Insurance companies pulling the plug on kids!

  In September 2010, when we first staring writing this journal, a health reform mandate took effect requiring insurance companies to cover children with pre-existing medical conditions until the age of 19.  To lessen their burden, insurance companies have realized a way out: drop offering all child-only plans. Reportedly, at least six large insurers, including Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna, Cigna and Humana have stopped offering policies to children who are not covered by their parents' policy. The LA Times reported that as many as half a million kids will be affected by this move.

Of course there was an uproar over this change of policy.  However, instead of spending time and energy being frustrated and angry with the insurance industry or our government, we thought we would be practical and do something worthwhile with our time by looking at the more serious problem of the worsening health of American children in general; we need to get to the bottom of this problem and focus on reversing this epidemic.  Kids must start eating healthy food to avoid sickness and disease such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, auto-immune diseases and behavioral disorders, which are all on the rise and have been linked time and time again to bad diet and poor lifestyle habits.

We want to remind people again that we don't need to depend on insurance policies to provide a sound and good future for our kids. We need to set them up so that they won't need to rely on the healthcare industry. The magic cure for true health and well-being for kids today is parental awareness and involvement. Parents must lead by example. Kids want to be healthy! 

Who wants to live the rest of their lives fat, sickly, uncomfortable and feeling misunderstood and alone? 

The problem with kids today is ~ they are slowly eating themselves to death. Please take a few minutes to watch this very informative ABC news report. Note that this report was done in 2003. The state of our children's health has only deteriorated since then.  There needs to be a dramatic change...NOW.

We are what we eat. Click here for How to Build Your Immune System Naturally with Recipes.

About MSG

My favorite fast-food, hands down, is Chinese take-away. The only problem is the MSG frequently associated with the food (used as a flavor enhancer.)  MSG is now used by most fast-food chains and in many foodstuffs ~ particularly processed foods.

Monosodium glutamate (a.k.a. sodium glutamate and MSG) is a sodium salt of glutamic acid, a naturally occurring non-essential amino acid. Modern commercial MSG is produced by the fermentation of starch, sugar beets, sugar cane or molasses.

There have been concerns that MSG may be associated with migraines, obesity, and food allergies and hyperactivity in kids. Other adverse reactions include: flushing; sweating; numbness; tingling or burning in the face, neck and other areas; facial pressure or tightness; irritable bowel; heart palpitations; chest pain, nausea and weakness.

MSG has also been linked with: brain damage which can lead to retinal degeneration, endocrine disruption (e.g. reproductive disorders and gross obesity), behavior disorders, learning disabilities, and more.

Researchers have found no definitive evidence of a link between MSG and these symptoms, but acknowledge that a 'small percentage' of people may have short-term reactions to MSG. Symptoms are usually mild and don't require treatment. However, evidence from epidemiological studies suggests that as many as 50% of Americans are sensitive to monosodium glutamate and other ingredients that contain MSG.

The only way to prevent a reaction is to avoid foods containing MSG.  

The Chinese New Year is quickly approaching...time to say good-bye to the Year of the Rabbit and welcome the revered Year of the Dragon!

   

The chubbiest part of America needs to start growing their own!

A new report from America's Health Rankings reveal that the U.S. as a whole is getting chubbier. Mississippi leads the way with 35.3% of the population weighing in as obese. 

"Mississippi has the worst eating habits in the country.  Only 8.8% of the adult population eats the recommended amount of daily fruits and vegetables, the lowest rate in the country.  Residents consumed just under 82 gallons of soft drinks per capita in 2006, the greatest amount reported. Furthermore, the state has the third highest rate of household-level food insecurity, with 17.1% of households being effected.  It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that the state has the highest rates of both adult diabetes (12.8%) and adult obesity (35%)"*. 

Aside from being unhealthy, obese Americans are more expensive ~ diabetes, coronary artery disease, strokes, cancer, dementia, postmenopausal estrogen receptors, and an entire host of social and emotional problems are linked to poor diets.  Obesity is the most written-about health problem in the U.S. today and the number of studies about its causes and solutions increase daily. The journal Health Affairs reported last year that obesity-related health spending in the U.S. reached $147 BILLION!

So what to do Mississippi? It all starts at home and one bite at a time. It is going to take a big change in attitude. Take Californians ~ where the two 'vainest' U.S. cities are found (San Fran & L.A.) ~ if too much focus on exercise and eating healthy food gives us a bad name...We'll take it ~ and a big fat helping of vitality and longevity with it!

In the study: 10 States with the Worst Eating Habits* the primary reason for the awful and deadly eating habit was lack of access to affordable and nutritious food. And despite a lack of funds, a large portion of their money was going to junk food, soft drinks (by the gallon) and candy (by the pound.) 

Again, it all starts at home ~ making better and wiser choices with your time and money will go a LONG way.  

A 4x4 garden, planted 3 times a year will provide a family of 4 with 50% of their annual vegetable needs. Kids LOVE gardening.  Teaching children to plant and harvest will not only get them outdoors and focused on real, healthy food, it will change the doomed road they are now travelling. Check out our give2grow page for advice and ideas.

Not interested in planting your own? Check out Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) via Local Harvest.org where you will find people ready and willing to help you help yourself.

*Charles Stockdale, Douglas McIntyre and Michael Sauter report in the article: 10 States with the Worst Eating Habits

Why it is SO HARD to lose weight ~

With obesity rates alarmingly high and evidently growing around the globe whenever our 'Killer American Diet' is introduced to a culture, the fight to lose weight is more of an issue than ever before.

The present food environment is represented by high-calorie processed foods being easily and cheaply available on every street corner. This dangerous state is strongly supported by a government that subsidizes high calorie/low nutrition food, billions of marketing dollars in the hands of multinational corporations who push such food, and a school system that has gradually stripped physical education from the day and replaced it with...junk food.

American society has become 'obesogenic' ~ characterized by a food environment that makes unhealthy food choices easy and cheap and available everywhere, and that makes healthy food choices scarce and expensive. Easy, cheap food is sugary, starchy, fatty and highly processed (toxic, no to low nutritional value and fattening.) High calorie and low nutrient foods are not actually satisfying, which means we keep on eating.  It is a vicious cycle.

I watched about five minutes of a show that documented the life of extremely obese people. It was so disturbing I turned it off.  I do not need to watch a show to know that living life as an obese person is very difficult, lonely and depressing.  It is hard to imagine how much hard work it will take for those people to turn their existence into happy, healthy lives.

We are led to believe that exercise will mitigate or help us lose weight, while continuing to ingest toxic, fat, sugary and synthetic food.  As we have reminded you before...the idea is to EAT RIGHT (first) and exercise.

For any one looking to lose weight, the only answer is to eat 'real' food and sensibly sized portions. Cutting out processed foods and drinks will help you begin to lose weight...Eating a diet of mainly fresh or frozen fruits and veggies will help you shed excess pounds...Period!  'Real' foods fill you and give you energy. Junk, processed foods leave you feeling empty and lethargic.  Have you ever heard someone claim that they are always hungry after a Chinese meal?  It is all the white, processed rice.  Brown rice never does this, and it makes you feel full faster, so you eat less. 

Childhood obesity is the strongest predictor of adult obesity. We need to teach our kids the consequences of bad food choices ~ sickness and disease. We need to turn their diets upside-down ~ mainly unprocessed fruits and veggies...meats and sweets as occasional treats. 

It is infinitely hard to lose weight in an obesogenic society.  It does and will take a lot of change in attitude, behavior, and the worst of all: habit.  But it can be done...One bite at a time.

We, at green2go, are working on changing the prevailing environment so that truly healthy food is easy and affordable...Until you can find us on a corner near you ~ stick with us here for support and advice!

Why strive for being lean, light and happy?

In 1948 the World Health Organization (WHO) was created and health was defined as: A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absense of disease or infirmity.  Later in 1986 this statement was added: Health is a resource for everyday, not the objective of living.

The latter statement is a bit like PMA (see last Sunday's entry) ~ health therefore, is self induced and a philosophy for life.  We must live the essence of it everyday, not just want it here and there. Good health, in all aspects of our lives, comes from dedicating time and effort.  It never comes from sitting on the couch, eating a bowl of processed foods while watching an array of healthy, fit, happy people doing whatever they do on the tube.

The results of good health are all around positive...you end up living a happier life period, because you feel great, look great and are functioning at your best due to a high level of energy, vigor, spirit and endurance.  Have you ever noticed someone who is truly healthy ~ you can not help but notice how well they look and move. It is very attractive and appealing.  Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is pretty straight-forward and simple: eat truly well and get a decent amount of exercise.

Eating truly well means 3 things:

Stop eating processed food...Cut it all out. 

Eat mainly fruits and veggies. This will inevitably help shed excess weight and leave you with more natural vitality.

Reduce the amount of meat and dairy products you are eating. 

We are what we eat!

The opposite lifestyle choice leads us to obesity. Obesity is a disease and also poses as a serious risk factor for other mental and physical diseases. Obese people have a four-times higher incidence rate of high blood pressure, are eight-times more likely to have diabetes, ten-times more likely to have hyperlipidermia, and two and a half times more likely to have a fatty liver. Degenerative arthritis, cholelithiasis, amenorrhea, mental stress and infertility are also associated with obesity.  It is one of the most serious public health problems of the 21st Century and is a leading preventable cause of death worldwide.

Make the choice to live with good health, every day.

Click here for Fall Belgian Endive recipes du jour :)