Comparing
whole foods to nutraceuticals is like comparing apple to oranges, there
is no comparison. Yes whole foods do contain the whole ball of wax when
it comes to the nutritional content. But it also contains the wax used
to keep them better preserved during shipping, impurities, certain
pesticides, microbes, and other potential contaminants. Whole foods also
can not be quantified when it comes to each fruit or vegetable being
considered, and i am not talking about certified organic versus
noncertified.
When the FDA or any other organization tells us to eat a
certain amount of fruits and vegetables, they are approximating the
amount needed to effect our health, but it is a far cry from true
science. One can not distinguish the difference in potency of on apple
for example to another apple sitting aside it. Also if you can remember
at one point the recommendation was 3-5 servings of fruits and
vegetables per day to ward off disease, to an increase to 10-13 servings
of fruits and vegetables per day. Getting 3-5 servings was daunting
enough for most, but 10-13 servings per day is not only impractical, but
also cost prohibitive for most.
Coupled with the time it would take to
prepare, it seems like the scenario is set for people to either flat out
fail or fall out of compliance, because this would have to be done on a
daily basis. Consistency is key and taking a day off is really not an
option. The cancer cell and other diseases do not take days off, but are
more than happy to shave days, months or years off your life. In the
final analysis, making whole foods an important part of your daily diet
is essential, but not the complete picture at all. But then again the
produce lobby has an invested interest in making you think it is the
only option for health benefits.
JUICING:
Then there is juicing, proponents are all over the place touting the
miracle benefits of juicing and the advantages and ease of use. Most of
these people wanting you to think juicing is the best way to go, always
seem to be pitching the next best juicing machine you need to do it
right. The truth is that those high speed juicers touting their powerful
motors are actually counter productive. High speed motors do two things
you do not want when looking to extract precious nutrients from your
already very expensive produce. High speed, powerful motors do at least
two things that are not good. They will heat the juice killing
nutrients, and also oxidize the very nutrients you are looking to
preserve. The best juicer type to use is a slow, single screw juicer. It
will do a much better job, not heat or oxidize your produce and will
squeeze out even more of the juice from your valuable produce.
Additionally, juicing can be dangerous and a health risk if you combine
the wrong produce together and or juice certain single ingredients. This
article is not intended to list all the potential side effects of
potential side effects of different single ingredients.
However, as one who does juice, when I can, I can tell you it is not a 3
minute process, but more like an hour. Between cutting and prep,
juicing, and the cleaning the counter and equipment. In the final
analysis, Juicing has it's merits, but not very cost or time efficient
for those that have a job in the real world. On top of that, just like
whole food produce, you can not quantify the true amounts of nutrients
you are getting from apple to apple. Nor do you get the benefits of the
fiber that can be derived from whole foods. So before you go spending
your hard earned money on an expensive juicer, make darn sure you are
committed to the time and diligence it takes on a daily basis. if you
find that you are, let me know and I will tell you what juicer I use
when I am juicing.
NUTRACEUTICALS:
Nutraceuticals should not be confused with dietary supplements in the
strict sense although the FDA loves to put all things in one basket. Nor
can I vouch for many products out there that claim all the things they
claim about their products. In fact, I give full disclosure here that I
am a nutraceutical manufacturer, but am not going to slight any other by
name or product. My intention here is to provide much need insight
about nutraceuticals, not to pitch my own formulas.
With that said I can
tell you as an insider, many manufacturers, marketers, and companies
will use the least possible percentages, qualities, lessor raw materials
with less potency. What they then do is make a great label, and make
the consumer think it is the best raw materials. After all, what does
the consumer know about the difference between high grad raw materials
or inferior ones. All you know is it contains blueberries, right? Wrong!
As a manufacturer I can but blueberry extracts that cost $200 per kilo
up to thousands of dollars for a kilo. You would never know by reading a
label, so when you compare products on a shelf and see the same
blueberry on the two products you are comparing, think again. When one
product costs a fraction of the other, you can bet the lessor priced
will be inferior. In essence you are just getting a psychological
massage, but not much if any health benefit, and your pocket will be
lighter for not.
You can also be proactive and ask the company to be
more specific about their raw materials. if they ignore you or can't
answer pointed questions within reason, you actually did get your
answer.
I had a question today about "barley grass" used in out Med-Gourmet and
healthy Ride Products. The person had concerns about the connection
between barley grass and gluten. On our products you will notice that we
say out products are gluten free and indeed they are. But should you
trust that kind of general answer? Heck No!
Let's take the a close look at the gluten content in barley grass. In
order to say no gluten on a label, and more specific regarding barley
grass, the total parts per million (ppm) can not be above 20 ppm. This
can be one way to actually know if you are dealing with a (real
manufacturer), or some marketing company. If either can not tell you
this, just walk away, you are entering the marketing spin world, and or
the world of a manufacturer that is less then honest about the quality
of their raw materials.
I know, I know, the next question is "So Dr Nappi, what is your ppm on
barley grass"? When I am asked this question I am eager to answer and to
educate. Our ppm on barley grass is less then 10 ppm. See how easy that
was when you use the best raw materials and test everything in
compliance with FDA and labeling regulations.
BACK TO THE BENEFITS OF NUTRACEUTICALS
The advantages of high grade nutraceuticals are many to me. They are
quantifiable, every dose is identical so you know exactly the mg, mcg,
gram count so when putting a protocol together for different types of
maladies, it can be logged. The convenience can not be beat because the
dosing is already done for you. All you have to do is open the bottle
and use it daily. if you are to lazy to do that then you are just a
loser that really thinks you will beat out the next cancer cell or other
disease that could have been prevented if you just took these simple
steps. The materials are already premacerated for you and in powder form
are highly bioavailable, unlike pills and capsules. Liquids are on my
caution list because of stability issues. That would be a whole other
article.
Honestly, I started making my formulas not to sell to the public, but
because i could not find consistent and reliable sources of finished
products that i would put in my body. Some just because i did not trust
the formulation, some because they could not provide facts, some because
I did not want to waste money buying products that had such inferior
grade raw materials and no benefit to my health, therefore leaving me
unknowingly vulnerable to preventable diseases. Healthy Ride and
Medi-Gourmet was designed originally to go into my body and all formulas
I produce follow this strict philosophy, to produce formulas that get
results first, not marketing hype.
Factually, I do not have any big
marketing twist for my company. I just put the money into the formulas
that both you and I put in our bodies. The marketing is really done by
word of mouth by people that actually take them daily and get benefit
and share this gift of good health with others and no, I do not mean any
MLM or affiliate schemes by that. That is the way it should be. So if
you get benefit form my formulas, spread the word so I can put more of
the revenues into more R&D, that is the only thank you I would ask
for.
The term
Nutraceutical, a
portmanteau of the words “
nutrition” and “
pharmaceutical”, is a food or food product that reportedly provides health and medical benefits, including the prevention and treatment of
disease.
Health Canada defines the term as "
a
product isolated or purified from foods that is generally sold in
medicinal forms not usually associated with food. A nutraceutical is
demonstrated to have a physiological benefit or provide protection
against chronic disease.
Nutraceuitcals are in my opinion the sure fire strategic
approach to dosing for health. Whole food is actually my supplement
because i ca not trust the potency of individual food stuffs. But with
nutraceuticals, I can do it exactly every time. I can increase or
decrease as needed, etc. To me there is no better way and thank God I am
able to manufacturer the best quality for my body. If I could not and
was left to the maze of miracle products out there I would be just as
lost as many consumers out there by all the hype.
In my case, this is my
personal life blood and I have no choice but to continue to make these
formulas for my daily consumption. So, we can indeed take the ride of
our lives together, because after 30 years I am no flash in the pan
marketing company.
Summary: Nutraceuticals utilize the active beneficial health
properties of whole foods. They are highly concentrated forms of
beneficial nutrients of whole foods. They are convenient and cost
effective with many superior health benefits. To attack preventable
disease, enhance compromised immune functions, and for overall
maintenance, I choose nutraceuticals.
For example, if you wanted 20 mg
of lycopene, do you want to eat vier a kilo of tomatoes per day, or do
you just want the lycopene that come from the tomato? The same goes for
all the other ingredients. To further illustrate, Just take Super fruits
and Greens, or Medi-Gourmet Balance for example. I get 100 beneficial
nutraceuticals with every dose. Try chewing on the pounds of produce or
drinking all that juicing stuff daily.
Well that's my learned take on this topic. Have a comment?
speak up, although i am to busy preventing disease to debate the topic,
my ego is not that big to have to defend my position, the science is. I
have practiced this for decades and I am informing, so 5 years from now
after chasing the miracle, don't say I did not tell you so today. God's
speed all.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
- May 11, 2012 - Whole Foods Market is recalling its variety cupcake
six-packs sold in stores in Northern California because some of the
products contain undeclared walnuts. One illness has been reported to
date, and people who have allergies to walnuts run the risk of serious
or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products.
AVOCADO BENEFITS TO THE SKIN
LEMON BENEFITS TO THE SHIN 
