Unhealthy foods and beverages:
You have a right to know what’s in your food and where and how it is made. Food companies want to blame you for unhealthy eating habits, but without full knowledge of how foods are made and what is in the food, they make you believe the food you are eating is really healthier than it is. Other food companies say that you can exercise off their products; however they don’t explain to you that their product makes your body deficient of real nutrients, minerals, and vitamins, which makes exercise very difficult. Other companies serve you super-sized portions and fail to explain that their portion size for one meal has more calories, fat, and sugar then an average person should consume in a full day. Many processed ingredients and food additives actually create an increased risk of debilitating diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension, heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, metabolic syndrome, fatty liver, liver disease, gout, osteoarthritis, and various cancers. Recently doctors have found that drinking two soft drinks a week almost doubles your risk of pancreatic cancer. Did you know that? I think it’s time for us to talk.

High Fructose Corn Syrup and sodas:
In 2004, Americans spent $66 billion on carbonated drinks, and the soft drink industry produced approximately 52 gallons per year of high fructose corn syrup sweetened soda for every man, woman, and child in the United States. Medical doctors have discovered that High-Fructose Corn Syrup, an engineered processed liquid sugar found in sodas and many processed food is treated differently by the liver when digested. Your body has a hard time recognizing High-Fructose Corn Syrup, so after you eat products which contain HFCS you still remain hungry. Second, consuming High-Fructose Corn Syrup creates a higher risk of diabetes and other health problems. Did the last soft drink you purchased warn of the risk of diabetes? New scientific research shows that drinking one soft drink a day almost doubles your chance of diabetes. Women and persons or African decent are even more likely to become diabetic. Did you know that? I think it’s time for us to talk.

Deceptive Advertising and Health:
Other drinks like Vitamin Water sound like they would be healthy. What could be harmful? – The beverages advertise Vitamins and water? However, the name is deceptive. Vitamin Water contains the same sugar content as regular sugary colas and sodas. It is much worse than plain water. The typical 12 ounce can of soda has 10 teaspoons of sugar, while the common 20 ounce size contains 17 teaspoons of sugar. Nutritionists say the 33 grams of sugar in each bottle of Vitamin Water contribute more to obesity, diabetes, and other health problems than the added vitamins help your health. While you believe you are drinking a beverage that is healthy, you are consuming your daily allowance of sugar in one drink. Other drinks like Sunny Delight advertise vitamins in their beverage; however the beverage is high in sugar. Despite advertisements showing happy and healthy kids, these sugary drinks are harming your children by increasing the risk they develop diabetes, hypertension. and other health problems at an early age. Did you know that? I think it’s time for us to talk.

Deceptive Advertising and Children:
Companies aggressively market unhealthy processed food high in sugar and low nutritional content. When’s the last time you saw an advertisement to children to eat a healthy vegetable or fruit? For every $1 spent of health and wellness television advertisements, companies spend $500 trying to convince your children to nag you into buying them sugary processed food with their favorite cartoon character. In a July 2008 study, the Federal Trade Commission found that soft-drink and processed junk food companies spent over 1 billion dollars marketing to children. Over 700 million dollars of advertising was through television advertisements, but over 100 million was spent advertising in schools. The Coca-Cola company alone spends over 2 billion dollars a year advertising its soft drinks. To combat obesity, U.S. government helped create one advertisement with Shrek and his friends telling kids to get outside and exercise, yet food corporations have used Shrek to sell and market dozens of unhealthy sugary foods like Twinkies, M&Ms, many sugary cereals, Pop-Tarts, and McDonald’s Happy Meals. Kid’s think that if their favorite cartoon or pop icon is eating these foods, it must be good. Just like using Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man to convince kids to smoke, the food companies use deceptive marketing to children to convince them to buy their product, without disclosing the serious health consequences of eating processed sugary foods. Did you know that? I think it’s time for us to talk.

School Lunches, Vending Machines and Children:
Even if you try hard a parent to feed your kids healthy foods, what happens when your children go to school? Many schools have vending machines loaded with junk food. Second, school lunches consist of pizza, French fries, fried tator tots, and other fast food and junk food items. These snacks and meals are not healthy and will affect your child’s health in the long run. Why can’t schools partner with local organic farmers to serve fresh and healthy meals that will help our children learn healthy eating habits while giving them the nutrients to develop strong minds and bodies? I think it’s time for us to talk.