Veronicle Blog

If you’re even remotely interested in improving your overall health and fitness levels through vitamins, supplements and minerals then chances are you’ve heard of Herbal Life. Just in case you haven’t, Herbal Life is a very large, worldwide diet and nutrition company. Since the early nineteen eighties they have been helping people to lose weight and supplying them with health products. Their products are now available in Canada the UK and the US. They supply a wide range of health and diet related products and herbal life vitamins. Although they supply a good range of vitamins they are not medical experts so you should always check with your doctor to find out which are the best vitamins for you to take.

If you are thinking that you need to become a bit healthier, then you should also think about improving your diet and working out regularly. In addition to this you might want to take some herbal life vitamins or supplements to make sure that you are getting the right amount of nutrients. There is no quick and easy way of getting healthy, but if you eat well and get a bit more exercise then you will be well on your way to making some improvements.

A lot of people think that it is just enough to take some herbal life vitamins and that it will make a real difference to their health, but you need to eat well and work out to see the real benefits. Of course most of us don’t really want to change our lifestyles completely, but if you just make a few changes at first and then a few more later on will be surprised at how it all adds up and fairly soon you will begin to see some real benefits.

If you are thinking of changing you diet or starting to do more exercise then it is always a good idea to see your doctor first. If they give you a check up they will be able to give you a better idea of what you need to change in order to improve your levels of health and fitness and if you need to just improve your diet or if it would be good for you to take some herbal life vitamins to maintain your levels of vitamins and minerals.

If you are thinking of increasing your exercise or of changing your diet it is a good idea to begin slowly, if you try to do everything at the same time then you are much more likely to be put off. So start slowly and see your doctor first and you could be on the way to becoming a lot healthier.

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Before we get to honey we have a question from one
of our readers.

Pam asks:

What is your opinion of Splenda?

Answer:

Splenda is made by chlorinating sugar (sucrose). Three
of the hydroxyl groups on the sucrose molecule are replaced by
chlorine. DDT, an extremely toxic pesticide, is another
compound made by chlorinating positions on a hydrocarbon ring
structure. The data so far would indicate that Splenda
(Sucralose) is not as dangerous as Aspartame but the
following have been observed in laboratory animals.

Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40% shrinkage)

Enlarged liver and kidneys.

Atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus

Increased cecal weight

Reduced growth rate

Decreased red blood cell count

Hyperplasia of the pelvis

Extension of the pregnancy period

Aborted pregnancy

Decreased fetal body weights and placental weights

Diarrhea

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A list of products where it is found:

Baked goods and baking mixes

Chewing gum

Confections and frostings

Fats and oils (salad dressings)

Fruit and water ices

Jams and jellies

Processed fruits and fruit juices

Sweet sauces, toppings and syrups

Beverages and beverage bases

Coffee and tea

Dairy product analogs

Frozen dairy desserts and mixes

Gelatins, puddings and fillings

Milk products

Sugar substitutes

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My Opinion: I would not use it.

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Honey and Meli Maenomenon.

Pediatric Warning: Honey and Children Under Two

Children under the age of one (to be really safe probably two
years old) should not ingest honey. Honey contains clostridium
botulinum spores. In the human with a mature immune system, the
spores will not germinate in the gastrointestinal tract. However, in the immature immune system of the infant, the spores can germinate and cause botulism, a descending flaccid paralysis caused by the neurotoxin of clostridia botulinum. It also does not matter if the honey is pasteurized, since the typical pasteurization temperature is not high to kill the spores.

Composition of Honey

Honey is a highly processed (by bees in this case) substance
that is usually around 40% by weight fructose. The typical
composition in 100 grams of honey is:

Water 17.1 g (12.2-22.9 g)

Monosaccharides:

Fructose 38.5 g (25.2-44.4 g)

Glucose 31.0 g (24.6-36.9 g)

Disaccharides:

Maltose 7.20 g (1.70-11.8 g)

Sucrose 1.50 g (0.50-2.90 g)

Back to our familiar “fructose short-circuits glycolysis.”

Once again we visit the near equal amounts of fructose and
glucose entering the bloodstream at the same time. Also, each
gram of maltose will yield two molecules of glucose for each
molecule of maltose. Each gram of sucrose will yield one
molecule of fructose and one molecule of glucose for each
molecule of sucrose. As mentioned previously, (now almost
ad nauseum) the fructose enters the metabolic pathway for
glucose below where glucose enters. This short circuits the
glycolytic path for glucose and temporarily blocks the
metabolism of the glucose. Excess insulin is secreted and
in about two hours when both sugars are metabolized, there
will be too much insulin in the bloodstream and voila …
hypoglycemia. Or, if you in the middle of the Ironman or a
training run or ride -the Bonk! I hate this bicycle and
why am I doing this stupid triathlon?

Honey may be naturally processed by bees but it is still
a large dose of fructose and glucose.

Even though honey is a more natural substance, it really is no
safer than sucrose. All the problems associated with sucrose
are also associated with honey. Lowered immune system function
that can lead to cancer. Damage to the vascular system
leading to heart disease and adult onset diabetes mellitus with
gangrenous toes and all -are at the end of the sugar freeway.
There is also some discussion about additional nutrients found
in honey. However, the amounts are miniscule and really not
worth the health risk of large doses of simple sugars. I
think one of the best quotes I have found regarding this is:

“Added sugar contributes nothing but calories and is known as a
dead food. All you have to do to improve your nutrition is
consume products without any added sugar. Anyone interested in
improving their nutrition and personal health should avoid added
sugar in their diet.”

This is from the following website:

http://naturalhealthperspective.com/food/sugar.html

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Shameless Plug

The MericleDiet is one of the few diets that really makes it
as easy as it can be to get off of “added sugars.”

http://www.DrMericle.com

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Meli Maenomenom and Some Ancient History

The nature of honey depends on from which flowers the honey
bees get their nectar. Clover honey is very popular and does
not constitute a significant toxic health threat on an acute
basis. However, honey gathered from Rhododendron in the
Black Sea area is very toxic. Xenophon, the author of The
Anabasis, who was also a very brilliant military leader and
a follower of Socrates, found out the hard way. In 401 B.C.,
following a less than optimal campaign in Persia, he elected
to lead 10,000 Greek soldiers through the mountains of
Kurdistan, Georgia and finally Armenia. They noticed a large
number of bee hives when they made camp in Colchis. They
raided the hives and devoured the honey. Soon they were all
acting like intoxicated madmen, had fits of vomiting and
collapsed by the thousands.

Toxic Honey -A Weapon

Pompey, a few years later, in 67 B.C. did not fare as well.
While campaigning against Mithridates king of Pontus,
he camped in the same area. Some allies of Mithridates
(the Heptakometes) had placed toxic honeycombs all along
the way. Pompey’s army feasted on the honeycombs and soon
they were easily slaughtered. Similar tactics were used
against Russian foes of Olga of Kieve in 946 A.D. and Tartar
soldiers were massacred by the Russians in 1489 after
ingesting toxic honey in the same area.

Meli Maenomenon (Mad Honey)

This honey soon became known as mad honey. While there has been
some debate on this subject it apparently is significant enough,
even here in the US, that poison control data bases all make
mention of toxic honey poisoning. Early symptoms include
tingling, numbness, dizziness, impaired speech, and even
hallucinations. Larger amounts of ingested “meli maenomenon”
result in vertigo, delirium, nausea and vomiting, impaired
breathing, bradycardia, hypotension, cyanosis, muscle paralysis
and unconsciousness. Extreme ingestions can cause ventricular
tachycardia and other serious cardiac arrhythmias.

Differential Diagnosis:

Acute Myocardial Infarction vs Toxic Honey Ingestion

In most emergency rooms in northern California, one of
the differential considerations for acute myocardial
infarction (heart attack) is mad (toxic) honey ingestion.

Today’s Health Tip:

Honey is really no safer than sucrose. I would try to limit
the ingestion of honey just as you would any other simple
sugar.

Reference:

Stryer Biochemistry Fourth Edition

Dan McFeeley (The Ancient History)
His only address is:
www.keynet.net
This however, at least for me, was
a broken link.

Thanks for your attention.

Copyright 2005 John Mericle M.D. All Rights Reserved

http://DrMericle.com is devoted to achieving optimal health and peak performance through diet and lifestyle change. Dr. Mericle brings together a unique blend of formal training in organic chemistry and biochemistry, medical education, 29 marathons, 3 Hawaii Ironman competitions and a lot of practical real life experience.

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Nature works mostly on the principle of thing and no thing. Light is the thing and darkness is the absence of light. Sound is the thing and silence is the absence of sound. Health is the thing, and symptoms and disease are the absence of health. But some time back they got mixed up. Somehow symptoms and disease became the thing, and once you treated away the symptoms and disease, you would be left with health. And yet most people know that health is more than the absence of symptoms and disease. So what does this mean? It means you have to do something other than treat symptoms and disease to be healthy.
Let me show you why. If there are shadows or darkness in a room, the only way to get light in the room is by turning on the light. No matter how many ways you can measure and quantify shadows, you cannot sweep them under a rug, cut them out of the room, or invent some chemical to get rid of the shadow. The only thing you can do is turn on the light.

Health is the thing. And no matter how many ways you can measure and quantify symptoms and disease, the only way to be healthy is to add to your health.
You can treat your symptoms and disease all you want and you will never be left with health. You can treat symptoms and disease with medicine, herbs, supplements, chiropractic, surgery or anything and until you add to your health, you will not be healthier. Treating symptoms and disease naturally is better than with medicine and surgery because there are less side effects, but you are still not adding to your health.

Treating Symptoms and Disease often helps make you more comfortable, but never healthier. The only way to be healthy is adding to your health.

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