Jackson Free Press

Here's where I convince the two people that don't think I'm crazy otherwise.

Roughly 2 million U.S. children ages 12 to 19 have a prediabetic condition linked to obesity and inactivity that puts them at risk for full-blown diabetes and cardiovascular problems, government data suggest.

Our children should not be this fat. Our children should not be this sick.

This is one of my little pet soapboxes. The food is KILLING us, people. Anything that comes in a box with all of those lovely chemicals, any meat filled with hormones and antibiotics, and the drugs, Good Lord, the drugs.

We are animals. We are not meant to live our lives with the fuels of chemicals and hormones racing thru our veins. Our cancer rates are skyrocketing. CHILDREN are presenting with heart and metabolic conditions . Something is very wrong with this picture.

Wanna know why you don't hear about it? For the same reason that Haley won't hike the cigarette tax....Lobby, Lobby, Lobby.

Children are more susceptible to food allergies than adults. Sensitivity to foods has proven to be the cause of both medical conditions and ongoing, pervasive behavior problems in children. (Here is a neat little brochure that speaks to that.)

Here is a little webpage with a no nonsense approach and general guide about processed foods.

I once had a cousin that had horrible behavior problems. His parents talked to me about what to do to help (being that they knew I dealt with children with behavior problems) and one of the first things I told them to do was remove all food dyes, sugars, and most additives from his diet.

He turned into a different child. They found out later he was allergic to red dye. This is after the babysitter accidentally gave him something that contained red dye and within thirty minutes he threw a chair across the living room. He was eight.

This isn't an "isolated" incident. This is common. We feed our children chemicals, then when their behavior is out of control, we feed them drugs.

This goes for adults as well. Most long term residentail alcohol and drug treatment centers restrict processed flours and sugars from their patient's diets. Want to know why? Because it has been found that these common food additives are just as addictive as drugs. They can also intensify drug cravings.

Your body is a complicated and amazing system of chemicals and hormones that need to be balanced in order to work effectively. It cannot do this if it is inundated with outside chemicals and hormones that are counteractive to this process.

We wonder why we get sick. We wonder why all of our elderly are on sacks of drugs. People shouldn't have to take that many drugs to be healthy. Its ironic, if you think about it.

They feed us food to make us sick, then feed us drugs to make us better, and demonize universal healthcare. Wake up, think about it, see what's going on here.

And, there's my crazy rant on food additives and how We. Are. All. Going. To. Die.

Previous Comments

ID

103608

Comment

Well, I already knew you were crazy, Ali,...but not because of this. I've seen it in kids and also on Indian reservations where the low cost "survival diet" of white flour and sugar in food is creating obesity and disease among First Nations kids (Native American)..... I think Twinkies and Ding-Dongs should be illegal...but you know my evolving theories/impressions about "toxins," the mind, and the shape of the world.............

Author

whateveryouwant

Date

2005-11-07T08:57:04-06:00

ID

103609

Comment

I also think it's interesting that a LARGE number of diet meals and diet drinks actually contain substances that increase craving...thus setting up a no-win situation for people struggling with issues of being over-weight....

Author

whateveryouwant

Date

2005-11-07T08:58:14-06:00

ID

103610

Comment

Ali, I'm glad you brought this up. We were in the supermarket, and I looked at the shelves and realized that most of the foods on most of the aisles are. not. good. for. you. Even the stuff that's supposed to be good for you -- because they have so much crap in them now. We bypass entire aisles in the grocery store, in addition to the meat aisle (and if you want to talk about dangerous additives ...). Sometimes people will say, "My grandmother ain't this her whole life, and she was fine," or some such, without realizing that their grandmother did not take in the same additives and chemicals that children are today, not to mention the rest of us. If you must start with one thing to alleviate, people, start with "hydrogenated," and just wait until you see what all contains "hydrogenated" fat. Highly recommended: the book "Fast Food Nation." Entertaining and informative. All of this is hitting poor people, and poor kids, the worst because they cannot afford food that isn't processed all to hell, and they're growing up not liking healthy food. It's not hard to understand how the most obese country, and state, are also the least healthy. An abundance of bad food is not healthy, and is not much better than starving, health-wise. An alarming number of kids -- kids! -- have hardened arteries by the time they get to college. Think about that. If people would obsess half as much about diets, as they do the miniscule chance that they are going to be a victim of crime, then we might get something done on this front. And the lobbyists are evil. They don't give a damn about our well-being -- only their pocketbooks. Time to start paying attention.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-11-07T09:46:00-06:00

ID

103611

Comment

I see a real linkage between health, food, money, and learning to be authentically content with simple things. In actuality --and I know Ali follows a similar eating approach with her two apples a day, etc.-- a person can spend next to nothing, eat well, be "full" (if even that's something we should aspire to), and have it be healthy. But, I think a lot of people have been so brainwashed around money, have been shaped by scarcity consciousness conditioning, etc., that eating in a truly simple way...or living simply without the need for a bunch of STUFF (George Carlin)...translates in the mind of most people as "doing without." And, since many problem-eaters, problem-drinkers, problem-spenders, are trying to fill some kind of internal void....it, whatever IT is, is never enough. I say this as someone who has kicked the triple-shot mocha lattes, who has kicked the pack of clove cigarettes per week, who has kicked the mindless "numbing-box" of TV, and who really is genuinely more content with a bowl of Thai noodles ($1.49 + a few steamed veggies) than a $50 meal at some ritzy place who gets to walk away with a chunk of my paycheck while I clog my arteries..... I recommend the: Three Bowl Cookbook

Author

whateveryouwant

Date

2005-11-07T10:01:00-06:00

ID

103612

Comment

in addition to Fast Food Nation, read Natural Cures They Don't Want You to Know About by Kevin Trudeau. It is all covered in there. Of course this man has been sued numberous times and called many names. His lifestyle suggestions are extreme but they do make sense. and yes.... a Honeybun WILL kill you.

Author

Elizabeth

Date

2005-11-07T10:36:35-06:00

ID

103613

Comment

Another interesting book along these lines is: Water: For Health, for Healing, for Life: You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty! (Paperback) by F. Batmanghelidj --talks about the chronic state of dehydration most people live with, and how a lot of people who have depression, back problems, repeated illness, chronic fatique syndrome is linked to dehydration, and also how a lot of people will feel a sensation like they are hungry and translate it as such and reach for a god-foresaken Honeybun, when in fact their body is really, in fact, simply wanting hydration. --Feel hungry? Drink a glass of water. Still feel hungry? Then, you're genuinely hungry. If you don't feel hungry then you were dehydrated. --Okay. I've got to go....and finish my honeybun.

Author

whateveryouwant

Date

2005-11-07T10:43:36-06:00

ID

103614

Comment

yes.... a Honeybun WILL kill you. So will stressing about it. I guess the moral of the story is: It's best not to eat a honeybun, but if you do, DO NOT stress out about it. ;-D I had a friend once who would stress out about every "heart attack on a plate" that she saw in front of her. I don't think she understood one of the main causes of heart attacks. Just sayin'.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-11-07T11:46:07-06:00

ID

103615

Comment

I prescribe to the "eat anything you want diet" until you start feeling bad and then eat some healthy stuff. It is about balance to me. Even though I read Trudeau's book and it made perfect sense to me, I just don't think your average person has the income nor the time to eat the way he suggests. Oh and I completely agree with the "mistaking thirst for hunger" thing!

Author

Elizabeth

Date

2005-11-07T12:06:18-06:00

ID

103616

Comment

EB-I prefer Chris Rock's comment about the Bible saying we shouldn't eat pork...because, back then, "A porkchop could kill you..." I laugh every time I think of that and the honeybun line. Ladd, I completely agree with our underpriviledged populations having horrible diets and, as a result, horrible health problems. There should NOT be children with Type 2 diabetes. The incredible damage the food they were eating must have done to their bodies for them to develop this disease and be insulin dependent, at that age, is just unbelievable.

Author

Lori G

Date

2005-11-07T15:05:39-06:00

ID

103617

Comment

Another false hunger trigger is acid/gas. I'm losing a considerable amount of weight just by taking a chewable Maalox and waiting ten minutes whenever I get hungry after dinner. Most people, I think, eat dinner because they're hungry, and then eat dessert to put out the fire. I was talking to a friend earlier today, who mentioned that in her home country of India they don't eat desserts. They eat "sweets," and they eat them around four o'clock. Hell of a lot healthier than a double fudge anything at 10pm. I don't worry so much about chemical additives since I went vegetarian, but I've noticed that stuff that isn't chock-full of refined sugar tastes better. Got some "organic" low-fat granola bars on sale the other day and they're ten times better than the sickly-sweet syrup crunchies I'm accustomed to. Refined sugar also seems to be less than kind to my complexion, and I noticed during the course of my research last night that Richard Ramirez, who had severe acne and a chronic cough, lived on a diet of soft drinks, powdered donuts, etc. He wasn't fat, but it was all clearly taking a serious toll on his body even before he started, you know, stabbing people. I do put Splenda in my coffee in the morning, and drink soft drinks with Splenda in them. I avoid Nutrasweet (primarily because I don't care for the flavor), but not religiously. And I'll eat the occasional honeybun. It's when I eat one every single blooming day that I start worrying. My general philosophy is not to load up on anything unless it's water, fruit, vegetables, or grains, because there's always a consequence. I think the number one health culprit, by the way, is not cakes, candies, candy bars, donuts or other pastries, or any kind of fried food. I think the number one health culprit is carbonated soft drinks. We load our bodies up with syrup, caffeine, and diuretics, over and over again. Not healthy. I try to make it my policy to drink at least two quarts of water per day, and usually I can make it; and if I'm burning the midnight oil on a project, it might be five or six quarts. At risk of TMI: Pee should ALWAYS be clear. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-11-09T20:01:03-06:00

ID

103618

Comment

And as long as I'm being gross here: Most people have chronic fiber deficiency. Most staple diets have at least 40 grams of fiber per day in them; in Ethiopia, the norm is 80 grams. 80 grams. I've recently discovered flaxseed; a single tablespoon has 3 grams of fiber, the same as a Benefiber supplement. Yeah, poop is funny, but people used to ask Louis Armstrong what the secret of his success was. His answer: Swiss Kriss, a herbal laxative. Regularity aids with weight loss, energy/fatigue, etc. etc. etc. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-11-09T20:37:14-06:00

ID

103619

Comment

I can't believe I missed this. I noticed some postings about Kevin Trudeau, and I have to admit that the guy creeps me out. He has this sort of future-cult-leader look to me, and every time I see him on TV or in a catalog, my skin crawls. I could be overreacting, but I'd rather get my advice elsewhere.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2005-12-10T23:05:47-06:00