August 2010 Health Newsletter

  Read Food Labels for Your Children’s Health
7 Ingredients to Avoid

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is just that…..S-A-D sad.  The typical American diet is composed of many processed, convenience-based foods high in sugar, fat, and sodium.  How is this affecting your child’s health?  According to the US Surgeon General, the number of overweight children in the U.S. has doubled since 1980.  Increased consumption of high saturated fats and sugars, as well as decreased physical activity, significantly contributes to this epidemic.  

1. Sugar

• Disturbs one's hormones
• Drains the body of minerals
• Paralyzes the immune system
• Can lead to food allergies
• Feeds yeast and cancer cells
• #1 enemy for healthy bowel movements
• Can cause headaches and dizziness
• Dehydrates newborns  
  

According to Dr. Mercola, Americans consume an average of 150 pounds of sugar per year, and the statistics are climbing!  

2. Corn Syrup and/or High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

• Fructose converts to fat more than any other sugar
• Interferes with key minerals such as magnesium, copper, and chromium
• Inhibits white blood cell activity
• Large amounts of fructose result in severe derangement of liver function  
  

Americans consume an average of sixty-one pounds of high-fructose corn syrup per year. 

3. Hydrogenated/Partially Hydrogenated Oil (also known as trans fats)

• Puts one at risk of developing diabetes, cancer, obesity, ADHD, learning disabilities, childhood asthma, and more
• Products have the right to claim zero trans fats if a serving contains less than 0.5 gram; companies get away with listing trans fats by increasing serving sizes (i.e. a protein bar may have 4 servings and each serving has 0.4 grams of trans fats; therefore, one bar contains a total of 1.6g of harmful trans fatty acids, but it’s labeled as having 0 trans fats)
• Common sources: shortening, margarine, baked goods, ice-cream, candy, peanut butter, pizza, french fries 

4. Enriched Bleached Flour

• Refining food destroys nutrients (i.e. in white flour, it destroys 50% of the calcium, 80% of the iron and magnesium, and 50-80% of the B vitamins)
• Look for "whole wheat" as a first ingredient with no other ingredients labeled "enriched" or "bleached" (so long as there are no known wheat allergies)
  

5. Sodium Nitrate/Nitrite

• Increases risk of childhood cancers, including leukemia, lymphomas, and brain cancers.  Children who eat 12 hot dogs per month have nearly ten times the risk of developing leukemia as children who do not eat any.  Children who eat hot dogs once a week double their chances of developing brain tumors; eating them twice a week triples the risk.  Pregnant women who eat two servings per day of any cured meat double their risk of bearing children with brain cancer.
• Sources: lunch meats, hot dogs, and cured/smoked meats
  

6. Artificial Sweeteners (a.k.a. aspartame…i.e. Splenda, NutraSweet, Equal)

• Eighty percent of complaints to the FDA in 1988 involved aspartame products
• Side effects reported by the Center for Disease Control (CDC): headaches, dizziness, disorientation, hyperactivity, memory loss, aggressive behavior, excitability, extreme numbness, severe mood swings, seizures, cardiac arrest, loss of depth perception, liver impairment, suicidal tendencies, and even death  
  

7. Artificial Coloring & Flavors

• Examples of artificial colors include: FD&C Blue No. 1, FD&C Red No. 40, FD&C Yellow No. 5
• A single artificial flavoring can be a combination of hundreds of individual chemicals
• Most flavorings have never been studied for neurotoxicity
  
• The dyes alter physiological characteristics of invertebrate neurons 
• Dr. Feingold claimed 20-50% of children showed significant behavioral improvements after removing artificial colors and flavors from their diet
  

Tips for your child’s health:
- Eat organic, unprocessed foods whenever possible
-  Involve your child in food preparation
- Limit television usage
-Encourage both indoor and outdoor activities (i.e. sports, singing, drawing, painting, dancing, reading, yoga for kids, crafts, listening to relaxation music, taking a trip to the library or a museum)
- Lead by example (take time for yourself to rest, relax, and rejuvenate)  

Sources:

Appleton, Nancy.“76 Ways Sugar Can Ruin Your Health.”http://www.mercola.com/article/sugar/dangers_of_sugar.htm

Herbes, Kirsten.“Diet of Preschoolers and Toddlers.”http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/Pre-Sma/Preschoolers-and-Toddlers-Diet-of.html  

http://www.doctormurray.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89.MichaelMurray.com. “Diabetes.”February 27, 2009.  

http://www.feingold.org/Research/BLUE/Page-06-7-colorsBHT.pdf.“Artificial Flavors.”  

http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/obesity/en/.“Obesity and Overweight.”  

Mercola, Joseph, Dr.Sweet Deception: Why Splenda, NutraSweet, and the FDA May Be Dangerous to Your Health.Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.: 2006.  

Mercola, Joseph, Dr.“The Little-Known Secrets about Bleached Flour.”http://www.healthiertalk.com/little-known-secrets-about-bleached-flour-0499  

Murray, Michael, N.D. Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements. New York, New York: Three Rivers Press, 1996.  

Murray, Michael, N.D. The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods. New York, New York: Atria Books, 2005.

Pressinger, Richard, M.Ed.“Chemical Food Additive Exposure: Links to Learning Disabilities, ADD, and Behavior Disorders.”http://www.chem-tox.com/pregnancy/artificial.htm  

Saldanha, L. (1995). Fiber in the diet of US children: Results of national surveys. Pediatrics, 96(5), 994. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier Database.  

Sanda, Bill.(February 19, 2004).“The Double Danger of High Fructose Corn Syrup.”http://www.westonaprice.org/The-Double-Danger-of-High-Fructose-Corn-Syrup.html

Weil, Andrew, M.D.Eating Well For Optimum Health.New York, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.: 2000.    

Japanese researchers have found home-based exercises to be more effective in the treatment of chronic low back pain than prescribed NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). While NSAIDs can reduce inflammation and pain, they are a form of passive care that fails to address functionality issues such as limited motion, muscular weakness and muscular imbalances, not to mention the many negative side effects associated with NSAID use. Home-based exercises are not only natural and far safer, they specifically address functional issues and deficiencies in a proactive manner. And thus, it goes to reason that both men and women (mean age of approx. 42 years) who participated in the home-based exercises versus the NSAIDs during the 12-month study experienced more significant improvements in both reported low back pain and overall disability.

New research indicates vitamin D may be effective at reducing infections and colds. In this new study, researchers found that a group of young military men who supplemented with 400 IU’s (international units) daily for 6 months versus those who supplemented with a placebo experienced a significantly higher likelihood of having no days missed from work due to a respiratory illness. Moreover, of those taking the vitamin D supplement half remained healthy during the 6-month study as compared with approximately just one third of those taking the placebo. While more studies are needed, this new research does appear to indicate some benefits of vitamin D in reducing sickness or at least, the severity of sickness. It should be noted that vitamin D when taken in higher dosages is toxic and negative side effects can and do occur beyond 2,000 IU’s per day.

Antidepressants are commonly prescribed to those suffering from autism. However, past research hasn’t been able to provide evidence that antidepressants are actually useful for those diagnosed with autism. A recent U.S. government funded study reported that antidepressants, more specifically Celexa, was no better than a placebo for improving repetitive behaviors in children with autism. Researchers have now completed a new review of this study along with six other related studies present in the medical literature. Their findings – there was no evidence that antidepressants were any better than a placebo at reducing repetitive behaviors or any other symptoms in children suffering from autism. According to the researchers who conducted this recent scientific review of medical literature, there is no basis for recommending the routine use of antidepressants in the treatment of austism.