Real Heros Promote Healthy Foods

Real heroes promote healthy foods
Ads - Entertainment industry urged to tie characters to more nutritional foods
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 KEVIN FREKING
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Imagine Superman promoting fresh fruits and vegetables instead of a cereal.

Children are confronted with such a barrage of advertising for food and drink -- much of it unhealthy -- that the entertainment industry should take steps to tie popular TV and movie characters to more nutritional products, the Federal Trade Commission says.

The recommendation was part of a report showing that the nation's largest food and beverage companies spent about $1.6 billion in 2006 marketing their products -- especially carbonated drinks -- to children and adolescents.

The report, released Tuesday, stems from lawmakers' concern about growing obesity rates in children. It gives researchers new insight into how much companies are spending to attract youth to their products and what venues companies use for marketing. To come up with its estimate, the FTC used confidential financial data that it required the companies to turn over.

Overall, the spending was less than previous estimates had indicated. Still, it represents a large pot of money that is being used to entice children to foods that are often unhealthy choices, said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who sought the study.

"This study confirms what I have been saying for years. Industry needs to step up to the plate and use their innovation and creativity to market healthy foods to our kids," Harkin said. "That $1.6 billion could be used to attract our kids to healthy snacks, tasty cereals, fruits and vegetables."

The commission studied spending directed at children ages 2-17. Spending on soda marketing came to $492 million, with the most directed toward adolescents. Restaurants reported spending close to $294 million, which was divided about evenly between children and adolescents. For cereals, companies spent about $237 million, with most targeted to children younger than 12.

The 44 companies reviewed spread their marketing across all segments of the media, the commission found. Television ads provided a theme that usually carried over to packaging and displays in stores, and to the Internet, where entry of a code on a package allowed children to participate in games or contests with prizes.

For example, "Superman Returns" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" were prominently linked to many food products last year. Companies created limited-edition snacks, cereals, waffles and candy based on the movies. They offered prizes on the Internet to buyers of those products that ranged from video games to trips to Disney World to a $1 million reward for the capture of villain Lex Luthor.

"The Internet -- though far less costly than television -- has become a major marketing tool of food companies that target children and adolescents, with more than two-thirds of the 44 companies reporting online, youth-directed activities," the commission report said.

The FTC made several recommendations:

Media and entertainment companies should limit the licensing of characters to healthier foods and drinks.

Schools should adopt meaningful nutrition standards for the foods that are sold there, and companies should cease all in-school promotion of products that don't meet such standards.

Companies that market food and drinks to children should expand public-outreach efforts to educate children about the importance of healthy eating and exercise, with particular attention aimed at minority populations that are disproportionately affected by childhood obesity.

The commission noted that its review came during a year in which food and beverage companies had committed to curtailing the marketing of unhealthy products. For example, it noted that 13 companies representing more than two-thirds of advertising spending directed toward children had pledged to not direct their ads to children under 12 -- unless the foods met specific nutritional standards.

Ask Dr. Popper: Allergies

Dear Dr. Pam: Do people develop allergies by eating too much of some things like soy and wheat?

Not generally, although even people who consume a healthy diet tend to eat repetitively and would benefit from more variety in the foods they choose.

Some people are born with an allergy to a food, which generally shows itself in childhood. Some people outgrow these allergies, while others have to continue to restrict a food or two throughout their lifetime.

Others develop allergies due to poor intestinal health, which allows for whole food particles to enter the bloodstream. The body produces antibodies in response, which results in an allergic reaction to these foods when they are consumed. This is best resolved by adopting a program of dietary excellence and repairing the GI tract, after which many of the foods can be tolerated again.

There is a tendency, particularly among natural health care providers, to over-diagnose food allergies, particularly to wheat and soy. Although these allergies do occur, they do so considerably less frequently than these practitioners lead people to believe. The diagnosis, in my opinion, is based on lack of knowledge about the impact of diet on health, lack of a proper understanding of what constitutes dietary excellence, and poor diagnostic skills.

Dr. Pam Popper is an excellent resource. You may visit her website at www.wellnessforum.com

Linda Stamper Benefit

Smoke and mirrors of sports and vitamin drinks

Smoke and mirrors of sports and vitamin drinks
By Sherry Brescia

We've talked in the past about the dangers of soda--It's
no secret that that sugar-laden caramel water infused with
phosphoric acid is no good for you.

To quickly refresh your memory: Two of the big killers in
soda are sugar and phosphoric acid.

In addition to the weight gain it creates, sugar increases
insulin in your blood and can cause or worsen:
- asthma
- diabetes
- heart disease
- gallstones
- high blood pressure
- arthritis
- mood swings and personality changes
- mental illness and nervous disorders
- concentration and learning difficulties in children

And when the phosphoric acid from soda gets into your
system, it throws your delicate balance of minerals way out
of whack.

There should be a 2 to 1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus in
your body. When you drink soda, you get deluged with extra
phosphorus. In reaction, your body releases extra calcium
into the bloodstream, trying to restore the 2 : 1 balance.

You may ask, "Where does the body get the extra calcium?"

The answer: From your bones.

That's right--every soda you drink leeches calcium from
your bones and organs.

Is it any wonder why the US has more osteoporosis than
anywhere in the world?

We lead the world in osteoporosis, in part, because we
lead the world in soda consumption at 600 12-ounce servings
per person per year--that's nearly 60 gallons for each man,
woman and child each year.

Here's a neat factoid: It takes 32 glasses of water to
neutralize the acid from just one glass of soda in your
body. That's a lot of acid!

Some people with good intentions think that instead
they'll be healthier by drinking sports drinks, energy
drinks, vitamin-enriched waters or similar beverages.

Don't be fooled by the "health" claims made by the
manufacturers of these drinks. You'd be better off
drinking dirty dishwater. No joke.

These "health" drinks are NOT healthy. They are just
marketed that way for one reason and one reason alone:
Profits.

Here are some "healthy" drinks and their major ingredients:

* Gatorade G2: Water, sucrose (sugar), high fructose corn
syrup (the worst form of sugar on the planet) and citric
acid (another bone-brittling form of acid for your body to
expend minerals to neutralize).

* Aquafina Alive Wellness Water: Water, white grape juice
concentrate (mainly sugar), phosphoric acid (just like soda).

* Red Bull: Carbonated water, sucrose (sugar), glucose
(more sugar), caffeine.

* Sobe Life Water: Water, sugar, citric acid and ascorbic
acid (two more acids for your body to fight with its
minerals).

* Vitamin Water: Water, crystalline fructose (sugar),
cane sugar, citric acid.

* Gatorade: Water, sucrose syrup (sugar), high fructose
corn syrup (see G2 above) and citric acid.

* Dasani Plus: Water, citric acid, phosphoric acid (just
like soda).

Listen, my dear friend, don't let the beverage giants
trick you with their multi-million dollar marketing
campaigns and brainwash you into thinking their sugar and
acid creations are actually good for you.

These drinks boast that they're fortified with vitamins
and minerals (to make them appear healthy). But since your
body can't possibly neutralize all the acid they cause, it
can't even use any of those added nutrients. Ironic, huh?

So the claim that these drinks are healthy because of
added nutrients is just a joke and a marketing ploy.

The beverage giants are led by their marketing divisions
whose sole purpose is profits. And there are people in
these organizations who know what I'm telling you now.

So the answer to the question is yes, they knowingly
jeopardize and harm the health of billions with their
drinks--getting kids (and adults) addicted to the sugar--
and sleep like babies at night while sweet visions of
dollar signs dance in their heads.

If you want to be bursting with energy, be oxygenated
and enjoy a long life, you must learn the drinks that
ARE truly good for you.

Sherry Fritz
Get Fit and Fab with Sherry
866-508-2910

Migraine Headaches

I've suffered from migraines since I was 11 years old, so I have always thought that by now, I'd have preventing them down to a science. I've spent years avoiding eating anything with MSG -- that means I've skipped out on the tempting spinach dips and flavored chips at parties, and I scan the labels of almost everything I buy at the grocery store. As many migraine sufferers know, MSG isn't the only cause of migraines. I've been to doctors, taken vitamins and carry Excedrin with me at all times, but the truth is no matter how much you try to avoid it, you're going to get a migraine one of these days.
This week, I found myself leaving work early with a forehead-throbbing, nauseated-causing migraine. I couldn't think of anything I had done to prompt my migraine. After all, I was in too much pain to care, anyway. My boyfriend, however, didn't want to give up so easily. He was determined to figure out the cause. He thought back to every food we had eaten over the past few days.

"Was it the soy sauce we had with the sushi?" he asked me.

No, I didn't use the soy sauce.

"What about the beef jerky?"

Even though the beef jerky did contain my friend MSG, I only had two itsy-bitsy pieces, so I knew it wasn't the beef jerky.

"What about the soda from last night?"

The soda? Impossible. But, lo and behold, boyfriend brought can of soda to my attention, and at the very end of the list of ingredients was a mysterious item marked by two asterisks. The can read: PHENYLKETONURICS: Contains PHENYLALANINE.

We Googled the ingredient, and sure enough, for people prone to migraines, phenylalanine is known to tighten blood vessels and slow down blood flow, causing -- you guessed it -- a migraine!

Not only did I add another item to my "Foods to Never Eat Again" list, I spent the day home from work, in bed. I popped some Excedrin, lay down, applied some pain-relieving muscle cream (like BENGAY) and an ice pack to my forehead and drifted off to sleep. Some people may find the muscle cream part strange, but it numbs the pain, and when it comes to migraines that just won't go away, I'm all about numbing the pain. If the ice pack isn't working for me, I resort to an herbal bean bag that I heat up in the microwave for two minutes and then apply it where it hurts.

So, I may not look (or smell) like the most attractive person when I have a migraine (perhaps that's why my boyfriend was so insistent on finding it's cause?), but I'll resort to whatever I have to in order to wake up cured.

Do you have your own personal remedy/alternative medicine for migraines? Help me (and the rest of us migraine-sufferers) out by sharing with us in a comment below.

--Jenn Kepler, jr. copy editor
ediets diet and fitness blog