Natural Health Is Best
How To Protect Yourself And Family
On this Page I will address the matter of Addictive Foods
watch the YouTube Videos here.
Watch out for these food manufacturers.
See what they're up to!
They have combined Science with Psychology Tactics
to work on your brain via your taste buds so you can't stop
eating their products and you find yourself addicted.
The major cause of the Obesity Epidemic and Overweight
problems that are hard to deal with. Watch video on this Page!
(TIME.com) -- In his new book, "Salt Sugar Fat," Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter Michael Moss takes readers on a tour of the $1 trillion processed food industry, and the sights aren't pretty.
They have led many of us into an Obsession with Sugar, Fat and Salt
Salt, Sugar and Fat: Could You Be Addicted?
What's the science behind our addiction to junk food? Could the food industry be to blame?
Journalist Michael Moss explains!
As a nation, Americans eat more than 33 pounds of cheese per year, which is three times more than Americans did in 1970. We also eat more than 70 pounds of sugar per year and up to six pounds of salt per year. Could our growing addiction to these unhealthy junk foods be causing our growing obesity crisis? And is the food industry to blame?
New York Times investigative reporter Michael Moss suggests the addictive qualities of most junk foods could come down to three additives: salt, sugar and fat.
According to Moss, salt is considered the “magical ingredient” because it provides a cheap burst of flavor. It not only makes sugar taste sweeter, it can even add crunch to crackers and chips. It also helps to extend shelf life. However, in excess, it can not only raise your blood pressure and damage your heart, it can also make you look puffy and retain more water weight. To make salt’s taste more powerful, companies use kosher salt instead of regular table salt. Why? Kosher salt is shaped differently and dissolves on your tongue faster and triggers a "flavor burst" all over your mouth.
Our bodies seem hard-wired to crave foods with sugar. Food companies know this and take advantage of it, says Moss, by adding as much sugar as possible and using it to pull off a string of manufacturing miracles – from making donuts fry up bigger to giving cereal a toasty-brown look. In fact, there’s a crucial tipping point food companies look for when adding sugar to food, which Moss discovered, called the “bliss point.” This is the precise amount of sugar they will need to add that will send the consumer over moon without going overboard.
Fat is even more powerful than sugar. It comes in many forms and isn’t easily recognized on food labels. It provides twice the energy kick of sugar and gives food the capacity to sit on shelves for days and days. It can also give the food more bulk or texture. According to Moss, the more fat a food company adds to a particular product, the more attractive it was because of its altered “mouthfeel.” This describes the desirable texture of some foods, whether it be the gooey feeling of cheese, the creamy taste of alfredo sauce or the savory crunch
of fried chicken.
What’s Going On Upstairs?
Research has shown that various forms of food stimuli (advertisements, smells, photographs of food) trigger the brain the same way that seeing white powder triggers cocaine addicts. Eating foods that are high in fat and sugar has been shown to surge the body’s release of its own opioids, which act like morphine in the body. Additionally, it has been shown that drugs that block the brain's addictive receptors for heroin and morphine also work at blocking a person’s cravings for sweet, high-fat foods.
One research project used a PET brain scan to compare the brain structures of a cocaine addict to that of a food addict. When cocaine addicts observed a video of someone snorting cocaine, their brains surged with dopamine, the brain’s feel-good chemical, in the dorsal striatum. However, when they exposed non-addicts to images of a delicious cheeseburger, they observed the same surges of dopamine in the same parts of the brain.
The King of Addictive Foods: The Potato Chip
Potato chips are the most weight-inducing food on the market, as they contain targeted amounts of salt, sugar and fat to ensure addiction, says Moss.
The factory process makes this food dangerously irresistible. After being cut into thin slices, the potatoes are fried to a crisp in fat, which gives the chip most of its calories. Then, they get covered in salt, which hits the tongue first and provides bursts of extra flavor. Then, the moment you eat them, the simple carbohydrates in the potatoes quickly break down into sugar, bringing you to the "bliss point" that makes the chip the most enjoyable. The sugar then quickly enters your bloodstream – causing your blood sugar to spike faster than it would
had you consumed a similar amount of table sugar.
According to Moss, all three of the junk-food-addiction building blocks in the potato chip
work together to make you crave more chips and gain more weight.
See Dr Oz Video The Fat Conspiracy: The Stealth Ingredient Hiding in Every Aisle
The Effects of MSG and Diet Soda on YOUR Body and Brain!
This video examines how MSG makes you fat, & how diet soda destroys your brain cells!
High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
It’s often claimed that HFCS is no worse for you than sugar, but this is not the case. Because high-fructose corn syrup contains free-form monosaccharides of fructose and glucose, it cannot be considered biologically equivalent to sucrose (sugar), which has a glycosidic bond that links the fructose and glucose together, and which slows its break down in the body.
Fructose is primarily metabolized by your liver, because your liver is the only organ that has the transporter for it. Since all fructose gets shuttled to your liver, and, if you eat a typical Western-style diet, you consume high amounts of it, fructose ends up taxing and damaging your liver in the same way alcohol and other toxins do. And just like alcohol, fructose is metabolized directly into fat – it just gets stored in your fat cells, which leads to mitochondrial malfunction, obesity and obesity-related diseases.
The more fructose or HFCS a food contains, and the more total fructose you consume, the worse it is for your health. As a standard recommendation, I advise keeping your TOTAL fructose consumption below 25 grams per day. For most people it would also be wise to limit your fructose from fruit to 15 grams or less, as you're virtually guaranteed to consume "hidden" sources of fructose if you drink beverages other than water and eat processed food.
Fifteen grams of fructose is not much – it represents two bananas, one-third cup of raisins, or two Medjool dates. Remember, the average 12-ounce can of soda contains 40 grams of sugar, at least half of which is fructose, so one can of soda alone would exceed your daily allotment.
By Joseph Mecola (Nutritionist and Health Advocate)
IMAGINE THIS IN YOUR SODAS OR SPORTS DRINKS
Brominated vegetable oil
Brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, acts as an emulsifier in soda and sports drinks, preventing the flavoring from separating and floating to the surface. The ingredient is banned more than 100 countries because it contains bromine, a chemical whose vapors can be corrosive or toxic, the Caltons say.
Aurora Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for PepsiCo, which owns Mountain Dew, said, "We take consumer safety and product integrity seriously and we can assure you that Mountain Dew is safe. As standard practice, we constantly evaluate our formulas and ingredients to ensure they comply with all regulations and meet the high quality standards our consumers expect."
Lowe said the same chemical dangers of consuming a bromine directly can be said of chlorine.
Bromine-containing compounds can indeed cause bad reactions in people but not because bromine is a corrosive gas, he said.
"When a bromine atom is bonded to a carbon, as it is in BVO, it's no longer bromine-the-pure-element, any more than the chlorine in table salt is the World War I poison gas, or the phosphorus in your DNA is the burning white phosphorus found in military tracer shells,"
Lowe said.
Olestra. This is the additive that Mad TV did a skit on, because of it’s nasty side effects.
Olestra is a fake fat, used to make non-fat potato chips and other snacks. You’d think, with all the bad rap fat has gotten, a non-fat fat would be great. But Olestra has been shown to bind with fat-soluble vitamins A, E, D and K and carotenoids — substances thought to keep the immune system healthy and prevent some cancers — and to eliminate them from your system. Proctor & Gamble, the company that produces olestra, has acknowledged the problem with vitamins A, E, D and K and is now fortifying it with them. These are synthetic Vitamins and cannot possibly replace the benefits of real Vitamins. Olestra has also caused digestive upset in some people, especially when they eat a lot of it. Often, it’s not just fat in the potato chips that causes problems for people; it’s the fact that they are displacing healthier foods, such as fruit, so Olestra can just perpetuate an unhealthy habit.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
Commonly found in Chinese food, MSG is used as a flavor enhancer in soups, salad dressings, chips and frozen foods. In people who are senstive to the compound, MSG can overexcite cells, producing uncomfortable symptoms for your body. Research has shown a correlation between the overconsumption of foods containing MSG and medical conditions such as depression, disorie ntation, eye damage, fatigue, headaches, and obesity.
Artificial Sweeteners (Aspartame/Saccharine/Mannitol)
Although these artificial sweeteners will allow you to indulge in a tasty drink without the extra calories, they are also packed with chemicals that can be harmful to your body in the long run. Almost all of these sweeteners contain the chemical Aspartame. Studies have suggested the consumption of Aspartame can be linked to a wide spectrum of health problems like brain tumors, diabetes, lymphoma, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and emotional disorders like depression and anxiety. It has also been linked to symptoms including dizziness, headaches, nausea, mental confusion, seizures, and affect short-term memory and intelligence. The FDA's official position? The stuff is safe.
BHA and BHT
Although these additives may prevent your food from changing color, losing flavor, or becoming rancid, it has been suggested they can increase your chances of getting cancer. However, FDA states thatBHA and BHT are safe to consume, and anotherstudy published by the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) compared them with Vitamin E. Not certain? You'll find them in everything from gum to cereals -- just check the label and opt out.
Trans Fat
Trans fat, which is found in many processed foods, can be one of the most dangerous substances to consume. While it occurs naturally in some animal products, it's also synthetically created by adding hydrogen to vegetable oils. Used to extend the shelf life of many food products, the consumption of trans fats, according to the FDA, raises LDL (bad cholesterol). Elevated levels of LDL increase the risk of high blood pressure, potentially resulting in heart attack, stroke, diabetes and heart disease.
Sodium Nitrate/Nitrite
Sodium Nitrate (a naturally occurring compound) and Sodium nitrite (a synthetically created compound) are both commonly used to preserve meat products in place of common salt. Both are nitrosamines, which studies have shown when consumed in large amounts over time damage DNA, potentially resulting in cancers, and the development of
Artificial Food Coloring
That pink-and-red-flowered cupcake you just ate may have looked pretty, but the artificial coloring used to make it can have a very negative effect on your health. FDA studies exploring the effect of dyes on childrens behavior were inconclusive,prompting more studies to be undertaken. Some have suggested food dye may cause thyroid cancer, kidney and adrenal tumors, and chromosome deterioration.
Sulfur Dioxide
This toxic additive, commonly found in beer, dried fruits such as apricots, chips and soft drinks. While no definitive study has linked their inclusion in food to negative health effects it is feared in foods because as a gas, inhaling too much can cause conjuctivitis, bronchitis, emphysema, bronchial asthma, and potentially cardiovascular disease.
"Good work Cassie"
The Science of Addictive Food
Our health reporter Kelly Crowe looks at the science behind making the food that's so bad for us taste so good.
Salt Sugar Fat: NY Times Reporter Michael Moss on How the Food Giants Hooked America on Junk Food
Watch this video and you will be a wake up to Food Manufacturers. We need to be smarter with our choices.