So Long, All Peanut Butter

I had this nagging vague recollection of something in The China Study regarding peanut butter, and figured it applied to all peanut butter - organic, natural, etc. So I Googled... bummer...

“Aflatoxin has been called one of the most potent carcinogens ever

discovered.”

Peanuts, Peanut Butter, Aflatoxin, and Cancer

“The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 oils is terribly important to health.”

“The worst offenders are safflower oil and peanut oil (with extremely high

omega-6 to omega-3 ratios), cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil,

and corn oil.” p. 51

“Peanuts are forbidden. They are not nuts at all; they are legumes—and

legumes contain lectins and other antinutrients that can adversely affect

your health.” p. 126

The Paleo Diet

Loren Cordain, PhD

Professor in the Health and Science Department at Colorado State Univ.

Wiley, 2002

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

Aflatoxin is a mold toxin. p. 5

“Aflatoxin has been called one of the most potent carcinogens ever

discovered.” p. 5

“Peanuts often were contaminated with a fungus-produced toxin called

aflatoxin.” p. 34

Aflatoxin “was said to be the most potent chemical carcinogen ever

discovered.” p. 34

Peanuts and corn are the foods most contaminated with aflatoxin. p. 35

“All 29 jars of peanut butter we had purchased in the local groceries were

contaminated with levels of aflatoxin as much as 300 times the amount

judged to be safe in US food.” p. 35

The worst, moldiest peanuts are “delivered to the end of the conveyor

belt to make peanut butter.” p. 35

The China Study

T Colin Campbell, PhD

Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University

Co-author of the largest and most comprehensive epidemiological study

ever published on human health and nutrition, the China Study.

Benbella Books, 2004

Never Thought Wrestling Would Speak to Me

For the record, I can't stand wrestling, so it makes this all the funnier to me. I had been planning to go raw again on December 26th anyway, because the xmas feeding frenzy is now over, and it's also my dad's birthday. I always think my dad would've encouraged me with raw, because he would've wanted me to do better than he did and avoid all the health problems he experienced. He died young at 56. But when I caught sight of Allstate Arena's billboard featuring WWE last night I did a cartoon double-take. It simply read: RAW DEC. 26th. I literally laughed out loud. What an awesome confirmation I'm headed in the right direction!

As if it weren't enough, that happened at about 7pm. At 2:30am I was at my desk at work when a dull ache crept into my right arm, stayed for several hours and prompted me to do some Googling.

Needless to say, the time to put my health above all else has arrived. It's not the first time I've experienced this sensation, but I hadn't felt it for a long time, definitely not in the past year, because I'd made such great strides with raw foods and exercise last summer.

Now I've gained about 50 of the 75 I'd lost back. It's hard to believe, but then again, it's not.

What's done is done. It's time to look forward and thank the universe for my wake-up calls, then thank the universe again for making them gentle ones. People in their forties have heart attacks every day. I've eaten a mountain of donuts and fast food since I broke raw on my birthday in August. Stress eating is a recipe for disaster.

Throughout the month of December I've often thought about the fact that I would be at my goal weight now, had I not broken raw on my birthday. Instead, I'm sadly close to being right back where I started.

Face forward. Chin up. I can do this.

It's back to walking and 90% raw. Keep it simple. I know this works.

And we're off!

P.S.
Today I've eaten:
4 clementines
2 apples
6 T natural peanut butter *
1 cup of cumin-lemon tea

*Not the greatest choices - too much fat and not enough food (where are the greens!?), but from past experience I've found natural peanut butter, while not raw, to be a great transition food for me due to its high fat content. It's worked great before. In a few days I won't like it anymore anyway. It will be too heavy. However, it's also a great emergency raw-ish food when I feel I'm on shaky ground because I've forgotten to eat. The other nut butters still taste kind of oogy to me.