The World’s Worst Cereals

Source: www.flickr.com/photos/wafflewhiffer/924700200/

Some breakfast cereals currently being marketed to U.S. children are more than half sugar by weight, according to Consumer Reports.

A single serving of 11 popular cereals, including Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, can carry as much sugar as a glazed doughnut. And some brands have even more sugar and sodium when formulated for the U.S. market than the same brands have when sold in other countries.

Post’s Golden Crisp and Kellogg’s Honey Smacks are both more than 50 percent sugar by weight, while nine brands are at least 40 percent sugar.

• Consumer Reports October 1, 2008

Unfortunately breakfast is typically one of the worst meals to eat out. Most restaurant options are simply not consistent with a healthy meal. The most notorious offenders though are probably breakfast cereals, which were initially developed to increase convenience, and now have mostly morphed into highly processed packages filled with synthetic vitamins and are a mere fantasy of a healthy food.

Breakfast cereals, along with waffles, pancakes, bagels and other high-carb, high-sugar foods, are some of your absolute worst breakfast options. And cereals that are aggressively marketed to kids have the worst nutritional quality of all cereals, according to an analysis of 161 brands earlier this year.

The analysis, published in the Journal of American Dietetic Association, found that children’s cereals have more sugar, sodium, carbohydrates, and calories per gram than cereals not marketed to kids. They also have less protein and fiber.

On average, sugar accounts for more than one-third of the weight of children‘s cereals compared to less than one-quarter of adult cereals.

The food industry spends about $229 million annually advertising these nutritionally void cereals to children. Colorful cartoons and other cheery tricks are meant to stimulate your child into wanting these “fun” foods, but the damage they can do to your child’s health is no laughing matter.

Obesity has become a major concern for American children, with excess sugar and carbohydrates being two of the major culprits contributing to this growing problem.

In the last two decades, the prevalence of overweight adolescents has nearly tripled, and current statistics show 16 percent of children are overweight or obese.

Sugar is Not a Healthy Breakfast, Fiber is Ignored!

There are two major problems with breakfast cereals:

1. Their high sugar content
2. The refined grains (carbohydrates, which also break down into sugar)

On average, just one serving of a typical children’s breakfast cereal equates to more than 90 percent of the daily sugar intake for sedentary girls aged 9 to 13.

In fact, “feeding infants cereal may be associated with an increased risk of developing type-1 diabetes mellitus autoantibodies, according to a study.

Children at an increased risk of type 1 diabetes who were fed cereals between the ages of 0 and 3 months and at age 7 months or older had an increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes later in life.

The results suggest that exposing susceptible children to cereal during certain ages increases their risk of type 1 diabetes.”

• Journal of the American Medical Association October 1, 2003;290(13):1713-20

Regardless of the “healthy fiber” content of the cereal, consuming that much sugar is not going to promote good health. Foods high in added sugar contain little in terms of essential vitamins and minerals, and the calories they contain are not made up of important micronutrients needed for health and growth.

Reducing sugar intake should be on the top of your list regardless of whether your child is currently overweight or not, because it’s been proven over and over that sugar increases insulin levels, which can lead to:

• • High blood pressure and high cholesterol
  • Heart disease
  • Diabetes
  • Weight gain
  • Premature aging, and more

Be Radical, but Not Unreasonable, About Sugar Elimination

Now, I understand that completely eliminating sugar from your child’s diet is probably not feasible, so don’t beat yourself up too much. While high sugar consumption will clearly have a negative impact on your child’s health, eating sugar in moderation is likely not going to cause any significant damage.

Moderate sugar consumption would be somewhere in the neighborhood of five pounds per year, or just over 6 grams per day, which is considerably less than the U.S. average, which is closer to a staggering 175 pounds per year (about 52 teaspoons a day)!

To accomplish this, taking a close look at the sugar content of your child’s cereal, which is consumed on a daily basis, is therefore necessary.

Just how much sugar are you feeding your child each day?

One 2005 study that analyzed the daily sugar intake of 5,000 toddlers ranging in age from 2 to 5, found that, on average, 2- to 3-year olds consumed around 14 teaspoons (~58 grams) of added sugar a day. This number jumped to 17 teaspoons (~71 grams) daily among 4- to 5-year olds (Journal of Pediatrics January 2005;146(1):105-11).

That’s clearly too much!

Striving to limit your child’s added sugar consumption to between 1.5 and 2 teaspoons (6-8 grams) per day will likely save them lots of health problems later on.

• Mercola News 10.01.08

Diverticulosis: A Prevalent Disease In Older People

Diverticulosis -- Source: www.drmarkbowles.com/gi4.html

So you’ve had a colonscopy and found out you have diverticulosis. Your doctor prescribed Benefiber, then left the room and never returned. Now what? Will you have this forever? Are you unhealthy? How does one develop diverticulosis? And what is the difference between “osis” and “itis?”

By age 60, half of the people in North America will have diverticulosis. By the time they reach 80, this number mushrooms to two-thirds. A diverticulum is a bulge of the inner colon lining through the colon’s muscular wallto its outer surface. A diverticulum looks like a small soap bubble and is only 1/5 to 2/5 inches (0.5-1 cm) in diameter.

If you’ve been eating a diet devoid of fibrous foods, then someday soon you also will be welcomed to the world of diverticulosis. Too many foods today are refined – lacking enough fibre to effectively sweep out the colon and keep it clean. This is especially true of grains, where we throw away the bran – the outer coat. In countries where 100% whole grains are used, diverticulosis is a rarity.

“Diverticulosis has been considered a degenerative disorder in the past. However, there is compelling evidence that, in many patients, it develops as a result of longstanding irritable bowel syndrome: chronic constipation; alternating constipation and diarrhea; abdominal cramps and tenderness; mucus; abdominal bloating and gas; incomplete evacuation; etc. Many patients with diverticulosis have, unfortunately, been the recipients of bad advice regarding their diets. In many cases, high fiber foods have been severely restricted, only making the condition worse. I would submit that most of the symptoms of diverticulosis are actually symptoms of spastic colon/irritable bowel syndrome and are particularly aggravated by fatty foods and emotional stress. (www.drmarkbowles.com/gi4.html)

Bran and other fibre hold water in undigested food, making stools soft. Without sufficient fibre, undigested foods become hard and dry, causing the colon walls to strain to keep the matter moving. In some, the diverticulum breaks and causes a local infection in the colon. This condition is called diverticulitis, with subsequent pain in  the lower left corner of the abdomen. Sometimes there is also an accompanying fever and chills.

Source: www.drmarkbowles.com

“This picture shows small ulcerations in the colon representing inflammation. The two most common types of colitis we encounter are ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The more difficult of these two to treat is Crohn’s as it may involve the small bowel as well as the large intestine.There is an increased risk of colon cancer with longstanding (10-20 years) ulcerative colitis and to a slight degree with Crohn’s.” (www.drmarkbowles.com). So practice prevention today! Eat at least 30 grams of fibre daily, consisting of fruits with edible skins, vegetables and whole grain products such as oatmeal, 100% whole grains, baked flatbreads such as Ryvita and brown rice.

How Your Body Maintains a Healthy pH

Editors Comment: A great article on the acid/alkaline balance. Dr. Kim shows that there are acid or alkaline-forming effects of foods and liquids we ingest, as well as acids we generate through regular metabolic activities. Any of these can disrupt our body’s buffering systems, causing them to be overworked, which eventually creates ill health. No matter how scientifically you explain it, good food still equals good health. It’s a simple formula. Too bad so many don’t get it.

——————————————————

Essential Details on Acid/Alkaline-Forming Foods and How Your Body Maintains a Health pH.

By Dr. Ben Kim
http://drbenkim.com/ph-body-blood-foods-acid-alkaline.htm

Although we have mechanisms that work to prevent the pH of your blood from shifting outside of the 7.35 to 7.45 range.

Is it true that each food that you eat can cause your blood to become more alkaline or acidic?

The answer is: not really. The pH of your blood is tightly regulated by a complex system of buffers that are continuously at work to maintain a range of 7.35 to 7.45, which is slightly more alkaline than pure water.

If the pH of your blood falls below 7.35, the result is a condition called acidosis, a state that leads to central nervous system depression. Severe acidosis – where blood pH falls below 7.00 – can lead to a coma and even death.

If the pH of your blood rises above 7.45, the result is alkalosis. Severe alkalosis can also lead to death, but through a different mechanism – alkalosis causes all of the nerves in your body to become hypersensitive and over-excitable, often resulting in muscle spasms, nervousness, and convulsions; it’s usually the convulsions that cause death in severe cases.

The bottom line is that if you’re out and about, your body is doing an adequate job of keeping your blood pH somewhere between 7.35 to 7.45, and the foods that you are eating are not causing any wild deviations of your blood pH.

So what’s up with all the hype about the need to alkalize your body? And what’s to be made of the claim that being too acidic can cause osteoporosis, kidney stones, and a number of other undesirable health challenges?

As usual, the answers to such questions about human health can be found by understanding basic principles of human physiology. So let’s take a look at the fundamentals of pH and how your body regulates the acid-alkaline balance of its fluids on a moment-to-moment basis.

pH is a measure of how acidic or alkaline a liquid is. With respect to your health, the liquids involved are your body fluids, which can be categorized into the following two main groups:

1. Intracellular fluid, which is the fluid found in all of your cells. Intracellular fluid is often called cytosol, and makes up about two-thirds of the total amount of fluid in your body.
2. Extracellular fluid, which is the fluid found outside of your cells. Extracellular fluids are further classified as one of two types:
   • Plasma, which is fluid that makes up your blood.
   • Interstitial fluid, which occupies all of the spaces that surround your tissues. Interstitial fluid includes the fluids found in your eyes, lymphatic system, joints, nervous system, and between the protective membranes that surround your cardiovascular, respiratory, and abdominal cavities.

Your blood (plasma) needs to maintain a pH of 7.35 to 7.45 for your cells to function properly. Why your cells require your blood to maintain a pH in this range to stay healthy is beyond the scope of this article, but the most important reason is that all of the proteins that work in your body have to maintain a specific geometric shape to function, and the three-dimensional shapes of the proteins in your body are affected by the tiniest changes in the pH of your body fluids.

The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. A liquid that has a pH of 7 is considered to be neutral (pure water is generally considered to have a neutral pH). Fluids that have a pH below 7 – like lemon juice and coffee – are considered to be acidic. And fluids that have a pH above 7 – like human blood and milk of magnesia – are considered to be alkaline.

It’s important to note that on the pH scale, each number represents a tenfold difference from adjacent numbers; in other words, a liquid that has a pH of 6 is ten times more acidic than a liquid that has a pH of 7, and a liquid with a pH of 5 is one hundred times more acidic than pure water. Most carbonated soft drinks (pop) have a pH of about 3, making them about ten thousand times more acidic than pure water. Please remember this the next time you think about drinking a can of pop.

When you ingest foods and liquids, the end products of digestion and assimilation of nutrients often results in an acid or alkaline-forming effect – the end products are sometimes called acid ash or alkaline ash.

Also, as your cells produce energy on a continual basis, a number of different acids are formed and released into your body fluids. These acids – generated by your everyday metabolic activities – are unavoidable; as long as your body has to generate energy to survive, it will produce a continuous supply of acids.

So there are two main forces at work on a daily basis that can disrupt the pH of your body fluids – these forces are the acid or alkaline-forming effects of foods and liquids that you ingest, and the acids that you generate through regular metabolic activities. Fortunately, your body has three major mechanisms at work at all times to prevent these forces from shifting the pH of your blood outside of the 7.35 to 7.45 range.

These mechanisms are:

1. Buffer Systems
   • Carbonic Acid-Bicarbonate Buffer System
   • Protein Buffer System
   • Phosphate Buffer System
2. Exhalation of Carbon Dioxide
3. Elimination of Hydrogen Ions via Kidneys

It’s not in the scope of this article to discuss the mechanisms listed above in detail. For this article, I only want to point out that these systems are in place to prevent dietary, metabolic, and other factors from pushing the pH of your blood outside of the 7.35 to 7.45 range.

When people encourage you to “alkalize your blood,” most of them mean that you should eat plenty of foods that have an alkaline-forming effect on your system. The reason for making this suggestion is that the vast majority of highly processed foods – like white flour products and white sugar – have an acid-forming effect on your system, and if you spend years eating a poor diet that is mainly acid-forming, you will overwork some of the buffering systems mentioned above to a point where you could create undesirable changes in your health.

For example, your phosphate buffer system uses different phosphate ions in your body to neutralize strong acids and bases. About 85% of the phosphate ions that are used in your phosphate buffer system comes from calcium phosphate salts, which are structural components of your bones and teeth. If your body fluids are regularly exposed to large quantities of acid-forming foods and liquids, your body will draw upon its calcium phosphate reserves to supply your phosphate buffer system to neutralize the acid-forming effects of your diet. Over time, this may lead to structural weakness in your bones and teeth.

Drawing on your calcium phosphate reserves at a high rate can also increase the amount of calcium that is eliminated via your genito-urinary system, which is why a predominantly acid-forming diet can increase your risk of developing calcium-rich kidney stones.

This is just one example of how your buffering systems can be overtaxed to a point where you experience negative health consequences. Since your buffering systems have to work all the time anyway to neutralize the acids that are formed from everyday metabolic activities, it’s in your best interest to follow a diet that doesn’t create unnecessary work for your buffering systems.

Acid and Alkaline-Forming Effects of Common Foods

Generally speaking, most vegetables and fruits have an alkaline-forming effect on your body fluids.

Most grains, animal foods, and highly processed foods have an acid-forming effect on your body fluids.

Please don’t forget: Your health is best served by a good mix of nutrient-dense, alkaline and acid-forming foods; ideally, you want to eat more alkaline-forming foods than acid-forming foods to have the net acid and alkaline-forming effects of your diet match the slightly alkaline pH of your blood.

The following lists indicate which common foods have an alkaline-forming effect on your body fluids, and which ones result in acid ash formation when they are digested and assimilated into your system.

Foods that have a Moderate to Strong Alkaline-Forming Effect

Watermelon
Lemons
Cantaloupe
Celery
Limes
Mango
Honeydew
Papaya
Parsley
Seaweed
Sweet, seedless grapes
Watercress
Asparagus
Kiwi
Pears
Pineapple
Raisins
Vegetable juices
Apples
Apricots
Alfalfa sprouts
Avocados
Bananas
Garlic
Ginger
Peaches
Nectarines
Grapefruit
Oranges
Most herbs
Peas
Lettuce
Broccoli
Cauliflower

Foods that have a Moderate to Strong Acid-Forming Effect

Alcohol
Soft drinks (pop)
Tobacco
Coffee
White sugar
Refined Salt
Artificial sweeteners
Antibiotics (and most drugs)
White flour products (including pasta)
Seafood
White vinegar
Barley
Most boxed cereals
Cheese
Most beans
Flesh meats
Most types of bread

Please note that these lists of acid and alkaline-forming foods are not comprehensive, nor are they meant to be.

If you’re eating mainly grains, flour products, animal foods, and washing these foods down with coffee, soda, and milk, you will almost certainly improve your health by replacing some of your food and beverage choices with fresh vegetables and fruits.

The primary purpose of this article is to offer information that explains why I believe that you don’t need to take one or more nutritional supplements for the sole purpose of alkalizing your body. Your body is already designed to keep the pH of your body fluids in a tight, slightly alkaline range.

The ideal scenario is to make fresh vegetables and fruits the centerpieces of your diet, and to eat small amounts of any other nutrient-dense foods that your appetite calls for and that experience shows your body can tolerate.

Love Your Sweet Tooth? Count On Getting Sick!

Source: http://www.yes-zim.com/shopimages/products/thumbnails/sugar.jpg

Some people ask me if they should stop eating sweet produce such as oranges and carrots, because they want to cut back on sugar. I always tell them to consider that not all sugars are created equal. One class of sugars is natural (from whole foods) and the other is unnatural (added by food companies).

SO – don’t limit the natural sugars. Though an orange may contain 12 grams of sugar, it also provides vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre – all which combine synergistically to absorb more slowly than its refined sugars. And natural sugar does not raise the risk of diabetes the way its refined counterpart does, so no health organization recommends limiting the natural variety. Fill up on wholesome foods – vegetables, fruits, dates, figs, etc. They’ll fill that sweet craving and are healthy to boot.

Added sugars should not exceed  10% of total calories (about 40-45 grams daily), according to a report released by the World Health Organization entitled “Diet Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases.” However, I recommend that you scale back even further for good health, because even small amounts of unnatural elements in the body add up over time and suppress bodily processes.

The makers of processed foods don’t care though. Every year they add more sugars to their products, up to the point where Statistics Canada says we consume about 23 teaspoons of them daily – based on an average 2000-calorie diet. This doesn’t include all the other added sugars we get from corn sweeteners (liquid candy) – the main ingredient in pop, nor the sugars in fruit juices.

Add it all up and by any mathematical standard, some people are eating more than half their body weight in sugars every year. That’s a whole lot of calories, with subsequent obesity and related health problems like diabetes and heart disease.

How can you tell if a food contains added sugar? Read the ingredient list! “Free sugars” are all monosaccharides and disaccharides (including refined sugars from cane, beet and corn). Look for:

1. brown sugar
2. corn sweetener
3. corn syrup
4. dextrose
5. glucose
6. high fructose corn syrup
7. invert sugar
8. malt syrup
9. molasses
10. sucrose
11. table sugar
12. sugars naturally present in honey, syrups and fruit juices
13. turbinado
14. amazake
15. sorbitol
16. carob powder

“Food companies have to make food as cheap as possible so that more people will buy it and they do that by putting in corn sweeteners. The more corn sweeteners you have in a food, the cheaper it is on a per calorie basis.” (CBC Marketplace – Sugar Surprise, March 9, 2004).

ADDITIONALLY, look for added starches in food (which thicken a product cheaply) but also thicken your waistline, being quickly absorbed as energy and acting like sugars in the body.

If you really want to become healthy, don’t worry about reading labels. Yes, you read that right! Start eating wholesome foods which are not manufactured in a can or a box. Start cooking with your own ingredients and stop letting others do the work for you. That way you control what goes into your food and ultimately your own health. If you don’t like what I say because you deem yourself too busy, then count on getting sick and ultimately contracting a disease. Let’s face it, your health should be more important than a few extra hours at your job. You can’t enjoy the good things in life when lying in bed sick. Trust me on this, I’ve seen it too many times. And though I’m not a betting man, I’ll bet those sick people wished their hearing had been a lot better while they were still healthy!