BEWARE! Your kids may be turning into “FOOD ZOMBIES”

BEWARE! Your kids may be turning into “FOOD ZOMBIES”

What to look out for to protect your children from the “dreaded curse of the food zombies”:

1. Almost 80% of food commercials that aired on Saturday morning children shows are for junk food.

“If you’re not teaching and telling your kids 10 or more times per day that healthy food is necessary, the commercials on TV and other media are turning them into FOOD ZOMBIES!”

2. Today the United States has a $23 billion candy market. Candy sales have continued to increase despite concerns with junk food and Obesity.

3. A Children’s Food Campaign (CFC) survey found that some baby food has as much, if not more, processed saturated fats and sugar as junk food.

4. Western diets often include snacking on junk food filled with sugar. Consequently, insulin remains high throughout the day, which can cause Metabolic Problems including type 2 Diabetes. Over 250 million people worldwide have type-2 Diabetes, constituting more than 90 percent of global diabetes cases. Most people will eventually become disabled or die from the disease.

5. Corn dextrin, a common thickener used in junk food, is also the glue on envelopes and postage stamps.

6. Alloxen, a byproduct of bleaching white flour which is often found in junk food, leads to Diabetes in healthy experimental animals by destroying their pancreatic beta cells.

7. Young women who eat a junk food diet are at a higher risk for developing Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).

8. Mothers who eat junk food while pregnant or breast-feeding have children who are prone to Obesity throughout life. The children are also more prone to Diabetes, High Cholesterol, and High Blood Fat.

9. Female cockroaches that ate junk food in a research study became fatter and took longer to reproduce than cockroaches that ate a healthier diet.

10. Researchers suggest that Breast Cancer rates in China are rising because of an increase in Western-style junk food and increasing unhealthy lifestyles.

11. Additives and preservatives such as common food dyes and sodium benzoate can cause children to become more Hyperactive and easily distracted than usual.

12. Daily candy and junk food intake in children has been linked to Violence later in life, though experts are not sure if it is the candy itself or the way it is given to children that creates the association. (In 1979, in what has become known as the “Twinkie Defense,” Daniel White said he killed San Francisco mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk because he ate too much junk food, such as Twinkies, candy bars, and cupcakes, which caused a chemical imbalance in his brain. He was still convicted and, in 1981, Congress outlawed the “Twinkie Defense.”)

13. Processed fats and carbohydrates from junk food trigger the brain to want more food. This Hunger effect can last for several days.

14. The increase of junk food is directly associated with the increase in Obesity, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, certain Cancers, Tooth Decay, and other Diseases.

Remember that healthy food is what Mother Nature makes. Mother Nature makes no food zombies! Healthy food is never in a box, can or processed by a company. Kids want to do the right thing, they just need help.

Your healthy parenting now will build strong brains for your children so the food industry will not be able to “turn them into food Zombies!”

Dr Bob Hollett, BSN, RN, BS in human biology, DC