What Not To Eat?
Besides that grimy diner down the street that is in flagrant violation of the sanitary code, there are other foods you need to avoid. Reading labels on food items isn’t just for the health conscious person anymore. It is essential for everyone to be educated on what to look for when considering food purchases. There are, unfortunately, several hidden ingredients in many of the foods we eat on a daily basis. Others are more visible, but are ignored. The overall health of a great number of people is being compromised by “foods” like the ones we’ll look at here.
High Fructose Corn Syrup
High fructose corn syrup is derived from cornstarch. It is typically a combination of 45% sucrose and 55% fructose. It is treated with an enzyme that converts glucose to fructose. The end result is a sweeter product. Food manufacturers love this sweetener because it mixes easily, extends the shelflife of the product, and can be as much as 20% less expensive than other sugar sources. High fructose syrup is used in yogurt, ketchup, jelly, syrups, fruits, desserts, soda, baked goods, and freezer food items, just to name a few.
The body doesn’t process high fructose syrup the same way it does cane or beet sugar. Our metabolic-regulating hormones are actually altered in the way they function so the body can somehow process this sweetener.
As a result, high fructose syrup forces the liver to put more fat into the bloodstream, which results in our bodies craving more to eat and thus, we become overweight as we store more fat. Of course, obesity can lead to heart disease, diabetes, and several other health problems if left untreated.
Trans Fat
Trans fat is also known as trans fatty acid. It is produced via the chemical process of hydrogenation of oils, which solidifies liquid oils and increases the shelf life of the foods which contain them. Blah blah blah. Bottom line- it’s horrible. In French- horrible. In Spanish- horrible. In Swedish – fasansfull. No matter how you say it or what language it’s in, trans fats are HORRIBLE. They are found in fried foods, margarine, vegetable shortening, snack foods, baked goods, and some vegetable oils.
Some healthy oils are Virgin olive, lin/flax, canola, un-hydrogenated soy and mustard. Trans fat increases the risk of heart disease and increases blood cholesterol levels. Trans fats also add body fat to the mid-section (hello one piece swimsuit), which is known to increase the risk of heart disease.
Artificial Sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners, colorings, flavorings, emulsifiers, flavor enhancers and preservatives are all, well, artificial ingredients we find in several foods, even though the effects on our bodies are questionable. Our bodies weren’t designed to metabolize artificial ingredients. Examples of artificial food ingredients would include aspartame, saccharine, neotame, acesulfame, and sucrolose. It is best to avoid highly processed foods to eliminate these from your diet. Diet soft drinks, breath mints, jams, jellies, gelatins, frozen desserts, candies, cough drops, chewing gum, frosting, processed fruit and juices, puddings and baked goods can all contain artificial sweeteners and artificial ingredients, and should be avoided.
An increased risk of bladder cancer has been linked to a high consumption of saccharine. Some studies have linked the consumption of Acesulfame K to the lung and breast tumors, leukemia, and chronic respiratory disease.
People should also avoid refined sugar. It’s called “refined” so you would think it was good for you. Nope. That means they stripped it of all the good stuff to make a cheaper, more harmful product. Instead use natural sweeteners like pure maple syrup, raw cane or beet sugar, stevia, molasses and raw honey. Because the ill-effects of refined sugar are enormous.
Flour
White refined flour and pasta made from white refined flour have had the bran and germ removed from them. These products have no essential nutrients, even after partial enrichment. Since white refined flour is absorbed very quickly, the consumption of pasta and white breads has been linked to rapid changes in sugar/insulin balance. Eventually, this reaction could cause cell resistance to both, resulting in adult diabetes. Whole grain products are a healthier choice overall.
Sodas – especially colas. They have no nutritional value. They are full of sugar and corn syrup. Sodas have been linked to childhood and adult diabetes. And it is also murder on your teeth. All that sugar causes cavities.
Other enemies to your body are Bacon, full- fat cheeses, pre-packaged chocolate chip cookies and chocolate donuts.
Work For Community Improvement
Does your community provide every opportunity for its citizens to stay healthy? Are there lots of good facilities for medical care, exercise, and healthy food shopping? Are the air and water as clean as they can be? Is the neighborhood safe? Are there opportunities for uninsured people to receive decent care?
If you feel that your community could be a healthier place, get involved! Find other people in your neighborhood or in your faith community who feel the same way, or look for organizations that are working to make the kind of improvements you would like to see. Volunteer your time, or get people together to work for change. Like your own health, your community’s health will improve much faster if you take an active role in shaping it.
Volunteer For Research
If you want to help advance your own health, the health of your children and grandchildren, and the health of the entire world, one way to help is to volunteer for medical research. Hospitals, universities, and research labs are always looking for people to participate in basic medical research and clinical trials. Today, they have a particular interest in studying women and ethnic minorities, because older studies often focused mainly on white men. Usually, each study will be looking for people of a particular age, gender, ethnic background, or medical history. Studies often advertise for volunteers in newspapers,on buses and in subways,or on community bulletin boards.The hospital or medical school in your area may have an office that provides information about volunteer opportunities.
Volunteering for research has many benefits. You can know that you are contributing to the world’s medical knowledge. You will usually receive free medical care as part of the study, and you might be paid for your time. You might find out more about your own health because you participated in the study. If you have a chronic medical condition, you might even discover a new treatment that works for you.
If you do volunteer for a study,you should take the informed consent agreement very seriously. Make sure that you carefully read any documents you have to sign and that you fully understand the time commitment and possible consequences of participating in the study. Some studies involve nothing more than answering a questionnaire or having a few simple tests done. Others involve repeated visits to a research center, spanning months or even years, and complicated medical procedures that may not have all the bugs worked out. Always go into a study with your eyes open to its potential risks and benefits.
Develop An Informed Sense Of Risk
In life, we sometimes take chances that are unnecessary and dangerous. Other times, we worry about things that are really not very likely at all. This is especially true of choices that affect our health and safety. For example, some people are afraid to get a flu shot because they’ve heard that some people have bad side effects. However, the chances of getting the flu if you don’t get a shot are much higher than having any serious reaction to the shot itself.
Other people might be excessively worried about everyday germs— for example, they may use tissues to open doorknobs—but don’t adequately protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as HIV, syphilis, and herpes. Still others might be afraid to fly on an airplane, but refuse to wear a seat belt in the car. (You’re much more likely to die in a car crash.) In making choices about your health, it’s important to separate how you feel about the risk from what the risk actually is. Your doctor can help you weigh the risks.
Weigh Your Choices
Not every medical decision you will make will be clear cut. For example, if you were seriously obese, you might be asked to consider gastric bypass surgery, a radical procedure in which most of the digestive system is bypassed, so you can’t eat very much, and what you do eat must be chosen very carefully. The surgery, or another procedure like it, might offer you a better chance for more dramatic, longerlasting results than diet and exercise alone can give you. On the other hand, the surgery is risky,greatly alters your body, requires major changes in lifestyle, and is irreversible. Only you and your doctor can decide the best course of action, based on your own priorities and your specific medical situation.Make sure that you fully understand all the benefits and side effects of each alternative before deciding on a treatment.
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