Hello Whole Health online wellness participants. Welcome to week one. I'm so excited to share a whole bunch of information with you in this session, I want to start by giving you some detailed guidelines on what to expect during week one. Now, you will have received all of your handouts for the week. This week, what's included is some food guidelines. So there's a list that says yes, and there's a list that says no.

And so the goal is to eat the foods in abundance on the yes list and to try to avoid the foods on the no list. Now I want to remind you that everybody is at where they're at. And we're all starting from a different point. But I want to challenge you to make some changes in your nutrition, because that is the fundamental and most effective thing that you can do to transform your health. So even if you make some small changes, because that's the most that you can Do That is absolutely fine. And if you want to make some even bigger changes and follow the guidelines throughout the four week program, you will see some big changes in your body in regards to weight, energy, digestion, hormones and inflammation.

You will also receive your nutritional guidelines. So this information is designed to give you just a little bit more on the whys behind the yes and no food list. So it's really important that you understand why I'm suggesting the foods that I'm suggesting and why I'm saying not to eat the foods that are on the no list. When you can understand why those reasons are in place, then it makes your decisions that much easier. You'll also receive your week one menu plan as well as your menu plan guidelines. So this document goes through and tells you how to use the menu Feel free to mix and match the recipes or batch cook.

So for example, you could take one day and repeat it three times, you could follow the menu plan exactly as its laid out. Also, in your menu plan guidelines, I've included some quick throw together at the last minute meal plans for those days when things did not go as you expected. You'll also going to receive something called move your body and this is a handout on different things that you can do to get your body moving throughout this four week program. I want to challenge each and every one of you to move your body for 30 minutes a day. Whether that's a gentle stretching session, or light walk, or it's something more intense like a high interval training session, or group fitness class, whatever it is, that's fine, but I want to challenge you to get your body moving, you will notice that your energy increases And your stress decreases the more exercise that you have in your life.

So I want to get started on our week one webinar. Tonight I'm going to be talking all about nutrition and digestion. And really that's the foundation of our health. So I'm going to start by sharing my screen and I'm going to go into a PowerPoint presentation and present some slides that you can follow along with. Okay, let's get started here. So hold health, nutrition and digestion.

Are you really what you eat? So it's estimated that over 50% of Canadians are obese. Almost all disease begins in the gut. And all of the leading causes of death can be linked to nutrition, including heart disease, cancer and diabetes. So when you We see statistics like these, it's very obvious that we definitely are what we eat. The fact that Canadians half of us are obese means that we're set up for a lot more disease states that we can actually avoid.

And what is your relationship with food? That's really important to give yourself a moment to think about that. So do you gobble down a process muffin and a coffee at a drive thru everyday for breakfast? Are you more inclined to grab something processed, packaged, or a snack instead of something healthy, like a fruit vegetable or a whole grain? Are there any health changes that you have not made or emotional links with food that you have not yet dealt with dealt with? In other words, are you an emotional eater, so we often will use food To celebrate so whether it's a birthday or an anniversary or some type of graduation food is always involved.

And the opposite is true. So when we get upset a lot of people will emotionally eat. And the sensation of the food coming down kind of squashes the emotion that we should be dealing with. There's an acronym that I love, which is halt, h A Lt. So the H stands for hungry. The A stands for angry.

The L stands for lonely and the T stands for tired. So the next time that you get the late night munchies or you feel stressed coming on and you want to eat after I challenge you to halt and ask yourself, Am I Ah, hungry? Are you actually legitimately hungry? When was the last time that you ate do you actually need to eat something Did you skip a meal? And now your blood sugar's low and you're having a hard time making a decision when it comes to food? If that's the case, if you really are hungry, physically hungry, then just sit down and make yourself something to eat something proper.

Are you a Are you angry? Are you stressed and something happened in your life, and you don't want to deal with it. So you want to squash those emotions down with food. I challenge you to deal with whatever's happened. So if something's happened in your day to trigger you into anger or stress, do your best to deal with the situation head on. Don't do in it.

And if there's a situation that you literally cannot deal with, it's out of your hands. Then do something other than grabbing food, go for a walk, call a friend, go visit somebody do something good for someone else to take the focus off of yourself. Are you lonely, so a lot of times, people are just kind of lonely or bored, especially at night, become home from a long day at work. Sit down in front of the TV, we've already had dinner. And it's like, okay, I kind of have been nibblies and you end up grabbing a whole bunch of foods that you shouldn't be eating, a lot of people will actually consume about 70% of their day's calories between the hours of seven and bedtime. While there's no opportunity for you to actually burn off those calories.

So you're literally just putting it onto your body, putting it on your midsection, your thighs, your behind, there's no chance for you to burn off those calories. You're just going to store them as fat. So if you are lonely or bored, do something, pick up the phone, go meet a friend, go for a walk, pick up a hobby, play a game with a family member, and T are you tired. So oftentimes, we're Reaching for food. When we're tired, we think oh, I just need to make it through the day. I'm so tired.

I'm going to have some chocolate or some candy to pick my energy up. Well, first of all, why are you tired? Just peel back the layers. Are you not sleeping? Well? Are you overstressed?

Are you not getting enough nutrition and if you really are tired, the best thing that you can do is have a big glass of cold water and apple. So there was recently a report that came out and it showed that an Apple will give you more afternoon energy than a cup of coffee or a chocolate bar. This came out in a clinical trial. So the facts are the facts. So the next time you get that afternoon dip, try having an apple and a glass of water and if you can, if you are tired, then rest. One of the things I started doing a while ago is when I get home from work, I take 20 minutes, I lay down on my bed, I don't go to sleep, I just want to rest and just let the day kind of Get off of me.

So I won't bring any phone or any iPad or anything like that with me, I just lay down, do some deep breathing, relax and just let myself have 20 minutes to just recharge my batteries so that I can then go into the evening routine with a lot more energy, clarity, and good mood. So is nutrition have priority in your life? If not, then I want to ask you why. So why don't you care about what you're putting into your food into your body. If it's not a priority, it should be and hopefully this program will change your mind about that. So some common nutritional mistakes, oftentimes, people are just making some simple mistakes that they're not even aware of.

So what are the roadblocks in your way of healthy eating? Is your life too busy? Are you unmotivated? Or do you just not know what to eat? Well, fortunately, in this program, you're going to learn all about what you should be eating. So the lack of education won't be a roadblock for you anymore.

Are you unmotivated? Because you don't have enough energy to deal with nutrition? Well, throughout this program, you're going to find that your energy is getting better and better. And there's going to be a lot of group support, which is really going to help you to get the motivation that you need, we can rely on each other to support and pick each other up when we're feeling unmotivated. And is your life too busy. So we really need to check ourselves.

If there's things in your life that are not necessary that are keeping you so busy, that you can't even eat properly. That's a fundamental mistake. I really want you to look at your life, look at your schedule and see what can you change to help you to be able to put nutrition closer to the top of your priority list. So identifying these obstacles and overcoming them is really going to ensure some lasting nutritional changes. So what we're looking for is lasting changes. This is not a fad diet.

We're not going on a four week, last year body beach program, these changes that I want you to make, I want them to be forever. So if you start slow, and bring in more and more changes as you go, that's fine. And if you follow all the guidelines right from the beginning, and you just keep going with that, that's great too. But make sure that you're approaching these changes as something that you're going to do forever. We already eat a healthy diet. So I see this in my practice all the time, I get my patients to bring in a five day diet diary, and I take a look at it.

And they'll often say, Well, you know, I think we eat really healthy. And then when I look at their diet diary, I say, actually, you're you're not eating anywhere near as healthy as you should be eating. this day and age, there are so many processed foods that are just readily at our disposal. And we often don't even realize that half the time we're not even eating real food. It's actually shown that our food has changed more in the past 50 years than it has in the past thousand years. So the broccoli that our grandparents were eating is nothing like the broccoli that we're even eating 5075 years ago, there wasn't processed packaged foods at our disposal all the time.

People back then had to grow and make all over Their own foods. And we've really gotten away from that practice to the extreme opposite. But our physical bodies are the same. We are the same human species as the people 75 to 100 years ago. The thing is, is that because we're consuming all of these foods, we are now riddled with more and more disease. So oftentimes, we're just not even aware of the chemicals and food irritants that our whole family is consuming.

I don't have the energy or the time to change the diet of my whole family. Well, most people feel very overwhelmed at the thought of having to put more energy into nutrition and meal planning. The beauty of this program is that I've done that for you. I've given you all the meal plans, I'm giving you four weeks of meal plans, those four weeks can just be repeated throughout the whole entire year. There's so many great recipes in there that I'm really setting you up for long term changes. And as you change your nutrition, your energy and your interest in food is going to increase so much that it will become more of a priority and more of a want.

It won't feel like something you have to do it will feel like something you want to do. It will only take more time at the beginning when you make changes. So for example, every Wednesday I have the day off and I spend probably half of that day getting groceries and preparing foods and batch cooking and I kind of do the same on Sundays as well. Well, I used to feel a little bit overwhelmed by that and it used to feel like it was kind of taking up one of my precious days off, but it all changed several years ago. For some reason I look at this time as one of the best points In my week, I absolutely love putting food together for my family. I love making my young celiac son's homemade, gluten free bread for the week.

I feel inspired and I feel like my cup is filled when I am providing nutritional foundation for my family. So it's really all about your attitude. And it's too expensive. For sure the world is designed for really cheap, processed foods to be at our fingertips. But I know for myself when I walk into a farmers market, for example, Langley Farm Market or meridian in Maple Ridge where I live, these are produce markets. I can walk out with four or five bags of fruits and vegetables for about 60 to $70.

Then I'll go into the grocery store and get one bag A food and it's about $100. So really, it's all about where you're shopping and what you're buying. Buying fruits and vegetables does not have to be expensive at all. Organic will come into play. So eating more organic is important. Someone asked me the other day, is it more important that I don't eat fruits and vegetables if they are not organic, or if I do eat them, even if they are organic?

Here's the thing. Organic is always better. But it's not always possible for a variety of reasons. Sometimes we just don't even have access to organic bodies. And sometimes it's beyond our economical reach. It is better for you to eat the non organic fruits and vegetables and wash it well than to not eat it at all.

So start there. in your handouts. I've given you some information about the Dirty Dozen and the clean 15 Dirty Dozen is the list of the Top 12 fruits and vegetables, another the most densely sprayed. So if you're interested in purchasing more organic fruits and vegetables, then start with that list those 12 fruits and vegetables, those are the ones that you want to really invest your money in and buy those as organic. And by doing that you can actually reduce your pesticide exposure by up to 97%. The fruits and vegetables on the clean 15 are not sprayed at all or they're simply not that absorbable.

So these fruits and vegetables don't absorb the pesticides as much. So they're much safer to consume in the non organic form. And is food really food so I mentioned that our food has changed more in the past 50 years than it has in the past thousand years. And I'm going to give you some statistics and show you how that's happened. So there's about 3000 chemicals That are now added to our food supply. So I'm talking about processed foods, pesticides, herbicides, and things like that.

There's 10,000 chemicals in the form of solvents, emulsifiers, and preservatives that are used in food processing and storage. These chemicals can actually remain in our body for years and years. And the way that we manufacture food is very different now than it was years ago. So some alarming statistics about the increasing amount of chemicals in our food. The food color purchasing, which is actually the yellow dye, and it's commonly found in process treats can actually cause asthma attack and is known for allergies. I know my youngest son, Cade, he has asthma and if he has anything that has purchasing in it, so maybe he's gone to a birthday party and he ended up getting a little candy bag or something.

Like that his asthma will definitely flare up. My oldest son when he has turkeys he will actually get a few hives on his body following eating the yellow guy. Many ice creams contain a chemical called dye ethyl gluco, which is actually used in antifreeze and paint removers. So the next time you get an ice cream craving, think to yourself, oh, wow, I'm actually basically eating one of the ingredients from antifreeze and eat removers. And that will change how you feel about that indulgence. The flavor enhancer MSG, which is found in so many places, and in your handouts, you will see an area that gives you a list of how MSG is actually listed in some of your foods.

It doesn't always say on the ingredient list MSG. There's several different ways that manufacturers are listing MSG, so it's really good to memorize that list so you don't confuse Any, it's been shown to cause migraines, blurred vision, behavioral problems and difficulty focusing. For myself, I have a real issue with MSG. If I eat any foods that contain MSG, I'll wake up the next day and I feel like I have full body arthritis, I rejoined, is aching specifically in my hand, my knuckles will actually swell up. I'll have a hard time for a couple days to even open up a jar. And then slowly as it leaves my body, the joint pain goes away.

So I am very careful to not consume any MSG, and aspartame. This is one of the most deadly poisons in our society today. So aspartame poisoning is cumulative. So what that means is it slowly builds up in our brain tissue over time. So even if you're only having one Diet Coke a week because it's kind of your treat that you do that will slowly change accumulate in your brain tissue, and that can greatly affect the nervous system. aspartame actually accounts for over 75% of the adverse reactions to food additives that are reported in North America.

Many of these reactions are serious and can cause seizures and even death. There's a really great documentary that you can watch on Netflix called Sweet misery and it's all about aspartame. So I highly recommend that you watch that if you are consuming aspartame, think about if you chew gum as well, because gum most gum contains aspartame. So now you can get a gum that is sweetened with xylitol which is a natural sweetener, very safe to consume. And it actually helps to prevent cavities and reverse dental decay. And you can buy that even in save on foods now definitely in most health food stores.

So in North America, they used to Pesticides has increased 33 times since 1945 33 times since 1945. So there we go. Our grandparents broccoli was not getting sprayed like ours is now. And as a result of normal agriculture use 46 pesticides, some of them known to cause cancer and other harmful health problems have been discovered in the groundwater across North America. And this groundwater basically hydrates our the soil that our food is being grown in. And a Swedish study found that in an ordinary bag of potato chips may contain up to 500 times more of a chemical called acrylic slide, which is a carcinogen cancer causing agent than the amount allowed by the World Health Organization in drinking water.

So to break that down for you, that means that a simple bag of chips contains 500 times more of acrylamide than what has been deemed safe for us to consume. So why is good nutrition important? Well, I think hearing all of those statistics will give you a good idea as to why some changes are needed. But it really all stems back to our digestive system. The digestive system is central for all of our health. Many diseases, it's actually estimated that most diseases can actually be linked back to poor gut health.

Even if you're not having digestive symptoms, that doesn't necessarily mean that your digestion is optimal. So the digestive system performs three critical functions and maintains the overall health of the entire body, including digestion, absorption of nutrients excretion of wastes. When these functions don't run smoothly, a whole myriad of health problems can arise. So these are some conditions that can be caused from a poorly functioning digestive system and you can see that not all of them are digestive symptoms. So obviously digestive problems are on the top of the list but also obesity. So if you are carrying weight around your midsection, it might be that you have digestive inflammation, fatigue, diabetes, headaches, autoimmune conditions is huge for digestive issues, asthma, skin conditions, depression, anxiety, allergies, ATD and ADHD.

There's many more but these are some of the more common ones. So some links between proper digestion and overall health. It all starts when we I have the food in front of us, we smell the food that actually stimulates our digestive enzyme production. And then as we enter the food into our mouth, we're supposed to chew slowly. And in good chewing practice, you're supposed to chew 30 times in the course of a minute for each bite. Now, that might be a big undertaking.

But if you aren't chewing your food properly, if you are gulping down your food if you are eating your food, during stress, if you're eating your food in the car, you're not going to digest those nutrients properly. So if your food isn't chewed properly, and digested food particles in the intestinal system can be perceived as invaders. And an attack can be launched within the body which can result in allergies, asthma, fatigue and mood changes. So historically, The ceremony of eating was a very serious matter in previous decades. Nowadays, we're just flying from thing to thing and basically just surviving on eating food quickly and without much thought. So the ceremony of eating is supposed to be slow.

You're supposed to enjoy the company of the people that you're with, and not eat in a stressed rushed manner, because that's actually all part of the digestive process. A recent study showed that nearly 100% of the Zika cases were linked to food allergies. So if you are suffering with exuma, chances are that you have some type of food allergy, and I can definitely verify this study. In my practice, I treat xima very often, and the first thing that I do is test for food allergies through a simple blood test. And once the allergy is revealed and uncovered, and the patient goes off the food that they're allergic to, very quickly the edema flares up. And this is pretty dramatic in children.

So sometimes I'll see children as young as two covered in exuma, head to toe and run a quick blood test on them only to find out that maybe they're allergic to eggs or peanuts, or soy or dairy or whatever it might be. Take the food out of their diet. A couple weeks later, everything has calmed right down. It's really amazing. The high amount of protein found in cow's milk can be perceived as invaded by a child's immature intestinal system. And these problems can result result in Colic, Ear infections, wrong keel spasms, chronic runny nose and irritability.

So we are the only species that consumes milk from another species. We're actually also the only species that consumes milk passed. infancy so really, cow's milk isn't really meant for human consumption. The protein caisson found in cow's milk is very hard for human beings to digest. Many people are lactose intolerant. It's estimated that 80% of the world's population is lactose intolerant.

Many people are also allergic to milk. Ear infections. If you have a child that is suffering from chronic ear infections, chances are they are allergic to dairy. I had one mum that came in a few years ago, and her daughter had so many ear infections that she had actually lost her hearing in one of her ears. She had had to six times multiple rounds of antibiotics, but the ear infections kept coming and coming and coming. So the first thing I did was run a food allergy panel, only to discover that this poor girl had a very large allergy to dairy, so we completely got her off the dairy and rebuilt her digestive system.

All of the ear infections stopped years later, she still hasn't had any. Unfortunately, the hearing loss has been permanent. But the mother of course, is happy and also very upset at the same time. Happy that we found the cause, and that her daughter's no longer struggling, but really upset because no other doctor ever told her that it might be something that she was eating. So that's often overlooked. Over 40% of the population are suffering from some type of digestive stress.

So we all know the saying you are what you eat, but there's a little bit more information that goes with that. You also are what you digest or break down. You are what you absorb or take into the bloodstream. You are what you assimilate or take into the cells. You are what you do not excrete. So that brings me to a little crash course called poop 101.

So I want to make sure that you guys are having proper bowel movements. This is foundational to your health. Sometimes I asked patients how their bowel movements are, and they really don't even know they're like, Well, I think I go a few times a week. I can't really remember no, maybe I go over to Yeah, I'm not really sure. And I'll ask them will does it sink is it loose as it formed? I really don't know.

I don't pay attention to that. This is the first thing you should be paying attention to. This is basically showing you how good your digestive system is. So I want you to pay attention tomorrow morning when you have a bowel movement. What is the consistency is it loose is it formed, what is the size, so what it should be is it should be formed. It should shouldn't break apart when it gets into the bowl.

It shouldn't be loose. But it shouldn't be like really hard pellets. What I like to refer to as a rabbit pellets. It should be in the shape of a coil. Should it sink or should it float? That's a big question on everyone's mind.

Both is true. So the coil should be half under the water and partly above the water. There should not be undigested food in your stool. Unless you've eaten corn corn is indigestible by the human digestive system. And some foods will color your stool. So I always want you to remember when you eat and eat because your stool will be on the redder side and you might think it's blood, which can be frightening for people.

So always remember when you eat beets and be prepared for that and mucus should not be present. If you You are seeing mucus in your stool then that is a sign that there is a major irritation there. So some tips if your stool is too formed, you are definitely not drinking enough water, we need two liters of water to digest one meal. So if you're not drinking enough water, you're going to learn more about hydration next week. But if you're not drinking enough water, your body will reserve whatever water it has. In order to keep the vital functions of the body going like brain function and lung function.

It's gonna sacrifice digestion so that the body can stay alive. So really important to drink water. If your stool is floating on the surface and it's kind of greasy looking, then you are not digesting your fats properly. If your stool is sinking to the bottom of the bowl and just hanging out down there, then you're not getting enough fiber. If there's undigested food in your stool, then you have a lack of digestive enzymes. If there's mucus, there is something irritating you, it could be a food allergy or a parasite.

And then the transit time, you shouldn't be experiencing a 12 to 24 hour transit time. So this means how long does it take from the time you eat the food until your body excretes it? Well, one way of figuring that out is by eating beets. And you can also eat something like activated charcoal which is available at a health food store, and it will actually color your stool black. So you eat either beats or activated charcoal, and then take note of the time and then take note of the time when you see it in the toilet. And that's how long your transit time is.

So if your transit time is less than 12 hours, your digestive system is completely irritated. Things are going through you too quickly and there's no way That you are absorbing nutrients from your food. If your transit time is longer than 24 hours, then you are constipated. And you probably need to repopulate your beneficial bacteria. You need more water and more fiber. And we're going to get to that.

So optimize your digestion. So some common digestive issues probably the top four digestive issues are gas and bloating, heartburn or reflux, constipation and diarrhea. So this is a chart that shows your stomach acid secretion by age. I love this chart because it shows you that when you're young between the ages of 11 and 20, that your stomach acid secretion is really high. Which is great because we need our stomachs to be like a verbling Coltrane battery acid and when the food drops down into our stomach into all acid, the acid will break down the proteins, fats and carbohydrates into their smaller form so we can assimilate nutrients. Now you can see that as we age, there's a natural decline in stomach acid.

By the time that you reach your 60s and 70s, it can be quite declined, which means you're going to have a harder time digesting nutrients and really important that we have enough stomach acid in our stomachs to process our foods. So step one to optimize your digestion, stimulate your digestion if you are experiencing any of those things gas, bloating, heartburn, reflux, constipation or diarrhea. Start Here, especially heartburn and reflux. So start by consuming one tablespoon of raw unpasteurized apple cider vinegar. You can take it plane off the spoon or in some water about 10 to 15 minutes before me Now some people might think like, Whoa, I feel like I have too much stomach acid. Why would I want to add vinegar to that will trust me in about 95 cases, this completely turns those symptoms around.

Oftentimes, people don't have enough stomach acid which you just saw in that chart. And by adding apple cider vinegar, it's going to help to stimulate your body's own production of stomach acid. So you want to increase your stomach acid as hydrochloric acid is the catalyst for proper digestion. It also contains enzymes and promote good bacteria, which is like our good probiotics in our stomach. Do you want to support your digestion as step number two, take a broad spectrum digestive enzyme to aid to help your body to digest protein, fats and carbs. Especially if you are experiencing gas and bloating.

This is a really good one My two favorite products are gi digest or VPP. enzymes. Gi digest is vegan VPP is not, you can try either one. If you are not vegan, I definitely recommend the VPP. And what you want to do is take one capsule with each main meal. So your goal is to take this three times a day, your body does not become dependent on this.

What happens is by taking it It helps your body to re establish its own production of enzymes. digestive enzymes really help with gas and bloating. The gi digest and BPP are available on my online store. And as whole health participants, you can take advantage of a discount and by being a member of this program. Step three repopulate your digestion. So this is all about the good bacteria.

So taking a probiotic daily will increase the beneficial bacteria in your digestive tract, taking one capsule daily without food, really important to take probiotics without food. So take it before bed or first thing in the morning about 30 minutes before eating. So probiotics help to stabilize bowel movements and improve overall digestion. So there are several available on my online store. The one that I would recommend that you start with is ultra Flora balance. This is a broad spectrum mid range probiotic that is helpful for all situations in the digestive tract.

Definitely our number one selling probiotic for the last over 10 years. And step four is to eliminate your food triggers. So food allergies and sensitivities are one of the biggest culprits when it comes to digestive issues. So we want to remove the top known triggers for at least seven days. But 21 days is preferred to discover digestive intolerances. So the top seven food triggers include gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, corn, sugar and peanuts.

So all of your recipes are gluten, dairy, soy, corn sugar and peanut free. Some of them have a if you're having digestive symptoms, trying to avoid eggs for at least a week, and then reintroduce them in to see if they're actually a problem for you. But throughout this whole program, we are going to try and avoid gluten, dairy, soy, corn, sugar and peanuts. And the other thing that I recommend is food allergy testing. This is by far one of the most popular tests that I do in my clinic, done through a simple blood test. And it will test you for 95 different foods and celiac disease which is a complete intolerance.

Gluten will also test you for a common overgrowth of yeast called Candida. The fee for doing this test is $335. It is a life changing test that is very worth getting. So if you're having issues, then I definitely recommend looking in for that. So this is my challenge to you, I want you to avoid the six anti nutrients. So I'm going to go through those.

Number one is hydrogenated fats. So I want you to understand why you should avoid these. What Why are they bad for you? Well, number one, they're put into foods to prolong the shelf life. They are by far the most dangerous types of fat. They increase cholesterol and blood fats known as triglycerides, and also inflammation.

And only a small amount like 20 calories per day of hydrogenated fats starts to damage your health. So when You see something in the ingredient list that says hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated, put it back, don't eat it. Number two high fructose corn syrup. This is the reason that we have a childhood diabetes epidemic in our nation and in North America. It's more prevalent in the States but Canada is not exempt, especially because considering the fact that Canadians are 50% obese. So this is the cheapest sweetener in our history.

Between the years of 1967 and 2005, you can see that the production of it went from 3000 tons up to 9 million cans. This is absolutely prevalent in foods and pops. It's horrible. It increases our fat storage hormones. The consumption of pop has actually increased 500% in the past 50 years. Sometimes I see a mother with a Her child in a stroller and there's like hop in the kids bottle or their sippy cup, like oh my goodness, and daily consumption of pop increases the risk of obesity by 60% for children.

So if you have a child, even if they're not overweight and you're letting them consume pop on a regular basis, you are doing them a huge disservice. You need to get rid of the pot, get rid of the juice, just give them water. If that's all that's available to them, then that's what they will drink refined grains. So the refining process of grains removes the germ and the brand of the grain. And they do this because it extends the shelf life and then they've taken all the nutrients out so then they have to enrich it with artificial nutrients, increases the blood sugar levels leading to diabetes. And just three servings of this per day increases the risk of diabetes by 30%.

So we're fine grains would be like any Bread product, muffins, stones, English muffins, bagels, those are all refined grains. They're void. They're just like flour and glue fillers. They do nothing for us. Artificial sweeteners, we talked about aspartame. And so now you know that it is one of the worst toxins for our brain.

What happens with aspartame specifically, is that it has the capability of crossing the blood brain barrier. So what this means is that there's a special area in our brain that is a barrier, it's like a wall and only certain things can get across. So alcohol, certain medications, and illegal drugs that can all cross the blood brain barrier, which is why when we drink alcohol, we feel tipsy, etc. But aspartame can also cross the blood brain barrier. And as you now know, it's a cumulative toxin. So it's been linked to brain tumors.

Our bodies don't register the sweetness or the calories from artificial sweeteners. So we actually get hungrier. There was a study that was done that showed that the participants who were consuming diet products on a regular basis had way higher carbohydrate cravings, then participants who won't who weren't consuming these products, so people thought they were doing good for themselves by eating diet products, but it was actually totally sabotaging them. And it can cause permanent damage to our appetite center in the brain. So consuming this on a regular basis can permanently damage how your appetite functions. It makes you feel hungrier all the time.

Number five artificial preservatives and colorings. So these have been linked into all sorts of things like allergies, obesity, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, depression, anxiety. It cancer ATD, ADHD and autism, they disrupt our hormones. They cause liver toxicity, they deplete our immune system, cause digestive imbalances and change our metabolism. So if you're consuming foods that are packaged, then that's pretty good chance that you're consuming artificial preservatives and colorings. And that can just that alone can completely slow down your metabolism and disrupt your hormones.

Definitely want to avoid those and genetically modified foods. This is kind of a scary one. So the biggest crops for GMO are corn, soy, cottonseed and canola. So if you're consuming anything that has any of those ingredients in there, then if it is not organic, or it doesn't say non GMO on the label, then your company Doing a genetically modified food. There has been no in the history of mankind any clinical trials or testing on humans when it comes to GMOs, we are literally the guinea pigs. They have no idea how crossing these things is going to affect us.

So you want to avoid number eight key codes on fruits and vegetables. So the next time you're shopping for your fruits and vegetables, a little sticker that's adhere to it, pick it up, and if it says number eight, put it back down. That's GMO. Avoid sugar unless it's identified as organic cane sugar. And artificial sweeteners are grown on genetically modified E. coli strains, which would be another reason to stay away from them. And dairy additives that come from the US genetically modified cows, and any of these ingredients so milk ingredients concentrated skim milk, whey protein raised Protein isolates and milk protein concentrates.

If you're consuming like a whey protein, and it's coming from the state, then that's likely a genetically modified cow that's producing that. So you really want to avoid genetically modified foods as much as possible. And one thing that I am constantly saying to my husband is everything you buy is a vote. So if you're just like, Oh, well just get this thing this one time. You're casting your vote. You're saying I approve GMO?

I'm taking my hard earned money. And I'm buying a genetically modified product. And I'm saying yes. So just remember that we as the consumers have the power to change things by what we're buying. It's all about supply and demand. So your first week whole health challenge to follow the menu plans provided for you to reduce and eliminate the sixth entry.

Nutrients that you've just learned about as well as sugar, gluten, processed foods, most dairy, try and stick to the yes and no food list. And I identify and restore any digestive issues. So digestion is a first step with health. If you're having any of those issues, then go ahead and do the tips that I've outlined in this webinar to bring your digestive system back to health. So that next week when we move on to some other things, you can actually start absorbing and assimilating some of the recommendations that I'm going to be making. So thank you so much for joining me for week one.

And if you want more information, I also wanted to point out that I have written four books and they're all available on my online store on Amazon and also in my clinic locally in Maple Ridge. The ultimate Candida guiding cookbook is a book that takes you through and shows you step by step how to get rid of unwanted yeast overgrowth in your body. The ultimate gluten and dairy free cookbook is very popular. So if you are looking for more recipes, easy family recipes, these recipes don't have a million ingredients in them. It's just real food and they're all gluten and dairy free, very popular handy book. And the two other books are the ultimate hormone balancing guidebook, which takes you through system by system and symptom by symptom of how to get your hormones back into balance and the ultimate metabolic plan if you are experiencing weight loss, and you cannot figure out why this book helps to uncover and conquer the roadblocks to weight loss, so it's a really good one if you're struggling in that department.

So that was the whole health nutrition And digestion webinar. I look forward to seeing all of you next week. That's it for today. Thank you so much and take care