High cholesterol NOT a factor in heart disease

Books:

This post includes a summary of a study published in Circulation 1963;27:229-236 and a recipe for crockpot chicken cacciatore.

Study title and authors:

Serum lipid levels and the severity of coronary and cerebral atherosclerosis in adequately nourished men, 60 to 69 years of age.

Paterson JC, Armstrong R, Armstrong EC.

This study can be accessed at: http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/27/2/229.pdf

The study investigated the relationship between blocked arteries and cholesterol levels in 42 autopsy patients aged 60-69.

Dr. Paterson and his colleagues did not find any connection between the degree of atherosclerosis and the blood cholesterol level; those who had low cholesterol were just as arteriosclerotic when they died as those who had high cholesterol.

More information on this subject: Books : Scientific Studies : Other Websites : Videos : Food Mall

Recipe of the day

Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore

Food Mall: Chicken

Ingredients:

1 lg. onion, thinly sliced

3 lbs. cut up chicken
2 (6 oz.) cans tomato paste
4 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. salt
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 2 tsp. oregano
1 bay leaf
1/2 cupwater

Instructions:
Place onions in bottom of crock pot. Add chicken pieces. Stir together remaining ingredients. Pour over chicken. Cook on low 7 to 9 hours; high 3 to 4 hours.

Chicken Cacciatore

What has caused the rise of diseases such as cancer, heart disease and infertility?

Over the past century there has been a massive change in the type of food that people eat.

Table 1 showing consumption of butter, lard, shortening, margarine and vegetable oils from 1909 to 1985

http://www.slidefinder.net/o/oilingofamerica/3194348/p3

Table 1 shows that over the past century, butter consumption has plummeted from 18 grams per person per day to 5. Consumption of lard has gone to very little while consumption of shortening has almost tripled. And the shortening in 1909 was made of coconut oil and lard. It was actually a natural product. Shortening today is made out of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Margarine consumption has gone up five fold. Look at just the liquid vegetable oils –more than a fifteen-fold increase. These rancid vegetable oils are completely new to the human diet. These changes in fat-and-oil consumption patterns are the major cause of our modern diseases, including heart disease, cancer, infertility and learning disabilities in our children.

More information on this subject: Books : Scientific Studies : Other Websites : Videos : Food Mall 

Recipe of the day

Food Mall: Sirloin Steak

Pan-Fried Beef

Ingredients:

4 sirloin or rump steaks

15ml/2tbsp tallow
25g/1oz butter

Instructions:
Heat 15ml/1tbsp tallow and 25g/1oz butter in a non-stick or griddle pan. Season 4 beef rump or sirloin steaks and fry the steaks over a medium heat according to preference.

Pan Fried Beef

High blood cholesterol is NOT the cause of blocked arteries

This post features data from a study published in the Archives of Pathology 1936;22:301-312 and a recipe for garlic chicken.

Books:

Study title and authors:

Human atherosclerosis in relation to the cholesterol content of the blood serum.
Landé KE, Sperry WM.

In 1936, researchers Lande and Sperry looked at cholesterol levels and the deposition of fat in the aorta in people who had died sudden deaths. As you can see, this chart is like putting a shot gun against a piece of white paper. There is no correlation between levels of cholesterol in the blood and the amount of blockage in the arteries. Some subjects had very low levels of cholesterol but a high amount of blockage, whole others had high levels of cholesterol and a low amount of blockage.

More information on this subject: Books : Scientific Studies : Other Websites : Videos : Food Mall

Recipe of the day

Garlic Chicken

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

Food Mall: Chicken

1 large onion, diced

pepper to taste
juice of 2 lemons
2 large carrots, sliced
4 celery stalks, sliced
2 3-pound chickens, cut into pieces, no backs or wings
20-30 garlic cloves, unpeeled and left whole

Instructions:
Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion, carrots and celery, stirring constantly, until they are soft. With a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetables to a casserole dish with a tight-fitting lid, or to a clay pot. lay the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables. Sprinkle with pepper and lemon juice. Put the garlic around and on the chicken pieces. Cover tightly, this is essential, because the chicken must cook in its own juices. Cook in a preheated 350F oven for 1 hour. Do not uncover until ready to serve.



Garlic Chicken



Non-vegetarians live longer than vegetarians

Published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 36, 873-877 Nov 1982

Vegetarianism, dietary fiber, and mortality
ML Burr and PM Sweetnam

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ajcn.org/content/36/5/873.short

The table below presents the annual death rates for vegetarians and nonvegetarians derived from the raw data in the seven-year Burr and Sweetnam study. As can be seen, the "marked" difference between vegetarian and nonvegetarian men in Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) was only .11 percent. The difference in all-cause death rate was in the opposite direction, a fact that Burr and Sweetnam failed to mention. Moreover, the IHD and death rates among females were actually slightly greater for heart disease and substantially greater for all causes in vegetarians than in nonvegetarians.

Annual Death Rates of Vegetarians and Nonvegetarians

                                      IHD   All-Cause

Male vegetarians           .22%     .93%

Male nonvegetarians     .33%     .88%

Female vegetarians       .14%     .86%

Female nonvegetarians .10%     .54%

These results are absolutely NOT supportive of the proposition that vegetarianism protects against either heart disease or all-cause mortalities. In fact, they indicate that vegetarianism is more dangerous for women than for men.

AMAZON UK Vegetarian Myth, The
AMAZON USA The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability

Ask The Shifu - Part 1

These are some of the questions I regularly get asked via email from my students. You can ask me questions by email: info@shifuyanlei.co.uk. 

Q: What are the proper times to do Qigong?

A: The only times that are not optimal for practicing Qigong is between 11- 12 in the morning and 11  - 12 in the night. If there is heavy rain or thunder then you should refrain from doing Qigong.

Q: How many times should I practice Qigong if I'm a beginner?

A: This depends on what you want to get out of Qigong. The first thing is you need to remember the movement and secondly you need to make the movement correct. If you don't spend enough time mastering the movement then you can't reap the benefit of the practice. Qigong is for your health so you should do it at least four times a week. Quality is better than quantity so a 20 minute fully focused session is better than one hour. It's best if you can make Qigong into a daily routine the same as if you eat your lunch or dinner and then it will be automatic and you don't need to think about it.

Q: Should I wait a number of days after sexual activity before doing Qigong?

A: Qigong builds up your Yang energy and sexual activity uses Yang energy so many people believe that there needs to be a number of days between practicing Qigong and having sex but this isn't necessarily true. For the Qigong that I teach in my DVDs and book , having sexual activity and doing Qigong is not a problem unless you are very weak. If you do practice Qigong then it is necessary that you don't have sex for 100 days. If you are not very strong and you want to build your Yang energy then it's good to stop having sex for at least 30 days when you are building up your practice. People's bodies are different. Focus on what your body is feeling. There are no rules.

Q: How many times should I be practicing the Qi Gong from the beginner DVD before I can move onto the next DVD?

A: Once the movement feels natural and your body feels as if it is getting the benefit and you will never forget this movement so you can swap the movements around  and you know exactly when to inhale and exhale then you are ready to move onto the second DVD. Once you know the forms from all of the Qigong's you can then practice different forms at different times.

Q: Is it safe to practice Qigong without the supervision of a Shifu?

A: It depends on what Qigong you practice. The qigong I teach on my DVDs and books is safe but there are some Qigongs that you can't learn from a DVD or book such as Shaolin Steel Jacket and other hard Qigongs.

Q: Most Shaolin masters seem to be vegetarian, is this true?

A: The Shaolin masters who I know that do martial arts are not vegetarian but they are very in tune with their body and know what food they need to eat to get a proper balanced diet optimal for their training. In the temple we are vegetarian but if we go out of the temple grounds then we do sometimes eat meat.

Q: Do you do weight lifting? Is weight lifting good for martial arts?

A: I don't do weight lifting. I use my body weight to do exercise. Lifting can be good but it depends on how you use it. You need to be clever. If you are a martial artist you need to be flexible, your punch and kick need to quick and strong so you need to make your body lean. When you use weights you have to know what you want. If you want to build up power then you need to use light weights & do more reps. If you want to build up strength then you have to use very heavy weights for a short time.

Q: What kind of diet do you have?

A: Your diet depends on what your are doing, are you training or not? All my life I have trained so my diet is very simple. If I train very early in the morning this means I can't cook breakfast and wait an hour before training so I make an energy drink with four or five different nuts, milk or soya milk or coconut milk, four of five fruits and vegetables like banana, carrots, or apple. I put this all in a food processor and drink it. Then I train for two hours. This gives me enough energy to do my training. Throughout the day I eat nuts and fruit to keep my energy up. For lunch I eat a very big meal which usually consists of meat, rice and vegetables . I eat less for dinner, sometimes just five different fruits. If I train later in the morning then I will eat my dinner for breakfast. I think it's best to eat heavy food earlier rather than in the evening. 

Saturated fat helps control diabetes

This post includes a summary of a paper published in Endocrine Practice 2002 May-Jun;8(3):177-83 and a recipe for poached chicken.

Books:

Study title and authors:

Results of use of metformin and replacement of starch with saturated fat in diets of patients with type 2 diabetes.
Hays JH, Gorman RT, Shakir KM.
Christiana Care Health Services, Inc., Cardiology Research, Newark, Delaware 19718, USA.,

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12113629

Hays concluded that addition of saturated fat and removal of starch in the diet led to improved glycemic control and weight loss.

More information on this subject: Books : Scientific Studies : Websites : Videos : Food Mall

Recipe of the day

Poached Chicken

Ingredients:

Food Mall: Chicken Breast

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 c sliced scallions
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 t ground cloves
• 4 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped
• 1/8 t ground saffron (optional)
• 1/8 t ground pepper
• 1 T red wine

Instructions:
In a large frying pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add scallions and cook until lightly browned (about 3 minutes).

Add garlic and cayenne pepper; cook 1 minute.

Add tomatoes, red wine, bay leaf, cloves, saffron and pepper.

Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

Place chicken on top of sauce. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until chicken is tender and opaque.



Statins in the water supply

What Has The Alliance Ever Done For Us?

Based on the Scene ‘What have the Romans ever done for us?’ from the film "Monty Python's Life of Brian"

Sometime in the future.....The powerful dictators that were in charge had made it compulsory for EVERYONE to eat their chemical laden, GMO infested, industrially produced food, which had to be purchased from one of their “approved” outlets. Nobody was allowed to grow or rear their own food and if anyone tried to produce any food that did not contribute to the big agri-business profit machine, they were met by dawn raids by armed police officers and were promptly shot. All small scale independent farmers had long since been outlawed.

Because of the industrially produced food consumption health issues had reached a critical state, (everyone was born diabetic and by the age of ten had developed some kind of disease or condition such as cancer, depression, ADHD, asthma, heart failure, Parkinson’s etc), that 85% of people’s wages were spent on health insurance, health care and pharmaceutical drugs. (It was compulsory to take a statin drug from birth and they were also added to the water supply).

The dictators had outlawed any natural herbal remedies and anyone seen so much as picking even any kind of weed from the roadside was subject to a mandatory 20 year prison sentence.

Out of this misery an alliance of independent thinkers emerged which gained the support of the people and managed to overthrow the dictators. The alliance comprised of Dave Dixon, Kurt Harris, Chris Masterjohn, Andrew Badenoch, Sally Fallon, Tom Naughton, Michael Eades, Mark Sisson, Richard Nikoley, Charles Washington, Natasha Campbell-McBride, Uffe Ravnskov, Gary Taubes, Jimmy Moore, Petro Dobromylskyj, Barry Groves, Michael D. Fox, Stephan Guyenet, and a few more. Probably the most influential member of the alliance was Sally Fallon. The alliance put policies in place that made it possible for EVERYBODY to eat organic unadulterated natural real food, either grown in their own garden or bought from their local farmer.

The implementation of these policies has decimated the profits of the former global chiefs’ multinational corporations and they are plotting their revenge...

The interior of WILLIAM C WELDON’S office at Johnson & Johnson. A darkened room with a very conspiratorial atmosphere. OBAMA and BIDEN are seated at a table at one end of the room. MUHTAR KENT leader of Coca Cola, dressed in Activist gear — black robes and a red sash around his head — is standing by a plan on the wall. He is addressing an audience of about eight MASKED Activists including PAUL POLMAN from Unilever. Their faces are partially hidden.

Muhtar:
We get in through the underground heating system here... up through to the main audience chamber here... and Sally’s office is here. Having grabbed a hostage, we inform Sally that we have a hostage in our custody and forthwith issue our demands. Any questions?

Polman:
What exactly are the demands?

Obama:
We're giving Sally two days to dismantle the entire apparatus of the alliance way of eating and if she doesn't agree immediately we feed the hostage our industrially produced bread and soy.

Weldon:
Industrially produced bread and soy?

Muhtar:
Yes industrially produced bread and soy, we need to take extreme measures. Send pictures back every hour on the hour... show her we're not to be trifled with.

Obama:
Also, we're demanding a ten foot mahogany statue of Sally eating soy and sugar coated cereals.

Biden:
What? They'll never agree to that, Barrack.

Obama:
That's just a bargaining counter. And of course, we point out that they bear full responsibility when we broadcast pictures of the hostage eating industrially produced bread and soy, and... that we shall not submit to blackmail.

Polman:
(Applause) No blackmail!

Obama:
She’s bled us dry, Sally has. She’s taken everything we had, not just from us, from Pfizer, from Monsanto, from Astra Zeneca.

Biden:
And from Glaxo Smith Kline, Johnson & Johnson and Merck.

Obama:
Yes.

Biden:
And from Archer Daniels Midland, Tyson, Chiquita, Roche and Abbott.

Obama:
All right, Joe. Don't labour the point. And what have she ever given us in return?

Polman:
She’s eradicated diabetes.

Obama:
Oh yeah, yeah she did that. Yeah. That's true.

Masked Activist:
And cancer!

Biden:
Oh yes...cancer, Barrack, you remember what how that used to be like.

Obama:
All right, I'll grant you that eradicating diabetes and cancer are two things that Sally has done...

Weldon:
And we don’t need health insurance anymore, no one's ever ill...

Obama:
(sharply) Well yes obviously health insurance ... health insurance goes without saying. But apart from eradicating diabetes & cancer and not needing health insurance...

Another Masked Activist:
No one’s depressed or commits suicide anymore...

Other Masked Voices:
She’s eradicated ADHD... asthma... obesity...

Obama:
Yes... all right, fair enough...

Activist Near Front:
And we all love a grass fed rib-eye...

Polman:
Oh yes! True!

Muhtar:
Yeah. That's something we'd really miss if Sally left, Barrack.

Masked Activist at Back:
Pemmican!

Biden:
Everyone is happy and contented and it's safe to walk in the streets at night now.

Muhtar:
Yes, they certainly know how to keep order... (general nodding)... let's face it, they're the only ones who could in a place like this. (more general murmurs of agreement)

Obama:
All right... all right... but apart from eradicating diabetes, cancer, not needing health insurance, eradicating depression, suicide, ADHD, asthma and obesity... oh yes, and giving all of us those juicy steaks and tasty pemmican, and now everyone’s happy and contented we have public order... apart from that... what has Sally ever done for us?

Polman:
Brought peace and true health!

Obama:
(very angry, he's not having a good meeting at all) What!? Oh... (scornfully) Peace and health, yes... shut up!