Michelle Woodworth

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Here’s a great quote for you.  This came from a poster that the National Soft Drink Association provided to teachers.  “As refreshing sources of needed liquids and energy, soft drinks represent a positive addition to a well-balanced diet….These same three sugars also occur naturally, for example, in fruits….In your body it makes no difference whether the sugar is from a soft drink or a peach.”  Seriously?

Did you like that last quote?  I have another.  Coca-Cola chairman and CEO, M. Douglas Ivester, defended marketing campaigns in Africa saying “Actually, our product is quite healthy.  Fluid replenishment is a key to health….Coca-Cola does a great service because it encourages people to take in more and more liquids.”  What’s actually happening is that people are consuming sugar, artificial coloring, and caffeine instead of the water that our bodies can’t function without.

I wonder how many people would consider reducing or eliminating the amount of soda they drink if they knew what it was doing in their bodies?

Studies have shown that obesity rates have risen in tandem with soft-drink consumption.  Though carbonated beverages are not the sole cause of obesity, heavy consumption is likely to cause weight gain in many consumers and The National Institutes of Health recommends drinking water rather than sugary soft drinks to those trying to lose or control their weight.  An interesting fact is that there are 3,500 calories in one pound of fat.  If someone wanted to lose one pound a week they would need to cut out 500 calories per day.  Do you know how many calories are in a 20 ounce bottle of Coca-Cola?  250.  So by just replacing a soda a day with water, you could lose 2 pounds a month.

Carbonated beverages are the largest source of refined sugar in the American diet and refined sugar promotes tooth decay.  Regular consumption of soft drinks contributes to cavities because they coat the teeth in sugar-water.  There are 68 grams of sugar in a 20 ounce bottle of soda.  A teaspoon of sugar is 4.2 grams.  That means you are consuming the equivalent of 16 teaspoons of sugar with each bottle of soda you drink.  Might want to put the dentist on speed dial.

Just in case you need a few more reasons to drink less soda. . . Heart disease is the number one killer in America and one of the contributing factors is a diet high in sugar.  Studies have linked carbonated beverages with the occurrence of kidney stones.  And let’s also mention caffeine.  It’s a mildly addictive stimulant drug that can cause nervousness, sleeplessness, headaches, irritability, and rapid heartbeat.   Caffeine also increases the loss of calcium in urine which may contribute to the risk of osteoporosis.

All that trouble in those brightly colored plastic bottles . . .

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Michelle Woodworth
Opting for a Peach

What do Angelina Jolie, Britney Spears, Brett Favre, Elton John, Dr. Phil McGraw, Martha Stewart, and Batman all have in common? They have all sported a milk mustache for the long-running “got milk” campaign.   It “does a body good”, right?  I mean, if actors, entertainers, and athletes are all drinking milk, it must be good for me too . . .

Did you know that the majority of the human population across the globe does NOT drink or use cow’s milk?  How about that many people can’t drink milk because their body can’t tolerate it, or that our bodies actually produce an antibody against milk?  Some sources say that our bodies lose the enzymes required to digest dairy products by the age of two or three.

Dairy food is a very controversial issue.  Many believe that dairy is not fit for human consumption and numerous studies have documented its ill effects on health.  Yet, dairy farming is a multi-billion dollar government-subsidized industry whose advertising campaigns lead us to believe that we can’t live without milk.

You’ve seen the milk campaigns on television and in magazines. Now I’d like to share with you some of the information that’s not as readily available.

Osteoporosis occurs when bone breaks down faster than it is formed and it affects over 28 million people each year, 80% of which are women.  Most experts recommend drinking lots of milk for calcium, but the more dairy one consumes, the weaker bones can become.  Harvard University’s Nurses Health Study followed 78,000 women over a 12-year period and found that the women who consumed the most dairy products broke more bones than those who rarely drank milk.

Think milk is a natural food?  Fifty years ago, the average cow produced 2,000 pounds of milk annually.  Today, thanks to drugs, hormones, and forced feeding plans, top milk producers are putting out 50,000 pounds per year.  Bovine Growth Hormone, BGH, has actually been banned in many European countries due to safety concerns.

You’ve heard that you shouldn’t give babies cow’s milk until they are at least a year old, right?  Feeding human babies milk that is designed for calves can increase the chances of developing an allergy to cow’s milk.  Some symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, persistent colic, eczema, hives, bronchitis, asthma, and sleeplessness.  It has even been suggested that some crib deaths can be attributed to dairy allergies.

The conventional food pyramid shows that we should be consuming three servings of dairy products daily for a balanced diet, but milk consumption has been linked to increased risk for cardiovascular disease and breast and prostate cancer.  This is not, as previously thought, due to fat content but to the ratio of calcium to magnesium.  Ideally, you need twice as much calcium as magnesium.  The ratio in milk is 10:1, leading to magnesium (important for bone density) deficiency.

Based on current evidence, dairy products should not be a staple for a healthy diet.  Seeds, nuts, cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower provide calcium, magnesium and other minerals that are more in line with our needs.  You can try substituting soy or rice milk or buying organic milk.  If you think you might have a dairy allergy, cut these products from your diet for two weeks and see if you notice a difference.

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Michelle Woodworth
Getting my calcium from carrots.