Nutrition Articles

Nutritional data is deceptive, because the food market depends on the packaging to sell their products. The sales pitch has to be on the carton. The consumer friendly pitch has to be on the label. When competing for shelve space labeling is more important than contents.

Pre-packaged Foods

Pre-packaged food has raised the bar, now their packaging will deliver health messages. Retailers will be able to pack their shelves with ready to go meals, with brands, which will promote their product as low calorie, low sodium, lactose free, vegan low sugar, no artificial flavors and high fiber.

Nutrition

The key nutritional benefits on package fronts are going to capture a loyal following. This strategy will be geared to the health conscious consumer. It will also fool many people into incorporating more packaged products into their diet. It will make eating healthy appear very simple. These will be wallet friendly and quick to make and serve, think microwave and easy to pour.

When shoppers look for products from boxed cereals with heart healthy symbols, frozen meals or snacks with the number of calories on the label or the vitamins per serving, they are being misled. Vitamin A or C means nothing since these are gong to be in products which are fortified with vitamins and minerals that come out of a lab.

Labels

As these brands capture the imagination and continue to expand, the line between real food and faux food are going to blur. All the rationalization in the world can’t position these products as food. Not only do they not mimic a whole food diet, they are emerging as a new and dangerous eating pattern for Americans. 

The deceptive wordings on these items are attracting devoted fans. Confectionery items are transforming sugary treats to a fiber source. Sodas sport photos of passion fruit, mandarin and citrus fruit to impart the image of natural goodness.

Marketing

Marketing a wide variety of packaged food to compete with produce, fiber, and protein is designed to increase brand value and strengthen market position. The aim is higher profit margins, and the only way to do that is to offer significantly less nutritional value. It is highly unlikely that the ingredients can be improved when price is the object. The facelift that is transforming the food industry is in the carton or carrier of their product.

Creating beverages, freezer pops, and meals with significant market power means to package these to imply a host of health benefits. Fresh food it isn’t and the shelf life doesn’t mean that the food is anywhere near fresh even with a good expiration date.  Because the contents is aseptically packed doesn’t mean its safe. For example, cans are lined with cancer causing material. There is a reason that things like genetically modified ingredients and high fructose corn syrup is used and that is price.  The health and wellness initiatives over the past years have gone into advertising and packaging not quality.

Health

Lite and healthy food may seem to be evident by the logo, carton, and label. The visible sign of health may be on the carton, and that may be more than a simple deception. Manufactures know how to hide the true ingredients in very deceptive ways. .Mum’s the word as far as the way food is manufactured. In fact the product isn’t even close enough to the natural source to be a ringer for the real thing.

More choices in pre-packaged breakfasts, snacks and dinners means that corn chips, tortilla chips, extruded puffs of crunchy cereals will begin to fit the customers’ requirements for sustenance. For the consumer it is lower costs, for the manufacturer it is bigger margins. Nutritional data deceptive practices have a real cost, which the consumer is paying for.

Type 2 diabetes treatment failure is distressing to say the least. Doctors’ diabetic care seems to accelerate the growth of both the pharmaceutical industry and the medical supply business.

Doctor’s Advice

The doctor’s advice is oddly consistent with the American dietary approach. Eat everything in moderation. That advice hasn’t paid off.  Their solution to the problem is an insulin injection or a pill along with a jab of the finger a few times a day.

Their cash flow isn’t hurt, but the potential for a full recovery isn’t anywhere to be seen. What are the medical community’s benchmarks for successful disease management?  Well it seems the simple trick to success is not to challenge the patient to change their lifestyle, but to just comply with the drug schedule, and adjust medication with glucose monitoring.

The treatment isn’t about science; though that is what it is suppose to be about. The medical system is about care not cure. That is the real problem. Doctors support a system that is about volume, and what works best is maintenance.

Here is some advice from a pediatric endocrinologist and senior scientist in the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center. For Halloween he gave parents three options.

Counting Carbohydrates

By counting carbohydrates, kids can enjoy some of the treats that Halloween has to offer in moderation. This option allows the child to keep up with how many carbs they are eating: the example is one unit of insulin for every 15 or 20 grams of carbohydrates.

This is the doctor’s quote: “This is an easy option for kids on an insulin pump because they can just dial in an extra dose of insulin to compensate for what they are about to eat. But for kids that take shots, this could prove to be more difficult or inconvenient if they have to go to the school nurse for an extra dose,”

What is wrong with this solution is that everything can be solved with a shot of insulin. This message sets the stage for life, with using insulin as the fix for poor dietary choices. Sometimes you need the insulin, but to use it as a springboard to survival is absurd. The next problem is the quality of the treats and the ingredient list. These treats will deplete the body of its store of vitamins and minerals, which are needed and used by the pancreas, liver, and all systems that support the body’s ability to deal with sugar and toxins, such as artificial flavor and colors.

This is considered a proactive approach by both the parents and physician. The child needs to feel part of the crowd, and enjoy the American past time of eating poor quality fuel for the body.

Exchanging Candy

The second solution suggested is that the parents can trade the child a gift, money, or low carb snack for their candy. Parents can also provide a substitute snack for their child if the class is holding a Halloween party at school.

I know as a parent that this sounds good and it may work.  However, to offer cash or a gift makes the candy seem to have a high value. What the problem is this is considered a practical solution, since we live in the real world. This approach doesn’t remove sweet treats but perpetuates its value.

The low carb approach is good and even better if it’s structured to be the desired item by the child. The way to do that isn’t mystical; it’s eating healthy while pregnant, and starting the baby on a good diet. The chances of having diabetes would be lower with this approach.

Dessert

kids can savor their Halloween treats without an extra shot or dose of insulin by having them for dessert after dinner. The quote “By incorporating a sugary treat into meal time, when a child would normally get a dose of insulin, it eliminates the need for adding doses to their regimen.”

Another idea I am not fond of and the reason is there is an aticipation of a reward. It takes sweets and holds them in high esteem. Protecting health and remaining safe from disease is the main goal, not building deals around things that aren’t good for diabetes.

Removal of harmful substances is a necessary tool for the parents of diabetic children. Avoiding the American way of eating will enable diabetic children to achieve a long and healthy life.

Calorie counting is destructive. The initial goal should be to get strong and fit. Counting calories can make many dieters weak. Being hungry all the time is counter productive.

Calorie control equals weight management to most people, and even the medical experts think this is true. What calories really do is different from the hype. When the weight loss industry capitalizes on the proven benefits of cutting calories, what they are doing is promoting a way to utilize diet in an unhealthy way.

Caveman Diet

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (USCF) say their research has shown people on a high protein diet combined with plenty of vegetables show dramatic health improvements. These include weight loss, and lower blood pressure. What they are talking about is a diet that is considered similar to the “Hunters Gathers” or caveman diet.

Dr. Tim White a paleobiologist from the University of California Berkley said: “Our Biology is still basically the same biology that we had as hunters and gathers 100,000 years ago in Africa.” Dr. White said the constant physical activity that the cavemen had to undertake to hunt and find food kept them fit, lean, muscular and active. Their diet consisted of large amounts of lean meat, and vegetables.

Robert Lustig, MD. an endocrinologist at UCSF, said that people on the diet have experienced a regression of their diabetes as a result, to the point they are effectively cured.

Dr. Kim Mulvihill, a reporter from CBS tried the diet herself and doctors recommended she should stay on the diet permanently. Her cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar levels dropped dramatically over a few weeks. After seven weeks she was no longer pre-diabetic, and by combining the so called paleo diet with a weight loss program she lost thirty pounds.

Fish

Another article talked about people who eat fish as their primary source of animal protein. They reported lower glucose concentrations with a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Researchers at the University of Valencia reported in the journal Nutricion Hospitalaria that there are benefits from a Mediterranean diet high in fish consumption. This study showed the benefits of the omega 3’s in fish. Omega 3 from fish and grass fed meat controls inflammation. Micronutrients from both vegetables and fruits also, turn off inflammation.

Inflammation

There are a good number of studies that show weight gain may be linked to chronic inflammation. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition researches looked at nine years of data tracking 1,222 adults and found that weight gain was associated with an increase in chronic inflammation. This may be why weight gain is associated with heart disease and cancer. Both these conditions are associated with chronic inflammation.

Counting calories is counter productive, especially when you buy 100 calorie packs of pure carbohydrates in the form of crackers of cookies. The only weapon against obesity is whole foods diet with all the omega 3 fatty acids and nutrients your body need.

A diet based on vegetables, and fruit with some high quality protein is better than a calorie restricted diet for weight management. A nation that has embraced calorie counting as a way to control weight is deluding itself into thinking that saving calories can repair the damage done by faux foods. By changing your goal from weight, to having more energy by becoming healthier your will achieve a consistent weight.