Childhood Obesity Epidemic >>> Here's the #1 Reason

[Guest guest]

Every once in a while I like to reprint a Mercola article just in case someone

may have missed it (mercola.com the #1 health website in the world). I think

everyone needs to read this.

Will

_____________________________________________________________________________

Childhood obesity is an obvious threat to public health ... but national

security? Have young adults in the United States become so out of shape that

they are unable to keep up with the physical demands of serving in the military?

An eye-opening report by Mission: Readiness, an organization made up of retired

admirals and generals, found that 75 percent of young people are unable to join

the military, and the number one reason why is obesity.

In fact, 27 percent of young Americans are too overweight to join the military,

according to the report, and roughly 15,000 young potential recruits fail their

entrance physicals every year because they are too heavy.

This is a signal of a disturbing paradigm shift, one that is threatening to end

children's lives prematurely and interfere with their quality of life regardless

of whether they choose to enter the military or not.

Even Bigger than the Drug Companies

The agriculture lobby is now more powerful than even the pharmaceutical

industry, and insiders have made their way into top positions in Washington. As

a result, they have been able to effectively manipulate the system to encourage

an increase in the use of foods that contribute to the obesity epidemic. The

primary culprit is high fructose corn syrup.

Today, 55 percent of sweeteners used in food and beverage manufacturing are made

from corn, and the number one source of calories in America is soda, in the form

of HFCS.

Without getting into the very complex biochemistry of carbohydrate metabolism,

it is important to understand some differences about how your body handles

fructose as opposed to other forms of sugar like glucose.

Fructose is the most lipophilic carbohydrate. In other words, fructose converts

to activated glycerol (g-3-p), which is directly used to turn FFAs into

triglycerides. The more g-3-p you have, the more fat you store. Glucose does not

do this.

When you eat 120 calories of glucose, less than one calorie is stored as fat.

120 calories of fructose results in 40 calories being stored as fat. Consuming

fructose is essentially consuming fat!

The metabolism of fructose by your liver creates a long list of waste products

and toxins, including a large amount of uric acid, which drives up blood

pressure, increases insulin resistance, and causes gout.

Every cell in your body, including your brain, utilizes glucose. Therefore, much

of it is " burned up " immediately after you consume it. By contrast, fructose is

turned into free fatty acids (FFAs), VLDL (the damaging form of cholesterol),

and triglycerides, which get stored as fat.

The fatty acids created during fructose metabolism accumulate as fat droplets in

your liver and skeletal muscle tissues, causing insulin resistance and

non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Insulin resistance progresses to

metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes.

Glucose suppresses the hunger hormone ghrelin and stimulates leptin, which

suppresses your appetite. Fructose has no effect on ghrelin and interferes with

your brain's communication with leptin, resulting in overeating.

The bottom line is fructose, a cheap form of sugar used in thousands of food

products and soft drinks, can damage human metabolism and is fueling the obesity

crisis.

Proof That Fructose Causes Obesity in Youth

The American Beverage Association claims there is " no association between high

fructose corn syrup and obesity. "

However, a long lineup of scientific studies suggest otherwise:

Dr. Ludwig of Boston Children's Hospital did a study of the effects of

sugar-sweetened drinks on obesity in children. He found that for each additional

serving of a sugar-sweetened drink, both body mass index and odds of obesity

increased in the children he studied.

The Fizzy Drink Study in Christchurch, England explored the effects on obesity

when soda machines were removed from schools for one year. In the schools where

the machines were removed, obesity stayed constant. In the schools where soda

machines remained, obesity rates continued to rise.

In a recent study, 16 volunteers were fed a controlled diet including high

levels of fructose. Ten weeks later, the volunteers had produced new fat cells

around their hearts, livers and other digestive organs.

They also showed signs of food-processing abnormalities linked to diabetes and

heart disease. A second group of volunteers who were fed a similar diet, but

with glucose replacing fructose, did not have these problems.

What Is It In Soft Drinks And Other Sweet Drinks That Is Damaging Your Health?

In one word, fructose.

The food and beverage industry doesn't want you to realize how truly pervasive

HFCS is in your children's diet -- not just from soft drinks and juices, but

also in salad dressings and condiments and virtually every processed food. The

introduction of HFCS into the Western diet in 1975 has been a multi-billion

dollar boon for the corn industry.

Further, the food crops currently subsidized by the U.S. government are corn,

wheat, soy and rice. Growing little else but corn and soy means we end up with a

fast food diet. In essence, these commodity programs are subsidies for the

creation of junk and fast food, not REAL food that could have a positive impact

on public health.

Unhealthy Weight Can Shave Years Off Your Child's Life

It is becoming clear that poor diets, daily sodas and not enough activity are

overtaking cigarettes as the greatest risks to youths' health.

In the past 30 years, childhood obesity has more than tripled. Now, one in three

children aged 10 to 17 is overweight or obese. What does this mean for these

children's futures? For many, an early grave.

Children who are obese are more than twice as likely to die before the age of 55

than those of a healthy weight.

Obese teenage women are more likely to die between ages 36-56 than their normal

weight peers.

Women in the moderately obese category as teens elevate their risk of death in

adulthood by 50 percent.

Obese teens more than double their mortality risks compared to their slimmest

peers.

Based on researchers' calculations, by the middle of this century the increased

risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer (faced by today's obese youth in

particular) could lower the average life expectancy by as much as five years.

Even more disheartening: The dramatic increase in childhood obesity may have

erased anywhere from four to nine months off children's lives already, according

to researchers.

Every young adult deserves the chance to focus on their education, their

friends, their future and on finding themselves and developing into their own

skin as adults.

Sadly, instead many young adults are finding themselves facing a rash of adult

diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, cancer and

osteoarthritis.

These are diseases that have no place in a young person's life, so I urge you

and your children to take positive steps to avoid these illnesses now; they are,

fortunately, virtually 100 percent preventable.

How to Keep Your Child from Becoming Overweight

By changing your lifestyle (or your child's) in the following ways, you will

naturally reach the ideal weight for your body:

Keep all fructose under 25 grams per day. Fructose is the number one source of

calories in the U.S., and it is very clear that it is the primary cause of the

obesity epidemic. Your children need to dramatically reduce foods that are high

in fructose, such as fruit juices.

Fruits need to be carefully measured as well to make certain that no more 25

grams of fructose are consumed. See the table below to get an idea of how much

fructose is in your favorite fruits. Most processed food is loaded with fructose

and is best avoided. For instance, there are about 40 grams of HFCS per can of

soda.

Fruit Grams of Fructose

(for just under 1 cup)

Dates 32

Raisins 30

Figs 29.6

Prune puree 13.8

Dried peaches 13.5

Dried apricots 12.5

Dried plums 12.5

Grapes 8

Applesauce 7.5

Pineapple 7.2

Pears 6.2

Apples 6

Mango 5.5

Cherries 5.3

Fruit Grams of Fructose

(for just under 1 cup)

Blueberries 5.0

Bananas 4.9

Kiwi fruit 4.3

Currants 3.5

Watermelon 3.4

Plums 3

Honeydew melon 2.9

Strawberries 2.4

Blackberries 2.4

Tangerines 2.4

Raspberries 2.3

Oranges 2.2

Pineapple 2

Follow my nutrition plan and tailor your diet to your nutritional type. These

are the foods that are right for your biochemistry, and these are the foods that

will push your body toward its ideal weight. (By the way, these foods may be

high in fat, high in carbs, heavy on protein or heavy on veggies, it all depends

on YOU).

View exercise as a drug. When you're trying to lose weight, a casual walk here

and there is not going to cut it. Many studies find that exercising for one

hour, five days a week is actually needed, and I tend to agree with that.

Sometimes you may need even up to 90 minutes of exercise every day.

For best results, be sure you are incorporating the appropriate variety of

exercises into your routine.

For instance, their is compelling evidence that strength training and

high-intensity anaerobic interval training may be especially effective for

weight loss, so you'll want to incorporate these into your workout program.

Let go of your emotional blocks. Tools like the Emotional Freedom Technique

(EFT) and Meridian Tapping Technique (MTT) are your friend and ally when it

comes to losing weight. For some, emotional eating is more complex, and an

experienced EFT practitioner may be able to help unravel some of your deeper

emotional issues.

For young children, in particular, making a few simple changes at home can also

make a major difference in their future weight. Preschool-aged children, for

instance, are less likely to become obese later in life if you:

Eat dinner together as a family

Make sure your child is getting enough sleep

Limit your child's television viewing time

To give your child the best start at life, and help instill healthy habits that

will last a lifetime, you should strive to lead by example. There is perhaps no

better way to help your child lose weight than to model the healthy behaviors

I've described above in your own daily life.