Keto Craziness, Protect Your Heart & Colon, & Cut the Salt

Keto Craziness, Protect Your Heart & Colon, & Cut the Salt

In This Issue: 

• Keto Craziness!
• Protect Your Heart
• Prevent Colon Cancer
• How to Cut the Salt

Find lots of healthy recipes in my Whole Food Plant-Based, Gluten Free Diet & Recipes Facebook Group

Message from Bernadette Wulf

Greetings,

I have to admit that December is my least favorite month and I have never understood that sappy song about it being “the most wonderful time of the year.” LOL

On December first I start a 21 day countdown to Yule, or Winter Solstice, when the days will start getting longer (even though they won’t be any warmer yet). I can definitely understand why my ancestors made such a big deal about it.

Meanwhile, I found some really good articles for you this month on keeping your heart and colon healthy, and some flavorful ways to replace salt in your diet. And for your friends who still think a keto diet will improve their health or aid their weight loss (that wouldn’t be you, of course), you might want to let them know about Dr. Greger’s reports on the latest science on the subject.

What’s Up in My World

In case you didn’t get the memo, my Arthurian Magic Tarot Card deck is now available on Deckible (a digital card reading app) and will be available in a print version very soon — keep your eyes out for an announcement in your inbox.

The other day my grandson picked up my old Rider-Waite deck, pulled the 6 of Swords card, and asked “What does this mean?”

It’s kind of hard to tell from the image on the card. So I thought of the image from my deck which makes it pretty obvious: calmer thoughts, leaving troubles behind. Just looking at the image feels calm and peaceful.

I created my deck with each image capturing the feeling as well as the meaning of each card, so even a kid can read the cards with ease. And seasoned tarot veterans will delight in their depth and connection with the Arthurian saga and our faery cousins (you know that faeries are a big part of what the Arthurian tales are all about, right?)

I hope you will check out my digital Arthurian Magic Tarot Deck.

My Enchanted Planet Blog

In case you didn’t know, I have another blog you may want to explore. My latest post is called Faery Gold — all about leaves and compost and an old Irish story.

There’s more, but I’ll save it for another time.

Wishing you a very happy holiday season filled with love and joy!

Have questions or comments? —>>> Email Bernadette <<<— Please use this link and do not hit reply to this post or I may never get your message.

To your health and happiness!

Bernadette Wulf

WulfWorks.com – HealItAll.com – Eat Plants for Life

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Keto Craziness!

Don’t be fooled by all the media hype about ketogenic diets. Most of it is hogwash!

Dr. Greger of NutritionFacts.org has been on a “ketogenic diet evaluation kick” lately and here’s what he has found in the latest scientific research:

• • Keto diets have been promoted for cancer, but concrete evidence is lacking and theoretical underpinnings may be questionable. 
  • Cancer can feed on ketones, which have been found to fuel human breast cancer growth and drive metastases in an experimental model, more than doubling tumor growth. 
  • [ ] researchers found that body fat loss slowed on a ketogenic diet.
  • If looking only at the numbers on a scale, a keto diet would seem to be effective. More pounds were lost on a keto diet compared to a typical diet, but the rate of body fat loss slowed by more than half and most of the loss was water weight. 
  • [ ] the body starts burning more of its own protein, so a keto diet causes less fat mass loss and more fat-free mass loss—i.e., loss of more lean mass.
  • The leg muscles of CrossFit trainees on a keto diet shrunk in thickness by 8 percent, for instance. [That’s very concerning! – ed.]
  • Keto diet proponents’ own studies have found that keto diets put you at a metabolic disadvantage and slow the loss of body fat.

There you have it!

The only real advantage of a ketogenic diet that I’ve been able to find is for treating epilepsy and other seizure disorders that don’t respond to other treatments.

Read the truth about ketogenic diets – https://nutritionfacts.org/blog/keto-diet-to-effectively-fight-cancer/

And more – https://nutritionfacts.org/blog/testing-the-keto-diet-theory/

Trying to lose weight? See how keto holds up against a low fat-high carb diet – https://nutritionfacts.org/blog/can-you-lose-weight-on-a-keto-diet/

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Protect Your Heart

Here are some excerpts from a good article from AARP on signs of heart disease that you may not have heard of before. If you have more than a couple of these, it may be time for a heart check up:

1. You struggle to breathe when lying flat — If breathing is hard when you sleep on your back but often improves when you sit upright, you may have fluid buildup in the lungs, which can indicate heart failure.
2. You have leg or hip pain (or both) while walking — “Much like blockages in the heart arteries can cause heart attacks, blockages in the leg arteries can cause pain when walking,” says Deepak L. Bhatt, M.D.
3. You experience erectile dysfunction… — Diabetes or chronic stress can cause erectile dysfunction (ED), but it may be a sign of budding heart disease, says Michael Blaha, M.D.
4. … or vaginal dryness — For women, the signs can include vaginal dryness and a lack of libido and clitoral sensation: Endothelial dysfunction leads to less elastic blood vessels, which impairs blood flow to the sexual organs.
5. Your ankles are swollen — When the heart isn’t efficiently pumping blood, fluid can swell both legs. In a study of adults with no history of cardiovascular disease, fluid in the lower extremities was associated with future hospitalizations for heart failure.
6. You’re fatigued for no reason — If everyday activities make you tired — like needing to rest while making the bed — you may have an obstructed coronary artery.
7. You wake up to pee — urination may increase with age, especially in men with enlarged prostates and women with incontinence issues. But waking more than once a night to pee is concerning, says Bhatt, especially if paired with swollen ankles.
8. You have bad breath — Bad breath is caused by out-of-control bacteria, and it can damage more than your social life. Bacteria can enter your bloodstream through bleeding or diseased gums, which is linked to inflammation, clogged arteries and stroke. “There’s a correlation between people who have periodontal disease and people with cardiovascular disease,” says Florida periodontist David Genet.
9. You spot fatty growths — Known as xanthomas, these lesions feel like calcium deposits in the tendons, and they can indicate sky-high cholesterol.
10. You’re feeling nauseous — There’s also a link between queasiness and heart attacks (women are more likely to report nausea as a heart attack symptom). Those with heart failure or a heart attack history should watch for persistent nausea that occurs with bloating, weight gain, swelling in the legs or ankles, and shortness of breath.

Read more about signs of heart disease – https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2022/sneaky-signs-heart-disease.html

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Prevent Colon Cancer

Here’s one that should make meat eaters and junk food eaters take note.  You need fiber, and lots of it, to prevent colon cancer — and fiber is pretty much absent in the diets of most Americans today.

• • While a high-fat, high-meat, high-processed food diet tips the scale towards dysbiosis and colorectal cancer, a diet high in fiber and starch and low in meat can pull you away from cancer and back into symbiosis with your friendly flora. 
  • Burkitt found that we need at least 50 grams of fiber daily to prevent colon cancer. We evolved getting around 100 daily grams, which is the amount consumed by modern populations immune to epidemic colorectal cancer. 

Read more about preventing colon cancer – https://nutritionfacts.org/blog/what-are-the-best-foods-for-preventing-colon-cancer/

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How to Cut the Salt

Whether you have heart disease or not, cutting back on salt is always a good idea in our salt-heavy culture.

Here are some great replacement options from consumerreports.org:

Basil: This and other zesty seasonings, like ginger or black pepper, stimulate nerve receptors in the mouth that cause a zingy, tingling sensation, which distracts from the lack of salt. [ ]

Cayenne: The compound that gives cayenne its heat, capsaicin, activates the same neural pathways as salt. [ ]

Chipotle: This pepper adds smokiness but can overpower a dish on its own, Della Polla says. Combine it with onion and garlic powders, and cumin for a Southwestern blend that works in chili, tacos, and stews. [ ]

Roasted garlic: “Roasted garlic granules—found in the spice aisle—have a much more intense flavor than garlic powder,” Della Polla says. [ ]

Lemon-herb blend: Like salt, lemon brings out the flavors in a dish. You can pick up a premade lemon-herb mixture, but check that there’s no sodium in the blend, Della Polla says. Or make your own with lemon zest, onion and garlic powders, dill, paprika, coriander, oregano, and parsley. 

Read more about how to replace salt in your diet – https://www.consumerreports.org/health/sodium/ways-to-season-food-without-salt-a1201875690/