Sunday, April 13, 2008
Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup - HFCS
HFCS high fructose corn syrup is responsible for a dangerous epidemic of obesity and diabetes. People under the age of 45 are “children of the corn.” Like Stephen King's thriller, they are reaping the consequences...
...of the food industry’s high fructose corn syrup. They were children or young adults in the late 70s, 80s and 90s when high fructose corn syrup was introduced to the American food supply as a cheap replacement for sugar. Now many of them are struggling with an epidemic of obesity and diabetes, also being referred to as diabesity.
In a recent chemical analysis of eleven carbonated soft drinks sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), researchers from Rutgers University found very high levels of reactive carbonyls.
Reactive carbonyls, which have been linked to tissue damage and complications of diabetes, are elevated in the blood of people with diabetes. A single can of soda, however, has five times that concentration of reactive carbonyls. Old-fashioned table sugar, on the other hand, has no reactive carbonyls.
When people from Iceland visit the United States, the first thing they notice is the number of fat people they see. The average weight of American women (164 pounds) and men (191 pounds) has increased 25 pounds since 1960. We are the fattest people on earth, thanks to Coke, Pepsi and ADM - Archer Daniels Midland - the largest producer of HFCS.
Due to federal agribusiness subsidies, every dollar of profits earned by ADM's corn sweetener operation costs consumers $10. Of the $113.6 billion in taxpayer commodity subsidy payments distributed by the USDA between 1995 and 2004, corn drew $41.8 billion -- more than cotton, soy, and rice combined. What's wrong with this picture? Maybe it's the Iowa presidential primary. Where do the presidential candidates and your congress people stand on corn subsidies? Who sucks up to ADM?
The occurrence of new cases of type 2 diabetes has doubled over the past three decades, according to a report in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation - June 2006. The percentage of overweight children in the United States has tripled since 1980. The epidemic of type 2 diabetes cases across the nation is likely to lead to a substantially higher incidence of strokes among middle-aged adults and newly diagnosed diabetics.
"Most, but not all, of the increase in diabetes occurred in people who were obese - those with a body mass index of 30 or more," according to the National Lung, Heart, and Blood Institute in Framingham, Massachusetts.
A person with diabetes has a 50 percent chance of having a heart attack compared with a risk of 5 percent for people without diabetes or who don’t know if they have a vascular disease. In fact, diabetes puts you at the same risk for a heart attack as a non-diabetic who has had a heart attack and whose risk of another is substantially higher.
More than one out of every three individuals in the United States has diabetes or impaired fasting glucose, a condition that increases the risk of developing diabetes.
The CDC estimates that diabetes costs the United States $92 billion in medical costs and $40 billion in indirect costs.
It is getting difficult to find a food product at the grocery store or McDonalds that is not loaded with HFCS. One 20-ounce bottle of Coke, Pepsi, Mt Dew, Sprite or Dr. Pepper is the equivalent of pouring 17 teaspoons of sugar straight into your body. HFCS is the leading ingredient after carbonated water in these beverages. Women who drink at least one regular soda a day are 85 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who drink less. It also leads to tooth decay.
High Fructose Corn Syrup is found in fruit drinks like Capri Sun, Sunny Delight, Snapple, Hawaiian Punch, Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice and in most energy drinks. It is also found in chocolate drinks like Yoohoo, Arizona Tea, SoBe Beverages, cookies, ice cream, Campbell soup, Heinz Ketchup, Ragu, Aunt Jemima Syrup, Hershey's Syrup, Breyers Yogurt, Kraft Barbecue Sauce, Smucker's Preserves and some breakfast cereals.
High fructose corn syrup masquerades under the name of crystalline fructose in Glaceau Vitamin Water and some energy drinks. Naive teenagers guzzle this "poison" because they think it is good for them. Then they go on a diet and wonder why they are still gaining weight.
Have you seen the new commercials on TV for Capri Sun? The ad suggests that Capri Sun is now healthy for you because they have added antioxidants. As long as they continue to sweeten Capri Sun with HFCS, they are lying to you.
People who use HFCS as a sweetener increase their triglycerides 32 percent relative to people who use mostly sugar, according to University of Minnesota professor John Bantle. The body metabolizes high fructose corn syrup differently than sugar. It blunts the body's ability to recognize when it is full and increases a person's appetite.
High Fructose Corn Syrup puts people at risk for metabolic syndrome. According to the Mayo Clinic, "Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing your risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Having just one of these conditions — increased blood pressure, elevated insulin levels, excess body fat around the waist or abnormal cholesterol levels — contributes to your risk of serious disease. In combination, your risk is even greater."
There is a a rise in uric acid in the bloodstream that occurs after fructose is consumed. The temporary spike of HFCS blocks the action of insulin, which typically regulates how body cells use and store sugar and other food nutrients for energy. If uric acid levels are frequently elevated, over time features of metabolic syndrome may develop, including high blood pressure, obesity and elevated blood cholesterol levels.
Research by the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reveals that high fructose diets shorten the life span of laboratory mice from the normal two years to a mere five weeks.
Overweight Hispanic-American children who consume lots of sugary foods and drinks show signs of pancreatic beta cell decline - a forerunner of type 2 diabetes.
Researchers at the University of Southern California came to that conclusion after studying 63 overweight Hispanic children, ages 9 to 13, all without diabetes. The team tracked the children's eating habits and also took blood samples before and after giving them sweets.
Beta cells in the pancreas create insulin in response to sugar obtained from food. When beta cells start to function less effectively, they produce less insulin, leading ultimately to diabetes. The USC team found that about 40 percent of the sweets consumed by the children in this study came from sugary drinks such as soda or sweetened juices.
If you compare the population of non-diabetics to diabetics, the average life span is 10 years less. There are many complications that occur with diabetes. They include coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, blindness, kidney disease and loss of sensation in the hands and feet.
Older people may have something to worry about also. The leading theory about the cause of Alzheimer's Disease implicates insulin. Insulin concentrations in the brain drop significantly in early Alzheimer's and continue to fall as the disease worsens, suggesting that Alzheimer's Disease may be Type 3 diabetes. Researchers found that insulin is not just produced in the pancreas, but also in the brain.
If you wish to prevent diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, the prudent thing to do is to read the label of food items and beverages before you buy them at the store. If you see High Fructose Corn Syrup or crystalline fructose - Don't Buy It!
One tip is to try an ethnic grocery store - such as an Asian or Latino food store, if you have trouble finding HFCS free foods that you like. The American food industry doesn't give two "toots" about your health.
According to Dr. Mark Hyman, MD "Immediate action is needed to address this problem on a societal level. The time for blaming the victim, for putting the entire responsibility of the obesity epidemic on a gluttonous population is over. The science is clear, and we have the means to save lives and millions in health care dollars.”
Question of the decade: Why doesn't the FDA approve stevia as a sweetener? Stevia was introduced in the 1970s in Japan and accounts for over 40% of the sweetener market there. It is also commonly used in South America. Only 24 percent of Japanese aged 15 and older are believed to be overweight, compared to over 65 percent of adults in the United States.
In 1991, at the request of an anonymous complaint, the FDA labeled stevia as an unsafe food additive. It is truly absurd that the medical establishment and government watch dogs in the U.S. are so myopic as to believe that if a product has not been scientifically proven safe inside the borders of the U.S., then it is dangerous until proven otherwise. What's wrong with this picture?
According to Dr. William Dietz of the CDC (Center for Disease Control), in the February 2006 issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, "Consumption of excess calories can produce weight gain. The high fructose content of sugar-sweetened beverages may promote hepatic lipogenesis, and the reduced insulinogenic response may decrease the inhibitory effects of these sugar-sweetened beverages on food intake. In addition, significant weight gain may occur when carbohydrates are consumed as liquids rather than as solids."
Soft drinking teens pile on pounds and obesity
According to a study released March 6, 2006, the number of overweight children is on the rise worldwide and by the end of the decade the number of overweight children will have caused a strain on our health system as they age. It is estimated that just under half of the children in North and South America will be overweight by 2010, up from about 28%. In Europe, about 38% of the children will be overweight, compared to 25% currently.
Dr. James said researchers had analyzed reports from 1980 to 2005 as well as World Health Organization data. They found data for trends over time covering school-age populations in 25 countries and preschool-age children in 42 countries.
In the drinks study, a team at Boston's Children's Hospital monitored the weight of 103 teenagers, putting half of them on unsweetened or artificially-sweetened drinks and letting the other half continue to consume sugary drinks. They concluded that a single 330ml can a day of sweetened drinks could lead teens to put on 1 pound every three or four weeks.
News Article
Diabetes Risk Factors
Are you overweight?
Do you drink soft drinks or juices with High Fructose Corn Syrup everyday?
Do you have high cholesterol?
Do you spend too much time online or watching TV and don't exercise enough?
Do you have relatives with diabetes?
Do you have heart disease?
Do you smoke?
Are you over 55?
Are you over 45 and have high blood pressure?
Are you over 35 and are Asian, Black, Latino or Native American?
As a footnote, a new Italian study suggests Aspartame (NutraSweet) causes cancer in rats at levels currently approved for humans.
The Dangers of Corn Oil
A study at the San Francisco VA Medical Center demonstrates that omega-6 fatty acids such as the fat found in corn oil promote the growth of prostate tumor cells in the laboratory.
Working with human prostate cancer cells in tissue culture, researchers identified for the first time a direct chain of causation: When introduced into prostate tumor cells in culture, omega-6 fatty acid causes the production of cPLA2, which then causes the production of the enzyme COX2. In turn, COX2 stimulates the release of PGE2, a hormone-like molecule that promotes cell growth.
What's important about this is that omega-6 fatty acids are found in corn oil and most of the oils used in bakery goods, which means that if you're eating a diet high in omega-6 fatty acids, it's possible that you're turning on this cancer cascade, which has been shown to be a common denominator in the growth of prostate, colorectal, and some breast cancers.
The study points out that 60 years ago in the United States, the dietary ratio of omega-6 to omega-3, a beneficial fatty acid, was 1 to 2. Today, the ratio is 25 to 1. Over that same 60 years, the incidence of prostate cancer in the U.S. has increased steadily.
This is one more reason it is important to pay attention to the fats that you are eating. Substitute olive oil whenever possible, and take omega 3 fish oil capsules daily. Remember, always be good to yourself.
An Important Overlooked Constituency
As Americans count down to the end of the Bush administration, they know the next president will inherit a nation rife with problems. He or she will face a war with no end in sight, an economy most likely in recession, an unprecedented national debt, and a national government severely damaged by eight years of cronyism and executive power grabs. The next president will also have to address the particular challenges faced by an important segment of the American population: single women. A report released this week by the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF) and Women's Voices. Women Vote (WVWV) details the difficulties single women face in today's economy. Forty percent make under $30,000 a year, less than married people or single men. Of 12.2 million single-parent households in the United States, more than 10 million are headed by single women. "[F]or the last eight years, the needs of unmarried women have been largely ignored," write the report's authors, Page Gardner, WVWV founder, and John Podesta, President and CEO of CAPAF. The next president has an opportunity to lead and address the unique challenges single women face.
REWARD WORK TO EXPAND OPPORTUNITY: Single women still suffer unequal pay. They make only 56 cents to the married man's dollar. Overall, women's median wages pay only 77 cents for every dollar men earn. The next president should raise the minimum wage to 50 percent of the average wage, Gardner and Podesta say. Even after last year's raise -- the first in a decade -- an employee working 40 hours a week at minimum wage only earns $15,080, barely above the poverty line for a family of two ($14,000) and under the poverty line for a family of three ($17,600). Improving access to higher education will also help single women close the wage gap; currently, 84 percent of single mothers do not have a college degree. Just yesterday, the Washington Post reported that nearly 50 student lenders -- 12 percent of the market -- "have stopped issuing federally guaranteed loans in recent weeks because of paralysis in the credit markets," making it harder for single women to afford college. Addressing the credit crisis will thus be an integral duty of the next president. With over 35 percent of children born to single women in 2005, single women have a large stake in their children's future. The next president must invest heavily in early childhood education and make universal preschool a reality, the report states. It is a sound investment: For every $1 invested in high-quality early-childhood education, the estimated return is $7.
A RENEWED SOCIAL CONTRACT: The average cost of child care can range anywhere between $3,000 and $13,000 a year per child -- an enormous burden for struggling single women. Though some funds are currently available for state-run child care subsidy programs, "the next president should make child care assistance available to all families below 200 percent of the poverty level," Gardner and Podesta write. Moreover, the United States and Australia are the only industrialized countries that don't require employers to offer paid maternity leave for new mothers, though some states do -- another issue the next president will have to address. The housing crisis has a disproportionate effect on single women as well, as they are more likely to be subprime borrowers. They also spend proportionally more on housing than single men. "Unmarried women need a president who will make affordable housing a priority." Finally, Social Security must continue to be part of the guaranteed safety net. "More than a third -- 35 percent -- of unmarried women are over the age of 50 and face retirement on their own rather than with combined savings with a spouse," and older, single women are one of the poorest demographic groups in the United States. The CAPAF report recommends universal 401(k) accounts to encourage saving, an idea economist Tyler Cowen calls "the most likely to bring general prosperity" among proposals to address inequality.
IMPROVED HEALTH CARE FOR ALL: Health coverage is a particularly important issue for women. Four in 10 women have a chronic condition that requires ongoing medical care -- a significantly higher rate of chronic illness than men experience. At the same time, approximately 20 percent of single women have no health coverage at all. Gardner and Podesta emphasize the need for universal health care coverage that covers complete physical and mental health. This must cover fair access to reproductive health options, including prenatal care, well-woman care, abortion, and contraception. Finally, a strengthened and expanded State Children's Health Insurance Plan -- twice vetoed by President Bush -- could provide needed assistance to single women trying to provide health care for their children.
Thoughts on the Bible by Michael Rivero
Sunday, April 13, 2008
We cannot know what the real historical Jesus said and did because the written record has been subject to editing and alteration for 2000 years by church leaders with varying and often conflicting agendas.
It is known that there are numerous translation errors on the path from Aramaic to English. For example, in describing Joseph of Arimathea's request to Pontius Pilate for Jesus' body, the original texts used the word "Soma", a word that describes an unconscious body. Had Jesus been truly dead, the word "Ptoma" would have been more appropriate. In Latin, Jesus' mother is described with the word "Virgo", which simply means a young woman. The proper Latin phrase for a young woman who has not yet engaged in sex would be "Virgo Intacta", but this phrase is NOT used in the early Latin texts that describe Jesus' mother.
Then we have the discovery by Professor Morton Smith of a document written by Bishop Clement of Alexandria which proves that the Book of Mark has been edited, and a portion or the original writings deleted. Bishop Clement's justification for what could be called a sacrilege was that simply because something was the truth was no reason to allow the masses to know it.
Even the selection of the writings used in the New Testament was agenda driven. Originally, Bishop Irenaeus insisted that the New Testament only contain four gospels, on the "logic" that there were four winds and four corners to the Earth. So, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (which were not actually authored by Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) were chosen to be "The" Bible. at the time, the texts were very different from what you see today. The earliest version of the book of Mark, for example, made no mention of a virgin birth or of a resurrection, but ends with the women at the tomb of Jesus being informed by an angel that Jesus was waiting for them in Galilee. According to this early version of Mark, the women are frightened and run off, never telling anyone what the angel told them (which raises the question of just how the person or persons who wrote that version of Mark found out about the story).
There were far more than just those four gospels at the time. There were actually hundreds of gospels in early Christianity. The vast majority never mention a virgin birth or the crucifixion, but Bishop Irenaeus intentionally chose the four that did to be the official church Bible, making the resurrection the foundation of the commercial Christian church. It was only fifty years later, when the original Mark was used as the source for the books of Matthew and Luke that the passion was added at the end. Then, Mark itself was re-written to being it into conformity with the other "orthodox" gospels.
You need to understand two things about pre-biblical times. The first was that it was not considered wrong to copy stories and ideas from one book to the other. While you and I would think it questionable to take the story of the flood from the Epic of Gilgamesh and re-write it as a story of the author's god, Moses would have had no such compunction. It was perfectly acceptable literary practice to do so in those times. Second, the very earliest of the gospels, Mark, is thought to have been written (in its first version) no less than forty years after the time Jesus supposedly died on the cross. That is forty years without books, magazines, newspapers, libraries, CNN, or the internet; forty years of stories told by word of mouth (a huge game of gossip) then written down and edited by people who never met the real Jesus or anyone who knew him.
And again, commerce and agenda drove the writings. We have all heard the canard that "The Jews' killed Jesus. This is, of course, nonsense. Had the Sanhedrin wanted Jesus dead, he would have been stoned openly and legally. Crucifixion was a specifically Roman punishment, for the specific crime of high treason against the Roman Empire. Rome had annexed Judea in 6AD, partly at the petitions of the Judeans, who preferred direct Roman rule to the continuance of the Herodian dynasty (which was of questionable legitimacy since his title was not an hereditary one). But, old quarrels and resentments combined with new abuses continued to increase hostilities. Revolution threatened the land and would finally break out in 66AD. So, at the time Jesus was alive in Judea, the Romans were constantly on the lookout for revolutionaries, whom they judged to be traitors. In all probability, Pontius Pilate condemned Jesus to crucifixion to prevent a possible uprising by his more violence-prone followers. This would explain the mocking "King of the Jews" placard tradition states was attached to the top of the cross. (Pilate may have gone along with a plot to save Jesus' life if he felt Jesus himself had had little to do with the actual plans for a revolt. So long as the revolt was discouraged, Pilate had what he wanted.)
By the time the Bible was being written, however, the Judean revolt of 66 AD had come and gone. Christianity was being sold to a primarily Roman audience, and one could hardly expect Romans to toss coins into the collection plates of a new religion that blamed Rome for the death of their deity. So, the newly expelled Jews got the blame, Rome was made to look as good as possible in the early church writings, and the new religion was a hit.
It took another 200 years (without benefit of anyone who had actually known the living Jesus) to select and edit the 27 books that comprise the New Testament. (At about the same time, at the Council of Nicea, it was finally VOTED on as to whether Jesus was divine or not.) All other gospels were declared harasies by the church and burned; a crime against history equal to the Christians' burning of the Great Library at Alexandria or the burning of the Rongo-Rongo tablets on Easter Island by Missionaries. But we know the other gospels existed because individuals who correctly understand that book burning is the hallmark of dictators and tyrants hid copies of those gospels at places like Nag Hammadi.
James Cameron used the real events of the Titanic Disaster to tell a story about his fictional characters of Jack Dawson and Rose Dewitt. But while Titanic was real, Jack and Rose are fictional. The Bible, although it contains references to real historical events to create a greater sense of reality, is quite likely also using that sense of reality to tell a fictional story.
