LABEL THE FOOD

Have you heard about The Health Star Rating (HSR) system in New Zealand? Australia also uses the system. It is a voluntary labeling of the food items and it assists consumers in making healthy food choices. The system will eventually become obligatory in these countries. More importantly, it seems that the system works, since a recent report mentions that one in six people have changed their shopping behaviors based on the Health Star Rating.

The same report also mentions that a number of major companies have reformulated their products to make them healthier and achieve a higher star rating (e.g., reducing salt, sugar and saturated fat, and increasing fiber). The system makes the consumer choice easier - instead of reading the list of ingredients and guessing their value, the product is labeled. For example, it is easier to choose between two seemingly identical food products (e.g., two loaves of bread). Although the system has been critiqued by some, I would say it is better to have any labeling than no labeling at all.

Another format for labeling food is the Multiple Traffic Light (MTL) label system that is currently applied in several European countries on a voluntary basis. There is even quibbling about which labeling system is better – the HSR or the MTL. Instead of pondering this question, we should urge the U.S. government to mandate some kind of labeling on our food products. It is one story to have a precipice a few steps away from us and be oblivious of it, and a completely different story to have a warning sign that informs everyone about the precipice ahead. Of course, the adoption of any labeling system will meet resistance (from the food industry, and all the satellites profiting from this industry). Here is what a post on the MTL system and its adoption by the European Union says:  

Bizarrely, several European Union countries are threatening the UK with legal action following the voluntary introduction of MTLs, because they are “clearly influencing consumer choice”. 
 
Therefore, the labeling WORKS!  Some people have said about processed food that “If you do not buy it, they are not going to make it”, but this approach means that we have to educate every single consumer, a daunting task.

Start with a clean slate

Here is an interesting parallel between simplifying our life and weight loss. Maybe similar to nature that re-vamps itself each season and takes on a new beginning each spring, we can re-start our lives? Maybe simplifying life by keeping only the most essential will help us improve our dietary habits through proven pathways?

A recent trend, this of "zero waste life" is an example of a simpler life that imposes on us to say good-bye to most, if not all, processed foods. The zero-waste enthusiasts do not buy anything packaged; they are limited to what they can buy (in bulk) with their own re-usable bags and jars. Usually this limits the choices to wholesome, fresh foods. I personally cannot go to "zero waste", simply because I do not have time to shop every few days.  However, I try my best to minimize my waste.

Actionable
Undertaking dietary changes in the context of larger lifestyle changes might be helpful. Starting your dietary change with a "clean slate" in life, and being passionate about the cause (for "zero waste life" fans, this is our impact on the environment) might be pivotal to the success.

Mediterranean Diet and Cancer

Here is a new paper on the Mediterranean Diet and its utility as a preventive tool against cancer.
 
The "Olive oil & Salad" dietary pattern, characterized by high consumption of raw vegetables and olive oil, was associated with a lower risk of overall mortality in the elderly. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables and fruit was associated with reduced risk of colon cancer. Consumption of high-glycemic carbohydrates was associated with higher incidence of breast cancer and colorectal cancer. Reduced risk of colon cancer was also found in regular consumers of yogurt
 
Fruits, vegetables, yogurt, olive oil - all good, and a preference for whole grains, as opposed to "high-glycemic carbohydrates" is also a good bet for a healthy lifestyle.

If you are sick, would you trust a sick health care system

Let me answer the question. Let us say, I am diagnosed with cancer – would I trust our health care? I am unsure. The problem is that the health care system is sick itself. In addition to the pitfalls of the U.S. healthcare system, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seems to be dispensing placebo and toxins, rather than effective anti-cancer drugs. The shocking realization is that many FDA-approved cancer drugs do not work. A recent publication in the Journal of the American Medical Association is the source of this sobering realization. Here is what the authors wrote:
 
Our results suggest that the FDA may be approving many costly, toxic drugs that do not improve overall survival. Enforcement of postmarketing studies is therefore of critical importance.
 
Actionable
Dear FDA, researchers and profiting pharmaceutical companies, please stop pumping pseudoscience into the oncology clinics. By doing so, you are giving ammunition to the alternative cancer treatment proponents. No wonder that the recent Ty Bollinger’s documentary on cancer was watched by more than 800,000 people within the first month of its release on Internet. Laced with some anti-establishment emotions, this documentary contains a few true messages and warnings about our conventional cancer care. The ludicrously expensive new anti-cancer drugs that kill the patients and bankrupt their families, the blatant ignorance of our oncologists about diet and its effects on cancer initiation and progression, the stubborn refusal to research and incorporate century-old remedies, are all ammunition in the hands of the alternative cancer care network. The documentary is an absurd mixture of ignorance and truth that leads us to the denial of any conventional cancer therapy. The vehement negation of the values in the two systems – the conventional cancer treatment and its alternative counterpart  - is the wrong way to go. We should be able to extract the best of both approaches and integrate them. Above all, in our fascination with curing cancer, instead of preventing the birth of the enemy (i.e., the initiation of cancer), we are fighting the enemy at its optimal power (i.e., when the cancer is already established and has advanced). Although prevention is the best path, It seems that no one (mainstream or alternative cancer care proponents) is interested in following this direction.
 
And to answer my initial question: if I cannot prevent my cancer, if I am a cancer patient one day, I will seek a highly integrated cancer care system that includes the best of the mainstream and alternative medicine.

How to wean yourself from processed foods

Here is one good advice on how to switch to better food, the food that your great-grandma would have recognized as edible:

Start reading the labels on your food. If the ingredients you find listed there don’t make you lose your appetite, good for you. I find the more I read labels, the less likely I am to buy anything but real, whole food like fresh fruits and veggies.

Diet and exercise changes? Facts to know before you do anything dramatic

I found this British documentary on diet and exercise interesting and useful.

CANCER OF THE YOUNG

Younger patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced (metastatic) stage of the disease. This is explained by the fact that our doctors do not jump to the conclusion that a young person has CRC, even when the patient exhibits the telltale symptoms of the malignancy. However, it seems that it is time to re-calibrate these expectations: certain diseases with adult onset in the past are now diagnosed in children and adolescents. Think about high blood pressure and diabetes type 2. The frightening realization is that cancer will become a more frequent diagnosis among the young. We are already witnessing this trend with CRC, and probably we will witness the same for other cancers that are associated with physical inactivity and obesity.
 
Consider the following report from this year: although the overall age-adjusted CRC incidence rate in the USA decreased by approximately one percent between 1975 and 2010, the incidence of CRC increased among 20 to 34 year-old individuals. If the current trend continues, by 2030, the incidence rates for colon and rectal cancers will increase with 90.0% and 124.2%, respectively, for patients 20 to 34 years [Bailey CE, et al. Increasing Disparities in the Age-Related Incidences of Colon and Rectal Cancers in the United States,1975-2010 JAMA Surg. 2015]. What are the likely causes of the trend? The authors of the study mention diet and physical inactivity.
 
Actionable
We need to start a “war on obesity”, rather than “war on cancer”? Is it smart to be at war with the consequences, rather than the causes? This mistaken enemy identity has lead us in the wrong direction for decades: we have unsuccessfully tried to cure cancer, an impossible act to perform at the advanced stages of the disease. However, we have not tried to prevent cancer, and this effort is likely to succeed for 75% of all cancer cases. War on the causes, rather than the consequences, is our best solution.

STOP HAZING US WITH CONFUSING MESSAGES

Why cannot researchers get it right, and stop quibbling about facts and knowledge that destroy our health and kill thousands of people every day? Why cannot our politicians publicize and support the unequivocal and true knowledge that we already have?

Here is one study that provides evidence that added sugar in our diet is the worst we can do to ourselves. And here is another study that assures us that “soda and sweets aren’t making Americans fat”. True, this second study mentions that the portion size and physical exercise should be considered when controlling body weight; however, it somehow gives us green light to indulge on “junk food”. Is it wise to publicize such studies, or even perform such studies? And whom are we kidding when we write about these findings? In times when people give the maximum of a few seconds per article, the only take home message would be the title, and the titles re-assure us that “Junk Food Isn't To Blame for America's Obesity Epidemic”, “Soda and junk foods are not making you fat, study says“, and “Fast Food, Soft Drink, and Candy Intake is Unrelated to Body Mass Index for 95% of American Adults”. The conclusion that how much we eat/exercise counts is swept into the darkest corner of our mind (and the publications).
Actionable
Recently, CDC reported a significant decrease in the number of smokers in the U.S. This spectacular result is due to a successful approach that CDC should re-apply to processed foods and sugar. Dear CDC, please, label all of these products with the following:

• SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: Excess of processed foods can cause cancer

• SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: Processed foods are not a safe alternative to real food (real food is something that your great-grandma would have recognized as edible)

• SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: Processed foods and sugar increase your risk of multiple chronic diseases

• SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: Sugar intake leads to diabetes, cancer, and heart diseases

• SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: Consuming processed foods and sugar will result in your children having a shorter life than yours

• SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: This product contains/produces chemicals known to increase the risk of neurological diseases

• SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: Sugar is addictive

Furthermore, dear government, impose taxes on sugar
... and remember that messing with the minds of people will lead  to disastrous results. Please, unite behind a consistent message, and clean up the supermarket shelves from toxic materials or at least, label these properly.

Jumping jacks or medications

Have you seen the hilarious comments of sir Ken Robinson on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in America? If not, watch RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms at approximately minute 3:40.

Can you imagine the following description of the human evolution: “Our predecessors evolved by sitting for hours and listening to the speeches of their tribal leaders. In fact, our predecessors rarely engaged in any physical activity. The children and adolescents occasionally (once or twice weekly) practiced hunting for 45 minutes, but for the rest of the time they sat and listened to the adults preaching them about many unrelated to life things.” 

Wait a minute! This is not how Homo sapiens developed! However, the fact that our children sit through hours of lessons in school means that our current educational system has gone against the very evolutionary mechanisms that allowed us to become humans. My child (and I assure you, your child) sits, listens or watches something for more than 12 hours every day. Our brain did not evolve to be occupied for 12 hours with listening, reading and learning, and our body did not evolve to be unused and restrained for 12 hours every day. ADHD is the result of our crime against our bodies and brains. 

What are the results of this crime? Here are some shocking facts from the Centers of Disease Control: Recent surveys asked parents whether their child received an ADHD diagnosis from a health care provider. The results show that:

• Approximately 11% of children 4-17 years of age (6.4 million) have been diagnosed with ADHD as of 2011.

• The percentage of children with an ADHD diagnosis continues to increase, from 7.8% in 2003 to 9.5% in 2007 and to 11.0% in 2011.

• Rates of ADHD diagnosis increased an average of 3% per year from 1997 to 2006 and an average of approximately 5% per year from 2003 to 2011.

• Boys (13.2%) were more likely than girls (5.6%) to have ever been diagnosed with ADHD.

• The average age of ADHD diagnosis was 7 years of age, but children reported by their parents as having more severe ADHD were diagnosed earlier.

• Prevalence of ADHD diagnosis varied substantially by state, from a low of 5.6% in Nevada to a high of 18.7% in Kentucky.

One of the many consequences of this ADHD obsession is that in adulthood, the number of stimulant misusers addicted to ADHD medications has been increasing. The drug supply has risen sharply: about 2.6 million American adults received ADHD medication in 2012, a rise of 53% in four years. Use of ADHD medications among adults 26- to 34-year old has almost doubled.  
Actionable
Dear doctors, instead of ADHD medications, would you please prescribe jumping jacks to our children? Dear federal government, instead of being blind to the drugging of our children, would you require the school system to offer time and space for the prescribed jumping jacks? By the way, sir Ken Robinson suggested that we offer dances instead of jumping. I agree, a daily dose of dancing might be better.