A new study came out to show the cost of childhood diseases linked to environmental toxins. It is shocking to see the amount of money spent. Is it really necessary to spend that much money on childhood diseases? Aren't we better off trying to remove as many toxins from our environment as possible? To build strong and healthy bodies with nourishing foods? I think so, but it doesn't seem to be main concern of our government. After all it approves many of the toxins we are exposed to. I found it sad to see how much money is spent on many diseases that can either be prevented or reversed naturally.  

The study was conducted by Leonardo Trasande of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. According to the study,  exposure to toxic chemicals and air pollution lead to childhood illnesses that cost 76.6 billions in health care costs in 2008. This is a significant increase since 1997. The study looked the cost of conditions that are linked to pollutants and toxins found in soil, air, water, food, neighborhoods and homes. Some of these conditions are cancer, lead poisoning and chronic conditions such as autism, ADHD/ADD, and asthma.

"Left unchecked, these preventable environmental factors will continue to harm the health of our children and push up health care costs," Trasande said. "By updating environmental regulations and laws aimed at protecting the public's health, we can reduce the toll taken by such factors on children's health and the economy." (Health Affairs)

The study showed that less money is spent on asthma care and that lead exposure was reduced since an analysis was done in 1997. Sadly, newly environmentally induced conditions such as ADHD and mercury exposure had increased instead. Interestingly enough, in the Health Affairs' article, the mercury exposure is only linked to contaminated fish and coal-fired plants without mentioning the biggest cause of all, the vaccines. I don't know about your children, but there's no way that I will be able to serve enough fish to cause mercury toxicity in my children. Most children are not crazy about fish. It is not mentioned that dental amalgams contain mercury either.

The breakdown of the costs:

Lead may also be a contributing factor in autism, ADHD, cancer, asthma, ad intellectual disability. Paint is not the only source of lead, canned food, insecticides, cigarette smoke, and drinking water can also contain lead. I found out that the water in the drinking fountain at my son's school had more lead than it should. 

It is very upsetting that our government allows so many chemicals that have been linked to cancer. Instead of removing the harmful toxins from our food, toys, drinks, air, and building material,  they spend a fortune on research that will not remove cancer.  The government needs to work on teaching everyone prevention, and it needs to focus on nutrition and real food instead of trying to prevent us from growing and eating real food.

This is a huge amount of money and the amount of children diagnosed are rapidly increasing. First of all, I am not saying it works for all children, but there are many parents that have successfully reversed autism. I think that parents should have the choice to explore their options. The insanity is that after talking to autism parents, it is obvious that many therapies that have shown progress have all of a sudden been shut down by insurance companies. Once again, the government ignores data that certain things such as vaccines may be a trigger in autism. A doctor like Dr. Wakefield lost his medical license when he proved a connection between the MMR vaccines and gut problems. 

Sadly, many of these conditions can be prevented and even reversed. It is more important than ever to keep the body fully nourished to make it stronger. A strong body can resist toxins better. Some nutrients even work as antidotes to heavy metals.

The authors recommend more reduction of lead paint to protect the children, to be stricter on the air quality to curb the mercury emissions, and to test new and existing chemicals. While I agree with their recommendations, they're missing important factors such as the amount of lead found in water and the mercury exposure from vaccines and dental amalgams.

This study didn't mention toxins such as GMO, MSG, aspartame, vaccines, food dyes, and other substances that have been linked to ADHD, autism, cancer and asthma. At least not what I could tell from reading the article, however, the general description did mention pollutions found in water and food. The authors did point out that toxicity testing of substances should be done.  We need to work hard to avoid these toxins, and  I know that it is getting harder to do. Nutritional deficiencies and gluten sensitivity have also been linked to many conditions so we need to keep an open mind to various causes of disease.

We are living in a toxic world and some of the toxins are impossible to avoid. There are however many things we can do to improve our health by not allowing many of them to be produced in the first place. The amount of chemicals in the food is a disgrace. Most children in this country grow up eating things that are so full of chemicals that they do not even fit into any food groups.  The total ignorance from the government when it comes to evaluating research that prove that our children are getting sick from vaccines, flouride, polluted water, GMO products, beauty products and  pharmaceuticals is also a disgrace.

 Most people know that sugar is bad for us, but I still see people using way too much sugar. It is also important to remember all the hidden sugars in salad dressings, ketchup, lunch meat, canned tomatoes and in many more things. Grains turn into sugar in our bodies too. 

Low fat/high carb obsession

Many tend to overlook the importance of fat in our diet, which is understandable when our government promotes a diet low in fat and high in carbohydrates. I see the same insane low fat/high carb advice in natural health magazines. Sadly, we get an overload of carbohydrates instead of eating more protein and fat that actually stimulate our metabolism. Fat and protein make us feel fuller after a meal. It's time to wake up and realize that fat is not the bad buy.

Sugar video

I spent the morning watching this video about sugar. Even though I known for a long time that sugar is bad I figured I can always learn something new. I found that most of the information in this video wasn't new to me, but it shares valuable information about the dangers of sugar, the fat misconception, dangers of fructose and how to measure cholesterol correctly.

Dr. Lustig, M.D gives a great lecture about sugar and the obesity problem we have today. He focuses mostly on sugar consumed from drinks, and it is important to remember that other carbs are damaging to the body too. Sadly, every time I go shopping I see shopping carts loaded with sodas and other high sugar drinks so I know the sugary drinks are problem today. I see the same when I go to the health food store, the shopping carts are full with "healthy organic" high sugar drinks and other so called "healthy" high sugar snacks. So even members of the healthy community are eating way too much sugar. They are using the excuse that it is natural or organic. But sugar is sugar even though some of them seem to be a little better for the body.

Here are some quick facts from the video:

Fat is bad, or?

Back in 1982 the daily fat recommendation was reduced from 40% to 30%.  This reduction resulted in less fat being consumed which lead to a higher carbohydrate intake instead.  As soon as people started eating less fat the obesity, non alcoholic fatty liver disease, stroke metabolic syndrome,  and cardiovascular diseases jacked way up says Lustig. Hm, a coincidence? I don't think so. As you can see, it is not the fat that is the problem.

Huge increase in soft drink consumption

It has been a 41% increase in soft drink and a 35% increase in fruit drinks. One soda a day is roughly 15 pounds a year. Lustig also talks about the Coca-Cola conspiracy, for example, a can of coke contains 55 grams of sodium which he equals to drinking one pizza. The sodium will make you thirstier of course. The taste of sodium is masked with a huge amount of sugar, and the caffeine is a diuretic. It is all designed to make you want more.

Soda consumption goes up and type 2 diabetes increased

Studies shows that the increase in type 2 diabetes coincide with the increase in soda consumption. Sodas contain corn syrup and it is estimated that we eat 63 pounds of HFCS per person each year. Fructose is a poison but the other sugars are also bad for the body. Hundred years ago we received the fructose from fruits and vegetables and the average consumption was 15 grams of fructose per person a day. Prior to WWII we consumed 16-24 grams or fructose per day, and in 1977 we consumed 37 grams per day. In 1994 the consumption was 54.7 grams per day. We are not only eating more, but we are eating more sugar.

"The fat consumption is going  down and the sugar consumption is going up and we are getting sicker."

High fructose corn syrup is not only a metabolic evil but it is also an economical evil. It is half the price compared to regular sugar so the companies can make cheap products and increase their profit. It has found itself into products like hamburger buns, barbeque sauce, bread, and ketchup. Lustig said that according to a new study, each of us are up to using 141 pounds of sugar per year. 

Lustig also talks about the Ansel Key's study, the study our current dietary fat guidelines are based on. Even though Keys' study was not accurate, we have based 30 years of nutrition education on this study. The recommendations to eat a low fat diet turned into a very high carbohydrate diet that is making us sick. 

Food manufactures add high fructose corn syrup to increase the flavor  in the low fat products. As we've seen this has increased obesity and disease. A recent study from UCLA says that fructose may aid in the formation of cancer cells more than other sugars.

The information in this video is most likely not new to many of us, but I'm sure you know someone that can benefit from this video. Pass it on to someone you think can benefit from it.

Sugar- The Bitter Truth - The Video

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