Category Archives: Health and Wellness

Loaded Marketing Blog Posts, Just Plain Dangerous

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Key Word Filler

It’s a glaring bit of reality that most – AND I DO MEAN MOST – blogs on this InterWeb Highway exist only to direct you to links intended to help their owners profit somehow. I’m not quite sure what makes the technology tick on these things, but when I am researching one topic or another for valid reasons entirely my own, I am disproportionately directed to web sites that make no sense whatsoever. These are “robo-sites” that have been culled by a computer program in order to appear original, or compiled by some worker in a far-off land who may or may not have an actual grasp of the language in which the web page is “written.”

You might even see a random list of keywords inserted for no obvious reason. Here is one such list, carefully designed for potential links. Continue reading Loaded Marketing Blog Posts, Just Plain Dangerous →

Nutritional Claims: Don’t Believe the Hype

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When a product claims to be “A good source of calcium!” – beware. Chances are that this is a smokescreen to get you to purchase an unhealthy product.

Seriously, suggesting that Product X is a good source of calcium is akin to stating that gin is a good source of water. Certainly, drinking 16 ounces of gin could be one way of getting a “serving” of water toward your daily quota. But is it the best way? Making gin your sole source of water would have disastrous consequences, at least for your liver. Probably also for your relationships and career, but that is another issue altogether.

A list of other candidates for a “good source” of water would necessarily include espresso, which is also a diuretic. This is the same sort of logic that many mega-brand corporate “food” packagers appear to follow Continue reading Nutritional Claims: Don’t Believe the Hype →

Are We Being Knowingly Poisoned by the Food Industry? | Suite101.com

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At some point, it is inevitable that any intelligent shopper who takes the time to read the ingredient list on most mass-produced pre-packaged food items that come in un-refrigerated cardboard boxes will ask the following question:

Are We Being Knowingly Poisoned by the Food Industry? | Suite101.com.

The answer is, unfortunately, yes. Continue reading Are We Being Knowingly Poisoned by the Food Industry? | Suite101.com →

Health Dangers of MSG and How to Look for Hidden MSG | Suite101.com

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While I am mining the web for material I can trust (mainly because I wrote it), I thought I would continue with the subject of unnecessary food additives. The article linked here is fairly non-biased in spite of the fact that I know a reasonable number of people who have strong reactions to the substance.

Health Dangers of MSG and How to Look for Hidden MSG | Suite101.com.

Read it and then consider whether it is worth the risk to eat prepared food that contains this stuff. I had a recent craving for a boxed pasta with sauce product that I enjoyed using to jump-start a quick meal back in my college days and didn’t even think to check the ingredients until I was already home. Needless to say, MSG wasn’t the only thing on the label I could do without. It’s still taking up cabinet space only because I figure I’ll rescue the noodles.

Crack for your taste buds, and not in a good way.

Dangers and Toxicity of Artificial Color and Food Dye | Suite101.com

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Dangers and Toxicity of Artificial Color and Food Dye | Suite101.com.

Common Sweets Often Contain Chemical Dye

Now, here is something that is just plain bad for you and industry wants to just sweep the evidence right under the table. I’ve seen mild reactions to dye in food many times over the years and I have corresponded with a few people who have experience with extreme behavioral or physiological reactions. Not long after writing the article linked here, a person I know had a pronounced allergic reaction to dye that sent him to the hospital. But for me, it’s all about the children. Why poison their bodies pointlessly? Why train them from a young age to believe that brightly colored foods are somehow preferable to naturally colored foods?

Hanging out in a client’s kitchen, I learned that a lot of restaurants use Yellow #5 in their eggs because they want that appealing uniform color. He kept a gallon jug of the color right above the station where they mixed the eggs in the back prep room. I mentioned the article to him (which I had just written, and so it was very much on my mind at the time) and he had no idea that Yellow #5 is one of the colors most likely to cause problems. The manufacturer does not warn of any possible side-effects on the container, after all. I guess that is what research is for.