How Healthy Food and Lifestyle Can Effect Our Skin

By Zita Parekh


We all want to be healthy, wealthy and beautiful. But when it comes to talking about beauty, some people know a lot about skin care, while others haven't a clue what our skin is designed for.

When we reach the age that we begin to see fine lines and wrinkles, we start to look for solutions. I may not be a doctor, but I studied anatomy and physiology while at university and I know that our skin deserves all the nutrition we can give it. If anything, we have to feed our skin natural, healthy, raw food instead of processed food if we expect it to stand up to wind and sun.

The skin normally renews its cells every 28 days. We can talk all day long about lotions and creams, but applying a cream with nutrients to the surface of our skin does not ensure that those nutrients actually penetrate into our skin cells.

I want to share a personal story with you. A couple of years ago my 30-year-old son fell ill and I was shocked by the doctors' diagnoses. One said that his intestines were abnormally long and the other said he had warm tape! I couldn't believe it.

Neither could my son. Rejecting what the doctors had said, he decided to clean his body. At first, he visited doctors who specialized in natural medicine. They put him on a diet, but all that did was cause him to lose a lot of weight. He then turned to reading about alternative medicine, followed their recipes and instructions, and cleaned his liver. As a result, he was able to get rid of 30 stones from his liver.

When I visited my son in Europe recently, I was amazed at how he looked so radiant and healthy, his skin practically glowing. He told me that he ate five times a day, eating nothing but natural, balanced food and forgoing anything that had added salt or sugar, as well as no smoked foods or white bread, and drank fresh juice every day.

His story typifies how a clean body and good nutrients can affect our skin. By ensuring that our body has the nutrients it needs, and by including a few key herbs, oils and other remedies in our regular routine, we can not only quickly improve the quality of our skin, but we can also look good as well as feel young and healthy. Essential fatty acids are vital to our skin. Good-quality oils help to keep skin lubricated and healthy overall, since what happens inside your body determines the quality of your skin.

While the main goal is to detoxify our bodies for our own good health and a healthy skin, it is also important to create good eating habits for our children. A child is a mirror of our own habits, and by giving our babies some bites of cake, pizza or overcooked food rather than fruits and vegetables when they start to eat real food, we are creating some very bad habits for them. The answer, of course, is education.

Processing removes essential nutrients from foods, may also destroy nutrients or change them into toxic substances. We need to teach our kids to eat those foods that are rich in antioxidants, such as blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and plums. A wide variety of different foods is always recommended for a healthy balanced diet so that the body receives the vast complement of nutrients it needs for good health. Replace processed foods with fresh ones, don't eat junk food, don't drink soft drinks, stay away from sugar, and you'll be well on your way looking younger.

Simply eat a well-balanced and varied diet that includes more then 25 ingredients per day and have a healthy lifestyle. Believe me, it will help to keep your skin in good condition. Also learn how to read product labels to understand better what is healthy for our skin and what is not. To learn more, visit: http://www.theantiagingblueprint.com

Zita Parekh, Anti-Aging Specialist

Choosing the Right Food and Wine For Your Event

By Oron Raviv


Choosing what food and wine to serve at one's function can be a difficult task. Undoubtedly the type of food and wine that will be chosen will be influenced by the time of year. One needs to keep in mind that food that is elegant, tasty and easy to handle will invariably be the most successful. Food choices can be a very personal thing and are often influenced by one's cultural background as well as the time of day and place of the function, the formality of the setting, and the method of food service.

It is important to ensure that the beverages served compliment the food. Also aim to match the quality of the food with the quality of the wine. White wines are generally served with entrees. Heavy main courses normally deserve a red wine, however if the main course involves seafood then you may wish to stick with white wine the whole way through the food service. Ensure thought that you do provide a variety of beverages though so that the individual needs of your guests will be met. It is vital to provide soft-drinks for young guests but also for adults who do not drink or have been named the "designated driver". Providing a range of non-alcoholic cocktails is one way to ensure that these guests feel that they have been well catered for. If toasts are to be made during the event ensure that there is champagne on hand.

If you are planning to provide your own drinks then working out appropriate quantities can sometimes appear a daunting task. The general rule is approximately six serves per bottle of wine or champagne using standard size glasses. It is always better to over cater rather than under cater. Try to order drinks from a company who will take back unopened stock if required. Be aware that the labels of wine bottles placed in ice can come off. If a wine bottle label comes off it will not be refunded. Allow two glasses of champagne, three glasses of wine, and two glasses of beer per guest. Add an extra 30 percent to this quantity in order to cover a heavier then expected demand.

Get Stronger With Healthy Food And Have A Body You Can Be Proud Of

By Silvia Goodman


A healthy food regime consists of good nutritional diet that supplements the basic need of body. It supplies the appropriate amount of energy and sufficient raw materials to keep the body healthy. It also provides anti-oxidants that make people feel young and be proud of looking great. Having fair idea of why the body requires healthy food, the next thing is to know more about healthy food and eating methods of healthy food, in order to attain stronger body.

Healthy Food for Stronger Body:

Food in natural state: The food helps to build stronger body. Fresh fruits, apples and berries are good for satisfying the desire for sweets. Vegetables of all kinds such a green, yellow and orange are rich in vitamins and minerals. Steamed vegetables retain the nutritional value of the vegetables. Avoid calorie rich sauces and fats. High calorie foods are not good for health.

Fish, Chicken and Meat: To attain a stronger body, serve seafood two or three times a week. Ocean fish consists of essential fatty acids that are usually deficient in the healthy diet. Prefer baked chicken and fish rather than fried ones. The lean meat such as venison or bison is healthier than beef, which is rich in fat.

Processed bacon, lunchmeat, sausages and hot dogs contain plenty of junk, which the body does not require. Even if anybody wants to have such meats, then probably they can go for healthier versions that are available at health food departments.

Avoid Non-nutritional food: White bread and noodles are made of flour that is not good for health. The flour does not contain nutritional content. Moreover, the high starch content of white bread affects the sugar level of the blood quicker than a regular sugar. In addition, sugary pastries and snacks, apple pie are non-nutritional items, which are not good for health. It is essential that pasta or baked items have to be made from whole grains.

Benefits of Variety in Food & Water:

Some people are very much sensitive to frequently eaten food. Therefore, such people have to break the habit and start eating a variety in food to achieve stronger body. Consume various kinds of grains. Spelt is a better substitute for wheat. Prefer to have almond or rice milk rather than cow's milk. People have to eat variety of food even if they do not like it.

Drink plenty of water and limit beverages such as soft drinks. If individuals are tired of drinking plain water, add some lime or lemon slice to it. Serve kids with some fruit juice with carbonated water. Even green and herbal tea can be good substitute for water. However, avoid excess of caffeine.

Avoid Skipping Meals:

Skipping breakfast brings down the energy level by midmorning. It is better to split the breakfast in half than skipping it. It helps greatly by eating breakfast early such as oatmeal, egg or whole grain bread. Snacks such as almonds and raisins also benefit the health greatly. The split breakfast provides better solution than going for candy bars or coffee, and retains the energy level to feel good and fresh.

Spicy Food And The Perfect Wine Pairing

By Stuart Jay

A common dilemma in pairing food and wine is what wine to serve with spicy food. Acids, tannins and sugars in wine interact with food so we will use this knowledge in our food and wine pairing.

To answer the question of what wine to pair with food that is spicy, we need to know something about capsaicin, the pain- or pleasure-producing component of Chile peppers, and the food and wine pairing relationship.

Capsaicin activates pain receptors in the mouth. These pain receptors are also sensitive to temperature. Hot beverages, like sake or tea, will turn on these pain receptors and kick up the heat. Cold drinks will turn off the pain receptors, but as soon as the mouth warms up again, the burn returns.

Food and wine pairing is highly subjective.

However, when pairing wine with spicy foods there are benefits to consider in pairing spicy foods with Riesling wine. Wine by itself tastes different than wine paired with food. The wine's effect on the food's flavor is similar to the way spice affects a food flavor.

Capsaicin is fat soluble. A dairy drink that is cold, high in acidity to stimulate salivary flow, but with some sweetness proven to ameliorate the burn, makes yogurt an effective antidote.

When it comes to wine and spicy food pairing, Rieslings, particularly low alcohol German Kabinett and Spatlese, are effective at soothing the burn because they have a lot in common with yogurt: the cold temperature turns off the pain receptors, high acidity stimulates salivary flow, and the sweetness soothes the palate from very hot or spicy foods.

Hot and spicy Thai dishes, or hot curries, taste best with sweet dessert wines.

Some hot and spicy Thai dishes, or hot curries for example, often taste best when the food is paired with sweet dessert wines. The sweet, botrytis-affected wines that can be paired with spicy foods are rated in ascending order of sweetness: Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese. The low alcohol (8-10%) compared to Alsatian, Austrian and southern hemisphere Rieslings (12-15%) is an added benefit because alcohol also activates oral pain receptors (think about a shot of vodka) and will therefore kick up the burn.

Expensive wines made from Riesling are late harvest dessert wines and can be a compliment when paired with very spicy foods.

These wines are produced by letting the grapes hang on the vines well past normal picking time. Evaporation is caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea ("noble rot") or by freezing, as in the case of ice wine (in German, Eiswein), where water is removed and the resulting wine offers richer layers on the palate. These concentrated wines have more sugar (in extreme cases hundreds of grams per liter), more acid (to give balance to all the sugar), more flavor, and more complexity.

Don't stress over the perfect food and wine pairing. The key to the pleasure of wine and food pairing is simply relaxing and enjoying conviviality with the most important ingredients, friends and loved ones.

Alkaline Food and Ph Balance - Making the Right Choices for a Balanced Diet

By Cliff Smith


Energetic people who cycle, run, hike, play tennis, golf, build muscle up, or do any physical activity and want to perform at peak levels of fitness, have a choice to make. It's a choice many never consider, but one of the most important choices for overall health and fitness. It stares you right in the face every time you eat, drink or consume anything. The choice to consider is whether or not a food or beverage is going to help you maintain proper ph balance, or is it going to throw that delicate balance off and leave you vulnerable to health problems.

In order to maintain suitable ph balance, nutritionists suggest 80% of dietary intake should be alkaline and 20% acidic. What exactly does that mean? I'll explain. The alkalinity or acidic properties of a food or beverage come into play when your body burns them for fuel. Consuming too many acidic foods, drugs, tobacco, sodas, cocktails, and coffee cause the Ph level of the blood to become overly acidic, therefore, out of balance. It's kind of like a swimming pool that has an overly acidic Ph level, it's out balance, and as any pool owner knows, that can cause problems.

Here is a short list of foods that are acidic when the body burns them for fuel:
· White flour, refined sugars
· Dairy products
· Meat, fish
· Peanut butter
· Chocolate
· Nuts (not all of them, but most).
· Plums, prunes and cranberries (surprising, but true, even some healthy fruits and vegetables can form an acid ash, especially over- cooked vegetables)

Here are some good choices for alkaline food to help maintain proper ph balance:
· Almonds, Apples, Avocados
· Bananas, Beans, Brazil nuts
· Broccoli, Cantaloupe, Carrots

Most people have this alkaline/acid ratio upside down, which means the body has to find a sure source of calcium in order to correct the acid/alkaline imbalance. A human being's blood Ph level is meant to stay at 7.4, so the body is constantly working to maintain that level, no matter what you consume. Your body is naturally engineered to sustain that delicate Ph balance at all costs, because if it goes too far off, cells begin to die. If you are forcing your body to work harder in order to preserve that Ph level, how hard can it work for you when you are doing physical activities? If the body has to neutralize more acid that it is designed for, where do you think it finds a readily available supply of something alkaline to do that? Our bones. Yes, when the consumption of alkaline food and drinks is insufficient to do the job, then the body has to pull calcium from bones in order to neutralize excess acid in the bloodstream.

It is a nutrition fact that too many acid forming foods and beverages such as meat, coffee, alcohol, sugar, dairy, and refined flour products can cause a body's Ph balance to be too acidic. This can lead to all sorts of health problems, not the least of which is bone weakness. A calcium supplement may help. However, if the calcium is not from a whole food source, the body does not absorb it as efficiently due to the lack of live enzymes, but more about that in a future article. The best whole food sources for calcium are broccoli, green leafy vegetables, and other alkaline foods.

Ph balance is just one of many considerations when choosing a healthy balanced diet. Search the Internet for more alkaline food options and other choices for improving and maintaining overall health and fitness.

Avoiding Food and Water Illness When Away from Home

By Jennifer Jordan

When traveling, eating is part of the fun. Not only does travel allow you to experience foods from other cultures, but it also allows you to experience foods you might not have the opportunity to eat very often: move over ham and cheese, it’s time to dine on something more exotic.

There are, however, some downsides to travel eating. When you‘re traveling for a business that gives you a food allowance, you might not be worried about expense, believing that no meal is too pricey for corporate to approve. This is valid from a monetary standpoint, but foods from other parts of the world can force you to pay a different kind of price: they may have a costly affect on your body.

Whenever and wherever you travel, you risk food and waterborne illnesses. These can do anything from making you slightly nauseous to making you really sick. For these reasons, you need to be a little vigilant when traveling and eating: you need to think with your head and not with your taste buds.

Select Food Carefully: Ingesting food provides a pathway for infection to enter your body. According to the CDC, travelers are at greatest risk for E-Coli, dysentery, giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, norovirus, and hepatitis A. To avoid infection, travel eaters should be cautious of what they put on their plates and in their mouths. In areas that do not have high sanitation standards, raw foods, such as salad, vegetables, and uncooked fish, should be avoided as should dairy products. A traveler’s best bet is to eat foods that are fully cooked: the heat destroys infectious agents. These foods should be eaten soon after they are pulled from oven; any food that sits out for hours at a time becomes a breeding ground for bacteria. Travelers should also dine in restaurants that have a good reputation; purchasing any type of food from a street cart or sidewalk diner can increase the risk of less-than-stellar preparation.

Be Vigilant of Food Allergies: If you have food allergies - an allergy to peanuts or shellfish, for example - you likely know all about eating with vigilance. This may be easier to do in your hometown than it is somewhere else. In certain areas, there are strict guidelines to avoid allergic reactions. For instance, a restaurant may only carry individual packets of peanut butter rather than jars that can more easily get mixed with other foods. This isn’t, however, the norm. Some restaurants may not list peanuts or shellfish as an ingredient, but they might have got mixed in accidentally. To avoid this, ask the staff specifically about their precautions for allergies. And, of course, always carry an EpiPen, just in case.

Be Cautious when Swimming: No one enters an ocean or a swimming pool with the purpose of drinking the water: a swimmer with a straw is not a sight you often see. Yet, swimmers occasionally swallow water, it just comes with the territory. A drink or two of sea or pool water may seem harmless, but at times it can be harmful. Heavily polluted lakes, rivers and oceans, particularly those known to contain human or animal sewage, should be avoided. But, if you really feel the need to take a dip, don’t submerge your head and don’t go near the water if you have an open cut. Pools that are treated with chlorine generally have less infectious agents - as chlorine is their enemy - but it might not kill all viruses. For this reason, it’s best to also stay out of pools when you have an open wound or, of course, an open mouth.

Drink Wisely: Some areas of the world do not have access to a filter or treatment system: their water may be contaminated. If contamination is possible, drinking tap water (including using ice cubes made from tap water) should be avoided. If tap water is all that is available, it should be boiled before it is consumed (sorry ice cubes, you’re out of luck). Water aside, some of the safer drinks to consume are bottled or canned beverages, beer, wine, and drinks made from boiling water, such as coffee,tea, or hot chocolate.

Whenever you are traveling, you are at risk for illness. If the airsickness or carsickness doesn’t get you, then the food or water illnesses just might. Being cautious and making wise choices in what you eat and drink is your best bet for staying healthy, assuring that your trip does not involve a trip to the hospital.

Serving Caviar With Food And Drink

By Tania Penwell


Caviar, marketed all over the globe as a delicacy, is chiefly consumed as a garnish or as a spread. Since historical times, caviar has been playing the role of a premier delicacy of kings, emperors and such other heads of state. This is not easily obtainable and comes for a high price. It is also not very easy to ready it for serving as a treat.

Usage of fresh caviar

There is a limited time within which the caviar obtained is to be made use of (till its freshness is retained). Fresh caviar obtained remains fit for usage/consumption for up to four weeks. There are also pasteurized varieties of the product available that can stay suitable enough for longer time. Upon opening up of the caviar container the product is to be used up soon (in a few days’ time).

Proceeding with serving of caviar

Caviar is indeed a very special food as far as its taste is concerned. It tickles the taste buds of all the various areas of the tongue that are sensitive to different kinds of taste. Thus, it promises a unique and exceptional experience in taste.

It is best to serve caviar by leaving it in the tin (container) in which it comes and surround it with ice. In an effort to take it out of the container and serve it in a more decorative manner there stands the risk of breaking the grain and losing the special flavors prior to consumption. Besides, caviar is a tricky item that can combine with a variety of food items to produce either a delectable or a disapproving taste. So, it is better to serve it separately so as to obviate the risk of the flavors getting offset.

Serving caviar with food items and drinks

A best way of serving caviar is to serve it on lightly toasted bread or crackers together with butter as a hors d’oeuvre. This can be quite a treat provided the bread or cracker has not been made too hard by toasting.

Contrary to the prevalent misconception it is certainly not suitable to serve caviar with eggs and other items having a strong taste like sour cream or yogurt. The special taste of caviar gets downed as a result.

Caviar can be served alongside beverages in a suitable manner. Champagne with caviar is a classical combination though some may find this to be tilted towards excess of sweetness. Caviar served with vodka is also a traditionally acclaimed treat combination.

Do Manufacturing Processes Make it Impossible for Food and Drug Companies to Create Healthy Products

By Lance Winslow


Many believe that the manufacturing and food processing systems make it nearly impossible for large Corporations to produce healthy foods and drugs, but is this really true and is it fair to condemn our food distribution system? What if they did not exist? How do you feed 5.5 Million in Houston, 13.5 Million in Southern California and 12 million people in NYC? And what about sending food all over the World like we do too?

No not necessarily. The most efficient processes also allow them to make better products for less cost. They might often choose to make crappy products some times to prop up shareholders equity and quarterly profits, but the consumers can also choose not to buy them right? No one is holding a gun to people’s heads making them buy processed foods.

Some will say that in these processed foods and drugs are chemicals, which are indeed toxic. Well, sure there are some chemicals which are not good for the bio-systems in everything from Soft Drinks to Frozen TV Dinners, but also realize that many of these chemicals are needed to prevent disease, spoilage and make them taste right after thawing out and being re-heated.

Processed foods are an issue for human consumption and yes there is junk in lots of it. No one can deny that. Of course other issues include the depleted soil too, pesticides, polluted water for animals and crops. Now also realize that some of these chemicals allow the foods to be insta-frozen, reheated, microwaved, sustain travel time spoilage issues, prevent bacteria, etc. too.

So there is a catch 22 involved also. And in the end we ought to be thankful for the abundance of food available in our nation, even if we abuse this privilege by eating way too much; judging by the chubbiness of the average American. I hope this article propelled thought in 2007.

Love Your Food and Lose Weight Without Feeling Deprived

By Janice Elizabeth Small

You'd think that those of us who love food the most are the ones who would also weigh the most. (You know the saying, never trust a thin cook.)

But that's not quite the case. While it's true that some gourmets are overweight after years of enjoying the finer things in life, most people who want to lose weight eat the same old meals over and over again and, generally, the meals they eat are far from exquisite.

The problem for most overweight people is the sheer quantity of food. A love of piling your plate high and snacking on high calorie junk food and drinks can soon pile on the pounds. It's not usually sampling rich and varied cuisine with fine wines that does it.

You see to love something is also to treat it with respect and true food lovers appreciate food for its taste, texture and presentation. Do you always take the time to experience everything there is to appreciate about your meal?

To truly enjoy food you need to taste it slowly. Almost without exception I have found a link between being overweight and the speed of making food disappear from the plate. If you always clear your plate before others are finished you may want to think about that.

But then maybe the food you eat is not worth lingering over.

If that's the case, it's not difficult to upgrade the quality of your food. Excellent ingredients are available everywhere without costing an arm and a leg and you'll find simple recipes all over the internet. Why would you put up with anything less than good healthy delicious food when it is available to everyone as easily as any other kind of food?

1. But I Always Eat....

We often inherit our eating habits from our families and end up cooking the same kinds of meals. Or we have a trusted repertoire of a few dishes and rarely venture beyond the usual meals we make.

But there are NO LIMITS to how delicious food can be. Why limit yourself when there is a world of delicious food out there for the taking?

2. I Can't Be Bothered...

It does take a little time and effort to find new recipes but if you are shopping and cooking anyway, you may as well shop for and cook something delicious and healthy rather than the same old meals all the time. You don't have to completely change your diet - just try a out a new recipe every once in a while to give your meals a whole new lease of life.

3. I Didn't Know....

Maybe you just haven't thought about what you are missing by eating the same foods all the time. You might like the food you have now but if you want to lose weight something has to change.

You can just eat less of the foods you always eat (and sometimes you need to eat a lot less if you have been piling your plate with high calorie foods) or you could upgrade your food and eat modest portions of delicious nutritious life-enhancing meals.

Sometimes people who start a healthy eating plan find that despite their fears they end up enjoying their food more than ever especially if they are adventurous enough to try new recipes and food items they hadn't considered before.

Not every new recipe will be a hit with you but you are sure to find some winners which will enhance your mealtimes for years to come.

If your experience of losing weight in the past has all been about restriction and deprivation try thinking about your weight loss program in a new way. Consider the huge opportunity you have to upgrade the food you eat to include meals you will truly love and which will keep your body healthy in years to come too.

A Disturbing Trend: Americans Spending Less on Food and More on Medicine

By Bill Scibetta


According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the amount of money Americans spend on food as a percentage of disposable income has dropped from 15.4 percent in 1980 to 9.9 percent in 2005. It’s clear with all the super-sizing of portions and waistlines; we’re not eating less we’re just eating cheaper. High calorie, nutrient deficient processed foods cost less than fresh nutrient dense whole foods. As our investment in healthy food has decreased since 1980, so has our health and in that same time our spending on drugs has dramatically increased. The obesity rate in the US had held steady at around 15 percent from 1960 to 1980. Since 1980 obesity has grown to 31 percent. Type II diabetes is at epidemic proportions and cancer is now the leading cause of death in our country. We are going to be the first generation of Americans whose life expectancy is shorter than our parents. With all the indisputable information of the benefits of healthy nutrition and exercise how can we let this happen? The sad truth is our society is trading good and healthy for cheap and easy.

Why is it so much cheaper to eat junk than eat healthy? It’s simple, supply and demand, basic economics 101…right? Well …sort of (with a little help from the US government.) The USDA helps the food industry keep the prices of junk food low by subsidizing crops commonly used in processed foods. Namely wheat (refined four), soy (hydrogenated oil), and the granddaddy of them all corn (high fructose corn syrup). High fructose corn syrup which was developed in the seventies is a chemically processed sugar that is extracted from corn starch. Because it mixes easily, it is sweeter than sugar; it extends shelf life, and costs about 20 percent less than sugar it took little time for high fructose corn syrup to become the food industry’s sweetener of choice. Through its use in sodas, snacks, frozen foods, breads, condiments, etc., high fructose corn syrup has become a staple in many American diets. Because of its prevalence and the fact that fructose is converted to fat in the liver more easily than other sugars, high fructose corn syrup has been implicated as a major contributor to our country’s obesity epidemic. Between 1995 and 2004 corn crops received a whooping $41.8 billion in government subsidies. This policy has caused farmers to ignore healthy crops and has flooded the market with junk made from the derivatives of the highly subsidized crops, namely refined flour, hydrogenated fats made from soybeans and of course high fructose corn syrup. Add to this, heavy tariffs placed on sugar and other produce imports and you start to understand why you can buy a 24 serving box of corn flakes or a case of cola for less than 3 grapefruits or a pint of fresh berries. To make matters worse the food industry spends billions of advertising dollars each year in order to showcase their manufactured, nutrient bare, disease promoting options.

But don’t worry help is on the way. In 2003 the American Council for Fitness & Nutrition (ACFN) was created. As their website states the ACFN is a “non-profit association comprised of food and beverage companies, trade associations, nonprofit groups and nutrition advocates working toward comprehensive and achievable solutions to the nation’s obesity epidemic”. Sleep tight America, ACFN members who include PepsiCo, Coca Cola, Burger King, McDonalds, Jack in The Box, and the Archer Daniels Midland Company (the world’s largest producer of high fructose corn syrup) are working tirelessly to find ways to make you healthier. Talk about the fox guarding the hen house. If you want to learn about the dangers of dehydration during physical activity and how you can now prevent it just go to Pepsi’s website. They’re there to help because they care about you and your health. They recommend “A healthy balance of "fun" drinks like soda and carbonated beverages, lots of water (eight glasses a day), orange juice and other fruit juices for potassium and Vitamin C, and milk or other calcium fortified beverages like orange juice …” The helpful health and fitness experts at Pepsi.com also warn kids about the dangers of creatine which they describe as a “growth hormone, which some kids take in the mistaken belief that they are healthy.” First of all Pepsi, creatine is an amino acid not a growth hormone. Secondly, although I do not support creatine use in kids because studies of its long term safety have not yet been established, it has been studied extensively and has not yet been shown to be harmful. Unlike aspartame, an artificial sweetener that has been proven in at least 90 independent studies to be harmful to our health. Aspartame is used by Pepsi and other members of the American Council for Fitness & Nutrition to sweeten their “fun” diet drinks and other sugar free products. This dangerous toxin has been shown to cause headaches, memory loss, seizures, vision loss, coma and cancer as well as exacerbate or mimic symptoms of fibromyalgia, MS, lupus, ADD, diabetes, Alzheimer's, chronic fatigue and depression. If aspartame is so harmful how did it ever get FDA approval? The FDA kept aspartame off the market for nearly 20 years because it had never been proven safe. Aspartame finally gained FDA approval in the early 1980s. Coincidently, the recently resigned U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who was on President Regan’s transition team, hand picked the FDA Commissioner who finally approved aspartame. Oh by the way, at the time Rumsfeld was the CEO of Searle Laboratories the makers of aspartame. You know the old saying “it’s not what you know; it’s who you know…and, what the public doesn’t know!” While it may take some time for the ACFN to find a solution to our deteriorating health there’s no need to worry; the pharmaceutical industry has your back.

Fortunately for us drug companies have been there to help us during this down turn in our country’s eating habits and deteriorating health. In 1980 Americans spent approximately $12 billion per year on prescription drugs; in 2004 that number had increased to over $180 billion. Drug makers have been there with medications to help us with obesity, high cholesterol, hypertension, sexual dysfunction, depression, attention deficit disorder, type II diabetes, acid reflux, headaches and arthritis pain; all conditions that can often be reduced or eliminated through good nutrition and physical activity.

In some cases the drugs have been worse than the condition (remember Phen Phen and Vioxx.) With the way the FDA works and the power of pharmaceutical lobbies its only a matter of time before we learn that another drug we’ve been taking for years is unsafe. Our poor choices and lack of self discipline and accountability (along with the Federal Trade Commissions changes in regulations that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to consumers) have allowed drug makers to prosper just as the food industry has. Each year the pharmaceutical industry spends billions of advertising dollars in an attempt to persuade us to give up accountability of our own health and entrust our wellness to their pills. In 2005 Americans spent upwards of $500 billion on prescription and over the counter drugs. It’s obvious advertising works, but don’t believe everything you read or see on television. Make educated decisions concerning your health, be proactive, ask questions, and do research. Whether it’s coming from a doctor, a drug company, or someone like me; don’t take advice blindly, educate yourself.

Although good nutrition may be more expensive right now, we simply cannot afford to keep eating junk. We need to be healthier and we need to be accountable for our own health. Our good choices can make a difference for everybody. Support local growers, join a natural food co-op, avoid processed foods, exercise, and contact your politicians and demand the FDA keep poison out of our food and nutritious real foods in our schools. Actions like these are already making a small difference as we are seeing a decrease in Trans fatty acids in many foods and an increase in natural and organic choices on grocery store shelves. But it’s not enough. The food and drug industries have proven that advertising works. For America to get healthy its going to take an enormous grass roots word of mouth advertising campaign. Make good choices and spread the word about the dangers of processed foods and poor nutrition and the benefits of good nutrition and exercise. It’s up to us to take control and invest in our health, invest in the health of our children and invest in the health of our society. Let’s start now!