Become a Label Detective

You may or may not know that American’s are in the midst of a Health Crisis of major proportions, with so many of the populace becoming more ill as the years pass by. In my mind the worst part of this scenario is that our children are now getting the degenerative diseases that in the past were seen primarily in older adults.

Obesity, leading to Type 2 Diabetes, Cancer, Hardening of the Arteries, followed by Heart Disease, and Arthritis are among the many diseases that now plague our children. As an example, 70% of all twelve year old children already have the beginning stages of Hardening of the Arteries! These children will be presenting at ER’s all over our country in their late teens and early twenties with full blown Heart Disease! Dr. David Katz, Director of Yale Research Center says, “Children are more harmed by poor diet than by exposure to alcohol, drugs, and tobacco combined.” He goes on to say, “Today’s children may well be headed for a shorter lifespan than their parents.” This has never happened in the history of our country! The general rule has always been that our children live longer than we do; now it seems we’re going in the other direction. It doesn’t have to be like that!!!

What can we do about it? How do we protect ourselves and our children? First and foremost we need to become our own Health Advocates…if we don’t protect ourselves and our families, who will? So we need to educate ourselves on what it means to live a Healthy Lifestyle, and then begin by taking whatever measures we need to.

One of the best areas to begin would be to educate ourselves on what comprises the food we put into our bodies. Begin to read labels, specifically the ingredients list. Quite often manufacturers will state that a product is Trans Fat Free, when in truth, as you look at the ingredients list, you will clearly see that there are Trans Fats, (hydrogenated, or partially hydrogenated oils) in the product.

Taking an inventory of the foods you have in your pantry, discovering which ones are full of these oils, and making a personal commitment to never buy or eat them again is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your family. When we take in Trans Fats they stay in the arteries for 100 days. Now that wouldn’t be so bad if we only ate them every hundred days, but in fact, as you will see, when reading your labels, these fats are in many of the foods we eat everyday.

Where are they? You’ll find them in candy, cakes, cookies, crackers, pastries, peanut butters; all kinds of convenience and packaged foods, and of course it’s part of almost all fast food. Case in point: I have a McDonald’s Happy Meal I bought over two years ago (many people don’t believe me when I tell them that), as it has no mold, no break-down, bugs won’t eat. It looks virtually the same as it did the day I bought it! I know someone who set theirs on the kitchen floor where there dog could smell and eat it…he never even went near it….even he knew it wasn’t fit to eat!

So, become label detectives and help your children learn to recognize the words Hydrogenated and Partially Hydrogenated!

JoiLin Johnson
Wellness Consultant
www.JoiLin4Health.com