Why Low-Fat Caused the Obesity Epidemic by Jonny Bowden
Eating is a way to deal with stress. Being overweight is stressful. This is an interesting story I found. Check it out.
When you have something as massive and scary as the obesity epidemic, it's hard to point the finger at one single element and say, "that's why it happened." But however you slice it, the low-fat movement played a part in the epidemic.
After World War ll, heart disease rates began to rise precipitously. In the 1970s, a committee led by Senator George McGovern issued a report advising Americans to lower their risk of heart disease by eating less fat. This recommendation was based on evidence that linked diet to heart disease. Unfortunately, the report wrongly singled out saturated fat as the wicked element in our diet responsible for all our problems. This was the beginning of the low-fat movement.
And of the obesity epidemic.
It's more than a coincidence that they happened at the same time, and here's why.
Once dietary fat was "identified" as the chief culprit in heart disease -- a huge case of mistaken identity in my opinion -- food manufacturers sprang into action. The race was on to produce low-fat and no-fat foods, and to engineer the saturated fat out of everything.
This, in turn, led to a slew of "food-like" products, manufactured and processed edible substances bearing little resemblance to whole foods, and to idiotic experiments like margarine. Add to this witches' brew the invention of high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils (to replace saturated fat) and you had the perfect dietary storm.
You see, if you're a food manufacturer and you're removing the fat from some food, you need to replace it with something else or it won't taste very good. So, we wound up with a slew of low-fat products loaded with sugar. And since high-fructose corn syrup was now available cheaply, adding sweetness was an easy thing to do.
So easy, in fact, that high-fructose corn syrup started showing up in hundreds -- if not thousands -- of food products.
At the same time as all of this was happening, American started eating more of everything. This, too, is no coincidence. Here's why: If I give you a carton of Domino's sugar and tell you to eat till your heart's content, you won't consume very much. Same thing with butter. But if I put them together, something magical happens. Combine sugar and fat and every one of your evolutionary buttons are pushed. Manufacturers know this. Cravings get activated, brain chemistry starts firing, you can literally eat this stuff 'till you bust.
And we did.
The whole low-fat movement coincided with a huge spike in food processing and those who process and manufacture food products for a living have one goal -- getting people to eat more of their products. That's easy to do -- just engineer combinations of sugar and a bit of fat, which worked really well with the whole "low-fat" philosophy.
As long as it didn't have too much fat, you could eat it, right?
Meanwhile, fat -- the one macronutrient that keeps you full and satisfied -- was lacking from most of what we were eating. Sugar, the one element that keeps cravings going, was plentiful. Portion sizes in general collectively took a shot of steroids, as the whole country decided that super sizing was its birthright.
Low fat has a lot to answer for. It may not be the only reason we're experiencing one of the worst health epidemics in modern times, but it sure is one of the biggest.
Want to ditch the low-fat foods? Then learn how to eat healthy and distinguish serving versus portion size.
For more information from Jonny, visit his website.
Jonny Bowden, author, nutritionist and weight loss coach cuts through all the misconceptions about diet and fitness to help you transform your body, your health and your life.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
How will we pay for healthcare? by Kelly Phillips Erb
As the House prepares for a vote on health care reform, the overwhelming question is how to pay the estimated $940 billion price tag on the plan. The obvious -- but not so politically popular -- answer is to raise taxes. Even better? Raise taxes so taxpayers don't notice it as much by including it in mandatory withholding.
That explains why the current proposal in the House under HR 3590 would add an increase in the form of payroll taxes. The bill, as it stands currently, would add .9% to the Medicare payroll tax to those individual taxpayers earning over $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples filing joint tax returns). That would bring the total tax rate to 2.35%.
The current Medicare payroll tax rate is 1.45% and is part of what we know as FICA, or Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax. The tax is imposed on employees and employers to fund Social Security and Medicare. Since it's imposed on only those who work, the tax has been quite controversial. Unearned income, including interest, stock dividends, and capital gains such as profits from the sale of stock or real estate, are not affected by this tax.
An alternative proposal would increase the tax rate and extend a 2.9% tax rate to include unearned income. This version is favored by President Obama and many Congressional Democrats. As of this writing, it is not expected to be included in the version of the bill taken up for a vote by the House. While the final vote remains to be seen, most pundits expect that the House would approve the health care bill passed by the Senate in December, with any changes implemented using a procedure known as budget reconciliation.
Since most taxpayers would not be affected by the increase, the measure passed easily in Senate at the end of 2009. The final vote was 60 yes, 39 no and 1 abstention: Sen Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) did not vote, citing "family commitments." Interestingly, the final version of the Senate bill tapped the increase at a higher rate than the original proposal: earlier versions called for an increase of just .5%.
If the measure passes the House (and this measure is expected to survive any last minute deal-making), the bump in rates would take effect after Dec. 31, 2012
That explains why the current proposal in the House under HR 3590 would add an increase in the form of payroll taxes. The bill, as it stands currently, would add .9% to the Medicare payroll tax to those individual taxpayers earning over $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples filing joint tax returns). That would bring the total tax rate to 2.35%.
The current Medicare payroll tax rate is 1.45% and is part of what we know as FICA, or Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax. The tax is imposed on employees and employers to fund Social Security and Medicare. Since it's imposed on only those who work, the tax has been quite controversial. Unearned income, including interest, stock dividends, and capital gains such as profits from the sale of stock or real estate, are not affected by this tax.
An alternative proposal would increase the tax rate and extend a 2.9% tax rate to include unearned income. This version is favored by President Obama and many Congressional Democrats. As of this writing, it is not expected to be included in the version of the bill taken up for a vote by the House. While the final vote remains to be seen, most pundits expect that the House would approve the health care bill passed by the Senate in December, with any changes implemented using a procedure known as budget reconciliation.
Since most taxpayers would not be affected by the increase, the measure passed easily in Senate at the end of 2009. The final vote was 60 yes, 39 no and 1 abstention: Sen Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) did not vote, citing "family commitments." Interestingly, the final version of the Senate bill tapped the increase at a higher rate than the original proposal: earlier versions called for an increase of just .5%.
If the measure passes the House (and this measure is expected to survive any last minute deal-making), the bump in rates would take effect after Dec. 31, 2012
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Dcott Brown - Just another politician
(Feb. 23) -- It didn't take long for the newest member of the Senate to anger some of the people who cheered his election victory just last month. Scott Brown's vote Monday afternoon helped kill the GOP filibuster against Majority Leader Harry Reid's $15 billion job creation bill.Brown wasn't the only Republican to break party ranks on the key procedural vote.
Maine moderates Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe also voted to advance the bill. So did George Voinovich of Ohio and Kit Bond of Missouri -- both of whom are retiring. Nebraska's Ben Nelson was the only Democrat who voted against Reid's bill.But it was Brown -- whose upset win in the race to fill the late Ted Kennedy's seat threw health care reform into limbo and gave Republicans the 41st vote needed to break the Democrats' filibuster-proof supermajority -- who got all the attention in the jobs bill showdown.
"I came to Washington to be an independent voice, to put politics aside and to do everything in my power to help create jobs for Massachusetts families," Brown explained in a statement. "This Senate jobs bill is not perfect. I wish the tax cuts were deeper and broader, but I am voting for it because it contains measures that will help put people back to work.A lot of Brown's online followers weren't buying it. RINO (Republican in Name Only) was one of the mildest epithets hurled at him on his Facebook page. A few samples:
· Scott Brown is a traitor
· You voted for it because you are a coward. RINO. Just another politician. So disappointing.
· You, sir, have made me regret my first political contribution EVER.
· You let me down like Tiger Woods, Scott.
On Twitter, critics summed up their disappointment in 140 characters or less:
· Nice sell out! You realize this is just a useless pork program. U turned on the people that put u in. We will remember!!
· Senator Brown: You Weren't Elected for Bipartisanship
The reaction from blogger Don Surber was equally brief and bitter: "I feel like a sucker right about now. We've been teabagged. Brown/Biden 2012."Daily Kos found similar comments on FoxNews.com and FreeRepublic, and noted that the Drudge Report "even went so far as to Photoshop Brown to make him look like Satan" for its top story Tuesday morning. (Click for screen shot.)"Tea Party folks, pay attention and get on the phones," Michelle Malkin exhorted her readers. The conservative pundit said, "Those of us who knew all along what we were getting -- a game-changer who vowed to torpedo Demcare, but who was not an ideological conservative -- are not surprised.""How long before the teabaggers are drawing Hitler mustaches on Brown, who they revered not long ago?" wondered True/Slant's Sahil Kapur. "It'll be telling what happens if/when Brown ends up voting with progressives on other issues beyond economic policy (like abortion, gay marriage, etc.)."Kapur predicted that Brown would not win re-election "because there's no conceivable way he'll be able to balance the desires of Massachusetts constituents with the radical elements of today's conservative movement."Brown's decision to side with Democrats drew an "oh my" from Hot Air's Allahpundit, who saw the vote as part of a political calculation. "Obviously he needs to signal the left-leaning indies back home who voted for him that he'll break their way sometimes.
Even armed with a huge war chest for 2012, he ain't getting re-elected as a party-line Republican," the blogger said. Because Reid's bill is relatively modest and "essentially symbolic," said The New Republic's Jonathan Chait, Brown and the others who crossed the aisle took this opportunity to "burnish their moderate credentials rather than spend political capital to advance their party's agenda."Still, that explanation doesn't sit well with a lot of bloggers on the right. "It's all about protecting his seat, and I get it. But that doesn't make it right," complained Lonely Conservative.Reid expressed hope that picking up five GOP votes for the bill to give small businesses tax breaks for hiring unemployed Americans signaled "the beginning of a new day" in the Senate. But Newsweek's Katie Connolly thought it was "a little disheartening" that it took so long for a glimmer of bipartisanship to emerge -- and only then over a fairly benign measure.
The fact that so many other Republicans opposed the bill or didn't vote at all "just shows how divided the Senate remains," she said on The Gaggle blog."I have no doubt that in a saner time, a majority of Republicans would have happily voted for this bill. In the new, idiot era of politics, the content has ceased to matter, and all that counts is rooting for your team to block the other team from scoring," Daily Kos blogger "ukit" lamented.
Filed under: Nation, Politics, Top Stories, The Point
Maine moderates Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe also voted to advance the bill. So did George Voinovich of Ohio and Kit Bond of Missouri -- both of whom are retiring. Nebraska's Ben Nelson was the only Democrat who voted against Reid's bill.But it was Brown -- whose upset win in the race to fill the late Ted Kennedy's seat threw health care reform into limbo and gave Republicans the 41st vote needed to break the Democrats' filibuster-proof supermajority -- who got all the attention in the jobs bill showdown.
"I came to Washington to be an independent voice, to put politics aside and to do everything in my power to help create jobs for Massachusetts families," Brown explained in a statement. "This Senate jobs bill is not perfect. I wish the tax cuts were deeper and broader, but I am voting for it because it contains measures that will help put people back to work.A lot of Brown's online followers weren't buying it. RINO (Republican in Name Only) was one of the mildest epithets hurled at him on his Facebook page. A few samples:
· Scott Brown is a traitor
· You voted for it because you are a coward. RINO. Just another politician. So disappointing.
· You, sir, have made me regret my first political contribution EVER.
· You let me down like Tiger Woods, Scott.
On Twitter, critics summed up their disappointment in 140 characters or less:
· Nice sell out! You realize this is just a useless pork program. U turned on the people that put u in. We will remember!!
· Senator Brown: You Weren't Elected for Bipartisanship
The reaction from blogger Don Surber was equally brief and bitter: "I feel like a sucker right about now. We've been teabagged. Brown/Biden 2012."Daily Kos found similar comments on FoxNews.com and FreeRepublic, and noted that the Drudge Report "even went so far as to Photoshop Brown to make him look like Satan" for its top story Tuesday morning. (Click for screen shot.)"Tea Party folks, pay attention and get on the phones," Michelle Malkin exhorted her readers. The conservative pundit said, "Those of us who knew all along what we were getting -- a game-changer who vowed to torpedo Demcare, but who was not an ideological conservative -- are not surprised.""How long before the teabaggers are drawing Hitler mustaches on Brown, who they revered not long ago?" wondered True/Slant's Sahil Kapur. "It'll be telling what happens if/when Brown ends up voting with progressives on other issues beyond economic policy (like abortion, gay marriage, etc.)."Kapur predicted that Brown would not win re-election "because there's no conceivable way he'll be able to balance the desires of Massachusetts constituents with the radical elements of today's conservative movement."Brown's decision to side with Democrats drew an "oh my" from Hot Air's Allahpundit, who saw the vote as part of a political calculation. "Obviously he needs to signal the left-leaning indies back home who voted for him that he'll break their way sometimes.
Even armed with a huge war chest for 2012, he ain't getting re-elected as a party-line Republican," the blogger said. Because Reid's bill is relatively modest and "essentially symbolic," said The New Republic's Jonathan Chait, Brown and the others who crossed the aisle took this opportunity to "burnish their moderate credentials rather than spend political capital to advance their party's agenda."Still, that explanation doesn't sit well with a lot of bloggers on the right. "It's all about protecting his seat, and I get it. But that doesn't make it right," complained Lonely Conservative.Reid expressed hope that picking up five GOP votes for the bill to give small businesses tax breaks for hiring unemployed Americans signaled "the beginning of a new day" in the Senate. But Newsweek's Katie Connolly thought it was "a little disheartening" that it took so long for a glimmer of bipartisanship to emerge -- and only then over a fairly benign measure.
The fact that so many other Republicans opposed the bill or didn't vote at all "just shows how divided the Senate remains," she said on The Gaggle blog."I have no doubt that in a saner time, a majority of Republicans would have happily voted for this bill. In the new, idiot era of politics, the content has ceased to matter, and all that counts is rooting for your team to block the other team from scoring," Daily Kos blogger "ukit" lamented.
Filed under: Nation, Politics, Top Stories, The Point
Monday, October 5, 2009
5 Facts Of Humor
By Dan Gascon
Your sense of humor allows you to constantly create new realities to enrich and bring balance to your life. Along with laughter, it provides you with greater physical health, helps you cope with perspective and gives you more happiness. Here are the facts to humor’s balancing act:
1. RELIEVES YOU OF TENSION AND STRESS. Humor and laughter combat and create opposite effects. When you laugh, you are cheerful, upbeat, playful, light-hearted, you let go, vent, relax and unwind.
2. GIVES YOU AN AEROBIC AND INTERNAL WORKOUT. The diaphragm is the large muscle which separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity and gets a great workout when we laugh heartily. Our respiration is enhanced, blood pressure is lowered and the amount of oxygen in the blood stream increases. Ever laughed so much it hurt? The movement of the diaphragm also stimulates surrounding organs, such as the stomach, kidneys and liver, acting as an internal massage.
3. STIMULATES YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM. University studies show laughter lowers serum cortisol levels, increases T-cell production, lowers blood pressure and increases the number and activity of disease-fighting killer cells. These are all natural Ahealth substances,@ endorphins and encephalons that free us of pain and illness.
4. GIVES YOU PERSPECTIVE THAT HELPS YOU COPE. Your sense of humor has the power to manage, endure and lighten any load. By not allowing yourself to take things too seriously, you gain a greater ability to see change as challenging, not threatening. It gives you the capacity to cope with stress and difficulties in ways that are positive, uplifting and successful. Humor and laughing helps detach us from the funk we may be in. We then get a sense of self-protection and control over our environment.
5. EMPOWERS AND ENHANCES YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE. A lighthearted spirit always has the power to see you through. When you are troubled, feeling low, depressed or down, the experience of laughter, if even just for the moment, banishes feelings of loneliness, anger and fear. Humor and laughter can transcend any predicament with feelings that are lighthearted, carefree and hopeful. Humor has the power to turn any situation around by drawing our attention away from upsets. When you experience more laughter, smiles and feel carefree, your happiness increases with the spirit’s energy and powers the will to live. You make your life sweeter.
“Humor and most notably laughter, frees the mind, eases the faculties and causes the soul to lift. Thus, they must not only be looked on as great pleasures but also as superior in the composition of human life.”
Markus De Lorne
Copyright 2005 by Dan Gascon. Founder of Humor for your health. Reprinted with permission. Reach Dan at www.humorforyourhealth.com
Your sense of humor allows you to constantly create new realities to enrich and bring balance to your life. Along with laughter, it provides you with greater physical health, helps you cope with perspective and gives you more happiness. Here are the facts to humor’s balancing act:
1. RELIEVES YOU OF TENSION AND STRESS. Humor and laughter combat and create opposite effects. When you laugh, you are cheerful, upbeat, playful, light-hearted, you let go, vent, relax and unwind.
2. GIVES YOU AN AEROBIC AND INTERNAL WORKOUT. The diaphragm is the large muscle which separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity and gets a great workout when we laugh heartily. Our respiration is enhanced, blood pressure is lowered and the amount of oxygen in the blood stream increases. Ever laughed so much it hurt? The movement of the diaphragm also stimulates surrounding organs, such as the stomach, kidneys and liver, acting as an internal massage.
3. STIMULATES YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM. University studies show laughter lowers serum cortisol levels, increases T-cell production, lowers blood pressure and increases the number and activity of disease-fighting killer cells. These are all natural Ahealth substances,@ endorphins and encephalons that free us of pain and illness.
4. GIVES YOU PERSPECTIVE THAT HELPS YOU COPE. Your sense of humor has the power to manage, endure and lighten any load. By not allowing yourself to take things too seriously, you gain a greater ability to see change as challenging, not threatening. It gives you the capacity to cope with stress and difficulties in ways that are positive, uplifting and successful. Humor and laughing helps detach us from the funk we may be in. We then get a sense of self-protection and control over our environment.
5. EMPOWERS AND ENHANCES YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE. A lighthearted spirit always has the power to see you through. When you are troubled, feeling low, depressed or down, the experience of laughter, if even just for the moment, banishes feelings of loneliness, anger and fear. Humor and laughter can transcend any predicament with feelings that are lighthearted, carefree and hopeful. Humor has the power to turn any situation around by drawing our attention away from upsets. When you experience more laughter, smiles and feel carefree, your happiness increases with the spirit’s energy and powers the will to live. You make your life sweeter.
“Humor and most notably laughter, frees the mind, eases the faculties and causes the soul to lift. Thus, they must not only be looked on as great pleasures but also as superior in the composition of human life.”
Markus De Lorne
Copyright 2005 by Dan Gascon. Founder of Humor for your health. Reprinted with permission. Reach Dan at www.humorforyourhealth.com
Friday, May 8, 2009
Author, Humor Therapist & Self Improvemenr Coach
As a humor therapist BC Carver has helped more than 500,000 people live stress free and productive lives. As a Self Improvement Coach he has helped more than 300,000 people realize their potential, to challenge themselves to be the best that they can be and not to die with their music still in them.
"One of the greatest lessons I learned is from Jim Rohn who said, "To get rich you need to improve yourself not your job."
B.C. will show you how to improve yourself, to become a super you.
BC's speeches are motivating, humorous, inspirational and thought provoking.
With B.C. you definately get way more than what you pay for. He's easy to work with and he's always the first to arrive and the last to leave.
B.C. is the Humor Therapist
To find out more about B.C. contact the speaker's bureau that sent you to this page.
B.C. is a member of the Christian Comedians Association, the NC Storytellers Guild, the NC Association of Festivals and Events and the Christian Meetings and Conventions Association.
He has won Cirtificates of Appreciation from the US Navy, US Marines, US Army, Rotary Clubs, Kiwanis Clubs and Lions Clubs of America.
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