Dharma Feast Cookbook (51 page)

According to an article written by Jeffrey M. Smith, Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology
¹
and published on foodconsumer.com in May 2011:

There’s already plenty of evidence that the Bt-toxin produced in GM corn and cotton plants is toxic to humans and mammals
and
triggers immune system responses…. In government-sponsored research in Italy, mice fed Monsanto’s Bt corn showed a wide range of immune responses. Their elevated IgE and IgG antibodies, for example, are typically associated with allergies and infections. The mice had an increase in cytokines, which are associated with “allergic and inflammatory responses.” The specific cytokines (interleukins) that were elevated are also higher in humans who suffer from a wide range of disorders, from arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, to MS and cancer. The young mice in the study also had elevated T cells (gamma delta), which are increased in people with asthma, and in children with food allergies, juvenile arthritis, and connective tissue diseases. The Bt corn that was fed to these mice, MON 810, produced the same Bt-toxin that was found in the blood of women and fetuses.
²

We in America are a living, breathing science experiment, and no one is telling us we are participating in it.

Soy

Soybean products have been controversial for decades. One source will say they are excellent for our health and another will say they cause disease. Since soy is in almost everything (i.e., baby formulas, prepared soups, baked goods, some yogurt and ice cream products, sauces, frozen foods, bread, salad dressings) it’s worth it to investigate what’s going on.

Studies done over the last seventy years on humans and animals have shown that soybeans affect the thyroid. The goitrogens in soy act like a hormone and disrupt (or even suppress) the thyroid’s (and the endocrine system’s) delicate balance. If we are using thyroid replacement drugs and also eating a lot of soy, we are putting an enormous amount of pressure on our thyroids. In fact, environmental toxicologist Michael Fitzpatrick says the combination of thyroid drugs and high soy intake is how scientists induce thyroid cancer in lab animals.

Soy also contains enzyme inhibitors that stop trypsin and similar enzymes (needed for the digestion of protein) from working. The phytic acid in soy products can block absorption of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc. (All legumes have phytic acid, but soy has an unusually high amount.)

Soy contains haemagglutinin, which causes red blood cells to clump together. This is why soy is on the list of foods people on blood thinning medication can’t eat. Soy also coats the insides of the intestines, which can result in cramping and gas. This coating can also produce long-term problems in the ability to absorb amino acids. Other side effects are constipation, fatigue, and lethargy.

Much of the confusion around whether soy is good or not is the result of the advertising campaigns of Protein Technologies International, the American Soybean Association, and Archer Daniels Midland, who have spent hundreds of millions of advertising dollars promoting this message in order to ensure a market for the over seventy million acres of genetically modified soybeans planted each year by commercial farmers. This confusion is worsened by not knowing the difference between “whole soy foods” and “processed soy products.”

Whole soy foods are made from the whole bean and are fermented, which neutralizes the soybean’s known toxic effects. For centuries Asian cultures have eaten whole soy foods including tempeh, natto, miso, and soy sauce. Whole soy foods are a good source of protein and vitamins, and fermented food has many health benefits, introducing beneficial bacteria to the digestive tract and enhancing amino acid content.

Processed soy products, on the other hand, retain much of the inherent toxicity of soy. They are made from soy protein isolates (SPI) and textured soy protein (TSP). SPI is the concentrated protein pulled from soybeans. It is made by taking defatted soybean meal (soy meal soaked for twelve hours in hexane, petroleum ether, and/ or a chloroform/methanol solution) and washing it in an acid solution to pull the protein from it. This protein is put into another solution and then dried at extremely high temperatures, which strip it of any usable proteins. This process has been proven to produce carcinogens. As early as 1979 the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) reported that the only safe use of such a product was as a glue for cardboard boxes.

SPI is added to products to increase their protein content, even though it is indigestible, and to give them a smoother feel in the mouth. It is also used to keep foods from separating or crumbling and to help them hold their water and fat content.

Hundreds of studies over the last seventy years have linked SPI and TSP to malnutrition, digestive problems, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, reproductive disorders, infertility, cancer, heart disease, and a decline in mental abilities. Processed soy products, including tofu and soy milk, coat the insides of the intestines, which can result in cramping, constipation, and gas. If we eat them long enough, this coating interferes with the body’s ability to absorb nutrition. (Fortunately, you can replace soy milk with rice, almond, or oat milk.)

It has been pointed out for decades that Asians who eat soy don’t have the Western diseases linked to the intake of soy. But the soy industry’s own studies reveal that Asians eat whole soy foods, not processed soy products, in quantities ranging from 9 to 36 grams per day. Whereas one cup of processed soy milk contains 240 grams!

Never in history have so many people eaten so much soy. Over 60 percent of the food products on the market in the U.S. contain SPI or TSP in one of its various names—textured vegetable protein, soy protein isolate, hydrolyzed plant protein, hydrolyzed soy protein, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, or soy lecithin, to name a few. New soy-based products with new names are continually being developed.

Vegetarians have relied heavily on SPI and TSP products as a source of protein. Daniel M. Sheehan, formerly senior toxicologist with the FDA’S National Center for Toxicological Research, said that those who choose to eat SPI and TSP products are engaging in “a large, uncontrolled and basically unmonitored human experiment.”

Dairy Products

While we don’t recommend drinking milk or eating milk products on the Dharma Feast diet with the exception of organic butter or ghee, we recognize that some people will choose to do so. We want to make sure you have enough information to make healthy choices.

The U.S. National Dairy Council has spent decades making sure we believe we can’t have healthy bones and teeth unless we drink milk and eat dairy products. If we’re following the standard American diet, we’re eating and/or drinking a cow milk product at every meal.

Our recommendation is to avoid cow milk and it’s based on the health effects of these products. For example, according to a 2001 Harvard review of current research, there is a direct correlation between high dairy intake and prostate cancer. This is just one example of the negative results of eating dairy products.

Many of the problems associated with dairy intake are due to modern processing methods. Mechanical homogenization forcibly breaks up the fat globules in milk, which frees the enzyme
xanthine oxidase.
This enzyme can then enter the bloodstream. Studies published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have proven that this enzyme is capable of creating scar damage in the heart and arteries. The body releases cholesterol to form a protective fatty layer over the scarred areas. Over time this leads to arteriosclerosis, also called “hardening of the arteries,” a known cause of strokes and heart attacks.

The high heat of pasteurization destroys enzymes, including lactase and galactase. Lactase is necessary for digesting lactose. Undigested lactose is responsible for most allergic reactions and intolerance to cow milk products. Galactase is needed to assimilate calcium and its loss is one reason we can’t absorb most of the calcium in cow milk.

Cow milk is acidic after digestion and creates an acidic environment in the body. Calcium is used to neutralize acid. Since the calcium in cow milk isn’t absorbed, it can’t neutralize this acid, so calcium is pulled from our bones instead. Many studies have found a link between milk consumption and osteoporosis, which is a weakening of bones due to calcium loss, in older women and men. Europe, Australia, and New Zealand have higher rates of osteoporosis than the U.S. and these are also the only places where the population eats more milk products than we do in the U.S.

Another problem with dairy consumption is that we don’t know the long-term effects of drinking or eating milk and meat from animals treated with artificial growth hormones, as they have only been in use for a short time. However, studies have shown that drinking milk from cows treated with rBGH/rBST increases Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1) levels in blood. This hormone occurs naturally to regulate cell growth and remove old cells, but at increased levels it leads to uncontrolled cell growth and slows down the removal of old cells. Both of these situations may set the stage for cancer. Once cancer has set in, higher IGF-1 levels make cancer cells grow faster, especially in breast cancer. Despite this and many other human health concerns, no labeling of dairy products containing rBHG/rBST is required.

Studies at Cornell University proved that antibiotics given to cows end up in their milk.

Frequent exposure to antibiotic residues through milk or dairy products is a health concern for people over the long term. In the normal body, there are bacteria that live in the gut and mouth and help in the digestion of food in the gut. These “friendly” bacteria do not normally cause disease since the immune system keeps them in check…. Bacteria in the normal body that come across small amounts of antibiotics frequently can develop ways to survive the antibiotics and become “antibiotic resistant.” In cases of infection and illness, it then becomes more difficult to control such resistant bacteria with the available antibiotics.
³

We recommend butter from raw, organic cow milk, or organic ghee (clarified butter) on this diet. Raw cow milk still has the enzymes necessary for digestion because it has not been pasteurized or homogenized. If raw butter is not available in your area, then organic butter is recommended. However, we recommend eating any non-organic butter sparingly because of the health risks and possible chemical and antibacterial content discussed above.

For those who would like to keep milk in their diets but who now wish not to drink cow milk, goat milk is a healthier alternative. It is naturally homogenized, so the enzyme xanthine oxidase is not freed and absorbed into the bloodstream. Goat milk is also higher in many vitamins and minerals than cow milk, and its higher amount of medium chain fatty acids (MCT) means it forms smaller and softer curds, which are easier to digest, making it easier for us to absorb the calcium, vitamins, and minerals.

The protein lactalbumin, responsible for most cow milk allergies, is genetically different in goat milk. Many people who are lactose-intolerant can eat goat milk products. There is debate over whether goat milk ends up slightly acid or slightly alkaline after digestion, but even if it ends up slightly acidic, it is less so than cow milk, resulting in less calcium loss over time.

Raw goat milk is best, as the enzymes required for easy digestion are not destroyed, but pasteurized goat milk and its products are still better choices than cow milk.

Fish

While this book recommends a vegetarian diet, some of us may eat fish and meat, if not on a regular basis, then for special occasions. We offer the following in this spirit.

We do not recommend eating most fish because wild-caught fish has extremely high levels of heavy metals and other toxic substances. Farmed fish contain pesticides, antibiotics, and parasites and have significantly less nutritional value than wild-caught fish. Taras Grescoe’s article, “The Trouble with Salmon,” in the May 2009 issue of
Best Life
magazine, is a must read—
www.bestli-feonline.com/cms/publish/health/The-Trouble-with-Salmon.php.
(If the link no longer works the article has been incorporated into the chapter “An Economy of Scales” in
Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood.)
The following is synthesized from his recommendations:

In this article Mr. Grescoe thoroughly investigates the farmed salmon industry. Canadian salmon farmers have added the marine toxin Slice, or emamectin benzoate, to the food given to the fish in order to kill a particular parasite. This is more or less true for any farmed fish in the world. Emamectin benzoate, when given to rats and dogs, “causes tremors, spinal deterioration, and muscle atrophy.” It is a known neuro-toxin listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as “highly toxic.”