Free Assessments
Free Assessment
The purpose of this test is to measure the amount of time it takes for food to move through your gastrointestinal tract. It is critical to good health to have normal transit time. Transit time is the shortest amount of time needed for any part of a meal to move through the gastrointestinal tract and be eliminated in the feces.
When transit time is too fast, the body is not given a chance to absorb nutrients from the food. Prolonged transit times result in decay of food within the intestinal tract. Both of these situations contribute to degenerative diseases.
Transit time can be measured by swallowing Activated Charcoal capsules, recording the date and time, and then looking at each subsequent bowel movement and recording the date and time when the black color first appears. The time elapsed from swallowing the charcoal and its appearance in the feces is the transit time. A transit time of less than 20 or more than 30 hours is abnormal and is associated with maldigestion and malabsorption. When transit time is abnormal, the individual consuming the food does not benefit from its nutrients but toxic organisms living in the gastrointestinal tract that get to feed upon it, do!
Our Toxic Environment
"Environmental pollution is one of the most serious problems facing humanity today", states Alan McGowan, president of the Scientists’ Institute for Public Information. Similarly, in an article entitled Global Change, scientist George M. Woodwell reported that scientists around the world believe that human activities are threatening the biosphere, the thin layer on the surface of the earth where life occurs. The biosphere maintains an incredible richness and variety of life, including human life, yet in the final part of the century humans are destroying the natural system upon which life depends.
After living for thousands and thousands of years in chemical balance, mankind, in the last hundred years has literally changed the chemistry of our environment through the progressive poisoning of nature with the chemical by-products of modern agriculture, industry, power generation, and transportation. The chemical changes these poisons cause are not confined to areas of local release. Scientists have found evidence of pollution every where on earth, from the largest cities to the remote and isolated South Pole.
To give you an example of the quantity of poison we are exposed to each year, consider the following amounts released into the environment in 1989 alone:
- Over 550,000,000 pounds of industrial chemicals were dumped into public sewage storage.
- More than 1,000,000,000 pounds of chemicals were released into the ground, threatening our natural ground water sources.
- Over 188,000,000 pounds of chemicals were discharged into surface waters, i.e. lakes and rivers.
- More than 2,400,000,000 pounds of air emissions were pumped into the atmosphere.
The grand total of chemical pollutants released into the environment was 5,705,670,380 pounds. That is enough to fill a line of semi-trailers parked bumper to bumper and having a cargo capacity of 45,000 pounds each, stretching from downtown Los Angeles to Des Moines, Iowa!
Toxins in Our Food
In the United States, we allow 10,000 food and chemical additives into our food supply. The average American eats about fourteen pounds of additives a year. In addition to colorings, preservatives, flavorings, emulsifiers, humectants, and antimicrobials, we consume on average 120 pounds of sugar and eight pounds of salt.
Internal Pollution
With the number of bacteria in the colon being estimated at 10,000,000,000 per gram of fecal material, it is suggested that we have a greater number of bacteria than we have human cells. These bacteria release byproducts; some of which have healthful effects while others can be toxic.
Our Health May Be Adversely Affected!
Consider the example of Mr. Thomas Latimer, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. Hours after treating his lawn with a pesticide, he experienced dizziness, nausea, and a pounding headache that intensified. Despite extensive medical care, he continued to get worse and now suffers from visual and concentration difficulties, speech impairment, nightmares, brain seizures and takes anti, epileptic medication. He no longer rides a bike and even has difficulty walking. The collective medical opinion was that an anti-ulcer medicine he was taking suppressed his liver’s ability to detoxify the pesticide he was exposed to. With his natural defenses compromised, the poison carried out a potent and ongoing attack on his nervous system.
Mr. Latimer is not the only victim. Recent estimates suggest that each year there are 3,000,000 severe pesticide poisonings with 220,000 deaths worldwide. Pesticide-related illnesses in the United States are estimated to occur between 150,000 and 300,000 times a year. This situation begs an important question! What can we do to protect ourselves from the damaging effects caused by toxins in our environment, food, or even internal pollution?
Adequate Nutrition is Essential for Effective Detoxification
The body goes through a continuous cycle of activity in an effort to protect itself from the adverse effects of toxicity. This detoxification cycle is critically dependent on adequate nutrition. As toxins enter the body special nutrients are available to activate specific enzymes that transform toxins into water-soluble substances that can be excreted. Nutrients also protect the body from some of the damage the toxins may cause.
An alarming trend has developed in the last two decades; people may not be adequately nourished by the average American diet. After analyzing over 15,000 people, one study reported that "84% of the subjects are consuming sub-optimal diets with regard to one or more of the seventeen nutrients evaluated."
Nutritional Support is Available
We offer a scientifically designed program to help clear the body of unhealthful toxins. It provides simple, yet specific dietary guidelines in combination with a complete and nutritionally balanced beverage containing a blend of the essential nutrients associated with detoxification pathways. Could this program help you? Find out! Take this test:
Toxicity Self Test
Please print out this page to take the test below:
Rate each of the following Symptoms based on your health profile for the past 30 days:
POINT SCALE:
0 = never or almost never have the symptoms
1 = occasionally have it, effect is not severe
2 = occasionally have it, effect is severe
3 = frequently have it, effect is not severe
4 = frequently have it, effect is severe
DIGESTIVE
__ Nausea or vomiting
__ Diarrhea
__ Constipation
__ Bloated feeling
__ Belching, passing gas
__ Heartburn
__ = Total
EARS
__ Itchy ears
__ Earaches, ear infection
__ Drainage from ear
__ Ringing in ears, hearing loss
__ = Total
EMOTIONS
__ Mood swings
__ Anxiety, fear, nervousness
__ Anger, irritability
__ Depression
__ = Total
ENERGY/ACTIVITY
__ Fatigue, sluggishness
__ Apathy, lethargy
__ Hyperactivity
__ Restlessness
__ = Total
EYES
__ Watery, itchy eyes
__ Swollen, reddened or sticky eyelids
__ Dark circles under eyes
__ Blurred/tunnel vision
__ = Total
HEAD
__ Headaches
__ Faintness
__ Dizziness
__ Insomnia
__ = Total
LUNGS
__ Chest congestion
__ Asthma, bronchitis
__ Shortness of breath
__ Difficulty breathing
__ = Total
MIND
__ Poor memory
__ Confusion
__ Poor concentration
__ Poor coordination
__ Difficulty making decisions
__ Slurred speech
__ Learning disabilities
__ = Total
MOUTH/THROAT
__ Chronic coughing
__ Gagging, frequent need to clear throat
__ Sore throat, hoarse
__ Swollen or discolored tongue, gums, lips
__ Canker sores
__ = Total
NOSE
__ Stuffy nose
__ Sinus problems
__ Hay fever
__ Sneezing attacks
__ Excessive mucus
__ = Total
SKIN
__ Acne
__ Hives, rashes, dry skin
__ Hair loss
__ Flushing or hot flashes
__ = Total
HEART
__ Skipped heartbeats
__ Rapid heartbeats
__ Chest pain
__ Excessive sweating
__ = Total
JOINTS/MUSCLES
__ Pain or arches in joints
__ Arthritis
__ Stiffness, limited movement
__ Pain, aches in muscles
__ Feeling of weakness or tiredness
__ = Total
WEIGHT
__ Binge eating/drinking
__ Craving certain foods
__ Excessive weight
__ Compulsive eating
__ Water retention
__ Underweight
__ = Total
OTHER
__ Frequent illness
__ Frequent or urgent urination
__ Genital itch, discharge
__ = Total
___ = Grand Total
Add up the numbers to arrive at a total for each section then add the totals for each section to arrive at the grand total. If any individual section total is ten or more, or the grand total is fifty or more, you may benefit from a detoxification program. Ask us for the details!
The body’s systemic pH balance is a critical factor in health. Modern day diets and lifestyles are acid-producing. When the body is too acid, nothing works as it should. Having an acid pH is associated with increased pain and inflammation, impaired healing, accelerated bone and muscle loss, and generalized inefficiencies of enzyme and hormone activity. What’s more, an acid environment fosters the growth of opportunistic infections and tumor cells.
The body’s acid-alkaline balance can be assessed by testing the first morning urine. You will need a roll of pH paper with a scale of about 5.5 to 8.0. It is best to test the first urine after you are up for the day. Tear off a strip of paper from the roll. Dip the paper into the urine. You can test the urine midstream or collect the urine in a cup and dip the paper into it. Do not test urine in the toilet. Pull out the paper and match the color to the enclosed chart. Write down the number that corresponds with the color. Do this for five days in a row. The values should average between about 6.6 and 7.2. If your numbers are lower, your body is probably too acidic.
Excessive acidity can be neutralized by eating more alkaline-forming foods (fruits and vegetables) and taking alkaline-forming supplements. The most important of these is probably potassium bicarbonate.
If you are confused about whether you should be on a low fat or a low carbohydrate diet, this article may help you decide which would work better for you. For years the media has been espousing the benefits of a low fat diet, but these diets did not work for everyone. More recently, several versions of low carbohydrate diets have been offered as the real solution to weight loss and health in general. As with health related topics, the right answer for you depends on your unique biochemical make-up. Just as each of us has our own unique fingerprints, so do we have different biochemistries.
Losing body fat is a complex physiological process that is governed by genetics, age, diet, exercise habits, metabolic factors, disease states, and medication. Although caloric intake is surely important, it is not the only dietary consideration. Another important aspect to consider is the body's hormonal response to foods.
Some people respond to dietary carbohydrates with an exaggerated production of insulin that can lead to a cycle of weight gain - food cravings - overconsumption of carbohydrates - more insulin and so on. These individuals do better on a low carbohydrate diet. On the other hand, those people who have a normal hormonal response to dietary carbohydrates tend to do better on a low-fat, high complex carbohydrate type diet.
There are several indicators to help decide which type of diet is best for you. If you experience hypoglycemia or are diabetic, or have a strong family history of type II diabetes, a low carbohydrate diet is probably for you. Additionally, if you crave carbohydrates, are blood type O, have high blood VLDL cholesterol and triglycerides, elevated fructosamine or glycosylated hemoglobin levels, or an abnormal carbohydrate challenge test, you are better off on a low carbohydrate diet. You can also choose your diet based on results of a genetic test offered by Interleukin Genetics, Inc., which checks three genes connected with carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. In the meantime, to get a clearer idea of which diet is best for you, take the following test. If you score 25 or higher, you need to limit your carbohydrate intake. If you score under 20, try a higher carbohydrate, low fat diet. No matter which type of diet followed, I believe it is in everyone's best interests, for both weight loss and overall health, to assure that the fats eaten are mostly fresh, unrefined poly and monounsaturates and that the carbohydrates eaten are largely complex and unrefined.
DETERMINING YOUR SENSITIVITY TO INSULINOGENIC FOODS AND EATING HABITS
Please print out this page to take the test below:
Please answer yes or no to every question. Add up all the numbers next to every "yes."
(5)____ I have a tendency to higher blood pressure.
(5)____ I gain weight easily, especially around my waist and have difficulty losing it.
(5)____ I often experience mental confusion.
(5)____ I often experience fatigue and generalized weakness.
(10)___ I have diabetic tendencies.
(4)____ I get tired and/or hungry in the mid-afternoon.
(5)____ About an hour or two after eating a full meal that includes dessert, I want more of the dessert.
(3)____ It is harder for me to control my eating for the rest of the day if I have a breakfast containing carbohydrates than it would be if I had only coffee or nothing at all.
(4)____ When I want to lose weight, I find it easier not to eat for most of the day than to try to eat several small diet meals.
(3)____ Once I start eating sweets, starches, or snack foods, I often have a difficult time stopping.
(3)____ I would rather have an ordinary meal that included dessert than a gourmet meal that did not include dessert.
(5)____ After finishing a full meal, I sometimes feel as if I could go back and eat the whole meal again.
(3)____ A meal of only meat and vegetables leaves me feeling unsatisfied.
(3)____ If I'm feeling down, a snack of cake or cookies makes me feel better.
(3)____ If potatoes, bread, pasta, or dessert are on the table, I will often skip eating vegetables or salad.
(4)____ I get a sleepy, almost "drugged" feeling after eating a large meal containing bread or pasta or potatoes and dessert, whereas I feel more energetic after a meal of only meat or fish and salad.
(3)____ I have a hard time going to sleep at times without a bed time snack.
(3)____ At times I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep unless I eat something.
(5)____ I get irritable if I miss a meal or mealtime is delayed.
(2)____ At a restaurant I almost always eat too much bread, even before the meal is served.
TOTAL: _____