This month I have gotten a huge number of questions from facebook friends and likers of the page, as well as from coaching clients. It seems as though many are confused about my stance on particular health topics, so I want to clear up any of the confusion here in case you also had some of the same questions about previous blog entries or anything I’ve said via social media.
Question #1: Why don’t I advocate vitamin D supplementation?
Answer: I do advocate vitamin D supplementation through natural food sources such as cod liver oil, organ meats, and grass-fed dairy products (unpasteurized if available). In the summertime, your body may produce adequate amounts of vitamin D if you spend quite a lot of time in the sun without sunscreen, but most people still need to supplement natural vitamin production with vitamin-D rich foods. Instead of blocking healthy sunlight with toxic sunscreens that can lead to skin cancer and other types of cancer, taking 4 – 8 mg of astaxanthin daily can also help protect your skin from sun damage without blocking vitamin D production. Vitamin D pills are typically synthetic vitamin D, and no one really knows how your body may react to long-term usages of synthetic hormone precursors such as synthetic vitamin D.
Question #2: Why don’t I advocate folic acid supplementation even for pregnant women?
Answer: Similar to my stance on vitamin D, I do not advocate folic acid supplementation because folic acid is a synthetic ingredient that may raise your risk of developing various types of cancer. However, I do advocate supplementation with folate, which is a natural vitamin found in foods such as leafy greens, eggs, and liver. While most nutritional supplements are still formulated with synthetic folic acid because it is cheaper and easier to obtain, the Designs for Health line of products including PaleoMeal and PaleoCleanse are formulated with natural food-based folate, which is known to prevent cancer rather than cause it.
Question #3: Aren’t I aware that a high protein diet can cause osteoporosis and kidney damage, and that meat (especially meats high in saturated fat) causes cancer and heart disease?
Answer: First of all, I do not advocate a high protein diet, Atkins Diet, or Dukane Diet. These are dangerous fad diets that cannot be sustained over the long term or else you may run into problems from a lack of antioxidant-rich vegetables and fiber in your diet. However, there is plenty of evidence that suggests that animal protein does not leech calcium from bones or contribute to osteoporosis. In fact, animal protein may prevent osteoporosis, while plant-based protein can contribute to reduced bone density. Saturated fat coming from animal sources such as butter, tallow, and lard has never been found to contribute to heart disease or cancer. Dairy fat is even known to be protective against metabolic syndrome. Numerous studies have found an association between high intake of red meat and increased incidence of disease and premature death, but this is because people who eat a large amount of red meat typically also eat too much food in general and are overweight, sedentary, and smokers and/or alcoholics. People who lead a healthy lifestyle tend to avoid red meat simply because they’ve been told by the TV and by the doctor that it’s unhealthy. Therefore, people who eat less red meat tend to live longer, happier lives than those who eat several servings of red meat per day.
That’s it for now. I don’t want to bore you! If you do have any questions for me to answer here, just leave a comment below. Thanks!
P.S. Don’t forget the 21-Day PaleoCleanse starts April 1! Will you be joining me and the rest of the group in a bi-annual cleanse of all the toxic pollution that we breath in everyday from car exhaust, jet fuel, smog, herbicides, VOCs, PCBs, and whatever else they’re spraying in the sky?
Get 10% off all the PaleoCleanseproducts with discount code 10 when you place your order BEFORE April 1.
