Raw Facts Part II - 80/10/10 The Fuel for You

Raw Facts Part II - 80/10/10 The Fuel for You



Dr Douglas Graham, a leading expert in sports and fitness nutrition and author of The 80/10/10 Diet, has spent 30 years on showing the efficacy of eating in accordance with the 80/10/10 caloronutrient ratio. Carbohydrates, proteins and fats are caloronutrients that provide us with calories, and are therefore called “caloronutrients”. 80/10/10 means that you obtain 80% of your calories from carbohydrates, 10% from protein and 10% from fat. The healthiest and longest-lived cultures in the world naturally follow this caloronutrient ratio, including the Abkhasia from Russia, Vilcabamba from Ecuador and the Hunzukuts from northern Pakistan. All of our closest relatives, the anthropoid primates - gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos - are anatomically and physiologically related to us and their caloronutrient ratio closely approximates 80/10/10. These animals are frugivores, thriving on a low-fat diet consisting mainly of fruits and vegetables. On average they are about five times stronger than we are.

80% Carbohydrates

Nutritionists and health experts all agree that 60-80% of our calories should come from carbohydrates. If we eat less than 80% we will make up for it by consuming more calories from proteins and fats but most likely fats. Insufficient carbohydrate consumption leads to a range of health concerns such as eating disorders, severe food cravings, lethargy, weakness, and an array of other conditions associated with the overconsumption of fats 1,2. Any food we eat whether it is carbohydrate, fat or protein to be utilised by our bodies are first converted into glucose. Since carbohydrates are made up of simple sugars they are turned back to simple sugars on digestion. They are therefore the easiest to convert to fuel. Many of our cells rely on glucose as the primary fuel source these include brain, blood and nerve cells.


Types of carbohydrates

Carbohydrates divide into simple sugars made up of one or two sugar molecules and they include glucose and fructose (the monosaccharides), lactose, maltose and sucrose (the disaccharides). These simple sugars are found in fruits, vegetables, milk and honey.

Monosaccharides are the only sugars that are absorbed directly into the bloodstream though the intestinal lining. Disaccharides are easily broken down into monosaccharides. Simple carbohydrates can be divided into whole food sugars found in whole, fresh plant foods, primarily sweet fruits and refined sugars which are extracted from whole foods. Both taste sweet but are dramatically different nutritionally. Refined sugars are devoid of other nutrients and are therefore empty calories that are nutritionally useless and disease causing. Simple carbohydrates from whole food such as sweet fruit are essential cell fuel in its simplest most easily digestible and absorptive form.

Some larger sugar molecules such as oligosaccharisdes cause flatulence associated with beans because they are indigestible.
Complex carbohydrates or polysaccharides in grains and other starchy vegetables such as potatoes do not taste sweet, are difficult to digest requiring substantial energy expenditure to be converted into glucose, while cooking them generates toxic by-products 1,3,5.
The consumption of cooked grains creates a condition called acid toxaemia which eventually can lead to hypothyroidism, arthritis, chronic fatigue and cancer 1,3,9.

Complex carbohydrate foods include corn, all grains, legumes, roots and tubers and all of the products made out of them including breads and pastas, cakes and pastries. All of these foods are nutritionally inferior to raw fruits and vegetables. Grains are low in vitamins such as C, the most important vitamin for the maintenance of tissue integrity and immune system function which is also most heat sensitive. Other nutrients lacking in grains include soluble fibre, vitamins A, B, E, sodium, calcium, sulphur potassium and several hundred thousand phytonutrients 1,4. Grains and legumes are loaded with phytic acid which is an ati-nutrient that reduces zinc, calcium and iron absorption 5. Both grains and legumes contain too much protein.


Most complex carbohydrate foods have to be cooked with the exception of peas, corn, carrots and beetroots. Due to the blend taste of complex carbohydrate foods they are completely unappealing if served undressed or without flavour enhancers. These foods are difficult to digest even when cooked. We do not possess the enzymes to breakdown the oligosaccharides in legumes or the polysaccharides in grains and starchy vegetables which is a clear sign that they are not for us to consume 1,4. Our biochemistry tells us exactly what we are supposed to eat.

Diets high in complex carbohydrates are therefore associated with numerous negative health conditions. Gluten containing grains mainly wheat but also rye, barley and oats also contain at least 15 opioid sequences 1,6,7. Opiates are strongly addictive morphine-like compounds with potent psychoactive properties. Opiates also lead to neurological disorders, constipation, urinary retention, nausea, vomiting, cough suppression and other symptoms 1,4,7.

Gluten intolerance or celiac disease itself is a direct cause or contributes to a wide range of diseases such as asthma, arthritis, Type 2 diabetes, depression, migraines and gastrointestinal cancers and may be linked to autism, schizophrenia and several autoimmune diseases 1,7,8.

Grains whether cooked, raw or sprouted contain insoluble fibre which is mistakenly considered as a brush for our intestines scrubbing away toxins. Insoluble fibre does not absorb water remaining stiff and sharp, scraping the delicate lining of our intestines irritating and lacerating it 1,4,5. As a response to the abrasions the lining produces mucus which to some degree protects the intestinal walls however it also prevents efficient nutrient absorption 1,4.

Insoluble fibre also does not allow the release of nutrients associated with it and binds nutrients that are consumed separately therefore limiting nutrient availability. Other symptoms of insoluble fibre consumption include impeded assimilation, adhesion development, scar-tissue formation, leaky gut and irritable bowel syndromes, spastic colon, colon blockages, diverticulitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and other digestive disorders 1,4.

Soluble fibre found primarily in fruit and in some vegetables is an essential nutrient. Soluble fibre absorbs water and keeps the stool bulky and soft. Its main function is to act as a sticky gel-like absorptive substance that moves foods through the intestines. Pectin and guar are the most common soluble fibres mainly used in recipes as thickeners as they absorb water 1,5. These fruit fibres also slow sugar absorption from the intestine into the blood stream. Thus the sugar from whole fruits does not increase blood sugar level as it is slowly released into the blood.


We are designed to eat whole, fresh fruit, natural packages that are nutritionally complete matching out biochemical needs better than any other category of food. Most fruit with the exception of avocado and durian which are more than 20% fat provide us with the 80/10/10 ratio of caloronutrients.
Most of the sugar in fruit comes in the form of simple mono and disaccharides which are a direct fuel for our cells. Human infants have the highest sugar requirement out of all mammalian babes due to our exceptional brain development. This is why our mother’s milk is very high in sugar to provide the fastest brain development possible 9. Within the first two years of growth our brain size reaches half its full size. Glucose is the only fuel the brain can run on.


10% Protein

Protein is the most misunderstood out of all of the caloronutrients. Protein needs have been greatly exaggerated by market forces and its function misinterpreted. Protein’s primary function is in growth (which is negligible in adults) as well as in repair from injury and in cell replacement.

Although protein consumption is recommended to be at 10-35% out of total calories consumed, it is actually really difficult to consume more than 20% of total calories from protein unless you are solely eating protein powders and egg whites as protein is not calorie dense 1. On the contrary to what the meat and dairy industries want you to believe we actually require an extremely low amount of protein in our diet.

The World’s Health Organisation, the US National Academies’ Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council suggest that 10% of total calories should come from protein, for our intake to be sufficient.

Infants have an extremely rapid rate of growth and the greatest need for protein out of all stages of human life and mother’s milk provides only 6-7% of calories from protein 1,9. This is a primary indication that adults do not need more protein per calorie than this. We actually do not need protein but amino acids which are the building blocks of proteins. Once we have stopped growing we no longer require the raw material from which we are made and most of it is recycled from dead cells so new cells can be made.

Just like when you are building a house you need a certain number of bricks, however once it is built a further supply of bricks only creates problems as you no longer need them. The same is true for protein, when you keep supplying protein you create emergency conditions through a constant state of toxicity.
Additionally when you consume whole proteins such as those found in animal products such as meat, egg, dairy or in grains you body needs to first break them down to individual amino acids before they can be used to build your own protein. By consuming protinacious foods you are essentially given an intact house and to build a house of your own you must first dismantle the old one and reuse the bricks. It is much more time consuming and labour intensive than starting from raw materials.

10% protein actually includes a large safety margin and in fact our intake should only really be 5-6% of total calories from protein as suggested by Prof. T. Colin Campbell in The China Study 10. The large safety margin also takes into account the fact that most protein is consumed in a cooked form which substantially decreases its availability. As discussed in the earlier article The Raw Facts-Part 1, protein coagulation which occurs when protein is heated, changes its structure, making it unavailable to digestive enzymes. Consumption of cooked proteins without the addition of amino acids from raw foods has been shown to result in certain essential amino acid deficiencies 11. Thus when eaten from raw sources a very small amount of protein is necessary indeed.

The question “where do you get enough protein from” shows just how brainwashed we have become by the industries that make a profit out of our vulnerability to advertising. In fact the propaganda has been so successful that this question is posed more or less every time someone mentions that they are vegetarian not to mention a vegan.

Gyms and “health food shops” are packed with protein isolates of all sorts telling us that we need to consume extra protein to build muscle. This could not be further from the truth as only weight-bearing exercise builds muscle and the efficiency with which it does depends only on the quality and amount of simple carbohydrate we supply our body with.
When not enough carbohydrates are supplied then protein requirements go up because there are not enough calories supplied in total. The body then has to convert that protein into carbohydrates to utilise it for fuel which is a very energy expensive process 1. Body builders who follow the 80/10/10 program find that if sufficient calories from carbohydrates are supplied, their protein needs dramatically fall and their energy and muscular growth dramatically increase 1. The Institute of Medicine/Food and Nutrition Board have undertaken an extensive study which shows that no additional protein is needed to account for increased physical activity 12.


All plant foods contain protein but out of an amino acid sequence that varies between foods. There are 20 amino acids and 8 of them can be considered essential and therefore we must obtain them from food. In the 1970s it was suggested that all of the essential amino acids must be supplied at each meal to provide a complete protein. However the author of “the incomplete protein theory” Frances Moore Lappe admitted 20 years later that she was utterly mistaken. Unfortunately many nutritionists still use this misinformed theory. We do in fact require all of the essential amino acids but they do not need to be consumed on the same day yet alone at the some meal.

Our bodies are excellent at recycling 100-300 grams of our own protein every day. By breaking down proteins that we eat and the proteins from dying cells we accumulate an amino acid pool from which new proteins are built.
Fruits contain between 4-8% protein. Our closest relatives such the chimps and orangutans eat mainly fruit and are at least 5 times stronger than we are and consume much less protein than we do.


The standard western diet provides around 16% of calories from protein it does not seem much when we look at what most of us are eating, namely loads of meat, dairy and eggs which are substantially high in protein. However these foods are also high in fat so the percentage of total calories consumed comes mainly from fat considerably reducing the ratio of calories from protein.

Too much protein is lethal

Most people overdose on protein each day and suffer the consequences which include low energy levels, severe constipation and other digestive disorders that lead to acid toximia (toxins present in blood and tissue) ending up in osteoporosis, kidney disease, arthritis, autoimmune diseases, immune dysfunction and eventually cancer 1,3,5.

Protein based foods are highly acidic as they contain acidic minerals such as chlorine, phosphorus and sulphur. This acidosis means that our blood which is normally slightly alkaline becomes acid and the alkalinity must be restored as soon as possible to maintain homeostasis and prevent sudden death. The body must therefore counterbalance the acidity by leaching alkaline minerals such as calcium into the bloodstream from our bones 7,10. This is how osteoporosis and tooth decay begin.

There is no coincidence in that fruits and vegetables contain just the right amounts of protein to build and maintain the human body and that the minerals they supply are predominantly alkaline including calcium, sodium, magnesium and potassium.

It is essentially impossible to develop protein deficiency because every living organism is made up of protein. Protein deficiency occurs only when the body is under starvation such as in the case of malnourished, starving children in Africa. Amino acid deficiencies on the other hand are common on the standard western diet based on cooked animal proteins and junk food.

10% Fat

The U.S Department of Agriculture recommends 20-35% of calories from fat. This is significantly exaggerated by the lobbying influence of the U.S. dairy and meat industries. In 1982 Prof. Campbell while serving on a National Academies of Science expert panel, co-authored a report entitled, Diet Nutrition and Cancer. The report guidelines explicitly linked a high fat intake to cancer. The reduction suggested was from then 40% to 30%, a greater reduction was not possible as the director of the USDA Nutrition Laboratory explained that to eat below 30% fat consumers would be required to reduce animal food intake and this would mean the death of the report.


Since then the World Health Organisation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation recommended 15-30% fat in 2003, The Pritikin Longevity Centre with the top heart disease reversal record of any other such organisation recommends 10% fat as do Drs. Dean Ornish, Michael Klaper, Michael Greger and Neil Bernard. All of these health conscious doctors who have authored books on the subject will tell you that consuming above 10% fat seriously compromises your health. Yet most of us eat four times that amount of fat!

We need fat, it serves as a medium that dissolves lipid soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K. The fat we need is comprised of the essential fatty acids. Our hormones are produced from fat. Fat also helps regulate nutrient uptake and excretion of cellular waste products. It is our primary insulator, insulates nerves, protects us from physical shock and prevents mechanical damage of organs. Fat is also our energy reserve in case we face a period of starvation so it is stored to essentially save us from death. Fat is a concentrated fuel source providing more than double the calories per gram of either proteins or carbohydrates.


Type of fat matters

From all the media hype around fats most of us are now aware that polyunsaturated oils from plant sources are healthy types of fat as opposed to saturated animal fats which are linked to disease 14. We only require essential fatty acids, those we can not synthesise in our bodies. These are essential for healthy skin, growth and development, heart stability and blood clotting. The two essential fatty acids are alpha-linolenic (omega-3) and -lonoleic (omega-6). Twelve different fatty acids are produced from omega-3 and -6 but not all are essential. Only the polyunsaturated derivatives have to be attained from foods. Omega-3s made form essential alpha-linolenic acid are eiocosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) 1,14. In the omega-6 family are arachidonic acid (AA) and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). There are currently investigations into whether alpha-linolenic acid is actually essential or synthesised in the body as some evidence suggests.
Both types of essential fatty acids occur commonly in plant lipids.
There are no current recommendations for the amount of essential fatty acids, however the correct ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 is very important. There is an agreement that early humans consumed these fatty acids in a 1:1 ratio, which is also the ratio in which they occur in our brain 1,14. This ratio has been upset by our use of oils and grains, which skewed it heavily towards omega-6. The recommendation for the ratio now is between 1:1 and 1:4, however most of us consume these fatty acids in the ratio of 1:10 to 1:30! This imbalance results in compromised conversion of alpha-linolenic fatty acid into EPA and DHA leading to inflammatory diseases amongst many others. 0.5-3% of our caloric intake should come from omega-3 and 3-5% from omega-6. The Food and Nutrition Board of the U.S. Institute of Medicine recommends 1.1 to 1.6 g of omega-3 as an adequate intake per day. Assuming the 1:1 ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 this amount can easily be obtained from fresh fruit and vegetables. The media hype to increase our omega-3 intake through supplements to counterbalance our overconsumption of omega-6 is just as wrong as recommending vitamin C supplements to counterbalance the damaging effects of smoking.

Another vital fact to consider is the ratio between saturated to polyunsaturated fats called the S/P ratio which should be 20/80 (20% saturated to 80% polyunsaturated) 1. This is the ratio which naturally exists in most plants including nuts and seeds. In contrast most animal foods consist of the exact opposite S/P ratio of 80/20. The structure of consumed fats profoundly effects bodily function.

Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and are very stable molecules, unlikely to change their structure and are therefore biologically unavailable to us. Our bodies produce saturated fats and any dietary addition can only be stored as body fat or arterial accumulation leading to heart disease 1,14. The same is true for cholesterol, our liver produces it to synthesise hormones, vitamin D, bile salts and myelin sheath to protect nerve fibres. Dietary cholesterol is therefore an excess which can not easily be removed accumulating in the body, leading to atherosclerosis (arterial wall hardening), reduced oxygen delivery to cells, reduced cell permeability and hormonal imbalance 1,14,5.

Polyunsaturated, liquid fats come from plant sources and are biologically useful to us as our body saturates the fats in the right position on the molecules to utilise it for various functions 1. Oils can be obtained through the consumption of raw fruits and vegetables which naturally have the correct balance and quantity of the essential fatty acids. These fats are extremely sensitive to the elements as explained in The Raw Facts - Part 1. The addition of refined polyunsaturated oils (all plant oils in a bottle) to our foods which are then additionally heated in cooking is an extremely unnatural and unhealthy practice. Bottled oils extracted from plants are empty calories devoid of natural fibre, phytonutrients and vitamins that are present in the plant and should not be consumed for optimal health 5.


The standard western diet provides 42% of calories as fat but the same can be said for most vegetarian and vegan diets 1,14. The only difference is that vegans consume fats in the more correct S/P ratio which greatly reduces their disease risk. Nutritional journals are packed with data showing the correlation between a high fat diet to almost every type of degenerative disease, digestive and blood disorders. Perhaps one of the most misunderstood diseases is diabetes for which excess sugar consumption has been blamed. The reality is that diabetes is not caused by sugar excess but a fat excess 1,13,5. Fat prevents sugar from getting delivered from the bloodstream into cells, a process carried out by insulin molecules. Excess fat in the blood coats blood vessels, insulin receptors, insulin molecules and sugar molecules preventing insulin attachment to sugar molecules and therefore their transport out of the blood stream 1,13. Fats can remain in the blood for more than 24 hours and during that time any sugar consumed will stay in the blood stream raising blood sugar levels and causing problems. During this time cells are starving for sugar and so we continue feeling hungry. Sugar consumption triggers only a small insulin release, in fact research shows that animal products especially meat and cheese stimulate insulin release way above even refined carbohydrates such as pasta 10,13.

Elevated blood sugar levels can generally be cleaned up by Candida, yeasts that feed on sugar once there is an accumulation. It is a natural response; however when too much sugar is present in the blood as a result of blood fat excess Candida colonies multiply and become a nuisance 1. This is a first sign that you are consuming too much fat which remains in your blood and is likely leading to diabetes. Removal of excess dietary fat and especially avoidance of combining fats with sugars solves the Candida problem in a matter of days and can reverse diabetes. The link between diabetes and high fat consumption has been documented as early as 1927 by Dr. E.P. Joslin (15) and yet 81 years on nearly 1 in 4 Australians is affected by the disease.

Consumption of more than 10% of our calories as fat also contributes to cancer formation. A high fat diet decreases oxygen content of blood and tissue which means that glucose is fermented leading to acidic conditions in the cell environment 5. As early as 1931 Dr. Otto Warburg has shown that acidity in the body is the precursor of cancer formation for which he won the Noble Prize. It makes one wander why 77 years later 1 in 3 Australian men and 1 in 4 women are battling cancer.

Fortunately transitioning to our natural diet can and has combated the most lethal of diseases of our time. In the next issue I will discuss the application of the 80/10/10 way of life to help you along your journey to perfect health.



References

1 Graham D.N. The 80/10/10 Diet, Balancing Your Health, Your Weight, and Your Life, One Luscious Bite at Time. FoodnSport Press 2006.

2 Bravata DM, Sanders L, Huang J, et al. Efficacy and safety of low-carbohydrate diets: a systematic review. JAMA 2003;289:1837-1850.

3 Horne R. Health and Survival in the 21st Century. Protein and Fat as Causes of Toxemia. Harper Collins Publishers Pty Limited 1997.
http://www.soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/020122horne.21stcentury/020122toc.html

4 Graham D.N. Grain Damage: Rethinking the High-Starch Diet. Food for Thought Publishing 1998.

5 Horne R. Improving on Pritikin – You Can Do Better. Happy Landings 1989
http://www.soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/020149imp.on.pritikin/020149imp.on.pritikin.pdf

6 Coleman J. Opioids In Common Food Products - Addictive Peptides in Meat, Dairy and Grains. http://www.vegan-straight-edge.org.uk/opioids.htm
http://web.mac.com/dynamist/iWeb/dynamist/Opioids%20in%20Common%20Food%20Products.html

7 Barnard N. Breaking the Food Seduction. St. Martin’s Griffin New York 2003.

8 Reichelt K. Collected Net Articles. http://glutenfree.org/reichelt.html#twentyone

9 Coleman JS. The Obligate Fruigivore An Evolutionary Hypothesis
http://web.archive.org/web/20030301131026/http://venus.nildram.co.uk/veganmc/origins.htm

10 Campbell T C. The China Study. Banbella Books 2006.

11 Arthur M. Baker, MA, MHE. Raw Fresh Produce vs. Cooked Food
http://www.rawfoodlife.com/Articles___Research/Science_of_Raw_v__Cooked/science_of_raw_v__cooked.htm

12 Nutrition and athletic performance - Position of the American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine. J Am Diet Assoc 2000;100:1543-56.
13 Holt SHA, Brand Miller JC, Petocz P. An insulin index of foods: the insulin demand generated by 1000-kJ portions of common foods. Am J Clin Nutr 1997;66:1264-76. http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/66/5/1264
14 Erasmum U. Fats that Heal Fats that Kill. Alive Books 1993.
15 Joslin EP. Atherosclerosis and diabetes. Ann Clin Med 1927;5:1061

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Foods That Cost the Earth

It is time to throw some facts out about climate change and environmental degradation that most of us simply never get to hear about. While governments focus on petrol-guzzling vehicles and coal-fired power plants our food choices are the driving force warming our planet to extinction.

Animal production is at the heart of almost every environmental catastrophe confronting the planet today - deforestation, spreading deserts, loss of fresh and marine water habitats, air and water pollution, acid rain, soil erosion and loss of biodiversity. Here are 10 facts about the destructive nature of animal derived food production to feed your thoughts.

1. Energy Costs

Transportation is a mere drop in the carbon bucket compared with consumption of beef, dairy and fish. Meat production requires 10 to 20 times more energy per edible tonne than grain production. Producing 1kg of beef results in more CO₂ emissions than a three-hour drive while leaving all the lights on at home, equivalent to 36.4kg of CO₂ released into the atmosphere. The emissions are equivalent to the amount of CO₂ released by an average car every 260 km, and the energy consumption is equal to a 100W bulb being left on for 20 days. Farm animals are transported at various points in their life cycle usually over very long distances. Over two-thirds of the energy is spent on producing and moving cattle feed. Half of Australia’s ecological footprint is caused producing sheep and beef exports. Transport related emissions for milk are high due to large milk volumes. Large amounts of energy are used in pasteurisation and production cheese and milk powder. The diary sector is responsible for the second highest CO₂ food processing emissions.

Furthermore, animal housing in windowless sheds requires energy for artificial ventilation, conveyor belts and lighting. Slaughterhouses, meat and dairy processing plants packaging, and refrigeration require immense quantities of electricity. In contrast, most vegetables, fruit, grains and tubers require no refrigeration and little or no processing.

Researchers at the University of Chicago found that the average meat-based diet results in an annual production of an extra 1.5 tonnes of CO₂ compared to a vegan diet. Cars emit 1.9 to 4.7 tonnes of CO₂, and a switch to a hybrid reduces annual CO₂ emissions by roughly 1 tonne a year. A simple dietary change is therefore far more powerful than a trade in.

2. Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Livestock production is responsible for 18 % or one fifth of greenhouse-gas emissions (FAO). This includes 9 % of all CO₂ emissions, 37 % of methane, and 65 % of nitrous oxide. Altogether, that's more than the emissions caused by transportation.

Methane (CH₄) is responsible for 17.3% of climate change as it is 21 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO₂ over a 1000 year period. The number one source of CH₄ worldwide is animal agriculture. CH₄ released from 28 million cattle and 100 million sheep in Australia is staggering. Animal belching and flatulence accounts for 18% of total global CH₄ emissions, and factory farm waste lagoons account for a further 7% contributing a 4.3% total to climate change. Anaerobic decomposition of livestock manure releases 10 million tonnes of CH₄ per year. Pig production contributes the most followed by dairy.

Nitrous Oxide (N₂O) accounts for 5.4% of climate change and has risen by 16% since the Industrial Revolution. Atmospheric N₂O concentrations are small, but it is 296 times more effective than CO₂ at trapping heat persisting in the atmosphere for 150 years. Additionally N₂O causes destruction of the ozone layer. About 70% of N₂O emissions are due use of nitrogen-based fertilisers. N₂O forms acid rain damaging crops, forests, lakes and streams.

Ammonia (NH₃) is the main cause of atmospheric acidity and is mainly produced by livestock excrement. NH₃concentrations have increased by 150% since preindustrial time. Annual emissions form 18.8 million tonnes at the end of 19^th century to 56.7 million tonnes by the early 1990s and are projected to rise to 116 million by 2050. Around 50 million tonnes NH₃ per year escapes from soils into the atmosphere; 23 million are produced by livestock, 3 million by wild animals and 2 million by humans.

3. Land and Water Costs

30% of all land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production. Livestock demand 70% of the planet's agricultural land. A meat-based diet requires 7 times more land than a plant-based diet. Some 65% of Australia is listed as agricultural land and 95% of that is devoted to meat production. Sheep and cattle grazing occupies 50% of Australia. In the US 90% of land is used to grow food for animals and in the UK, over 80%. In the US, 56 million acres are utilised for hay and grain production fed directly to livestock while only 4 million acres are used to produce plants for human consumption.

Growing crops for farm animals requires nearly half of the US water supply. Meat production uses twice as much water as rice production. In Australia 77% of agricultural water use is spent on pasture for grazing and hay production. 50 000 - 100,000 litres of water are required to produce the 1kg of grain-fed beef. Canon Hill Abattoir uses 580 million L of water per year. Dairy production requires the most amount of water out of all the animal industries in Australia. In Victoria the dairy industry, uses 5.5 times more water than Melbourne city each year. A person on the standard Australian diet (SAD) therefore consumes 4 times as much water as a person on a vegan diet.

4. Pollution, Soil Erosion and Loss of Biodiversity

Animals raised for food produce approximately 130 times as much excrement as the entire human population - 40,000 kilograms per second. Pig farms with 100,000 animals produce the waste of a city of a quarter-million people. Abattoir and piggery effluent is some of the most highly polluted water, requiring extensive treatment before release or reuse. On most farms there are no wastewater treatment systems and the waste runs off to ecosystems killing the wildlife within them. Manure is contaminated with antibiotics, hormones, pesticides and fertilisers adding further pressure on the environment. Leather tanning produces waste containing formaldehyde, mercury, chromium IV and other toxic chemicals.

5. Deforestation

Twenty million hectares of tropical forest in Latin America have been cut down for livestock production since 1970. Central America lost one-third of its forests since the early 1960s, while pasture land has increased by 50%. At least 13% of climate change is due to cutting down or burning of forests, most cleared for agriculture. In Australia beef and wool production account for 92-93% of forest clearance and land degradation. Land clearance impacts weather patterns and is the prime cause of salinity.

6. Desertification

In dry land regions, cattle often overgraze perennial grasses, allowing weeds to proliferate. Weeds lack extensive root systems to guard soil against erosion. Animal grazing causes soil erosion, compaction and acidification, destroys native bio-systems, introduces pest species and attracts parasites. Livestock occupies 2/3 of the global dry land area and the rate of desertification under pasture is 3.2 million hectares per year in contrast with 2.5 from crop land production. Animal hooves seriously damage the top-soil contributing to desertification.

7. Economic Un-sustainability

Animals raised for food in the U.S. consume 90% of the soy crop, 80% of the corn crop, and 70% of its grain. Farm animals consume much more food energy than they provide in food. In 1993 US farm animals were fed 192.7 million tonnes of feed concentrates, to produce 31.2 million tonnes of product resulting in a ratio of 6.2 to 1. In terms of feed utilization, broiler chickens require 5-11kg of feed for every kg of weight gain. Pigs are the least efficient, with a feed to meat ratio of 8.4 to 1. Eggs production has a ratio of 3.8 to 1 whereas cheese 7.9 to 1. About two to five times more grain is required to produce the same amount of calories through livestock compared with direct grain consumption. It is as much as 10 times more in the case of grain-fed beef. It takes 21 kg of protein fed to a calf to produce 1kg of meat. In other words 10 acres will support 60 people growing soy beans or 2 people growing cattle.

Nitrogen is a limiting nutrient in soils but essential for plant growth. Synthetic fertilisers provide 40% of N supplied to crops. 20-25% of 80 million tonnes of N fertiliser production is used on crops for animal feed. Animal production utilises N only at a 50% efficiency. In mid 1990s livestock excreted 75 million tonnes of N, 12 million tonnes remained in livestock products resulting in the assimilation efficiency of only 14%. The retention of N in animal products ranges from 5-20% of total N intake. Global N efficiency or protein conversion efficiency has been estimated at 20% for pigs, 34% for poultry, 40% for dairy and only 5% for beef.

8. Overfishing and Ocean Destruction

Levels of fish consumption have risen dramatically worldwide since mid century from less than 9 kg/person in 1950 to more than 19kg by 1989. Commercial Fishing has wiped out 90% of the world’s large fish populations in the last 50 years. Current seafood harvest levels are straining marine ecosystems in many areas. 25% of the 200 top marine fish resources were already fully exploited in 1994 and about 35% were in decline. Current fish and seafood species are all predicted to collapse by 2048.

By-catch are all the unwanted animals including finfish, sea turtles, marine mammals and birds. Typically by-catch in commercial fishing is 40-50% of the entire catch - sometimes higher. Around 27 million tonnes of fish are wasted per year because they are the wrong kind or size. Shrimp boats that drag the bottom are the most wasteful, scooping up 10kg of other marine life for every kg of shrimp.

Fishing is no longer a random throw of a line into the ocean; there are 4 million vessels, and sonar targeting deep sea species of fish. Long line fishing consists of 150km of baited hooks, mainly used to catch tuna. The West Atlantic Bluefin Tuna population is critically endangered while the East Atlantic population is endangered. In Australian waters, up to 300,000 birds are killed each year. 17 species of albatross are in danger of extinction, because of the use of long lines.

Purse seine nets in the Eastern Tropical Pacific deliberately target dolphin schools, because tuna swim between them. Since 1959, an estimated 7 million dolphins have been killed, whales and whale sharks also fall victims. Drift nets can stretch over 60km killing enormous amounts of by-catch. An estimated 85% of animals caught in driftnets are thrown back into the sea, dead or dying.

Aquaculture is a net consumer of fish, not a producer. It takes 5 kg of ocean-caught fish to produce 1kg of farmed fish and between 8 and 11kg of fish to produce 1kg of Southern Bluefin Tuna. Even plant feeding fish are fed fish to fatten them up quicker. Fish farms raise millions of fish in netted cages in coastal waters causing extreme faecal contamination, spread of disease, pesticides and invasive species. Fish that escape often breed with wild stocks leading to wild species extinction. At least 140 distinct salmon stocks in British Columbia are already extinct. Fishing also causes some of the highest green house gas emissions as seafood undergoes energy-intensive, refrigerated or frozen, long-distance travel from ocean to market.

9. Overproduction and Overpopulation

The world’s total meat supply was 71 million tonnes in 1961 which rose to 284 million tonnes in 2007. Per capita consumption has more than doubled over that period and in the developing world, it rose twice as fast, doubling in the last 20 years. Meat consumption is expected to double again by 2050. Between 1970 and 2002, annual per capita meat consumption in developing countries rose from 11kg to 29kg, the comparable figures for developed countries were 65kg and 80kg respectively.

By 1994, the combined weight of the world's 15 billion farm animals surpassed the weight of the human population by over one and a half times. Like us farm animals have needs for food, water, shelter, heating/cooling and transportation putting pressure on the earth's resources. Livestock animals account for 20% of terrestrial animal biomass or all living land creatures. Livestock biomass increased from 428 million tonnes in 1960 to 700 million tonnes in 2000. In United States, farm animal population outweighs human population by a factor of four to one, effectively making the US "population” balloon from 295 million to 1.2 billion.

10. Animal Suffering and World Hunger

Factory farms are horror houses where animals are given the minimal amount of space to live out their miserable lives. Most can’t turn around or lie down. Animals are mutilated by dehorning, de-beaking, tail docking and teeth pulling; all without the use of anaesthetics to ease their pain. The reality is that all animals including fish feel physical pain on a similar level as we do. A dairy cow suffers and cries each year her new born calf is taken away to become veal so we can suck her milk dry.

800 million people on the planet are chronically undernourished or starving to death while the majority of grains and legumes are fed to cattle, pigs and chickens. About 25,000 people die of starvation every day, a person dies every 3.6 seconds, most are children under 5. We grow enough human edible grain to provide 3600 calories per day per person for every person in the world, over 1.5 times the recommended amount. The world’s cattle alone consume a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to feed this food directly to the hungry people?

Solutions

Eating low on the food chain is a powerful way to reduce your ecological footprint. By eliminating animal products from your diet you are saying NO to global warming, environmental destruction, world hunger and profound animal abuse. Australia can sustain a population of 10 million people eating the standard Australian diet, however it could sustain up to 30 million eating a vegan diet.

Plant based foods are healthy for the body as opposed to animal based foods which are the leading cause of diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. A vast number of studies show that most disease can be eliminated through a vegan diet. We don't need to wait for governments to act on climate change; we can’t afford to wait. You can do something, and you can do it now by choosing what is on your plate.

References:

Brad Knickerbocker, Humans' beef with livestock: a warmer planet, http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0220/p03s01-ussc.html

Ewen Callaway, Food miles don't feed climate change - meat does, NewScientist.com news service - http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn13741-food-miles-dont-feed-climate-change--meat-does.html

Food and the Environment 2008 Focus: http://veg.ca/content/view/133/111/

Ian Sample, Meat production 'beefs up emissions -http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/jul/19/climatechange.climatechange

Mark Bittman, Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html

Steinfeld H., Gerber P., Wassenaar T., Castel V., Rosales M., de Haan C.,
Livestock’s long shadow, Environmental issues and options, FAO, (2006),
http://www.virtualcentre.org/en/library/key_pub/longshad/A0701E00.htm

Tom Johnston, Study Links Beef Production To Global Warming, http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Content.asp?ContentID=146140

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Environmental effects of meat production

Vegetarianism and the Environment - http://www.animalliberation.org.au/envleaflet.php

The Raw Facts - Part 1

by Sandra Tuszynska

There are 700,000 species of animals on earth yet humans are the only species that cooks its food. We started cooking food about 10,000 years ago, which is relatively recent considering that we have lived on raw foods since our evolution between 5-8 million years ago. We began to apply heat to our food because we were forced to move away from the tropics, our natural home, because of over-population. The tropics provided us with natural foods (mainly tropical fruit) which were eaten raw. Once forced into cooler climates we had to substitute our natural diet of fruits with tubers - and other complex carbohydrates - and meat, all of which require cooking.

Even then foods that did not need to be cooked were eaten raw until 1878 when Louis Pasteur published his highly influential book, The Germ Theory of Disease which proposed that microorganisms are the main cause of disease. As a result, doctors recommended that people cook their food for safety, and so people began cooking everything (even apples). Fear of microbes became a phobia for many people and is still commonplace.

Cooking allows otherwise unappetising meats and grains to taste good and become digestible so we continue to set fire to products which we then call food. We have not actually adapted to eating cooked foods as it takes between 50,000 and 500,000 years for an evolutionary change to occur in mammals. While it is still possible to sustain ourselves on cooked food, we risk dire health consequences. Certainly fire helped us survive the ice age, but what are the consequences of the continued use of fire on our food and, inevitably, our health?

The Effects of Cooking on our Food and our Health

Different methods of cooking produce various toxins which the body must then eliminate. Consumption of cooked foods causes enlargement of the pancreas and damage to most other organs including the liver, heart, kidneys, the thyroid and adrenal glands. Cancer, heart disease and diabetes are all associated with cooked food consumption and, while the body of scientific evidence to support this is already overwhelming, new evidence is still being found.
Cooked foods cause degenerative changes in most aspects of blood chemistry, a phenomenon called 'digestive leukocytosis'. Our immune system reacts to cooked food in the same way as it does to a pathogenic attack. The body actually attacks the food back by sending an army of white blood cells to deal with the onslaught in the digestive tract, leaving the rest of the body vulnerable and less protected by the immune system.
Effect of Cooking on Nutrients

Because heated foods are nutritionally compromised we are likely to overeat them. Our stomachs may feel full but our cells are still starving for nutrients which cooking damages and destroys. Foods can only withstand as much heat as you can. When you apply fire to your hand you quickly move it away because it kills your skin cells. The same happens to food.

Cooked Proteins

Proteins are denatured by heat. Their molecular structure is irreversibly modified and they become biologically inactive. Take hair, for instance, which is predominantly protein. When you roll it into a hair ball and then pull it back it will revert to its original form. However, if you apply flame to that same ball of hair it will coagulate and not return to its original shape. The same happens with food. You can see coagulation of protein take place when you fry an egg. The clear protein gel surrounding the yolk whitens, thickens, and coagulates into a glue-like consistency.
This coagulation happens in meat, grain and any other proteins which are subjected to heat. Our digestive enzymes (peptones and proteases) cannot utilise coagulated protein molecules. They can only break these large molecules into polypeptides instead of the essential amino acids which we need for protein synthesis in our body. So cooked protein rich foods are actually not of any use to us. Polypeptides are recognised by our immune system as invaders that have to be attacked, contained and eliminated through the kidneys. These large coagulated molecules form kidney stones (and eventual kidney failure) as the cells of the kidneys cannot easily process and pass these toxins. Undigested proteins also cause allergies, arthritis and other autoimmune disorders.
Not only are heated proteins unavailable to your body, the indigestible, coagulated protein molecules putrefy and allow bacteria in the body to feed upon this dead organic matter. This forms faecal ammonia, phenols, indoles, amines, N-nitroso compounds and sulphides which have been shown to exert toxic effects on the bowel, leading to colorectal cancer. The natural population of beneficial intestinal flora becomes outnumbered by putrefactive bacteria, resulting in colonic dysfunction and absorption of toxins from the bowel. This phenomenon is called “dysbacteria”, “dysbiosis”, or “intestinal toxemia” (toxicosis).

Gas and unpleasantly smelling faeces are due to anaerobic putrefaction by bacteria which break down undigested proteins. Rotting proteins have been shown to be responsible for various colon diseases such as colitis and polyps, and especially cancer. Additionally nitrosamines are formed from nitrogen oxides present in gas flames. These compounds have mutagenic and carcinogenic potency and end up in meat and fish heated in gas ovens or on barbecues that expose the “food” to direct flames. Heterocyclic amines are formed from heating amino acids or proteins and polycyclic hydrocarbons are formed from charring meat. Both are carcinogenic.
Cooked Carbohydrates

Starchy carbohydrates must be heated in order for them to be broken down. However heating caramelises complex carbohydrates, fusing them into a sticky substance. It is no coincidence that dextrin and starch are vegetable-based adhesives used as glue for packaging and wallpaper. Only 70% of the energy potential of cooked starchy foods can be used by our body as fuel. Caramelised carbohydrates dramatically elevate our blood sugar levels. This is especially true for refined carbohydrates that had their fibre component removed. Further heating, which produces the “burnt bits” such as browned crust on the toast, is very carcinogenic.

Cooked complex carbohydrates are actually fermented when eaten in combination with fat and sugar. Gas, alcohol and acetic acid (vinegar) are produced by the fermentation process and these are very toxic poisons. Acrylamide, a known neurotoxin and carcinogen, is also produced by cooking carbohydrate rich foods.

Cooked Fats

Fats are very delicate and vulnerable compounds that become rancid on exposure to oxygen, light and (especially) heat. In fact plant fats are so sensitive that once a seed or a nut is cracked and the oil within exposed to the elements it should be consumed immediately or it becomes rancid. Rancid fats are very toxic to our cells and become carcinogenic. The longer they remain shelved or uneaten, the more toxic they become. High cooking temperatures such as used for deep frying, roasting and barbecuing induce fats to produce carcinogens such as acrolein, epoxides, hydroperoxides, hydrocarbons, nitrosamines and benzopyrene (one of the most carcinogenic substances on earth).

Unsaturated vegetable oils are naturally held together by “cis” bonds which are converted to “trans” bonds when the oils are heated. Unsaturated fatty acid with one double bond can exist in either of two forms - the “cis” conformation has the two parts of the carbon chain bent towards each other (like a boomerang) and the “trans” conformation has the two parts of the chain almost linear. This makes the “trans” fatty acids similar in conformation and behaviour to the saturated acids. Trans-fatty acids are considered one of the most dangerous dietary health hazards of our time.

Unsaturated oils are also made into trans-fats by the of process hydrogenation used to extend shelf life and to improve food texture by heating the oils and subjecting them to hydrogen while under pressure (this is essentially how margarine is made). Hydrogenated fats are similar to saturated ones in that they cannot be utilised by our body leading to cardiovascular disease. These trans-fats are incorporated into cell walls and interfere with cellular respiration. They reduce the amount of oxygen delivered to our cells which creates an environment for cancer growth.

Effects of Cooking on Water, Minerals and Vitamins

Second to oxygen, water is our greatest nutritional requirement. Cooking forces water out of food (dehydrating it) which causes oxidation of the nutrients in the food and so reducing their value. Once water is removed, the overall structure and composition of the food is permanently changed.

Vitamins and minerals need to be consumed in an organic, naturally chelated molecular form (such as is found in raw fruits and vegetables) in order to be absorbed, assimilated and utilised by our cells and tissues during normal metabolic processing. Cooking profoundly affects the absorption and utilisation of certain minerals because it cleaves complexes that minerals are associated with, rendering them less available. Heat also interferes with the molecular arrangement of vitamins and minerals. Carbon is liberated and they are returned to an inorganic, ash-like form like that found in soil. This makes them bio-unavailable and toxic to our cells.

The Effects of Cooking on Enzymes

Enzymes are proteins present in all living tissues. Once food is cooked, the enzymes are denatured and become inactive. Digestion is a process by which enzymes break down food compounds into smaller units. When we eat cooked foods our body has to produce its own enzymes in order to digest them. Even then, they are unable to work upon the coagulated proteins and carbohydrates. This leads to a vast amount of energy being wasted on digesting the food rather than fuelling our body with it, which is its principal purpose. This is precisely why we feel tired after eating a large cooked meal. By contrast, raw foods posses their own enzymes which are released when the food is chewed, saving our body from having to produce and waste its own enzyme supply. As a result we feel vitalised after a raw meal.

Just as there are only a finite number of heart beats so, too, the body's capacity to make enzymes is also finite. Dr James Sumner, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and Emeritus professor at Cornell University, said:

“Living creatures are born with a fixed enzyme potential. This potential diminishes with time, subject to the conditions and pace of life. Animals eating dead, enzymeless food use up a tremendous amount of their enzyme potential in lavish secretions of the pancreas and other digestive organs. The result is reduced vitality, reduced longevity, and reduced resistance to all types of stress.”

Our 'enzymatic potential' is a bit like an enzyme bank account that we are all born with. While our individual genetics decide how much is in the account when we are born, what we eat and how we live determines how long it takes to deplete that account. Most of us go through life spending lavishly just to digest our cooked food meals. When the bank balance reads zero and we are repossessed - we die.

The Benefits of Eating Raw

The first effect of eating raw foods is to cleanse the accumulated toxins harboured by your body. As a result you may experience symptoms of detoxification, which will vary depending on how seriously the toxins have affected your body and how concentrated they are. Once you stop loading your body with any more toxins from the food you eat, the accumulated toxins will be expelled from cells and tissues into the bloodstream to be removed.

Most detoxification symptoms are mild. They can range from tiredness, runny nose, headaches, digestive challenges, skin conditions, drops in blood pressure and weight loss. More serious detoxification effects can include diarrhoea and vomiting, as well as the recurrence of past disease symptoms to complete a healing process that has been interrupted by medical drugs or any other treatment. These effects should be looked upon favourably as they indicate that the body is healing.
Since most of processed foods contain stimulants such as salt, sugar, spices, preservatives, sweeteners and caffeine, the body is essentially always on some sort of a high. Once the transition is made to a raw food diet the body goes from a state of excitation or stimulation to sedation. This means that many people experience tiredness as they are “coming down”.

Once the toxins are removed from your body, the vital energy is freed up for healing and cleansing. Cleaner blood and healthier red blood cells become more efficient at transporting oxygen around the body leading to increased tissue and organ healing as well as more efficient removal of waste from cellular respiration.

Eating raw foods allows maximum nutrition because your body is able to process the readily-available nutrients, absorb them and deliver them to all of your cells. Your digestion becomes more efficient with transit time decreased to a maximum of 24 hours. Because the colon recycles toxins it is essential to digest and eliminate as fast as possible. Cooked or processed foods transit on average 72 hours or more, literally rotting in your bowel and producing both toxins and flatulence. When you eat raw foods these digestive problems cease (as do bad breath and constipation).

When your body cleanses itself and starts eliminating properly all aspects of your life will improve - physical, mental and emotional. However you should also get enough sleep, sunshine and exercise. Additional benefits include weight loss, less mucous discharge, better sleep, clearer skin, increased energy and heightened mental clarity.

When you eliminate salt, sugar and other condiments, you will lose excess water - which is stored in your body to dilute toxins - and fat fairly quickly but you will not lose lean muscle tissue. If you want to gain muscle mass, eating mostly sweet fruit will supply the best possible fuel source.
In the next article I will discuss in detail the work of Dr Douglas Graham and the 80/10/10 diet plan, different caloronutrients, their form, sources, the percentage of each we require and the effects that each has on our health. I will be teaching an eight-week course on the effects of our food choices on our health and the environment with details on the principles of the raw diet at the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Community College in Sydney during July 2008 (www.hkcc.nsw.edu.au).
References and Further Reading

'Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases' (2003) WHO Technical Report Series 916 (www.who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/who_fao_expert_report.pdf)
Graham D.N., The 80/10/10 Diet, Balancing Your Health, Your Weight, and Your Life, One Luscious Bite at Time. FoodnSport Press 2006.
Hughes R., Magee E.A.M and Bingham S. (2000) 'Protein Degradation in the Large Intestine: Relevance to Colorectal Cancer', Current Issues in Intestinal Microbiology, 1:51-58
WHO Technical Report Series
Swirsky Gold L., et al. (1995) 'Sixth Plot of the Carcinogenic Potency Database: Results of Animal Bioassays Published in the General Literature 1989 to 1990 and by the National Toxicology Program 1990 to 1993', Environmental Health Perspective, 103:3-122, Supplement 8

The Raw Pleasure website and forum (www.raw-pleasure.com.au) allows you to contact and interact with other raw food eaters.

Why am I here

When I finished school I was very excited to get accepted to Sydney University. I enrolled into Agricultural Science based on advice from a friend. I had no idea what agriculture actually meant. As part of the degree we went to visit farms to see how the things we learnt in theory were applied on farm level.
During the degree I discovered the truth about modern farming practices such as the use of pesticides, artificial fertilisers and antibiotics. I leant with horror about the cruel animal husbandry practices. I tested food products to check fibre content in cereals, mercury content in fish and bacterial counts in milk. I changed my diet after 1st year of my degree to avoid animal products. I no longer wanted to contribute to the animal suffering and ruin my health with the high concentration of pesticides and antibiotics present in meat and dairy. As a result my health improved dramatically and I started to research nutrition. I started to link all the knowledge about the way our food is produced to our health. I taught my family and friends about what I have learnt with the aim that they can protect themselves against diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease which are primarily caused by the foods we eat.
By 4th year of my degree I decided to do a research project in environmental microbiology with the attempt to try and clean up the environmental waste caused by current agricultural practices. I continued research in the agriculture/environment sector in my PhD project after which I went to the US to continue research
I was disheartened to see that solutions to environmental problems are not being applied and the destructive practices continue being used. But even more shocking is the fact most research especially medical research is focused on masking symptoms with drugs rather then prevention of disease. New drugs make money but prevention of disease would ruin pharmaceutical companies. There is a fantastic body of knowledge as a result of some research for example the cause of cancer and its prevention was shown by Otto Warburg in 1931 who received the Nobel Prize for his findings. Strangely enough cancer research is now one the most profitable industries in the world. Most research findings are not available to the general public, so I have decided to move away from primary research in the laboratory and instead use the already published knowledge and share it with the community. I have dedicated over 10 years now studying the effects of the foods we eat on our health. I have been gathering data from various sources to get a full picture of how our dietary choices lead to either health or disease. I want to teach people how foods affect us on a cellular, physiological, biochemical and neurological levels.
In the Perfect Food for Perfect Health course I will explain how our evolution, anatomy, physiology, psychology and biochemistry require us to eat specific foods. I will shown you how deviating from our nutritional requirements leads to disease. The principles of disease formation are very simple and so is the reversal of disease. The body is an amazing machine which has resilience and endurance. When it becomes unbalanced disease starts to form but the symptoms may not be evident until years later. Heart attack is a primary example, it happens suddenly and unexpectedly but is a result of many years of overconsumption of particular foods. Cancer is another example, most people don’t even know they have it, by chance they find out when having a check up for something else. This is why it is essential to learn how we cause our own diseases through the food we consume and our life style choices. Many of us only start trying to cure ourselves once we are already very ill. Even if you think you are perfectly healthy at least have the knowledge on how to prevent or reverse a disease before potential symptoms will not allow you to comfortably live your life. Animals in the wild do not have diseases such as cancer, hear attack and diabetes, in fact people in certain countries do not have our diseases either. They also do not have access to processed foods in the supermarket and do not use intensive agricultural practices. These are some of the driving forces behind disease.
My aim is to reveal the hidden facts about the foods we eat, like the magic numbers you read on the packaging of your food and how they affect your health. I teach people about how to get rid of food addictions by eating delicious natural foods, how to loose or gain weight by naturally wanting to exercise once the natural diet is restored. Most of all my teaching give access to knowledge powerful enough to heal disease and reduce the ecological foot print so that others can enjoy the environment for generations to come. My mission is simply to pass on the knowledge not readily available to the general public to reduce suffering in this world.

Perfect Food for Perfect Health Course

Perfect Food for Perfect Health

SANDRA TUSZYNSKA PhD


It is no longer a secret that you are what you eat. Eating in accordance with the body’s nutritional requirements has been shown to mobilize the body to cure itself out of the most deadly diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease. This course is designed to provide you with facts about today’s food chain supply and with latest scientific findings on correct nutrition so you can obtain perfect health, weight and well being. Find out just how simple and effortless eating the perfect diet can be. Learn how to eliminate the adverse effects of your eating habits on your health, wallet, and the environment.

8 week course, 2 hours on Thursday evenings from 7-9 pm at Honrsby- Ku-ring-gai Community College (July 31st – September 18th) and on Tuesdays 10 am -12 pm at St Ives (July 29th – September 16th) and 1 day (10am – 5 pm) weekend workshops on the 17th of August and 1st of November at Hornsby. Please check college website for details www.hkcc.nsw.edu.au

Course Outline

1. Find out about our ancestors’ diet
2. Understand what proportions of nutrients your body needs to perform its best
3. Understand how foods are digested
4. Find out about toxic ingredients found in processed foods and their effects on your body
5. Learn about how cooking changes food and how it affects your body
6. Learn about the digestion of raw foods and the benefits of eating raw foods
7. Understand how eating the right foods in the right combinations will promote self healing
8. Learn how to apply the knowledge gained in this course by designing a weekly planner of simple recipes

Planned Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, participants should be able to:

1. List the body’s nutritional requirements
2. Explain the disadvantages of the standard diet
3. Discuss the differences between eating cooked and raw foods
4. Identify the correct food composition to attain a healthy body and mind
5. Apply the principles you have learned in this course to be the healthiest you have ever been

About Sandra

Sandra has graduated with 1st class honours in Bachelor of Science in Agriculture at the University of Sydney. She then went on to complete a PhD in cell biology and detoxification at the University of New South Wales. She continued postdoctoral studies at Rutgers University in the US, researching nutrient transport. She has published her findings in renowned international journals. Her biggest passion is education, providing the public with biological facts in simple language. She has many years of teaching experience at the university level and a diploma in Professional Practice in Adult Learning and Teaching (UNSW). Sandra’s mission is to bring awareness to consumers about the impact of what we eat on our health and the environment.