GENERATION XL

By Dr. Joseph Mercola and Dr. Ben Lerner

I’m Quite Certain Something is Wrong

     All you have to do is look at the current level of depression and obesity in both kids and adults, the epidemic levels of lifestyle-induced disease, the increase in learning disorders, and the erosion of the family unit, and it becomes increasingly evident that the way we take care of ourselves, our mind and bodies, and interact is not working.

Mind

     All of the basic necessities of mental function and development have one thing in common: none of them occur while watching TV or playing a video game. Studies show there is a direct correlation between time in front of a TV or computer screen and a lowered IQ.

Early Television Exposure and Subsequent Attention Problems in Children
Pediatrics April 2004;113:708­713

The rapid changing of images, scenery, and events, on television is different than real life. Television is over stimulating yet extremely interesting. This damages the wiring of the brain to the detriment of the child.

Body
     As with the mind we have also poisoned the body. The food industry cranks out commercial after commercial selling all sorts of blue, green, or purple sugared cereals and artificial  quick and easy to make food items.  These items are endorsed by a cartoon character or teen idols that convinces you to drive to a fast food restaurant. I say let others lead their lives far below their potential, but not you or your family.

1. Avoid becoming overwhelmed with all the useful information. Don’t bite off more then you can chew!
2. Don’t become over motivated and try to make all the changes at once.

Statistics

• 1 in 4 American children are seriously overweight or at risk of becoming overweight.
• In the United States 30% of boys and 40% of girls are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. This used to be called Adult Onset Diabetes, but for obvious reasons, it is not.
• By 14 years of age, 32% of girls and 52% of boys consume 3 or more 8 oz servings of sweetened soft drinks daily.
• Children’s use of media and computer games averages 5.5 hrs a day with 8-18 year olds racking up more then 6.5 hrs a day.
• Our annual soda consumption averages out to more then 56 gallons, amounting to more the $60 billion a year in sales.

Norms Are Really Abnormal

     Cultures or societies contain norms. It seems when it comes to health in America, however, what is a norm is always dangerously wrong. Fast foods, packaged meals and our children taking life style examples from TV ads and shows are creating a norm of abnormalities. If you want to become well, first you have to become free. Free from the typical way our culture lives. The following are some of the abnorms worth rethinking.

• Soft Drinks
• Television
• Medical Over-Utilization
  One of the hardest pills for me to swallow is watching almost everyone swallowing pills. If you take a pill every time you have a problem, you are constantly putting toxins in the body that alter organ function and the normal immune response.
• Refined and Packaged Foods
  Junk food marketers spent an estimated $15 billion in 2002 solely on marketing aimed at children.
• Not Using Natural Health Care Methods
  Sound nutritional programs, adequate supplementation, chiropractic care, fitness and relaxation techniques are no long alternative health care. They are no-alternative health care, in other words there is no alterative to these things. If you skip them, your health suffers. 

Lets Get Busy!

If you want to go somewhere you’ve never been you’ll have to do something you’ve never done.

How The Body Gains And Loses Fat 

     An overwhelming number of studies over the past several years have confirmed that highly processed grains found in breads, pasta, cereals, potatoes, and rice, not fats, are what make you and your children fat. Even healthy grains like whole wheat, when refined and combined with refined sugars to make bread, can slow your metabolic function and promote weight gain, which leads to diabetes, heart disease, cancer and stroke. Below are the 3 steps to weight gain.

Step One

     When you eat carbohydrates, your blood sugar level increase as the carbs are digested. Your body then releases insulin to lower the amount of sugar (glucose) circulating in your bloodstream. If you are the typical adult, you will have about one gallon of blood in your body. In that blood there is only one teaspoon of sugar floating around. If the concentration went up to a tablespoon or two, you would go into a hyperglycemic coma and die. Your body has a built in protection system that keeps this from happening after drinking a glass of OJ which may contain up to 8 teaspoons of sugar.
     The primary built in protection your body has from preventing this problem is the production of insulin by your pancreas. The insulin helps convert the sugar in your blood stream to fat for storage. Additionally, the insulin will also inhibit your body’s ability to burn fat as a fuel. Consequently, anyone with elevated insulin levels will have enormous difficulties in losing weight as the enzymes that cause you to burn fat are temporarily shut down or severely impaired by insulin levels.
     Once this scenario starts, you are in trouble. The body will continue to gain more fat, and the fat perpetuates the problem by releasing free fatty acids into the bloodstream. This in turn further worsens insulin resistance. It’s a vicious cycle. The insulin response must be moderated in order for the body to release stored fats and make them available to produce energy. The only way to do that is by avoiding or greatly reducing grains, starches, and sweets – all the high-glycemic foods

Step Two

     High insulin levels suppress glucagons and growth hormone. Glucagon plays a major role in maintaining normal concentrations of glucose in your blood and is often described as having the opposite effect of insulin, it increases blood sugar levels. Glucagon promotes the burning of fat and sugar in the body. Growth hormone is needed to increase the growth of muscle and tissue. So a steady diet of grains, starches and sugars signals your body to block the release of these two key fat releasing hormones.

Step Three

     Increased insulin levels cause hunger, perpetuating the cycle. After a meal with excessive grains, insulin rises in a struggle to lower your blood sugar. The results? You’re soon hungry again. The grains and sugars your eating drive you to eat more of the wrong foods, simple stated, this is a grain addiction. You’ve become a carboholic.

Beginner Nutritional Plan

1. By eliminating or greatly reducing the amount of grains, starches, and sugars consumed, you’ll moderate the insulin response. Potatoes and corn are included in this category.
2. Increasing your intake of complex carbs from vegetables will stoke up your fat burning capacity.
3. Eating foods like proteins and fats don’t produce an elevated insulin response and will help you feel nourished and full so your not tempted to snack on the wrong foods.
4. By adding the right kinds of fats to your diet, you’ll slow down the carb digestion and absorption, helping to moderate the insulin reaction.

Basic Metabolic Type Test

     This test is not designed as a definitive tool to permanently label your child with a specific metabolic type. This is not possible because your child s metabolic type can be relatively dynamic.

     Extreme carb or protein types rarely change their metabolic type, but most everyone else seems to shift back and forth. It is typically only a one-category shift. So a protein might become a mixed or a mixed might shift to a carb. It is very uncommon for a protein to shift to a carb type or vice versa. Variables like the time of year, activity levels, and stress can cause this shift.

     It is probably more useful to view metabolic typing as a process or a journey in which you are constantly challenging your body with different ratios of foods and listening to your body to find out which combinations and ratios make you and your child feel best. I strongly believe that the table following the test, which will help you listen to your body, is far more valuable than the test below.

     The following test will help jump-start the process of determining your child metabolic type. Please understand that it is only a starting point. You will need to answer the questions in the table to ultimately confirm the result

     It is important to reiterate that this test is a very condensed version of the sophisticated and expansive computerized Intermediate version that was designed by William Wolcott over a period of thirty years. Metabolic type exist on a spectrum, while the computerized version is more accurate, this abbreviated version still provides a reasonable point from which to launch your deeper understanding of your child’s type and fine-tuning their diet.

                  For the following general test, simply choose the number that best represents your answer on the scale provided for each question.

Question 1:

Does a high-carbohydrate meal or snack, one that is loaded with plenty of vegetables, bread, toast, cereals, rice, fruits, grains, or potatoes as the main source, satisfy your child’s appetite or stimulate it further?

1           2           3          4          5          6          7          8           9           10

Satisfies                                                                                         Stimulates

Question 2:

When your child eats a lot of red meat, does it cause them to lose or gain body fat? Do they look slimmer in the mirror, or is it easier for her clothes to fit?

1           2           3          4          5          6          7          8           9           10

Question 3:

Does your child constantly think about food and frequently look forward with eager anticipation to their next meal or what he wants to eat?

1           2           3          4          5          6          7          8           9           10

No                                                                                                         Yes

Question 4:

What is your child’s appetite like at breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Breakfast

1           2           3          4          5          6          7          8           9           10
Weaker                                                                                         Stronger

Lunch

1           2           3          4          5          6          7          8           9           10
Weaker                                                                                         Stronger

Dinner

1           2           3          4          5          6          7          8           9           10
Weaker                                                                                         Stronger

Question 5:

Does eating something high in fat and/or protein such as dark meats, avocados, cream, butter, or coconuts within an hour or two of bedtime help your child to sleep better?

Question 6:

If your child ate a large salad with some low fat meat like chicken breast for lunch (versus a higher fat meat like a hamburger patty), how would it affect his energy level throughout the rest of the afternoon?

1           2           3          4          5          6          7          8           9           10

Ample energy                                                                           Become tired
and hunger satisfied                                                                and hungry

Question 7:

How often does your child typically feel the need to eat on an average day? The extremes here would be feeling good with one meal scored as a 1, while needing 5 or 6 meals a day would place them at a 10. Feeling good on 3 meals a day would be a 5.

1           2           3          4          5          6          7          8           9           10

Feels good on 1-2 meals                                          Feels good on 5-6 meals
including snacks                                                      including snacks  

Question 8:

How much does your child enjoy sour foods like pickles, sauerkraut, or vinegar?

1           2           3          4          5          6          7          8           9           10

Loves them                                                                     Can’t stand them

Question 9:

At Thanksgiving or a meal where your child eats turkey, and assuming all the turkey is moist, if they prefer white meat give them a 1; if they prefer the dark meat then give them a 10. If it doesn’t matter then give them a 5.

1           2           3          4          5          6          7          8           9           10

Prefers white meat                                                        Prefers dark meat
                                                                                                                                               

     Now add up the numbers. A score over 60 indicates a Protein Type. The higher the score is above 60, the more likely your a Protein Type. A score under 60 indicates a Carb Type. The lower the score is below 60 the more likely your truly a Carb Type. A score between 40-70 indicates a potential Mixed Type.

General Macronutrient Proportions For Each Metabolic Type

• Carb Type:         25% protein / 15% fat / 60% carbohydrates
• Mixed Type:     30% protein / 20% fat / 50 carbohydrates
• Protein Type     40% protein / 30% fat / 30 carbohydrates

     Suppose an hour after lunch you felt sleep, hungry and wanted some caffeine or something sweet. These are a clear indication that the ratios at lunch were way off kilter for your metabolic type. The body knows best, far better then any diet expert ever will. It will always tell you exactly how well you did in providing what it needs, once you learn to interpret it’s “body language”.

Blood Test

     If you are interested in assessing your insulin levels you can do a Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS) test and a Fasting Blood Insulin test. Some people can have a normal FBS but abnormal insulin levels. This is why it’s a good idea to get them both done at the same time.

What These Test Tell You

     A normal FBS should be around 87mg/dl. When the blood sugar levels rise above 110 mg/dl, it is called pre-diabetes. However, any FBS above 100 is a strong indication that your sugar metabolism is not running properly. A normal fasting insulin level should be 5 or below, levels above 10 suggest a profound insulin disturbance. Levels above 20 are usually associated with people who are already diabetic.