The price of sickness

Healthcare—our right to it, its soaring costs, and its coverage—is one of the political debates of our time. As it turns out, almost 50 years ago, a similar debate was taking place. In the 1967 article from Let's Live Magazine, "What does it cost to be sick?" George R. Bruce advocated for the power of nutrition in keeping people well.

"Certainly it costs a lot to be sick and it probably will cost more in the future. Perhaps a patient should think in terms of how much does it cost to be well. It's hard to put a price tag on that." The costs referred to were approximately $5 for a doctors bill, and medical services for a single visit that could reach up to $12 (approximately $78 today). Americans in the 1960s "threw away 30% of their income on medical costs."

Perhaps the most powerful statement in the entire article came near its conclusion. It's a sentiment we're beginning to hear more frequently as the food revolution expands and more people are turning to nutrition to maintain health and wellness. Unfortunately, in 50 years, we can't say a lot has changed. The debate still rages on.

"If the funds collected ostensibly to eliminate sickness through medication and surgery were spent to teach people that real health can be maintained through natural methods, we would have the highest degree of national health ever known on earth."

Photo credit: Free Digital Photos

If you drink a lot of water, you're making Pepsi nervous

Americans are drinking more water and less carbonated beverages. And this is making companies like Pepsi very nervous.

In the recent New York Times article on the subject, John Sicher, publisher of Beverage Digest, asked:

“Are we seeing a modest, multiyear decline that will bottom out? Or are we seeing the beginning of a paradigm shift away from carbonated soft drinks?”

He didn't offer an answer quite yet, as it's too early to tell, but acknowledged that "there are continuing headwinds against the category that aren’t abating.”

Health Notes

• Try to start your day with a glass of water to replenish your body from being dehydrated while you sleep.

• Add lemon or cucumber slices to your water to freshen up the flavor.

• If you're trying to eliminate soda from your diet, decrease the amount you drink over time. If you must crack open a can, don't drink it all, or replace one soda per day with an alternative drink like water or flavored water. Over time, you'll find yourself craving the sugar less frequently.

Have you succeeded in cutting back on soda? Share your story and tips in the comment section!

President Obama and the Moral Imperative of Hunger

Last Friday, on May 18, 2012, President Obama addressed the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security. Here's a brief quote from his speech:

“As President, I consider this a moral imperative. As the wealthiest nation on earth, I believe the United States has a moral obligation to lead the fight against hunger and malnutrition—and to partner with others. So we take pride in the fact that—because of smart investments in nutrition, agriculture and safety nets—millions of people in Kenya and Ethiopia did not need emergency aid in the recent drought. Still, when tens of thousands of children die from the agony of starvation, as in Somalia, that’s unacceptable. It’s an outrage.”

Our government's New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition is a "shared commitment to achieve sustained and inclusive agricultural growth and raise 50 million people out of poverty over the next 10 years by aligning the commitments of Africa’s leadership to drive effective country plans and policies for food security; the commitments of private sector partners to increase investments where the conditions are right; and the commitments of the G-8 to expand Africa’s potential for rapid and sustainable agricultural growth."

Leaders have committed to making food security a priority in their individual countries, and plan to work toward raising 50 million people out of poverty over the next 10 years.

Canola Oil's Unhealthy Secret

I read a compelling blog post last week from Bruce Bradley about the dangers of simple labeling. Items that might seem innocent and "natural" actually tell a much different story if you look beyond the picture on the label.

Questioning Labels

One of the misleading ingredients he wrote about in Land O'Lakes butter was canola oil. I've heard nutritionists, Food Network stars, and magazines all claim that the oil is heart-healthy because it's low in saturated fat, but what Bradley explains is that "the majority of canola is derived from genetically-modified rapeseed" and that canola oil is "very highly processed and undergoes intensive manufacturing steps like being refined with hexane and then bleached." None of that sounds natural to me, and until I looked it up, I didn't know what hexane was.  

(In case you're curious, Hexane is a hydrocarbon with the chemical formula C₆H₁₄; that is, an alkane with six carbon atoms. In industry, hexanes are used in the formulation of glues for shoes, leather products, and roofing. They are also used to extract cooking oils from seeds, for cleansing and degreasing a variety of items, and in textile manufacturing. According to a report by the Cornucopia Institute, hexane is used to extract oil from grains as well as protein from soy, to such an extent that in 2007, grain processors were responsible for more than two-thirds of hexane emissions in the United States.) (Thank you, Wikipedia.)

When he emailed Land O'Lakes to find out if it used GMO canola oil, they dodged the question, but eventually admitted that its products are not GMO free. (Read more about the email exchange on Bradley's blog.)

History of Canola Oil

Canola was developed through conventional plant breeding from rapeseed, an oilseed plant that has been used as a fuel, specifically for lamps, in Asia and Europe. Its demand grew in World War II for use on naval steam engines, and when sources were blocked, Canada began to expand its rapeseed production. When demand declined after the war, extracts were first used in consumer food products in 1956.

Once considered a specialty crop in Canada, its now become an American cash crop, producing 7 and 10 million tonnes of canola seed per year. Almost all commercial grade canola oil is then refined using hexane. 

Where do we go from here?

I'm diligent about limiting or completely eliminating processed food, where most genetically modified organisms can be found, but this article made me question even the "simple things," like canola oil and butter.

I did some research, and thankfully, there are several brands of non-GMO canola oil on the market, including one from Whole Harvest. The next time I need to buy a bottle, I'm planning to read the label much more carefully.

Which products have you stopped buying because of what you learned from the label?

Protein Comes From Meat, and Other Nutritional Hoaxes

Last week I stumbled upon this article by Andy Bellatti discussing four of the biggest nutritional hoaxes including fruit juice, cereal, milk, and turkey. It reminded me of growing up, actually. Like many children, I believed that protein came from meat and calcium came from milk because that's the message all the billboards and television commercials were sending. As the article states, "the dairy industry has simply succeeded in convincing Americans that 'calcium' is a synonym for 'dairy.'" There was the truth of the matter, summed up in one sentence. It stopped me in my tracks, actually.

This kind of marketing has been prevalent for decades, traceable to World War II. Consider the ad to the left. Its text reads:

These days, we are meeting new meat friends . . . and liking them. We are all learning to get the most from the meat we get--and finding, now as always, "Meat has what it takes." Remember this, America: Grandchild or granddad, we all need proteins. All meat has proteins.  Meat proteins are proteins of highest quality.
And isn't eating meat one of your favorite kinds of eating?

Fascinating, isn't it? You don't often see glossy magazine pages praising quinoa, beans or lentils as rich protein sources. Meat is not the only source of protein available to us, but advertisers have certainly done a good job of making us think it is.