Author Archive

Have you ever heard about the 7 stages of dis-ease?

“First of all, dis-ease never sneaks up on people. It takes a long time and a great deal of neglect and abuse of the body for disease to finally occur. From the first stage of disease to the seventh many years may pass. At any stage you can stop the dis-ease process and simultaneously end all the aches pains, and ill health which were the body’s warning signs that changes needed to be made or the situation would deteriorate further.

During any of the first six stages, if the cause of the problem is removed, pain stops, the disease process stops, and health returns. If drugs are employed to quell the discomfort (the usual course of action), the cause remains unchecked, the disease process continues (even though the drugs may mask the pain, giving the false impression that the situation is improving), and then eventually the final stage inevitably occurs.” – - summarized from Fit for Life – Harvey Diamond

This month we thought it would be interesting to talk about the first stage – Enervation.

In the dictionary, enervation simply means to lose nervous energy and feel sapped of energy.
From the Latin enervare (e-, out of + nervare from nervus, nerve) = out of nerve.

Insufficient energy hampers the body’s ability to carry out necessary daily functions. In other words, Enervation is a stage where the body is either not generating enough energy for the tasks it must perform or the tasks the body must perform are more than the body can cope with. We as humans, need 2 types of energy – chemical and vital.

Chemical refers to the body’s production of energy through chemical reactions. The prefered source of our energy is ‘glucose’ which the body produces from a process called the ‘krebs/glycolysis cycle’ with or without the presence of oxygen – using fats, proteins or carbohydrates; however starches are always the body’s the preferred source.

Vital energy comes from living foods, sunshine, fresh air and pure clean water. This is the energy that our body’s require in terms of ‘input’.

We can also contribute to enervation when we ‘output’ too much energy – ‘burning the candle at both ends’ is a good example. In other words, when we work too hard (aka stress). On a side note, stress can be physical, mental or emotional – such as when we are ill, pull a muscle, suffer from pain or allergies, think or worry too much, rush around or when we lose a loved one. Other energy ‘outputs’ in the body include moving, thinking, digesting, metabolizing or eliminating. To be honest, these are the areas we often think little about when it comes to our health. The ‘output’ area that tends to enervate first is elimination. This is due to the fact that the body is always ‘cleaning up internally’. It is a 24/7 cycle. When our elimination channels and functions are overworked, they begin to enervate -lose steam and become less efficient. When it becomes less efficient, wastes and toxins accumulate. Also since energy is restored when you sleep, another warning sign that you are becoming enervated is that you’ll become tired, sluggish, require naps during the day and/or more sleep during the night. It becomes a vicious cycle when you do not sleep well.

To summarize, when we don’t take in enough high quality vital energy and when we use up too much vital energy, we begin creating problems for ourselves. To improve this stage we need to look at and address our dietary habits, environmental pollution, stress and other lifestyle areas. Unfortunately for many of us, we’re not ready, willing or able to look at those areas…yet (but we’re here for you when you’re ready)!

Some of the symptoms of enervation include overall weakness, unhappiness, appetite loss, constipation and other intestinal problems, allergies, and reduced energy or strength. This leads to the second stage of dis-ease which you’ll have to wait for next month to hear about.

PS – Did you know that wheat and dairy can contribute to enervation?

Upcoming Events
Halton Eco Festival – April 14th Glen Abbey Recreation Centre, Oakville
Mississauga Home Show – April 20-22 Hershey Centre, Mississauga
“Hungry for Change” movie night – date and time TBD, contact us if interested!

Have a great month,

Christine & John

Have you ever Wondered how your body responds to allergies (or even intolerances, sensitivities)? Have you heard about antibodys or why we react?

First lets give you a brief overview…

Allergies are really another word for altered reactivity. There are several words often used interchangably. An intolerance if often used when there is an uncertainty of whether the immune system is involved (yes some reactions DO NOT involve the immune system). The word allergy is used if the immune system is involved and the IgE antibody is involved. A sensitivity is a catch all phrase for allergies and intolerances.

Antibodies

Antibodies are proteins produced by the body in response to foreign substances. When a person is exposed to a foreign substance, antibodies are produced. When exposed to the same substance again, the body remembers and that antibody is released. An important thing to note is that allergic reactions can be immediate or delayed! Delayed reactions can occur hours or days later, making the allergen difficult to identify. Another important thing to note is that when symptoms appear, the body is telling you that it is struggling and is under stress internally and externally. It has reached the maximum load of chemical, food and pollutant exposure it can handle. A balanced body will NOT have allergies or symptoms!

IgA antibodies are found in areas of the body such the nose, breathing passages, digestive tract. They are also found in your saliva, tears and blood. Their role is to defend against outside foreign substances before they enter the body. It neutralizes allergens by binding to them. Over 50% of us are deficient in this antibody. Repeated consumption of foods to which you’re sensitive can deplete IgA. These make up about 10% to 15% of the antibodies in your body.

IgE antibodies are found in the mucous, lungs and skin. They make up 1% of the antibodies in your body. These are what the traditional allergist often tests for. They cause the body to react against foreign substances such as pollen, fungus spores, and animal dander. They can form and flow through the blood stream causing reactions in other areas of the body.

IgG antibodies are found in all body fluids. They make up 75% to 80% of all antibodies in the body. IgG antibodies are very important in fighting bacteria and viruses. IgG antibodies are the only type of antibody that can hellp protect a fetus in the womb. It destroys invaders by breaking down their cell walls. They can be involved in over two thirds of reactions.

IgM antibodies are found in blood and lymph fluid and are the first type of antibody made in response to an infection. They also cause other immune system cells to destroy foreign substances. IgM antibodies are about 5% to 10% of all the antibodies in the body.

To summarize, allergies are a sign of toxicity and overload and the immune system may or may not be involved!

Aside from allergies, here’s a link to a great video on how someone healed MS through diet… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjgBLwH3Wc&feature=player_embedded

Have a Great Month!

We wanted to focus this month on some of the top foods people are allergic to and why.

1. Dairy – Contrary to popular belief, we do not absorb the calcium from dairy very well. Due to its acidity, our bodies must use its own supply of calcium and magnesium to metabolize dairy. It is over consumed and pasteurization destroys most of the nutrients. Did you know that probiotics such as acidophilus cannot survive in pasteurized dairy? Raw dairy on the other hand would be much better for you.

2. Soy – Western society has abused any potential benefits from soy. Traditional Asian cultures consume soy in moderation and when consumed, it has been in fermented form. Now it’s been shown to have negative effects on fertility, hormones, thyroid function and digestion. It’s also been linked to contributing to certain cancers. It also has a connection to the increase in peanut allergies. Read ‘The Whole Soy Story’ by Kaayla Daniel for more info.

3. Wheat – Over the years, wheat has been bred over to contain more gluten (6-12 more sets of chromosomes than the original 2-4). Add to this the problem of over consumption, genetic modification and the fact that whole wheat is NOT a whole grain! Refer to last month’s article on ‘gluten’ for more information.

4. Sugar – in case you haven’t noticed, it’s also in everything we consume. In fact 1 teaspoon will turn off our immune system for up to 6 hours. Not good when you’re trying to fight off an infection or a serious illness such as cancer. Sugar free substitutes such as Splenda, sucralose or aspartame are just as bad, contributing to weight problems and diabetes. If you find them in your ingredient list, put it back on the shelf.

5. Peanuts – Peanuts are actually legumes and not nuts. Peanuts contain aflatoxins. Aflatoxins are produced by various strains of fungi and are some of the most toxic and carcinogenic substances around. Did we mention that they are also genetically modified? Did you know that peanut oil is in some vaccines? Read ‘The Peanut Allergy Epidemic’ by Heather Fraser.

6. Corn – First of all, corn is NOT a vegetable, it’s a grain. Corn is also high in aflatoxins (as are many grains), genetically modified, and over consumed. It is often in animal feed, an ingredient in Fructose, high fructose corn syrup, baking powder, mannitol, xylitol, and in almost everything we eat. There must be a reason why it goes out the same way it went in!

7. Eggs – when it comes to eggs, we have to consider what the chickens have been fed and what they have been injected with. Eggs are also a common ingredient in several vaccines.

8. Fish, Shellfish – The major allergens in fish are flesh proteins called parvalbumins. Sometimes fish poisoning is confused with a fish allergy as the symptoms may be similar.

9. Tree nuts – Often people with an allergy to one will have an allergy to another. Coconut on the other hand is not a nut and reactions to coconut are extremely rare. FYI, Nutmeg and Water Chestnuts are not nuts.

So as you can see, everything we consume is a problem. What is left for us to eat? Actually what’s left is what we should have been eating all along – fruit and plenty of vegetables!

Hello again everyone Just thought I’d pass on some fun info for you. It’s called the Top 15 worst drink list:

15. Worst Tea-Like Substance
SoBe Zen Tea (20 oz bottle)
• 275 calories
• 70 g sugar
Though the name might scream “healthy” to the unsuspecting drinker, there is little to celebrate about this beverage. SoBe can cram their drinks full of healthy-sounding extracts and vitamin supplements, but they can’t escape the fact that high-fructose corn syrup outranks tea on the ingredients list.

14. Worst Energy Drink
Rockstar Original (16 oz can)
• 280 calories
• 62 g sugar
Energy drink makers might feign a level of health by fortifying their products with a cocktail of vitamins and minerals, but don’t be fooled: Any minimal benefit they might provide is snuffed out by the blanket of sugar and calories each can contains. Want energy? Try a cup of homebrewed black tea. It nearly zero calories and contains a deluge of disease-fighting antioxidants.

13. Worst Iced Tea
Lipton Iced Brisk Lemon Iced Tea (20 oz bottle)
• 325 calories
• 81 g sugar
Iced tea is loaded with metabolism-boosting, cancer-fighting compounds called polyphenols, but Lipton does its best to undo any potential healthy benefit you might derive from the tea’s antioxidants by drowning them in 20 teaspoons of sugar. Your tea of choice should carry no more than 15 grams of sugar per 20-oz serving.

12. Worst Juice Imposter
Arizona Kiwi Strawberry (23.5 oz can)
• 360 calories
• 84 grams of sugar
These hulking calorie cannons (5 percent juice, 95 percent sugar water) are sold at gas stations and convenience stores across America for the low, low price of 99 cents, making this quite possibly the cheapest source of empty calories in the country.

11. Worst Chocolate Milk
Nesquik (16 oz bottle)
• 400 calories
• 10 g fat (6 g saturated)
• 60 g sugar
Quik and other chocolate milk manufacturers try to sell parents on the bone-building calcium found in their product, but what they don’t talk about is the fact that a single bottle of this stuff contains as much sugar as three Haagen Dazs Vanilla and Almond ice cream bars. Yikes. Make a healthier version yourself at home with 2 percent milk and a scoop of real powdered cocoa—you’ll save about 150 calories, plus get the antioxidant benefits of cacao without the high-fructose corn syrup.

10. Worst Chai Tea Drink
Caribou Coffee Large Chai Tea Latte
• 420 calories
• 47 g sugar
This is exactly the kind of drink that health-conscious consumers knock down each morning while thinking they’re doing themselves a favor. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Flavored lattes—even ones flavored with seemingly healthy stuff like chai—are bad news. Stick to skinny lattes or unsweetened chai.

9. Worst Kid’s Hot Beverage
Cosi Kid’s Hot Chocolate (12 oz)
• 436 calories
• 60 g sugar
While most parents sip their lattes and cappuccinos, most kids sip on hot chocolate. Problem is, few things could be worse for a growing body. There are more calories in this small drink than in Cosi’s Gooey Grilled Cheese sandwich, plus enough sugar to send your kids bouncing off the walls.

8. Worst Summer Cocktail
Pina Colada
• 625 calories
• 75 g sugars
Made from a blend of sickly-sweet pineapple juice and fat-riddled coconut milk, pina coladas may be the biggest beach-body saboteurs. In fact, the only redeeming part of this drink is the garnish—that lonely chunk of pineapple hanging from the rim. Try a lime daiquiri or a mojito instead and save up to 400 calories.

7. Worst Coffee Alternative
Starbucks Venti White Hot Chocolate
• 640 calories
• 23 g fat (15 g saturated)
• 76 g sugar
Caffeine abstainers will find little nutritional refuge in Starbucks’ hot chocolate concoctions. This one packs an entire day’s worth of saturated fat, with more than enough sugar to set you up for a dramatic mid-afternoon energy crash. Stick with the Steamed Apple Juice instead.

6. Worst Hot Coffee
Starbucks Venti 2% Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha
• 660 calories
• 22 g fat (14 g saturated)
• 95 g sugar
Important rule of thumb: Avoid holiday-themed items from coffee shops at all costs. From peppermint to egg nog to pumpkin, these are often the most sugar- and fat-packed drinks you’ll find at places like Starbucks. Make your own flavored drinks instead, using skim milk, sugar-free syrups, and, of course, skipping the whip.

5. Worst Blended Fruit Drink
Baskin-Robbins Pomegranate Banana Fruit Blast Smoothie (32 oz)
• 1,020 calories
• 232 g sugar
With three of the five worst drinks in America, you have to wonder if Baskin-Robbins is in bed with the sugar cane industry. One thing is for sure: People ordering this “smoothie” expecting a healthy afternoon snack have something else coming to them. The second ingredient, after water, is sugar. If you must sip on something at Baskin-Robbins, make it a small low-fat Cappuccino Blast, which has just 220 calories and one-fifth of the sugar of this Fruit Blast.

4. Worst Frozen Coffee Drink
Cosi Gigante Double OH! Arctic (24 oz)
• 1,033 calories
• 35 g fat
• 177 g carbohydrates
Frozen coffee amalgamations pollute the antioxidant powers of a simple cup of joe with a huge hit of whole milk, sugary syrups, and whipped cream. What you end up with, in worst-case scenarios like this, is half a day’s worth of calories, ready to be sipped down in a matter of minutes. Want a cold caffeine kick? Try iced coffee.

3. Worst Smoothie
Jamba Juice Peanut Butter Moo’d Power Smoothie (30 oz)
• 1,170 calories
• 169 g sugar
Jamba Juice calls it a smoothie; we call it a milkshake, with more sugar than an entire bag of chocolate chips. (Note: We’re pretty sure this is the drink Hollywood actors rely on when looking to put on 20 pounds for the role as a heavy!)

2. Worst Milkshake
Baskin-Robbins Large York Peppermint Pattie Shake (32 oz)
• 2,210 calories
• 103 g fat (57 g saturated)
• 281 g sugar
The freakish brother of the Heath monster, the York shake earns its title as the most sugar-saturated product in America. To put it in perspective, you’d have to down 15 Twinkies to match the sugar content in this Baskin-Robbins blunder.

1. The Worst Drink in America
Baskin-Robbins Large Heath Bar Shake
• 2,310 calories
• 108 g fat (64 g saturated)
• 266 g sugar
Let’s look at America’s Worst Drinks in numbers:
73: The number of ingredients that go into this milkshake.
66: The number of teaspoons of sugar this drink contains.
11: The number of Heath Bars you would have to eat to equal the number of calories found in one Baskin Robbins Large Heath Bar Shake.
12: The average number of minutes it takes to consume this drink.
240: The number of minutes you’d need to spend on a treadmill, running at a moderate pace, to burn it off.

This month I’ve decided to talk about the COLON (brace yourselves). Let’s begin with a common misconception:

“Once a day is normal for me”

If your bowel movements are once a day or fewer, you are constipated – one a day is NOT normal! When we were born, our bodies were very efficient – at every feeding we would ‘go’. As we got older we trained our bodies to hold ‘it’ in because we wanted to continue playing, or the timing was inconvenient.

Our colons are meant to eliminate toxins and waste from the body. When they linger, the toxins are reabsorbed into the bloodstream. Here’s one of my favourite ways to explain this: On a hot summer day it may feel like 38°C outside (the same as our average normal body temperature). When we place our garbage outside in this heat, it begins to ferment within 24 hours. The same happens to any waste that remains in our colon longer than 24 hours – yuk!

Our job now is to retrain our colon again. We do this by:

• Increasing our fibre intake with 10 or more servings of vegetables and fruits (a difficult task at best for most of us; therefore use a whole food supplement)
• Increasing our water intake (8 glasses per day – coffee, pop, juice and tea don’t count!)
• Temporarily taking a pusher/laxative – please don’t use any of those over the counter concoctions
• Taking a good quality probiotic to repopulate our intestines
• Taking something to address parasites (about 90% of us have them)

Please do not cleanse any other organ until your colon is functioning properly.

Seek a professional for guidance first and do not cleanse when you’re pregnant as the toxins may be absorbed by the fetus. If you are one of those unfortunate people who suffer from constant diarrhea or runny stool, then you may have food sensitivity issues. Some of the main ones include dairy, wheat, gluten, corn, coffee, soy or sugar.

Ideally, what comes out of your colon should:

• Have the consistency and thickness of a banana
• Float
• Be the length of your wrist to your elbow
• Should not be black or really foul in odour
• Should be free of undigested food

Take the transit test. Transit time is the total length of time it takes for food to enter and leave your body. Eat some corn (try not to chew it), or some raw beets (the preferred method since many people have issues with corn). Watch your bowel movements. When you see the red color of beets in your stool then you have your transit time. Ideally it should be less than 24 hours (eg 18).

All of the above should make for some good dinner table conversation.

Did You Know:

• If your stomach acid is too low your body can’t absorb key minerals such as Iron, Calcium and Zinc – ask me how!
• Chewing triggers the release of a hormone which in turn triggers movement (peristalsis) of the colon, so chew properly!
• Acidophilus is responsible for production of some B and K vitamins
• Bile (neutralized toxins from the liver) and dead bacteria can make up more than ½ of your stool

Christine and John Ng
No Allergies Please
contactus@noallergiesplease.com

The Sun and Vitamin D

It’s easy to overdo your sun exposure in your quest to finally spend some time outdoors… especially when your skin is lily-white from being inside for months — and not used to the sun.

Did you consider sunscreen? If you did, keep reading to discover how your sunscreen can present its own set of health issues.
What’s more…Daytime sun isn’t the only summer headache you can have.

Ever been out on a beautiful summer evening enjoying the afterglow of sunset and onset of stars – only to have it ruined by ten million mosquitoes?

Now, you could try solutions like DEET-based insect repellents – but I certainly don’t recommend it.

The Case AGAINST Using Sunscreen-Even “Natural” Ones I normally advise against using sunscreens, even most “all-natural” sunscreens. I’ll share my reasons with you in a moment. But first, I need to get something off my chest.

Natural sunlight’s potential to harm you has really been blown out of proportion. This is thanks to many doctors, health officials, advertisements, beauty experts, corporations, and well-meaning friends. They basically tell you that you need to stay out of the sun because the sun will kill you. This simply isn’t true.

For starters, there is little scientific evidence to justify the many health campaigns that urge you to completely avoid the sun. Avoiding the sun just doesn’t make sense. And it certainly doesn’t make any sense when study after study shows that …The Sun is Not Deadly. In fact, the sun is healthy for you. Think about it. How could it be any other way?

After all, your ancestors have survived outdoors, working outside under the sun’s rays far more often than they were indoors and out of the sun. This brings up an obvious question. How on earth would it be possible for your body to end up being configured in such a way that the sun is now a deadly threat to you, me, and the entire human race? Like I said, it simply isn’t true. That’s not to say sunlight can’t be harmful. Of course, it can be…

For instance, long-term, excessive exposure to sunlight can increase the risk of certain types of skin cancer. Yet moderate sun exposure is less dangerous than sporadic sun exposure.
Plus, there’s a good deal of evidence that sun exposure without sunburn significantly decreases the risk of melanoma (a more deadly form of skin cancer). So safe sun exposure is key.
How Sunscreens Keep You from Enjoying the Many Benefits of the Sun’s Healthy Rays As you may know, wearing a sunscreen on your uncovered skin blocks your body’s production of vitamin D. In fact, sunscreens reduce vitamin D production by as much as 97.5 to 99.9%. And interfering with your body’s production of vitamin D by 97.5 to 99.9% may have dire health consequences.

Christine and John
_________________________________________________________
Imagine… no more allergy symptoms forever!

“No Allergies Please”
1556 Stationmaster Lane
Oakville, ON L6M 3A9
Phone: (905) 825-3528
Email: contactus@noallergiesplease.com
Website: www.noallergiesplease.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/noallergiespls
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NoAllergiesPlease
LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/john-ng/22/68b/312

“Refer a client and receive a $10 energy boost!”

Recognizing & dealing with childhood food allergy & intolerance.

Although the prevalence of food allergy and intolerance is increasing, so to is our knowledge involving the reasons behind why many of these reactions occur, how to avoid them, and how nutrition and supplement protocols can help with symptoms.

A true allergy is an abnormal immune reaction to a generally innocuous substance. True food allergies only affect about 1-2% of the population, and involve the release of IgE antibodies accompanied by swelling, rash, hives, breathing difficulties, GI upset, &/or anaphylactic shock occurring within 1 hour of ingestion or exposure to the food. Copy and paste the following link from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) into your browser to learn more: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/labeti/allerg/nutnoie.shtml.

What most people experience is not true food allergy, but a delayed immune response (not involving IgE antibodies) from eating a certain food. The reaction can take several days to surface, thus it is difficult to pin-point the cause. Since we eat several times per day, and food is in contact with the digestive tract for long periods of time, many symptoms can occur.

Common Symptoms linked to food allergy or intolerance in children include:

Colic & irritability, diaper rash & eczema, ear infections, tonsillitis, respiratory problems & Asthma. According to the CFIA, the nine priority food allergens are peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seeds, milk, eggs, fish (including fish, crustaceans, shellfish), soy, wheat and sulphites. Many children have a self-limiting diet including several of these foods and consume them throughout the day. Symptoms will develop when the child exceeds the threshold of their tolerance level.

Refined & heavily processed foods (for example: crackers, most breads and snack foods) create imbalances because the body uses its mineral & trace mineral stores to help digest these foods, depleting enzymes, and allowing allergens into the blood stream. If the immune system is over-burdened, it too will lack enzymes to break down complexes that form when food allergens bind with human antibodies. A vicious cycle created by allergens & enzyme deficiency follows. Often, children will crave sugary foods and/or carbs… (since these affect serotonin release in the brain)… however, these foods feed undesirable gut bacteria, fueling a dys-biosis (imbalance of bacteria and yeast) in the gut, allowing more allergens in, and perpetuating the cycle!

Children have demanding, stressful schedules these days. Research has shown that more allergy symptoms appear when people are stressed, which can weaken one’s immune system overall. This effect is even more evident during the spring and fall for hay fever sufferers. Children with seasonal allergies often also suffer from true food allergies or food intolerances.

Proper food introduction for infants is also essential. Breastfeeding confers the best protection for a child, followed by the introduction (at six months of age) of hypo-allergenic vegetables, fruits, grains, and then proteins. A big mistake many people make is introducing cereal grains at 4 months of age…the digestive system is simply too immature!

By keeping a record of the child’s food intake and noting their reactions (physical, mental, emotional, digestive) throughout the day for at least 1 week, we can learn a lot about what foods are possible issues. Careful elimination (for at least 3 weeks) and then slow re-introduction of a suspected intolerant food will help determine if it is the problem. Abstaining from the food for at least 6 weeks will usually allow the digestive tract to recover, at which point, a challenge test can be done.

Did You Know

At No Allergies Please, we use state of the art equipmemt to alleviate allergy symptoms. However, it’s important for people to understand some of the reasons why their allergy symptoms may not immediately resolve:
· The offending substance has not been addressed or identified. For example we may have worked with 5 sensitivities, yet someone may have over 100 allergies.
· Internal and external stress during the first 24 hours after the session, may cause the session not to hold.
· The client is continually dehydrated.
· There may be an energetic blockage in the thyroid, causing multiple false allergies.
· Some client’s require up to 2 sessions per allergen in order to feel relief.
· The client’s immune system may require longer than normal periods of time to adapt to the sessions in order for all adverse reactions to dissipate. Stress, poor diet and insufficient sleep are common culprits.
· Any sensitivity may have a deeper emotional connection. In these situations we may have to find and address the emotional attachments associated with the allergen. Everyone is bio-chemically unique and any of the above issues may have to be addressed first before a session holds! It’s truly wonderful when clients have relief immediately; however, in other instances it takes some time and commitment on the client’s part. We live in a society where we like quick fixes, but not all situations are… we wish they were.

Have a Great Month!

Christine and John Ng
No Allergies Please
1556 Stationmaster Lane
Oakville, ON L6M3A9
(905) 825-3528

Hello again everyone Just thought we’d pass on some fun info for you. It’s called the Top 15:

15. Worst Tea-Like Substance

SoBe Zen Tea
(20 oz bottle)
•275 calories
•70 g sugar

Though the name might scream “healthy” to the unsuspecting drinker, there is little to celebrate about this beverage. SoBe can cram their drinks full of healthy-sounding extracts and vitamin supplements, but they can’t escape the fact that high-fructose corn syrup outranks tea on the ingredients list.

14. Worst Energy Drink

Rockstar Original (16 oz can)
•280 calories
•62 g sugar

Energy drink makers might feign a level of health by fortifying their products with a cocktail of vitamins and minerals, but don’t be fooled: Any minimal benefit they might provide is snuffed out by the blanket of sugar and calories each can contains. Want energy? Try a cup of homebrewed black tea. It nearly zero calories and contains a deluge of disease-fighting antioxidants.

13. Worst Iced Tea

Lipton Iced Brisk Lemon Iced Tea (20 oz bottle)
•325 calories
•81 g sugar

Iced tea is loaded with metabolism-boosting, cancer-fighting compounds called polyphenols, but Lipton does its best to undo any potential healthy benefit you might derive from the tea’s antioxidants by drowning them in 20 teaspoons of sugar. Your tea of choice should carry no more than 15 grams of sugar per 20-oz serving.

12. Worst Juice Imposter

Arizona Kiwi Strawberry (23.5 oz can)
•360 calories
•84 grams of sugar

These hulking calorie cannons (5 percent juice, 95 percent sugar water) are sold at gas stations and convenience stores across America for the low, low price of 99 cents, making this quite possibly the cheapest source of empty calories in the country.

11. Worst Chocolate Milk

Nesquik (16 oz bottle)
•400 calories
•10 g fat (6 g saturated)
•60 g sugar

Quik and other chocolate milk manufacturers try to sell parents on the bone-building calcium found in their product, but what they don’t talk about is the fact that a single bottle of this stuff contains as much sugar as three Haagen Dazs Vanilla and almond ice cream bars. Yikes. Make a healthier version yourself at home with 2 percent milk and a scoop of real powdered cocoa—you’ll save about 150 calories, plus get the antioxidant benefits of cacao without the high-fructose corn syrup.

10. Worst Chai Tea Drink

Caribou Coffee Large Chai Tea Latte
•420 calories
•47 g sugar

This is exactly the kind of drink that health-conscious consumers knock down each morning while thinking they’re doing themselves a favor. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Flavored lattes—even ones flavored with seemingly healthy stuff like chai—are bad news. Stick to skinny lattes or unsweetened chai.

9. Worst Kid’s Hot Beverage

Cosi Kid’s Hot Chocolate (12 oz)
•436 calories
•60 g sugar

While most parents sip their lattes and cappuccinos, most kids sip on hot chocolate. Problem is, few things could be worse for a growing body. There are more calories in this small drink than in Cosi’s Gooey Grilled Cheese sandwich, plus enough sugar to send your kids bouncing off the walls.

8. Worst Summer Cocktail

Pina Colada
•625 calories
•75 g sugars

Made from a blend of sickly-sweet pineapple juice and fat-riddled coconut milk, pina coladas may be the biggest beach-body saboteurs. In fact, the only redeeming part of this drink is the garnish—that lonely chunk of pineapple hanging from the rim. Try a lime daiquiri or a mojito instead and save up to 400 calories.

7. Worst Coffee Alternative

Starbucks Venti White Hot Chocolate
•640 calories
•23 g fat (15 g saturated)
•76 g sugar

Caffeine abstainers will find little nutritional refuge in Starbucks’ hot chocolate concoctions. This one packs an entire day’s worth of saturated fat, with more than enough sugar to set you up for a dramatic mid-afternoon energy crash. Stick with the Steamed Apple Juice instead.

6. Worst Hot Coffee

Starbucks Venti 2% Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha
•660 calories
•22 g fat (14 g saturated)
•95 g sugar

Important rule of thumb: Avoid holiday-themed items from coffee shops at all costs. From peppermint to egg nog to pumpkin, these are often the most sugar- and fat-packed drinks you’ll find at places like Starbucks. Make your own flavored drinks instead, using skim milk, sugar-free syrups, and, of course, skipping the whip.

5. Worst Blended Fruit Drink

Baskin-Robbins Pomegranate Banana Fruit Blast Smoothie (32 oz)
•1,020 calories
•232 g sugar

With three of the five worst drinks in America, you have to wonder if Baskin-Robbins is in bed with the sugar cane industry. One thing is for sure:People ordering this “smoothie” expecting a healthy afternoon snack have something else coming to them. The second ingredient, after water, is sugar. If you must sip on something at Baskin-Robbins, make it a small low-fat
Cappuccino Blast, which has just 220 calories and one-fifth of the sugar of this Fruit Blast.

4. Worst Frozen Coffee Drink

Cosi Gigante Double OH! Arctic (24 oz)
•1,033 calories
•35 g fat
•177 g carbohydrates

Frozen coffee amalgamations pollute the antioxidant powers of a simple cup of joe with a huge hit of whole milk, sugary syrups, and whipped cream. What you end up with, in worst-case scenarios like this, is half a day’s worth of calories, ready to be sipped down in a matter of minutes. Want a cold caffeine kick? Try iced coffee.

3. Worst Smoothie

Jamba Juice Peanut Butter Moo’d Power Smoothie (30 oz)
•1,170 calories
•169 g sugar

Jamba Juice calls it a smoothie; we call it a milkshake, with more sugar than an entire bag of chocolate chips. (Note: We’re pretty sure this is the drink Hollywood actors rely on when looking to put on 20 pounds for the role as a heavy!)

2. Worst Milkshake

Baskin-Robbins Large York Peppermint Pattie Shake (32 oz)
•2,210 calories
•103 g fat (57 g saturated)
•281 g sugar

The freakish brother of the Heath monster, the York shake earns its title as the most sugar-saturated product in America. To put it in perspective, you’d have to down 15 Twinkies to match the sugar content in this Baskin-Robbins blunder.

1. The Worst Drink in America

Baskin-Robbins Large Heath Bar Shake
•2,310 calories
•108 g fat (64 g saturated)
•266 g sugar

Let’s look at America’s Worst Drinks in numbers:

73: The number of ingredients that go into this milkshake.

66: The number of teaspoons of sugar this drink contains.

11: The number of Heath Bars you would have to eat to equal the number of calories found in one Baskin Robbins Large Heath Bar Shake.

12: The average number of minutes it takes to consume this drink.

240: The number of minutes you’d need to spend on a treadmill, running at a moderate pace, to burn it off.

Did You Know
•Sugar is 2 molecules away from cocaine; Chlorophyll is 1 molecule away from blood.

_________________________________________________________
Imagine… no more allergy symptoms forever!

John and Christine Ng
“No Allergies Please”
1556 Stationmaster Lane
Oakville, ON L6M 3A9
Phone: (905) 825-3528
Email: contactus@noallergiesplease.com
Website: www.noallergiesplease.com

Lets talk Carbs
Out of the 3 types of foods (carbs, protein and fat), carbs are the most important because they are the body’s main source of energy. They can be easily converted to glucose, the body and brain’s main fuel source. One gram of carbs provides 4 calories of energy for the body.

There are 3 types of carbs in foods:
1. Sugars – simple (glucose, fructose, galactose), disaccharides (maltose, sucrose, lactose). They cause rapid increases and decreases in blood sugar.
2. Starches (complex carbs) – help to maintain stable blood sugar levels as they take longer for the body to convert to sugar. Examples include vegetables, whole grains, legumes and root vegetables.
3. Fibre – found in the skins of foods and coverings of ‘whole grains’ (the actual grain itself). Many are indigestible and help to remove waste and toxins properly via the colon. Examples include psyllium, agar and carrageen.

The average American diet is 50% carbs, which would be good if it consisted of good carbs, but most of this intake is from bread, instant oatmeal, cookies, pasta, cake, cereal, white rice or other packaged goods. Sorry, but Wonder bread and cornflakes fit into this category too! These types of carbs are empty and will actually deplete your B vitamins (eg. Chromium) and have a negative impact on your health with respect to blood pressure and diabetes.

How does the body handle carbs?
Carbs are broken down by the digestive system with the help of enzymes into the simple sugars, glucose, fructose and galactose. These then enter the bloodstream via the small intestine, where they travel to the liver. Here the galactose and fructose are converted to glucose for the body’s fuel.

Your liver helps to regulate how much glucose circulates in your bloodstream. If your intake is higher than what’s needed, the liver will convert and store the glucose as glycogen (stored form of glucose). If you don’t have enough glucose in your blood, the liver will convert the glycogen back to glucose and release it in the blood stream. If you consume/have more sugar in your blood than the liver can store, the liver will convert the glucose to triglycerides and fat. This can result in weight gain.

How does this relate to hyper/hypoglycemia and type 2 Diabetes? I’ll try to explain this part as best I can. When you eat a pizza/bread/muffin (mainly refined carbs), your body will convert the carbs to glucose too quickly; therefore raising the amount of sugar in your blood. The body will send a signal (via the hormone Insulin) to lower the level of sugar in the blood. Then when the levels suddenly get too low, the liver releases more glucose into the blood (from the stored glycogen). The next time you eat this way, it happens again. When this type of activity happens repeatedly, the body begins acting like a yo-yo. It becomes tired and won’t be able to maintain blood sugar levels or provide energy to the cells and brain. As a result, the sugar accumulates in the blood stream and urine; you become tired, leading to Hyper/Hypoglycemia and eventually Diabetes. That’s why proper diet is essential!

DID YOU KNOW:

• Symptoms of hypoglycemia include: sweating, confusion, palpitations, hunger pangs, irritability, anxiety, nervousness, shaking, weakness, numb or tingling lips
• Symptoms of hyperglycemia or diabetes include: fatigue, excessive urination, extreme thirst, constant hunger, eyesight problems, itchy skin, tingling in hands/feet, nausea
• Your diet should consist of 60% complex carbs, 15-20% protein and 20-25% good fats – forget high protein diets
• Too few carbs can result in brain fog

Christine and John Ng
www.noallergiesplease.com

Is Your Body Acid or Alkaline?

Let’s start at the basics. There is something called pH, which measures acidity/alkalinity of the body. For those who have a pool, you know the pH level is something that must be properly maintained. The pH range can go from 0 to 14. A value of 7 is neutral, where 0 represents total acidity and 14 represents total alkalinity. The body’s stomach acid is 1.6 to 1.8 and can dissolve teeth. Blood is approximately 7.35 to 7.45, urine and saliva are 5.5 to 6.9. A small change in pH is actually 10 times the difference. The body is constantly trying to keep pH levels at their target ranges.

Why is proper pH important?
Enzymes can only function in a proper pH. If pH is off, illness may appear or in a worst case scenario, enzyme activity in the body will stop, leading to a medical emergency or even death. This is called acute acidosis or acute alkalosis.

Effects of Food and Water on pH
As our body digests the foods that we eat, they leave either an alkaline or acid ash. As a result, the body must use “buffer systems” to balance their effects and neutralize excess acid. One of these buffers is the bicarbonate system, which neutralizes stomach acid in order to prevent damage to the duodenum and small intestine.

Some current theories regarding illness are that:

• The North American diet is too acidic, which results in depletion of calcium and other alkalizing minerals from our body (i.e. Demineralization).
• Acidity irritates and inflames organs.
• The acidity aggravates and compromises the immune system.

As a general guideline, you can regain/improve your alkalinity by consuming 70-90% alkalizing foods, retest your pH levels, then consume/maintain your alkalizing food intake at 60-80% thereafter.

PH strips are available in most health stores for saliva and urine.

Some acidic foods include: Bread, Cake, Cereals, Fish, Flours, Grains, Meat, Shellfish, Nuts (except almonds), Pastas, Sugars, Dairy, and anything packaged.

Some alkalizing foods include:

Berries (except cranberry)
Vegetables (not raw tomatoes)
Fruits (not plums or prunes)
Dried beans
Almonds
Millet, buckwheat
Garlic
Citrus fruits

Which of the above do you eat most often (be honest)?

DID YOU KNOW?

• Tobacco, coffee, pop and alcohol have an acid forming effect
• Toxic oven cleaner has a pH of about 13!
• Stress increases acid formation through cortisol
• Today, most waters are acid forming. Try Gerolsteiner or San Pellegrino water. I also have a liquid product you can add to your water which will make it alkalizing to your body.
• If someone has persistent diarrhea the blood pH will decrease dramatically causing acidosis
• Persistent vomiting causes loss of stomach acid, which increases pH causing alkalosis
• Acid rain lowers pH levels and therefore increases acidity.
• Cancer loves acidity

Have a great week!

Christine and John Ng
www.noallergiesplease.com