The Right to Know the Impact of What’s in Our Food

The Right to Know the Impact of What’s in Our Food

Jun 3, 2021

We all have the right to food! We also have the right to know the definition of food, the purpose of food, and the impact of each of the ingredients in our food. For that, we need to be educated—most likely, self-educated.

Food, noun is defined as:

  1. material consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate and fat used in the body of an organism to sustain growth, repair, and vital processes and to furnish energy
  2. nutriment in solid form (more or less solid nourishment, as distinguished from liquids)
  3. something that nourishes, sustains or supplies

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/food

 Nourish, verb is defined as:

  1. nurture; rear
  2. to promote the growth of
  3. to furnish or sustain with nutriment: FEED

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nourish

What should we be feeding ourselves and our families to ensure optimal health?

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, presents overall guidance in choosing nutrient-dense food and beverages in place of less healthy choices.  The guidelines recognize that individuals ultimately decide what and how much to consume. However, it also states that health professionals, communities, businesses and industries, government and other segments of society all have a role to play in supporting individuals and families in making choices that align with the Dietary Guidelines and ensuring that all people have access to a healthy and affordable food supply.¹ 

Some nutrient-dense foods, like fruit, have a sweet taste and also contain fiber which we need. However, highly processed foods and added sugar are not nutrient-dense and are not part of a healthy lifestyle.

Danger in our Food

Harvard Health published an article titled “The Sweet Danger of Sugar” in November 2019. It said that too much added sugar can be one of the most dangerous threats to cardiovascular disease. Added sugar is sugar that manufacturers add to products to enhance flavor or extend shelf life. The article went on to say that in the American diet, the top sources are soft drinks, fruit drinks, flavored yogurts, cereals, cookies, cakes, candy and most processed foods.²

Even though there are more and more studies on the danger of sugar, you will find it in many items on grocery store shelves. The World Health Organization is challenging us to eat no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugar per day. Could you imagine putting 6 teaspoons of added sugar into your mouth each day? Even that seems like a lot!

Sugar conversion:

1g = 4 calories

4g = 1 tsp

12g = 1 tbsp

According to Eric Edmeades, designer of The Immunity Blueprint, sugar stimulates appetite and suppresses the immune system. It is a leading cause in today’s Diabesity epidemic in the United States. Added sugar has been linked to a number of health issues including: diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, dementia and even cancer. If you think that artificial sweeteners are a good substitute, think again. Dr. Marlene Merritt, author of Smart Blood Sugar, says most artificial sweeteners, such as Aspartame, are nothing more than toxic junk.

If you really want that sweet taste, Healthy Keto Expert, Dr. Eric Berg, DC, recommends “good sweeteners” such as:  Xylitol (non-GMO), Erythritol (non-GMO), Stevia and Monk Fruit.³ He also suggests the herb gymnema for those who need help to control sugar cravings.⁴

Interesting to note, the United States spends more on healthcare per capita (per person) than any other country in the world⁵ yet the US does not even rate in the top 10 healthiest countries.⁶ These are clear indications that something needs to change.

What actions can we take?

Read the labels! Educate yourself on the ingredients in the food you are consuming.

In summary, 1. know the purpose of food: to nourish an organism in order to sustain life. 2. consume nutrient-dense foods (if possible, work with a nutritionist to come up with the best plan for you or check with your PCP) 3. do your best to eliminate added sugar and artificial sweeteners from your diet. AND, 4. help educate others to do the same.  

Take responsibility for your nourishment. Contribute to a more healthy, free world for us all.

 

References:

¹https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12/DGA_2020-2025_ExecutiveSummary_English.pdf

²https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-added-sugar-who-six-teaspoons-per-day-20140305-story.html#:~:text=The%20World%20Health%20Organization%20is%20challenging%20you%20to,daily%20calories%20come%20in%20the%20form%20of%20sugar.

³https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jROu0Mo3A9M&t=23s

⁴https://www.drberg.com/blog/gymnema-herb-the-best-herb-for-sugar-and-carb-cravings

⁵https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-highest-healthcare-expenditures-in-the-world.html

⁶https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/10-healthiest-countries-in-the-world.html#:~:text=1%20Spain%20is%20considered%20to%20be%20the%20healthiest,in%20the%20country%20during%20the%20past%20several%20years.

 

Disclaimer: This blog page and website are for educational and general informational purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose and is not a substitute for a medical exam, cure, treatment, diagnosis, prescription or recommendation. Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with any questions you have regarding a medical condition or changing your health regimen or diet.

The Right to Health and Well Being

The Right to Health and Well Being

Apr 5, 2021

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 25: The Right to Health and Well Being

    • “Everyone has the right to a standard of living¹ adequate for the health² and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
    • Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.”

There is so much packed in this particular UDHR Article that it is difficult to address all in a short blog. This blog will touch on pieces of the Right to Health.

Merriam-Webster defines health as the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit; freedom from physical disease or pain; a condition in which someone or something is thriving or doing well².

If we can agree that there are 3 parts to a human being–body, mind and spirit–then, in order to have true healthcare or healing, we would need to consider and address all the parts–the whole–in any medication, treatment or therapy prescribed.

Some things to look at:

    • Are your medical care providers addressing you and/or your family members as whole human beings—body, mind, and spirit?
    • Is your current treatment or therapy getting to the source of the illness or injury resulting in true healing and you thriving and doing well?
    • Do you find yourself going deeper and deeper into the medical system (one doctor after another) or are you healed and thriving?
    • What kinds of things are you putting into your body, mind and spirit? Are they promoting health and healing or are they covering up symptoms, or worse, destructive?
    • Are you surrounded by people who build you up or people who have ways of nullifying³ you–making you feel smaller?
    • What changes do you need to make or actions do you need to take for you to thrive and do well?

Take time to answer the questions above and decide how much responsibility you are willing to take for your own health.

Another key point to consider about health is a famous quote by Greek physician, Hippocrates, “Let food be thy medicine and let medicine be thy food.” Not only does everyone have the right to food but the right to nutritious food so we are able to maintain healthy bodies and minds.

This quickly leads into the need to keep our environment clean (air, water and soil). Without nutrient-dense soil that is free from toxic pesticides and insecticides, our foods have little chance of being “medicine”. Organic foods tend to be more expensive, hence, the standard of living adequate for the health of self and family rises. However, one could argue that if nourishing foods are going into the body, it would reduce the high cost of medical care on the back end.

There is clearly plenty of work to do to bring this human right to life and make a fair and free world for us all. How do you want to help?

¹Standard of living – Standard of living refers to the material basis of well-being, which is reflected in a person’s consumption level. Standard of living of an individual or group of individuals is determined by their access to resources, which comprise of both cash and non-cash income. https://ophi.org.uk/policy/gross-national-happiness-index/
²The derivation or origin of ‘health’ is before 1000; Middle English helthe, Old English hǣlth. See hale, whole, from dictionary.com
³Nullify – to make null, to make of no value or consequence. invalidate or cancel the effectiveness of something; to deprive of effective or continued existence. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nullify

Post By:  Ellen Firestone

Are You Ready to Give Up on Being Healthy?

Are You Ready to Give Up on Being Healthy?

Jun 1, 2020

Let’s begin with the definition of the word ‘health’.  Merriam-Webster defines ‘health’ as the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit; freedom from physical disease or pain; a condition in which someone or something is thriving* or doing well.  The origin of the word ‘health’ comes from the word ‘whole’. Derivation from dictionary.com

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN public health organization on planet earth, ‘health’ is defined as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

It seems that the WHO has sidestepped the notion of spiritual health—spirit, a key part of a human being–with social.  This may be because the understanding of spirit from a scientific perspective is not great, and the area of spiritual health has been filled with theological doctrines, conflict, warmongering, and so forth.

You can see why true health might be so elusive–difficult to achieve–as even Webster and the WHO are not aligned on the basic definition.

In the United States, emergency care and some diagnostic technology are top notch. However, one does not have to look very far these days to see that the majority of the healthcare system is highly fragmented. There are primary care and specialist doctors addressing different parts of the body. Perhaps prescribing a medication for one thing that then has a side effect such as nausea, memory loss, rash, insomnia, blurry vision, etc.  This may then require a visit to a different specialist who likely prescribes another type of medication with yet another side effect and then a visit to another specialist and so on and so on. Hence the reason why many people present to their primary care provider a laundry list of medications.

Our mental healthcare is even further separated from the physical care. Again, with medications or treatments being prescribed some of which have horrible physical and mental side effects. (a friend of mine repeatedly says, there are no such things as side effects, only effects!)

Still even further separated we have priests, ministers, rabbis or other clergy attempting to address the spiritual part of a human being—many people may not even look at spirituality as a key ingredient to overall health any longer.

Karl Marx once said, ‘religion is the opium of the people’. When researching what Marx meant by that, I found it was not that he was saying religious people are drug addicts but that people are in pain and it like opioid drugs covers the pain and does not get to the source of it.  I am not agreeing with Marx but do agree with finding a solution that gets to the source of pain so that true healing may occur.

We actually have some healthcare “treatments” like antipsychotic drugs, opioids, and even electroshock that oftentimes result in harming a human being and, therefore, their families. People go to experts looking for help and sometimes end up addicted or even worse. This is a gross violation of human rights!

No doubt, we are in need of health treatments and therapies that consider the whole person and get to the source of the illness or injury resulting in actual healing, not a lifetime of prescriptions to cover up symptoms.

Beyond that, some public health practices, like vaccinations or fluoride in drinking water, are to be applauded on one hand, but can go too far when denying human rights on other issues like freedom of choice or by including additives or doses that are harmful to health. It is indeed complicated, when your health may be connected to my health.

Some critics even view the healthcare system as a BIG business whose main focus is not actually healing but keeping people in the system for further profit.

A Holistic Approach

If we can agree that there are 3 parts to a human being–body, mind and spirit. Then, in order to have true health or healing, we would need to consider and address the whole person in whatever treatment is prescribed. How can we have true healing and get to the source of pain if we fail to look at the whole?

So, what is the solution? To start, we need a dramatic shift of viewpoint on healthcare towards a holistic & systems approach vs the fragmentation we currently have.

“The greatest mistake in the treatment of diseases is that there are physicians for the body and physicians for the soul, although the two cannot be separated.” – Plato

Instead of measuring how many people have heart disease, diabetes or glaucoma what if we measured the number of healthy (totally illness-free) citizens and the number of people in our country and world who are thriving? What percentage do you think that would be?

If we put our attention and efforts on people thriving and doing well, it would resolve the majority–if not all–of the human rights and environmental issues we have around the world. Let’s start with a shift of viewpoint onto the whole and an understanding of the true meaning of ‘health’ so that we search for and apply solutions that result in people thriving and doing well!

Post by: Ellen Firestone, December 1, 2019

Published June 16, 2020

*thrive – 1. To grow vigorously : FLOURISH; 2. To gain in wealth or possessions : PROSPER; 3. To progress toward or realize a goal despite or because of circumstances. Source: https://www.meriam-webster.com