Sorry for the dramatic title.

It seems that soy is still being touted as a healthy food, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.  Another example of savvy marketing and a disregard for health on the part of manufacturers.  I simply cannot believe that the companies manufacturing most of the soy products on the market are not aware of the all the studies.

I’m going to keep this as short as possible, considering how there is so much information out there regarding the danger of soy.

Here is a list (from the FDA no less) of studies that indicate soy toxicity:

Soy is Toxic: http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Edjw/pltx.cgi?QUERY=soy

Here is a quick list describing the dangers of soy (complements of the West Price Foundation)

• High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.
• Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
• Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
• Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
• Vitamin B₁₂ analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body’s requirement for B₁₂.
• Soy foods increase the body’s requirement for vitamin D.
• Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.
• Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
• Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.
• Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.

The only soy products that are actually healthy are fermented.  I talk about this in part II of the Jeet Kune Do Nutrition Plan if you have not already read this.

Those of you drinking soy milk, better to switch to unsweetened rice or almond milk.  Even better to make your own nut milk fresh from whatever nuts you like (assuming you don’t have nut allergies).  The best option (for many people) would be to drink organic raw milk  from green pasture fed cows(refer to the raw milk post for more info).

Stay healthy,

In Health,

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com

The dietary cholesterol and saturated fat controversy continues to rage on.

I have been asked recently, on several occasions, about the benefits and/or dangers of various foods relating to fat and cholesterol content.  If you haven’t read my Jeet Kune Do Nutrition Plan series, it might shed some light on general nutrition.

As for dietary fats and cholesterol and their relation to cardiovascular health, the main fact to consider is that trans fats are the substance we should be avoiding.

I understand that generations of brainwashing have lead to a fear of saturated fats and cholesterol that have been blown way out of proportion.  Both these substances, except for saturated fats produced via artificial hydrogenation, are actually ESSENTIAL to good health and also provide necessary protective factors.

Here is a concept that will really "bake your noodle" (as The Oracle said to Neo in "The Matrix"), cholesterol is a natural free radical fighting powerhouse that has been shown to be a marker for longevity.

(Uncomfortable silence . . . . )

Yep, I get a lot of blank stares when I tell people this.

I’ll write some more on this topic later with some specific examples.  In the meantime, think twice before considering any "low fat" or "no cholesterol" hype.

In Health,

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com

“I’m doing the low carb thing.”

The “low fat” era came and went (although I’m still not sure if there is any real understanding of the importance of fats among dieters) and we are now on the tail end of the “low carb” trend that was popularized by Dr. Robert Atkins and many others that were hot on his trail.

I still hear the occasional “I’m on a low carb diet”, and advertising still uses this angle to catch the unwary shopper.

All the fluff aside, carbohydrates are a very important part of good nutrition.  Most of the micronutrients in our diets, including vitamins, minerals, and other healthful compounds, come from carbohydrate sources.

What is the standard picture that comes to mind when you think of carbs?  Rice, bread, pasta, potatoes?  These are all common answers, because they are common foods in the average American diet.  Yet, it’s hard to imagine an abundance of micronutrients coming from these refined starchy carbohydrates.  In fact, it’s hard to see these nutrients coming from any starchy carbohydrates (with a few exceptions) regardless of whether they are whole or refined.

Again, referring to ancient man’s diet, we see that grains were not a significant part.  Wheat, corn, rice, and potatoes did not come into existence in the human diet in any appreciable amount until industrial farming and agricultural domestication was established.  Ancient man’s carbohydrates came from a variety of wild grains, tubers, vegetables, nuts, berries, and fruits.

The modern American, will be hard pressed to find nutrient dense wild plant product sources, but we can at least make the healthiest choices of what we have available.

So what carbs should you be including?

Rich colorful fruits and vegetables along with small amounts of whole grains and legumes with the occasional tuber.  Plant sources should be fresh and local, thereby giving them  more time in the sun and opportunity to ripen naturally (as opposed to imported fruits and vegetables that are harvested early and never really mature).  One major caveat with whole grains is the high rate of subclinical gluten sensitivity that seems to be the cause of so many health issues.

The most effective way to determine if you have subclinical gluten sensitivity is to remove it from your diet for at least three months.  Any health changes will be obvious.

Gluten aside, some people seem to do well on a diet high in starchy carbohydrates, however they are the minority.  Most of us would benefit from keeping grains to a minimum and seeking our carbohydrates from colorful vegetables.  If possible foods should be eaten raw to benefit maximally from their life sustaining properties.

Speaking of raw, I mentioned raw organic milk in the previous parts of this article and would also like to mention here that milk has a great balance of fats, proteins, AND carbohydrates.  If you have been thinking about nutritional shakes and things of that nature, you’ll be better off with straight, organic, whole, raw milk.

Nutrition really is a bit of an art that requires a careful awareness of self in order to truly master.  In the spirit of Jeet Kune Do, there is no set way.

Bruce Lee talked about “honestly expressing oneself” as a powerful path to achievement and realization.  The most important part of learning Jeet Kune Do is listening to your body in order to understand how to fully use it for “honest expression,” and the same holds true for health and nutrition.  The human body is always honestly expressing itself through vitality and/or disease on all levels, including the physical, mental, and spiritual.

Listen to your body.

In Health,
–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com

Jeet Kune Do Nutrition Plan Part I
Jeet Kune Do Nutrition Plan Part II

PROTEIN

This is the single most common term in the diet, fitness, health industries. Often times, however, protein is casually mentioned without little or no elaboration regarding the quality. Much like fats, as I discussed in part one of this series, it is largely misunderstood.

To recap on part I of the series, note that there is not a JKD nutrition plan per se, but rather in the spirit of simplicity, directness, and efficiency we can improve our health and performance through principles that avoid the “classical mess” that is modern nutrition.

Protein is a category of macromolecules composed of amino acids that is essential to human life. The human body can manufacture many of the necessary amino acids but the rest must be obtained from food for optimal health.

In this article I will focus on the four protein sources that receive the most attention:

1. meat

2. milk

3. eggs

4. soy

MEAT: Meat is good. Looking back at our evolutionary ancestry and our human biology, it is clear that our bodies work best on an omnivorous diet . . . plant and animal products. Having said this, I won’t bother going into the biological difficulties and health challenges of a vegetarian diet as this would require a volume by itself.

As a protein source, meat is excellent as it contains a complete amino acid profile, but this is really only a part of the whole when considering foods. In short, the quality of a meat is directly related to the way the animal was raised and the way in which the meat is prepared.

For example, when choosing beef make sure that it is organic, free range and grass fed. If this type of beef is unavailable in your area look for for meat that is, at least hormone and anti-biotic free. The same goes with chicken, make sure it is free range organic; this means it is allowed to run free and supplement its diet with insects and other natural “wild” foods.

As for the preparation of your meats, eat them WITH the fat and minimize frying and overcooking. The fats in naturally raised animals are essential to better digestion and nutrient absorption. Furthuremore, cooking at high temperatures not only reduces nutritional value but also creates toxic byproducts like PhIP and heterocyclic amines which are strongly associated with cancer. I personally eat most of my animal proteins raw or nearly raw (another highly controversial practice).

MILK: It does the body good right? Well, that depends. Milk has been a hallmark of the average modern American diet and it can be a powerful boon to good nutrition but there are a few important considerations.

Milk should only be consumed raw, whole, and unmodified with the exception of culturing. Pasteurization and homogenization turns a life giving super food into a dead allergen ridden waste product. Raw milk, on the other hand, provides a complete protein, and quality fats loaded with highly bioavailable vitamins and minerals that are destroyed or rendered less absorbable when heated (calcium from pasteurized milk is not easily used by the body). The natural bacteria and enzymes found in raw milk also protect it from putrefying pathogens and make it more digestible so people with milk allergies (casein allergies) or lactose intolerance can often drink raw milk. Cultured raw milk such as yogurt, kefir, and cheese have added benefits with increased digestibility and beneficial bacteria.

To find a source of raw milk near you, go to http://www.realmilk.com/where1.html

If you are in Pasadena or the San Gabriel Valley, contact me here http://www.sgvjeetkunedo.com/contact.html regarding a raw milk coop for easy access of raw milk products from Organic Pastures.

EGGS: Another excellent source of complete protein, quality fats, and bioavailable micronutrients. There is a misconception that eggs should be eaten sparingly due to their effect on blood cholesterol. This is a myth.

Whole eggs have not been shown to have a negative affect on blood cholesterol or triglycerides.

Much like milk and meat, however, make sure you get your eggs fresh and from organic free range hens. Eggs are best when eaten raw, as this preserves the delicate micronutrients and essential fatty acids within the yolk. The salmonella scare that the FDA has created around raw eggs is, in my opinion, completely overblown. Most eggs, if kept fresh and obtained from reputable sources will not be contaminated. Furthermore, the stomach acids of a healthy person neutralize any Salmonella and infections are generally short lived anyway not lasting more than a few hours unless you have a compromised immune system.

SOY: Where did we go so wrong? If you have not heard by now, know that soy is NOT the health food that so many experts have supported. As far as soy protein isolate is concerned, it is an industrial waste product from the vegetable oil industry. It is a highly processed incomplete plant protein that heralds a whole host of potential health risks. In short, soy inhibits mineral absorption, decreases stomach acid production (necessary for good digestion and immune function), has phytoestrogens which interfere with normal hormone regulation, and undergoes industrial processing that produces harmful byproducts.

The only healthy soy based foods will be found in fermented products such as natto, miso, tempeh, etc.

Again this is only a rough guide to nutrition and proteins, but it will point the way to better health and performance.

In the final installment of this three part series I will cover dietary carbohydrates.

In Health,

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com

Jeet Kune Do Nutrition Plan Part I
Jeet Kune Do Nutrition Plan Part III

OK, so there really isn’t an actual “JKD Nutrition Plan” but there should be.

For those who may not know, Bruce Lee was a huge proponent of optimal health and performance via careful and deliberate nutrition. He experimented heavily with vitamins, protein shakes, and other health supplements; he even explored the latest fads, quickly dismissing nonsense and keeping what worked for him.

In the spirit of Jeet Kune Do, I’ll clear up a few myths and outright fallacies of modern nutrition so that you may “absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, and add what is uniquely your own.”

I warn you however, that what you read here will probably go contrary to everything you think you know about nutrition.

Let’s begin . . .

Myth: Your diet should include small amounts of polyunsaturated oils and no unsaturated fats.

This is perhaps the biggest misunderstanding in nutrition. Unlike what the FDA has lead the public to believe, fat is your friend. In fact, fat is an absolutely essential nutrient that has received a lot of abuse from the media and so-called diet and nutrition gurus over the years.

Polyunsaturated fats like canola oil have been hailed as healthy oils due to their low saturated fat content when the opposite is actually true. “Vegetable” oils like canola and corn oil actually have a high potential of harming the body simply due to their unstable molecular structure. These “polyunsaturated” oils are highly susceptible to oxidation and formation of toxic substances (such as acrylamide) under heat. Furthermore, oxidized oils create a whole host of problems including harmful free radical cascades arterial plaques (analysis of arterial plaques show their composition to be primarily oxidized polyunsaturated fats, not cholesterol as everybody seems to think).

Saturated fats like organic coconut oil and butter, on the other hand, are nutritional powerhouses. Taken raw, their health benefits put them in the class of super foods with their immune boosting and gut healing properties. These fats are also much healthier options for cooking due to their higher molecular stability.

Similarly, mono unsaturated fats like olive oil, hemp oil are more stable than their polyunsaturated cousins and also have positive health promoting properties of their own when taken raw.

Remember that most of the fats in our own body are actually saturated, not to mention that medium chain fatty acids (like coconut oil) make an excellent energy source comparable to carbohydrates. In fact, saturated fat is the primary source of energy for the heart.

Why all the negative hype in the media about saturated fats? Most likely, this is due to the advent of trans fats in margarine and other hydrogenated oils. Hydrogenation, being a process that artificially saturates an oil, thus making it more stable for longer shelf life in stores.

Consider trans and hydrogenated fats as public enemy number one and avoid at all costs. Used as a preservative, nothing eats hydrogenated fat . . . not even mold and bacteria, and neither should you.

The final, but no less important, element in dietary fats concern essential fatty acids. These are a class of fats that the body needs but is unable to produce and therefore, must get out of the diet. Omega three fatty acids are really the only ones you need to be conscious about as they are less abundant than the others (ie. omega 6). Just make certain that the omega three in your diet is coming from an animal source such as fish and egg yolks, as omega 3 from flax and other plant sources is inadequate. Again, as an unsaturated oil, it is better taken raw and with plenty of anti-oxidants to preserve its healthful state.

I’ll also take this opportunity to mention raw milk as s great source of beneficial fats.  I’ll talk again about milk when addressing protein, but as an important note about fats, unprocessed butterfat cells have special properties that are not well understood yet but obviously promote gut health and deliver certain fat soluble nutrients very effectively.  More to come on the subject of raw milk later.

This is only a rough guide to dietary fats, but will none-the-less produce extraordinary health benefits in the long run.

For in-depth information about nutrition and healthy fats, visit the Weston Price Foundation

Stay tuned for Part II of this series where I’ll be covering dietary protein.

In Health,

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com