Tag: the dolce diet

DOLCE REVEALS WHAT SEPARATES HIM FROM THE REST
by Stephanie Daniels, Crooklyn’s Corner
Mike Dolce is a name that pops up frequently in MMA. Whether it be from fighting professionally, guiding the top athletes to healthier lifestyles or writing books, more and more people are recognizing him, and his contributions to the sport. TapouT Radio conducted a recent interview with the nutrition guru, and was able to extract the recipe for success, the Dolce way.

“What people don’t realize, is that I’ve been working with elite level athletes for over 20 years. I currently work with the best athletes in the world, on a daily basis. My guys are in the top 3 or top 5 in their weight classes, in the world. My skills, my techniques, my philosophies, my education, and my experience is constantly being refined among the world’s most elite. When you have a relationship with somebody, you experience and you absorb parts of that relationship. I deal with elite athletes, that are on elite teams, with elite coaches, coaching systems and techniques, and they themselves have decades of elite training behind them. I am constantly on the forefront of the sport. I can say that with the utmost confidence. I know what I do in a given day, and I hear when world champions point at me and say the amazing things that they say about me, and how revolutionary my techniques are. That’s why people know the Dolce Diet. That’s what separates me from the rest. Now there’s people that spend a lot of time, sitting in school and getting degrees and all those great things, and that’s nice, but that’s just a very small piece. The experience of being in the trenches, of course, is the most important thing, you know, what actually does work, in a real world setting. Then I take that information, and I add it to the next elite athlete. I have constant petri dishes. I have my experiments, all over the world. My athletes are at the top of the heap, and I’m a part of their performance.”
 
With a new book, websites, family and a full schedule, working with the likes of Chael Sonnen, Thiago Alves, Chris Leben, Jay Heiron, Jake Ellenberger, and Keith Jardine, one has to wonder if Mike has a clone or two stashed in a closet. When asked how he manages to keep all theses components in balance, and if he might be taking on too much, he stated,

“Am I spreading myself too thin? Absolutely not. I’m actually very efficient in blocking out my time. When I deal with an athlete, I deal with them in very specific terms, so each one I work with, retains me for very specific features or responsibilities, and I’m able to professionally maintain all my relationships and fulfill all my duties to them. The area that takes the biggest hit, is my home life, but I’m blessed with a wonderful family that supports me, and allows me time to focus on my work with the athletes, and getting these guys in the best shape of their life. I’m pretty close to the end of my ability to bring on new athletes, though. I’m a loyal guy, and I’m going to stick with the guys I currently work with, with very rare exceptions.”
 
Mike’s new book, Living Lean is releasing in September, via his website. He gave a little insight on it, saying,
“It’s kind of a beginner’s story about myself, getting into the industry and to the business. There is a little bit of a story to it. The story is meant to coach and to teach very specific principles that I want you to walk away with. I get into nutrition, and I show you how you can eat as an athlete, a vegan, a gluten free practitioner, or if you’re just concerned with health and wellness. Those four different nutritional types are what I discuss. I also get into exercise programs, for general wellness or professional athletes. Truly, it’s to build a profile of very lean, healthy, vibrant and energized lifestyles.”
Story written for CrooklynsCorner.com

What’s Really In Your Milk?
By: Dr. Joseph Mercola
Milk is thought of as a wholesome food, which is why so many parents give it to their children with every meal. And the truth is, it is wholesome when it’s in its raw form and sourced from cows fed non-contaminated grass and raised in clean conditions.
Unfortunately, the milk that winds up in most Americans’ glasses is far from this unadulterated state and, as the study above revealed, instead may be a veritable chemical cocktail.
What’s Really in Your Milk?
Spanish and Moroccan researchers used a highly sensitive test to determine what types of medications could be found in a variety of milk (cow, goat and human breast milk), and they hit the chemical jackpot. Medications used to treat diseases in both humans and animals were revealed. Among the drugs and hormones detected were:
Anti-inflammatories (niflumic acid, mefenamic acid, ketoprofen, diclofenac, phenylbutazone, naproxen, flunixin, diclofenac) Antibiotics (florfenicol) Natural hormones (estrone)
Sex hormones (17-beta-estradiol) Steroid hormones (17-alpha-ethinylestradiol) Anti-malaria drugs (pyrimethamine)
Anti-fungal drugs (triclosan)
While all types of milk tested contained chemicals, including breast milk, cow’s milk contained the highest levels. Some of these drugs and hormones were given to the cows directly, while others were likely ingested from the cattle food or contamination on the farm.
The truth is, chemical contaminants are now showing up throughout the entire food chain, which is why it’s so important to choose your food wisely, from farmers who make efforts to avoid toxins like these and certainly don’t add to the problem by supplying them directly. Unfortunately, if you buy your milk in most supermarkets, you can rest assured that it will probably contain contaminants you’d be better off avoiding.
Big Dairy Routinely Gives Drugs to Cows
It’s hard enough to raise pure food these days considering that environmental pollution is rampant, so finding pure water and soil can be a challenge. But in the case of big dairy, they are contributing to this pollution and taking no steps to ensure that their cows, or the milk they produce, are free from drugs and hormones. In fact, they readily feed these chemicals to the cows; it’s an integral part of the farming method on CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations).
For instance, did you know that every year U.S. inspectors find illegal levels of antibiotics in dairy cows? And that when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made plans to test milk from cows that had shown high levels of drug residues repeatedly, the dairy industry protested … and the FDA backed down and postponed the testing?
It’s true.
And now, instead of looking out for Americans’ health and taking action against what could be dangerously high levels of antibiotics in milk (not to mention contributing to the spread of antibiotic-resistant disease), they are planning to “confer with the industry before deciding how to proceed,” the New York Times reported. Dairy cows raised on CAFOs also eat grains that are heavily treated with chemicals that are transferred to the milk.
Do You Want Hormones With Your Milk?
There’s also the issue of recombinant (genetically engineered) bovine growth hormone (rBGH), which is used to significantly increase milk production in cows. Treated cows can produce as much as 15-25 percent more milk. But this increase in milk production, and hence profit, has hidden costs, namely the cows’ and your health.
For nearly two decades, the FDA has held on to their initial finding that there’s “no significant difference” between the milk of cows given genetically modified artificial growth hormone and those that aren’t. But the milk produced by these cows has been shown to be anything BUT identical to untreated milk.
Hormone-treated milk is different from non-treated milk because:
It contains increased levels of the hormone IGF-1, which promotes cancer tumors. According to Dr. Epstein, professor emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the University of Illinois School of Public Health, and Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, excess levels of IGF-1 have been incriminated as major causes of breast, colon, and prostate cancers
Hormone use “induces an unnatural period of milk production during a cow’s “negative energy phase.” Milk produced during this stage is considered to be low quality due to its increased fat content and its decreased level of proteins, an Ohio court, which ruled that milk in Ohio can still bear an “rbGH-free” label, stated.
It contains increased somatic cell counts (SCC’s). This means the milk contains more pus, which makes it turn sour more quickly. Increased SCC count also affects the milk’s taste, smell, texture and color. Raised SCC levels is typically caused by the high incidence of mastitis in rBGH-injected cows
Further, Dr. Epstein has pointed out several additional differences between rBGH milk and untreated milk and all of these factors can cause or contribute to health problems:
Contamination of the milk by the GM hormone rBGH
Contamination of the milk with illegal antibiotics and drugs used to treat mastitis and other rBGH-induced disease
Increased concentration of the thyroid hormone enzyme thyroxin-5′-monodeiodinase
Increased concentration of long-chain and decreased concentration of short-chain fatty acids
A reduction in levels of the milk protein casein
Want Better Milk? This Option is Even Superior to Organic
You may be thinking that the solution to purer milk is to buy organic. Organic milk is clearly better as organic dairy cows will not be given rBGH or routine antibiotics … but it will still have been pasteurized, and this seriously compromises the quality of the milk.
A better option is grass-fed RAW milk, which is nearly always better than organic milk if it is purchased from a conscious farmer. In that case, it may not be certified organic, but it will essentially be organic anyway, and drinking your milk raw is the superior choice. Milk from grass-fed cows, unlike grain-fed cows, will be high in CLA that is loaded with many health benefits including helping you lose weight.
I typically have four tablespoons of raw grass-fed butter a day and that has 1,000 mg of CLA.. So if you are having the real whole food with the beneficial fat you do not need the supplement.
Pasteurization transforms the physical structure of the proteins in milk, such as casein, and alters the shape of the amino acid to one that your body is not equipped to handle. The process also destroys the beneficial bacteria typically found naturally in milk and drastically reduces the micronutrient and vitamin content.
Pasteurization also destroys part of the vitamin C in raw milk, encourages the growth of harmful bacteria, and turns milk’s naturally occurring sugar (lactose) into beta-lactose. Beta-lactose is rapidly absorbed in the human body, with the result that hunger can return quickly after a glass of milk — especially in children. The pasteurization process also makes insoluble most of the calcium found in raw milk. This can lead to a host of health problems in children, among them rickets and bad teeth. And then there’s the destruction of about 20 percent of the iodine available in raw milk, which can cause constipation.
When pasteurized milk is also homogenized, a substance known as xanthine oxidase is created. This compound can play a role in oxidative stress by acting as a free radical in your body.
Raw milk, on the other hand, contains good bacteria that are essential for a healthy digestive system, and offers protection against disease-causing bacteria … so I don’t recommend you waste a penny on pasteurized organic milk — seek out milk (and other dairy products) from a reputable raw dairy instead.
Tips for Finding High-Quality Raw Milk
The quality, purity and cleanliness of your milk is only as good as the farm it came from, which is why I want to explain how to identify high-quality sources of raw milk. Right now, only 10 states permit the retail sale of raw milk, and each state sets its own standards. California, specifically, has its own special set of standards for raw milk for human consumption, in which farmers must meet or exceed pasteurized milk standards, without pasteurizing.
Finding raw milk is NOT that hard and nearly everyone should be able to locate a supplier if you are persistent enough. You can find raw milk retailers in California by using the store locator available at www.OrganicPastures.com, and for other areas, check out the Campaign for Real Milk Web site. You can also look here to find out the legal status of raw milk in the U.S. state or country where you live.
Since many raw milk producers are very small farms, and the standards that do exist vary from state to state, how do you go about identifying solid, high-quality producers of raw milk if you can’t just buy it in a store nearby? There are a few general conditions you should look for, including:
Low pathogenic bacteria count (i.e. does the farmer test his milk regularly for pathogens?)
The milk is quickly chilled after milking
The milk comes from cows raised naturally, in accordance with the seasons
The cows are mainly grass-fed and well cared for
The cows are not given antibiotics and growth hormones to increase milk production
If you’re thinking about purchasing milk from a small farmer, it would be very wise to visit the farm in person. Look around and ask questions, such as:
Do the farmer and his family drink the milk themselves?
How long has he been producing raw milk?
Are the cows clean?
What conditions are the cows raised in?
Are there any obvious sanitation questions?
If a cow is covered in filth and manure, stinks, is wet and cold and doesn’t look particularly comfortable, that could be a warning sign that her milk is less than ideal for consumption, even if it’s from a small, local farm. Virtually all cows raised on CAFOs will be raised in these types of poor conditions, which is another reason I don’t recommend consuming milk that comes from these big dairy sources.
For more information, I suggest you to listen to my interview with Mark McAfee, the founder of Organic Pastures, one of the largest producers of raw milk in the United States and clearly, one of the leaders in this industry.
Mark McAfee’s experience and knowledge base on this topic is phenomenal, and the interview covers many of the facets involved in raising healthy cows and producing healthy raw milk, as well as the numerous health benefits, and potential pitfalls, of raw milk. Unfortunately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is trying to shut down your right to choose to drink raw milk. You can learn more about this unconstitutional assault on one of your most basic rights here.
Originally story written for Mercola.com

Two college wrestlers collided in an active three-round tilt made on three days’ notice. Late replacement Shawn Jordan was game but unable to match his more prepared opponent’s gas tank, and Devin Cole won the unanimous decision to get his 19th MMA win (with 9 losses, 1 draw). Video: Cole post-fight interview
The first round was competitive, with Cole using his reach advantage to paw at Jordan before being bulled into the cage by the larger heavyweight. A trip resulted in the men hitting the ground, with Jordan taking Cole’s back, but he was unable to sink a choke and the two scrambled back to their feet. Jordan caught a leg and punished Cole with sharp shots that landed square as the bell rang.
A standing exchange opened the second, and a knee connected with Jordan, who seemed to wake up from the blow. But Cole shot in and struggled for a takedown. For the rest of the second, Cole pressed Jordan against the cage, and the former LSU football player bent over with one hand on the ground to avoid blows to the head.

Jordan was exhausted by round three, but he gamely lumbered forward for several minutes of standing exchanges. Both men narrowly missed with powerful uppercuts, but back at the cage, Cole secured another takedown that ended with him in half-guard. Dominant elbows and hammerfists in the closing minute secured his UD win over Jordan, whose record now stands at 11-2. Scores for Cole were 30-27 twice and 29-28.
Photo & Story originally posted at Strikeforce.com

Devin Cole makes a successful return to the Strikeforce cage after dropping 25 lbs in just 5 weeks prior to his co-main event fight in Strikeforce, which was show live on Showtime cable television.
Cole weighed 263 lbs on Fathers Day, June 19, 2011 just before starting ‘The Dolce Diet’ and weighed 239 lbs on the official scale July 21, 2011.

Working in MMA: Mike Dolce Talks About Peak Performance, Maury and Manicures
By Maggie Hendricks
This week, Cagewriter is taking a look at the different jobs that help the MMA world turn. See part I of the series here.
Today, we look at Mike Dolce, the peak performance coach who is known to help fighters improve their nutrition, and in turn, the way they fight. After working as a strength coach for 20 years and appearing on the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Dolce has worked with fighters such as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Thiago Alves, Chris Leben and Vitor Belfort.
Cagewriter: What is your job like on a day-to-day basis?
Mike Dolce: I’m running multiple training camps from afar. Right now, in Vegas, I’m running Vitor Belfort’s training camp and Mike Pyle’s. I also have Thiago Alves coming up, and I’m his head coach. I cover so many hats with him, but Vitor and Pyle, I work specifically with their nutrition and weight management issues.
I say more peak performance coach because I do the meals, I do the weights, I do the overall training management. I’m the filter for the other coaches. I set up the training schedule from day to day. I even structure in their business meetings and social function as they get closer to fight time.
CW: Thiago, for example, you set his day?
MD: With Thiago, I literally set up his 24 hours, seven-day a week schedule. Which coach to go to, when he’s not allowed to train, because that can be a problem with him, so I have to pull him back a lot. I have to schedule in massage therapy or alternate therapies to make sure he’s not going to go to the gym.
On Sundays, I would schedule “Man-Day.” He and I would go have a nice breakfast, and then go to a spa. We’d get a haircut, massages, get our feet and hands fixed it, even the random facial. It’s important. I incorporate all those things to make sure my fighters are well-rounded.
I try to keep what I call “the positive bubble around fighters” and not let any negativity in. With Mike Pyle, I would get breakfast ready as he watched a fishing show on Versus, but now the Tour de France is on. It broke our rhythm, so instead of watching fishing, he switched to another channel with Maury and the Jerry Springer show. I’m in the kitchen, 20 feet away and I can feel the negative energy come out of the TV. I had to change the channel just to watch something more positive. You can’t start your day with that kind of negative mind frame.
CW: What is a fight week like for you?
MD: I try to get to town a day prior to the athlete, then I set up the hotel room and do the food shopping. For Chris Leben, he got into town on Monday night, and before he even got here, I packed a huge cooler with the proper foods that Chris was going to need. I made sure he had everything he was going to need, coordinate with his team, talk about what his weight cut process is going to be. On weigh-in day, I will be with him through the weigh-ins, and then go back to his room for the rehydration process. That carries all the way through to the minute he steps in the cage, performs, and then even afterwards, when I give him the food and fluids that need to go in his body to help him repair and recover from that. My job typically doesn’t end until Sunday morning.
CW: What is the best part of your job?
MD: The best part of my job is spreading health. My primary focus is not world titles, and it’s not money, or any of those things. It’s to make my athletes as healthy as possible. That’s the most rewarding part: seeing kids like Thiago Alves, not so much go out there and have a dominant performance, but it’s for him to feel so good and be so happy with himself because his body is in a positive state. Performance is just a by-product of that.

CW: But what’s the worst part?
MD: I wouldn’t point to a worst part and say that it’s bad, but the hardest part is dealing with the ups and the downs of the sport. You can work with an athlete, and have a great training camp and he’ll go out there on fight night, and something doesn’t work. I’m so emotionally attached to my fighters that it’s a hard roller coaster. For me, it’s multiple times in a single night.
Actually, the worst part is the time away from my family, but it’s a choice, but I’m not going to be a victim to it. It’s something we’ve decided over the next few years to do this.
Follow Mike Dolce on Twitter @TheDolceDiet.
Tomorrow’s working in MMA profile will focus on Bernie Profato, head of the Ohio Athletic Commission.
Original story posted on YAHOO.com

Why did the Russians Ban an Appliance Found in 90% of American Homes?
By: Dr. Joseph Mercola
By now, you probably know that what you eat has a profound impact on your health. The mantra, “You are what you eat” is really true.
But you need to consider not only WHAT you buy, but how you cook it.
Eating most of your food raw is ideal. But most of us are not going to be able to accomplish a completely raw diet, and we’ll end up cooking some percentage of our food.
Smart food preparation starts with high quality foods and food preparation and that means saying sayonara to your microwave oven. Need to sterilize a dishcloth? Use your microwave. But zapping your casserole is a BAD idea if you are interested in preparing healthy food.
Why the no nukes policy?
When it comes to microwave ovens, the price for convenience is to compromise your health. In this article, I will review what we know about the effects microwaves on your food and on your body.
Sad State of Our Soils
Over the past century, the quality of fresh food has declined due to soil depletion, unsustainable farming practices, overproduction of crops, and the use of pesticides and herbicides. You can no longer assume you’re getting all of the vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and phytonutrients you need by eating a multitude of fresh produce—even if you’re eating organically.
Not surprisingly, a calorie today will provide you less nutrition than a calorie from 100, or even 50 years ago.
Three recent studies of historical food composition have shown 5 to 40 percent declines in some of the minerals in fresh produce, and another study found a similar decline in our protein sources.[1]
So now, more than ever, you must be careful to maximize the “bang for your buck” when it comes to the foods you eat.
Research shows that your microwave oven will NOT help you in these efforts—and in fact will threaten your health by violently ripping the molecules in your food apart, rendering some nutrients inert, at best, and carcinogenic at its worst.
Convenience Comes at Significant Toxic Threat to You and Your Family
Microwaves heat food by causing water molecules in it to resonate at very high frequencies and eventually turn to steam which heats your food. While this can rapidly heat your food, what most people fail to realize is that it also causes a change in your food’s chemical structure.
There are numerous issues that have emerged since microwave ovens were first introduced to consumers more than 40 years ago, besides depleting your food’s nutritional value, which will be addressed a bit later.
The first thing you probably noticed when you began microwaving food was how uneven the heating is.
“Hot spots” in microwaved food can be hot enough to cause burns—or build up to a “steam explosion.” This has resulted in admonitions to new mothers about NOT using the microwave to heat up baby bottles, since babies have been burned by super-heated formula that went undetected.
Another problem with microwave ovens is that carcinogenic toxins can leach out of your plastic and paper containers/covers, and into your food.
The January/February 1990 issue of Nutrition Action Newsletter reported the leakage of numerous toxic chemicals from the packaging of common microwavable foods, including pizzas, chips and popcorn. Chemicals included polyethylene terpthalate (PET), benzene, toluene, and xylene. Microwaving fatty foods in plastic containers leads to the release of dioxins (known carcinogens) and other toxins into your food. [8] [2]
One of the worst contaminants is BPA, or bisphenol A, an estrogen-like compound used widely in plastic products. In fact, dishes made specifically for the microwave often contain BPA, but many other plastic products contain it as well.
Microwaving distorts and deforms the molecules of whatever food or other substance you subject to it. An example of this is blood products.
Blood is normally warmed before being transfused into a person. Now we know that microwaving blood products damages the blood components. In fact, one woman died after receiving a transfusion of microwaved blood in 1991 , which resulted in a well-publicized lawsuit.
Microwave Radiation Leakage
You may have heard that there is some danger of microwaves escaping from your microwave while it’s operating. This was more of a risk with earlier models than with recent ones, which undergo more rigorous testing.
Theoretically, there are very small amounts of radiation leakage through the viewing glass, but the FDA reports these levels are “insignificant” and “well below the level known to harm people.”
The FDA has been regulating microwave ovens since 1971 through its electronic product radiation control program, which is mandated by the Electronic Product Radiation Control provisions of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act[3] .
The FDA limits the amount of microwaves that can leak from an oven throughout its lifetime to 5 milliwatts (mW) per square centimeter at approximately 2 inches from the oven surface. Because microwave energy decreases dramatically as you move away from the source of the radiation, a measurement made 20 inches from your oven would be approximately one-hundredth of the value measured at 2 inches.[2]
The federal standard also requires all ovens to have “two independent interlock systems that stop the production of microwaves the moment the latch is released or the door is opened.”
And a monitoring system is also required, which stops the operation if one or both interlock systems fail.
You would think, with all these tests and regulations, that you’d be safe. However, according to Powerwatch, a non-profit independent organization with a central role in the microwave radiation debate:
“Even when the microwave oven is working correctly, the microwave levels within the kitchen are likely to be significantly higher than those from any nearby cellular phone base-stations. Remember also that microwaves will travel through walls if the microwave oven is against an inside wall.”
Powerwatch also states that we don’t really know if the current regulations about leakage are truly safe and recommends ovens be checked at least annually, since microwave emissions can change with normal use.
You might also consider purchasing a $20 testing device that allows you to check the radiation in your home.
Make sure that, if you are going to use your microwave for cleaning sponges or for any use at all, regularly examine the door and hinges to make sure they are sealing properly. If the door doesn’t close correctly, or if it’s warped, bent, or otherwise damaged, don’t use it at all!
Since your eyes are known to be particularly susceptible to microwave radiation (high microwave exposures are known to cause cataracts), I recommend stepping away from your microwave while it’s in use.
New Study Confirms Microwaves Affect Your Heart
A recent study examining the effects 2.4 GHz radiation (which is the frequency of radiation emitted by Wifi routers and microwave ovens) on the heart was just completed. The study found “unequivocal evidence” that microwave frequency radiation affects the heart at non-thermal levels that are well below federal safety guidelines, according to Dr. Magda Havas of Trent University[4] .
Dr. Havas says:
“This is the first study that documents immediate and dramatic changes in both heart rate and heart rate variability caused by an approved device that generates microwaves at levels well below (0.3 percent) federal guidelines in both Canada and the United States.”
No longer can skeptics claim that microwaves produce no immediate biological effects at ordinary household levels!
The study will be appearing in a peer-reviewed journal sometime during the summer of 2010. If you are experiencing rapid or irregular heartbeat, pain or pressure in your chest, you will want to visit your physician and share this video with him or her (second video on this page).
There is also evidence that this same frequency of radiation causes blood sugar to spike in susceptible individuals and may actually be the cause of one type of diabetes. For details about this, watch the first video below.
Microwaving Also Zaps the Nutrients Right Out of Your Food
There has been surprisingly little research on how microwaves affect organic molecules, or how the human body responds to consuming microwaved food.
Wouldn’t you expect that a product that sits in more than 90 percent of kitchens, as well as practically every break room in the country, would have been thoroughly investigated for safety?
The handful of studies that have been done generally agree, for the most part, that microwaving food damages its nutritional value. Your microwave turns your beautiful, organic veggies, for which you’ve paid such a premium in money or labor, into “dead” food that can cause disease!
Heating food, in and of itself, can result in some nutrient loss, but using microwaves to heat food introduces the additional problem of the “microwave effect,” a phenomenon that will be discussed in detail later.
The majority of studies on microwaves and nutrition were conducted prior to 2000, I suspect because the focus of radiation research of late has shifted toward a more ominous threat: environmental radiation from electromagnetic devices, such as cell phones and computers, which has mushroomed into a gigantic cloud of electrosmog worldwide over the past decade.
Nevertheless, some excellent scientific data has been gathered regarding the detrimental effects of microwaves on the nutrients in your food:
A study published in the November 2003 issue of The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture[5] found that broccoli “zapped” in the microwave with a little water lost up to 97 percent of its beneficial antioxidants. By comparison, steamed broccoli lost 11 percent or fewer of its antioxidants. There were also reductions in phenolic compounds and glucosinolates, but mineral levels remained intact.
A 1999 Scandinavian study of the cooking of asparagus spears found that microwaving caused a reduction in vitamin C[6] .
In a study of garlic, as little as 60 seconds of microwave heating was enough to inactivate its allinase, garlic’s principle active ingredient against cancer[7] .
A Japanese study by Watanabe showed that just 6 minutes of microwave heating turned 30-40 percent of the B12 in milk into an inert (dead) form[8] . This study has been cited by Dr. Andrew Weil as evidence supporting his concerns about the effects of microwaving. Dr. Weil wrote:
“There may be dangers associated with microwaving food… there is a question as to whether microwaving alters protein chemistry in ways that might be harmful.”
A recent Australian study[9] showed that microwaves cause a higher degree of “protein unfolding” than conventional heating.
Microwaving can destroy the essential disease-fighting agents in breast milk that offer protection for your baby. In 1992, Quan found that microwaved breast milk lost lysozyme activity, antibodies, and fostered the growth of more potentially pathogenic bacteria[10] .
Quan stated that more damage was done to the milk by microwaving than by other methods of heating, concluding: “Microwaving appears to be contraindicated at high-temperatures, and questions regarding its safety exist even at low temperatures.”
Another study about breast milk/infant formula by Lee in 1989[11] found vitamin content becomes depleted by microwaving, and certain amino acids are converted into other substances that are biologically inactive. Some altered amino acids are poisons to the nervous system and kidneys. (Numerous authors mention this study, yet I was unable to find the original article/study, so I cannot personally validate.)
Although many of the above studies are not new, there is certainly ample evidence that microwaving is NOT good for your food.
How Your Microwave Actually Heats Your Food
Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic radiation—waves of electrical and magnetic energy moving together through space. EM radiation ranges from very high energy (gamma rays and x-rays) on one end of the spectrum to very low energy (radio waves) on the other end of the spectrum.
Microwaves are on the low energy end of the spectrum, second only to radio waves. They have a wavelength of about 4.8 inches—about the width of your head.
Microwaves are generated by something called a magnetron (a term derived from the words “magnet” and “electron”), which is also what enabled airborne radar use during WWII. Hence the early name for microwave ovens: radar ranges.
A magnetron is a tube in which electrons are subjected to both magnetic and electrical fields, producing an electromagnetic field with a microwave frequency of about 2,450 megaHertz (MHz), which is 2.4 gigaHertz (GHz).
Microwaves cause dielectric heating. They bounce around the inside of your oven and are absorbed by the food you put in it. Since water molecules are bipolar, having a positive end and negative end, they rotate rapidly in the alternating electric field. The water molecules in the food vibrate violently at extremely high frequencies—like millions of times per second—creating molecular friction, which heats up the food.
If the food or object place in the microwave had no water it would not be able to have this resonance heating type effect and would remain cool. Or, as investigative journalist William Thomas[12] calls it, “electrical whiplash.”
Structures of the water molecules are torn apart and forcefully deformed. This is different than conventional heating of food, whereby heat is transferred convectionally from the outside, inward. Microwave cooking begins within the molecules where water is present.
Contrary to popular belief, microwaved foods don’t cook “from the inside out.” When thicker foods are cooked, microwaves heat the outer layers, and the inner layers are cooked mostly by the conduction of heat from the hot outer layers, inward.
Since not all areas contain the same amount of water, the heating is uneven.
Additionally, microwaving creates new compounds that are not found in humans or in nature, called radiolytic compounds. We don’t yet know what these compounds are doing to your body.
In addition to the violent frictional heat effects, called thermic effects, there are also athermic effects, which are poorly understood because they are not as easily measured. It is these athermic effects that are suspected to be responsible for much of the deformation and degradation of cells and molecules. [13]
As an example, microwaves are used in the field of gene altering technology to weaken cell membranes. Scientists use microwaves to actually break cells apart. Impaired cells then become easy prey for viruses, fungi and other microorganisms.8
Another word for these athermic effects is the “microwave effect,” a subject of controversy that I’ll get into a bit later.
Microwave Sickness
When your tissues are directly exposed to microwaves, the same violent deformations occur and can cause “microwave sickness.”
People who have been exposed to high levels of microwave radiation experience a variety of symptoms, including:
Insomnia, night sweats, and various sleep disturbances
Headaches and dizziness
Swollen lymph nodes and a weakened immune system
Impaired cognition
Depression and irritability
Nausea and appetite loss
Vision and eye problems
Frequent urination and extreme thirst
There is a good amount of data emerging that people are suffering, to various degrees, these kinds of symptoms from living next to cell phone towers and other high-frequency radiation emitting antennas, which emit microwaves around the clock.
According to Professor Franz Adelkofer, a leading scientist in the area of biological effects of EMF fields:
“There is real evidence that hyperfrequency electromagnetic fields can have geno-toxic effects. And this damaged DNA is always the cause of cancer.
We’ve found these damaging effects on the genes at levels well below the safety limits. That’s why we think it’s urgent to base our safety limits on the biological effects, not the thermic ones.
They should be based on biology, not on physics.”
Twenty Years of Russian Research Supports Microwave Concerns
The Nazis are credited with inventing the first microwave-cooking device to provide mobile food support to their troops during their invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II[14] . These first microwave ovens were experimental. After the war, the US War Department was assigned the task of researching the safety of microwave ovens.
But it was the Russians who really took the bull by the horns.
After the war, the Russians had retrieved some of these microwave ovens and conducted thorough research on their biological effects. Alarmed by what they learned, the Russians banned microwave ovens in 1976, later lifting the ban during Perestroika.
Twenty years of Russian research (and German studies as far back as 1942 Berlin) make a strong argument against the safety of microwave cooking.
Their findings led the Russian government to issue an international warning about possible biological and environmental damage associated with the use of microwave ovens and other similar frequency electronic devices (e.g. mobile phones).
I was not able to personally evaluate any of these older bodies of research, since those documents are now difficult to track down, so I can’t attest to their methodology or conclusions. All you can do is weigh their findings appropriately, as best you can.
The Powerwatch article cited above summarizes the Russian research quite well, which I will duplicate below.
Russian investigators found that carcinogens were formed from the microwaving of nearly all foods tested.
The microwaving of milk and grains converted some of the amino acids into carcinogenic substances.
Microwaving prepared meats caused the formation of the cancer-causing agents d-Nitrosodienthanolamines.
Thawing frozen fruits by microwave converted their glucoside and galactoside fractions into carcinogenic substances.
Extremely short exposure of raw, cooked or frozen vegetables converted their plant alkaloids into carcinogens.
Carcinogenic free radicals were formed in microwaved plants—especially root vegetables.
Structural degradation leading to decreased food value was found to be 60 to 90 percent overall for all foods tested, with significant decreases in bioavailability of B complex vitamins, vitamins C and E, essential minerals, and lipotropics (substances that prevent abnormal accumulation of fat).
I might add that this finding is supported by the 1998 Japanese study by Watanabe7 about vitamin B12 in milk, cited above.
The Swiss Clinical Study: Hans Hertel
Some fairly compelling evidence supporting the destructive effects of microwaves comes from a highly cited study by a Swiss food scientist named Hans Hertel. Dr. Hertel was the first scientist to study the effects of microwaved foods on the blood and physiology of human beings.
His small study, coauthored by Dr. Bernard Blanc of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the University Institute for Biochemistry, revealed the degenerative forces produced by microwave ovens on the foods they cooked.
Dr. Hertel concluded that microwave cooking changed the nutrients in the food, and that changes took place in the blood that could cause negative health effects.
Hertel’s conclusions were that microwaving food resulted in:
Increased cholesterol levels
Decreased numbers of leukocytes (white blood cells), which can suggest poisoning
Decreased numbers of red blood cells
Production of radiolytic compounds
Decreased hemoglobin levels, which could indicate anemia
Not surprisingly, Dr. Hertel’s study was met with great resistance from those with much to lose.
A gag order against Dr. Hertel was issued by a Swiss trade organization in 1992, which was later removed in 1998. But an American journalist, Tom Valentine, published the results of Hertel’s study in Search for Health in the spring of 1992[15] .
The study was not without its shortcomings. It involved only eight participants, of which Hertel was one. As compelling as his findings were, his methodology did not stand up to the scientific rigors of the field.
In spite of Hertel’s methodological shortcomings, his findings do raise concerns about what this form of radiation is doing to your food and should be taken as a launching point to larger, more robust studies in the future.
Hertel wrote:
“There are no atoms, molecules, or cells of any organic system able to withstand such a violent, destructive power for any period of time. This will happen even given the microwave oven’s low power range of milliwatts.”
And then there is the issue of biophotons.
Possible Microwave Effects on Your Biophotons
Biophotonics is the study, research, and applications of photons in their interactions within and on biological systems. Much of the work in the area of biophotons was done in Germany. Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt discusses biophotons in our 2008 interview.
Biophotons are the smallest physical units of light that are stored in and used by all biological organisms—including you. Vital sun energy finds its way into your cells via the food you eat, in the form of these biophotons.
Biophotons contain important bio-information and are very important to many vital processes in your body. They are partly responsible for your feeling of vitality and well-being. You gain biophotons by eating foods rich in them, such as naturally grown fresh vegetables and sun-ripened fruits, which are rich in light energy.
The more light energy a food is able to store, the more nutritious it is.
If the “microwave effect” exists (as you shall see, there is a huge amount of evidence that it does), then microwaves can potentially destroy biophotons in the same way that it alters other structures, rendering your food dead and lifeless.
It seems quite plausible that microwaves could disrupt or destroy biophotons, since they are capable of breaking apart DNA bonds!
As far as I can find, there haven’t been any studies of the direct effects of microwave radiation on biophotons, but it seems like an important angle of investigation for the future.
Long-Term Effects of Exposure to Non-Ionizing Radiation
One of the basic controversies about the effects of microwaves centers on whether or not microwaves exert some sort of force beyond heat, commonly called “microwave effect” or “athermic effect.”
It is first necessary that you understand the difference between ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation.
There are two basic forms of radiation: ionizing and non-ionizing[16] :
Ionizing Radiation: Creates charged ions by displacing electrons in atoms, even without heat. Examples are radiation emitted from radioactive substances in rocks and soil, cosmic rays of the sun, and radiation from man-made technology such as x-rays machines, power stations, and nuclear reactors.
Non-ionizing Radiation: Can change the position of atoms but not alter their structure, composition, and properties. Examples are visible light, ultraviolet and infrared waves, waves from radio or television, cellular phones, microwaves, and electric blankets.
Despite not being able to break atoms apart, non-ionizing radiation (such as microwaves) CAN cause physical alterations.
For example, sunlight can damage your skin and eyes. Overexposure to radiation can affect tissues by causing molecular damage, DNA mutations, and other changes that can lead to cancer.
The serious concern is, with all of this radiation surrounding us from cell and cordless phones, radio towers, satellites, broadcast antennas, military and aviation radar, home electronic devices, computers and Internet, we are all part of an involuntary mass epidemiological experiment, on a scale never before seen in the history of the human race.
And the truth is that we don’t really KNOW what long term, low-level (but persistent) radiation does to us—even the non-ionizing type.
But here are some of the things we DO KNOW:[17]
Effects at low levels can be more noticeable than at higher levels. There is something called a “window effect,” meaning an effect occurring only at specific frequencies or power densities, but not occurring just above or below them. A number of studies demonstrate effects of microwave radiation on blood cells via this phenomenon.
For a complete discussion of this, you can read Microwaving Our Planet, written by Arthur Firstenberg, president of the Cellular Phone Taskforce.
Cindy Sage of Sage Associates, an environmental consulting firm, has compiled a comprehensive list of studies[18] showing biological effects at radiofrequency exposure levels far below what would be explainable as “thermic effects” and well within the range you are commonly exposed to every day.
Resonance intensifies biological effect. Resonance occurs when a form of radiation has a similar frequency as a body part. For example, microwave frequencies are similar to the frequencies of your brain!
Studies are typically done for short exposure periods, at higher intensities. Scientists claim that duration of exposure is equally important to intensity of exposure, but is often NOT studied, and that long-term, low-level exposure can have effects equivalent to short-term, more intense exposure.
The effects of radiation are cumulative. Your body becomes more sensitive to it over time.
There are no longer any control groups, since human beings are all now exposed to such pervasive radiation. Lack of a control group makes it even more challenging to conduct meaningful studies.
The point is, standing in your kitchen while your microwave is zapping your dinner, night after night, will not make you glow in the dark. But over the months and years, what is the cumulative effect on your body and health?
Why expose yourself to these potential dangers when there are safer alternatives for cooking available?
Is Microwaving Food Any More Dangerous than Heating it with a Conventional Oven?
Some experts claim that the effects microwaves have on molecules can all be explained simply as the “thermic effect” of heating—in other words, microwave cooking is no more detrimental to food than conventional heating.
They argue that, since microwaves are non-ionizing radiation, then it’s impossible for them to damage your blood cells, or eradicate the folic acid in your spinach.
Others have proposed there is some sort of “microwave effect” that causes changes in the molecules in a way that conventional heating does not. For many years, the party line was that “microwave effect” is a myth.
However, study after study has resulted in evidence to the contrary, showing effects that cannot be explained away as simple thermal effects.
In a letter entitled “DNA and the Microwave Effect”[19] (sourced as Penn State University, 2001), the author reviews the history of the controversy surrounding the microwave effect and the research findings to date. He explains that, although fundamentals of thermodynamics and physics would tell you the microwave effect is impossible, studies keep turning up evidence of its existence.
Some of the main points made in the letter are the following:
Microwave heating and conventional heating may appear identical on a “macro” level, but the two appear very different on a molecular level.
Microwaves are effective for sterilization, which has been studied for several decades. There is controversy, however, is about whether it’s the heat they generate or if it’s something else altogether.
One scientist (Kakita 1995[20] ) was successful in demonstrating that microwaves are capable of extensively fragmenting and destroying viral DNA, something that cannot be accomplished by heating alone.
Multiple studies offer evidence that there are multiple mechanisms for breaking apart DNA without ionizing radiation, but no theory currently exists to explain this phenomenon.
Some scientists are taking advantage of the microwave effect and using microwaves in the laboratory to greatly accelerate chemical reactions, sometimes by a factor of a thousand, resulting in the completion of reactions in minutes that formerly took days or months and a lot of toxic chemicals[21] .
This newly found interest in “microwave chemistry” has spurred skeptic scientists into taking another look at what microwaves actually do and how they do it.
Sometimes common sense trumps empirical evidence.
The Penn State letter/article said it best:
“…It would seem there is reason to believe that the microwave effect does indeed exist, even if it cannot yet be adequately explained. What we know at present is somewhat limited, but there may be enough information already available to form a viable hypothesis.
The possibility that electromagnetic radiation in the non-ionizing frequency range can cause genetic damage may have profound implications on the current controversy involving EM antennae, power lines, and cell phones.”
Breaking Free of Your Microwave: A Few Basic Tips
Am I asking you to toss your microwave oven into the nearest dumpster?
Not necessarily. It can be a useful tool for cleaning. But if real estate in your kitchen is at a premium, it should probably be the first thing to go.
You really CAN survive sans microwave—people are living quite happily without one, believe it or not. You just have to make a few small lifestyle adjustments, such as:
Plan ahead. Take your dinner out of the freezer that morning or the night before so you don’t end up having to scramble to defrost a 5-pound chunk of beef two hours before dinnertime.
Make soups and stews in bulk, and then freeze them in gallon-sized freezer bags or other containers. An hour before meal time, just take one out and defrost it in a sink of water until it’s thawed enough to slip into a pot, then reheat it on the stove.
A toaster oven makes a GREAT faux-microwave for heating up leftovers! Keep it at a low temperature — like 200-250 degrees F — and gently warm a plate of food over the course of 20-30 minutes. Another great alternative is a convection oven. They can be built in or purchased as a relatively inexpensive and quick safe way to heat foods
Prepare your meals in advance so that you always have a good meal available on those days when you’re too busy or too tired to cook.
Try eating more organic raw foods. This is the best way to and improve your health over the long run.
Original story posted on www.Mercola.com

By: Anderson J. Wood
Originally posted at MikeDolceMMA.com
 
It’s been a while since my last blog. Sorry about that, the weather in Ohio is beautiful and I haven’t spent much time inside.
I’m 7 months in on the diet. I’m hovering around 200 lbs, that’s 65 LBS LOST. I wear 36″ pants loosely. 4 new notches in the belt and my XL shirts are baggy. I’m working out 3 to 4 times a week which is awesome. I’m now training for a Warrior Dash event in September. I’ve found I stick to the diet and exercise more if I’m training for something specific.
This diet really has changed my life. Exercise and a sound diet are now my every day life. I’ve found a girl who likes to exercise too so we’re complimenting each other very well. She’s is in much better shape than I am though…She’s training for a marathon, I’m still trying to run a 5k under 30m. I’m really only using the free meals the couple of nights a week we usually go out and I still get sauces on the side and stay away from the foods I know got me where I was last December.
I don’t know what else to say other than if you have doubts, don’t. This diet works. I have tried everything over the years. And while they all worked in one way or another, the only one I’ve stuck with is The Dolce Diet. The reason why are the results. They come on rather quickly and stay that way for a while. This is a diet where if you do the work, you see the results.

By Dr. Joseph Mercola
Researchers have been investigating a number of powerful natural agents that can help you stabilize your blood sugar, and once again, cinnamon has proven itself as a viable contender in the fight against diabetes, as the study in Diabetic Medicine reveals.(1)
One of cinnamon’s most impressive health benefits is its ability to improve blood glucose control.
For example, just half a teaspoon of cinnamon a day has previously been shown to significantly reduce blood sugar levels, triglycerides, LDL (bad) cholesterol, and total cholesterol levels in people with type 2 diabetes. (2)
The more you can make use of natural therapies such as nutrition and exercise, the better your health will be.
However, as helpful as supplements like cinnamon can be, they should not be misconstrued as cures. They are not substitutes for proper diet and lifestyle choices. You cannot properly address your diabetes if you still maintain a sedentary lifestyle and poor dietary choices — cinnamon supplementation or not!
How Cinnamon Can Benefit Diabetics
Below are five known ways cinnamon can be helpful to your metabolism:
1. Cinnamon can increase your glucose metabolism about 20-fold, which significantly improves blood sugar regulation. (4)
2. Cinnamon has been found to have “insulin-like effects” due to a bioactive compound, qualifying it as a candidate for an insulin substitute.
3. Cinnamon slows the emptying of your stomach to reduce sharp rises in blood sugar following meals, and improves the effectiveness, or sensitivity, of insulin.
4. Cinnamon actually enhances your antioxidant defenses. A study published in 2009 stated, “Polyphenols from cinnamon could be of special interest in people who are overweight with impaired fasting glucose since they might act as both insulin sensitizers and antioxidants.” (5)
5. A bioflavonoid found in cinnamon called proanthocyanidin may alter the insulin-signaling activity in your fat cells.
Other health benefits of cinnamon include:
• Supporting digestive function
• Relieving congestion
• Relieving pain and stiffness of muscles and joints
• Reducing inflammation and symptoms of arthritis
• Helping to prevent urinary tract infections, tooth decay and gum disease
• Relieving menstrual discomfort
• Stimulating circulation with blood-thinning compounds
Clearly, adding ample amounts of cinnamon to your diet is incredibly safe and inexpensive. Just remember, unless you are adding it to a proper diet — high in vegetables and extremely low in fructose and grains — it is unlikely you will experience any benefit whatsoever.
Original story posted on HuffingtonPost.com
Dr. Joseph Mercola is the founder and director of Mercola.com.

Weekly Health Tip: Soluble Fiber: Your Heart’s Best Friend
By Deepak Chopra, MD
“Oatmeal is good for your heart.” You hear that a lot, and not just from oatmeal companies. Many cardiologists and other health professionals recommend starting the day with a bowl of oats. There’s a good reason: Oatmeal is one of many foods that contains soluble fiber, a substance that can help your heart by reducing the amount of LDL cholesterol (also know as “bad” cholesterol) in your blood (1). Research shows that a moderate increase in the amount of soluble fiber in a person’s diet is likely to lower his or her risk of developing heart disease. It can also slow the progression of heart disease once it has begun. That’s not all: Soluble fiber can help lower the risk of developing diabetes. And the benefits of a diet rich in soluble fiber apply to children as well as adults. A 2009 study showed that soluble fiber helps reduce a child’s risk for future chronic diseases including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes by helping to maintain normal blood sugar and blood pressure levels (2).
A Sponge for Cholesterol What exactly is soluble fiber, and how does it work its magic? Fiber is the part of a plant food that your body cannot digest. It travels intact through your stomach, intestines, and colon and exits from your body. There are two kinds of fiber, and both are good for you. Insoluble fiber, which does not dissolve in water, adds bulk to the material moving through your digestive system and is good at relieving constipation. It’s found in whole wheat, nuts, and many vegetables. Soluble fiber, as the name implies, dissolves in water, forming a gel-like substance. In addition to oats, soluble fiber can be found in beans, barley, flaxseed, and certain vegetables and fruits.
Scientists aren’t sure exactly how soluble fiber reduces the LDL or “bad” cholesterol in your blood, but they suspect it works like this: Soluble fiber acts like a cholesterol “sponge” by soaking up cholesterol-laden bile salts in the small intestine and eliminating these salts along with waste. That not only removes harmful cholesterol from your body, it also keeps bile acids from being “recycled” back to the liver. As a result, the liver must produce new bile acids, and to do that, it pulls LDL cholesterol out of the bloodstream (1). That reduces “bad” cholesterol levels even further, which is good news for your heart: If there’s less bad cholesterol floating around in your bloodstream, it means there’s less that can collect on the walls of the arteries, where it increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Other Health Benefits The benefit of soluble fiber doesn’t stop with cholesterol reduction. Soluble fiber can also lower triglycerides—fats in the blood that contribute to heart disease. According to a 2010 study, it may also help reduce blood pressure and that’s good for your heart health (3, 4). Soluble fiber can also benefit people at risk for diabetes by regulating blood sugar. It slows down the body’s absorption of sugar, reducing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and helping to control existing cases of diabetes (4, 5). If that’s not impressive enough, emerging research shows that certain forms of soluble fiber may enhance the body’s immune function (2).
Foods With Fiber Does this make you want to eat more soluble fiber? It should. And if you’re like many Americans, you probably need to boost your intake of both kinds of fiber, soluble and insoluble. On average, children and adults in the U.S. consume less than half of the recommended amount of fiber. The USDA suggests that adult women get about 28 grams of total dietary fiber a day and adult men consume 36 grams a day. Children one year and older should consume 14 grams for every 1,000 calories in their diet (2).
At least 5 to 10 grams of your total daily fiber intake should consist of soluble fiber if you want to reap its cholesterol-lowering benefits, advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in its guidelines for a heart-healthy diet (6). That translates into about 1 ½ cups of cooked oatmeal (6 g of soluble fiber) plus a serving of fruit, such as apples or bananas (4 grams of soluble fiber). If you’re not a fan of oatmeal, there are lots of other tasty ways to get soluble fiber into your diet. Pears, citrus fruits, legumes such as kidney beans, peas, carrots, barley, and psyllium (seed husks) are all good sources (4, 5). Try to avoid processed foods like pulp-free juice and canned fruits and vegetables and substitute fresh high-fiber ones instead. While packaged fiber supplements are an option, it’s best to get your fiber fix from food sources, since you get the additional benefits of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Whether you get your soluble fiber by starting the day with oat-based cereal, or munching on apples, beans, or barley as the day progresses, your body will thank you from the bottom of its heart.
Original article posted at www.TheVisualMD.com