• BPA is found in linings of canned food and soft drinks, plastic bottles (including plastic baby bottles), hard clear plastics like sports bottles and plastic containers, and food wrapping.
• BPA is linked to cancer (by disrupting hormone systems in the body that can prevent cancer), heart disease, sexual dysfunction, liver disorders, and development in small children.
• In 2008 Canada declared BPA as a toxin and banned its use in baby bottles.
• To show how prevalent it is, more than 90% of U.S. population had traces of BPA in their urine according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• BPA leeches into food even at cold temperatures.
• A bill has been proposed in the U.S. Congress that would ban BPA from all food and drink packages in the USA.
• The BPA industry has been fiercely fighting these restrictions. No surprise, considering the industry produces more than 6 billion tons of BPA annually.
• There are 30 states in the USA that have bills pending for the ban on BPA.
• The six largest manufactures of baby bottles announced they would voluntarily stop selling bottles made with BPA, in the United States.

With increasing awareness and ban on BPA in North America and Europe, the BPA industry is heading to “third-world” countries. The common recommendation is to avoid bottles/plastics with the “No. 7″ symbol at the bottom as they are likely to contain BPA. But what about in countries where no such standards are in place?

Might as well stop using plastics all together (or for that matter anything “modern” like non-stick) and stick to “tradition” — good old stainless steel. Maybe even switch back to tiffin carriers and steel tumblers.

Links

• Washington Post
• The Globe and Mail
• National Geographic
• ABC News

Zil-O (Ofloxacin, Ornidazol)

Purpose: Ofloxacin is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic. It kills sensitive bacteria by stopping the production of essential proteins needed by the bacteria to survive.

Side effects: – Ofloxacin may cause swelling or tearing of a tendon, especially in the Achilles’ tendon of the heel. Known as quinolone-induced tendonopathy. The product in the USA must carry a warning of risk of tendon damage; irreversible peripheral neuropathy, QT prolongation, hallucinations, seizures, and abnormal blood sugar levels.

Links:

• Ofloxacin – Wikipedia
• Ornidazole – Wikipedia
• ofloxacin – Wikipedia

Aciloloc RD (Omeprazole Magnesium, Domperidone BP)

Purpose: Domperidone blocks the action of dopamine. Regulates nausea and vomiting.

Warning: “In June 2004, the United States’ main regulation agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), issued a letter warning women not to take domperidone, citing unknown risks to parents and infants, and warned pharmacies that domestic sale was illegal, and that import shipments from other countries would be searched and seized. There is a new controversy in Britain regarding lethal levels of sodium found in children who are administered this drug. It is now subject to a medical review following a number of criminal trials where parents were charged with child abuse by salt poisoning based on hypernatremia in the affected children.” – Wikipedia

Links:

• Domperidone – Wikipedia

Mausera (Serratiopeptidase/Serrapeptase)

Purpose: “This enzyme can be used to digest non-living tissue, blood clots, cysts, arterial plaque and inflammation in all forms. The uses are wide ranging and cover just about every condition that is affected by inflammation and/or non-living tissue and is in clinical use in parts of Asia and Europe.”

Side effects: nothing too severe.

Links:

• Serrapeptase – Wikipedia
• Serrapeptasee – Aviva
• http://evidenceofhealing.blogspot.com/2005/10/serrapeptase-relieve-pain-_114066685875513592.html
• http://www.regenerativenutrition.com/content.asp?id=55
• http://www.x-cheap-pharmacy.com/drugs-info/serratiopeptidase.html

See Also

• Ayurvedic Alternatives

Natural COX-2 Inhibitors

Here are a  bunch of natural NSAIDs:

• Turmeric (curcumin) – this is the #1 natural NSAID. Turmeric is poised to be the wonder drug of the future, considering findings of numerous healing properties in it. Already, over a 100 turmeric-derived drugs have been patented.
• Hot pepper (capsaicin).
• Ginger.
• Red Grapes (resveratrol).
• Green Tea (salicylic acid).
• Tart Cherries (isoqueritrin, queritrin).
• More listed on these sites: Natural COX-2 inhibitors, Natural COX-2 inhibitors.
• Interesting read: “COX-2 inhibitors: a story of greed, deception and death“

Etoricoxib

The first surprise in looking up this drug is that the FDA had refused to approve Etoricoxib! So, technically it is drug banned for sale in the USA (but being sold and prescribed in India!). Merck is mad at FDA’s decision and is trying again to get it approved. Etoricoxib is a COX-2 inhibitor NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) that is supposed to selectively block COX-2 production. Side effect? how does heart attack sound? Yes, in very rare cases… but who wants to gamble with a heart attack?? It is in the same family as another drug, Vioxx – a drug that was taken off the shelves in the USA because of a number of deaths. Not to mention drugs.com says: “Your doctor will prescribe Arcoxia [etoricoxib] for you only after you have used other medicines for your condition and they have not been suitable for you.”

• Etoricoxib
• FDA Rejects Etoricoxib Drug – webmed.com
  
• Merck going to try to get it approved again – drugs.com
  

Allopurinol

Allopurinol is used for treating any swelling/inflammation in your feet – it works by reducing uric acid production. It has all sort of crazy side effects – including kidney failure. Not to mention all these drugs have a warning that it can be transmitted to fetus – but no such warning accompanied the medicine that I bought – because they give it to you in strips (it’s probably written on the box), nor was it mentioned on the prescription print-out.

It also has a strong warning about not splitting your tablet in half. Doing that is as good as over-dosing, as these are time-release tablets, and by splitting it, you’ve exposed it and you’re just dumping it in one-shot in your body (instead of slow time-release over couple of hours). Your kidney, liver, pancreas will not be able to handle the sudden influx of this powerful drug and so can be severely damaging. Again this simple but vital point of not splitting the tablet is not mentioned. A lot of people split the tablet thinking just the opposite – that by reducing the dose they’ll do less damage, when reality they’re doing more!

• Allopurinol
• Allopurinol side_effects – patientsville.com
  
• Allopurinol – askapatient.com
  

Pantoprazole Sodium

Pantoprazole Sodium is a “proton pump inhibitor”. Here’s a quote (from drugs.com): “Protonix has been known to cause several extremely rare–but very serious–side effects, including severe allergic reaction, severe swelling of the face and throat, eye damage, dangerous skin reactions, and inflammation of the pancreas.“

And another site mentions arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, heart attack, glaucoma.

• Pantoprazole Sodium
• Pantoprazole side effects
• Pantoprazole side effects – drugs.com
• Pantoprazole side effec – patientsville.com

Next time you reach for a shiny red apple think again. The apple in the photo was originally shiny red. What you see is the effect of just soaking it in water for 1/2 hour. At first I thought it was the water, so I did the same using filtered water, got the same result. Just to make sure it’s just the wax coating I dipped it for few seconds in boiling water and took it out… not only was the wax (and that white coloration) gone, but you could smell the molten wax in the hot water. I did the same experiment with apples that weren’t polished – they did not give that yucky white coating. For shock-effect try this yourself, you’ll never reach for a polished fruit again, steer away from them!

The whole point of soaking it in water (as you should do with any fruits/vegetables) is to remove any pesticide residues. But who knows how much of pesticide is preserved under that wax coating? and the damage it is doing to your body? not to mention what kind of wax is it (wax itself being a petroleum byproduct)? Health problems are alarmingly high – like allergies, organ failure (liver, kidney,…), birth defects, neurological damage, etc…. People hardly know to make this connection.

Let’s not forget about  the chemical daminozide (aka Alar), that was used on apples until it was banned in 1989 after studies found that it produced tumors in mice. It was sprayed on fruits to regulate their growth (affected flower-bud initiation) and affected quality of harvest in storage. It was also used on cherries, peaches, pears, grapes, tomatos, and peanut vines [see: Wikipedia]

Of course… they’ll tell you it’s “safe” (like they always do), as they’re more interested in selling “shiny red apples” over the competition — those shiny red apples attract several times more customers. They’ll even make claims of “organic” wax coating. But why even bother with any coating? Because people are still instinctively driven to buy the shinier apples (or for that matter any fruit/vegetable that is unnaturally shiny). Hope this photo will change your mind! It’s much safer to go for the more natural duller fruit.

See this video, “The Slow Poisoning of India“:

People quote China and Japan who consume soy in large quantities. They have different diets, environmental conditions, and genetics. What’s good for one culture, environment, people, may not necessarily be good for others. I’ll give you a few examples:

1. Soy beans have high levels of phytic acid, which inhibits assimilation of important mineral nutrients. But if you have fish based diet (as in Japan) this is compensated.
2. It is well known today that aluminum is linked with neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinsons Disease. But in Kerala, where they use aluminum pots for cooking, they have almost no occurrences of either. It was found because the turmeric they use in their stew preparations blocks the hazardous effect of aluminium.
3. You can live excellently as a vegetarian in India. But the same does not apply if you move to the UK, even if all the vegetarian food items you need are available there. This is because of low levels of sunlight in the UK. White people have the ability to soak up more sunlight to produce all the Vitamin D they need (for healthy bones). But dark skin people need to expose themselves at least twice as much. In the UK probably even more, because apart from low levels of sunlight, you’re all bundled up because of cold weather. So either, dark-skinned people will need to take Vitamin D supplements (or food fortified with Vitamin D), or bear the cold and expose themselves more to the sunlight, or start eating meat.

The Soy Industry

Before we get to the dangers of soy, let’s take a look at who’s behind the soy industry. About 90% of the worlds soy beans seed supply is owned by one very infamous company, Monsanto (see Monsanto link below).

There’s nothing inherently “evil” about a company itself. It’s all about mass production and mass marketing. If the USA where to mass-produce Mung Dhal or Toor Dhal at terrifically automated and massive scale, then it would be brainwashing the whole world saying Mung Dhal is the source of vegetable protein.

Bear in mind that the soy industry is a multi-billion dollar industry operating at a mind-boggling scale. The industry is finding uses for soy everywhere: it is a fast growing dairy substitute (milk, yogurt), meat substitute, emulsifiers (soy lecithin), cooking oil, resins, plastics, soaps, soy-fiber, filler material, bio-fuel for vehicles. Each of these are by no means trivial, but are huge consumers (as in thousands of metric tons of soy).

Now that you are aware of the high stakes involved, bear in mind that in the last 3 decades, university research has been highly influenced by funding from corporations. So the great battles of soy industry, meat industry, dairy industry, etc. are fought in universities. For example, if there are 90 out of 100 publications listing out dangers soy, only the 10 publications that showcases soy as safe will be the ones which make there way to the FDA, thanks to its corruption by powerful industrial lobbies (there was an entire PBS series on this, but how many people probably even watched it?).

Dangers of Soy

I’m not too sure about the dangers of soy, but nevertheless find no reason to embrace the soy bean craze, because there are over dozens of time-tested sources of vegetable protein (numerous varieties of dhals and millets) in India that I don’t see the need for to look elsewhere or to fall for some sort of mass-market brainwashing.

Here are some articles on the dangers of soy. You be the judge:

• http://www.naturalhealthstrategies.com/dangers-of-soy.html
• http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/soy.htm
• http://www.rheumatic.org/soy.htm
• http://www.mercola.com/article/soy/avoid_soy.htm

You have to carefully read any article. Lot of these articles (or the research work that goes into it) are funded by the corporations.

As I said, I have no reason to bother going for soy as my vegetarian source of protein when I have plenty of other vegetable sources. Variety is the key. Unfortunately people respond to marketing like a heard of goats. If marking talks about all the glory and greatness of olive oil, they will drop all other valuable oils (equally time-tested healthy oils like sesame and coconut) and run after olive oil. If the West had coconut trees on massive scale, then they would have effectively propagated and brainwashed everyone that coconut oil is the best, and everyone would be running after and advertising “made with extra-virgin coconut [or sesame] oil” in their food preparations.

I’ll leave you with this thought: For well over thousand years India knew about soy, but used it only for cattle manure or crop rotation. When they included so many other beans in their food, for human consumption, why not soy? Did they, in their infinite wisdom know something that we didn’t? Or something that we do know, but don’t wish to acknowledge, but prefer to remain wilfully ignorant about?

See Also

• Good Foods
• The Good Oils
• Dangers of Milk
• Monsanto

Note: Ayurveda regards *every* plant as having some sort of medical or nutritional value. There is story were Dhanvantari (the father of Ayurveda) asks a potential student to search the world and bring back a plant that has no use. The disciple comes back after many years, saying he has found none. The master was pleased that the disciple was now ready to be imparted the science of Ayurveda.

The motivation for writing is this is because of the number of people I find getting brainwashed by marketing. Like the craze after olive oil. Or that milk is an important source of calcium. Or that soy is the only source of protein among vegetables.

Fruits

• Amla (நெல்லிக்காய், Goosberry) – a single Amla has the vitamin C equivalent of 4 oranges. Highly prized for boosting immune system.
• Coconut – coconut flesh, coconut milk, coconut juice, and coconut oil form a complete food – all your nutrients – protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals.
• Mango – Ripe mango combined with yogurt is an excellent way to deliver the protein contained in yogurt. In addition to the bacterial enzymes in the yogurt, the enzymes in mango help breakdown the milk protein and make it even more digestible. Note: it is important to add cardamom seeds to it (ஏலகாய், elaichi), not just for scent/flavor.
• Pomegranate – Rich in anti-oxidants and other healing properties. It has helped me out with almost instant stomach ulcer relief when I’ve had severe ulcer (to the point the inner linings of mouth were beginning to react to the slightest acidity in foods). I found it more effective than buttermilk. It was told by the locals in Madurai, later I found the same anti-ulcer property mentioned in the Ayurveda book.
• Apricot/Nectarine – forget whether it was apricot or nectarine — one of these had special mention in my Ayurveda book left in Madurai (compared with apples, peaches, pears, oranges, grapes).
• Bananas – don’t underestimate this popular fruit. It seems over 80% of all health problems can be traced to bad doshas arising from problems in our digestive tract. 2-3 bananas a day keeps it clean.

Vegetables

• Leafy green vegetables – Like spinach, collard greens, kale, turnip greens. While in the USA there is only one type of spinach, in India there are over a dozen varieties of spinach found in just about any vegetable market, and even more varieties of green leafy vegetables. All of these are rich sources of anti-oxidants. Most are good sources of iron. Some are rich sources of calcium as well (like collard greens, kale, turnip greens, cabbage). Note: remember to add a little bit of lime/lemon juice to spinach to neutralise oxalate’s that prevent calcium absorption.
• Variety – In addition to leafy vegetables, eat a *variety* of vegetables: eggplant, cauliflower, cabbage, red cabbage, squash, summer squash, snake gourd, bottle gourd, ridge gourd, okra, drumsticks, turnips, radish, carrots, beetroot, different types of tubers, banana stems, banana flowers, etc. There is absolutely no excuse for being malnourished just because you can’t get protein/calcium from milk or soy!

Grains

Ayurveda mentions numerous types of rice and dhal recipes.

• Rice – there are over a thousand varieties of rice. Keep a few varieties of rice in your home. Even parboiled rice has different varieties in taste and texture. You can use red rice or black rice varieties for coconut sweet meals and for porridge/drink preparations. Rice is rich in carbohydrates and B-complex. Some varieties of rice are rich in protein also (like black wild rice). Rice is a very clean healthy food, that has been the main food for over 2 billion people (almost of all of Asia: China, India, Japan, Thailand, etc.). We are lucky that even after thousands of years, Indians continue to enjoy rice as their main meal, especially in the South. Rice+dhal+vegetables forms a complete protein meal (protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, anti-oxidants).  So why not stick to the tradition? why all the crazy running after milk, soy, wheat, oats, etc. like goats?
• Millet (Ragi/finger-millet, Bajra/pearl-millet) - A very good source of protein and calcium. This was the main food preparation for babies for muscle and bone growth (before “milk as an important source of protein and calcium” propaganda). Like rice, there are a number of varieties of millet. Go to your local village market or a speciality store, you’ll find varieties of millet from different parts of the country.
• Quinoa – A very good source of protein, including amino acids not found in other plants. Quinoa is steamed just like rice (1:2 ratio of quinoa:water is boiled till fluffy texture). Highly prized by Native Americans. It was regarded as queen food, more than their staple food of corn/maize.
• Amaranth – Also regarded as a queen of foods by Native Americans (in particular those of South America).
• Wheat – Make sure it you use whole wheat. Ayurveda recommends stone ground whole wheat.
• Barley – it is a good source of protein along with other cold/temperate climate grains like wheat, but is not as widely used as a primary food.

Pulses

Ayurveda mentions numerous types of rice and dhal recipes. It is also important to germinate or sprout your dhals before cooking. Germinating increases the nutritional value by 40-80%. Sprouting also neutralises certain properties (like trypsin inhibitors) which will prevent digestion of the nutrients in the food.

When we have numerous varieties of dhal in India, all of which are excellent sources of protein, providing all the different types of proteins/amino acids the body needs, why go after marketing propaganda of soy as the main source of vegetable protein? I can understand people in the West being brainwashed by this (because of their lack of awareness of other sources), but not Indians. It’s just a really pathetic state to see Indians (primarily ignorant city folks), so easily gullible and fall into all sort of propaganda (soy, milk, olive oil), when they have so many alternatives sources before them.

Another danger of focussing on one source of protein (like only soy or milk) is that they cannot provide all the amino acids that the body needs (20 type of amino acids make up proteins. No food is perfect. It is important to have variety. Here are some of the most popular dhals, all of which are an excellent sources of protein.

• Mung (பாசி) – is considered the queen of pulses. Very rich in nutrients when germinated.
• Toor (துவரம்) – contains important amino acids methionine, lysine, and tryptophan. Sprouting helps reduce indigestible sugars.
• Chana (கடலை) – best when sightly germinated. A surprisingly good source of iron, calcium, zinc, folic acid (B9), phosphorous, magnesium. Recent studies show that it helps in lowering of cholesterol levels.
• Kala Chana ( கொண்டைக் கடலை) – had special mention in Ayurveda book, will update details.
• Urad Dhal (உளுத்தம், Black Gram, Dhal Makhani in North India).
• Rajma (kidney beans). A good source of iron, folic acid (B9), pantothenic acid (B5), calcium, magnesium, molybdenum.
• Horse Gram (கொள்ளு) – A good source of iron and molybdenum. It also has higher amount of trypsin inhibitor compared with other dhals, so it is good to germinate it first.

Notice that I haven’t added soy beans to the above list. For thousands of years India knew about soy, but used it only for cattle manure or crop rotation. When they included so many other beans for food preparations, why not soy? There are plenty of time-tested sources of vegetable protein sources (numerous varieties of dhals and millets) in India. I don’t see the need for to look elsewhere or to fall for some sort of mass-market brainwashing, especially on something that is controversial in its health benefits. See link below.

Herbs and Spices

Just about every spice and herb is highly regarded in Ayurveda. They essentially turn the kitchen into a chemistry lab. Spices, besides being prized for their aromatic and taste attributes, are important in helping the body extract and absorb nutrients from food. Spices contain a very rich and complex number of chemicals which will take years before science can fully understand their roles, their properties and interactions with food and body. Modern science has hardly made dent in this field of research, though science of Ayurveda seems to be well aware of the many properties of spices, their proper combinations and how they effect various doshas in the body.

• Turmeric – already over 500 patents on turmeric based drugs. Powerful anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial.
• Ginger – considered very much a medicinal herb. A spoonful of ginger (ginger tea, ginger and honey, sugared ginger, ginger rasam, etc) can keep you healthy. Anti-bacterial properties. Very effective in preventing travel related nausea (like sea sickness). Effective remedy for treating cold related congestion and coughs.
• Garlic – anti-flatulent properties, anti-fungal properties. If you’re suffering from any fungal infection increase your garlic. When cooking starchy foods like potatoes add garlic to prevent flatulence. Said to prevent heart disease (arteriosclerosis, high cholesterol). Reduces platelet aggregation, i.e. ability to form blood clots (doctors, especially in Europe ask you about your garlic intake before surgery).
• Cardamom – has a cooling effect on nerves and blood, helps break up kidney stones and gall stones, used for treating: chest congestion, teeth and gum infection, stomach aches.
• Cinnamon – anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, helps sugar absorption in the body (in fact, I’d even substitute it for sugar, or reduce the amount of sugar you put in your tea/coffee). It has a warming effect on the body.
• Cloves – has antiseptic properties with mild anaesthetic properties for gums and teeth. It has a warming effect on the body.
• Black Pepper – helps cure indigestion related symptoms like bloating and flatulence. Has a number of medicinal properties: black pepper when prepared in rasam (with ginger, garlic, coriander, turmeric) helps aid digestion, milk boiled with pinch of black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, turmeric (makes milk more digestible), black pepper in buttermilk (prevents indigestion), black pepper and honey to help food metabolization.
• Fenugreek – helps in sugar absorption (for those who are diabetic). Helps promote lactation for nursing mothers. Best taken soaked overnight, slightly  germinated.
• Coriander (seeds) – anti-oxidant, has insulin-releasing and insulin-like activity, reduces food-decay (for which it is used in pickling vegetables).
• Cilantro (leaves of coriander) – anti-oxidant. Chemicals derived from coriander leaves have been found to have an antibacterial activity against Salmonella choleraesuis.
• Cumin – helps in digestion, anti-oxidant, anti-carcinogenic properties on stomach and liver. For its size it is rich (>70% of RDA per 100g) in iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus.
• Fennel – has carminative and purgative properties. Water soaked with few fennel seeds used to to relieve colic for babies.
• Asafoetida (பெருங்காயம், Hing) -
• Chilli – purgative properties. For its size it is rich (>70% of RDA per 100g) in Vitamin C. Increases the assimilation of non-heme iron from other ingredients in food. Used also as a topical on wounds for anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties. Also used as topical analgesic.
• Omam/Ajwain – digestive aid, relieves abdominal discomfort due to indigestion. Water soaked with few omam seeds used to to relieve colic for babies.
• Mint – decongestant, used for treating chest pains and stomach pains. Traditionally used for whitening teeth.
• Trikatu (it’s actually a combination of Black Pepper + Ginger + Chili) – this triple combination is a very powerful colon cleanser. The combined power is more than several times the power of taking each individually. It is not enough if you mix these powders together (like in a capsule). You have to prepare them, like in rasam, where they chemically interact, to form something more powerful than individual components. This is why south Indians feel they must take a little bit of rasam with a full meal.

Special Mention

• Neem – all parts of this tree has medicinal uses – the leaves, flower, fruit, oil. This plant is highly regarded in Ayurveda. Anti-bacterial properties.
• Drumstick – all parts of this plant/tree is useful – the drumstick fruit, the leaves, flowers. Drumstick leaves and fruit help deliver calcium to bones.

Foods to avoid:

• Milk and dairy products – with the exception of yogurt (even better would be specially prepared buttermilk) and to a limited extent ghee. Don’t fall for milk as an important source of protein and calcium. Absolutely not true.
• Anything processed/refined – should be avoided: white rice, wheat flour, refined oils, sugar.

See Also

• The Good Oils
• Soy Controversy
• Dangers of Milk
• Monsanto

The following are very effective for treating ulcers.

Take

• Pomegranate – This is a rich fruit (almost one can tell from the bright color). It has anti-ulcer properties. It has helped me out instantly when I’ve had severe ulcer (to the point the inner linings of mouth were beginning to react to the slightest acidity in foods). I found it more effective than buttermilk. It was told by the locals in Madurai, later I found the same anti-ulcer property mentioned in the Ayurveda book.
• Butter milk – Drink plenty of diluted buttermilk.
• Cardamom – Chew on 1-2 cardamoms. Don’t chew on an empty stomach.
• Cumin/Jeera – Soak cumin seeds in water, and drink the filtered water. You may want to add this to the buttermilk.

Avoid

If you have stomach ulcer you must absolutely avoid the following to prevent further aggravation.

• Avoid stress levels, meditate 5-10 minutes at least 2-3 a day.
• Avoid milk and any milk products (other than buttermilk).
• Avoid bananas (a lot of websites say that bananas are beneficial for healing ulcer; according Ayurvedic text books it is the opposite – bananas can aggravate ulcer).
• Avoid anything sour: tomatoes, sauces, vinegar.
• Avoid anything spicy: chilli, black pepper, ginger.
• Avoid wheat and all wheat products (bread, roti, chapati)
• Avoid oily, greasy, and deep fried foods.
• Avoid coffee.
• Avoid chewing gum.

Prevention

1. Always eat on time. Do not skip meals. Even having a quick bite/snack is better than skipping a meal.
2. Eat your food slowly. Chew your food. Do eat in a rush.
3. Do not over eat.
4. Do not drink more than 1/2 cup of water with your meal. The body required water should be all taken in the morning (see Water Therapy).
5. Do not drink anything cold with your meal. Drinking cold water or cold soft drinks reduces the effective pH level, and causes the stomach to secrete more acid.
6. Avoid oily, greasy, and deep fried foods.
7. Avoid late night snacking (milk, bananas, cookies, sandwiches, cereals,…). If you’re unavoidably hungry in the middle of the night, drink a cup of diluted buttermilk.
8. Eat your food warm or hot. Do not take cold meals.
9. Allow at least 2 hours after eating before you sleep.
10. Avoid COX-inhibitor NSAIDs (like aspirin). If you need an NSAID, I’d recommend an alternative: take turmeric with buttermilk.

I’d say not following 2-7 is really a huge factor as to why ulcer is such a common problem in the USA.

The myth of milk being an important source of protein and calcium is one of the most successful propaganda in the history of marketing. Effectively promoted by a multi-billion dollar dairy and drug industry (included on top of the list are companies like Monsanto). Globally people have been so brainwashed, or are so religious about it, or so addicted to milk (or even more so the convenience of milk), that very few stop to question it.

Milk as an important source of Protein: False

The main protein found in milk is casein. Casein protein molecules are bound (latched on) to calcium. In order to break the casein away from the calcium, the body produces an enzyme called rennin. That is… while you are still under 4 years old. After you’re 4 years old your body stops producing rennin. Since the body can no longer separate out the protein it rejects it, and this undigested protein appears as mucus. When in excess, it is stored in joints resulting arthritis, and even as kidney stones.

There is absolutely no shortage of sources of protein from plants. Pulses and grains like chana dhal, mung dhal, kidney beans, raagi (finger-millet), bajri (pearl millet), quinoa, amaranth,… are also a excellent sources of protein and calcium. See also the link “Good Foods” at end of article for much more sources of protein and calcium.

Milk as an important source of Calcium: False

• It is true that milk has calcium, but we have no way of absorbing it compared with the excellent sources of calcium found in many vegetables.
• Our body also does not make lactase which is needed to digest lactose. This is probably why our body is more tolerant towards yogurt (curd, buttermilk), as it contains lactobaccillus bacteria which helps digest the lactose.
• There is no shortage of sources of calcium from plants. Green leafy vegetables like varieties of spinach, kale, collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, cabbages, broccoli, are all an excellent source of calcium.
• Most animals stop nursing their young within 1 year, and yet they all have strong bones and muscles.
• There are native cultures that are completely dairy-free and yet have strong bones and muscles.
• The USA, Sweden, Finland have the highest consumption of dairy products and yet also the highest occurrence of osteoporosis.

Milk as an important source of Vitamin D: False

Contrary to what marketing leads you to believe, milk as it occurs naturally is also not a good source Vitamin D. Only milk fortified with Vitamin D is a source of Vitamin D. Even here it is not a good source. The best source is the Sun.

The body can produce 3,000-20,000 IU of Vitamin D in just 15-30 minutes of exposure to the Sun (just the arms, hand, face). That’s at least 30 times the amount in fortified milk (100 IU) and 15 times the recommended daily amount (200 IU).

So you decide, tell me what is the best source of Vitamin D? The industry is not going to tell you this, as they can’t charge you for sunlight.

Note that darker skin people need about 2-3 times more exposure to sunlight than fairer skin people. Also, since the body can store the excess Vitamin D, you need just 2-3 days per week of 15-30 minute exposure to the Sun. The half-life of Vitamin D in the body is about 2 weeks (significantly less for people who are obese, as the Vitamin D becomes trapped in the fat).

Milk is important for healthy brain development/function: False

In recent days, there’s been a new propaganda about milk being important for healthy brain function. Question: did they really just find this out?? All these decades they talk about milk as an important source of calcium and vitamin D, then suddenly in past few months I’ve seen every milk carton (regardless of which company) carrying labels like “Important for healthy brain function”. Total FUD tactics. So there is no other food that is important for healthy brain function (to also warrant carrying such a label)? Problem is most people are very gullible to such marketing. Like herded sheep, you just scare them using FUD tactics and the whole herd moves in the direction you want them to — without presenting any credible data supporting your claims. Even if one were to tell that the raagi/bajri or mung porridge (described below) has much more beneficial nutrients for healthy brain development, people will still get bought over by the FUD that is created for milk.

Quotes

The Bantu women of Africa live on a sparse diet of vegetable sources. A diet completely free of dairy foods. Their average intake of calcium is 250 to 400 mg a day. This is far lower than the 800 mg. recommended by the RDA. They give birth to as many as ten babies during their life. Each child is breast-fed for ten months. Although childbearing causes an intense calcium drain, osteoporosis is unknown to these people. When Bantu women migrate to the city and adopt a protein-rich diet, osteoporosis and other diseases become a threat to their health.
From: Milk and Cookies

The American Dietary Association stated in its 1992 paper, “Eating Well – The Vegetarian Way”, “Vegetarians do not need to combine specific foods within a meal as the old ‘complementary protein’ theory advised. The paper states: “The body makes its own complete proteins if a variety of plant foods – fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds – and enough calories are eaten during the day.”
From: Protein and Calcium Myths

Milk + poison

In addition to the ill effects of milk itself, cows are continuously pumped with drugs and Bovine Growth Hormones (see Monsanto) to produce “super cows” that produce milk for months at a stretch.

• Franken-Cows: Fifty years ago cows averaged 2.3 tons of milk per year, now BGH treated cows produce as much as 30 tons of milk per year.
• This results in severe strain and torture to cows. An average dairy cows life expectancy was 25 years, but today’s cows are disposed of in 3-5 years when they become weak and “spent” (when the udders burst or become lacerated).
• BGH: The dangers of BGH are so well known that many folks are switching to organic milk. BGH is a growth hormone which is very similar to the human growth hormone. It results in onset of puberty in children at a very early age (like 8-12 years). This causes tremendous hormonal changes in children, raging hormones resulting in a baggage of emotional problems at a young age. Children no longer for example deal with problems with a lightness that children normally do, but become very emotionally sensitive, and go into depression. Probably a reason (or another factor) for the increase in gun violence, depression, and suicide rate among young children.
• Antibiotics and Super-Bugs: 70% of all the antibiotics produced in the USA are fed to cows – not for treatment of illness, but to increase the milk yield (ever since farmers found out antibiotics dramatically increase the milk yield). This produces super resistant bacteria – that the human body has never witnessed before. This will render antibiotics ineffective as the bacteria now have already been trained to it and have evolved into super-bugs. So what do pharmaceutical companies do? they engineer even more sophisticated drugs that assault us when have an illness – and so on, a vicious cycle, producing another generation of even more sophisticated and bizarre bacteria and viruses. It is no surprise so many dangerous mutations and epidemics are coming from farms (like Mad Cow Disease).
• Pus and Infection-Borne: Factory cows are continuously pumped by machines, often resulting in their teats developing mastitis – becoming inflamed and infected, which results in a lot of white-blood cell (i.e. pus) content in the milk. Because of this alone milk produced in factories can be deadly without pasteurization (compared with milk from free-roaming cows).
• Not Grass Fed: In addition factory cows are not fed grass, they are fed grains. Cows have been fine-tuned in over 10,000 years of evolution to digest green plants, not grains. Milk from grass-fed cows have a very beneficial group of fatty acids called Conjugated Linoleic Acid, as well as natural antibiotics (that prevent milk from being infected).

Today’s cows are also artificially impregnated multiple times a year, and the bellowing calves are forcefully dragged away and locked up in a cramped dark room where they are starved — so as to be weakened (to softened their muscles), for a meat speciality called veal.

In the villages they practise phukan. A stick is poked into the cow’s uterus and wiggled, causing her intense pain. Villagers believe this leads to more milk. In the cities they are given two injections of oxytocin every day to make the milk come faster. This gives her labour pains twice a day! Her uterus develops sores and makes her sterile prematurely. Oxytocin is banned for use on animals but it is sold in every cigarette shop around a dairy. Every illiterate milkman knows the word. In human beings, oxytocin causes hormonal imbalances, weak eyesight, miscarriages, cancer. Recently, Gujarat started raiding dairies for oxytocin. In one day, they found three-and-a-half lakh ampoules in Ahmedabad alone!
From: The White Poison

Indians have been drinking milk for centuries. All of them did not fall sick.
It depends on what you call illness. Most people regard arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, headaches and indigestion as normal for the body and look on cancer as an act of god.
From: The White Poison

I’m not into the belief of cows in particular being sacred (see article Holy Cows), but there seems to be a little bit of karmic truth in the saying that the ill treatment of cows will be our own undoing. Increase in deadly super-bacteria, heart disease, colon cancer, BGH related physiological and psychological problems in children, etc. – are due to meat or milk consumption (things that wouldn’t have been in a vegetarian society).

Ayurveda and Milk

A major component of Ayurveda is the chemistry of food. Each food can serve a beneficial purpose when used correctly. Thus, you’ll find in Ayurveda that even normally toxic or poisonous plants have their beneficial uses when used properly (it seems also that Ayurveda lists milk as one of the “five white poisons” — though I haven’t been able to find the original source of this quote).

Thus Ayurveda does not elevate milk into an essential food that is to be made part of our diet. Milk is a dispensable food, and to be used only for therapeutic properties. Milk has its beneficial properties when consumed in limited amounts and when specially prepared. Here are some recommendations:

• Milk should be boiled high, then brought down to a slow boil, and taken while warm. Boiling breaks down (denatures) the protein in the milk making it easy for us to digest, and to further facilitate that it has to be drunk while warm. Cold milk (like people are used in western countries) is very bad and should be avoided.
• Milk should be boiled with cardamom, a stick of cinnamon, or a pinch of turmeric. And for those who are not used to milk or find it difficult to digest, it can be boiled with a pinch of ginger. This helps digestibility and reduces mucus production.
• Milk boiled with a pinch of black pepper and turmeric has cooling properties.
• Ayurveda recommends buffalo or goat milk over cows milk. Buffalo milk is highly regarded in Ayurveda for various properties.
• Warm milk taken with mangos can be used to increase body mass (probably the enzymes in the mango aid in digesting the milk protein).
• Warm milk taken with almonds, dates, and saffron (all three soaked overnight) increase fertility.
• Milk should never be taken with bananas.
• Milk should never be taken with sour or salty foods. So it is better to take milk a few hours before/after your regular meals.
• Milk can be taken as buttermilk – prepared from organic yogurt (from non-homogenized milk obtained from free roaming grass fed cows). The buttermilk is specially prepared by churning the yogurt (which removes a significant amount of milk protein), and adding sauted (in sesame oil) mustard seeds, curry leaves, pinch of black-pepper, and ginger, and pinch of turmeric.
• Today’s Ayurveda advocates say that homogenized milk is no longer to be considered as milk (it is no longer the same milk that is referred to in Ayurveda texts). Homogenized milk can cause cardiovascular problems, in particular areteriosclerotic clots.

Alternatives Beverages to Milk?

Definitely avoid soy milk (it’s another brainwashing — soy beans were never meant for human consumption; countries like India and China have been aware of soy bean thousands of years, and while they consumed hundreds of other beans, soy beans never made into human diet; and guess who’s behind soy bean industry also? the same evil giant behind the milk industry — Monsanto).

Here are just a few popular alternatives before milk came along:

• brown rice mik
• raagi (finger millet) malt/porridge
• bajri (pearl millet) malt/porridge
• coconut milk
• mung dhal juice (germinated mung, steamed, and mashed)
• toor dhal porridge
• almond milk (soaked overnight, then blended)
• chana paste (germinated, steamed, and mashed)

Tips for malt/porridge preparations:

Add proper sweet spices to these drinks, like cinnamon, cardamom, saffron, ginger. This is not just for aroma/taste, but for proper digestion and absorption.

Add some coconut milk to any porridge preparations, it has very beneficial properties (for brain development, heart, stomach, joints).

Use different varieties of sugar sources (vellum, crystalline brown sugar, palm sugar, crushed dates, raw sugar cane juice).

Remember to soak your nuts (and beans like mung). Soaking removes enzyme inhibitors (phytic acid / phytates) which prevent many of the nutrients from being absorbed by the body. For example, soaked almonds increase bio-availability of proteins in it by 30%. The extensive changes in chemistry are very visible: unsoaked almonds, mung, peanuts are oily. When they are soaked, they are milky and sweetish.

There is no shortage of foods for protein or calcium. Only excuse is laziness (the convenience of just pouring milk). If all of the aforementioned beverages were ready-made then after reading all this about milk, people wouldn’t be bothered/attached to milk: they would be moving away from milk as fast as they could.

Personal Experience Quitting Milk

In the past I have observed some strange symptoms when consuming milk. In particular in the form of whey protein supplements (a protein powder derived from milk). Two scoops of that, and I get a weird type of congestion (different from common cold, but nevertheless a congestion of some sort) in my chest which lasts as much 2-3 days before getting back to normal.

So, I decided to really experiment, to stop my milk intake for a month. But I quickly found I didn’t need to wait a month to realize the benefits; I felt it within a week. So, I did couple of trials lasting two weeks each (with/without milk) – the effect was so clear that I didn’t need any more trials. Note that I used to drink approximately two 16 oz cups of milk a day.

Each of these problems went away promptly without milk, and reappeared just as fast with milk. Note that I noticed it only with milk (whether cold or boiled). There was no effect from yogurt or buttermilk. Also noticed milk blended with ripe mango (and a 1-2 cardamoms) has a much milder effect in mucous congestion than milk alone. Probably enzymes in the mango breakdown components of the milk that cause the congestion (just as the bacteria in the yogurt).

These are just my observations, which were good enough for me to stop milk. There are many other long term benefits.

• The first and most productive thing that I noticed and which I am happy with is that it completely “switched off” my drowsiness. I used to always feel very drowsy when driving to work. All these years I used to think it was some sort of sleep deprivation (even though I get a full 6 hours of sleep).
• Within 15-30 min of drinking 1/2 cup of milk, I’ll started getting mucous congestion in the throat — which lasted the entire day. Otherwise I’m never prone to mucous congestion (I get sick or cold very rarely — like once in every couple of years). Also, when I took 1/2 cup of milk at night before sleeping, the congestion continued throughout the morning the next day. I repeated this 3 times (in gaps of about 2 days between each to recover from congestion). Believe it or not most people are lactose intolerant (because most people are humans, and humans cannot digest milk).
• I used to speak from the “pit of my stomach” (and I’m of very slim build), like with not proper breathing or full utilization of my lung. By stopping milk, the effect is an immediate improvement and freshness in the tonality or vocalization of my voice (sorry don’t know how to explain it more clearly, but the effect was very clear). I can now easily correlate this with the congestion when I took whey protein.

Also, for anyone who has asthama problems, you definitely might want to try stop drinking milk (at least try it out for 1-2 months).

Further Reading

• Milk and Cookies
• Protein and Calcium Myths
• The Facts about Dairy Cows
• Milk Sucks
• Milk – PETA
• Dairy Monsters
• The White Poison

See Also

• Good Foods
• Monsanto
• Animal Cruelty
• Holy Cows

When you heat a Teflon coated pan at medium heat, it emits a toxin known as PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) into the air. How dangerous is it? it is dangerous enough that many pet-bird deaths have been linked to it.

Unlike DuPont, though, 3M no longer sells PFOA: In the late 1990s, when testing blood samples for a health study, the company found PFOA even in the “clean” samples from various U.S. blood banks that it had planned to use as controls. “They realized they were contaminating the entire population,” says Richard Wiles, the Environmental Working Group’s executive director. In 2000, 3M announced that it was discontinuing PFOA production.
– Please read full article: Mother Jones Magazine. 

Bird Deaths

Why bird deaths? Small birds have a higher metabolic rate and react faster to toxins than other animals. This is why canarys were once used to test coal mines for poisonous gases.

It seems it has been common knowledge among veterinarians for decades that invisible fumes emitted by from non-stick cookware can kill birds. For example, in a single year, a Chicago veterinarian documented 296 bird deaths in 105 cases involving non-stick cookware. Many bird-pet owners web sites and manuals these days carry this warning.

DuPont publicly acknowledges that Teflon can kill birds, but the company-produced public service brochure on bird safety discusses the hazards of ceiling fans, mirrors, toilets, and cats before mentioning the dangers of Teflon fumes.
– More bird-deaths: Link 

In a related incident over 1,200 chicks died in a research facility at the University of Columbia, Missouri. Almost a 100 of them died in the first 4 hours. It was found due to toxic gases emitted by light-bulbs coated with a Teflon chemical – PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene). Source: http://www.ewg.org/node/21780.

If it is so toxic to birds that it kills them, wouldn’t it be common sense what prolonged exposure to it is doing to the human body?

Health effects

If bird deaths aren’t a good enough warning, here some of the health effects of PFOA build up on the body.

First, note that alarming studies from the EPA show that PFOA is found in more than 90% of Americans. It seems once absorbed the chemical appears to remain in the body for a long time. It also appears at higher toxicity levels in young children, and is present in the blood of new born infants.

Health risks: cancer, liver damage, growth defects, birth defects, and  immune-system damage.

Bucky was born in January of 1981 with only one nostril and a deformed right eye.
…
Today, two decades later, scarred from more than 30 surgeries, Bucky is coming forward and telling [ABC's] 20/20 he wants to know who or what is responsible for a life that has not been easy.
…
The Bailey family and others lay the blame at the place where Sue worked when she became pregnant with Bucky – the huge DuPont plant in Parkersburg, W.Va., where workers mix the chemicals for Teflon, the famed non-stick substance used on pots and pans.
…
The same chemical, C-8, was found not only in the blood of Sue Bailey when she became pregnant but, it turns out, is in the blood of virtually every American, in much smaller but still detectable levels. This discovery make this a story that reaches far beyond what happened in one small town in West Virginia.
…
‘And how could they not be in our blood?’ Houlihan said. ‘They’re in such a huge range of consumer products. We’re talking about Teflon, Stainmaster, Gore-tex, Silverstone. So if you buy clothing that’s coated with Teflon or something else that protects it from dirt and stains, those chemicals can absorb directly through the skin.’

– Full article at: Medical News Today 

Denial and Acceptance

What do these few points tell you:

• Dupont was fined by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) for allegedly hiding data for years on the toxicity of PFOA. Dupont also claims PFOA is used only in the manufacturing process to bond the non-stick to the metal, and is virtually absent in the non-stick coating itself.
• In early 2006 Dupont and eight other American companies have agreed to eliminated PFOA by 2015.
• The EPA recommends bird owners to avoid non-stick coated cookware altogether.
• Dupont is also in trouble for the chemicals in the wrapping paper widely used by the fast food industry to wrap your foods. See Food Wrapping.

You still think non-stick is safe after reading that? More details can be obtained from the Washington D.C. based Environmental Working Group which investigates health and environmental safety.

Keep in mind the government is waging a war against a multi-billion dollar industry – which in turn has many insiders in the government. I recommend two videos that illustrates this (from two different sectors):

• The PBS documentary: “Dangerous Prescription. Why have so many drugs been withdrawn from the market for safety reasons? Investigating the FDA and drug safety.“
• Who Killed the Electric Car

Just to show how hard it is, only 5 chemicals have been banned in the last 30 years: PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), CFC (chlorofluorocarbons), Dioxin, Asbestos, and Hexavalent chromium.

Conclusion

Even if Dupont creates a new “revolutionary” and “safe” Teflon, how much would you trust them? They are in it for the billions of dollars in money they make from selling non-stick all over the world in so many products. Your health is not even a secondary concern for them. They have such powerful lawyers and such powerful media control that you’d have to do invest massive amounts of money and time (the dangers of Teflon have been known for over 10 years). By then millions of people’s health would have been damaged, and they’d get away with a “small fine”.

So why not just switch back to steel? It’s far more healthier to use oil to coat a steel or cast iron pan than to use non-stick. Just make sure you don’t use trans-fatted oils – another dangerous product of modernity (see Trans Fats).