We don’t use that polite phrase any longer. What changed? Now that about two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, did those folks with “glandular problems” disappear? No; it’s just that many others have caught the same disease. Thanks to the obesogen effect, we may all be at risk for some glandular problems.

Because it’s probably been a while since you took high-school anatomy, here’s a quick refresher: Your endocrine system is the contingent of glands producing the hormones that regulate your body. Growth and development, sexual function, reproductive processes, mood, sleep, hunger, stress, metabolism — they’re all controlled by hormones. And the pancreas, hypothalamus, adrenal glands, thyroid, pituitary gland, and testes are all part of that system. So whether you’re male or female, tall or short, hirsute or hairless, lean or heavy — that’s all determined in a big way by your endocrine system.

Your endocrine system is a finely tuned instrument that can easily be thrown out of kilter. “Obesogens are thought to act by hijacking the regulatory systems that control body weight,” says Frederick vom Saal, Ph.D., curators’ professor of biological sciences at the University of Missouri. “And any chemical that interferes with body weight is an endocrine disruptor.”

That’s why obesogens seem to be good at making us fat — and why researchers are so bent on uncovering the truth about these chemicals. The NIEHS is funding studies that target them. The Endocrine Society, the largest organization for hormone research and clinical endocrinology, has also noted the connection. “The rise in the incidence in obesity matches the rise in the use and distribution of industrial chemicals that may be playing a role in generation of obesity,” it stated in a recent report, “suggesting that EDCs may be linked to this epidemic.”

That’s one reason why weight-loss advice may not always work. In fact, even strictly following the smartest traditional advice won’t lower your obesogen exposure. See, an apple a day may have kept the doctor away 150 years ago. But if that apple now comes with chemicals believed to promote obesity, then that advice is way out of date. In fact, apples have been named one of the most pesticide-laden produce choices out there.

The obesogen effect may be part of the reason why traditional dieting practices — choosing chicken over beef, eating more fish, loading up on fruits and vegetables — may not work anymore.

But as we began researching our book, “The New American Diet,” we found some good news: There’s no reason why our favorite foods — steak, burgers, pasta, ice cream — can’t be part of a reasonable weight-loss program. We just need to move past the old thinking, and adopt some new laws of leanness.

Leanness law #1: Know when to go organic
Every day the average American is exposed to an estimated 10 to 13 different pesticides and/or their metabolites (breakdown products) through food, beverages, and drinking water.

Some of those chemicals can mimic estrogen during development, which can lead to weight gain later in life. Others can spur unnecessary fat-cell formation at any age. At the University of California at Irvine, Bruce Blumberg, Ph.D., recently reported that prenatal exposure to obesogens among mice can predispose them to weight gain later in life. The effect is likely the same in humans. In one study, the adult daughters of women who had the highest levels of DDE (a breakdown product of the pesticide DDT) in their blood during childbearing years were found to be 20 pounds heavier, on average, than daughters of women who had the least.

And the evidence continues to accumulate.

• Researchers have noted a link between organochlorine pesticides and impaired thyroid function. According to the Endocrine Society’s 2009 report on EDCs, changes in thyroid function can result in metabolic effects. Indeed, the authors of a 2009 Thyroid Research article cited hypothyroidism, a symptom of which can be weight gain, as a possible effect of organochlorines on the thyroid.
• The authors of a study in the journal BioScience found that tributyltin, a fungicide, activates components in human cells known as retinoid X receptors, which are part of the metabolic pathway necessary for fat-cell formation. They also found that tributyltin causes the growth of fat cells in mice exposed to it. Although tributyltin is no longer used on crops, experts suspect that a similar compound still used on produce, fenbutatin, is at least as potent.
• The authors of a recent study in Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology note that organophosphates and carbamates, two common classes of pesticides, cause obesity in animals.

But there is some hopeful research; a study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that children who ate fruits and vegetables free of organophosphorous pesticides for just 5 days reduced their urine concentrations of those pesticides to undetectable levels.

Video: Organic food: A fresh approach to health?

According to the Environmental Working Group, you can reduce your pesticide exposure by nearly 80 percent simply by choosing organic versions of the 12 fruits and vegetables shown in its tests to contain the highest pesticide load. The group calls them the Dirty Dozen: In order of pesticide load, they are peaches, apples, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce, imported grapes, carrots, and pears. There’s a Clean Fifteen, too, a group of conventionally grown fruits and vegetables with the least pesticide residue: onions, avocados, sweet corn, pineapples, mangoes, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwis, cabbages, eggplants, papayas, watermelons, broccoli, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes. No matter what kind of produce you’re buying, use this guide to pick the perfect fruit and vegetables at your grocery store or farmer’s market.

Leanness law #2: Stop eating plastic
You’re thinking, Well, I don’t generally eat plastic.

Ah, but you do.

Chances are you’re among the 93 percent of Americans with detectable levels of bisphenol A (BPA) in their bodies, and you’re also among the 75-plus percent of Americans with detectable levels of phthalates in their urine. Both of these synthetic chemicals, found in plastics, mimic estrogen. And like some pesticides, these chemicals can predispose your body from an early age to gain fat.

How do they end up inside you? Mostly through what you eat and drink: Phthalates can be found in food packaging, plastic wraps, and pesticides, as well as children’s toys, PVC pipe, and medical supplies. Each year, about 18 billion pounds of phthalate esters are created worldwide, and they can easily leach into your body.

More than 6 billion pounds of BPA, found in polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, is produced every year; it leaches from food and drink packaging, baby bottles, cans, and bottle tops. Pop the top off a jar of tomato sauce and check out the resin on the inside of the cap — that’s where the BPA comes from.

Video: BPA in canned foods? A recent study published on BPA’s effects on humans found that workers exposed to BPA at Chinese factories had more than four times the risk of erection difficulties. (Japan reduced the use of BPA in cans between 1998 and 2003; as a result, measures of BPA in some Japanese populations dropped more than 50 percent.) According to the Environmental Working Group, canned chicken soup, infant formula, and ravioli have BPA levels of the highest concern. And your sturdy reusable water bottle? After people drank out of a polycarbonate bottle (usually stamped with a 7 on the bottom) for just 1 week, their BPA levels jumped by nearly 70 percent, according to a seminal study from Harvard University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here’s how you can limit your exposure.

• Follow vom Saal’s rule: “No plastic item ever goes into the oven or the microwave.” Heat can damage plastic and increase leaching.
• Avoid plastic-wrapped meat. “The plastic wrap used at the supermarket is mostly PVC, whereas the plastic wrap you buy to wrap things at home is increasingly made from polyethylene,” vom Saal says. PVC contains phthalates that, according to animal studies, may lower testosterone levels. In humans, lower testosterone leads to weight gain as well as a decrease in muscle mass and sex drive. Go to a butcher who uses paper instead.
• Cut down on canned goods like tuna, and buy frozen vegetables in bags instead of canned produce. Consider buying Eden Foods canned beans and jarred foods, which are in BPA-free packaging.
• Use a nonplastic mug whenever you can. And for good measure, avoid drinking coffee or other hot beverages out of Styrofoam, which can leach styrene, a compound linked to cancer.

Leanness law #3: Don’t eat the Viking
When was the last time you took a dose of weight-promoting hormones?

Okay, when was the last time you ate a burger?

The answer to both questions may well be the same. Every time you eat conventionally grown beef, there’s a chance you’re eating weight-gain hormones — a potential cocktail of natural and synthetic obesogens. In fact, a report in the International Journal of Obesity by researchers at 10 universities, including Yale, Johns Hopkins, and Cornell, notes that the use of hormones in meat could be a contributing factor to the obesity epidemic.

A 1999 European study concluded that people who eat meat from cattle treated with growth hormones are taking in hormones and their metabolites: estrogens in the range of 1 to 84 nanograms per person per day, progesterone (64 to 467 ng), and testosterone (5 to 189 ng).

A nanogram is a billionth of a gram: That’s tiny. But it may be enough to disrupt the way your hormone system operates, research indicates. Some experts believe that certain obesogens exert influence at below 1 part per billion. And small amounts from many sources add up over time.

Perhaps even more worrisome are the potent synthetic steroids we ingest from beef. Trenbolone acetate is an anabolic steroid estimated to be eight to 10 times as potent as testosterone, which is an endocrine-disrupting chemical by definition. “This cocktail of hormones given to beef has huge consequences,” vom Saal says. We know what happens to the body when it receives large doses of steroids over a short period of time, but there is no research on the effects of small doses over years.

To bring this all home, imagine you’ve been in a terrible plane crash in the Andes, like those poor souls depicted in the movie “Alive.” The only way to survive is to pick one of the dead folks to eat. You’re given the choice of an obese, grotesquely muscled, man-boob-toting Minnesota Vikings lineman with shrunken testicles who’s been injecting himself with hormones for a dozen years, or someone of normal size and body type and hormonal function. (One of the Kardashian sisters, maybe.) Which would you choose?

Well, every time you eat conventionally raised beef, you’re choosing the Viking.

There’s a better way. Organic beef has none of the weight-promoting steroid hormones of conventional beef, while grass-fed beef has been found to have more omega-3s and more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA is a fatty-acid mixture that’s been linked to protection against cardiovascular disease and diabetes; it can also help you lose weight, according to a meta-analysis in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Similarly, conventionally raised dairy cows are often given hormones to produce more milk, which may lead to some nutrient dilution. Grass grazing, however, may increase omega-3 content in milk. By choosing to eat and drink more omega-3s, more CLA, and more nutrients, you’re choosing to fill your body with more nutrition — feeding your brain, fueling weight loss, and keeping hunger at bay.

Leanness law #4: Beware of the sneaky saboteurs
Ingesting pesticides, growth hormones, and plastic-based chemicals obviously isn’t a good idea. But other, sneakier obesogens are at work. We’re talking about high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and soy, which are added into your diet and the diet of the animals you eat, and which carry or are converted into natural obesogens.

But wait: Isn’t soy good for your heart? Not necessarily. A review in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation notes that soy protein can lower LDL cholesterol, but only a measly 3 percent. You’d have to eat the equivalent of 2 pounds of tofu a day to reap that benefit. As a result, the AHA withdrew support for definitive health claims for soy protein and coronary heart disease. Yet soy is in hiding in everything from cookies to french fries to salad dressing.

The result of all that extra soy could be — get ready for it — more fat. This is particularly true for people who were given soy-based formula as infants. You see, soy contains two naturally occurring chemicals, genistein and daidzein, both of which are estrogenics, which can spur the formation of fat cells.

But wait! Guess who else is on a soy diet? Elsie, Wilbur, and Chicken Little — the animals we depend on for food. (Many fish, too, are chowing down on soy.) Chickens that once ate natural grasses and forage now feed on a high-energy diet of which soybean meal is a large component.

According to British researchers, this type of diet is partly to blame for the fact that some modern chickens contain two to three times as many calories from fat as from protein. (That’s right: The chicken’s proportion of muscle is dropping, just like ours! Sounds like the obesogen effect.)

So when you eat modern, supermarket chicken and beef you’re eating more fat, less protein, and more obesogens.

High-fructose corn syrup, too, has been fingered by some experts as a possible player in the obesity crisis. HFCS is found in countless items, from bread to ketchup to Life Savers to cough medicine. Recent research indicates that a diet high in HFCS may trick your brain into craving more food even when you don’t need it. And preliminary research indicates that HFCS may even play a role in disrupting the endocrine system, says Robert Lustig, M.D., a pediatric endocrinologist at UCSF. In overweight people, it interferes with leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite.

Is all this a bit disturbing? You bet. Depressing? Not at all. Because you can reconsider the old weight-loss advice — the “diet wisdom” that told you to stop eating burgers, pasta, and ice cream — and go back to eating what you love. Of course you should eat reasonably-sized portions. But the key is to eat natural, obesogen-free versions. Do this while keeping up your exercise program and over time you’ll see results. Your waistline, your tastebuds, and even your muscles and libido will thank you.

Adapted from “The New American Diet” (Rodale 2009), available at bookstores and at NewAmDiet.com.

Fire retardants in baby blankets, nano-particles in cosmetics, plastics in water bottles and anti-bacterial agents in soaps.

Experts call these and other chemicals emerging contaminants — compounds that were once thought to be safe, but which scientists now believe may pose a danger to human health.

Last fall, a group of congressional Democrats vowed to overhaul the 34-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to make it easier for EPA to take dangerous chemicals off the market and ensure that the substitutes are safe. But one year, six congressional hearings and 10 “stakeholder sessions” later, the bills are dead, a testament to the combined clout of $674 billion chemical industry, the companies that process their compounds into air fresheners, detergents, perfumes, cosmetics, toys, medical devices and other consumer goods, and the stores that sell them. Their campaign to block reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act won out over EPA’s support, an unprecedented campaign by public health advocates fueled by the industry’s own admissions that the current law does not fully protect public health.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), and Reps. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) and Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who introduced reform bills, say they’ll reintroduce them next year. But industry lobbyists will also be back, making it likely that the stalemate will continue — even if the Republicans don’t gain any additional seats in Congress.

Have you ever heard of ‘Nutritional Cleansing’?

A new study found overweight young girls had significantly higher levels of phthalates, a chemical found in plastics.

Studies are showing increasing evidence there may be a link between certain chemicals and obesity. A new study found overweight young girls had significantly higher levels of phthalates than the general population of children. Phthalates are found in plastics and can be hormone disruptors.

Nutritionist Keith Bishop of Oklahoma City says these disruptors can cause all sorts of problems, “The plastics attach to receptors on the cells. If it’s a fat cell, it can stimulate that cell to grow and get bigger.”

These plastics can also attach to the thyroid, according to Bishop, causing metabolism problems.

Bishop suggests steering clear of food wrapped or stored in plastic.

He suggests eating fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables and using stainless steel or caste iron cookware.

The non-stick pans may contain chemicals that leach into food.

Some other things to also be warned about, the lining of tin cans and the lining in microwave popcorn.

Article found here.

The links between autoimmune diseases, infections and the environment are complex and mysterious.

But “Spondylo-arthropathies,” a group of common inflammatory rheumatic disorders, appear to be triggered by environmental factors.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease afflicting more than 2 million Americans.

The disorder causes your body’s own immune system to attack your joints, leading to pain, deformities and a substantial loss of mobility.

One root cause of arthritis is extreme stress, and some medications, such as the birth control pills, might be linked in some cases to the onset of lupus.

Environmental pollution is also a concern for those predisposed to an autoimmune disease. Second-hand smoke, food chemicals or chemicals in the air, jet fuel fumes, UV exposure and other forms of environmental pollution are amongst the triggers considered to provoke the onset of autoimmune diseases. Hairspray and lipstick are also known to be occasional triggers.

For original post click here.

My sister posted this video on Facebook and I definitely felt it was blog-worthy.  Watch the results these people are getting and let me know what you think.  For me, I know what cleansing has done for my body, so this is nothing new.  However, YOU need to understand what cleansing can do for YOU.

You are doing yourself a huge disservice by not opening your mind to it.  Please leave comments.

Just today I was walking through the trail of exhaust left from a golf cart making it’s way up the hill in front of me.  I kept thinking to myself, “when is this trail of exhaust going to end?”  The thought kept going through my mind “this cannot be good to keep breathing this, especially while my lungs are expanding for oxygen” due to the steep climb up the hill.

The point is that no matter where we go in our modern environment, there will ALWAYS be areas of toxicity that are almost impossible to avoid.  Here’s another example:  I was with my wife at our favorite restaurant here in Cabo San Lucas enjoying some good Mahi Mahi we’d just caught when the person at the table next to us pulled out a cigarette and was almost blowing it in our faces!  My wife started caughing because she is allergic to cigarette smoke, but this was something we couldn’t have avoided because we were right in the middle of dinner and it was so unexpected.

I enjoyed reading the article below which I believe is relative to the point I am trying to make.  Please leave your comments under this post to let me know how you feel:

John Anderson Formulating Isagenix Products

Situated at the summit of an auspicious mountain is the glorious Yumbulagang palace, the oldest palace in Tibet, with more than 2,000 years of history as a spiritual and healing center for kings and Dalai Lamas. Nowadays the palace is still a sanctuary for Buddhist monks and travelers alike who hope to take in the sublime views of the landscape below. The surrounding valley is so pristine and beautiful that legend has it that drinking water from a perennial spring found there will cure any disease.

You could say the palace is an ultimate place of purification where one can drink in pure spring water, breathe in pure air and enjoy health-giving foods grown from the nutrient-rich earth in the region. If you happen to be a monk living there, then you probably don’t need nutritional cleansing.

As for the rest of us, we live in a completely different world. In our daily lives our bodies are under constant onslaught of stressors that come in the form of pollutants—via food, water and air—from a poor diet, and from the stress of busy schedules, conflict and strain at work, conflict in relationships, and even conflict in traffic. There’s little doubt that traditional nutritional thinking won’t cover our needs. We need extra help for helping us guard our bodies, help us to detoxify and to lose weight.

Now, there is plenty of reason to be leery of claims regarding safe, long-term weight loss and optimum health after being subjected to hundreds of “miracle” fad diets over the years. Whenever I hear about someone who has lost a lot of weight and has kept it off for longer than a few months with little effort, I’m the first to find the story just a little too hard to believe.

I know also that I receive a variety of e-mails questioning the need for nutritional cleansing. Most come from high skepticism because the simple fact is that “most diets don’t work.” But just as you may have discovered since trying nutritional cleansing, the whole-system approach that Isagenix provides does work, and it contains the right nutrients and botanicals given at the right time for maximum support to the body.

Ask a Tibetan monk about health and he’d tell you that you mustn’t lose faith in the body’s capability to produce miracles. Isagenix may not be exactly a miracle—the system was created with careful research and design—but just ask anyone who has witnessed or experienced his or her own success story and you might just agree Isagenix is a phenomenon. And, we have it to share with the world.

Bill Wheeler, Ph.D., ACSM
Isagenix Chief Science Officer

I thought this “Are You Toxic” video by Isagenix was perfect for this post.

Lets see…I’m trying to think of any reason why we as Americans should be alarmed about our current obesity epidemic. I just can’t seem to come up with anything…It really can’t be as bad as the media reports, could it? I mean, seriously, what health problems could simply being overweight possibly cause? Frankly, I think the urgent concern about the rapidly increasing obesity problem in this country is probably over hyped…don’t you think?

Of course, I’m being facetious with the above remarks…a sort of satire to awaken our dulled senses to the urgency of change. Just a quick glance at the shocking chart to the right and I think our senses can be jolted back to the reality that this growing health dilemma will soon reach Tsunami proportion if America does not…can i say…repent?

Repent from what…you might ask? Repent from the insatiable quest for excess…excess related to food consumption, that is. We literally…and I’m included in this…do not know when to say “NO!” NO!…I will not consume 4,ooo calories just for lunch…NO!…I will not continue to eat Mexican food every day for dinner! (yes, I have done this!)

The point I’m trying to make is this…If we were the same country today that we were 100 years ago, we would understand the meaning of MODERATION. You remember watching your grandparents save everything? Mine would pack up leftovers no matter how little was left. They would SAVE their money for something instead of taking out a line of credit for everything. They would “get by”…and be HAPPY!

I concur that there are occasionally other contributing factors to issues of obesity; however, the core of the issue with obesity is in primarily defined by two contributors: excess of food consumption, and condition of food consumed.

First, we are an over-consuming nation as compared to the amount of food consumed by other countries. There is as much as 2,000 calories in most fast food combos…and that is just for lunch. Alright, forget the combo…what about the spaghetti for dinner? do we stop after one helping? Not usually. We have educated our bodies to keep going till we can’t eat anymore…then we are “done.”

Secondly…and this point I feel is the real culprit behind the obesity epidemic…not only are we daily consuming more food than is necessary, the food we are consuming is an imposter! It isn’t really food anyway…it just poses as food! It is so chemically enhanced, steroid-injected, sodium-saturated, and high fructose corn “syruped” up, that our food has become un-nutritional. This is the real “OZ” behind the curtain…the real instigator of obesity…impurities!

These toxins are the “illegal aliens” that our bodies have no idea what to do with. The body simply enshrouds the toxin in fat until it can figure out some way of getting rid of it. In the mean time, these “illegals” camp out on your body as excess weight.

You get it now? LOSE THE IMPURITIES…LOSE THE WEIGHT!

Folks…OBESITY IS NO LONGER ALLOWED TO DEFINE YOU! Declare war on obesity and on your toxins and experience the benefits of nutritional cleansing with ISAGENIX.

The results today are reflective of a “don’t try this at home” method that backfired on me. I had a challenging day at work, drank my first shake later than usual…around 12 p.m….which put my entire day too far ahead of itself to where I was having my last shake around 9 p.m. I also didn’t walk until 9:30 p.m. which confused every part of me that is contributing to the success of this cleanse! This is not S.O.P!

I believe the Isagenix Cleanse works best if each meal is spread out to where your body is being fed more often. Example being,  1-2 ounces of Ionix Supreme first thing in the morning. Take a walk early, followed by the first IsaLean Shake…then several hours later 250-300 of the 600 calories alotted, followed several hours later by the other 250-300 calories. conclude the day around 5-7 p.m. with the final shake.

Well folks…this has been long but important. I truly desire, not only for myself, but for everyone in the trenches battling the enemy of excess weight…and the health challenges that come with it, to win not just the battle, but the war.

Your quote…

“You pray for good health and a body that will be strong in old age. Good —

but your rich foods block the gods’answer and tie Jupiter’s hands.”

- Persius

Sincerely,

George

Contact Me for more info!