How The Deceptive Practices of Processed Food Manufacturers Contribute to Childhood Obesity

re: How The Deceptive Practices of Processed Food Manufacturers Contribute to Childhood Obesity

sucram — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:44:11 GMT

Everyone says oatmeal, but what abour rolled oats? Is one healthier or easier to digest than the other?

re: How The Deceptive Practices of Processed Food Manufacturers Contribute to Childhood Obesity

RoversMom — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 15:12:12 GMT

After reading the comments on All Bran and on Bob Green recommending Fiber One, I took out a box of Fiber One that is in our pantry. Lo and behold: Aspartame. I have been watching this series, and it has made me a believer in reading the labels.

re: How The Deceptive Practices of Processed Food Manufacturers Contribute to Childhood Obesity

Mac — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 04:27:42 GMT

Honestly, it is getting to the point that it doesn't seem as if anything one puts into one's body anymore, is not going to bring to you some kind of physical harm.

I have always, for years, been told by several Health Journals that the three healthiest cereals a human being could eat are..... in no particular order, Shredded Wheat, Grape Nuts, and Puffed Wheat. These have headed up several lists for years. I eat them on occasion but as a rule have Oatmeal for breakfast. I fill my belly. I don't Live to Eat.

My question is.... how are the three doctor recommended cereals I mentioned above, going to hurt me?

re: How The Deceptive Practices of Processed Food Manufacturers Contribute to Childhood Obesity

223shooter — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 16:37:44 GMT

i eat All Bran ,the one that says original on the top of the box does not have any artificial sweeteners like all of the other types of All Bran have

re: How The Deceptive Practices of Processed Food Manufacturers Contribute to Childhood Obesity

Kevin Phang — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 13:34:00 GMT

Obesity was my condition during childhood, and I did not enjoy those days. I felt unfit and out of the norm compared to my peers. As I grew older, I started to gain nutritional knowledge and reflected on the food I ate. Dr. Mercola's comment on processed food today is undeniable.
However, cereals and yogurt are one of the last targets I would suspect as a factor to childhood obesity. When I was obese, the first step I took was to cancel out soft drinks from my diet. In 4 months, I changed from obese to fit. Maybe it was the onset of puberty that helped reduce my weight, but I noticed that my eating habits changed from fast food to home cooked meals.

I took Dr. Mercola's advice especially on refined sugars, but regarding cereals, the refining process is more of concerned. Take General Mills' Total cereal, and fruit loops. I would opt for Total as it fufils the RDI of nutrients, mainly B vitamins. The B complex is vital especially for energy metabolism despite the 'bad sugars'. Plus, chromium is present for control of blood sugar. Thus, cereals do play an important role in fulfilling a child's or even an adult's daily needs. Yogurt supplies beneficial bacteria to our gut, and I wouldn't cancel that out. The bad sugars may sometimes be useful especially before an examination or a workout.

Sometimes, in financial difficulties, healthy products are hard to afford. The price tag rockets whenever the word 'healthy' (or concerning it) is marketed. Hence, it is not an option for some to buy healthy products. If my financial circumstances put me in that position, I would ensure that I ate cooked whole foods, not processed, not refined (especially carbohydrates these days). For carbs, I would opt for the less refined low GI (Glycemic Index) ones.

re: How The Deceptive Practices of Processed Food Manufacturers Contribute to Childhood Obesity

Stone9 — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 07:58:27 GMT

Does Trader Joe's sell sprouted grain cereal?

The cereal I've been eating a lot of lately is Kashi GoLean, not Crunch though. Here are the stats, loaded with fiber!!!

Per serving:

Calories: 140
Fat: 1 gram
Carbs: 30
Protein: 13
Fiber: 10

Not too bad eh? Oatmeal with a scoop of whey is good too!

re: How The Deceptive Practices of Processed Food Manufacturers Contribute to Childhood Obesity

kare4u — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 05:26:44 GMT

My family have cut out trans fats and hydrogenated oils. I try to only buy organic foods. I do not drink sodas or sugar laden drinks, I mainly drink green tea or Evian water daily. I do not eat fried foods or frozen packaged foods. I do not eat or drink anything with artificial colors, flavors or with preservatives in it. I am trying not to eat anything now with corn syrup in it either. With all that said.... this has elimated 3/4 of the items in the grocery stores. I have to tell you, finding something to eat in the mornings for myself and my two young children is a real challenge! Most days we either eat organic eggs or fruit for breakfast. We take probiotics, krill oil and the Purple Defense antioxidants daily. We are getting a lot of informative information from Dr. Mercola and other sources on what we should not eat or drink because sooooo many things are unhealthy for us. But can anyone please give suggestions for alternatives? Does anyone have any receipes for breakfast that are good for us and that taste good? Does anyone have suggestions for meals that children may enjoy for breakfast and for lunches they can pack for school? Thanks!

re: How The Deceptive Practices of Processed Food Manufacturers Contribute to Childhood Obesity

ben61820 — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 18:03:46 GMT

i used to eat all bran extra fiber every morning. it does work well in cleaning one out, i will admit. however, the doctor is right in that it does contain artificial sweeteners, etc. after i realized that this was not the ideal method for maintaining regularity i was a bit worried as to how to eat properly. i dont really eat grains, and i feared that my relatively high meat intake along with the really ample green leafy veg would not be enough to keep my bowels moving as well as they were on the allbran diet. however, i discovered BRANCRISPS and highly recommend them to all. they are low-heat dehydrated more than cooked and contain 2 to 3 grams of fiber in each 15 calorie cracker! amazing, right? the ingredients are simple as one would imagine: wheat bran, whole rye flour, sea salt, water. thats it. no sweeteners, no nothing. wonderful with real butter or cheese. amazing things. my savior really.

re: How The Deceptive Practices of Processed Food Manufacturers Contribute to Childhood Obesity

whidbey hiker — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 15:06:35 GMT

I found this video on cereal very interesting. I happened to see Oprah show with Bob Greene touting the benefits of FiberOne - said it was great source of fiber,make one feel full, and possibly lose some weight. I bought a box - big mistake. I didn't enjoy the taste or the weird texture. Worst part is I found that I am very "allergic" to wheat.
Had to go to doctor to correct mistake!

re: How The Deceptive Practices of Processed Food Manufacturers Contribute to Childhood Obesity

mmc88121 — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 00:04:27 GMT

Oatmeal is not bad, gets mundane after a while. I like it with blueberries, no milk or sweetener. I also like eggs for breakfast.

mmc88121

re: How The Deceptive Practices of Processed Food Manufacturers Contribute to Childhood Obesity

Kurt_Jarcik — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 22:35:44 GMT

Oatmeal and a real banana look like your best bet.

Kurt www.easystm.com

re: How The Deceptive Practices of Processed Food Manufacturers Contribute to Childhood Obesity

Russ Bianchi — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 17:52:27 GMT

The breakfast cereal and refined sugars/hydrogenated/trans fat laden granola bar industry, (General Mills, Kellogg's,Pepsico Owned Quaker Oats, Altera-Kraft-Tobacco Owned CW Post, etc.) have lost BILLIONS of dollars in total market share, over the past 15 years, to better for you energy and truly fuctional bars, as has the candy bar and confectionery industry, for the first time, in the past 24 months.

Pouring milk into a bowl in the morning, is no longer convenient for a society out the door to work on cell phones, and NOT really getting much of any nutrition from these aerated, sugary, salty, and less than wholesome dietary intake options, crowding supermarket shelves, because of back door bribe real estate fees paid the super market chains, they semantically call 'slotting fees', passed on to each and every consumer in the highly over priced retail cost per cereal box.

This group of deceptive marketers mentioned, lobby all the time for PHONY 'whole grain' and 'organic' labeling laws at FDA, that dumb-down nutrition, to line their pockets, and try to hold off, or blur, the clear choice distinction of better-for-you or more natural and less processed, brands offered to consumers.

My favorite story, absolutely true, is the the BIG CEREAL COMPANY who did a weight gain feeding test on a new allegedly better for you brand of a breakfast cereal.

There was a base line group of lab rats fed the new cereal, versus a standard brand, already in the market place.

Guess what? The standard brand cereal rats had normal anticipated weight gain, and the new and improved cereal rats seemed to be less healthy and lower in weight, when statisitcally correlated.

However, a third group of rats in cages, off to the side of the study, getting normal lab rat food and water, in combination with knawing through their cages at discarded cardboard box packaging (presumably the cellulose and starches in the cardboard) from the newer brand being tested, had the best nutritional weight gain and health of the three groups!!!

THERE WAS MORE NUTRITION IN THE CEREAL BOX THAN THE NEW CEREAL!!!

Also overheard at a big food science convention, was the head corporate buyer of a BIG cereal company, being asked by an alternative supplier, why he was purchasing scientifcally proven non absorbable calcium (ground rock) for their special cereal targeting women for calcium fortification and bone loss issues?

The answer was very straight forward, "because it's the lowest in price".

The next time you think you are getting real absorbable nutrients, vitamins, or minerals, or other HYPED window dressing in or insignificant tiny amounts of some functional flavor of the week, in that smart or special or good for you box of breakfast cereal,or pretty packaging breakfast or snack bar, think again, and do not waist your time or money!