Cafeteria Plaque & Vending Machines

Parents need to become advocates if they are to see their children eating healthy and growing strong. As a High School teacher of 22 years, I saw the food being served in the cafeteria. We didn’t have the choice of ice cream, pizza, fudge brownies, nachos, hot dogs, sloppy Joe’s and grease-heavy spaghetti and meatballs. A fat kid was a rare breed in our high school - while I was growing up. In 1967 High Fructose Corn Syrup began showing up in all baked goods and many spaghetti sauces, beverages and the list is unending.
Now, if we want to stop this obesity problem, we need to walk into the cafeteria with a camera and take a picture of the menu so conspicuously displayed at the front of the room. If you don’t, you’re starting the attack on the young body of our children.

Would you believe that the above are menu items from Monday to Friday? Sticky blood from cheese, hypertension from high sugar content and blood pressure from high-sodium content–all add up to a formula for disaster.

Would you believe that dieticians help in putting this formula for disaster into the trusting mouths of babes? You stopped the smoking, until people who still do - are considered lacking in good judgment, when they light-up anywhere. Now you can stop diabetes type II, and prevent the build-up of plaque in the arteries of your beloved offspring. The American Diabetes Association reports in their April 2007 letter that there are now 21 million Americans who have diabetes. This year more than 1.5 million Americans will be told they have diabetes. www.diabetes.org can provide you with more information on the subject.

You can confront the administrators of our schools with questions on the rationale behind vending machines in schools and ice cream, candy and potato chips. Your child may have a learning disability that is exacerbated by his intake of bad foods. Ritalin isn't the answer, it may be part of the problem. Eating bad foods can cause serious problems ranging from acid indigestion to nervousness and aggressive behavior. Do you think that the only answer is to buy more drugs?

When’s the last time you had a blood test on your child to determine the effects of these "Super-Size Me" meals? You can read a blood test report and you have the right to sign a release statement to yourself at the time of the test. You CAN discuss the results and read the simple indications of H for High; L for Low and N for Normal. You can learn about good cholesterol like HDL and bad cholesterol like LDL. You can even ask for a copy of the BMI (Body Mass Index) to determine your child’s healthy weight for his/her height. There is so much that you can do to convince your school leaders, dieticians, doctors and your own sons and daughters - that you know what is good for them and what is not. That kind of directiveness was part of growing up in the first half of the 20th century. Giving your child everything they want is not only dangerous to their health, but research shows a growing number of children displaying narcissistic tendencies. With no guidance, they are lost and don’t have a clue until it is too late. They become demanding and we let their tongue be their only guide to what they should eat.
Fill them with all the fresh fruit and vegetables you can supply so that they are full of cantaloupe, watermelon, broccoli, cabbage, fish, and lean cuts of meat. Portion out their meals and fill your home with scents of love - a kind of aroma therapy. As this blog goes world-wide, there are more researchers realizing that treating symptoms is like waiting for your child to fall off his bike before teaching him about balance and caution.
Take a picture of your child’s school lunch menu and enlarge it, then take it with you when you next visit your child’s pediatrician. It’s easier to diagnose the problem when you know what we’re putting in the tank.

Stop allowing the tail to wag the dog - lead by example. Would you let your child grab the steering wheel from the school-bus driver?

Alzheimer's and Plaquing Up The Brain

Plaque In The Brain
Alzheimer’s Disease is attacking Americans at an alarming rate and needs to be addressed to find out the source, cause, preventative and treatment approaches. This disease is evident amongst many families and friends to the extent that not a day goes by without my reading and looking for ways to inform the public of the devastating effects on everyone. Otherwise healthy seniors are suddenly moved into long-term care or assisted living facilities that deal with Alzheimer’s. They are shocked and confused and their lives are changed similar to the effects of falling off a cliff. Caregivers are at a loss as to how to address the problem. Adult children feel guilty for having to rip their parents out of their secure environment and place them amongst strangers while ending their social and day to day regimens. These family members are well-meaning, but they need more than trial and error methods to address the problem. Recently, one of our seniors, active in senior tennis, had symptoms and his family is taking him to Johns Hopkins University to seek help. An 81 year old who can shovel her own driveway and play tennis three times a week, found herself in a totally new setting. She is sad and feels betrayed by her children and would like her life back, but her family knows of the dangers that may beset her while she is living alone.
Falling in the snow, a burning pot on the stove, missing important medications, forgetting to eat, and a host of other problems associated with living independently are eliminated by sending the confused and forgetful senior to a "facility".
That is my own experience with friends, families and loved ones and it continues to motivate my interest in the subject. One of our friends began making out checks for services she had already paid for and would ask numerous times if she had paid her restaurant bill. She, noticeably, was losing weight because she couldn’t recall the last time she ate. We did notice that she had two open containers of peanut butter on her kitchen table. And that may be part of the reason she is declining in her ability to function mentally. Cholesterol may contribute to the formation of amyloid plaque in the brain, which is one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s. The tastebuds may lie to the brain when it comes to proper nutrition.
Eating a Mediterranean diet and watching your carbs might lower your risk of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. The old adage "you are what you eat" takes on a new meaning according to several new studies. For example a recent study in the Archives of Neurology concluded that sticking to a Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables, fish, and moderate amounts of red wine might reduce the risk of AD. Another Archives of Neurology study linked higher blood levels of docosahexaeonic acid (DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid found in fish) to a possible reduced risk of dementia. In addition, a study headed by Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry and neuroscience and director of the Neuroinflammation Research Laboratory at Mount Sinai, was the first to show that restricting caloric intake—specifically carbohydrates—may prevent AD in mouse models of the disease.
Yesterday (March 31, 2007) news released indicated an oral vaccination for Alzheimer’s in a mouse test showed some positive results. Unfortunately, there is no food, diet or supplement proven to halt or treat dementia. But researchers are zeroing in on how dietary factors may help. "Mount Sinai is currently taking part in a national study of DHA, for example, to determine if it can slow AD progression."
A Mediterranean diet is rich in vegetables that contain polyphenols (chemicals that may protect cells against reactive substances that can damage tissues). It also contains certain kinds of fats, including those found in fish, which may protect the neurons in response to injury in the brain. "One thing is becoming very clear—brain cells appear to be much more sensitive to what we actually do and what we eat than was previously known."
Since October 2003, when I began my quest for a "lifestyle change," I have seen a change in direction amongst researchers, universities of medicine and even medical doctors in the way they look at possible treatment of serious illnesses plaguing our society. We have done the hard things in space and technology and now it is time to address the "war on disease." Whether you are rich or poor, healthy or ill, we all have friends and family who need our help. I am not seeking fame or fortune, but I do try to ignite a flame in the hearts of people to address the enemies of good health by starting with the person in the mirror.