What is a Meal Replacement Shake and Why are they Pushed on the Elderly?

What is a Meal Replacement Shake?

You’ve seen them advertised on tv. Boost. Ensure. Those meal replacements in a bottle, with elderly ladies jumping on a trampoline or elderly men finishing what looks to have been a marathon, who are just overjoyed with happiness, radiant health and physical activity.

Cut to…. having these shakes be recommended by doctors for patients who are suffering the effects of chemotherapy, and are not hungry due to the poisons being pumped into them, who have no energy to exist, due to the poisons being pumped into them (a topic explored in another blog here!), or for those people living in a nursing home who maybe struggle to eat properly due to denture issues, decreased appetite or various other health issues.

First of all, what is in those meal replacement shakes? Can it even be called food?

It is definitely not food. It is a chemical concoction of food-like substances created in the lab with a whole lot of sugar added to it. They are marketed (very well) to medical doctors, nurses and health aids to recommend to their patients, but it seems the ingredient list is lost in translation.

Here, we break it down. Can you even recognize any of these ingredients as real food?

Ensure Plus® Milk Chocolate

Water, Corn Maltodextrin, Sugar, Blend of Vegetable Oils (Canola, Corn), Milk Protein Concentrate, Soy Protein Isolate, Cocoa Powder (Processed with Alkali).

Less than 0.5% of: Nonfat Milk, Magnesium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Soy Lecithin, Natural & Artificial Flavor, Calcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Cellulose Gum, Potassium Citrate, Choline Chloride, Ascorbic Acid, Cellulose Gel, Carrageenan, Salt, Ferric Phosphate, dl-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Zinc Sulfate, Niacinamide, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Chloride Hydrochloride, Vitamin A Palmitate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Chromium Chloride, Sodium Molybdate, Sodium Selenate, Potassium Iodide, Vitamin B12, Phylloquinone, and Vitamin D3.

There are 22 grams of processed sugar in one 250mL bottle.
Processed sugar FEEDS cancer cells. Yet they are highly recommended to everyone who has chosen to take chemotherapy because they HAVE CANCER. Too much sugar can also destabilize blood sugar, lead to sugar spikes and crashes and cause moodiness.

There is also less than 1 gram of fibre in the entire bottle, which is an essential piece of our nutritional needs. It helps to move things through the digestive system and sweeps up toxins as it goes.

The canola or corn oil are both extremely inflammatory compounds and cause a great deal of havoc in the body.

All of the vitamins and minerals that are in the bottle are synthetic, and your body really has no idea what to do with them. Your body likes natural vitamins and minerals from real food, as they are synergistically available to work together in the body. There are many vitamins/minerals that need others to be fully utilized by the body, and Mother Nature provides this for us in REAL FOOD.

There are many artificial ingredients in this bottle which help to create flavour, thickness,  colour and preservatives to let it sit on the shelf for months. All of which cause a host of inflammatory responses in the body.

What should you eat instead?

For people who are suffering ill effects from chemotherapy, or have decreased appetites, or anyone who needs to eat when they may not feel like it, a simple smoothie is the best recommendation.

For example, you could blend up a bit of frozen banana and strawberries with almond milk and that would be a perfectly healing meal (that needs no replacement!)

Or raspberries, blueberries and peaches.

Or strawberries, kiwi and natural peanut butter.

It does not matter what the combination is, as long as the person enjoys the ingredients. There is a much higher chance of them drinking something fruity and palatable than blended green vegetables to start. Meet them where they are at, and if it is a plant based, whole food – throw it in that blender and I really hope they enjoy it!

With Sources from:

https://ensure.com/nutrition-products/ensure-plus#milk-chocolate
https://draxe.com/meal-replacement-shakes/

What Otto Warburg Actually Discovered About Cancer

Do I Always Have to Buy Organic? Here’s What You NEED to Know!

organic

I hear this question all the time when discussing the fact that organic produce is so much more expensive than traditionally grown options.  I also hear questions like:

“Why do we need to buy organic anyway?  Is it really that much better?”

Well, you don’t HAVE to buy organic.  However, there are certain items that you should. While others aren’t completely as necessary.  Before outlining them, I want you to consider some of the hidden dangers that lurk in our produce.

pesticides

Pesticides!  What Are They & Why Are They Used?

Pesticides are used for the eradication of pests.  They are extremely toxic substances that are sprayed all over produce to kill any bugs on the food in that in addition pests that may be trying to eat the produce.

What Are Herbicides & Fungicides?

Herbicides are for the eradication of weeds and other plants that interfere with the growth of the crop.  Fungicides are used to eliminate the growth of fungus or diseases that attack the crops.

What Is The Problem With These Chemicals?

Pesticides have been linked to many human health conditions, such as:

  • Nausea
  • Headaches
  • Cancer
  • Reproductive issues
  • Eendocrine disorders

There are also dangers like:

  • Nerve, skin & eye damage
  • Dizziness
  • Systemic poisoning

However, these conditions are more likely to occur in those individuals applying the chemicals.

Most concernedly for the general population are the compounding effects due to long-term exposure or ingestion.

pesticide warning

Potential Dangers Of Pesticides

organic produce

Organic VS Non-Organic Produce, What To Buy!

So, how do you stretch your dollar while still protecting your health?  Listed are fruits and vegetables you should really buy organically and those you can get away without paying extra for organic.

The Dirty Dozen (in order of contamination as of 2019)

This list of The Dirty Dozen are the most heavily sprayed products and should be purchased organically if at all possible:

  • Strawberries
  • Spinach
  • Kale
  • Nectarines
  • Apples
  • Grapes
  • Peaches
  • Cherries
  • Pears
  • Tomatoes
  • Celery
  • Potatoes

The Clean 15 (in order of least contamination as of 2019)

This list of the Clean 15 can be purchased as conventionally grown produce, as the risk of toxic accumulation and contamination is significantly lower.

organic meat

Do I Need To Buy Meat Organically?

Meat should always be purchased organically whenever possible.  You should also try to source out meat that is free range (chicken), grass fed (beef), wild caught (fish) and everything grown antibiotic free.

This is because these animals, especially cattle and pigs, are so large, they have a much greater ability to accumulate higher degrees of toxins.  For example, they need to eat hundreds of pounds of feed to grow into adulthood.  If they are continually eating feed that has been coated in pesticides while it was growing, they are accumulating these toxins rather quickly.

Add to that the antibiotics and growth hormones in their feed, you are setting yourself up to ingest a toxic stew if you are purchasing meat that is not organic.  I always recommend that if you are going to eat meat, it should be organic!

Organic meat is very expensive at the grocery store, so buy right from the farmer!  Try to find a local farm that raises animals ethically and organically.  Click here to read, “What Meat Do You Eat?” for further information.

For Further reading on ways to live and eat clean, click here to read, “Clean Living – How To Detoxify Your Life!”

With Sources from:

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/queen-of-green/faqs/food/what-are-the-dirty-dozen-and-the-clean-fifteen/
http://www.toxicsaction.org/problems-and-solutions/pesticides