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The Sweet Side of Life.

Toma (140)
Toma
NutriCoach

Could the Doctors Be Wrong?

Posted Tuesday, December 09, 2008 (350 days 22 hours ago.) Viewed 82 times.

There is growing evidence that the standard advice from doctors concerning treatment for type 2 diabetes is inaccurate. Two common myths are:

1. Once you have type 2 diabetes it will just get worse.

2. You have to have medications to control type 2 diabetes.

Myth number 1 is being proven wrong. There are a growing number of type 2 diabetics that are reversing their type 2 diabetes with diet. I am one of them. I see others on my site on a regular basis reporting similar results. Not only have the symptoms from type 2 diabetes reversed but so has the arthritis, suspected Alzheimer's, GERD and a number of other inflammatory conditions that are also linked to diet. I have written a book telling how I did it and so have other authors such as Dewayne McCulley, Julian Whitaker, and several others.

Myth number 2 is also being disproved. First there was a study by the National Institute of health that found diet and life style was far more effective in controlling and preventing type 2 diabetes than were the medications. The growing numbers of type 2 diabetics that are getting their labs into normal ranges, getting off the meds and is also showing that medications are not essential to controlling type 2 diabetes.

So why are these myths being supported by mainstream medicine? The obvious answer is that the Pharmaceutical companies have huge stakes in keeping the doctors prescribing the drugs. They have a cozy relationship with The Diabetes associations such as the American Diabetes Association which the doctors trust and where they get most of their information about treating type 2 diabetes as well as their relationship with regulatory agencies such as the FDA. Each of those topics could be a complete article in themselves. Suffice it to say, not only are the medications not the best answer for treating type 2 diabetes but in some cases are actually doing harm as in the deaths caused by Avandia and mere recently Byetta. (also complete article popics.) It goes to the money connection. There are huge profits to be made in selling drugs to treat the problem but not for teaching people how to eat properly to avoid the problems.

If diet is the best way to treat or prevent type 2 diabetes (and a number of other chronic diseases which are also increasing in diagnoses) why is that not common knowledge? Again there is a money connection. There are also huge profits in manufacturing and selling the foods that are contributing to the health problems. Unfortunately, There is not a single culprit that can be pointed out but many and all of them are huge profit centers. Just a few are the sugar industry, the soda pop industry, transfats being used in so many foods. (they are still there, just more carefully hidden.), the beef industry, the dairy industry and so many others.

If our food is so bad, why isn't the FDA, USDA, Health Canada and other regulatory agencies doing something about it? Do you really believe they are there to protect the public interest rather than the corporate interest of the industries that they are supposed to be regulating? Money talks and government beurocrats and politicians in the agencies doing the regulation have very cozy relationships with the food manufacturers.

That is why it is so important for all of us to become our own self advocates. There is a groundswell of people like me working at the grass roots level to try to raise the alarm, educate and influence people toward more healthy dietary practices. Two websites I recommend for more information about healthy eating are my own www.Diabetic-Diet-Secrets.com and Mike the health ranger's site at www.healthranger.org. There are several others with good information but I am not allowed to list them all here.

The main point is there are better answers than what we are being given by mainstream medicine. We each have to do our research and apply what is going to help us stay healthy.

This article may be reprinted as long as there is a link to www.Diabetic-Diet-Secrets.com


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The Media, Celebrities, and Our Weight (Tyra Banks too Fat?)

Posted Friday, February 02, 2007 (2 years 296 days ago.) Viewed 869 times.

The media is probably the worst source for health and weight information and advise. Beyond that, the fashion industry and the media are sending very unhealthy messages to young women about what is beautiful and compounding the problem.

Tyra Banks is just the most recent, outrageously hyped case of media going way too far. A CW network executive said," she’s put on close to 50 pounds since starting her talk show … things are really getting out of control. I mean, she doesn’t have the greatest personality, so if she starts getting too heavy, it could be a real problem for the show." Another commentator went so far as calling Tyra “fat and ugly." Maybe I am the one out of touch with reality, but I think she is better looking now than when she was underweight.

Tyra Banks is close to six feet tall and 161 pounds. Medically, that puts her right in the middle of the healthy range for her weight and height with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 21.8. When she was 50 pounds lighter she was medically underweight with a BMI of 16.3. The normal Healthy weight range is a BMI of 18.5-24.9 according to the US National Institutes of health. Based on the BMI charts, Tyra would have to gain another 23 pounds before she enters the over weight range (BMI 25.0) and would have to weigh 220 pounds before she could be considered obese. Yet according to the fashion industry and her TV network standards she is getting too fat. Is it any wonder there are so many young women with eating disorders?

Constantly, the media is telling us Americans are getting too fat and there is truth in what they are saying, but there is a loaded mixed message when a false image of what is beautiful takes precedence over what is healthy. I manage websites that focus on a healthy diet. What I focus on is avoiding health issues based on a bad diet. Even so, most of the emails I get are concerned more with weight lose for appearance than what to eat to be healthy. Our priorities are all wrong. News, fashion and entertainment media is largely to blame.

There is a weight problem in western society. Two-thirds of Americans (over 64%) are overweight. Almost one-third is obese. This is a medical problem as it increases health concerns more than it is an esthetics problem. Americans spend $50 billion annually on diet products. This exceeds the projections for the entire federal Education, Training, and Employment and Social Services budgets by five to ten billion dollars. Much of this is for ineffective and often dangerous weight loss plans and supplements. Much of this weight loss industry is fueled by an obsession to look good in a bikini. When was the last time you saw an ad that focused on weight loss for health reasons?

To make matters worse, much of the healthy diet information provided in commercials or sound bites on the news is either misleading or just plain wrong. A good high profile example is the low fat, no fat advice that was introduced a few years back and still gets a lot of media hype. Fat is in fact an important element in a healthy diet. The sound bite mentality just lumps all fats together instead of telling us there are essential fatty acids we require and bad fats that cause most of the problems. Good fats are; Omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fats, monounsaturated fats and a few others. Bad fats are saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol. Fats can be further broken down to animal fats and vegetable fats. This cannot be easily defined in a one-minute news article.

The issue is further clouded by food manufactures that give partial and often misleading information designed more for selling products than giving good health information. The current advertising buzzwords are omega-3 and psyllium. A product may have either or both without being a healthy product. The biggest misuse of omega-3 is adding flax seed or borage oil to a product and claiming health benefits because there is omega-3. The omega-3 claim is true but what they are not telling you is there are 3 different types of omega-3. There is ALA, which only has marginal benefit, and there are EPA and DHA, which have the most benefit. Beyond making claims based on the wrong type of omega-3, the amount of omega 3 is so low it is of marginal benefit. Psyllium is a seed that many people have never heard of. Psyllium husk is extremely high in soluble dietary fiber, which is a good thing. Just adding psyllium to a highly processed, sugar added boxed cereal does not make it a good healthy choice.

My conclusion is the media’s focus on celebrities, unrealistic beauty standards fostered by entertainment and fashion, combined with often misleading or completely wrong information from the diet industry, news media and advertising are creating a lot of confusion about what is healthy. This is compounded by media pressure on impressionable young girls to be popular and beautiful. Unrealistic standards are being fostered and promoted.

Tyra Banks was right on target when she came out and said to the public that it is more important to be healthy and happy than it is to be skinny. Right on Tyra!

Want to know what your healthy diet should be and how much you should weigh? Use the free diet assessment at http://www.diabetic-diet-secrets.com/free_diabetic_diet_assessment_questionnaire.htm to find both your proper healthy weight and the nutrient break down to achieve a healthy body weight.

This article may be used on any site or any other publication as long as it is attributed to Toma Grubb and a link is included to http://Diabetic-Diet-Secrets.com



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Decline in Business Ethics linked to Decline in Personal Ethics

Posted Friday, May 26, 2006 (3 years 183 days ago.) Viewed 1,245 times.

As I approach 60 I reflect back over the years and am appalled by the decline in business ethics. Scandals such as Enron, the Exxon Valdese, and others are just high profile examples that link to an insidious decline in personal ethics. This can be seen at every level from the Mc Donald’s clerk up through the ranks to corporate CEO’s. Incompetence, dishonesty, greed and self-indulgence are pervasive at all levels. Pride in workmanship, craftsmanship and personal integrity have declined. If you look at the people in the scandals you will often see parelell scandals in their personal lives.

Big corporations can no longer be trusted either by the employees or the general public. Pension funds are wiped out in mergers and hostile takeovers. Just about any day you will see news articles about another corporate scandal. Are these events limited to business, or a reflection of society ethics? I believe they are merely a reflection of a general decline in personal ethics.

Ever since the 60’s there has been an increasing trend toward instant gratification, self indulgence, lack of personal respect and respect for others. The same trends that are responsible for social decline influence the decline in business ethics. Corporate leaders are rewarded with big bonuses for short-term gains that may not be the best policy for long-term stability. Some companies yield to pressure and “cook the books" in an effort to appear more desirable to investors. Dollars, too often, win out over ethical practices and this can only be linked back to societies ethics which reward short-term success over honesty and long-term stability. Look around at your peers and at yourself. How many would pass up a chance to get rich if it involved a violation of personal ethics?

So where does it start and what can we as a society do about it. I think it starts in infancy.
Lets get rid of the ideas that everyone is equal and deserve the same as anyone else. Equality under the law is often misinterpreted, as “everyone is equal." We clearly have different talents and abilities. Equality under the law doesn’t even bear up under scrutiny. We need to begin by rewarding excellence and recognize that there will be many who will not be stars. The current idea that every child is a star is ludicrous. Quit penalizing individuals and companies that clearly standout over others. An example that immediately comes to mind is Microsoft. Bill Gates was a geek with limited financial resources when he started. When his products and company achieved superstar status, he and the company were penalized because others who had not produced a product as popular or as usable claimed unfair competition. Microsoft was forced to share with others who did not have products that were as desirable. There is a book by Ian Rand, “Atlas Shrugged" which closely parallels much of what is happening in business and society today. If a company cannot produce a product as good or superior to another, let it be penalized by the market place.

Parents need to impress on their children the benefits of long-term gains over self-indulgent instant gratification. Children need to be taught to weigh long-term risks and gains. In the short haul, it may be more profitable to become a drug dealer or produce porn. In the long haul it is more desirable to get a good education and prepare for a financially rewarding career. As these ethics trickle up through companies as the young people mature and become corporate executives, corporate and society ethics will improve also. Companies are nothing more than a collection of people. Corporate ethics reflect the personal ethics of those in leadership positions. If we can reverse the trends in personal ethics there will be a corresponding reversal in the trends in business ethics.


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