The Human Genome Project began in 1990 and took thirteen years to complete, costing more than two billion dollars, today DNA sequencing from a human specimen can be completed in 48 hours for less than five thousand dollars. In the words of Texas philosopher, Augustus McCray … “I’m in over my head,” scientifically speaking, so bear with me. Gene sequencing has attracted the most brilliant scientist from all around the world, research supported by billions of dollars being invested in preventive medicine. The DNA sequencing of the human genome, identified over 3 billion “base pairs,” pairs of genetic markers, individual pieces of information, that define everything about you physically from the color of your eyes, skin tone, your height and weight, literally the number of hairs on your head, your personality, mental acuity and aptitude, the markers also include the instructions for maintaining homeostasis, all of the functioning systems within your body, the blood flow in your circulatory system, breathing, sleeping, the neurological responses from your brain, reaction to pain, discomfort, the restoration of damage to the body, the immune system in response to disease and environmental exposure that can compromise the health of the body. … remember I said 3 billion, so I left a few out.
The human genome is a blueprint for everything the body is made of, everything the body does, every function, every reaction, that sustains and protects the life within in us. What is so difficult for us to imagine let alone comprehend, is now the scientific foundation for biomedical research that has the potential to genetically define every malady known to man and provide the gateway to preventing those diseases. Every living organism has a genome, a genetic blueprint that is identifiably unique. The COVID 19 virus genome is believed to have approximately 3 thousand base pairs. Unlike human genetics the virus has only one function, reproduction. It’s parasitic appetite for duplication preys upon those individuals with compromised immune systems. Allow me to digress and identify the context for this post. While preparing A Healthier You I came across a quote, “the wellness and prevention market will outgrow the health care market.” I had no idea who the author, Leroy Hood was and dismissed the thought on conjecture. The multi-trillion dollar health care system has been my nemesis for decades, promulgating a self-serving approach to the “treatment” of disease, that is solely profit driven, content with using antiquated methodology and procedures that routinely dismiss the value of nutrition and prevention medicine. It’s both interesting and frightening how the “health care system” has been overwhelmed by COVID. Turns out Leroy Hood is one of the smartest most accomplished researchers on the planet, his name is synonymous with genome sequencing and in his own words, “intent on changing the paradigm with which we approach the identification and treatment of disease.” I spent the morning reviewing Dr. Hood’s research, looking at the futuristic progress that is taking place in gene sequencing, phenomenal is an understatement. COVID’s 3 thousand base pairs don’t have chance against these scientists. As technology advances, this is only the beginning of revolutionary advances in preventive medicine ….
What’s Happening to Vitamin C
Nutritional superiority is being confirmed in the marketplace, as consumers value the health benefits of organic foods. The differences nutritionally between conventional an organic food products can be significant, for several reasons, let’s take a look. From Chilean grapes to Chinese vegetables, the fresh produce at your local market is being grown all over the world. Which means dramatically different soil conditions and temperate zones. Keep in mind that plants have no capacity to produce minerals, they can only take up the minerals and nutrients available in the soil in which they are grown. Therefore, variations of mineral and biological content in the soil are the determining factors relative to nutritional content. That’s why data tables comparing organic and conventional produce are inconclusive, and subjective, the samples being compared were not grown on the same soil. To further accentuate the nutritional differences, a conventional food crop is grown using a chemical fertilizers containing NPK, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Farmers use this approach to achieve high yields, producing more bushels per acre. The produce looks attractive, color is good, but the nutritional content is suspect because the soil lacks balanced fertility. Comparatively the organic farmer’s fertility program, accentuates the cation exchange capacity of calcium, his NPK comes from natural sources, incorporating trace minerals such as iron, magnesium, and zinc in the soil, most importantly his methods encourage healthy soil bacteria, micro-organisms, and fungi which all contribute to the health of the plant and the foods being grown. Ultimately, trace minerals play a vital role in plant health and nutrition. Using Doctors Data Laboratory in Chicago, for an objective quantitative analysis, we requested a specific vitamin assay on conventionally grown oranges from California, to quantify the amount of vitamin C in an average orange, targeting 70 mg according to USDA data. Results returned from our first 5 samples were negative for vitamin C. That’s impossible I thought, there must be issues with testing. After conferring with the lab, we submitted 5 additional samples, emphasizing accurate values for ascorbic acid. When the results came in, only 2 samples tested positive for vitamin C, 12 and 18 mg respectively. Shockingly 80% of the oranges tested contained no Vitamin C. The oranges looked well formed, without any evidence of disease, excellent color, but appearance is obviously not an indicator of nutritional value. Next we ran assays on organic oranges, and recorded vitamin C levels ranging from 52mg -103mg, 100% of the samples tested positive for Vitamin C. The synthesis of Vitamin C occurs during photosynthesis when trace minerals react to sunlight, through a series of catalytic reactions involving chloroplasts, plant hormones and the “essential” minerals. Without the availability of trace minerals the synthesis of vitamin C doesn’t occur. Variations in the mineral content of the soil, are directly influencing the nutrient content of the crop produced, to include amino acids, minerals, and vitamins. A fertile soil, containing a balance of trace minerals is a prerequisite to food source nutrition.
A HEALTHIER YOU
THE GREATEST GENERATION
The chronicles of my life experiences are not an expose’ of my accomplishments but those of my colleagues throughout my career. For mine is the greatest generation of champions and heroes, that changed and ordered the course of agriculture and the health sciences in the modern era. Our collective pursuit of the truth brought together medical scientist, doctors and researchers, in partnership with agriculturalist, ecologist, and farmers, men and women from all walks of life in the shared belief that health was transcendent, and the principles of stewardship, ordained our steps to care for the earth and the health of our people. Our collective diversity found commonality in natural law and the philosophical ideals of the “organic movement.” Our pursuit of health forged alliances, confronted avarice, and battled bureaucracy. We fought to establish laws insuring the purity of organic products and your right to choose alternative health and wellness programs, reinvesting in education and research, we took insurmountable academic and economic risk bridging our understanding to where it is today.
I have traversed this country from farmhouses to the white house, debating policy and programs, convinced that our health does not exist apart from the earth. The interrelationship between soil, food and health has been my life’s work. Recognizing farmers as our “health providers” in that wholesome, nutritious foods are the very foundation of human health. Today virtually every grocery store in America offers customers fresh organic produce, thousands of prepared and frozen organic products, grass feed organic meat, free range eggs and organic dairy products. Dietary supplements, and nutritional products mass themselves on shelves responding to increasing consumer demand. At the same time over 60% of our population confront problems with obesity, the incidence of heart disease and cancer remind us daily that health and wellness still exist in a void for people all over America and the world.
After four decades in education, teaching and writing, advancing the merits of organics and brining those products to the marketplace, espousing the value of nutrition in preventive medicine, I am “forever” in the literature reviewing the latest advances in nutritional science, following a growing number wellness physicians and intricate dietary programs that are unyielding in their pursuit of preventing chronic metabolic disease. The past and the future remind me, that there are still “giants” to slay, diseases to vanquish, and farms to save. Perhaps my greatest motivation is the opportunity to help a young mother with a chronically sick child, struggling to find answers, or an elderly man convinced that he must live with the pain of his arthritis. Helping people, transforming lives, A Healthier You is our opportunity to continue “this pursuit of health,” as I extend an invitation to join me.
Bill Francis
Total Life Changes
A PRODUCT REVIEW AND DISCUSSION
THE IASO DETOX TEA
The Iaso Tea is a perfect example of “food source nutrition,” blended collectively from nine herbs, Holy Thistle, Blessed Thistle, Malva, Marsh Mallow, Myrrh, Chamomile, Ginger, Papaya and Persimmon. Naturally grown, minimally processed nothing added or taken away, each of the nine herbs contain a unique combination of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes and all nine herbs contain fiber. The presence of dietary fiber, is what constitutes a certain and immediate positive change in regularity, when you drink the tea for the first time. Detoxification begins in the colon, as the tea functions to remove unwanted toxins and pathogens, naturally, cleansing approximately 25 feet of small and large intestine. The rejuvenated colon, then functions much better to perform the process of assimilating nutrients through the villi, that line the walls of the colon and connect with blood vessels thereby initiating the process to convert and transfer nutrition to the body where needed. Several years ago when I first began to research the Iaso Tea, I attributed the subsequent health benefits to the cleansing properties associated with detoxification. The tea was affectively cleansing the colon and improving our assimilation of nutrients, so nutritional absorption was significantly improved. Recognizing that issues with constipation and regularity are significant impediments to proper digestion and assimilation, I attributed the many testimonials to improved digestion. However anecdotal testimonies didn’t stop there. Moreover the changes, and health benefits that were taking place were indicative of a greater assimilations of vitamins, minerals and amino acids. So over time I continued to research the nine herbs individually for their nutritional content and specific health properties. Please keep in mind I am a Life Changer with TLC, but I am also an independent researcher with an extensive background in nutrition and preventive medicine. I was convinced that the Iaso Tea was truly a special product, so I did more clinical work to identify the nutritional chemistry in each of the nine herbs. The results of that research will be detailed in future post as we will profile each of the nine herbs and their nutritional value. In the process I identified eight therapeutic functions, attributable to the nutritional components identified in the Iaso Tea. Number one … The Iaso Tea acts as a digestive aid. All nine herbs contain, fiber, non-digestible cellulose, that facilitates digestion and helps maintain regularity. The tea also contains digestive enzymes … lipase, protease, amylase, and nuclease, these enzymes are specific to digest proteins, carbohydrates, sugars and fats. These enzymes also stimulate the body to release additional enzymes and hormones that aid in digestion, in addition certain trace minerals found in the tea also act as important components necessary for chemical reactions to take place, such as the mobilization of fat. Digestion is critically important to our overall health, but it’s truly only one facet of this amazing supplement, much more to come.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Keep out of the reach of children. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding consult a doctor before using this product. If you are taking medication or having any type of medical issue, consult a healthcare professional before using tis product. The Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act requires this notice.
Buying Organic – Is It Really Worth It?
As a co-author of the Texas Certified Organic program and a contributing author for the National Organic Standards Law I have a fundamental working knowledge of the organic program and its’ goal to protect the integrity, safety an interest of health conscious consumers with respect to guaranteeing the purity of organic food products. As a third-generation organic farmer I have a heartfelt commitment to organics and a firsthand knowledge of organic agriculture production practices. Today the majority of our food choices are made by way of brand loyalty and valuing cost, organics reconnects you to the land and the “assurance” that what you’re buying is safer and nutritionally superior.
So is organics worth the 20 – 40% premium? Sometimes the disparity is even greater for grass feed beef, free range “organically raised” eggs, or value-added products like extra virgin organic olive oil, an apple cider vinegar. Both the emotional and scientific answer for me is yes, with some exceptions and seasonal considerations to availability and quality which we will explore in increasing detail as we develop this topic in future post.
Renown journalist and author JI Rodale, former editor of Organic Gardening Magazine, is credited with modernizing the term “organic,” it became synonymous with cow manure compost as fertilizer, open pollinated heir loom seeds and distancing ourselves from chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides in favor of Integrated Pest Management and other “earth friendly” strategies to control unwanted pest. Organic farmers remineralize the soil with soft rock phosphate, agricultural limestone, granite dust, and humates all in an effort to enhance the fertility of the soil naturally, and to promote soil biology in the form of beneficial micro-organisms. The soil is the foundation of life and organic farmers the “true health providers” in that our health is a direct result of the nutrition we grow and consume. Conventional wisdom said organics couldn’t be practiced much less be successful on large acreage, “we would all starve to death,” according to a USDA feasibility study in 1990. Today virtually every grocery store in America has an organic section, I consider “organics” to be “ best management practices,” as a farmer, and the best nutritional choice as a consumer as we seek to balance the demand for food production with the impact of agricultural chemicals on the health of our environment and our people. The discussion in favor of choosing organics, measures the cost of organic produce, to include the health equity you achieve, in that the qualitative value of natural vitamins and minerals from food sources will result in certain, predictable and lasting health benefits for your family.
Soil Food and Health
By design the human body supports conception, growth, development and “homeostasis” through the consumption of vitamins and minerals taken from plants, animals and water. In their purest form plants represent the healthiest food choices we can make. Plants take up minerals from the soil in which they are grown, those minerals along with sunlight and water, synthesize vitamins within the growing plant. This “Food Source Nutrition” formula representing vitamins and minerals is ideally and routinely different for each vegetable. Beets for example, with their long tap roots, are known to contain more iron than lettuce which has a much shallower root system. The critical part of this “life process” is that the growing plant has created a living organism from these specific nutrients. The different ratios, the various concentrations and combinations of different minerals unique to that particular vegetable, synergistically create enzymes, amino acids, vitamins and literally hundreds and hundreds of plant compounds that have a distinct life function. When we consume those plants in their natural, unprocessed, unadulterated form we are not only receiving the purest form of nutrition but the form the body recognizes and in turn is the most digestible and beneficial. That purity and nutritional value changes dramatically when the vegetable is processed, preserved and packaged. It’s not news to anyone that over processed foods have less nutritional value and contain a host of undesirable additives and preservatives that we can’t even pronounce. What is overlooked in this “perfect food” scenario is that we simply cannot replicate nature’s nutritional quality and value. Manmade products are not comparable in terms of nutritional quality. We routinely add Vitamin C, Ascorbic Acid, to orange juice to increase the Vitamin C content that has been marginalized by agricultural production methods, processing systems, and preservatives. In this case by adding a synthetic vitamin to a natural food product, we think we have enhanced the concentration of Vitamin C. In reality we created an artificial product, that the body has difficulty recognizing nutritionally, therefore the nutritional benefit is suspect and digestion and assimilation are compromised.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are obviously the best choice nutritionally. But Food Source Nutrition also applies directly to the raw materials being sourced to manufacture dietary supplements. The nutritional preference are vitamins and minerals that have been isolated from food sources. Years ago while attending a Nutritional Supplement Manufacturers conference in Nashville, I noticed the badge of a conferee, his company was Texas Eastman. I introduced myself with a question, “What’s an oil company representative doing at a vitamin manufacturers conference?” Before I share with you his response, let me qualify the voracity and accuracy of everything that I post to A Healthier You. My goal with this Blog is to share my life’s work, to enhance our understanding of health, and in doing so I pledge to you an absolute an uncompromising commitment to accuracy and the truth. The health and wellness industry has it’s share of entrepreneurial opportunist and those who simply misrepresent the facts. So with guarded optimism lets proceed, “ in plenitudine veritas.” So the guy from Texas Eastman responds, looking at my name tag, “Bill, we sell 80% of the tocopherol to the vitamin industry.” So 80% of the Vitamin E you and I purchase, as an antioxidant vitamin supplement comes from petroleum sources. Not from wheat germ oil, or extracted from other seed oils, but from petroleum. Unbelievable, chemist will argue that the tocopherol molecule is the same, years of research tells me we need a vitamin from a Food Source to be effective and safe. The lesson here is that all Dietary Supplements are certainly not the same, and each product choice you make must be carefully scrutinized. Natural verses synthetic has significant ramifications as we search for the best nutritional sources available.
Health IQ
In a book entitled Biochemical Individuality, by the late Roger Williams, Ph.D., a renown bio-chemist from The University of Texas in Austin, Dr. Williams helps us understand the physical and chemical differences within our body that makes each of us unique. Those individual complexities and personal characteristics are particularly important as each of us begin to understand how our body responds to nutrition therapeutically in the form of vitamin and mineral supplements. Why do some people respond to Vitamin B12, with a noticeable increase in their energy level, and others do not? While heredity plays a role in our predisposition to disease and wellnesses, the biochemical reactions within the body are continuously changing relative to the presence of vitamins and minerals that synergistically interact to support hormones and enzymes, involved in human metabolism and physiology. Dr. Williams was among the first researchers to conclude that nutrition directly influences genetic characteristics as well. For example, let’s say there is a history of Diabetes in your family, both your mother and grandmother were insulin dependent Type 1 Diabetics. You may have a genetic predisposition to Diabetes, but there are other factors such as habitual poor nutrition, environmental factors and lifestyle conditions that create the condition for the onset of Diabetes. If those same conditions are reversed and corrected does the condition change? According to Dr. Williams, not only do those conditions change as the body’s first line of defense against the onset of disease, whereas well balanced nutrition supports bodily functions of the pancreas, the productions of insulin and the regulation of blood sugar, but nutrition can also influence genetic characteristics and thereby lessen our hereditary predisposition to disease. In another of the 21 books written Dr. Williams, entitled The Prevention of Alcoholism, he identifies nutritional deficiencies that lead to compulsive and addictive behavior, and then formulates a nutritional protocol for the active alcoholic. This concept is highly controversial within the medical community, where orthodox medicine would rarely concede that nutrition could have such a mitigating impact.
When counseling with clients, I like to use the phrase, “no body knows your body as well as you do.” Nutrition is certainly not a perfect science in the sense that one therapeutic program will have the same effect on everyone else. There are simply too many variables involved, no two of us are exactly alike. You have to be vigilant to monitor your reactions and responses to whatever nutritional program or product you’re on, and then be prepared to alter or revise the program accordingly. In that context your intuition and being able to “read” your body accurately are incredibly important.
From My Experience
This section is intended to be more personal…. my heart to yours.” From My Experience” is the title I have settled upon, it is taken from a book by the same the name written by the acclaimed author, Louis Bromfield, one of my favorite writers. In his book Bromfield “goes back” to Ohio where he was raised to relive all the cherished memories of his childhood growing up on a farm. In the years that followed the now infamous Malabar Farm would become Bromfield’s passion as he would practice the many nuances of organic agriculture, bringing prominence to Malabar Farm and a greater awareness of agriculturalist as the “noblest” of all professions, caring for the earth and in turn caring for one’s soul. Bromfield had no illusions, going back anywhere is impossible, he said, so much had changed over the years, mostly me. I had many fond memories on the farm, as a boy, I wanted so much to come home and experience those all over again. However, much too my delight, what I discovered was not a cherished past, but something even better, here are his words, “I did not find at all what I was seeking, I found something much better …. a whole new life, and a useful purposeful life, one in which I have been able to make a contribution in the science of agriculture and the hearts of mankind, that we cherish the earth and reverence the life she gives to us.”
Perhaps one of the greatest challenges I have with “A Healthier You,” is to take a lifetime of experience and make it both personal and applicable to the health challenges we face today. Ask anyone who faces any of the maladies that besiege our population young and old and they will tell you health is the most precious of gifts, that we so carelessly take for granted. Our health care system treats the sick and diseased but does very little to promote health and wellness, that in fact is your job. Individual accountability, the arduous task of educating and motivating ourselves to achieve something that is very much subjective in terms of comparative results. However realistic and attainable your wellnesses goals, “a whole new life” won’t be realized without a certain passion and enthusiasm that drives you to discover who you are, what you’re made of and how to change. While some of the fundamental principles for wellness are straight forward, others are not. The ability to navigate the convergence of information and misinformation, the conflicting product offerings, and the trial and error that besets our gains is demanding on so many levels, heaven for bid we include an exercise regime that requires a certain measure of discipline and daily commitment. Passion fuels us in so many tangible ways, and enthusiasm is contagious, especially for the one that matters most, you. I have been researching this subject for over four decades, but what seems to me only a short time. I love to learn and I love to teach even more. What I hope to do with the words that I scribe, is not to recount my sorted history and to profess what I know, but to inspire you to learn. Because it is from “your experience” that you will grow and change.
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