Is Our Sweet Tooth Killing Us?

How can the food industry better educate consumers to monitor their sugar intake?

Agribusiness by educating consumers on sugar intake will stand to loose profits.

Cheap food and soda sweetened with corn syrup is going to be around as long as the consequences are not instantly felt.

There is lot of money made by Agribusiness selling cheap addictive unhealthy food and soda and equally billion are made by health care industries treating obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and many types of cancer that follow!.

Hi Krishnan,

It's real that "agribusiness" as you call wants to make profit like all businesses. However, in real business like selling and buying thinks as machines, we can loose money and we have psychologic unbalance but does't affect health. The "agribusiness" attacks directly to our health and send the message to the health department that now is their turn to make profits. Doctor visits, medications, and other surgeries cost money and profits for others. This is in accord with both businesses to exploit people's luck of understanding what's food, good and bad, what's good for our body and what's not.

Why bread is made with 15 to 27 different ingredients, depending of the brand? I make bread, sorry crepes or we can called pita, with whole wheat flour and water on a hot plate. To obtain better taste, I can add egg, spices, and herbs. Composition contains only two (2) ingredients. Oh no! There is a third, a half tea-spoon of peanut oil!

I don't eat for over 20 years: bananas, corn, cakes and other sweetened or processed foods and drinks. Eliminate all foods and drinks having a "glycemic index" higher than 50. I survived and being reasonably healthy and weighing 195-197 lbs with 6' 5" and being 72 young but working. Five days a week I get up at 4:59 the morning, take public transportation (streetscars, buses, and subways) during around 3 hours a day.

No one official person, politician or doctor educate people to eat healthy or eliminate bad food from their table. This is business at the highest level with consequences. Consequences are cancers, hearth-attacks, and death. People loose 5 to 15 years of their life and suffering from illnesses the last years.

Also, we who know what to do, we have no chance to change others' opinion. It's really hard. I have difficulties in my family but they prefer to suffer but not changing their eating habit. Imagine, when the developping countries rich the level of buying power as ours is, when they can buy what we consume today? It will be a global disaster!

I wish a good and healthy meal to everyone at least once a day, Gil.

Dear Sir,

Thanks and high appreciation for very sensible response.

I have no idea of your nationality. If you are an American, it is all the more remarkable that you have sustained the kind of healthy life style as the atmosphere there is hardly encouraging. Very few in America prepare food from basic ingredients. There is so much pressure to use off the shelf ready to eat food items packed with preservatives and additives, to make life more pleasurable. A typical American home also is loaded with hundreds of toxins introduced to keep the house sparkling, free of dust and grass green. Many of these deadly chemicals have managed to find it way in to the food chain. Added danger is in the form of chemicals mainly from drugs in potable water in minuscule proportions.

In this context, I take the liberty of quoting from http://www.thechinastudy.com/about.html talking of the book by Dr. Campbell titled The China Study.

"Dr. Campbell, a researcher on a project in the Philippines working with malnourished children as to why so many Filipino children were being diagnosed with liver cancer, predominately an adult disease. The primary goal of the project was to ensure that the children were getting as much protein as possible.

"In this project, however, I uncovered a dark secret. Children who ate the highest protein diets were the ones most likely to get liver cancer..." He began to review other reports from around the world that reflected the findings of his research in the Philippines.

Although it was "heretical to say that protein wasn't healthy," he started an in-depth study into the role of nutrition, especially protein, in the cause of cancer.

The research project culminated in a 20-year partnership of Cornell University, Oxford University, and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, a survey of diseases and lifestyle factors in rural China and Taiwan. More commonly known as the China Study, "this project eventually produced more than 8000 statistically significant associations between various dietary factors and disease."

The findings? "People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease … People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease. These results could not be ignored," said Dr. Campbell.

In The China Study, Dr. Campbell details the connection between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, and also its ability to reduce or reverse the risk or effects of these deadly illnesses. The China Study also examines the source of nutritional confusion produced by powerful lobbies, government entities, and irresponsible scientists.

The China Study is not a diet book. Consumers are bombarded with conflicting messages regarding health and nutrition; the market is flooded with popular titles like The Atkins Diet and The South Beach Diet. The China Study cuts through the haze of misinformation and delivers an insightful message to anyone living with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and those concerned with the effects of aging. Additionally, he challenges the validity of these low-carb fad diets and issues a startling warning to their followers."

Hi Krishnan,

I am an adopted Canadian born in Hungary. In my birth country, people eat fatty and more animal protein than veggies. Before and after the WWII, we have two (2) 500 kg pork which was consumed during the next year under form of sausage, smoked meat and more. I lost 48 lbs when I adopted "Michel Montignac"'s method. You can find English version of his book "Eat and loose weight". Also, I follow Linus Pauling's recommendations as vitamins. Every day first thing, I take 18 grams of vitamin C with half of a litre of water at around 30*C and eat fruits. Only one hour or two, I eat other things but don't mix proteins and carbohydrates, animal, chicken, fish or pork meat with bread or pastas. Protein is consumed with veggiesin proportion of 4 parts of veggies for a single part of meat.

Krishnan, sorry, I am not interested to talk about all processed foods and the industry. I am not concerned with them. I buy every day what I eat or eat in Chinese restaurant who are use things as in China. I was worked in China and find that people eat well and small portions at one time. We, in North-America, eat once or twice lots and stave during the rest of the time. We say; "We are busy". In China or in India, people work more longtime and harder than here but eat less than we do.

Our 300 lbs and more individuals eat 4,000 calories, mix everything at the same time, use too much sugar and salt. Processed food is full of chemicals that our body doesn't understand hva hard time to distribute in the body and absolute difficulty how to eliminate from it.

It is absolutely necessary to understand that your life depend on your decisions, so do the best for yourself. Don't try to convert others because is just waste of your time without any positive results. Develop good reating habits to your family by showing yourself how to eat healthy way. Buy everything with them and they learn and remember what and how to do.

Never listen to diet gurus. they are looking for your money, and that's all! Don't take medications point!! Try to talk with old people, they know what to use, natural things, to cure little things we get.

To finish, we need proteins, carbs, vitamins and minerals, and fibres. Establish a "less than 50 glycemic index" raw materials for your kitchen and cook fast at high temperature everything. Health comes and stays when you put in your body healthy things. Again, mix carbs and veggies, veggies and proteins but never mix carbs and proteins. Also, I recommand to eat fruits 2 hours after any meal. You can eat more with empty stomach and don't have gas. Gas is produced by rotten and undigested fruit during digestin of proteins.

Good luck and take car about your body, Gil.

They are putting sugar in too many things. And what they use for Cellulose no one knows are we eating Sweeten Wood fibers? Simple diet changes helped my family.

For almost 3 years now I have been making a Spinach and Onion omelete for the kids 2 days a week. Their engery levels came back after the second week of eating them. Must have been backed up. There are times they have too much engery now.

No more than 2 slices of bread a day or 1 big biscuit. We have 8 in the house for 3 meals a day and bread now often spoils. The kids are thinner and more active.

Potato's no more than twice a week and the same with rice. We keep have a never ending pot of beef stew on the stove with a heavy lid. DO NOT ADD CORN OR GREEN PEPPERS to your stew and it will not spoil easy, then you can add carrots, green bean, celery, onions , peas and beef to the stew for weeks. Just heat it up to a boil once a day the kids can eat when they walk in the door microwave the stew. We empty the pot and wash it every 3 or 4 days and put the stew back on the stove. But we live in the country, just us old dumb country people.

Heart Doc said No processed cheese products and no cheese poured over anything. Just getting the processed cheese out of our diet helped a lot. The block cheese and serve slices with a good mustard, or Feta in salads. Also NO chicken skin ever and trim off the fat when possible. I hate dealing with the grease from the George Foreman but it is worth it.

We make our own BBQ sauce with Tomato sauce, brown sugar, raw gralic, lemon juice, onions, some vingar and celery then cook it, we make a gallon at a time. We no longer buy mayo, ketsup or BBQ sauces. This is our only real vice BBQ.

No soft drinks at all. Water flavored if needed with juice. But check out the National Instutite of Health's reccommendations for Flouride intake too. Over 2.2 part per billion and Flouride will begin to attack the teeth and studys in Isolated communites show that Flouride intakes over 2.2 has a direct connection to fractured hips and bone fractures in older people. The EPA raised the acceptable Flouride intake to 4 parts per billion and never responded to questions from the National Institute of Health as to why. The Director of the NIH said when ask about Flouride and dental care: " If not for the Fluroide in the water Dentist would be out of business". What ever could that mean ?

But we tried our best to stop eating any corn period. Granddad said " They fatten pigs with corn why would it not fatten people too? "

Very well written! You must be an exceptional American and knowledgeable.

I fully endorse what you have said.

My country, India, has largely conservative life style.

Even here I find the Western fast foods, very alien to the culture, are considered fashionable in urban areas.

Most in the country being poor cannot afford many of these fancy foods stuffs.

Unfortunately here too there are fast foods which are addictive and tuned to Indian taste buds.

These stuffs are made in very unhygienic conditions loaded with trans fats.

Result? Diabetes and cardio vascular ailments are prevalent in epidemic proportions.

Ironically India is the cradle of yoga, meditation and for many finest healthy and therapeutic culinary specialties.

I like the smell of Indian spices but have a hard time eating them the flavors are so intense. You know what I mean I do like the currys but the rices here in the USA are so heavy with starch.

Hi Dad,

Thanks for the few words. I learned that other people are understanding what's happening all around us. You are in the USA, watch what you said about the EPA. These people are financed by pharmaceuticals and follow the theory of Walls Street: "Make more and make more profit!"

Your granddad was right! Corn make big pigs and pigs big and we humans become pigs like real pigs. When Columbus saw the first Indian, he saw a young man with eroded teeth. This was the effect of "corn"!

I only eat raw carrot. Cooked carrot's glycemic index grows from 35 to 75 or 80. Not good! Also, I try to eat less and less meat. I don't eat cow meat for over 25 or 27 years. Human cannot digest the coagulated cow blood and have hard time to eliminate contained in the meat. Also, I rejected all cow product like milk cheese. I eat only goat cheese, at least four times a week, around 100 grams each time.

I make my tomato sauce practically the same way like you with different ingredients. Cook tomatoes 10 minutes, add garlic and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes and put all kinds of spices like turmeric, paprika, corriander and other herbs on hand. Let cool down and pass with my mixer. It's a delicacy!

Again, listen to your granddad! He has no contact with our kind of food and he knew what was healthy. All the best to him and you, Gil.

Better late reply than never!

I suggest that you consider using Palm Sugar for sweetening for far better alternative to refined sugar or even brown sugar. Refer to

http://coconutpalmsugar.com/Nutritional_Information.html for nutritional information.

I have seen this organic product at US Whole Food out lets apart from availability on line.

Salt too, when I moved to Asia and adapted to food here, I was suprised by how salty and sugery American food is. I lost 10 Kg without even trying when I moved here. Only by adapting to an Asian diet. My blood pressure also went down drastically, and I feel much fitter.

It is high time our American friends change their dieting habits. Is it sign of prosperity with lots of cash or credit cards in pockets with many junk food selling points that is creating obesity?. Along with this no walking as all have their cars and just sitting in offices before P.C staring at you. Change of diet and excercise can make the healthy Americans.

We Indians have no moral high grounds to point our fingers at other.

Urban Indian youths loaded with cash consider traditional food unfashionable and mindlessly copy Western fast food like Pizza and Hamburger and prefer coloured sugary carbonated drinks instead of plain water or good old butter milk.

Poorer cousins settle for Pav Bajji, Vada Pav etc .loaded with trans fat prepared in most horribly unhygienic conditions. .

No wonder India has dubious distinction of being called world's capital of cardio vascular and diabetic disorders.

Ironically this is despite the fact that traditional Indian food is recommended through the world as best for these diseases

The government in the USA creates as many problems as they solve sometimes. Like pushing people out of the cities back in the 1950's into housing 20 or 30 miles away.

Zones for business only forced people to drive. Then working 60 to 80 hour weeks allows few people the time to excerise.

Add to that the drop in wages and the inflation in food prices. High fat foods are cheaper so debt forces people to shop for the cheapest foods.

Watch out India they are bringing comsumerism your way. Learn from your farmers about how they were seduced into debt . It is comming like a fright train right at you.

The cheapest foods are white: sugar, salt, white flour, white rice, white bread, lard, potatoes etc. These are also foods that are not the best for us. At least for those who are overweight. As I write this, my daughter is preparing two unhealthful deserts. She is obese and diabetic. I am obese, as is my wife. It is my mother in laws birthday. I am an RN and my wife is a Nurse Practitioner. My daughter is in the medical field. We all know better. We know what to eat, and what we shouldn't. America has a deep set history and culture of rich, fatty and sugary foods. Unfortunately most of us are no longer active like our grandparents were. We must overcome this socialization. We should cut down on fatty meats, simple carbs, use portion control, and count calories. Also increase our physical activity. Our sweet tooth is shortening our life span, harming our joints, and clogging our arteries, and causing Type Two Diabetes. Being overweight decreases our enjoyment of life and many activities. It also wastes money. A healthful diet is actually inexpensive, if it is based on legumes, and vegetables. Spices are a big help, and many add nutritious components. I am not saying we need to cut out meats, but cutting down is a good idea.

Hi Suresh,

I understand your disappointment about food and their contents. However, "you have a choice" of eating what is offered or you cook what's good for you. You cannot accuse the profit making society we live in, Gil.

To all humanity!

Yes, we are loving sweet and in particularily sugar. All governments are complaining about obesity, now starting at very early ages, and its consequences. One thing must be done by governments, to impose to all food and beverage manufacturers to create products with glycemic index 50 or lower. Actually, prepared foods have 80 to 110 and the quantities are higher and higher because no regulation about it. When you eat french fries with a sandwich, the potatoes glycemic index is already over 85, the bread or bun is around 75, plus they add sugar in large quantities with high level of salt which is hiding the sweetness of sugar with glycemic index over 100. What we eat really is products with high glycemic index. Now, replace potatoes with green pepper, lettuce, and tomatoes, the glycemic index falls under 40. Eat only whole wheat bread with only six ingredients on the label and never eat white bread with sometimes 23 different chemicals and additives. What we eat?

My daily suggestion is eat fruits the early morning but eliminate bananas (GI= 75+). One hour later eat a sandwich without meat. Complete meat on midday with GI less than 50. Eat together veggies with meat, veggies with carbohydrates like bread and pastas but never mix carbohydrates with meat. We cannot diggest carbohydrates when we digest proteins from meat. The worst is when someone after a good meal including soup, pasta and meat with veggies take a fruit. The fruit stays indigested for hours and creates gases by putrafaction in the stomach. The evening, a good soup and one hour later some fruit like apple or watermelon will complete a good nutrition for a day. I understand that it's hard to change our life-style but we want to live healthy and for longer than before.

When people will respect Glycemic Index theory, stay under 50 all the times but it produces healthy results.

Try it for a week, and let me know the effect on the scale. Wish you the best, Gil.

Switch your cooking oil to nothing but olive oil, eliminate white bread (bleached flour) of any kind and eliminate fructose corn syrup from your diet and you will feel a LOT better for it and probably get back down to your proper weight in a year.

Otherwise you can eat whatever you want as long as it meets all 3 of these requirements.

Also, stay around 1500 to 2000 calories a day unless you are doing hard physical work for a full 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.