Archive for the ‘Sugar Addiction’ Category
Don’t Tax Soda, Tax Fat Soda Drinkers
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
I really don’t have all the answers when it comes to solving the obesity epidemic. It’s easy to say that people need to break free from their sugar addictions and take full responsibility for their lives, but exactly how we can convince individuals to do that across society is still open for debate.
Some people think, like tobacco, soda should be taxed to the point that nobody can justify drinking it any more. On one hand, I can understand this argument because smoking has declined since it started being taxed so heavily. However, I know plenty of people who still smoke and I don’t know anyone who specifically quit because of the tax.
If you’ve read this blog long enough, you also know I’m a huge fan of Ron Paul, so I have some Libertarian leanings. As a result, it’s always difficult for me to justify raising any taxes and encouraging a “Nanny State” society. At the same time, it seems that we pay either way. If we do nothing and obesity rates continue to climb, healthcare costs will rise exponentially and everyone will pay. Yet, if we tax soda, yes taxes go up, but only those who choose to drink the poison are affected. You can see my dillema.
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Sugar, Not Fat, Makes You Fat!
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
I just uploaded my first ever YouTube video and I’m thrilled! Please, check it out, leave some comments and share it with everyone you know. I’m trying to get to page 1 on Google’s “Sugar Addiction” search and having a video with plenty of hits will certainly help out!
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How To Create An Obese, Sugar-Addicted Child
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
According to CBC News, new findings from Yale University show, “…that cereals marketed directly to children have 85 per cent more sugar, 65 per cent less fibre and 60 per cent more sodium than cereals marketed to adults.”
It could be easy to dismiss these finding as a blatant statement of the most obvious facts, but I think it’s extremely helpful to get the raw numbers laid out like this. Maybe people will start to wake up and realize the garbage they are feeding their children.
It can also be easy to push back and dismiss these findings saying, “Come on, sugary cereal is just a part of growing up.” However, scientists recently demonstrated, getting hooked on sugary foods can permanently alter your taste buds. I am certain that had I not been raised on Frosted Flakes and Rice Krispes with a cup of sugar poured on top, I would probably would not have grown up to make cookies and cream milk shakes that filled the entire blender several times a day. And, if that were the case, I also probably would not have ended up with a crazy roller coaster weight problem.
Tags: Target: Children
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Caron Butler’s Sugar Addiction
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
Washington Wizard’s All-Star forward Caron Butler used to drink at least six 12-ounce cans of Mountain Dew every day. He finally decided to break his sugar addiction at the beginning of the summer and then he lost 11 pounds.
Butler chronicled his experience blogging for NBA.com.
“A lot of people don’t know I’m a Mountain Dew addict so I guess this is my confession.
To try and give this up was CRAZY for me! I was going through withdrawals. I was in the bed sweating. My wife would turn over in the bed and ask “Are you OK?” .Honestly, those first two weeks without The Dew was the roughest two weeks of my life. I’m talking headaches, sweats and everything. Before that I drank at least six 12 ounce Mountain Dews a day.
It was so bad at one point that I had to have a cold one right there at the night stand before I went to bed. I had to get the coasters and let it drip a lil’ bit and just have it waiting on me. Come 2 a.m.., I’d wake up out of my sleep, I’d pop one open and hear the fizz sound…and just down it! Then I always had to have another one in the morning when I woke up. Before practice I had one too and before games I would knock back two.”
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A Few Cookies a Day to Keep the Pounds Away?
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
Fad diets come and go, but every now and again you hear about one that is so absurd, it’s hard not to laugh.
Enter the sugar addict’s dream; Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet.
You read me right; for $56 a week, you get to eat six cookies a day and one ‘real’ meal that brings your total consumption for the day up to no more than 1,000 calories. Yes, if you would like to starve yourself and enjoy some delicious cookies while you do it, the Cookie Diet is what you’ve always been waiting for.
The New York Times reports that, according to Dr. Siegel, about 500,000 people have lost weight using his technique. As you might predict, business is booming, “He expects 2009 revenues to be $18 million, up from $12 million in 2008, thanks in part to endorsements from celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson.”
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Harlem Mom Fights For Kid’s Health
Monday, October 26th, 2009
I recently discussed the need to take personal responsibility in maintaining your health. I believe that no matter how poor or disadvantaged you may be, you always have the opportunity to take control of your life. If you are determined to be healthy, nothing will stand in your way.
This video highlights Debra, a mother from Harlem, who is living proof of this philosophy. Debra’s daughter experienced trouble growing because of the food she was eating. After learning about proper nutrition and providing it for her daughter, Debra decided not to stop there. This social worker looked around her building and saw several other children with similar challenges. So, each day, she feeds 12 hungry kids on a very limited income.
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Junk Food Turns Rats Into Addicts
Monday, October 26th, 2009
I can’t have just one cookie. Before I kicked sugar January 12th, 2006, if I had one cookie, I would eat the whole box. Then, I would drive to the grocery store to buy some ice cream. On the way there, I would stop at Taco Bell and on the way home I would stop at Wendy’s. In short, I’m a sugar addict.
With the obesity crisis we face in this country, it’s amazing that anyone could be skeptical about our ability to become addicted to food. Americans often times don’t use common sense and frequently need scientists to tell them what to think before they believe anything. Luckily, scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida are on the job.
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Ambulances start charging extra for obese patients
Saturday, October 24th, 2009
Everyone knows sugar addiction and obesity is costing Americans billions, but every time that statement is made, it refers to the general population. Well, according to the Associated Press, obese people are starting to experience the real cost of their condition in dollars and cents.
“As the nation battles the obesity crisis, ambulance crews are trying to improve how they transport extremely heavy patients, who become significantly more difficult to move as they surpass 350 pounds. And caring for such patients is expensive, requiring costly equipment and extra workers, so some ambulance companies have started charging higher fees for especially overweight people.”
It can apparently cost up to two and a half times as much to transport obese patients. Between the additional workers involved and all of the expensive equipment (like the kind shown in the picture above), it adds up quick.
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Practical Foodly Wisdom
Friday, October 23rd, 2009
Ok, so maybe “foodly” isn’t a real word, but my boy Elmer put me onto a great piece published by the New York Times that has some real advice about what to eat.
“Earlier this year, Michael Pollan posted a request for reader’s rules about eating on Well, Tara Parker Pope’s health blog. Within days, more than 2,500 responses were received…”
There are quite a few good ones, but my top three were:
1. From my Romanian grandmother: “Breakfast, you should eat alone. Lunch, you should share with a friend. Dinner, give to your enemy.” – Irina A. Dumitrescu
2. “You don’t get fat on food you pray over.” This is from a friend who points out that meals prepared at home, served at the table and given thanks for are more appreciated and more healthful than food eaten on the run. – Carol Jackson
3. Avoid snack foods with the “oh” sound in their names: Doritos, Fritos, Cheetos, Tostitos, Hostess Ho Hos, etc. – Donna David
Of course, I’d have to say #3 takes it for me, but that’s the one that most directly deals with sugar addiction.
Check out Pollan’s 17 other favorites and see which ones you might be able to start applying today.
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Why Are Southerners So Fat?
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
In a recent TIME Magazine article titled, “Why Are Southerners So Fat?” Claire Suddath sought to explore the reasons behind Mississippi’s 33% obesity rate. In addition to Mississippi, she sites Alabama, West Virginia, and Tennessee as having over 30% obesity. She makes no mention of sugar addiction, but she does make the normal correlation between obesity and poverty. While I have made several blog posts which sympathize with this correlation, as I sit here reading the article I find myself torn.
I left my corporate job in March to build a business as a Certified Professional Coach and Speaker. To say that I have struggled financially this year would be quite an understatement. I have quickly found that, while building a business is rewarding in several intangible ways, it more often than not means I barely have enough money to get by. However, even in these worst of times, I have not gained any weight and I have not gone back to eating garbage. As a result, lately, I have been questioning the validity of the belief that anyone could be too poor to eat healthily.
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