Healthy School Lunches?

Most parents today understand the importance of feeding their children healthy food but more often than not fail to do so due to the convenience of of fast food. This is another topic in and of itself. The issue today is what are the schools feeding our kids?

The answer.........

Pizza, cheeseburgers, sloppy joes, hot dogs, corn dog, french fries, fried chicken, and all of this is washed down with sugared-up fruit juices or even worse, soda. Even when options like salads and vegetable are offered the children usually gravitate towards the fatty or sugar laden foods.

What do mom and dad usually pack with their child's lunch?

The answer....

HoHo's, DingDongs, potato chips, candy bars, little debbie's cakes, and other "treats" that ultimately contribute to the demise of their child's health in the long run. Think of the last time you ate a bunch of junk food for lunch.... You probably got hyper for a little while and then you crashed for the rest of the afternoon.

Could this be why teachers are having difficulty controlling their classes? Imagine being in a room of 30 sugar-high kids and trying to get them to learn. This is the struggle going on in the class rooms everyday which is contributing to the increase in diagnosis of ADD/ADHD. Many studies have been done linking ADD/ADHD to nutritional issues.

So what can we do about this?

Parents need to take action!! These are YOUR kids and YOU are responsible for their health, end of story. Parents need to educate their children at home about proper nutritional choices and empower them to do the right thing.

The schools need to remove the soda and candy machines. We are allowing people to take advantage of our children for financial gain the the very place that they should be the safest. This is an absolute disgrace and poor reflection of this country's commitment to the next generation. Schools need to abandon all junk foods from their menus which, in my opinion as well as other prominent researchers, would eliminate many of the behavioral issues that have been affecting kids today.

The bottom line is that everyone needs to do their part and get healthier themselves. By setting a better example we can lead the next generation to make better choices and start reversing the downward trend that the American health care system has been experiencing.

For more information please visit Russ Chiropractic and Wellness Center or call 910-395-5066.

Your for Better Health.

Dr. Dave

Chiropractic for High Blood Pressure?

Check out this cool video on Good Morning America demonstrating how chiropractic can lower blood pressure in some people. New research is coming out all the time showing the far reaching effects of the chiropractic adjustment on the body.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TTzKwvNbP0


To determine whether or not chiropractic can help you call 910-395-5066 for a complementary consultation.

Russ Chiropractic and Wellness Center

Sweet Disgust

The following was written by a colleague of mine in Asheville, NC. Check it out , its scary stuff.


- Dr.
Dave

Never base your nutrition information off of commercialism.

Sweetsurprise. com is a disgusting display of advertising diverting your attention from real concerns to promote a dangerous product. The American population is growing sicker and sicker very quickly with each generation. Cheap and efficient manufacturing of processed foods has allowed for unhealthy ingredients to be consumed on a consistent basis. We are what we eat and it is no surprise there is a rise in cardiovascular disorders, immune dysfunction, cancers etc in young populations. Our children are being raised on McDonalds, frozen dinners, popsicles, large amounts of sweetened fruit juice, etc. The easy foods are the most consumed and they are also the most dangerous.



I am absolutely disturbed and disgusted by the recent advertisements purporting high fructose corn syrup as an acceptable food. The fact that they have to defend themselves with these commercials should put up red flags as to why. Below is a copy and paste from their website, with my initial thoughts under each bulletin. One could write a very long report supported by research refuting each bulletin, but I just want to get people thinking and looking for themselves about the truth of such advertisements. The internet is full of information as to why we should avoid these types of ingredients and get back to nature in its most natural form. Not supposed “natural” ingredients, but whole foods, not processed, as close to their original source as we can get them.



Easy foods are dangerous foods. These advertisements are using an emotional appeal to say that these cheap and easy foods are ok so you can justify eating more popsicles, more unhealthy cereals, so on and so forth. Food should be medicinal and feed the cells of the body to make stronger tissues that create better functioning organs for stronger, healthier systems. Our population seems to think foods should all taste like cake and make us feel warm and fuzzy. But our perceptions of what is good taste are skewed by all the nasty substitutes for nature produced for the purpose of quick and cheap manufacturing. High fructose corn syrup is just another substitute pulling us from true nature and helping to weaken our entire population.



High Fructose Corn Quick Facts
• The American Medical Association (AMA) recently concluded that "high fructose corn syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity more than other caloric sweeteners.

"

Key words here are “more than other caloric sweeteners.” This does not refute that high fructose corn syrup does contribute to obesity. It also does not justify the excessive use of these sweeteners.



• Research confirms that high fructose corn syrup is safe and no different from other common sweeteners like table sugar and honey. All three sweeteners are nutritionally the same.



What is “nutritionally the same”? They must have a very slim definition. Are they talking about calories and ‘sugar’ content? By-products of chemical processing and the change in the structure and thus body’s use of the glucose, fructose, sucrose in these products are not taken into account. You can have two sugars of the same chemical composition but different configurations and one will be a toxin while the other will be bioavailable for use in cellular function.



Raw honey provides additional nutritional content over the artificial and processed sugars. It also lacks the rancidity found in processed corns. It does not come with the additional concerns that accompany genetically-modified corn. Consuming local honey has added benefits to the immune system. High fructose corn syrup and natural unprocessed honey are far far from nutritionally the same.



• High fructose corn syrup has the same number of calories as table sugar and is equal in sweetness. It contains no artificial or synthetic ingredients.



Let’s use another example of no artificial or synthetic ingredients:
Ethylene is the simplest alkene. It is an unsaturated hydrocarbon. It is extremely important in industry and even has a role in biology as a hormone. Ethylene is the most produced organic compound in the world.



Ooooooh, it’s “organic”!!! Actually, organic in this case refers to chemical structure, not agricultural standards.



Ethylene can be produced from natural and nonsynthetic ingredients, ethanol and sulfuric acid. Ethylene is used to make ethylene glycol – a wonderfully sweet substance! Ethylene glycol is antifreeze and will cause renal failure if ingested, BUT it can be processed without any artificial or synthetic ingredients. It can be as sweet as table sugar and I’m sure they could make sure the calories match up.



If you were encouraged to sweeten your drinks and popsicles with ethylene glycol that had the same number of calories as table sugar and with equal sweetness and contains no artificial or synthetic ingredients, would it seem okay??

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted high fructose corn syrup "Generally Recognized as Safe" status for use in food, and reaffirmed that ruling in 1996 after thorough review.



There are a large number of substances on this list for various reasons, including artificial preservatives, pesticides, deer musk, shavings of chemicals from packaging, phosphoric acid, caffeine, to name a few. The FDA keeps out substances that will quickly kill people. It does ensure our safety for long-term health. Not to mention, think of all the litigations involving death and life-threatening conditions from drugs the FDA approved and then unapproved. It is a scary thing to put your full trust in the FDA.



• High fructose corn syrup offers numerous benefits. It keeps food fresh, enhances fruit and spice flavors, retains moisture in bran cereals, helps keep breakfast and energy bars moist, maintains consistent flavors in beverages and keeps ingredients evenly dispersed in condiments.



In other words, it a cheap way to make processed foods, keep them on the shelf longer, and make them palatable regardless of how awful they are for the consumer. It is beneficial for cheap manufacturing and high profits.

For more information visit www.RussChiro.com