How milk initiates diabetes

This week, we’re featuring a very compelling excerpt from The China Study, an acclaimed book written by Dr Colin Campbell (who grew up on a dairy farm). The New York Times called it “the grand prix of epidemiological research.”

Start of excerpt:
–
In the case of type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks the pancreas cells responsible for producing insulin.

What most people don’t know, though, is that there is strong evidence that this disease is linked to dairy products.

The ability of cow’s milk protein to initiate type 1 diabetes is well documented. The possible initiation of this disease goes like this:

• A baby is not nursed long enough and is fed cow’s milk protein, perhaps in an infant formula
• The milk reaches the small intestine, where it is digested down to its amino acid parts
• For some infants, cow’s milk is not fully digested, and small amino acid chains or fragments of the original protein remain in the intestine
• These incompletely digested protein fragments may be absorbed into the blood
• The immune system recognizes these fragments as foreign invaders and goes about destroying them
• Unfortunately, some of the fragments look exactly the same as the cells of the pancreas that are responsible for making insulin
• The immune system loses its ability to distinguish between the cow’s milk protein fragments and the pancreatic cells, and destroys them both, thereby eliminating the child’s ability to produce insulin
• The infant becomes a type 1 diabetic and remains so for the rest of his or her life [editor's note: find out how some people have reversed type 1 diabetes through diet here.]

This process boils down to a truly remarkable statement: cow’s milk may cause one of the most devastating diseases that can befall a child.

For obvious reasons, this is one of the most contentious issues in nutrition today.

[...]

A study in Chile considered the first two factors, cow’s milk and genes. Genetically susceptible children weaned too early onto cow’s milk-based formula had a risk of type 1 diabetes that was 13.1 times greater than children who did not have these genes and who were breast-fed for at least 3 months (thus minimizing their exposure to cow’s milk).

Another study in the U.S. showed that genetically susceptible children fed cow’s milk as infants had a risk of the disease that was 11.3 times greater than children who did not have these genes and who were breast-fed for at least three months. [...] anything over 3 to 4 times is usually considered very important.

To put this into perspective, smokers have approximately ten times greater risk of getting lung cancer, and people with high blood pressure and cholesterol have a 2.5-3.0 times greater risk of heart disease.

– End of Excerpt

Find another excerpt of the book on The China Study’s website.

2 Ways to Self-Motivate

Nutritionist and Athlete Yvonne Camus

This spring, we hosted a remarkable guest on Marni Wasserman‘s retreat with us.

Yvonne Camus is one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met.

Yvonne competed in Mark Burnett’s televised Eco-Challenge, where she completed a 500km race in Borneo, racing 24 hours a day, and burning over 23,000 calories each day.

She’s also a mother, wife, successful nutritionist, and an agency-repped motivational speaker. She continuously pushes herself physically.

I asked Yvonne how she motivates herself to stay healthy, and she had some great insights.

Yvonne paddleboarding on a recent trip to Hawaii

#1 – Develop Strategies to Nudge Yourself on Track

“It’s about progress, not perfection,” says Yvonne. “A big misconception is that people ‘on the outside’ look at healthy individuals and assume that it’s easy for them to stay on track, and that they’re always perfect.

That’s not true – in fact, those people fall off the wagon as well. But those people are just better at bringing themselves back on track more often.”

A 2009 House of Verona Poll found that only 13% of self-defining “raw vegans” are actually 100% raw. The reality is that people fluctuate between 50% and 90% raw, and have ways to get back on track when they’ve eaten a little too much SAD food.

#2 – Talk Yourself Into It

Yvonne goes on: “I’ve noticed that when you’re at a place of indecision, you either talk yourself into something or talk yourself out of it.

With healthy eating, I’m amazed at how many people talk themselves out of eating well. For example, ‘I had a glass of wine, so I might as well give up on the whole day.’”

Practice talking yourself into healthy eating; build up ammunition of talking points. Here’s what has worked for me in the past:

• If I work out, I’ll naturally wake up early, and stamp out some negative thoughts.
• If I eat that burger, I’ll have indigestion. But if I have the salad, I’ll feel light and energetic.
• If I have even a small green smoothie in the morning, I’ll be in a happier mood.
• If I bring easy-to-carry fruit to the office, I won’t crave something sweet at 3pm.

The very inspiring Yvonne can be reached for nutritional consultations in Toronto at 416-618-9242 or yvonnecamus@hotmail.com.

Also, sign up for Marni’s upcoming fall retreat at the House of Verona and join the company other highly inspiring guests. Book at 1-800-252-2826 or email bookings@houseofverona.com.

It’s never, ever too late

We’ve met plenty of women at the House of Verona who are in their 50s and just did their first Triathlon this summer. They have a day job, kids, a cottage, and some of them never joined a single sport growing up.

How cumin prevents wrinkles

The University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at a University in India recently found that ingesting cumin immediately after being exposed to UV rays significantly prevented photoaging to the skin.

Photoaging is simply skin aging, which induces wrinkles, leathery skin, collagen damage, age spots, and cancer due to exposure to the sun.

The researchers studied what happened to the skin of mice when exposed to UV rays and then immediately ingested cumin capsules, compared with those who received a topical cream mixed with cumin. The cream did not significantly change the results; however, ingesting cumin significantly prevented the formation of lesions and other damage. (Please note that the House of Verona does not advocate the exploitative use of animals in medical testing when harm is incurred.)

Here are some of the favourite raw food recipes from the House of Verona kitchen which incorporate cumin:

Raw vegan sprouted hummus recipe

Ingredients

1 handful sprouted chickpeas
2 tbsp raw tahini
4 tbsp soaked sesame seeds (optional, but gives it a calcium boost)
Half a zucchini
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp hemp or flax oil
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp cumin
Sea or rock salt

Combine in a food processor [or blender, but add some water to start the process] and serve.

Raw vegan falafel recipe

Ingredients

1 handful sprouted chickpeas
2 handfuls soaked walnuts (any other nut or seed can be substituted)
Half an onion
1 clove garlic
Quarter bunch of parsley
Quarter bunch of cilantro
Quarter cup tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp hemp or flax oil
1 tbsp cumin
Sea or rock salt

Combine in a food processor [or blender, but add some water to start the process], form into balls and serve.

Raw vegan Moroccan vegetables

Ingredients

Half head broccoli
1 bunch bok choy
4 stalks celery
Half head cauliflower
Handful soaked seaweed of choice (ex. wakame or arame)
4 tbsp hemp or flax oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp curry powder
1 clove garlic
Dash of your sweetener of choice
Half a handful of raisins
4 black mission figs, quartered
Fistful of chopped mint leaves
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp cinnamon

For the sauce, combine the cinnamon, cayenne, sweetener, garlic, curry powder, cumin, lemon and oil into the bottom of a large bowl and let it marinate while you wash and chop the other vegetables.

Chop the broccoli, bok choy, celery, cauliflower, mint, and figs. Throw them into the bowl along with the raisins and seaweed. Combine and serve.

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Sources:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20426620

http://www.skincancer.org/what-is-photoaging.html