A recent Harvard study reported that women who drank one or more fructose-sweetened soft drinks per day were 83 percent more like to develop type-2 diabetes than women who drank less than one a month. Correspondingly they also gained more weight.
It’s everywhere! What are you eating?
Despite the great variety of “foods” in the supermarket, it all comes back to corn.
Corn is the feed the steer eats that becomes the steak. Corn feeds the chicken and the pig, the turkey and the lamb, the catfish and the tilapia. And today it even feeds the salmon, a carnivore by nature that fish farmers are reengineering to tolerate corn. The cows that once grazed on grass are now fed corn. (1)
Now these salmon which once fed in the open waters are farm-raised on corn. The danger comes from the corn that does not contain omega-3 but rather omega-6. So when you buy farm raised salmon you are getting more omega-6. To get salmon for omega-3 you must buy wild salmon. The problem arises when we should be eating a ratio of one part omega-3 to 2 or 3 parts omega-6, we’re actually getting one part omega-3 to 17 to 25 parts omega-6. Omega-3 lowers inflammation. Omega-6 raises inflammation. Inflammation in the arteries helps create plaque and the possibilities of stroke and heart disease. Omega-3 reduces inflammation and lowers cholesterol.
Look at the chicken nugget—corn and more corn. The chicken is fed corn and most of the other ingredients include corn—modified corn starch, corn flour in the batter and corn oil for frying. To wash down your chicken nuggets with almost any soft drink you get more corn. Since the 1980s almost all soft drinks are sweetened by high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). And the beer you may substitute still contains corn in the form of alcohol fermented from glucose refined from corn.
(1) Pollan, Michael, The Omnivores Dilemma, Penguin Books, 2006, p. 18
One good move today is taking place as some schools are taking soda/pop machines out of the schools. The cola companies promised to give a percentage of the dollars spent back to the schools. But at what cost? The corn syrup industry likes it. The dentists get plenty of business filling teeth. But the student suffers. For one thing it raises the omega-6 level in the body which is already out of balance for a healthy life.
The most important thing we can do for our children is to provide them with good, natural fresh foods and clean water. Instead of the candy bar eat a piece of fresh fruit. To my understanding, most tastes are acquired. If you give a child wholesome, nutritious food they will look for that when they snack. I suggest organic foods wherever possible. They may cost a little more up front but then you don’t have as many illnesses and doctor’s bills.
There are also several supplements you actually need.
First we don’t get enough omega-3—the anti-inflammatory “medicine”. The ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 should be one-to-two. Studies today say it is more like 1-to-17 or 25. (Much of this comes from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in our diets. Omega-3 is also very important for making healthy cells in every part of our bodies. They are also essential for prenatal and childhood brain development.
Probiotics (acidophilus/bifidus) are the healthy bacteria that needs to be in our digestive system. When we take an anti-biotic, the good bacteria gets killed along with the bad and it needs help to be restored to the proper level.
A multi vitamin for children then helps to fill the gays that usually happens in every diet. Keep extra vitamin C on hand for use when a cold is coming on.
As the child gets older vitamin D is a necessity for those of us living in northern climates where we don’t get enough sun to manufacture the vitamin D our system needs. Milk is often fortified with vitamin D.
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is the energy running every cell in the body. The heart works harder than any other muscle in the body. To keep it healthy we need a balance to keep our energy up.
Just a reminder! When you buy food supplements buy QUALITY. The cheapest is probably the most expensive in the long run. A recent study showed that one-third of the supplements tested didn’t provide what was stated on the label. A poor supplement will just pass through the body without any benefit at all. Some children’s vitamins were too potent for the age listed on the label. It is important to buy a good quality supplement.
You only have one body. Take care of it.
The average American now consumes 145 pounds of high fructose corn syrup per year. New research proves how high fructose corn syrup bypasses the normal energy balance in your body.
When scientists want to make rats diabetic so they can study them they feed them high fructose corn syrup.
Look at the number of obese people in our nation.
How long will be Americans sit idly by and just become obese and diabetic?
Read more about this in Byron Richards Wellness Resources Newsletter. http://wellnessresources.com