News regarding traditional wisdom and native diets regarding nutrition.

The Great Salt-Sodium Hoax: Eating More Salt Might Actually Save Your Life

Despite the growing evidence that low sodium causes more harm than high sodium, and using unprocessed salt has more benefits than commercial processed table salt, the mostly unsubstantiated belief that salt needs to be demonized persists. The revelations of good science are continually crushed by the pressures of public health policy. Dr. Kendrick explains that the low sodium diets seem to forget that salt is composed of two molecules, salt (Na) and chloride (Cl). The chemical formula for salt is NaCl, or sodium chloride, which is salt. He quotes a study that warned low serum chlorine was more dangerous than previously considered, concluding: "Low, not high Serum Cl- (<100 mEq/L), is associated with greater mortality risk independent of obvious confounders. Further studies are needed to elucidate the relation between Cl- and risk." Dr. James DiNicolantonio, Pharm. D., is the author of recently (2017) published book, The Salt Fix: Why the Experts Got It All Wrong--and How Eating More Might Save Your Life .

The Trade Secrets Behind Store-bought “Fresh Squeezed” or “Not From Concentrate” Orange Juice

You’ve seen them and maybe you’ve bought them, cartons and plastic bottles of orange juice labeled "freshly squeezed." But there are some relatively unknown trade secrets that will question the validity of these marketing claims for orange juice. "Freshly squeezed" does not mean they are not highly processed. Juices with short shelf lives are financially risky. Regardless of how “natural” the carton or bottle ingredients read, there are chemical additives to keep them from spoiling during storage, shipping, and time in store refrigerators. The process of supplying orange juice or other juices that are labeled “not from concentrate” involves sleight of hand maneuvers hidden from label exposure. Again, because of seasonal growth and juicing, these juices can’t last forever. So the juices that are freshly squeezed from oranges are stored in large tanks. Then the oxygen is sucked out of the tanks to prevent spoilage. This process is known as “de-aeration,” and it allows the juice to be stored for a year in large tanks. But this process removes a lot of the flavor that either Valencia or Hamlin Florida oranges offer at different seasons. So the orange juice producers contract fragrance producers to supply them with processed flavors to give the desired taste.

Study: Vegetable Oils Contribute to Fatty Liver Disease – Saturated Fats Do Not

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is rapidly becoming an international epidemic. The mainstream medical mantra for its underlying cause is "fat consumption." However, "fat" is a very general term and does not distinguish between traditional healthy fats and unhealthy modern processed fats and oils. The common belief is that saturated fat is the culprit in fatty liver disease, but a new study published in the July 4, 2017 European Journal of Nutrition comes to a different conclusion. This peer reviewed study, "Chronic consumption of fructose in combination with trans fatty acids but not with saturated fatty acids induces nonalcoholic steatohepatitis with fibrosis in rats," examined more closely the effects of trans fatty acids (from vegetable oils derived from corn and soybeans) versus saturated fats, found in traditional fats such as butter, coconut oil, and palm oil. The study’s title gives away their conclusion: fructose is bad for the liver, but it is worse with trans fats than it is with saturated fats.

Meta-Analysis Study: Whole Fat Dairy Healthy, Saturated Fats Myth Exposed

A 2017 meta-analysis of 29 studies has concluded that consuming dietary dairy fat has no negative effects on all cause mortality or mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD). This includes dairy fats of all types. One of the researchers, Ian Givens of England’s Reading University, commented on the record: “There’s been a lot of publicity over the last 5 to 10 years about how saturated fats increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and a belief has grown up that they must increase the risk, but they don’t.” Actually, dairy and other animal sourced saturated fats have been wrongly condemned as a contributor to obesity and higher cardiovascular risk since Ancel Keys' notorious seven countries study over 50 years ago, which spawned the “lipid theory” of heart disease and obesity.

Are You Consuming Plastic with Your Sea Salt?

When plastic garbage makes its way to the sea, it eventually breaks down into tiny fragments that return to us in salty seasonings, Malaysian researchers report in Scientific Reports. In a survey of 16 sea salts from eight countries, researchers found microplastic particles lurking in all but one. In total, the researchers collected 72 particles from the salts and used micro-Raman spectroscopy to identify their components, which were mainly plastic polymers and pigments.

The Connection Between Insulin Resistance and the High-Carb, Low-Fat Diet

One of the absolute worst things conventional medicine does is treat type 2 diabetics with insulin. This only exacerbates the problem. The key to treating and reversing type 2 diabetes is to cut down on net carbs, replacing them with high amounts of healthy fats and moderate amounts of protein. Dr. Tim Noakes has researched reversal of type 2 diabetes in South Africans, coming to the same conclusion.

The Diet Police: Harassing Doctors Who Promote Low-Carb High-Fat Dieting

LCHF stands for a low carbohydrate and high fat diet. Not only does this diet protocol threaten the official nutritional dietary dogma of high carbohydrates and low fats (including NO saturated fats, as per USDA nutritional guidelines), promoting LCHF also threatens the sugar and processed food industries where it hurts, financially. So as with all things proven unscientific that support current industrial endeavors, promoting accurate current science to upset all endeavors associated with misinformation warrants attacks on the messengers while suppressing their scientific evidence. The science behind LCHF has been known at least since the 1920's when the ketogenic diet was developed at Johns Hopkins Hospital as a cure for childhood epilepsy, being used when drugs failed. Dr. Tim Noakes, MD, a South African scientist and emeritus professor at University of Cape Town’s Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine was attacked by nutrition officials almost three years ago in 2014. After three years of public court room hearings, with all its legal expenses and stressful distractions, he was recently acquitted.

Avocados as a Super Food: “It Would Be Hard to Eat Too Much”

Registered dietician Cynthia Sass, with master's degrees in both nutrition science and public health, calls avocados worthy of superfood status: They can effectively combat nearly every aspect of metabolic syndrome. The high-fat content in avocados is a good thing — it's not "bad" fat. In fact, it's good, necessary fat from oleic acid, which is the same monosaturated fatty acid contained in olive oil. Oleic acid is associated with decreased inflammation, which helps stave off such diseases as cancer.

The Big Fat Lie is Officially Exposed in the British Medical Journal

The saturated fat lie is officially exposed now that the British Journal of Sports Medicine, a division of the BMJ (British Medical Journal) emphatically declared: “Saturated fat does not clog the arteries: coronary heart disease is a chronic inflammatory condition, the risk of which can be effectively reduced from healthy lifestyle interventions.” The beginning of this very recent BMJ letter, 31 March 2017, reviewing several mega-studies, states early in their editorial: “Despite popular belief among doctors and the public, the conceptual model of dietary saturated fat clogging a pipe is just plain wrong.” Wrong, unequivocally and indisputably, not maybe or could be or further studies needed, but completely wrong. It’s over. And the root cause of arterial inflammation is cited with dietary recommendations that lean toward the Mediterranean Diet.

Healthy Traditions Adds Glyphosate-tested Italian Pizza Flour to Product Line

In 2014 when we tested our USDA certified organic grains, we found that almost all of them had traces of the herbicide glyphosate at levels similar to non-organic wheat. Some scientists and researchers believe that the epidemic of gluten-sensitive diseases we are seeing today are related to glyphosate, and not necessarily the gluten.(See: Common Weedkiller Used in Modern Agriculture Could be Main Factor in Gluten Intolerance.) While anyone with gluten sensitivities definitely needs to avoid gluten, for the rest of us, we need to be consuming healthy grains that are not contaminated. After much research, we found a source in Italy that grows traditional soft wheat where batches we tested showed no trace of herbicides. Healthy Traditions is excited to bring you this high quality Italian Type 00 Flour! This is the flour Italians use to make the absolute best pizza crust. It is also very versatile and can be used to make light and fluffy bread, cakes, fresh pasta and more! The light airy texture makes this flour a joy to work with and your creations will turn out fantastico!