Eating Chocolates Without Guilt

Rolling out cacao beans

If you observe Halloween, you and your children may be munching on all that disgusting candy out of the plastic pumpkin or some other Chinese-made device. Now is the time to be thinking of those ingredient labels. You will find that it is not really food (or candy for that matter). It is basically an HFCS injection, coupled with a variety artificial flavors and colors. Worse yet, if it is “diet” candy with the factory-made artificial sweeteners, it will help you get fatter and hungrier, studies have concluded.Dr. Mercola, at Mercola.com, had put out a nice Halloween treat the other day that talks about the chocolate candy vs. real chocolate. Here is a couple excerpts:

Even many so-called “natural” chocolates may contain some of these unhealthy ingredients — avoid them at all costs…

• Trans fat — An artery-clogging type of fat that forms when vegetable oils are hardened into margarine or shortening. 

Caution: Contains Agave Nectar (More to the story)

There is a lot of snake oil in the health food stores and a lot of it is below detectable limits.

We are providing both sides of the Agave Nectar debate here. Each side makes good points.

Personally, I would not call agave nectar a health food fraud as does Mr Nagel: I would call it misleading consumers to its health benefits—due to its high fructose content. Also, Mr. Nagel should have gotten a better expert attack dog than Mr. Biancho. He doesn’t lend much credibility as a “global expert” since he is hard to find on the internet—and having interests in multi-level marketing companies does not help for me.

Mr. Gerbore does well in defending his product, although he uses the usual arguments as a trained public relations pro or defense attorney: Discredit, focus on minor errors, divert the focus to another similar and inferior product made with older methods, all the while neglecting to address the main issue: the high level of fructose and its health effects. He then further diverts attention to an entirely different issue: the problem of over-consumption.

I do wish to thank both gentlemen for giving the Journal some more free feed for our readers.

I do not intend to give my opinion, although after reading Mr. Nagels well-constructed and articulated facts, I would rather eat white sugar than agave nectar.

Kimberly Hartke at hartkeisonline.com put out a controversial message the other day about agave nectar, just when healthy eaters were beginning to get a warm, fuzzy feeling about finally beating the sugar craves without guilt. Now, they will have to come to grips with their past sins. Imagine being conned into thinking this was a healthy, natural, low-glycemic sweetener, only to find out it is another industrial product made with genetically modified organisms to make it real sweet and worse than high-fructose corn syrup.

Here is Kimberly introducing the comments from The Weston A. Price Foundation on the topic:

Just when almost everyone knows that Agave “Nectar” is a low glycemic, “good for you” sweetener, nutrition education non-profit, The Weston A. Price Foundation, reveals it is anything but.

“This sugar substitute is a health food fraud,” claims author Ramiel Nagel. See attached release.

–Kimberly Hartke, Publicist

AGAVE WORSE THAN SUGAR, NUTRITION FOUNDATION WARNS

New Product Contains More Synthesized Fructose than High Fructose Corn Syrup

April 21, 2009, Washington, D.C.– Agave “nectar,” a sweetener increasingly appearing in products aimed at health-conscious consumers, poses greater health hazards than high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), according to a recent article in Wise Traditions, the journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a leading voice for accurate nutrition information. Although agave “nectar” is promoted as a healthy alternative to sugar, its high fructose content has nutrition experts raising the caution flag. According to the article, agave contains more free synthetic fructose than high fructose corn syrup, which experts now link to obesity and other health problems.

Mercury Found Widespread in High-Fructose Corn Syrup

A study published in the February issue of the Environmental Health Journal shows widespread mercury contamination in high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). HFCS is found everywhere in foods and drinks. The source: some HFCS makers are using mercury-contaminated sodium hydroxide in their manufacturing processes, while others have phased it out.

Now the real question is this: which is more toxic– the mercury or the HFCS itself?

You do not need a degree in toxicology or food nutrition to determine in about 5 minutes what the answer is, unless you are in the corn industry or Big Food. The HFCS is more toxic than the mercury that is in it!

Studies show HFCS contributes to obesity, kidney stones, diabetes in children and adults. It also hurts the kidneys and liver. Folks who drink as few as 2 cans of pop a day are at risk. A lot of kids drink 1 liter; some drink two liters! Americans consume 40 pounds a year of the stuff on average. (I suppose that means some consume over 120 pounds.) See http://www.highfructosecornsyrup.org and especially Sickly Sweet: Why and How to Avoid High-fructose Corn Syrup at FamilyEducation.com

In the subject study, the mercury levels in the HFCS were hardly detectible. The study showed half of the 20 samples of HFCS had no detectible amount of mercury, less than 0.005 micrograms per gram (that is less than 5 parts per billion). Most people have no idea what a billion or a trillion is, especially in Washington, D.C., not to mention what a part per billion is.

NOW GET THIS: One part per billion  (ppb) is equivalent to 1 minute of the total elapsed time since Jesus Christ was born!For the love of cheese, 5 ppb of mercury in everything we eat and drink can do no harm!

D I G G I T

The Truth about Splenda/Sucralose!

http://www.undergroundwelln…Splenda is a chemical compound being sold to YOU as a “natural” sweetener. It’s chemical composition is similar to DDT, mustard gas, and other harmful pesticides/ins…

more about “The Truth about Splenda/Sucralose!“, posted with vodpod

 

Soft Drinks: America’s Other Drinking Problem

Judith Valentine, PhD, CNA, CNC does an exquisite job explaining the dangers of soda pop, including the ingredients and the harm they can cause to our health, especially our children. (From the library at the Weston A. Price Foundation):

The addict feels low. His body needs a boost. He reaches into his pocket and finds a dollar bill. He slides it into the machine and a can rolls out. He opens the can and guzzles. He feels his energy return. His fix will last a couple of hours, enough to keep him alert for the rest of the morning.

The addict is twelve years old and his drug is a soft drink, purchased from a vending machine in his school. This addict and thousands like him will attend special classes, sponsored by his school, to warn him about the dangers of drugs, tobacco and alcohol. But no one will tell him about America’s other drinking problem. Go to the full article.

Contaminated Honey Being Smuggled into U.S.

Tons of contaminated honey are entering the U.S., leaving a sticky trail of crime. Here is another federal bust that occurred recently. A contaminant means an unwanted compound is contained in a product that lowers its quality for the purposes intended. It may be harmless, such as water and corn syrup mixed into maple syrup, or as in this case, honey. It does not mean it is toxic necessarily. Here is the story from the Seattle news.

Sugar-Free Blues

In Sugar-Free Blues–<em>Everything You Wanted to Know About Artificial Sweeteners by James Earl provides an excellent primer on this topic and a long links for further study.
posted at the Weston A. Price Foundation