Posts Tagged ‘Obesity’

New USDA MyPlate Food Guidelines Image

The new federal government’s evidence-based nutritional guidance to promote health, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, and reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity through improved nutrition and physical activity is a giant step forward with the new MyPlate from the Food Pyramid it has been promoting for the last five years which has been responsible for too much of the obesity and disease in our children and adults alike.

This shift has come about thanks to such organizations as Organic Consumers Organization, Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the Environmental Working Group, all in spite of the vast multi-million dollar lobbying campaign to protect the Food Pyramid by major food processing corporations.

Our government was forced to face the fact that more than one-third of children and more than two-thirds of adults in the United States were overweight or obese, and that we are the sickliest developed country in the world!

As a result, the 7th edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans places stronger emphasis on reducing calorie consumption, placing a heavier emphasis on vegetables and fruits, and increasing physical activity. Read the rest of this entry »

Agave plant used to make Agave Syrup

Warning!  You’re Being Had!

It never ends. You know how bad High Fructose Corn Syrup is and how we have been blindsided by clever marketing into thinking HFCS is a healthy sweetener.

Well once again we are being blindsided by the clever marketing of a new so called “natural” sweetener implying it is a safe substitute for High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Science has proven conclusively that High Fructose Corn Syrup is a major cause of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease because of its 56% high fructose content.

This new so called “natural” sweetener is from the agave plant.  Ferment it and you have Mexico’s favorite alcoholic beverage — tequila.

Blue agave, agave “syrup”, or agave “nectar”, is nothing more than a laboratory generated super-condensed fructose syrup devoid of all nutrient value and offering metabolic misfortune.

Agave syrup is much worse than the High Fructose Corn Syrup it’s replacing.

Read the rest of this entry »

This week there has been several articles written about obesity and the medical costs associated with treating this major health problem.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Monday, July 27th, 2009 that new data is showing that costs have topped $147 billion in 2008 alone.

Costs have doubled in the past decade to treat obesity and per a Wall Street Journal article”…the prevalence of obesity rose 37% between 1998 and 2006, and medical costs climbed to about 9.1% of all U.S. medical costs, the researchers said”…and…”obese people spent 42% more than people of normal weight on medical costs in 2006, a difference of $1,429, the study found. Prescription drugs accounted for much of the increase.”

To help shed more light on this topic here are several current news articles that span a wide mixture of opinions on the obesity topic.

• Please Explain: Obesity
• Rising Childhood Obesity
• More on Obesity: Is the Government to Blame?
• The Thins Versus the Fats
• Do ‘Fat Taxes’ Work?

To your good heath & longevity.

Ira Marxe
“The Good Health & Wellness Guy”

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