HUNBlog

Clean Water

We take it for granted that water flowing from our taps is clean. clean water, especially clean drinking water can be a matter of life and death.  Unclean water is greatest killer of children all around the world , specially in the 3rd world countries.  lack of clean water is major cause of disease . 1.1 billion people lack access to clean water for drinking. According to a recent UN report, unclean water is a sure predictior of shortened life span. the importance of clean water cannot be overstated. A human body is made of over 70% water.  We are comprised mostly of water.   A clean water intake can help us in many ways.  Clean water is essential  and for this water pollution prevention is important. There are lots of ways we can prevent water pollutions. Our kids should be well taught about water and its importance and how to keep water clean and how to prevent water pollution. State should take initiatives to prevent water pollutiona by having building codes to build new buildings, laws for polluting water. Neighborhood committees should have clear rules for not dumping waste through storm sewer.  House hold hazardous waste such as polishes, cleaners , pesticides can contaminate landfills . So we should be careful of using them . To relieve the environment from the impact of household hazardous waste, we can reduce, reuse, recycle, and use less toxic in daily life.  the city and county should develop guidelines . Rivers are important source of water but used as dumping ground.  We should think about this now , so whatever we have can be saved.  All of us should try to prevent water pollution and try to conserve water to ensure a continuing abundance.We should keep our water clean.



Fast Food Epidemic

We know it’s bad for us, but yet we still eat it.  I am guilty.  I am a busy mom, wife, and full time student, so sometimes it feels like the only alternative...Fast Food.  When we feed our children fast food we are creating bad habits for them, not to mention the bad habits we are creating for ourselves.

Fast food is high in fat, protein, sodium, calories, and does not contain enough complex carbohydrates and fiber. Complex carbohydrates are found in fruits, vegetables, nuts seeds and grains and should be a major part of our diets, but when we are consuming a diet of burgers and fries we are not getting that. 

Let’s look at a popular chain that many of us eat at, McDonald’s.  You pick your children up from daycare and you pull through the drive- thru because you are just too tired to cook, I know I’ve been there.  You order for yourself a Quarter Pounder with cheese, a medium fry, and a medium coke.  You order for your child a 4 piece chicken nugget meal.  Did you know that your meal alone is 1100 calories and 45g of fat?  Your child’s happy meal is 530 calories and 23g of fat.  If you eat like that consistently, you can see how bad habits are being created.  Also, eating like that late in the evening, when you won’t have the time to burn off the added calories, could lead to health problems.  McDonald’s nutrition information:  http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/nutritionexchange.do

Here are a few links about fast food and how it is bad for your health:

http://www.moneyinstructor.com/art/fastfooddangers.asp

http://hubpages.com/hub/why-fast-food-is-bad-for-you

http://www.greenhealthspot.com/2008/02/bad-news-for-fa.html

With proper planning and thinking ahead you can make changes.  Sometimes it may take a little extra time to do so, but it could be so worth it for you and your family.  If you must eat fast food, here are some tips to help you make better choices:

-Drink water with your meal

-Pay attention to the descriptions on the menu-order items with more vegetables and chose leaner meats.

-Be aware of calorie and fat packed salad dressings, spreads, cheese, sour cream, etc.

-Watch portion size and watch salt intake

-A lot of places have begun letting you substitute your fries with a side salad or sliced fruit.  That is definitely a healthier alternative!

By: Angela Kimmons

But I Thought Fruit was Good for Everyone!

Dieticians say that children two to five should get at least one and a half cup of fruit in their diet everyday. So, in order to keep their children healthy parents start to introduce fruits to infants at approximately four months old. But as I found out from first hand experience not all bodies are made to process the natural sugars (fructose) in fruit. In fact fructose could be fatal to small children

. Hereditary fructose intolerance (HFI) is a recessive inherited condition. HFI occurs in 1 out of 12,000 people in the United States. People who have (HFI) are born without the capability of breaking down or using fructose (fruit sugar). There is a series of processes that the body has to go through in order to break down fructose and use the energy it has. These processes take place within the small intestines and the liver. Normally fructose is absorbed from the small intestine by our bodies to use its natural energy. In the liver of people with (HFI) the body over looks the enzyme fructose 1-phosphate aldolase. Fructose 1-phosphate aldolase is an enzyme that further breaks down fructose even finer. Once fruit is eaten it is turned into fructose-1-phosphate that is further broken down into glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate. This process is how the normal breaking down of sugar in the body occurs, known as glycolysis. Glycolysis is the most important process in the body that produces energy.

 
 
Pathway of metabolism of fructose to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (Source)

Without the fructose 1-phosphate aldolase enzyme fructose-1-phosphate accumulates in the liver and small intestine. This accumulated fructose-1-phosphate prohibits sugar from breaking down and halts glycolysis. Malfunctioning of the glycolysis process leads to severe hypoglycemia after you eat fruit or other foods containing fructose. Hypoglycemia commonly occurs in diabetes revealing an extremely low blood sugar level. Other symptoms are severe abdominal pain, vomiting, bloating, and gastrointestinal problems after eating fruit or other sugars broken down by fructose-1-phosphate. Continued consumption by infants leads to hepatic and renal failure resulting in death.

Diagnosis of HFI is often difficult and especially very dangerous in small children. The only way to know if a person is suffering from HFI is to get one of two tests done:

• An enzymatic assay to determine aldolase activity. The aldolase is obtained from patient liver tissue in an invasive surgical procedure called a liver biopsy.

• A fructose tolerance test. Fructose is injected intravenously under controlled conditions where acute glucose, fructose, and phosphate levels are monitored. The treatment for HFI is a strict fructose free diet. This involves exclusion of anything containing fructose, sucrose, or sorbitol.

The treatment for HFI is a strict fructose free diet. This involves exclusion of anything containing fructose, sucrose, or sorbitol.      

What's really in your food? High Fructose Corn Syrup as a Possible Contributor to the Obesity Epidemic

    I found an article in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that discussed the obesity epidemic and its possible relationship to the increased consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in recent years, particularly in beverages. The article, entitled Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity, can be found by following this link: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/79/4/537 . Although the cause/s of the obesity epidemic are still unclear, some scientists and health professionals think that the increasing presence of artificial sweeteners in foods and beverages may play a role. High fructose corn syrup is the most common of these artificial sweeteners, accounting for 40 percent of caloric sweeteners added to foods and beverages. In fact, it is the only artificial sweetener that is used in beverages in the United States. The consumption of high fructose corn syrup (hereafter referred to as HFCS) increased 1000% between 1970 and 1990, mirroring the spread of obesity throughout the population of individuals aged 2 years and above in recent years.
    One reason that HFCS is thought to contribute to weight gain is because the body doesn’t process fructose (a sugar found in fruits) the same way that it processes glucose (a simple sugar found in carbohydrates). Fructose doesn’t cause the body to secrete insulin or produce leptin like glucose does. Both insulin and leptin act as key signals that tell the body to stop eating when it has received enough nutrients (creating a feeling of being “full”). This is why consuming HFCS may contribute to increased food intake, and thus weight gain.
    Corn-based syrups are inexpensive to produce, so they are being used more and more in place of sucrose (table sugar) as an added sugar (sweetener added to manufactured food). Fructose is also a lot sweeter than sucrose. Since HFCS is added to so much of our food, I think that the extra sweetness has caused us to develop a preferred taste for very sweet foods. This might make us prefer artificially sweetened foods over foods that are naturally sweet or foods that are sweetened with sucrose.

    The article says that HFCS is a favorite substitute for sucrose in carbonated beverages, baked foods, canned fruits, jams and jellies, and dairy products. I think that it is in a lot more foods than the article listed, though. In reading labels, I have found HFCS in canned soups, all kinds of packaged breads and other baked goods, salsa, canned tomatoes, crackers, dried fruits, and the list goes on. This is frustrating to me because a lot of people eat canned fruits and dairy products like yogurt thinking they are eating healthy foods, when, in reality, they are eating large amounts of HFCS. I know there is some debate over whether HFCS is worse than sucrose or not. But, even if it is no worse than sucrose, the fact that it is being added to so many foods that do not need sweeteners is alarming to me. Why does applesauce need extra sugar? It’s naturally sweet! I think it is very deceptive for companies to add so many sweeteners to their products, especially when the foods are portrayed as healthy snacks in advertisements. If it is true that the consumption of HFCS doesn’t signal regulation in food intake, making people feel hungry even after they’ve eaten a lot of food with HFCS in it, then perhaps that is why food companies put it in foods that don’t need sweeteners. If consumers eat their products but don’t get full, they’ll eat more and more of it, increasing food sales. Unfortunately it also increases obesity and associated health problems in consumers. 

    The article also discusses studies that have been done using rats. The researchers provide sweetened beverages for them to drink then record the results. In this particular study the consumption of the sweetened beverages decreased the amount of solid food the rats consumed, but the rats still gained weight, slowly progressing to an obese state. This is alarming considering the large amount of sodas that people consume on a regular basis. So many people grab a soda from a vending machine or an extra large beverage from a fast-food joint in place of a meal (or in addition to a double cheeseburger and fries). Added sweeteners are not only in soda, though. Many fruit juices have high contents of HFCS. Again, I think a lot of people drink fruit juices instead of sodas, thinking they are being health-conscious, when there is sometimes just as much HFCS in a bottle of grape juice as there is in a bottle of coke. All in all, I think the food industry is taking advantage of un-knowing customers by adding HFCS and other sweeteners to foods that most people assume are more healthy than they really are.

Hilary Weber

Resources:  "Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity" from the Journal of Clinical Nutrition http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/79/4/537 .