Health Myth Buster: An Interview with Dr. Mark Hyman
Dr. Hyman: The first thing people should know is that 50% of the time media reports of scientific findings are wrong—the information is either not correct or is inaccurately presented. Second, be aware that information is dramatized for headlines rather than education, creating confusion and misinformation.
There is widespread agreement [in the scientific community] on a set of nutrition principles that I call the “nutrigenomic index.” The basis is this: We should eat a plant-based diet consisting of whole foods that help regulate and balance the body-mind by working with natural biological processes. First, eat whole, real, fresh, unprocessed food. As much as possible, choose organic. Second, eat a variety of fruits and vegetables full of colorful phytonutrients. Third, choose high-fiber foods. Fourth, eat foods containing the omega-3 fats.
Karen: What foods are toxic to the body and brain?
Dr. Hyman: The list is relatively short. Avoid man made, or “new-to-nature” molecules added to foods, particularly pre-packaged foods. Processed, altered, hybridized foods such as high-fructose corn syrup, trans fats, food additives and pesticides in food harm the brain and the body. These additives damage your metabolism, increase inflammation and offer no nutritional value.
Sugar – or anything that turns to sugar, like white flour—is a neurotoxin that runs rampant in the typical American diet. Gluten, found in grains such a wheat, barley and rye, and dairy (containing casein) are known to trigger allergies, inflammation, autoimmunity and even produces neurotoxic molecules that affect brain function.
Karen: Why is gluten sensitivity so prevalent now, if it has been in our foods for decades?
