ClydeStyle

Tag: Food Inc.

  • Can we really trust the FDA? Not by its track record

    There was so much controversy about the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to head up the Food and Drug Administration because of his radical views and conspiracy theories. But if there was ever a government agency that needed shaken up, the FDA was it.

    Now, this is not a blog in supporting of RFK Jr., it is about the harm that has been done by the FDA to the American people because they refuse to let lobbyists keep their checks.

    Right now, there are over 100 countries that will not eat our meat. It is cruel and criminal how we treat chickens, pigs, and cows in this country — and we’re doing it to our own detriment. As a result, countries like Canada have decided to pass on our meat.

    There are some extremely dangerous and cancer causing chemicals that we put in our food that is extremely harmful. I asked A.I. for some specifics on the most dangerous of these chemicals. A.I. broke it down this way:

    The following chemicals are toxic and harmful to human health or banned in other countries. Some examples of these chemicals include: 

    • Lead: A metal found in some dietary supplements, vinegars, and spices 
    • Asbestos: A toxic substance linked to cancer, genetic mutations, and fetal harm 
    • Hexabromocyclododecane: A flame retardant used in some building materials 
    • Azodicarbonamide: A food additive that breaks down into other chemicals, including semicarbazide, which can cause cancer in mice 
    • Brominated vegetable oil (BVO): A food additive used in citrus-flavored drinks that may affect the thyroid 

    Other chemicals that are considered hazardous include: 

    Arsenic, Benzene, Chromium, Cadmium, Mercury, Chlorine, Hydrogen cyanide, Nitrous oxide, and Phosgene.

    Chemicals can be toxic in our bodies, so we should read labels carefully and by organic when possible. Also, processed food is an absolute thumbs down! Lamb and fish are better meat choices, and you should only consume whole foods.

    Our government is more worried about what fentanyl is doing to us than the true enemy, which is sugar. White sugar and other sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup are responsible for the obesity problem in America and all of the degenerative diseases that go with it.

    Artificial sweeteners are also known as sugar substitutes, non-nutritive sweeteners, or non-sugar sweeteners (NSS).
    Here are some common artificial sweeteners:
    Aspartame: A non-saccharide sweetener that’s marketed under the names NutraSweet, Equal, and Canderel.

    Acesulfame potassium: Also known as Ace-K, this sweetener is about 200 times sweeter than table sugar.

    Sucralose: A non-caloric derivative of sucrose that’s 600 times sweeter than sucrose.
    Saccharin: A non-nutritive sweetener that’s made in a lab and looks like a white, crystalline powder.
    Neotame: A sweetener derived from the amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine.
    Advantame: An ultra-intense sweetener that’s 20,000 times sweeter than table sugar.
    Stevia: A natural herb that’s zero calories and 10–15 times sweeter than sucrose.
    Cyclamate: A potent sweetening agent that’s been the subject of safety and carcinogenicity studies.

    Artificial sweeteners are often used in foods and drinks to reduce sugar intake. They’re generally calorie-free and don’t raise blood sugar levels, but they have no nutritional value.

    So obesity is not a single person’s fault. The FDA has a dominant role in keeping you fat, sick, and unhealthy. There is no profit in healthy people.

  • Food: Do you know what you’re eating?

    I’ve been doing some research as of late to determine what type of diet would work best for me in the upcoming year. You see I diet for at least the first quarter of the year and then quit — another story and another blog.

    Anyway, I discovered some things that made me really think about the places I eat and the entrée’s I order.

    Without getting specific to any food chain, I’m wondering how many of you know that many sit-down restaurants have regular meals that far exceed 1,200 calories. I mean if you were to go to one of these chains and order  say a gourmet turkey burger with fries and a diet beverage, you would be consuming, in that one meal (even if you only eat half the fries), more than 1,000 calories!  On the other hand, if you ate a burger from one of the popular fast food restaurants, you would need some fries to equal the calorie count of the gourmet turkey burger.

    I was shocked by this. I thought that eating in a sit-down restaurant was healthier than eating at a fast-food restaurant. It really depends on what you eat, but the fast-food chains have gotten much better with their menus than some of the sit-down places.

    Another shocker was that some restaurants offer you a nice, thick, juicy steak, but they don’t tell you that their steak carries carbohydrates. Meat shouldn’t have carbs unless it’s breaded. I’ve never seen a breaded New York strip steak. This would be a nightmare for a diabetic. Say the diabetic is counting their carbs (as any good diabetic would do) and they didn’t want to go over 75 carbs. This diabetic would count the carbs in the baked potato or rice pilaf, but would not expect to have to count 22 carbs hidden in the meat!

    The carbs in this meat would be the food additives allowed by that “food safety governing body” to preserve the meat for an extended period. They say it’s safe. Unfortunately, these restaurants are not required to submit nutritional information on the menu. The state of New York has made this mandatory for their restaurants. Every state should adopt this law.

    I guess the gripe here is that you have lots of folks who sincerely want to lose weight and without accurate nutritional information, they are destined to over-eat.

    Some might be thinking that if they knew the risks, some would still partake and that’s a fair assessment. However, if just 13 percent of the obese population would lose weight because they had nutritional information at their finger tips, would it be worth it?

    Or even better, what if our insurance premiums were lowered as you lost weight. What a novel concept!

    We need to know where our food comes from and how it’s processed. This should be common knowledge in our country.

    As great a country as America is, we could solve the obesity problem. Unfortunately what’s happening is that too many industries are benefiting from the “fat” in America and once that happens, things never seem to get better.

    Our food is not grown anymore, it’s engineered. And are we to believe that additives can’t be placed in our food to make us healthy, speed up our metabolism or burn fat? Sure it could. But look at all of the money that would be lost if we totally eliminated obesity: Some forms of hypertension, cancer, diabetes, high cholesterol, strokes and heart disease, to name a few. We won’t totally wipe out these diseases, but wow what a dent we could make.

    I guess all we can hope for now is to buy organic and hope that the new heads of that “food safety governing body” get a conscience from somewhere and use their power for the good of us all and not just to line their own pockets. Here is the link to Food, Inc.’s website:

    http://www.foodincmovie.com/index.php

    I would also recommend the documentary, “Supersize Me.” Watch it for FREE at Hulu.com. Here is the link: http://www.hulu.com/watch/63283/super-size-me.