The Food Programme Radio 4: Transfats are poisonous. Why is the Food Industry still allowed to put them into our food?

The transfats to which I refer are the artificial transfats that are added to food products, mainly in order to increase their shelf-life. In other words, they increase the profits of the food manufacturers. Artificial transfats are not a natural constituent of any food whatsoever. The body does not have a natural way to metabolise them. It cannot use them as food, because they are not food. They are toxic to the body. Toxic is a synonym for poisonous. For most consumers it is next door to impossible to know whether some of the foods they buy contain any of these poisons or not, and if they do contain any of these poisons, how much? and how much harm will they do? They damage your body and your brain. They contribute to your risk of stroke, heart disease, memory problems, dementia and more.

On the Food Programme on Radio 4 this week "Sheila Dillon investigates the issue of trans-fats in our food, and asks whether a voluntary agreement by the food industry to eliminate them by the end of the year is enough to prevent the kind of health problems associated with a diet heavy in industrial cooking fats." - I can tell you the answer to that question right now: it isn't...)o: - No way! No! It is not!

If you listen to this programme on iPlayer you will hear Sheila Dillon ask pertinent questions and you will hear slithering responses just as oily and toxic as the transfat content the apologists seek to defend. And do not be fooled by the talk of small quantities and of small percentages of calories from these transfats. They are very harmful even in very small quantities. And the damage they do is cumulative. - Remember the old adage: poison comes in small packages!

If you eat shop-bought biscuits, cakes, bread, pizzas, margarine, vegetable shortening, ice-cream, puddings & pudding mixes, ready-made pies, some confectionery - this list is not exhaustive - then you will almost certainly have eaten artificial transfats. Some groups of people are more reliant on processed foods than others are, and some groups of people, e.g. people whose health is already compromised by degenerative disease, are more vulnerable to the harm that artificial transfats cause in the body.

Unfortunately, the groups most at risk from these transfats are of minor importance to UK legislators. Otherwise there would be a BAN on adding these poisons to our food. Adding these poisons to our food swells the profits of the Food Industry, i.e. big business. Food Manufacturers are the groups whose welfare is important to our legislators. Their welfare is paramount.

That processed foods so often contain artificial transfats is yet another reason why, as far as you can, you would do well to avoid processed food, and eat fresh food that you eat raw, or that you cook yourself.

Is your body trying to tell you something? And are you taking its message seriously?

Is your body trying to tell you something? And are you taking its message seriously? I'll tell you about some of my own experiences of this.

As someone who gets migraines sometimes, I did what is sensibly advised: I thought about the food I had eaten before getting the migraines in case any particular foods were triggering the attacks. I found that if I ate more than just a few slices of cucumber that usually brought on a migraine, and I also found that another trigger was if I went more than about 5 waking hours without food at all. Non-food triggers for me turned out to be rapidly flashing lights in general or the bright, low-on-the-horizon winter sunshine. So I do what you too, no doubt, would do if you had those same messages from your body, namely, I avoid those triggers if I possibly can.

Unfortunately, I wasn't as lucky about some other messages from my body. When I experienced a lot of health problems starting very roughly at the same time as each other and all getting worse pretty fast, it was rather a long time before I was able confidently and correctly to attribute all of them to the prescribed medication I was taking, and this was, I am sure, partly because I became so desperately tired and so very ill, but mainly because my GP and other health professionals I encountered so firmly assured me that I was wrong - absolutely wrong - and that I should continue with the medication.

Some of these body messages were weight gain and getting fatter, face becoming red and puffy, breasts becoming swollen and extremely painful, with visible veins, aching, swollen reddening agonisingly painful hands and feet, painful, distended veins in the legs that made bending the knees a particularly difficult and painful problem, excruciating headaches that no painkillers could extinguish, desperately painful genital area, increasing fatigue, tiredness and breathlessness, hair loss, and many more. I later discovered that all of these signs and symptoms had resulted from the prescription drugs I was taking - because these drugs had weakened my blood vessels and made me sensitive to salt/sodium. - Because of the web of lies, evasions, deliberate ambiguities, prejudiced viewpoints, false beliefs, ignorance and cover-ups of the health professionals to whom I turned or was directed, my proper understanding of what had been done to me was delayed by many anguished years. See story so far and my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection.

If you are getting a cluster of body messages that may or may not appear to be connected except that they all have followed some time after starting to take prescribed medication, I urge you to give thought to whether the drug/s could be the cause of the symptoms you are experiencing. Check stuff up for yourself: your doctors may be as uninformed and unhelpful as mine were. Here's some drug information you may find helpful: HRT and Steroids, etc and Amitriptyline and Other Antidepressants.

Ms Salt feeds her babies salty food. This means that the triplets will become and stay fat. Poor little souls.

The Telegraph reports that Leanne Salt is feeding her eight-month-old babies, Deanna, Daisy and Finlee, McDonald's burgers, crisps and ready meals. These are highly salted foods and completely unsuitable for babies.

To look after three little babies must be a very tiring job and it is understandable that their mother turns to ways to cut down the work she has to do. Unfortunately, by choosing high salt foods she is storing up a host of health problems for her children. They will become fat and have high blood pressure. They will be at risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. They will die younger than they should.

The grave dangers of a salty diet for babies and young children should be stressed to pregnant mothers so that their babies can be protected from this terrible damage to their health.

It is not the calories that are the problem; it is the salt content.

High salt intake is a major contributory factor in many chronic health problems, including obesity.

Children and Obesity

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it!

See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

See advice for pregnant mothers

Associated health conditions

and FAT RETENTION

Biggest ever study shows that diets do not work and are harmful - report in Daily Mail

Diets damage health, shows biggest ever study - Daily Mail

Extracts:

"The world's largest study of weight loss has shown that diets do not work for the vast majority of slimmers and may even put lives at risk.

More than two-thirds pile the pounds straight back on, raising the danger of heart attack, stroke and diabetes.

Indeed most dieters end up heavier than they did to start with, the researchers found.

They warn this type of yo-yo behaviour is linked to a host of health problems. And they say the strain that repeated weight loss and gain places on the body means most people would have been better off not dieting at all.

The findings follow other research that shows the UK is in the grip of a dieting frenzy, with one in four Britons at any one time trying to lose weight.

The average woman is estimated to lose and gain 251/2 stone during her lifetime - putting on 151/2 stone for the ten stone she loses through dieting. Last night, the U.S. scientists behind the latest research - the most thorough and comprehensive analysis of its kind - said that dieting simply does not work.

The University of California researchers analysed the results of more than 30 studies involving thousands of slimmers.

Although the overview did not name specific weight loss plans, popular diets in recent years include the low carbohydrate, high protein Atkins diet and the GI diet, which is rich in slow-burning wholegrain carbohydrates.

Pooling the results of the various studies clearly showed that while people do lose weight initially, most quickly put all the pounds back on.

In fact, most people end up weighing more than they did to begin with. Researcher Dr Traci Mann said: "You can initially lost 5 to 10 per cent of your weight on any number of diets.

"But after this honeymoon period, the weight comes back. We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more. Sustained weight loss was found only in a small minority of participants, while complete weight regain was found in the majority."

Dr Mann's research showed that up to two-thirds of dieters put on all the weight they lose - and more - over a four to five-year period. Half of those taking part in one study were more than 11lb heavier five years later, while dieters taking part in another study actually ended up heavier than other volunteers who hadn't tried to lose weight."

I have been saying this for years! - The trouble with this article is that it could result in people wrongly concluding that dieting really does work provided you keep to the diet for good, and that it is only the 'yo-yoing' that is harmful. - It would be a pity if readers came to that conclusion. - The simple fact is that ALL diets that rely on eating less food/fewer calories than your body requires are harmful.

Sadly, it is clear from most of the published comments in response to the online Daily Mail article, that most people continue to believe that dieting is a good idea and that the problem lies with dieters not dieting...)o: - They are mistaken in this belief.

All that is necessary to curb the growing incidence of obesity is to tell the truth about what causes it! - Obesity is NOT caused by overeating. It is caused by fluid retention, frequently because of taking prescribed medications, especially steroids such as prednisolone, prednisone and HRT, and anti-depressants such as amitriptyline. Obesity can be easily reduced by seriously reducing your salt/sodium intake and eating plenty of fruit and fresh vegetables. Avoid convenience meals/processed food because these are usually very high in salt. Try to cook from scratch with fresh ingredients. - It is important not to restrict calories. - 'Slimming' or 'dieting' is unnecessary, ineffective and often extremely harmful.

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Fabian Society reports Britain's "shocking" record of babies being born underweight.

UK's 'shocking' record on low birthweights - Telegraph

Extract:

"Britain's mothers should be encouraged not to have their children too late in life because of the "shocking" record of babies being born underweight, says a report today.

The UK has the worst rate of any country in western Europe, except Greece, with 40,000 babies born every year at less than 5lb 8oz.

The report, commissioned by the Fabian Society, a Left-leaning think-tank, says working women should be encouraged by their bosses to have babies in their 20s and early 30s to avoid the health risks associated with having an underweight child. It says Britain's record on underweight babies is worse now than in 1989, and is a "scar on the national conscience"."

"Babies with a low birth-weight suffer many health problems and it is estimated that 24,000 children would have the chance of a better life if Britain's record improved. Low weight is caused by a factors such as a mother's poor diet, her smoking, drinking habits and her age."

"In 2004, two thirds of all stillbirths and 70 per cent of deaths within a week of birth were among babies with a birth-weight of less than 5lb 8oz. In 1989, 67 of every 1,000 babies fell into that category but the proportion rose to 76 by 1999 and 78 by 2006.

Underweight babies who survive are more likely to have disabilities or suffer brain damage or have a low IQ. In later life there is an increased risk of health problems.

The rise in underweight babies is blamed on some social trends such as teenage pregnancy, multiple births as a result of IVF and the rise in women having babies late. In England alone, the number of women over 35 having babies has risen from 63,000 in 1993 to 103,000 in 2003."

I strongly suspect that 'slimming' and 'dieting' are among the main reasons for a mother's "poor diet". - If only people were to be told the truth about the causes of obesity and overweight! - Obesity is caused by fluid retention, not by overeating. - All that is normally necessary to lose excess weight is to eat less salt, i.e. to reduce one's sodium intake, and to eat plenty of fruit and fresh vegetables. See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/pregnant_mothers.html

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)