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POWER:
Mind & Muscle > Jan. 2000
Fats
That Heal Fats That Kill: An Interview with Udo Erasmus. Part
I: Good Fats and Bad Fats
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Interview by Ori Hofmekler, January 2000 Premier Issue.
What began as a personal disaster - being poisoned on the
job by industrial pesticides - was turned into the triumph
of a best-selling book. ("Knowing that the poisons I had been
exposed to were carcinogenic and that cancer often involves
fats, I needed clear, accurate, factual information.") Following
is an exclusive interview with Udo Erasmus, Ph.D., author
of Fats That Heal Fats That Kill. Erasmus is considered
by many to be one of the most serious health gurus today,
especially concerning fat metabolism, but also libido, aging,
and beauty.
Says Erasmus in the preface of his book, "My health is my
responsibility... Our drug-oriented medical approaches cannot
lead us to health... Foods and nutrition are primary options
for self-help in health."
With this credo as a guiding thread, Erasmus has fashioned
a thought-provoking, sometimes controversial - but always
nutritionally sound - understanding of the role of fats (both
good and bad) in our diet.
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POWER: There seems to be a fat phobia in this country.
Americans were never on diets the way they have been in the
last couple of decades. And still people keep getting fatter
and fatter. What do you think is the reason?
ERASMUS: There are several themes in your question. First
of all, I think the reason for the fat phobia is that people
have heard only half the story on fats. The complete story is
that there are fats that heal as well as fats that kill. Everybody
has been told to avoid the fats that kill, but the importance
of the fats that heal has been neglected. Yet the healing fats
are even more important than the avoidance of bad fats, because
we cannot stay alive if we don't get enough of the healing fats.
If you know only half the story - if you think that all fats
are bad - then it makes sense that you would avoid all of them.
The second reason people aren't getting fats is industrial.
The food industry likes its products to have a long shelf life.
Like perishable groceries, the healing fats spoil easily and
cause shorter shelf life.
POWER: What are the fats that heal - the good fats? And
what do they heal?
ERASMUS: The fats that heal really involve three substances.
One is called Omega-3 essential fatty acid, or alpha-linolenic
acid. The second is Omega-6, or linoleic acid. If you take these
in the right ratio - which is important - and you get enough
of the both, the body makes several derivatives that are important
for health. And some of these derivatives are turned into hormones
called prostaglandins that are vital to optimal body functioning.
The third area that's important is what we call "minor" ingredients.
These are substances found in oils that are simply squeezed
out of seeds or nuts and not further processed. They make up
only 2 percent of an oil, which is why they are called "minor",
but they have major benefits for health. Among them are phytosterols,
lecithin, carotene, chlorophyll, vitamin E, and many others.
They are removed or destroyed in the usual processing of oils,
in order to achieve a longer shelf life.
The healing fats heal everything that one suffers from getting
less than optimal amounts of them. They optimize energy level
and performance; improve brain function, mood, behavior, and
intelligence; make skin soft, smooth, and velvety; improve digestive,
gland, and organ functions; lower most cardiovascular risk factors;
are anti-inflammatory, and dampen the over-response of the immune
system in autoimmune conditions; help transport minerals and
keep bones strong; protect our genes from being damaged; are
required for hemoglobin production, cell growth, and cell division;
have anti-cancer properties; and help in fat loss and weight
normalization. |
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POWER: Can the body produce essential fatty acids on
its own?
ERASMUS: The word "essential" means that they are substances
the body cannot produce itself. By definition, essential
fatty aids come from dietary fat; our body cannot make them
but must have them to be able to live. Essential fatty acids
must therefore come from foods. A no-fat diet cannot provide
them, and a low-fat diet will not provide enough.
If you don't get enough essential fatty acids, your health deteriorates.
You pass through a progressively worsening set of degenerative
deficiency symptoms, and if the deficiency is sustained long
enough, you die,
Also part of the definition of "essential" is that if you are
deteriorating from a deficiency of essential fatty acids, and
you put enough of them back into the deficient diet, the deficiency
symptoms are reversed and you recover your health. So they have
great healing potential in all conditions that result from essential-fatty-acid
deficiency.
The final part of the definition is that a nutrient cannot be
called "essential" until researchers have identified at least
one biochemical reaction in the body in which that substance
is required, and without which that reaction cannot take place.
Many of the degenerative conditions on which traditional medicine
has had a hard time getting a handle are the result of insufficient
or suboptimal intake of one or more of the essential nutrients
- some 20 minerals, 13 vitamins, 8 essential amino acids from
proteins, and 2 essential fatty acids from fats. If you optimize
their presence in the diet, you get reversals of all those conditions
that result from deficiency. Which explains why the nutritional
approach works so well today. Many modern illnesses (sometimes
called the "diseases of civilization", which really means diseases
caused by food processing) result from not getting enough of
one or more of the essential nutrients, or from toxic influences
that interfere with our biochemistry - in other words poison
us.
POWER: In your book you say that there are fats that
make you actually lose body fat. Is this true?
ERASMUS: Yes. In fact, the notion that fats make you
fat has never been true. Even the wrong fats help you lose weight,
because they suppress appetite. High-fat, high-protein diets
have been used for weight loss for the past 40 years. They work.
If it's the wrong kind of fat, it will be hard on kidneys and
liver eventually, but it still works for weight loss. If you
eat the right fats - the ones I call the healing fats or essential
fats - they increase your metabolic rate. Your burn more calories
and you feel more like being active because they increase energy
levels.
Essential fats also work to curb food cravings. And they are
anti-inflammatory, helping get rid of water in inflamed tissues,
which can be part of the over-weight problem. As I said, they
make your skin soft and velvety, elevate your mood, improve
thinking ability, make you feel energetic and more like taking
care of yourself. If your skin is lousy, your mood is low, you
can't think straight, and have no energy, your self-esteem will
likely be affected in a negative way.
In the past ten years in America we have reduced fat intake
from 42 percent of calories to 35 percent. In those same ten
years the incidence of obesity increased from 20 to 33 percent
of the population. Which means that eating less fat will likely
make you fatter.
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POWER: What kinds of fats make you lose fat? Is it the
combination of Omega-3 and Omega-6, or is it just Omega-3? You
state in your book that there is already too much Omega-6 in
our diet.
ERASMUS: All fats have some weight loss benefits, because
they suppress appetite, but Omega-3's reduce weight far better
than Omega-6's or other fats. We use a ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6
of two to one. We find that a ratio any higher than 2.5 times
richer in Omega-3 runs the risk of making people Omega-6 deficient,
which can lead to degenerative deficiency problems.
POWER: Is there any connection between fat and libido?
ERASMUS: Fat and libido are connected in several ways.
First, essential fats increase energy levels, because they increase
the body's ability to use oxygen. That means they increase stamina,
improve performance, and speed recovery from fatigue - all of
which are certainly helpful to libido.
Second, Essential fats are required for hormone production.
Animal studies show that hydrogenated fats - found in some margarines,
shortening, and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils - lower
testosterone levels, and essential fat deficiency impairs testosterone
production.
Third essential fats improve the functions of liver, thyroid,
and other glands and organs. They improve general health, which
can result in increased libido.
Fourth, essential fats make skin really nice. Because of this
effect, we sometimes call them the "essensual" or "essexual"
fats.
POWER: Do monounsaturated fats like olive oil or almond
oil increase testosterone? And is it true that cholesterol increases
testosterone increases testosterone levels?
ERASMUS: Our body makes testosterone from cholesterol.
That doesn't mean, however, that you have to consume cholesterol,
because your body can also make cholesterol, and it makes however
much you need.
If testosterone levels are low, then stimulating cholesterol
production is good. Essential fats help to accomplish this by
giving our glands the energy they need to their job better,
and longer.
Regarding olive oil which is low in Omega-6 and contains almost
no Omega-3s at all, I haven't seen an increase in libido, unless
the person had previously had low energy levels from being on
a low-fat or no-fat diet. Extra-virgin olive oil does have some
minor ingredients that are very good for health. Good health
is a very powerful aphrodisiac, especially if you are also in
love.
POWER: I just encountered some research which said that
when people eat high amounts of monounsaturated fats, such as
occur in nuts and olives, they increase testosterone more than
other oils. Is this true?
ERASMUS: I don't think so. Your body can make monounsaturated
fats out of sugar and starch, so if monounsaturates were the
key testosterone production should not be a problem. Many researchers
also state that monounsaturates are good for cardiovascular
disease. But in extra-virgin olive oil it is the minor ingredients,
which make up only 2 percent of the oil, that carry most of
the cardiovascular benefits.
POWER: People are being exposed to increasing amounts
of estrogen from the environment. Both males and females suffer
from too much estrogen in the body as a result of aging, as
well as the hormones in beef, chicken and dairy products, from
plastics, petroleum fertilizers, and pesticides that pollute
our water and food. Too much estrogen in the body creates stubborn
fat, and can cause breast cancer and other hazards.
ERASMUS: Not to mention fat deposits on men's pectoral
muscles, what some people in body building call "bitch tits."
A study in Canada found that men who eat a lot of (inorganic)
chicken actually grow female-shaped breasts from estrogen hormones
fed to chickens to make the birds grow faster for commercial
reasons.
POWER: Can proper fat metabolism protect you from this
estrogen syndrome?
ERASMUS: Optimal testosterone production, encouraged
by optimal essential-fat intake, can help because men produce
some estrogen, just as women produce some testosterone, but
the normal ratio of testosterone to estrogen is much higher
in men than in women. So higher testosterone levels in men can
help prevent the feminization of their chest. Optimal testosterone
production helps muscular development. Essential fats also improve
insulin function, which also plays a role in muscular growth.
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POWER: Is it true that lignans in flax act like an estrogen
blocker? Can they mimic estrogen?
ERASMUS: Yes. The lignans in flax are phytoestrogens,
which have weak estrogen activity. They can raise low estrogen
levels and lower high estrogen, because they occupy the estrogen-activity
sites.
POWER: So you could say flaxseed oil has an estrogen-balancing
effect?
ERASMUS: It's possible. That's interesting, but not likely,
because almost all of the phytoestrogens in flax remain in the
seed cake and don't end up in the oil. I ascribe the benefits
of flax oil to the fact that the Omega-3s in flax oil help to
build muscle. Omega-3 deficiency causes weakness. When people
use flax oil (properly balanced with Omega-6), they can work
out longer; their muscles grow quicker; they recover quicker.
And there's the testosterone production effect.
I ascribe these effects to the Omega-3s. But remember that flax
can make you Omega-6 deficient, and then every tissue in the
body falls apart. So flax should be enriched with Omega-6-rich
sunflower and sesame oils to get the Omega-6s up.
POWER: Is it true that flaxseed oil, if eaten with starches,
can offset or reduce the weight gain that's associated with
eating starches? If so, what is the reason? Is it the effect
on the glycemic index?
ERASMUS: There are a couple of reasons. One is that Omega-3s,
not the flax, can increase the metabolic rate and help increase
oxygen metabolism, so you burn more of the starch calories.
Fats generally can lower the glycemic index by slowing stomach-emptying
time, so you absorb the carbohydrates more gradually.
I would be really cautious, though. Slower stomach emptying
also means more time for digestion, which may result in absorbing
more calories from starch, so some people who put flax oil on
their potatoes actually gain a little weight. It's the potato
that makes them fat. Any starch that, when digested into glucose
and absorbed, is in excess of what is needed for fuel is automatically
turned into fat by the body. In other words, overweight people
are wearing extra fuel as fat, waiting for a famine.
People who have major weight problems - the seriously obese
- are fat-phobic carbohydrate junkies.
POWER: So there is no difference between complex carbohydrates
and simple carbohydrates in terms of how much we should eat?
ERASMUS: You get worse effects from simple carbohydrates
(sugars), because they are absorbed so rapidly, flood the bloodstream,
and must then be turned into fat. You'll also get more hypoglycemia
and diabetic problems with sugars than with starches. But too
much complex carbohydrates (starches) can also turn to fats.
The key issue is not to eat more fuel than you burn. Carbohydrates
are good fuel. They burn clean. The problem is the too much.
Only the excess turns into fat.
We tell people who want to reduce excess weight to lower their
intake of carbohydrates and raise their intake of greens/vegetables.
POWER: That's approximately the philosophy of Barry Sears,
author of The Zone, who advocates a diet of 40 percent carbohydrates,
30 percent fat, 30 percent protein. What do you think? Is this
the ideal diet?
ERASMUS: No, it's not. If you're an athlete, you may
be able to eat 60 to 70 percent of your calories as carbohydrates
and burn them off and not get fat. If you're sedentary, 40 percent
might be too much. It's different for different people. You
cannot make one diet that works for everybody, because everybody's
metabolism and lifestyle are different.
Carbohydrates are good fuel. We should not malign them unfairly.
It is the excess carbohydrates that we don't need, the excess
fuel we don't burn and which the body must turn into fat, that
causes weight problems.
Look, it's not complicated to figure out how much carbohydrate
a person should take in. Your body tells you. How? If you're
getting fat, you're eating too many carbs.
POWER: So there is no one formula that is good for everyone?
ERASMUS: That's correct. All people need the same essential
nutrients - fewer than 50 of them - but everyone's optimum is
different. Optimums can vary by a factor of ten among individuals,
sometimes even more. Genetic, climatic, activity, lifestyle,
and toxicity factors all play a role in determining optimums.
POWER: What is your opinion of Dr. Atkins's diet, which
is extremely high-protein, high-fat, almost no carbs?
ERASMUS: Atkins's diet works for weight loss. I pay more
attention to getting the right kinds of fat in the diet, rather
than just any fat, because the wrong kinds of fat eventually
have detrimental effects on liver, kidneys, and other organs.
The right fats will not cause such problems, and in fact they
improve the functions of the inner organs. But Atkins's diet
has helped many people normalize weight, simply because it addresses
the excessive carbohydrate intake that leads to fat production
in the body.
POWER: People who attack Dr. Atkins's diet mostly do
so regarding the side effects of ketones in the body. Do you
agree with this criticism - or with Dr. Atkins, who feels ketones
are good for you?
ERASMUS: Atkins is right, in that ketones suppress appetite.
His critics are right as to damage caused by ketones in the
long term. The Atkins diet would work better if it emphasized
oils rich in the right ratio of essential fats.
The difficulty is that such oils have to be made with care,
need to be used with care - not for frying - and need to be
richer in Omega-3's, which help in weight reduction for several
reasons. They increase energy and calorie burning; they decrease
inflammation, thereby releasing water held in inflamed, swollen
tissues; they lift depression, a common reason for overeating;
and they suppress appetite while reducing cravings for carbohydrate
junk foods and sugar.
Oils made with health in mind should be stored in brown glass
bottles, in a box that will protect them from light, in the
fridge. They can be found in health-food stores, gyms, and the
dispensaries of natural healers. Part of the problem has been
the need for re-education on the right oils.
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POWER: Do you think that people can live in high-protein,
high-fat diets with no carbs?
ERASMUS: For a time, yes. But long term, we need carbs.
I prefer that people get their carbs from greens, rather than
starchy vegetables like potatoes, grains, or fruit.
Greens are the most important food on this planet. They provide
minerals, vitamins, amino acids, fatty acids, fiber, as well
as enzymes and friendly bowel bacteria if they are eaten raw.
They are also rich in antioxidants, and provide healing phytonutrients.
They provide water, hold water in the soil, and make oxygen.
They even make our beef (cows are made from grass). For weight
management, greens are also exceptional, because it is almost
impossible to get fat on greens.
POWER: So carbohydrates are connected to metabolism -
gaining fat or losing fat?
ERASMUS: Yes, they are the key factor.
POWER: And they're also connected to the glycemic index,
which is tied to insulin response?
ERASMUS: Yes. They are the foods with the highest glycemic
index, which is an indicator of the insulin activity required
to deal with them. When the body turns fats into carbs they
block insulin activity, which makes you insulin resistant. Sugars
also remove minerals like chromium and magnesium from your body.
These, along with zinc and essential fats, are required for
insulin to be able to function.
POWER:People who have high insulin sensitivity might
not gain weight at all, even if they ate excessive amounts of
carbohydrates. Is this true?
ERASMUS: No. People with genetically based high metabolic
rates do burn carbs readily, and don't get fat on them because
they burn them. People with more muscle mass can also can also
eat more carbs without getting fat, because muscles burn a lot
of carbohydrates during activity, and activity is what makes
muscles grow.
Whatever stimulates insulin to put glucose into cells will not
be helpful to weight loss. The relationship of insulin to carbs
goes like this: Carbs are digested into glucose, which is absorbed
into the body. Glucose stimulates insulin production. Insulin
gets glucose into the cells, where they enter the cell furnace
(Krebs cycle), which "burns" them to make energy. If you don't
need all the energy that comes from burning glucose, the body
turns glucose-breakdown products (acetates) from the cell furnace
into hard (saturated) fats. Hard fats interfere with insulin
function, as do sugars and other carbs that the body turns into
hard fats.
If insulin does a good job, you end up with stored fat as well
as low blood sugar. Low blood sugar has two results. One, you
get hungry again and eat more, which can trigger the above fat-producing
cycle. Two, your adrenals kick in to make glucose (gluconeogenesis)
from proteins, so you lose muscle mass, lowering your metabolic
rate and making you even more sugar-sensitive.
The short answer: Limit carbohydrate intake if you want to avoid
losing muscle and gaining fat.
POWER: What other things can you suggest to increase
the insulin sensitivity?
ERASMUS: You can reverse most cases of insulin-resistent,
type-II diabetes if you ensure optimal intake of zinc, chromium,
magnesium, and essential fats; reduce intake of sugars, sweets,
carbohydrates, and hard (saturated) fats; and increase your
intake of green foods. That is, provided that no permanent damage
has been done to vital tissues. Make sure you get enough good
proteins and good fats, because these supply essential nutrients
that the body must have but cannot make. Be active to build
muscle.
END OF PART 1
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Fats
That Heal Fats That Kill: An Interview with Udo Erasmus. Part
II: Essential Fatty Acids, Hormonal Manipulation, and Nutritional
Supplements
Interview by Ori Hofmekler, April 2000.
What began as a personal disaster - being poisoned on the job
by industrial pesticides - was turned into the triumph of a
best-selling book. ("Knowing that the poisons I had been exposed
to were carcinogenic and that cancer often involves fats, I
needed clear, accurate, factual information.") Following is
an exclusive interview with Udo Erasmus, Ph.D., author of Fats
That Heal Fats That Kill. Erasmus is considered by many
to be one of the most serious health gurus today, especially
concerning fat metabolism, but also libido, aging, and beauty.
Says Erasmus in the preface of his book, "My health is my responsibility...
Our drug-oriented medical approaches cannot lead us to health...
Foods and nutrition are primary options for self-help in health."
With this credo as a guiding thread, Erasmus has fashioned a
thought-provoking, sometimes controversial - but always nutritionally
sound - understanding of the role of fats (both good and bad)
in our diet.
POWER: Can you explain what prostaglandins are and how
they are connected to essential fatty acids?
ERASMUS: The prostaglandins are hormones that are made
from essential fatty acids. There are also hormones that are
made from cholesterol, hormones made from amino acids, and hormones
made from proteins. Prostaglandins come in three families, two
of them good and one that causes some problems. They each have
their place. In the jungle, the prostaglandin 2's are very good
for survival. And the prostaglandin 1's and 3's make sure that
the prostaglandin 2's don't get out of hand. There are prostaglandins
that relax arterial muscle tone. There are prostaglandins that
constrict arterial muscle tone. You would expect that some prostaglandins
will help to maintain an erection. So they could be very helpful.
Of course it also helps to be near a desirable object - and
maybe it helps to be in love.
POWER: You said that there is a relationship between
beauty and essential fatty acids. Does this refer to skin that
is beautiful? Beauty in general? The aging process? Or all of
these?
ERASMUS: Well, if you look at it from its foundation,
you cannot separate health, performance, and beauty. Because
performance requires health, and beauty is really the external
manifestation of healthy biochemical function. It sounds very
unromantic, but that's how it is. And it's also manifested on
the skin. Because the essential fats, besides improving cardiovascular
health, energy levels, and brain function, are required for
brain development, healthy glands and organs, and [they] help
with weight loss. They are also anti-inflammatory and anti-autoimmune
- which all together makes beautiful skin, if you get the right
ratio and enough of them. We measure optimum intake by how the
skin feels. When you get the optimum amount of essential fatty
acids they form a barrier in the skin against the loss of moisture,
and so they are nature's perfect moisturizer.
POWER: Can you use them topically on the skin?
ERASMUS: They're not used in external cosmetics because
if you put them on the skin they'll go rancid. That's why you
need to take them internally, and they will make the skin soft
and velvety. The reason we use skin as our measure for optimum
intake is because skin gets the essential fats last.
POWER: Do you know how much Omega 3's and 6's one should
take, and how long one would need to take them before seeing
a change in one's skin?
ERASMUS: To do our work we use a blend that is twice
as rich in Omega-3's as Omega-6's. Usually adults need between
two and three tablespoons a day. I use about 3 tablespoonfuls
a day in the summer, and four in the winter, because during
the fall when the weather turns people begin to notice their
skin gets dry, and that's nature telling them they need more
oil. Bodybuilders may need to take seven or eight to get the
same results on their skin that I feel I get with three or four.
POWER: Is there anything like too much of a good oil?
ERASMUS: Too much? We have people take 50 percent of
their calories from fats. That's a lot of fat. They lose weight
on them, they lose their arthritic symptoms on them.
The Eskimos got up to 60 percent of their calories from fat,
and they didn't have clogged arteries, get diabetes, cancer,
or multiple sclerosis. Although their diet was much higher in
fat [than the diets that were killing us], theirs was unprocessed
and our was processed; theirs was very rich in essential-fat
derivatives, whereas ours was a poor source of essential fats.
POWER: In other words, there is no limit to how much
good fat you can take?
ERASMUS: Well, there is one limit: If you take more fat
at any one time than your liver can process - because your liver
has to process fats - then you will feel heavy or nauseated,
and what that means is you need to spread it out over the day
so you never give your liver more than it can handle. Some people
can take a huge amount of fat and not have a problem with it,
and some people can only take a little at a time. That's really
the main symptom you might get.
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POWER: You produce your own oil, Udo's Choice Perfected
Oil Blend. Is this the best combination of oil on the market
today?
ERASMUS: I'm the guy who pioneered the whole deal. I'm
the guy who dug out the information. I had cancer to look forward
to. I knew that cancer often involves fats, and I didn't know
how, so I dug out the information. It took me six years of digging
through the journals. That's a long time to spend researching
something. And then I developed machinery for making oils with
health in mind. Of all the people who are going in this direction,
I'm the only one who has the education. I get a lot of feedback
because I work with a lot of people. I try it on myself, my
friends - and if that works, then I expand the circle.
The reason why we use skin to determine what's optimum is because
your brain, your liver, your heart require the oils - and if
they were deprived because the oil went to the skin first, then
you would have serious health problems. But you can live with
dry skin. It's not beautiful, but you can live with it. So nature's
wisdom says skin gets it last. By the time your skin is soft
and velvety, you also know that you have dealt your health issues,
because the rest of your body has what it needs.
POWER: So you know that all your inside organs have enough
fat?
ERASMUS: Right.
POWER: Some men and women suffer from water retention
under the skin, usually puffiness under the eyes. Is there any
way that this oil can remove it?
ERASMUS: Well, there are a couple of issues we are talking
about here. One is kidney function. The essential fats are extremely
important for kidney function, and if your kidney doesn't work
you retain water. But that's more a bodywide thing, and again
the Omega-3's do a better job here, but you've got to have enough
Omega-6's not to become deficient. So don't just use flax oil
for it. You really need more Omega-6. We use flax with some
sunflower and sesame to improve the ratio. The other issue is
involved with allergies or liver function. And if it involves
allergies you need to make sure that foods are properly digested
or you need to remove certain foods. I would rather improve
digestion than remove foods. And that is a result of histamine
and prostaglandin action in the body as a result of allergies.
POWER: How are you going to digest the food if you're
allergic?
ERASMUS: What we do is give people the oil to improve
gut integrity and prevent leaky gut that leads to food allergies.
And then we give them enzymes to replace the enzymes destroyed
when foods are cooked. And we give them particular enzyme mixtures
that are very rich in proteases, because poorly digested protein
causes most of the problems. When food is completely digested,
there is virtually nothing left to be allergic to anymore. So
that's why we would rather replace the enzymes, taking them
a little closer to how it was in nature again, than to remove
foods. Because we've seen people remove so many foods from their
diet that the only thing they could eat was oatmeal, and oatmeal
is not a balanced diet. So I would rather go in the direction
of helping digestion than removing foods.
POWER: Can stretch marks be helped? Women often get stretch
marks after birth. Men can get them when they lose weight, or
pump up too much when bodybuilding. What about wrinkles? Is
there any way to remove or reduce these two hazards of aging
skin?
ERASMUS: For stretch marks I only preventative [measures].
Most of those people end up with a zinc deficiency, and then
the collagen comes apart. That's what the stretch marks are
from. So that's preventable. But I don't know of any reversal
for it. Once you got 'em you got 'em. So if you don't think
stretch marks are very beautiful, this is a very good reason
to take the wise road of getting the nutrients you need before
you have problems.
In terms of water under the skin, with bodybuilders who want
to look shredded before their competitions - which means no
fat under the skin so you can see all the muscle striations
- we have consistently used oils rich in Omega-3's, and when
properly balanced, they can attain [the] fat burn-off under
the skin they want. This can be done with oils now. They used
to do it with diuretics. Diuretics are very hard on kidney function,
and they deprive you of potassium, which is also hard on cardiovascular
function. The athletes are getting just as good results - probably
better - with the proper use of oils.
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POWER: Do the oils burn the fat or remove water under
the skin?
ERASMUS: Burn the fat. Now while it could also be water
- it would remove the water as well, provided the kidneys aren't
doing their job of getting rid of excess water. So it could
actually be both - but the oils do a good job on both.
POWER: Well, it could also be that Omega-3 is an estrogen
blocker, and it is estrogen that gives you a lot of body fat
under the skin.
ERASMUS: And wrinkles come from skin being dry. Those
essential fats - if you get them in the right ratio, in the
right amount, and the right kind - will remove some. I've seen
people in their eighties with soft, velvety skin. They'll have
some brown spots, but their skin is soft and velvety. The character
lines, which are the deep wrinkles, I have not seen reversed.
I mean, I don't know, I'm 56 - I don't have a whole lot of wrinkles.
I will get those character lines. But the oil does a wonderful
job if you get enough oil to keep the face from getting all
the other wrinkles that come from dryness. And then the other
[areas] where it works well [are] eczema, psoriasis, and acne.
It's also very helpful on those conditions.
POWER: There are some degenerative diseases like multiple
sclerosis or other physical problems that, according to traditional
medicine, don't show any serious solution right now. Is there
anything you want to say about myasthenia gravis, for example,
and other degenerative diseases?
ERASMUS: Well, there is research that shows that in places
where essential fat intake is high, multiple sclerosis is very
rare. So that's from one end. From the other end, people who
get multiple sclerosis, if you look at their diets, they're
usually very poor diets, lots of crackers and cheese, very few
greens and very few fats...And then the third place to come
from is that we have seen people with multiple sclerosis arrest
the progression of the disease and improve their energy levels.
In some cases, with lots of greens - because greens are really
important there - even reverse it.
You know, wisdom is better than hind sight. It's better to head
it off doing things right in the first place than to wait until
you have the problem and try to reverse it. Prevention is always
easier than reversal. The only people at this point in the general
sense in this society who are taking the wise approach are actually
the people who want to look good and be fit. The people who
are interested in beauty and performance. Those are the people
who are embracing the idea of good nutrition on a preventative
basis. Whereas the rest of the population generally neglect
themselves until something goes wrong, and then they try to
look for some technology to fix it. So the kids are the wisest
of the bunch in this area.
POWER: Do you have any opinion about people suffering
from mental problems like obsessive behavior?
ERASMUS: There is some research on obsessive-compulsive
disorder that [says] fats are important. Certainly in depression,
[there is] good research and consistent feedback [that says]
when people make the oil change we recommend, their mood is
elevated and their depression is lifted. Hyperactivity responds,
dyslexia responds, clumsiness responds, attention deficit responds...
Also, in schizophrenia, there's less hallucination. People deal
with stress better and feel calmer. Also intelligence improves,
and there's research on that - I.Q. goes up by six to nine points.
POWER: Talk more about eating disorder and obsessive-compulsive
behavior. Eating disorder is a big disease today, for women
especially.
ERASMUS: Yes. There are a couple of things I know. The
essential fats should be helpful. They're also helpful in Alzheimer's.
But zinc is also important in eating disorders. I guess what
I would say to those people [with eating disorders] is that
you will never be perfect externally, even if you're very beautiful.
Perfection is meant to be an inner experience. Go a little easier
on yourself, maybe break a few rules, be a little bit rebellious
- and try not to be perfect in other people's eyes.
I talked to a fourteen year old girl in Australia. I was at
one of the conferences. And her mother said, "Would you tell
my daughter what she needs to do?" - because she had an eating
disorder. So I talked to her just about a few things, and finally
I whispered in her ear, "You're far too beautiful to treat yourself
this badly." And she started to cry. And that was the beginning
of changing for her. And I had no idea that would happen.
POWER: What is your opinion about hormonal injection
therapy? Is there any better way to go about it?
ERASMUS: Well, first of all, I would not get involved
with hormone manipulation if I hadn't first put the natural
program in place - making sure you get all your minerals, vitamins,
amino acids, and essential fatty acids in optimum quantities
for your needs. Food is number one. Food is primary health care,
because the body is made out of food, and if you deal with that,
just about everything will work. Your genetic material knows
what to do if it's given the tools that it needs. I would not
do hormone manipulation. The other thing is that foods are very
safe.
POWER: Do not inject anything foreign before you try
all your options?
ERASMUS: Right. Hormones are very powerful - much more
powerful than nutrients, so they have to be used with a much
greater degree of caution. There are many stories about bodybuilders
that were so intent on getting huge that have had serious health
problems. I've talked to some of them; I do consultations with
them sometimes. So I would caution people about hormones simply
because they are so powerful and they act in such tiny doses
that you really need to know what you are doing. I would not
use them unless the nutritional program had been put in place;
you were at an age where you had a particular glandular problem
that had been measured; and you were really clear [on what you
were doing].
Thyroid hormone will help in some cases like that; testosterone
or estrogen or progesterone might help. Growth hormone, I would
have some serious problems with because it's a protein, and
people become allergic to it. I would maybe use D.H.Ea., but
only if there was a measured deficiency, and the person was
over 50. But certainly not for people who are young.
END OF PART II
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