Detrimental Foods
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org,
please feel free to visit the school website)
Written by Brooke Gibson & Tristan Anderson
“In 1821, the average sugar intake in America was 10 pounds per person per year; today it is 170 pounds per person.”—Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions (2001)
Aspartame (artificial sweetener)
According to The Columbia Encycopedia Of Nutrition (1988), “Aspartame is a substance made up of two amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Although both of these amino acids are widely found in nature, the chemically combined combination is not. Aspartame is used as an artificial sweetener in many food substances and soft drinks… Aspartame has been extensively tested and has been approved by the FDA as a safe food additive… However, the long-term effects of ingesting large quantities of aspartame are not yet known.”
Saccharin (artificial sweetener)
In Susan Powter’s Food (1995), she reveals that, “Saccharin is not a sugar, and it is not a food… It’s a petroleum product, is non-caloric, and is three hundred times sweeter than sugar.” Aspartame, on the other hand, is only 180 times sweeter than sugar.
Table Sugar
Table sugar is extremely detrimental to one’s health. It is not natural and can have ill-effects upon your body and mind. Luckily, there are a number of alternatives to using plain table sugar as your main sweetener. Sally Fallon tells us in Nourishing Traditions (2001) about the danger of eating refined sugar. “The naturally sweet foods from which sugar is extracted—sugar beet, sugar cane and corn—are particularly high in nutrients such as B vitamins, magnesium and chromium…These nutrients are discarded—or made into animal feed—when the raw product is refined into sugar. Refining strips foods of vital nutrients while concentrating sugars, thus allowing us to fulfill our body’s energy requirements without obtaining the nutrients needed for bodybuilding, digestion and repair.”
The habitual eating of table sugar (a teaspoon or two in the morning coffee or tea, the hidden corn syrup in that bag of mid-afternoon munchies, the many cups in baked cookies and cakes) depletes the body of important nutrients and can give one the false sense of being full and satisfied. “When we eat refined sugars, they enter the bloodstream in a rush, causing a sudden increase in blood sugar. The body’s regulation mechanism kicks into high gear, flooding the bloodstream with insulin and other hormones to bring blood sugar levels down to acceptable levels. Repeated onslaughts of sugar will eventually disrupt this finely tuned process, causing some elements to remain in a constant state of activity and others to become worn out and inadequate to do the job. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that a diet high in refined carbohydrates will also be deficient in vitamins, minerals and enzymes, those bodybuilding elements that keep the glands and organs in good repair. When the endocrine system thus becomes disturbed, numerous other pathological conditions soon manifest—degenerative disease, allergies, obesity, alcoholism, drug addiction, depression, learning disabilities and behavioral problems.” (Nourishing Traditions, 2001)
Further evidence of its detrimental effects are found in Nourishing Traditions. “We must remember that these skeletonized products were virtually unknown in the human diet before 1600 and never used in great quantities before the 20th century. Our physical nature is such that we need foods that are whole, not refined and denatured, to grow, prosper and reproduce. As the consumption of sugar has increased, so have all the “civilized” diseases.” She goes on to say that numerous studies have positively correlated sugar consumption with heart disease.
Fallon recommends in her book “Strict abstinence from refined sugar and very limited use of refined flour.” This can be quite a challenging task to undertake, but I’d encourage you to at least start by becoming aware of how much sugar you consume in any given day. From there, you can slowly try to cut down on the amount you eat. Alternative sweeteners to table sugar include maple syrup, agave syrup, honey, dates, molasses, figs, and stevia.
Table Salt
Table salt is natural salt that has been refined into an unnatural, highly detrimental food. Gabriel Cousens points out in his book Spiritual Nutrition (2005)that for minerals to be absorbed into the cell they need to be angstrom-sized (so infinitesimally small that it is measured in units of angstroms). Natural sea or rock salt that is unrefined holds minerals in their angstrom-size, which are healthy salts for the body. When salt is refined through heating and additives, the minerals become covalently bonded. This means they are not readily absorbed into the cells because they have become denser. According to Gabriel this can lead to a toxic buildup of refined salts in the extra-cellular fluid.
Richard Anderson states in his book Cleanse & Purify Thyself (2000) that table salt can have other detrimental effects. One of the major detriments that Richard found was that table salt increased the hardening of putrefying wastes and mucous in the intestines. This leads to a thick coating of material that lines the intestines and disrupts the assimilation of nutrients through the intestinal walls.
As with most foods, it is better to opt for the more natural form. When refining and processing begins, many unwanted side effects happen. Natural sugar (such as that in fruits) and natural salt (unheated sea or rock salt) are good for the body. It is only when we begin to tamper with these foods that they lose their vitality.