Eat to Death

[tw]

From NY Times of 9 Jan 2006

Diabetes and Its Awful Toll Quietly Emerge as a Crisis
Begin on the sixth floor, third room from the end, swathed in fluorescence: a 60-year-old woman was having two toes sawed off. One floor up, corner room: a middle-aged man sprawled, recuperating from a kidney transplant. Next door: nerve damage. Eighth floor, first room to the left: stroke. Two doors down: more toes being removed. Next room: a flawed heart.

As always, the beds at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx were filled with a universe of afflictions. In truth, these assorted burdens were all the work of a single illness: diabetes. Room after room, floor after floor, diabetes. On any given day, hospital officials say, nearly half the patients are there for some trouble precipitated by the disease.

An estimated 800,000 adult New Yorkers - more than one in every eight - now have diabetes, and city health officials describe the problem as a bona fide epidemic. Diabetes is the only major disease in the city that is growing, both in the number of new cases and the number of people it kills. And it is growing quickly, even as other scourges like heart disease and cancers are stable or in decline.

[Beestie]

Now that food labels are required to disclose the amount of trans fat, the next step is to disclose the glycemic index (the rate at which the carbs are digested ino sugars) the higher the number, the less desireable. Then, folks need to be told what it means and why they should consider it when deciding what to eat.

Its disheartening how little attention is paid to what people put in their system. This is one instance where I would actually support a class action lawsuit to both fund public education and fund studies which lead to effective legislation addressing this emerging threat.

I wrestle with my 5 and 6 yo all the time about food choices. I let them eat what they want but spend a lot of time and effort teaching them the effects of the choices they make and avoid using scare words. I can't watch them all the time and need for them to at least think about it when I'm not around to advise them.

Folks really need to read labels - or just compare labels. Sometimes a small tradeoff in taste can make a huge difference nutritionally. If nothing else, go for the choice with the lower sat fat content and higher dietary fiber content. Also, I've noticed over the past year that food companies are trying to play cat-n-mouse with label readers. They splash "Whole Wheat" on the front but the ingredient list reveals that they are mixing a small percentage of whole wheat flour with bleached flour just to allow them to say made with Whole Wheat! Bread and Breakfast cereals are some of the biggest offenders of this.

Diabetes is going to ruin a lot of lives and its going to take a lot of lives before its all said and done.

We cannot ignore childhood obesity any longer.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Beestie

Also, I've noticed over the past year that food companies are trying to play cat-n-mouse with label readers. They splash "Whole Wheat" on the front but the ingredient list reveals that they are mixing a small percentage of whole wheat flour with bleached flour just to allow them to say made with Whole Wheat! Bread and Breakfast cereals are some of the biggest offenders of this.

I discovered this trying to buy juice over the weekend. My wife wanted me to get 100% juice, but not grape, because she doesn't like the flavor. It was understood that I wasn't looking for just OJ or just apple juice either. So I go the the long juice aisle, and see that only about a fifth of the bottles proclaim 100% juice. Of those, there was a wide variety of juices offered. Cranberry-apple, rasberry, cranberry-rasberry, a few grapes too. I flip each bottle over to read the ingredients. Each and every bottle lists grape juice as the first ingredient. Amazing. I couldn't believe that one bottle labled "100% juice" at the top, and "cranberry" underneath that had a first ingredient of grape juice. I ended up finding some juice that had grape as a second ingredient, so I bought it.

[Undertoad]

I believe concentrated grape juice just replaces high-fructose corn syrup in those recipes.

Jacquelita bought me a juice machine for Xmas. So far I've made apple, grape, and orange juices with it and none of them resemble the commercial products in taste or color.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I believe concentrated grape juice just replaces high-fructose corn syrup in those recipes.

That makes sense. I figured it was some sort of cost cutting or taste focus group kind of thing. The sweetener aspect of it makes more sense.

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Jacquelita bought me a juice machine for Xmas. So far I've made apple, grape, and orange juices with it and none of them resemble the commercial products in taste or color.

You'll have to let us know if you end up making good use for the juice machine and how well it works. I've been tempted to pick one up for awhile, now, but the info-mercials always made me skeptical.

[tw]

Is whole wheat bread really 'whole wheat"? All one need do is label the bread 'wheat bread'. Now it can be white bread with molasses. But you would 'assume' it is whole wheat bread. Lying that is legal.

How much sugar is in that food? Fructose, dextrose, sugar, sucrose, and corn syrup are all nothing more than sugar. So we list something nutritious first in the list, then list all the above names. Therefore you don't know a product is nearly 100% sugar. Just another legalized game that companies play.

I have yet to see Apple Juice that is really apple juice anymore. Peter Jennings made this woefully obvious in a special report on nutrition. The man who made pure sugar taste like apple juice was all but begging you to learn what he did. The family joke was how that entire house and furniture was financed on apple juice that is really 100% sugar. Again, he was begging the viewer to learn why he is so rich - begging you to not fall for the scam that made him rich - legally.

Consumer Reports demonstrated same with a cover story report about Beechnut - in Ft Washington PA - just down the road from The Cellar - that literally counterfeitted infant apple juice.

I don't for one minute anymore believe a label that says 100% juice. Yes, juice with all nutrition removed and just the sugars remaining. It could be truly juice or it could be factory reprocessed into pure sugar. How do we know? Where do we get honest facts from food industry manufacturers anymore now that Beechnut could even mislabel foods - even sell chalk as infant formula - and executives not go to jail. Because so many deny this - 85% of all problems are directly traceable to top management - then foods can now be filled with sugar - and we never know.

The problem being we have no reason to trust those labels - because congressmen are so easily bought and paid for. Because George Jr demonstrates why lying for personal gain is legal and acceptable.

When it comes to suspicious products, include Beechnut and Kellogg. Gerber and General Mills have much better reputations. Does that mean every product from those first companies are misrepresented? Of course not. But misrepresenting sugar as nutrition is acceptable in the food industry. And then we have fools who think they will solve their defective diets with pills - ie phen fen. With citizens wanting to be lied to, no wonder we elect congressmen who are politically correct (liars) rather than honest men. Our president and waist lines tell a sad story.