (to taste)
• Cardamon (to taste)

Take a sweet winter squash (like buttercup, butternut, hokkaido).  Peel it and cut into cubes. Steam until soft (around 20 minutes).

Put squash in a food processor or blender, add some natural milk like hempseed, almond or rice milk and puree.

Add some maple syrup or other natural sweetener like agave nectar or rice syrup and a few dashes of cardamon. Enjoy!

How Intestinal Bacteria Can Cause Weight Changes

(and how sugar can change intestinal bacteria)

A high-fat, high-sugar diet does more than pump calories into your body. It also alters the composition of bacteria in your intestines, making it easier to gain weight and harder to lose it, research in mice suggests. And the changeover can happen in as little as 24 hours, according to a report Wednesday in the new journal Science Translational Medicine.

Many factors play a role in the propensity to gain weight, including genetics, physical activity and the environment, as well as food choices. But a growing body of evidence, much of it accumulated by Dr. Jeffrey I. Gordon of Washington University in St. Louis, shows that bacteria in the gut also play a key role.

Humans need such bacteria to help convert otherwise indigestible foods into digestible form.

Ninety percent of the bacteria fall into two major divisions, or phyla: the Firmicutes and the Bacteroidetes. Previous research had shown that obese mice had higher levels of Firmicutes, and lean ones had more Bacteroidetes.

Analyzing the genomes of the bacteria, Gordon and graduate student Peter Turnbaugh concluded that the Firmicutes were more efficient at digesting food that the body can’t.

Animals that have a higher proportion of Firmicutes convert a higher proportion of food into calories that can be absorbed by the body, making it easier to gain weight.

When the researchers transferred bacteria from obese mice into so-called gnotobiotic mice, which were raised in a sterile environment and had no bacteria in their guts, the mice gained more weight than did those receiving a similar amount of bacteria from lean mice, even though they were fed the same diet.

Gordon and Turnbaugh found that they could transfer bacteria from human intestines into gnotobiotic mice, which were fed a low-fat, plant-rich diet in the weeks before the bacteria were transplanted and for a month afterward.

After the bacteria were transplanted from a lean human donor, the colonies in the mice had a high proportion of Bacteroidetes and a low proportion of Firmicutes. But within 24 hours after the mice were switched to a high-sugar, high-fat diet, the proportions of the two phyla were reversed.

With time, the mice also grew fatter than their littermates who did not receive the human bacteria.

The Zone Diet, the popular diet by Barry Sears, is also commonly referred to as the 40/30/30 diet. “40/30/30″ refers to the proportion of each food group in the diet. In this case, 40% of daily caloric intake comes from carbohydrates, 30% comes from protein, and 30% from friendly fats.

The Zone Diet is all about getting into that mysterious place Sears calls “the zone.” According to Sears, this is the place where athletes perform better, where mental focus is enhanced, and life is generally a better place. Getting there is a simple matter of changing your eating patterns to reflect the 40/30/30 ratio, which, Sears argues, is the best way to stabilize blood sugar, promote general well-being, and encourage weight loss.

Why 40/30/30? What’s the rational behind this ratio of macronutrients?

The whole point of this 40/30/30 ratio is to balance two main metabolic hormones – insulin, which promotes the storing of excess calories as fat, and glucagon, which promotes the burning of fat. Sears also claims The Zone diet also promotes a positive balance of the body’s microhormones (called eicosanoids). 

As a weight loss book, “Enter the Zone”, isn’t too bad a read. Although his discussion of eiconsanoids can be boring.

If you’re going to give this diet a shot, it’s essential you read and understand chapter 7 – “Boundaries of The Zone.” In this chapter Sears maps out the entrance points to “The Zone.” It’s crucial that you know this “40/30/30 ratio” is only the mid-point of this entrance-way. You will- and this is important-have to adjust your carbohydrate intake according to your personal sensitivity to them in order to find your personal entrance to the “zone”.

The main problem for the average dieter will be finding this sweet spot (i.e. your unique entrance point to “the zone”). This is crucial to the entire plan — if you don’t find it, you won’t lose weight. And if you’re hypoglycemic or hyperinsulinemic, it’s likely that 40% of total daily calories from carbs is too much! If this is the case, I recommend you start with a smaller percentage of daily caloric intake from carbs, and increase them only if you can.

Some benefit of the Zone Diet

1. Since you are not significantly restricting any one food source in Sears’ diet, you are never totally deprived of the foods you love.

2. If you successfully find your entrance to “The Zone” you will experience slow, gradual, and permanent weight loss.

“The main purpose of this diet plan, that of balancing insulin and glucagon, is fundamentally correct!

He also talks about the importance of a proper omega 3 to omega 6 oil balance in the diet

All in all, I’d have to say Barry Sears’ diet is probably worthwhile buying – if, and only if, you can read it from cover to cover.

Recipes for Healing – Index of Recipes

Healthy Dessert Recipes

Click here to view all of the HEALTHY DESSERT RECIPES or click on each recipe to view its ingredients and directions.

• INDIAN PUDDING
• SQUASH PUDDING
• APPLE SURPRISE
• APPLE CRISP
• BAKED PEARS WITH KUZU-RAISIN SAUCE
• FRUIT KANTEN (VEGETARIAN JELLO)
• SQUASH PIE WITH MILLET CRUST
• PUMPKIN PIE
• LEMON TOFU CREAM PIE
• HEAVENLY GINGERBREAD
• WALNUT-STRAWBERRY COOKIES

Meatless Protein Recipes

Click here to view all of the MEATLESS PROTEIN RECIPES or click on each recipe to view its ingredients and directions.

• BASIC MISO SOUP
• HEARTY MISO SOUP
• AZUKI-SQUASH-CHESTNUT DELIGHT
• MARINATED TEMPEH WITH SAUERKRAUT
• LENTIL STEW
• CHICKPEA HUMMUS
• VEGETARIAN RED BEAN CHILI
• SPLIT PEA DAL
• BAKED TOFU WITH MISO SAUCE

Sea Vegetables Recipes

Click here to view all of the SEA VEGETABLES RECIPES or click on each recipe to view its ingredients and directions.

• CREAM OF BROCCOLI SOUP
• HIJIKI WITH ALMONDS AND SAUTEED VEGETABLES
• TOFU-ARAME PITA
• ARAME WITH ONIONS
• CREAMY WAKAME SALAD
• STUFFED CHINESE CABBAGE ROLLS
• DAIKON AND SEA PALM WITH KALE
• FRUIT KANTEN (JELLO)

Vegetable Recipes

Click here to view all of the VEGETABLE RECIPES or click on each recipe to view its ingredients and directions.

• SQUASH-RED LENTIL SOUP
• THICK CORN CHOWDER
• PRESSED SALAD
• LAYERED VEGETABLES – NISHIME STYLE
• KINPIRA STYLE VEGETABLES
• SESAME GRAVY
• GINGER-KUZU SAUCE
• BOILED KALE AND TURNIP GREENS
• SWEET GREENS
• BLANCHED BROCCOLI
• STEAMED SQUASH
• BAKED SQUASH
• ITALIAN QUINOA
• SQUASH PUREE

Whole Grains Recipes

Click here to view all of the WHOLE GRAINS RECIPES or click on each recipe to view its ingredients and directions.

• BASIC PRESSURE-COOKED BROWN RICE
• BOILED BROWN RICE
• INDIAN RICE SALAD
• SUSHI ROLLS
• RICE PUDDING
• MILLET WITH CAULIFLOWER (MOCK POTATOES)
• BOILED MILLET
• MILLET CASSEROLE
• QUICK CORNMEAL
• GOMASHIO – ROASTED SESAME-SALT CONDIMENT
• GRAIN MILK

Toxic Flame Retardants and Children’s Health

A Hidden & Growing Danger!

Flame retardant chemicals are in almost everything: Not only in our TV’s, clothing, furniture, carpets and electronic equipment; they are also in our air, water, food and our own bodies. Their levels are especially high in our babies and children, because children eat, drink and breathe more than adults. These chemicals disrupt our thyroid function, immune systems, brain development and can possibly cause cancers. Human blood and tissue levels of these toxins have been doubling every two and a half years in the USA. What are these chemicals and what can you do to protect yourself and your family from their effects?

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE’s), also known as brominated flame retardants, have been added to many common products found in the home. Plastics and textiles are usually treated with PBDE’s before being made into carpeting, furniture, casings for electronic equipment, circuit boards and clothing. PBDE retardants have been in use since the 1970’s when their counterpart, PCB’s, were BANNED from production due to their undeniable negative effects on human health. PBDE’s are very similar to PCB’s in many ways, particularly in the damage they do to our thyroid function, immune system, brain development and in our growing cancer rates.

PBDE contamination is most prevalent in the USA. New York, New Jersey, Denver, Austin, Chicago and California areas have the highest observed levels of PBDE’s in women’s breast milk in the world. San Franciscan and New York women have levels up to 25 times higher than their European counterparts. Animals both wild and domestic have PBDE levels from 2,000 to 47,000 parts per billion. THIS IS A HUGE Problem! The highest concentrations are in freshwater fish downriver from industrial plants using these chemicals, however PBDE’s have been found in marine life as far away as the Northern Arctic Sea. Significant levels of PBDE’s are present in both outdoor and indoor air environments, particularly in homes where PBDE-treated products can be found, such as carpeting, furniture and clothing (such as most children’s pajamas), plastics and electronics. {TV’s, Computers, Stereos}

What can you do to protect yourself and your family from the growing threat of PBDE contamination? The use of PBDE’s was cut significantly in Sweden and Europe in the late 1990’s due to their increasingly strict indoor air quality laws. Since then the level of breast milk contamination in those countries has declined. They have also developed a number of products that use alternative flame retardants. Here in the USA we can follow their example by demanding PBDE-free products and by telling our political representatives how important this issue is. Until the indoor air quality laws change for the better in the United States, we need to clean up and reduce these contaminates in our immediate environments by using alternative fire retardant products, eating more consciously and by cleaning our own contaminated indoor air quality with proper HEPA air cleaners and HEPA filtered vacuum cleaners. Be Pro-Active! Keep your family and employees healthy!

Sugar Addiction

When Unhealthy Foods Hijack Your Brain

In a recently published book, former FDA chief Dr. David Kessler brings to consumers the disturbing conclusion of numerous brain studies — some people really do have a harder time resisting bad foods.

At issue is how the brain becomes primed by different stimuli. Neuroscientists increasingly report that fat-and-sugar combinations in particular light up the brain’s dopamine pathway — its pleasure-sensing spot.  This is the same pathway that conditions people to alcohol or drugs.

The culprits foods are “layered and loaded” with combinations of fat, sugar and salt, and they are often so processed that you don’t even have to chew much.

Overeaters must take responsibility, too, and basically retrain their brains to resist the lure, says Kessler.

Many people can relate to what David Kessler, the former FDA chief, calls “conditioned hypereating” — a drive to eat sugary, greasy processed foods that has nothing to do with hunger.

It can happen when you walk by a vending machine, drive by one of your favorite restaurants or bakeries, or even when you’re sitting at home watching TV. Suddenly you get a craving for something you know isn’t good for you — cookies, French fries, ice cream, potato chips, that sort of thing — and your willpower seems to crumble.

This is an epidemic problem, as in the United States 90 percent of the money Americans spend on food is for processed food, and junk food is available just about everywhere, including in hospitals and schools.

It’s clear that something about these foods is able to wield an incredibly strong force over many of us, to the point that obesity has been named the fastest growing health threat in the United States, and two-thirds of adults are already overweight or obese.

So what is going on here? What about these foods compel people to overeat them at the expense of their waistline, and more importantly their health?

Why It’s So Easy to Be Addicted to Junk Food and Fast Food

Taste, convenience and cost certainly play a role in making junk foods appealing, but there’s more to it than that. The large amounts of sugar, salt and grease in junk foods are clearly addictive.

In one study, rats fed a diet containing 25 percent sugar became anxious when the sugar was removed — displaying symptoms similar to people going through drug withdrawals, such as chattering teeth and the shakes.

A link was found between opioids, or your brain’s ‘pleasure chemicals,’ and a craving for sweet, salty and fatty foods. It is thought that high-fat foods stimulate the opioids, as when researchers stimulated rats’ brains with a synthetic version of the natural opioid enkephalin, the rats ate up to six times their normal intake of fat.

Further, long-lasting changes in rats’ brain chemistry, similar to those caused by morphine or heroin use, were also noted. According to researchers, this means that even simple exposure to pleasurable foods is enough to change gene expression, which suggests an addiction to the food.

Your Genes Remember When You Eat Sugar

When you eat sugar, not only do your genes turn off controls designed to protect you from heart disease and diabetes, but the impact lasts for two weeks!

Even more concerning, if you eat poorly for a long time your DNA may become permanently altered and the effects could be passed on to your children and grandchildren.

In other words, you are born with a set of genes, but the expression of those genes is not set in stone. Your genes can be either activated or silenced by various factors including your diet and even your mind. It is not your genes that dictate your future health, but rather the expression of those genes that matter.

So in the case of eating sugar, it’s now known that this switches off good genes that protect your body from disease. This is just one of many reasons why you may want to seriously limit or eliminate sugar from your diet.

Sugar is Incredibly Addictive

Another reason we know that people’s love for sugar goes far beyond taste is because of its addictive properties.

Refined sugar is far more addictive than cocaine — it is one of the most addictive and harmful substances currently known. In fact, an astonishing 94 percent of rats who were allowed to choose between sugar, water and cocaine, chose sugar.

Even rats who were addicted to cocaine quickly switched their preference to sugar, once it was offered as a choice.

The researchers speculate that the sweet receptors (two protein receptors located on your tongue), which evolved in ancestral times when diets were very low in sugar, have not adapted to modern times’ high sugar consumption.

Therefore, the abnormally high stimulation of these receptors by our sugar-rich diets generates excessive reward signals in your brain, which have the potential to override normal self-control mechanisms, and thus lead to addiction.

Your Emotions Play a Major Role, Too

As Kessler said, “Once you know what’s driving your behavior, you can put steps into place” to change it.

What this means is whenever you feel the desire to binge on junk foods, it’s necessary that you have a system in place to help curb those cravings.

Teflon fumes may be dangerous to your health

Non stick pans seem nice as the food doesn’t stick. There is just one drawback; non-stick pans may be hazardous to one’s health — not, as you may think, due to chipping, but to fumes.

When non-stick pans are heated to high temperatures, the coating breaks down and vaporizes, releasing toxic substances into the air. DuPont, the maker of Teflon, admits as much, only the company claims that temperatures must exceed 500° F for “deterioration” to occur, and 660° F for “significant decomposition.” According to DuPont, temperatures don’t even get to 500° F in the course of “normal” cooking, except in the broiler.

Au contraire, says the Environmental Working Group. Non-stick pans do get that hot when preheated on high — a practice many cooks follow. It doesn’t take much time either for temperatures to climb. In tests conducted on ordinary gas and electric stoves, Teflon and other non-stick pans topped 700° F in three to five minutes.

With food cooking in the pan, temperatures stay lower. So people who don’t preheat their pans wouldn’t usually experience temperatures in the danger zone, unless, of course, they left the kitchen for a few minutes and the food burned — say, when a neighbor knocked or a child called.

Bird-owners have known about the dangerous fumes for years. There are many documented cases of birds dropping dead from exposure to “offgases” from non-stick products (including toaster ovens and heat lamps). Significantly, some occurred when the non-stick temperature was in the 400-500° F range. While it’s not surprising that birds, with their sensitive respiratory systems, would be affected at these low temperatures, the fact that it happens does suggest that non-stick coatings can disintegrate below 500° F.

Though people are less susceptible to the fumes than birds, they can still sicken from polymer fume fever — a flu-like condition with symptoms that include chest tightness and a mild cough. In severe cases, lung injury may result. More worrisome is the possibility of long-term damage from several of the toxins found in the fumes. Of particular concern is PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), also known as C8, which causes liver, pancreatic, testicular and mammary gland tumors in rats, as well as immune system problems, reproductive problems and birth defects. According to an independent EPA scientific advisory board, PFOA is a likely human carcinogen. It has been found in the blood of more than 90 percent of Americans — and animals around the globe. In terms of persistence in the environment, it is unrivaled. As far as can be determined, PFOA never breaks down.

Of course, we don’t all have PFOA in our bloodstreams solely as a result of cooking with non-stick pans — or using other consumer products that are made with, or break down to, PFOA, of which there are many. In fact, scientists are rather mystified about how this synthetic chemical has come to be so pervasive, but suspect that manufacturing processes as well as consumption may be to blame.

A skeptical person might point out that Teflon has been in use for 50 years. If it was so dangerous, why was it ever allowed on the market in the first place? The answer is simple. When it comes to approving chemicals used in consumer products (as opposed to food), our regulatory system is relatively toothless. Basically, there are no federal requirements that the chemicals be proven safe for human health or the environment prior to being manufactured or sold. Essentially, the government has to wait till there’s evidence that the substance does harm before it can act. That’s where we are with PFOA right now. The evidence of harm is trickling in and the EPA is finally beginning to study the matter.

It’s the same pattern we’ve seen before. Chemicals — such as PCBs or DDT — are introduced, gain widespread usage, and then are found to be harmful. At that point, the government steps in and bans or controls use of the substance. With persistent chemicals that degrade slowly in the environment, we’re stuck with the ill effects for years. In the case of an indestructible chemical like PFOA, we may be stuck forever.

You may already be breathing air, drinking water and eating vegetables contaminated with PFOA. Until serious study, monitoring and regulation of this chemical occurs, you wouldn’t know it or be able to do anything about it. One thing you can do, however, is to avoid buying products made with it, such as non-stick pans.

And if you already have a non-stick pan in your kitchen, be sure to use it carefully. Never preheat it or use with high heat, and always keep your eye on it while cooking. Watching a pot won’t keep it from boiling, but will ensure it doesn’t burn.

Naturally non-stick: For a great non-stick alternative, try a seasoned cast iron pan. Except for weight (it’s heavy!), it is superior in every respect. It heats evenly, browns food beautifully, keeps cooked food warm in the pan, enables low-fat cooking, can be used with metal utensils and lasts a lifetime, literally. To season: wash with warm soapy water, rub with solid vegetable shortening, and heat in a 300° oven for an hour. Cook high-fat foods in it the first few times to lock in the seasoning. After that, anything goes.

To care for your pan: wash in hot water with a stiff brush. Dry thoroughly and store with the cover off so air can circulate. Do not store food in it. You’ll know it’s time to reseason if rust appears, food acquires a metallic taste or food sticks.

Repellent packaging? PFOA- based coatings are used to repel grease on a variety of fast food packages, including pizza boxes, microwave popcorn packages and french fry containers. There is concern that if the coatings break down when exposed to heat, PFOA might migrate to the food and be ingested. This is one of many PFOA questions requiring research.

To preheat or not to preheat . NEVER preheat non-stick pans, but DO preheat other types for better cooking results — especially cast iron. To preheat, use a medium heat setting, never high.