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Homeostasis
HOMEOSTASIS: THE KEY TO NATURAL HEALTH
Body fluids in balance [Neutral pH]
When all minerals, hormones, pH and other elements that make up
our body's internal chemistry are in perfect balance, the body
is said to be in Homeostasis. It is then able to work
efficiently.
When we cannot maintain homeostasis, i. e. our body fluids are
either too acidic or too alkaline, we are more exposed to
lifestyle-related degenerative diseases. Among the most common
of these are cardiovascular disease, cholesterol, cancer,
osteoporosis, allergies, arthritis, asthma, depression,
diabetes, gout, hypoglycaemia and sinusitis.
The purpose of this document is to highlight the main culprits
that upset our body chemistry. The next step towards better
health and quality of life is simply to adjust our lifestyle to
neutralise the causes of an upset body chemistry.
Poor nutrition
Alarming nutritional trends have manifested during the period
1900 to 1980. The fresh fruit and vegetable content in the
average diet has decreased from 40% to less than 5%. The
consumption of various other nutritious unprocessed foods has
decreased by between 33% and 75%.
On the other hand beef consumption has increased by 75%, cheese
by 400%, margarine by 800%, sugar by 50% and syrup by 400%.
These dietary changes all too often lead to an upset body
chemistry [Lack of homeostasis]. This usually means that our
body fluids are too acidic. This leads to an impaired immune
system and exposure to degenerative diseases.
Calcium
Calcium is so critical to life that the body is willing to
sacrifice bone mass to ensure adequate levels of calcium in the
bloodstream. This indispensable mineral also plays a crucial
róle in assisting the body to achieve and maintain homeostasis.
Calcium also plays a pivotal róle in the metabolism of all
minerals in the body. All the minerals work in relation to one
another. Therefore all of the minerals can be affected if one of
them becomes deficient or excessive. This is especially true of
calcium. This key mineral is involved in almost every function
that the body performs and is found in virtually every cell,
tissue and organ. Without calcium our heart would stop beating.
When calcium is pulled from the bones, protein is also pulled
out of the bones and tissues. This results in lower back pain,
osteoporosis and other problems.
The well-documented importance of calcium in the body has led to
the proliferation of calcium supplements. The sad and shocking
truth is that calcium supplements may well contribute to the
onset of degenerative diseases. We are already receiving too
much inorganic calcium in our daily diet by the inclusion of
this mineral in our food. Extra inorganic calcium is being added
to orange juice, bread, soft drinks, milk and yoghurt to name
but a few.
We now know that all this inorganic [non food-form] calcium can
and does create havoc in our bodies. Unfortunately virtually all
calcium supplements are of an inorganic nature. The only
exception is found in recent technology called "Foodstate" tm
whereby calcium is molecularly bonded to protein food cells that
act as chaperones for the metabolism of Calcium in our bodies.
[See "Calcium and Immunity" under "Health Hints" on
http://wellness.oppiweb.com.]
Sugar and Carbohydrates
Sugar is one of the basic substances that can upset homeostasis
[body chemistry].
Sugar should not be called a food. It is a chemical that our
bodies cannot utilize or digest well. This includes table sugar,
raw sugar, brown sugar, turbinado sugar, glucose, maple syrup,
honey, fructose, rice syrup, barley malt, corn syrup, dextrose
and dextrine.
These simple sugars get into the bloodstream very quickly after
being swallowed. It's the speed as well as the quantity that
gets into the
bloodstream that causes the upset. The more sugar
is consumed, the more upset the body chemistry can become. Some
people stay out of homeostasis for more than 24 hours after
eating sugar. Excessive amounts of sucrose disturbs the
metabolism of all the minerals. You can be putting the right
amount of calcium into your body, but when eaten with sugar,
that calcium will not be absorbed efficiently. This has a
snowballing detrimental effect on the body's ability to utilise
all minerals.
A surprising amount of food items have sugar in them, i.e.
bacon, pastrami, packaged pizza, salt, hot dogs, bologna,
non-dairy creamers, canned vegetables and breads to name just a
few. Manufacturers know that the sweetness is addicting. Sugar
hooks us on their products. For example, popular 340 ml cold
drinks contain up to 12 teaspoons of sugar.
Even dairy products have a sugar content in the form of lactose.
As much as 50% of people tested for food allergies have
reactions to dairy products, mostly milk and milk substances.
Allergies, in turn, upset our body chemistry.
In 1840 the average consumption of sugar in the Western world
was 4 teaspoons per day. This figure has risen to 53 teaspoons
per day in September 2001.
More than 20 teaspoons of sugar per day reduces the number of
the body's fighter cells down by half. This can cause severe
health problems.
Sugar causes depletion of magnesium, which has more than 300
functions to fulfil in the human body. It also encourages the
growth of unhealthy fungus.
The natural and healthy source of carbohydrates is unrefined
grains, cereals, fruit and vegetables.
Distress
Mental and physical distress upsets the body chemistry. When we
get angry, depressed, play victim, hold judgements against
others, try to get back at people, the stress becomes distress.
Physical pain, an operation, a car accident, over-exercising,
being exposed to too much heat or too much cold can all upset
the body chemistry.
All distress changes the body chemistry in the same way, whether
the distress comes from foods your body cannot utilise, physical
or mental distress or any combination of these.
Distress and disease inter-relate to compound the problem.
Disease increases our distress levels which, in turn aggravate
our upset body chemistry. This leads to more acute disease. This
frightening vicious circle can be extremely debilitating and
often leads to fatality.
CONCLUSION
To achieve and maintain homeostasis as a pro-active health
measure we need to implement the following lifestyle changes:
· Avoid or cut down as far as possible on distress and unnatural
or undesirable foods [especially fats and all forms of sugar]. ·
Eat as much as possible of natural, unrefined foods that our
ancestors would have eaten. · Ingest as much food-form calcium
and related minerals in the correct proportions to each other as
may be necessary to ensure that our bodies achieve and maintain
homeostasis.
SOURCES
Appleton, Nancy: Healthy Bones. Appleton, Nancy: Lick the Sugar
Habit. Orr, Neil M: Positive Health. Tomlinson, W. Alan: Various
Papers.
Compiled by Jan Greeff Tel. / Fax. +2713 7122436 P.O. Box 4181
SMS only +278 454 838 90 Barberton 1300 grewe@absamail.co.za
South Africa http://wellness.oppiweb.com
About the author:
I'm Jan Greeff, married to Juanita since 1973. We have four
children, four grandchildren, and are known as the wellness
family.
I have been a Lifestyle Consultant for more than twelve years.
It has been my privilege to be instrumental in safe, natural
intervention to improve the quality of life of countless
persons.
My intervention strategy is aimed at achieving optimum wellness
via balanced nutrition, moderate exercise and fulfilling
relationships.
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| Diabetes Overview |
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| Diabetes News - The New York Times |
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