Many people eye the upcoming holiday gatherings with dread, knowing most celebrations focus on food. People ask over again how to lose weight, avoid calories and keep fit. The redundancy of the subject demonstrates a clear frustration in the general population that the marketing gurus touting the latest "fat-free," "lite," "low-carb/no-carb," "no sugar," "zero saturated fat" products aren't providing the silver bullet promised for weight loss and health.

Remember "The Big Four" mentioned in the October issue? Hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oils, corn syrup/high fructose corn syrup, artificial anything, and monosodium glutamate (MSG) (and MSG's impostors, such as hydrolyzed protein). If processed foods are part of one's regular diet, READ THE LABELS and avoid "The Big Four." Give yourself a holiday gift and jump into health by putting real food in your body.

What did you eat for breakfast this morning? Juicy organic fruit followed by a cheesy organic-egg omelet with steamed vegetables and sautéed shiitake mushrooms, accompanied by a slice of toasted homemade spelt and sunflower seed bread with butter? This breakfast of champions keeps me going until at least mid-afternoon.

Worried about all that bad cholesterol from the eggs, the fat calories from butter, the cream in the omelet? Folks, your body can handle all of it - it's real food. Your body doesn't want egg substitutes. Your DNA is not programmed to recognize, let alone process, margarine or synthesized spreads, and skimmed/no fat milk isn't worth the container it comes in.

Speaking of containers, let's talk about breakfast cereals. In 1960, Ann Arbor University researchers performed an experiment where one group of rats received cornflakes and water, a second group was given the cardboard box the flakes came in and water, and the control group received rat chow and water. Not surprisingly, the control group stayed healthy, and the rats receiving the box became lethargic and finally died of malnutrition. Here's the kicker: the rats receiving the cornflakes died before the rats who ate the box. Autopsies revealed dysfunction of the pancreas, liver and kidneys and spinal nerve degeneration - all signs of "insulin shock." The startling conclusion reached is there may be more nourishment in the box the cereals come in than in the cereals themselves.

Paul Stitt explains how breakfast cereals are shaped in Fighting the Food Giants: "The machine used for making shaped cereals, an extruder, is a huge pump with a die at one end . . . The slurry goes into the extruder, is heated to a very high temperature and pushed through the die at high pressure. A spinning blade slices off each little crown or elephant, which is carried on a stream of hot air past nozzles which spray a coating of oil and sugar on each piece... This process destroys much of the nutrient content . . . even the chemical vitamins... The amino acid lysine, a crucial nutrient, is especially ravaged."

Equipment used in food processing also leaves a residue of benzene in or on the food. Yum.

Stitt tells of another rat experiment where one group received plain whole grain, water and nutrients; group two received puffed grain, water and nutrients; the third set received water and white sugar, and the fourth group was given nothing but water and nutrients. The whole grain group lived over a year. The water and nutrients only rats lived about two months. The sugar and water group lasted a month. The puffed grain group all died in two weeks. "Results suggest there is something actually toxic about the [puffed grain] itself. Proteins are very similar to certain toxins in molecular structure, and the puffing process may produce chemical changes which turn a nutritious grain into a poisonous sub-stance... "Researchers begged the company not to produce the cereal because of its poisonous effect on animals. "I know people should throw it on brides and grooms at weddings, "[the president] cracked, "but if they insist on sticking it in their mouths, can I help it? Besides, we made $9 million on the stuff last year."

Wishing all of you a tasty and healthy holiday season! Meanwhile, Chew On This: "To make us healthy, our food must taste good; it must be digestible, and it must be eaten in peace." Sally W. Fallon

"Let food be your medicine," sums up Sue Cosgrove's stance on health and wellness. She believes nutrient-dense and biologically-alive sustenance is not only nature's best prevention, but also nature's best cure for many maladies.