The Obesity Epidemic- Who's Responsible?

 I read an article recently that was talking about obesity in children...
how some parents use shame and criticism to force their children
to cut down on junk food consumption, calories, etc. 

 Being a parent myself, I know how hard parenting can be.....
and getting your children to do the right thing when you're not around
can be especially challenging - to say the least.

  I am certainly not one of those people who will pat their kid on the back
for doing the WRONG thing-
(that's NOT being SUPPORTIVE - that's being an ENABLER.)
but, aside from the simple fact that such negative discipline is usually ineffective and potentially damaging, if people really want to shame somebody, it should be the US Government and the food producing conglomorates of America.... because THEY are primarily responsible for the obesity crisis in this country.

  HOW, you say?  Well, you haven't been paying much attention, then, have you? The government has allowed these corporations to dump totally unhealthy, fattening, toxic crap into the food supply, without so much as a whimper from the average consumer. 




 HERE's just a couple of examples:


 ITEM ONE: The U.S government still allows the free use of TRANS-FATS- a particularly dangerous and unhealthy type of modified (or McFrankenstein'd) cooking oil.... (For example, an analysis of samples of McDonald's french fries collected in 2004 and 2005 found that fries served in New York City contained twice as much trans fat as in Hungary,
and 28 times as much trans fat as in Denmark (where trans fats are restricted).)

 Greedy Corporations like MCD's certainly appreciate this, because, despite the fact that it is responsible for huge increases in bad cholesterol, coronary heart disease, infertility (a 2% increase in the intake of energy from trans unsaturated fats, as opposed to that from carbohydrates, was associated with a 73% greater risk of ovulatory infertility),
and OBESITY (A 6-year experiment revealed that monkeys fed a trans-fat diet gained 7.2% of their body weight, as compared to 1.8% for monkeys on a mono-unsaturated fat diet) ...., it is very profitable to use them instead of non-hydrogenated vegetable oils.

---> MEN NOTE: One recent study has found connections between trans fat and prostate cancer.


 ITEM TWO: Soy products are used in just about everything you find on the grocery shelves these days.. they don't contribute flavor, healthfulness, or anything else positive to the CONSUMER - as a matter of fact, SOY derivatives are a health hazard-
(see my blog on SOY for more information.) -
and they are in your food for ONE REASON - pure and simple, as a FOOD EXTENDER -
like putting saw dust in bread. (Which is still done as well.... look at your favorite bread's ingredients- if you see 'cellulose'- you've got saw dust.

 (NOTE: I got an e-mail this morning from a guy who said that the reason saw dust should be in bread is because it provides 'fiber'....... hey, I got an idea, if you're so desperate to clean out your colon from all the junk you eat, why not add GLASS CHARDS while we're at it? That'll do it, too! ....... IDIOT. )


 ITEM THREE: High Fructose Corn Syrup- this isn't your grandmother's sugar... I promise you. It's cheap to use, sure.... but, the body processes the fructose in high fructose corn syrup differently than it does old-fashioned cane or beet sugar, which in turn alters the way metabolic-regulating hormones function. It also forces the liver to kick more fat out into the
bloodstream. The end result is that our bodies are essentially tricked into wanting to eat more and at the same time, we are storing more fat.


 ITEM FOUR: wide-spread use of cancer-causing hormones, steroids, antibiotics, antifungals, insecticides and other endocrine-disrupting substances in our food supply. This is such a huge problem, that it's hard to estimate just how much impact it has had on this generation... suffice to say, it's a very large contributor to the obesity problem. 





 SO--- You want to know why Junior is FAT?

Cut out those four items ----  
(and maybe give the little cretin a little guidance and discipline with regard to what he eats)
------  and Junior could soon be back to a normal weight.

(Hey - get that kid out into the fresh air - some exercise wouldn't hurt him either!!!) 


 HOW is the question. 'cause this stuff is in everything!!!!!

 Look around you, America....
  If you want to avoid this crap, you almost have to buy IMPORTED FOOD!

(IF you read your labels VERY carefully, certain US and local brands do avoid using these additives-
   but, you gotta LOOK - and you gotta know what you're looking for!)


 I also find it extremely interesting that the Government will prosecute bodybuilders for voluntarily using steroids,
but will allow food producers to subject the entire population to those same 'ROIDS in their food supply!


 So why the spin?   

 Just follow the money.