Nutrient Density Index

Top Ten ANDI Scores

ANDI stands for "Aggregate Nutrient Density Index." An ANDI score shows the nutrient density of a food on a scale from 1 to 1000 based on nutrient content. ANDI scores are calculated by evaluating an extensive range of micronutrients, including vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidant capacities. The Aggregate Nutrient Density Index was developed and patented by our Health Starts Here affiliate, Eat Right America.

• Green Vegetables
• Fruit
• Nuts & Seeds
• Meat
• Cheese

• Nongreen Vegetables
• Beans
• Whole Grains
• Fish
• Refrigerated Dairy Case

GREEN VEGETABLES

Vegetable	ANDI Score
1. Mustard/Turnip/Collard Greens	1000
2. Kale	1000
3. Watercress	1000
4. Bok Choy/Baby Bok Choy	824
5. Spinach	739
6. Broccoli Rabe	715
7. Chinese/Napa Cabbage	704
8. Brussels Sprouts	672
9. Swiss Chard	670
10. Arugula	559

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NONGREEN VEGETABLES

Vegetable	ANDI Score
1. Radish	554
2. Bean Sprouts	444
3. Red Pepper	366
4. Radicchio	359
5. Turnip	337
6. Carrot	336
7. Cauliflower	295
8. Artichoke	244
9. Tomato	190
10. Butternut Squash	156

FRUIT

Fruit	ANDI Score
1. Strawberries	212
2. Blackberries	178
3. Plum	157
4. Raspberries	145
5. Blueberries	130
6. Papaya	118
7. Orange	109
8. Cantalope	100
9. Kiwi	97
10. Watermelon	91
11. Peach	73
12. Apple	72
13. Cherries	68
14. Pineapple	64
15. Apricot	60

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Beans

Vegetable	ANDI Score
1. Lentils	104
2. Red Kidney Beans	100
3. Great Northern Beans	94
4. Adzuki Beans	84
5. Black Beans	83
6. Black-Eyed Peas	82
7. Pinto Beans	61
8. Edamame	58
9. Split Peas	58
10. Chickpeas (Garbanzos)	57

Nuts & Seeds

Nuts & Seeds	ANDI Score
1. Sunflower Seeds	78
2. Sesame Seeds	65
3. Flax Seeds	65
4. Pumpkin Seeds	52
5. Pistachios	48
6. Pecans	41
7. Almonds	38
8. Walnuts	34
9. Hazelnuts	32
10. Cashews	27

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Whole Grains

Whole Grains	ANDI Score
1. Oats, old-fashioned	53
2. Barley, whole grain	43
3. Wild Brown Rice	43
4. Brown Rice	41
5. Barley, pearled	32
6. Wheat berries	25
7. Cornmeal, whole grain	22
8. Quinoa	21
9. Millet	19
10. Bulgar	17

Meat

Meat	ANDI Score
1. Bison, top sirloin	39
2. Bison, chuck roast	36
3. Pork Tenderloin	34
4. Flank Steak	27
5. Chicken Breast	27
6. Turkey, light meat	25
7. Turkey, dark meat	24
8. Pork Chops	24
9. Ground Beef, 85% - 90% lean	20-23
10. Beef, top round	22

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Fish

Fish	ANDI Score
1. Tuna*	46
2. Flounder	41
3. Sole	41
4. Salmon	39
5. Mahi Mahi	39
6. Shrimp	38
7. Swordfish*	38
8. Trout	36
9. Snapper	35
10. Haddock	35

*May contain high levels of mercury.

Cheese

Cheese	ANDI Score
1. Feta	21
2. Cottage Cheese, low fat	18
3. Mozzarella, part skim	16
4. Ricotta, part skim	16
5. Swiss	15
6. Parmesan	15
7. Mozzarella, whole milk	14
8. Gouda	13
9. Provolone	13
10. Gruyere	13

Refrigerated Dairy Case

Refrigerated Dairy Case	ANDI Score
1. Tofu	37
2. Nonfat Skim Milk	36
3. Soy Milk	33
4. Plain Nonfat Yogurt	30
5. Egg Substitute	30
6. Egg White	29
7. Low-fat 1% Milk	28
8. Egg	27
9. Hemp Milk	27
10. Tempeh	26

THE REST OF THE STORY

We now know how many people have the problem most often cited as the reason for last years’ health overhaul legislation. Answer: 8,000

No, that’s not a misprint. Out of 310 million Americans, only 8,000 people have the problem given as the principal reason for spending almost $1 trillion, creating more than 150 regulatory agencies and causing perhaps 150 million or more people to change the coverage they now have.

Alert readers will remember the White House summer of 2009 invitation to all Americans to send in their horror stories describing health insurance industry abuses. Although the complaints were many, the vast majority were about pre-existing condition limitations. Then, on the eve of the ObamaCare vote, every member of Congress who appeared on television to defend the legislation was able to cite by name an individual or family in his or her state or Congressional district with a heart wrenching story.

Gone was any interest in “universal coverage” or “insuring the uninsured” or “helping poor people get health care.” The case for change was focused almost exclusively on protecting the middle class from miserly insurance companies.

Genetically Modified Foods

According to the World Health Organization, Genetically Modified Organisms(GMOs) are "organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in such a way that does not occur naturally."¹ This technology is also referred to as "genetic engineering", "biotechnology" or "recombinant DNA technology" and consists of randomly inserting genetic fragments of DNA from one organism to another, usually from a different species. For example, an artificial combination of genes that includes a gene to produce the pesticide Cry1Ab protein (commonly known as Bt toxin), originally found in Bacillus thuringiensis, is inserted in to the DNA of corn randomly. Both the location of the transferred gene sequence in the corn DNA and the consequences of the insertion differ with each insertion. The plant cells that have taken up the inserted gene are then grown in a lab using tissue culture and/or nutrient medium that allows them to develop into plants that are used to grow GM food crops.²

Natural breeding processes have been safely utilized for the past several thousand years. In contrast, "GE crop technology abrogates natural reproductive processes, selection occurs at the single cell level, the procedure is highly mutagenic and routinely breeches genera barriers, and the technique has only been used commercially for 10 years."³

Despite these differences, safety assessment of GM foods has been based on the idea of "substantial equivalence" such that "if a new food is found to be substantially equivalent in composition and nutritional characteristics to an existing food, it can be regarded as safe as the conventional food."⁴ However, several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food consumption including infertility, immune dysregulation, accelerated aging, dysregulation of genes associated with cholesterol synthesis, insulin regulation, cell signaling, and protein formation, and changes in the liver, kidney, spleen and gastrointestinal system.

There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation as defined by Hill's Criteria in the areas of strength of association, consistency, specificity, biological gradient, and biological plausibility.⁵ The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies.^{2,6,7,8,9,10,11}

Specificity of the association of GM foods and specific disease processes is also supported. Multiple animal studies show significant immune dysregulation, including upregulation of cytokines associated with asthma, allergy, and inflammation. ^6,11 Animal studies also show altered structure and function of the liver, including altered lipid and carbohydrate metabolism as well as cellular changes that could lead to accelerated aging and possibly lead to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). ^7,8,10 Changes in the kidney, pancreas and spleen have also been documented. ^6,8,10 A recent 2008 study links GM corn with infertility, showing a significant decrease in offspring over time and significantly lower litter weight in mice fed GM corn.⁸ This study also found that over 400 genes were found to be expressed differently in the mice fed GM corn. These are genes known to control protein synthesis and modification, cell signaling, cholesterol synthesis, and insulin regulation. Studies also show intestinal damage in animals fed GM foods, including proliferative cell growth9 and disruption of the intestinal immune system.⁶

Regarding biological gradient, one study, done by Kroghsbo, et al., has shown that rats fed transgenic Bt rice trended to a dose related response for Bt specific IgA. ¹¹

Also, because of the mounting data, it is biologically plausible for Genetically Modified Foods to cause adverse health effects in humans.

In spite of this risk, the biotechnology industry claims that GM foods can feed the world through production of higher crop yields. However, a recent report by the Union of Concerned Scientists reviewed 12 academic studies and indicates otherwise: "The several thousand field trials over the last 20 years for genes aimed at increasing operational or intrinsic yield (of crops) indicate a significant undertaking. Yet none of these field trials have resulted in increased yield in commercialized major food/feed crops, with the exception of Bt corn."¹² However, it was further stated that this increase is largely due to traditional breeding improvements.

Therefore, because GM foods pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health and are without benefit, the AAEM believes that it is imperative to adopt the precautionary principle, which is one of the main regulatory tools of the European Union environmental and health policy and serves as a foundation for several international agreements.¹³ The most commonly used definition is from the 1992 Rio Declaration that states: "In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation."¹³

Another often used definition originated from an environmental meeting in the United States in 1998 stating: "When an activity raises threats to the environment or human health, precautionary measures should be taken, even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically. In this context, the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof (of the safety of the activity)."¹³

With the precautionary principle in mind, because GM foods have not been properly tested for human consumption, and because there is ample evidence of probable harm, the AAEM asks:

• Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks.


• Physicians to consider the possible role of GM foods in the disease processes of the patients they treat and to document any changes in patient health when changing from GM food to non-GM food.


• Our members, the medical community, and the independent scientific community to gather case studies potentially related to GM food consumption and health effects, begin epidemiological research to investigate the role of GM foods on human health, and conduct safe methods of determining the effect of GM foods on human health.


• For a moratorium on GM food, implementation of immediate long term independent safety testing, and labeling of GM foods, which is necessary for the health and safety of consumers.

(This statement was reviewed and approved by the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine on May 8, 2009.)

Submitted by Amy Dean, D.O. and Jennifer Armstrong, M.D.

The Power of the Mind on Health

It has been estimated by several researchers that the human mind has an affect, either positively or negatively, on over 80% of our health issues. This is in keeping with the Bible's statement in Proverbs 23:7 that says, "For as he thinks in his heart so is he." Dr. Caroline Leaf in her book "WHO SWITCHED OFF MY BRAIN says, "Research shows that around 87% of illnesses can be attributed to our thought life and approximately 13% to diet, genetics and environment. Studies conclusively link more chronic diseases (also known as lifestyle diseases) to an epidemic of toxic emotions in our culture." This is so prevalent that when doing research on various medicines and treatments, the researchers have to take into account the placebo effect and do double blind studies to overcome the mind of the participants. If they believe a certain medicine or treatment will help them it does in about 33% of the time, regardless if it is genuine or not.
So the mind is powerful and can be harnessed to help in the recovery of sickness and disease; or it can to detrimental to recovery. How do we make it helpful? 1) Keeping a positive attitude, 2) Regularly affirming mentally to yourself and out loud that you expect to recover from this condition, 3) Reading devotional books and testimonies of others who have had similar recoveries, 4) Reading promises of Scripture that promise healing and health, 5) Removing from your diet and lifestyle things that promote sickness and disease, 6) Deal with stress, 7) Get plenty of rest, sleep and relaxation, 8) Laugh a lot. Remember he who laughs, lasts and lasts and lasts!

THE PLACE OF MEDICINE

No medicine has ever cured anyone of anything! Neither has supplements such as vitamins and minerals. When God created man He put within his body the ability to handle food and from it to sustain life. Medicines, vitamins, and minerals merely aid the body in doing what it is designed to do. For example: if a person breaks a bone and goes to the emergency room, all they do is set the bone and the body will heal itself. If a person has a tumor, the surgeon will take it out and then the body will heal itself. No medicine, surgery, vitamin or mineral ever heals anything. The body heals itself when given the material that it was designed to have.
Feed the body real food, give it plenty of good water, sunshine, and exercise while controlling the attitudes and thought life, and you will experience life in abundance!

FOOD COMBINATIONS

I am seeing more and more people in the last few months who are having lots of digestive issues. They often complain of pain, cramps, diarrhea etc. after eating. In talking with them I find that most of their problems occur after eating animal protein with starchy vegetables. The reason why this causes pain is that the digestive enzymes for starchy vegetables and animal proteins are different. When eaten together the enzymes cancel each other out and hence the pain, bloating etc. For example: do not eat steak and potatoes or rice at the same meal. Do not eat a hamburger with the bun or chicken and rice at the same meal.
Non starchy vegetables can be eaten with animal protein with no problem because there is no conflict between the digestive enzymes. You can eat starchy vegetables with non starchy vegetables or non starchy vegetables with animal proteins, just no starchy veggies with animal proteins.
Something as simple as combining the foods correctly brings great results in the G.I. tract.

SUPPLEMENTATION

We make up with supplements what is deficient in our food. It is always best to get the nutrients we need from the food we eat. But that is not always possible, in which case we need to take good whole food supplements.
Not all supplements are equal. Take supplements that are low heat processed that have all the surrounding vitamins, minerals and nutrients as they are found in creation. Many of supplement makers use isolates (taken from various plants etc.) and stitch them together. When this happens they are not as effective. They are cheaper to the consumer but many times are not worth what it costs. Those that come from whole foods are more expensive but are well worth the price paid.
Another thing to remember is don't take vitamins and minerals indiscriminately. You need to know which ones your body needs. Remember this: if it can help you, it can also hurt you if misused.
Have tests run by a Naturopathic or Homeopathic doctor to see which ones you need. These tests will show deficiencies of vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, water and PH levels as well as some allergies and toxins.
When the deficiencies are corrected, many times the symptoms will go away. When the body is being feed what it needs it quits speaking to us through pain and other symptoms.