Healthy Living News & Tips

The use of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) has grown exponentially over the past few decades as a replacement for sugar in processed foods.

Besides the inherent health dangers of HFCS itself, a recent study published in Environmental Health by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) found Mercury in more than 1/3 of popular processed foods that contained HFCS as the first or second ingredient. "Mercury is toxic in all its forms", noted the co-author David Wallinga, MD.

HFCS is normally found in breads, sweetened beverages, cereals, breakfast bars, yogurt, soups, luncheon meats, dressings, condiments and many other processed foods. Americans consume on average about 12 teaspoons of HFCS a day, and teenagers and high consumption consumers can consume 80% over this average. That's a lot of HFCS, and now we know, a lot of Mercury intake.

The best alternative for your health is to avoid processed foods completely. If you do eat processed foods, carefully inspect the labels and at least avoid those containing HFCS.

To your best health!
Mark

Related:
> Do you know how many calories you eat daily?

> Healthy, HFCS free whole food snacks for the whole family

> How Many Meals To Good (or Bad) Health?

> 37 Free (Natural) Weight Loss Tips

Every year around Halloween I cringe to think about all the candy, sugar and yes, junk that our children get when trick-or-treating. Several years ago I started giving out fun things like Halloween pencils, notepads, spiders, stampers and other creative things hoping that it may catch on. When children would stop by my house most had positive remarks like 'Cool!' and 'Wow!'. That was a good reaction!

Going out this year with my daughter I found that everyone in our neighborhood was still giving out candy. I know there had to be something that I could do to help not only our children, but our future as well. Teaching children healthy habits early pays off greatly.

In searching online today I found it. A mother from Washington state has started something big.... Green Halloween.

I was thrilled to learned about what she was doing and know it will make a difference. She has gathered the support of her community, both businesses (like Whole Foods) and families that want to make a difference and change the traditional 'candy-centric' Halloween into a healthier and environmentally friendly event that can be enjoyed by everyone.

You'll find lots of ways to encourage your neighborhood, school or families to enjoy a 'Green Halloween' and make a difference, both for younger as well as older children. The community and web site is new and still growing but you'll find some great resources.

You can read more about it at:

http://www.greenhalloween.org

By taking action together, we can make a difference.

To your best health!

Mark

P.S. Last year we also gave out 'Boo-key Balls', a healthy treat from the WholeFoodFarmacy that they make once a year as an alternative to traditional candy. It's one of several dozen healthy, natural and organic foods, snacks and personal care products they have available. It was a hit and the kids loved it!

German scientists have found that by giving up sweets and avoiding vitamins, you can extend your life by about 15 years.

In researching the effect of reducing the amount of glucose given to worms, they found that it extended their lives about 25%, or 15 years in human terms.

But it isn't for the reason you and I would suspect.

When the glucose was reduced, it increased the amount of free radicals (we normally hear this as a bad thing) and in turn, used energy from other sources to build up long lasting defenses against free radicals.

Now, if they were fed anti-oxidants in the form of vitamins, those free radical defenses weren't built up. So the combination of lowering sugar and letting their system do what is supposed do naturally, they build up long lasting defenses.

This would go against the suggestion of many that anti-oxidant vitamins and supplements are good for you. From this research, it appears it may actually be the opposite.

In my research and experience, I go back to nature, letting your body do what it does best. Feed it as nature intended, avoiding the processed, fortified and modified foods and supplements and concentrate on fresh fruits, vegetables, natural grains, nuts and seeds. This automatically keeps the processed and added sugars and supplements out of your diet and not only could extend your life, but also increase the quality of your life!

Read more at Reuters.

To your best health!

Mark