7 Worst Ingredients in Food

By Dr. Mercola

More than 3,000 food additives -- preservatives, flavorings, colors and other ingredients -- are added to US foods, and this is one of the key reasons why I recommend avoiding most of the processed foods that contain them.

While many well-meaning nutritionists will teach you the importance of reading food labels, the easiest way to eat healthy is to stick with foods that need no food label at all… When was the last time you saw an ingredients list on a grass-fed steak or a bunch or broccoli?

There’s a good chance, though, that you do eat some processed foods, and if this is the case reading the label is invaluable. There are literally thousands of ‘red flags’ to watch out for in the foods you eat, but a handful take the proverbial cake for worst of the worst.

The Seven Worst Ingredients in Processed Foods

Andrea Donsky, founder of NaturallySavvy.com, did a wonderful job of highlighting seven ingredients you should avoid eating in the infographic above. She refers to them as the "Scary Seven."1 If you see any of these on a food label, promptly put it back on the shelf; if you value your health, you don’t want to be putting these in your body. Let’s take a look at each in detail:

1. Artificial Sweeteners

Experiments have found that sweet taste, regardless of its caloric content, enhances your appetite, and consuming artificial sweeteners has been shown to lead to even greater weight gain than consuming sugar.Aspartame has been found to have the most pronounced effect, but the same applies for other artificial sweeteners, such as acesulfame potassium, sucralose and saccharin.

Yet, weight gain is only the beginning of why artificial sweeteners should generally be avoided. Aspartame, for instance, is a sweet-tasting neurotoxin. As a result of its unnatural structure, your body processes the amino acids found in aspartame very differently from a steak or a piece of fish.

The amino acids in aspartame literally attack your cells, even crossing the blood-brain barrier to attack your brain cells, creating a toxic cellular overstimulation, called excitotoxicity, similar to MSG.

Further, inflammatory bowel disease may be caused or exacerbated by the regular consumption of the popular artificial sweetener Splenda (sucralose), as it inactivates digestive enzymes and alters gut barrier function.2

Previous research also found that sucralose can destroy up to 50 percent of your beneficial gut flora.3 While you certainly don’t want to overdo it on sugar, there's little doubt in my mind that artificial sweeteners can be evenworse for your health than sugar and even fructose.

2. Synthetic Trans Fats

These are common in foods that contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, such as crackers, chips, most store-bought baked goods, and any fried foods, just to name a few examples. Synthetic trans fats are known to promote inflammation, which is a hallmark of most chronic and/or serious diseases.

For instance, in one 2010 study, post-menopausal women who consumed the most daily synthetic trans fat had a 30 percent higher incidence of ischemic strokes.4 Synthetic trans fats have also been linked to:

• Cancer: They interfere with enzymes your body uses to fight cancer.
• Diabetes: They interfere with the insulin receptors in your cell membranes.
• Decreased immune function: They reduce your immune response.
• Problems with reproduction: They interfere with enzymes needed to produce sex hormones.
• Heart disease

Your intake of trans fats should be as low as possible; no “safe upper limit” has even been established because, quite simply, there is none.

3. Artificial Flavors

What’s particularly alarming when you see a word like “artificial flavor” on an ingredients label is that there’s no way to know what it actually means. It could mean that one unnatural additive is included, or it could be a blend of hundreds of additives. Strawberry artificial flavor can contain nearly 50 chemical ingredients, for example.5

Or take the artificial flavoring called diacetyl, which is often used as a butter flavoring in microwave popcorn. Research shows diacetyl has several concerning properties for brain health and may trigger Alzheimer’s disease. Genetically engineered flavor enhancers can also be listed under the artificial flavor (or natural flavor) label.

4. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

This flavor enhancer is most often associated with Chinese food, but it's actually in countless processed food products ranging from frozen dinners and salad dressing to snack chips and meats. MSG is an excitotoxin, which means it overexcites your cells to the point of damage or death, causing brain dysfunction and damage to varying degrees -- and potentially even triggering or worsening learning disabilities, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease and more.

Part of the problem is that free glutamic acid (MSG is approximately 78 percent free glutamic acid) is the same neurotransmitter that your brain, nervous system, eyes, pancreas and other organs use to initiate certain processes in your body. Although the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to claim that consuming MSG in food does not cause these ill effects, many other experts say otherwise.

5. Artificial Colors

Every year, food manufacturers pour 15 million pounds of artificial food dyes into U.S. foods -- and that amount only factors in eight different varieties.6 As of July 2010, most foods in the European Union that contain artificial food dyes were labeled with warning labels stating the food "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children." The British government also asked that food manufacturers remove most artificial colors from foods back in 2009 due to health concerns.

Nine of the food dyes currently approved for use in the US are linked to health issues ranging from cancer and hyperactivity to allergy-like reactions -- and these results were from studies conducted by the chemical industry itself.7 For instance, Red # 40, which is the most widely used dye, may accelerate the appearance of immune system tumors in mice, while also triggering hyperactivity in children.

Blue # 2, used in candies, beverages, pet foods and more, was linked to brain tumors. And Yellow 5, used in baked goods, candies, cereal and more, may not only be contaminated with several cancer-causing chemicals, but it's also linked to hyperactivity, hypersensitivity and other behavioral effects in children.

6. High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

It’s often claimed that HFCS is no worse for you than sugar, but this is not the case. Because high-fructose corn syrup contains free-form monosaccharides of fructose and glucose, it cannot be considered biologically equivalent to sucrose (sugar), which has a glycosidic bond that links the fructose and glucose together, and which slows its break down in the body.

Fructose is primarily metabolized by your liver, because your liver is the only organ that has the transporter for it. Since all fructose gets shuttled to your liver, and, if you eat a typical Western-style diet, you consume high amounts of it, fructose ends up taxing and damaging your liver in the same way alcohol and other toxins do. And just like alcohol, fructose is metabolized directly into fat – it just gets stored in your fat cells, which leads to mitochondrial malfunction, obesity and obesity-related diseases.

The more fructose or HFCS a food contains, and the more total fructose you consume, the worse it is for your health. As a standard recommendation, I advise keeping your TOTAL fructose consumption below 25 grams per day. For most people it would also be wise to limit your fructose from fruit to 15 grams or less, as you're virtually guaranteed to consume "hidden" sources of fructose if you drink beverages other than water and eat processed food.

Fifteen grams of fructose is not much -- it represents two bananas, one-third cup of raisins, or two Medjool dates. Remember, the average 12-ounce can of soda contains 40 grams of sugar, at least half of which is fructose, so one can of soda alone would exceed your daily allotment.

7. Preservatives

Preservatives lengthen the shelf-life of foods, increasing manufacturers’ profits – at your expense, since most are linked to health problems such as cancer, allergic reactions and more. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydrozyttoluene (BHT) are preservatives that affect the neurological system of your brain, alter behavior and have the potential to cause cancer. Tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) is a chemical preservative so deadly that just five grams can kill you.

The preservative sodium benzoate -- found in many soft drinks, fruit juices and salad dressings – has been found to cause children to become measurably more hyperactive and distractible. Sodium nitrite, a commonly used preservative in hot dogs, deli meats and bacon, has been linked to higher rates of colorectal, stomach and pancreatic cancers. And the list goes on and on…

US Processed Foods May Be Even Worse Than Those in Other Countries

Many of the food additives that are perfectly legal to use in US foods are banned in other countries. The banned ingredients include various food dyes, the fat substitute Olestra, brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate (aka brominanted flour), Azodicarbonamide, BHA, BHT, rBGH, rBST and arsenic.

When foods are processed, not only are valuable nutrients lost and fibers removed, but the textures and natural variation and flavors are also lost. After processing, what's left behind is a bland, uninteresting "pseudo-food" that most people wouldn’t want to eat. So at this point, food manufacturers must add back in the nutrients, flavor, color and texture to processed foods in order to make them palatable, and this is why they become loaded with food additives. If you live in Europe, you may have more options than Americans, as you may be able to find some processed foods that do not contain any synthetic additives.

Still, swapping your processed food diet for one that focuses on fresh whole foods is a necessity if you value your health. Remember, people have thrived on vegetables, meats, eggs, fruits and other whole foods for centuries, while processed foods were only recently invented.

If you want to eat (and be) healthy, I suggest you follow the 1950s (and before) model and spend quality time in the kitchen preparing high-quality meals for yourself and your family. If you rely on processed inexpensive foods, you exchange convenience for long-term health problems and mounting medical bills. For a step-by-step guide to make this a reality in your own life, simply follow the advice in my optimized nutrition plan along with these seven steps to wean yourself off processed foods

The Health Benefits of Consuming Organ Meats

By Dr. Mercola

The consumption of organ meats has fallen out of favor in the West, which may be a mixed blessing. Liver, kidney, heart and other animal organs from organically raised, grass-fed animals are some of the most nutrient-rich foods you can eat.

Unfortunately, that's not how most food animals are raised these days. In today's world of high calorie/high carbohydrate but low nutrient foods, most people would benefit greatly from adding these superfoods back into their diet.

However, I advise against eating organ meats from animals raised in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). The diets, veterinary drugs and living conditions of such animals are not likely to result in healthy organs, so be sure to find out where the organs came from, should you decide to pick some up at your local grocer.

Many traditional cultures and their medicine men—including Native Americans—believe that eating the organs from a healthy animal supports the organs of the eater.

For example, a traditional way of treating a person with a weak heart was to feed the person the heart of a healthy animal. Similarly, eating the brains of a healthy animal was believed to support clear thinking, and animal kidneys were fed to people suffering from urinary maladies.

There are countless reports about the success of these types of traditional practices. We can thank Dr. Weston A. Price for an enormous body of research about the health benefits of traditional diets.1

The 'Isaac Newton of Nutrition'

Dr. Weston A. Price2 was a Cleveland dentist who has been called the "Isaac Newton of Nutrition." Dr. Price traveled all over the world studying the dietary practices of healthy people from traditional cultures.

What he found was that nearly every culture placed a high value on consuming animals in their entirety, making use of the organs, blood, bones, and everything else—a far cry from Western culinary snobbery, which pretty much limits animal foods to muscle tissue and nothing else.

Traditional preparations involve a good deal of work in terms of cleaning, trimming, soaking, pounding and so on because membranes, blood vessels and other inedible parts must be removed from animal organs before they can be consumed, requiring significant time and labor. Why did they bother with all of this work?

They knew that eating these organs would support the natural functioning of their bodies. And they were right—the nutritional benefits of organ meats are now being confirmed by modern science.

Organ meat is a nutritional powerhouse, loaded with vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other compounds vital to your health. Liver in particular is packed with nutrients, which is why predatory animals eat it first and why it has been so highly prized throughout history.

Unfortunately, organ meats have been unfairly demonized in the West thanks to some persistent dietary myths, including beliefs that animal fat and cholesterolare bad for your health. Nothing could be farther from the truth!

Dr. Price, who studied this extensively, found that native cultures who maintained traditional diets—whole foods from plants and animals—had excellent teeth and were free of the chronic diseases plaguing society today. They experienced very little cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental illness, or even birth defects.3 But why? What accounts for such drastic health differences?

Traditional versus Contemporary Diets

When Dr. Price analyzed and compared the nutrient value of foods eaten by traditional versus modern cultures, he found that a traditional diet provided at least four times the water-soluble vitamins, calcium and other minerals, and at least 10 times the fat-soluble vitamins, such as A and D.

These fat-soluble vitamins are present only in animal fats—butter, lard, egg yolks, fish oils, and foods with fat-rich cellular membranes such as liver and other organ meats. Of course, these are the foods now shunned by Westerners as unhealthful. Is it any wonder that adopting a modern diet spells disaster for your health?

The Offal Truth

The consumable parts of an animal that are not skeletal muscle are called offal, which literally means "off fall," or the pieces that fall off a carcass when it's butchered. This includes the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, pancreas and all other abdominal organs, as well as the tails, feet, brains, tongue, and yes, even the testicles.4

In the US, the term "organ meats" is more commonly used, and when these parts come from birds, they are usually referred to as giblets.5 Sweetbreads refer to the thymus gland or pancreas of a young cow, lamb or pig.

In nature, most animals go straight for the organs of their prey, saving the muscle meats for later. This is because animals instinctively know that organ meats are the densest source of nutrition. In fact, organs are the superfoods of the animal kingdom. This is why "glandulars,"6 supplements made from dried tissues of animal organs and glands, pack some powerful therapeutic punches when taken under the guidance of a skilled medical practitioner.

Organ Meats: The Superfoods of the Animal World

Organ meats offer a rich mélange of nutrients your body needs for optimal function, in concentrations hard to find anywhere else. The most significant ones are outlined in the following table.7

High-quality protein	B complex, including B12 and folate (folic acid)	Minerals, including a highly bioavailable form of iron
Fats (especially omega-3 fats8)	Choline (another B vitamin, important for cell membranes, brain and nerve function, heart health, and prevention of birth defects)9	Trace minerals such as copper, zinc and chromium
Cholesterol10	CoQ10 (essential for energy production and cardiac function; potent antioxidant; animal hearts offer the highest levels of coQ10)	Vitamin D
Vitamin E (circulation, tissue repair, healing, deactivation of free radicals, slowing aging)	Pre-formed vitamin A (retinol)	An unidentified "anti-fatigue factor"
Purines11 (nitrogen containing compounds serving as precursors to DNA and RNA)	Vitamin K2	Amino acids

The Discovery of 'Fat-Soluble Activators'

One of Dr. Price's most significant contributions to nutrition science was the concept of fat-soluble activators, which serve as potent catalysts for mineral absorption. Without them, minerals cannot by used by your body, no matter how plentiful they may be in your diet. Dr. Price was quite ahead of his time—modern research has since validated most of his findings.

Dr. Price identified three primary fat-soluble activators: vitamins A and D, and one he called "Activator X," because he didn't know exactly what it was, only that it was present in certain fatty parts of animals (especially the organ meats) that fed on young green growing plants or microorganisms, as well as in oily fish and shellfish. This powerful nutrient is now believed to be vitamin K2, a nutrient that is far more important than most people realize.12, 13

Vitamin D, is required for mineral metabolism, healthy bones, optimal nervous system function, muscle tone, reproductive health, insulin production, and protection from depression14 and every type of chronic illness, from cancer to heart disease. Vitamin D's list of benefits keeps growing with each passing year. However, it's important to realize that these nutrients are dependent on the animal having been raised and fed in a natural manner. As stated by the Weston A. Price Foundation:15

"The vital roles of these fat-soluble vitamins and the high levels found in the diets of healthy traditional peoples confirm the importance of pasture-feeding livestock. If domestic animals are not consuming green grass, vitamins A and K will be largely missing from their fat, organ meats, butterfat and egg yolks; if the animals are not raised in the sunlight, vitamin D will be largely missing from these foods."

Vitamin A Myth-Busting

Impressively abundant in organ meats from pastured animals, Vitamin A is a catalyst for multiple biochemical processes. Vitamin A is vital for prevention of birth defects, prevention of infection, hormone production, optimal thyroid function, good digestion, good vision, and healthy bones and blood. Without it, your body cannot utilize protein, minerals and water-soluble vitamins. Vitamin A is also an antioxidant that helps protect you from pollutants, free radicals, and cancer.

Contrary to what many vegetarians believe, the type of vitamin A obtained from plants (carotene) is much different than the animal-derived form. Carotenes from vibrantly colored fruits and vegetable are a great antioxidant and can be converted into true vitamin A in your upper intestine, but many people are unable to convert it, especially if their diets contain insufficient fat.

Dr. Price discovered that the diets of traditional peoples contained at least 10 times more vitamin A from animal sources than found in the American diet of his day. That difference may be even starker now, as his research was done decades ago.

When people began taking synthetic vitamin A supplements, we began to see vitamin A toxicity. But this does not happen with natural vitamin A from real, whole foods. Therefore, the advice to refrain from organ meats during pregnancy is unfounded. It is best to obtain your vitamin A from natural sources like yellow butter, egg yolks, and organ meats.

Please realize that antibiotics, laxatives, fat substitutes and cholesterol-lowering drugs interfere with vitamin-A absorption. Another common myth is that organ meats cause gout. This is a warped, oversimplified misinterpretation of the biochemical processes that lead to gout.16 Gout results from a buildup of uric acid, which is more a function of insulin resistance related to overconsumption of refined carbohydrates and sugar. Uric acid is a byproduct of your body's metabolism of dietary sugar—especially fructose.

Excess dietary protein with insufficient dietary fat may also raise your risk for gout. This is why lean meats should not be consumed without adding a healthful fat, and the leaner organ meats (such as the heart and liver) are no exception. The one nutrient most protective against gout is vitamin A, because it helps protect your kidneys—healthy kidneys prevent the buildup of uric acid by excreting it in your urine. Therefore, organ meats actually protect you from gout, rather than cause it.

Liver—Nature's Most Concentrated Source of Vitamin A

Liver is the most commonly consumed organ meat in the US—and for good reason: it's one of the most nutrient-dense foods in existence. Liver is held sacred by many African tribes, and practically every cuisine has liver specialties. It simply contains more nutrients, gram for gram, than any other food:17

• Liver is nature's most concentrated source of vitamin A (retinol)
• It contains an abundant, highly usable form of iron
• Three ounces of beef liver contains almost three times as much choline as one egg
• Liver is one of the best sources of copper, folic acid, cholesterol, and purines
• It also contains a mysterious "anti-fatigue factor," making it a favorite among athletes

The liver is often described as an organ that "filters" your blood of toxins, which may seem concerning in terms of eating it. In reality, laboratory analysis has proven that liver is actually completely safe for consumption and has no higher concentration of toxins than the rest of the body. This is due to the fact that your liver is not really a "filter," but more of a chemical processing plant, rendering toxins inert and shuttling them out of your body. If your liver contains large amounts of toxins, so do you! And the same goes for the animals you consume. What this means is, the cleaner the animal whose organs you are consuming, the cleaner your food will be, whether it's a steak or an organ.18

IMPORTANT: Know Where Your Meat Comes From

In another article19 written by a meat processor, Bob Martin explains the differences between products derived from grain-fed animals versus from grass-fed animals. He reports that many grain-finished livers are "condemned," whereas this does not happen with grass-finished livers. He is very straight in his recommendation to avoid meat and organs coming from animals that are grain-fed or grain-finished, such as those produced by CAFOs.

As stated earlier, it is safest to restrict all of your meats to pastured, or at the very least, grass-finished animals. In the wake of mad cow disease, it is particularly important to consume animals raised on pasture and fed a biologically appropriate diet, which virtually eliminates their risk of mad cow disease, as well as many other dangerous contaminants.20

Recipes and Other Offal Resources

If you haven't been eating organ meats lately, perhaps you abandoned them because they were thrust upon you as a child, or maybe you've never been able to get past their appearance. They look like entrails because they ARE entrails, which are difficult to disguise. You just may have to get over it... for the sake of your health! Fortunately, organ meats don't have to be the tough, dried out, overcooked liver-and-onions of yesteryear that were more like shoe leather than meat.

Finding good organ meat recipes can be somewhat of a challenge, as they are more of a niche specialty today—but they are out there. In order to make your journey a bit easier, I've assimilated a list of resources to perhaps inspire you into trying some new things. The following are merely a starting point—I'm sure you can find others. Paleo recipe websites often have interesting and unique organ meat recipes, and there are an abundance of those. Happy hunting!

• An article called "The Liver Files" on the Weston Price website has great nutrition information about liver, as well as liver recipes from around the world17
• Sally Fallon gives a big thumbs up to a cookbook devoted to organ meats, The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating, by Fergus Henderson.21
• Chris Kresser's article "How to Eat More Organ Meats" contains nutritional information as well as links to a number of recipes, by organ type.22
• Chef Chris Cosentino's website Offal Good is completely devoted to "everything offal" and is an interesting read, including recipes, videos, and offal photos NOT for the faint of heart—but perfect for the culinarily curious! (Chef Cosentino is featured in the video at the top of this article.)
• Huffington Post offers a few select recipes for offal food.23
• Food & Wine gives some tips for "Nose to Tail Cooking."
• For the nutritional composition of organ meats, I found a couple of resources. The Self Nutrition Data site is a good resource for comparing nutrient levels of many foods, including organ meats. And an online publication called "Nutritional Composition of Red Meat" from the University of Wollongong (Australia) has charts with all sorts of nutritional data for red meats, including organ meats and wild game.

ALL ABOUT CHILDREN OBESITY

All about children and obesity.
Have you heard of the term obesity or obese? 

Probably. Obesity (o-bee-see-tee) is the state of being seriously overweight (overweight is when you have too much body fat) - to a degree that affects your health.

Obesity in childhood is linked to many health complications. If a child is obese, and has obese parents, there is a high likelihood that the child will be obese as an adult. This is so because kids tend to share eating lifestyle habits with parents. Note that this is not always the case.

If more than 25% of a person's total body weight is fat, then he is classified as being obese. For a woman it is more than 32% because women have a different body shape.

How do you know if you are obese?

Kids are checked against the average height and weight for kids of their age. So if a kid's weight is a lot more than the average for their height, it could be that the child is obese.

Another check is the BMI check. Body Mass Index (BMI) is a simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used to classify overweight and obesity in adults. It is defined as a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of his height in meters (kg/m2).

Also there is the 'skin fold' or 'pinch' test. A health professional can measure the thickness of flesh over the triceps muscle (the underside of the arm above the elbow) and over the back of the body. It is best if a doctor or other health professional does this, as they know how to do it.

It is worrying that many parents with overweight kids do not consider them as overweight. A National Opinion Poll in UK involving over 1,000 parents of children aged four to seven showed that only 14% of those with an obese child considered that their child was overweight.

''Did you know... that a healthy ten-year old's ribs should be clearly visible? Many parents would consider that such a child was quite underweight.”
Picked from BBC, by Professor Mary Rudolf, Obesity expert

Obesity is caused by 3 simple factors:

Unhealthy diet (high fat diet)
The first main cause of child obesity is unhealthy diet (too rich in sugar and fats and not enough fibre and carbohydrate). These are usually the kinds that people buy from fast food shops. They include buttery foods, chese, and lots of oils and salt. Some parents also cook foods like cake, bacon burgers, potato fries, ice-creams an double chese pizzas. Sometimes eating too much can also make you fat even if it's healthy food.

Lack of physical activity and exercise
Child obesity can also result from sedentary lifestyles and lack of exercise. This include sitting at one place all the time, and not making any attempt to move around or excercise. e.g. sitting around a lot, or watching TV for long hours of the day. If this habbit is not matched with regular exercise to burn off the fat, it can result in obesity over time.

Medical condition or medications
In many other cases, it could be a medical problem of not being able to control hunger, or the effect of some medicines that you take.

If this is what seems to be the problem for you or a friend, it is most important to speak to your doctor immediately. Your doctor can always advice on what you can do.

What are the dangers of becoming overweight?

Health Problems: There are many health problems which can be
caused by obesity. These include ...

Coronary Heart Disease CHD
It is the most common type of heart disease. CHD occurs when the coronary arteries, that supply blood to the heart muscle, become hardened and narrowed due to the plaque buildup, reducing the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart. CHD can weaken the heart muscle and lead to heart failure.
More on Heart Disease here 

Type 2 Diabetes
This is associated with insulin resistance. Insulin is an important hormone that delivers glucose (sugar) to our cells.
When a person is overweight, the cells in the body become less sensitive to the insulin that is released from the pancreas. If a person has more fat cells than muscle cells, then the insulin becomes less effective overall, and glucose remains circulating in the blood instead of being taken in to the cells to be used as energy.

Others include:

Benign Intracranial Hypertension (BIH is a disease of the brain)

Hypoventilation (leading to drowsiness during the day, snoring and even heart failure)

Damage to weight-bearing joints (such as your knees)

Others include gall bladder disease, polycystic ovary syndrome, high blood pressure and high levels of blood fats.

Social Problems
As young people, there are even more problems you could face at school. People will call you names,(name calling) and leave you out of fun activities. Some people may even laugh and tease you, and no one would like to be your friend. This can make you very sad and lead to low self-esteem. You may also be bullied at school.

Understanding ‘Fat’
Not all 'fat' is bad. It all depends of the sources and the quantities you consume.

Fats or lipids (in food terms), are nutrients in food that your body uses to build nerve tissue (like the brain) and hormones.

Young children, especially, need a certain amount of fat in their diets to help the brain and nervous system develop correctly. That is why toddlers need to drink whole milk, which has more fat, whereas older kids can drink low-fat or skim milk.

Fat also plays an key role in membrane structure. It cushions and protects our internal organs. Your body also uses fat as fuel. It is a concentrated source of energy. If fats that you've eaten aren't burned as energy, they are stored in your body for future use.

This means if you don’t use it by doing active things and exercising, they stay in your body, and this is where problems can start.

Types of fat
There are 3 main types of Fat.

Unsaturated Fats.
This kind is found naturally in plant foods and fish. They are good for the body and the heart. Examples include Vegetable oils, Tuna, Salmon, Avocados, Olive, Peanu and Canola oils

Saturated Fats. 
They are found in meat and other animal products, such as butter, shortening, lard, cheese, and milk (except skim or nonfat), palm and coconut oils. Saturated fat is generally solid at room temperature. 

It's also the white fat you can see on red meat and underneath poultry skin. Eating too much saturated fat can raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease.

Trans Fats.
This is found in margarine (especially the sticks), commercial snack foods and baked foods, and some commercially fried foods. They are also know as hydrogenated unsaturated fats. Eating too much trans fats can raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease.

Tips on how to reduce the amount of fat in your diet.

Want a snack? Try fresh fruit, dried fruit and cereal-based products instead of cakes and biscuits.

Trim any visible fat off meat and poultry during cooking

Don't fry it! Poach, steam, grill or bake it.

Swap whole milk for semi-skimmed or skimmed

If you use lard, butter or hard margarine, switch to vegetable oil and low-fat spreads

Diet foods, Low-fat foods &
Reduced fat/Lite Foods

Many people look at labels on a product to see the calories count before they buy them to eat. This is a great practice but can be very deceptive. Many cans and containers of food, like ice-cream, may write the calories count per servings. Do you know what 'Per Serving' means? Let us explain. A container of ice-cream with 3 servings written on it means that, it can serve 3 people.
Let us look at a detailed example:

Take a box containing fried potato chips. On the label, they may write '2 Servings' and 40 calories per servings. However, it is very easy for a hungry young boy to eat all 2 servings. This means if a young person eats all two servings, that is 80 calories. This means that the portions we eat make a huge difference, even if it is less fat food!

Have you heard of Fat-Free, Reduced or Lite foods and Low fatfoods? There are terms usually found on food labels.
Many countries have very strict rules on when a food can be called low-fat, Reduced/Lite or fat-free.

Fat-free food:
This label is used when the food has 0.5grams of fat per serving. Again, this means if you eat 4 servings, you would have eaten 2.0 grams of fat!

Low-fat food:
This label is used for food with less than 3grams of fat per serving

Lite / Reduced fat: 
This label is usually used on foods that have 1/2 or 1/3 less fat than the original version of that food. Take a container of chocolate ice-cream for example. The original may be 600 calories. If a version is made with 400 or 300 calories, it can be called Lite Icecream.

How to avoid becoming overweight and staying healthy.

Not all overweight toddlers grow up to become obese adults. There are many things that can keep you from becoming over-weight, and being healthy, fit and happy.

Speak to your doctor about your weight.
First of all, talk to your doctor and get help from a dietician. A dietician guides people on healthy eating habits and draw up a personalised food plan that meets the patient’s dietary restrictions, occupational constraints, fitness and stress levels.


Start eating healthy foods.
Don’t be in a rush to begin an aggressive diet. Growing bodies need a variety of foods to develop well. Instead, ask your mum to make changes to healthy eating. When hungry, grab some fresh fruit and vegetables first, rather than fatty food and snacks. Try not to snack when sitting around.

Do more exercise.
Get involved in sport or exercise everyday. Join in activities at school or after school, so that you have an interest and can spend more time with other kids having fun. Why not try joining a dance class or a cheer fan club?

Get enough sleep.
Get a good night's sleep. Don't eat too late. Get up early and keep busy all day so that you are ready to sleep at night.

Be encouraged and determined.
Be determined to change and make the most of yourself. Every person has one body so try to look after yours and feel good about it. Be conscious of your body and know your limits especially when there is food around.

What you should eat to avoid obesity.

This is s great guide to what you should be eating.

Eat a plant-based diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; choose healthy fats, like olive and canola oil. Eat very little or less red meat and unhealthy fats, like saturated and trans fats..

Go for water. It's the best. Otherwise drink other healthy beverages. Limit sugary drinks (like cola and fizzy drinks) and salt.

The brighter the colours of fresh vegetables and fruits, the better.


The Food Plate

Pay attention to plate sizes. Always make sure you have a bit wholegrain, healthy protein, fruits and vegetables everyday whiles staying far away from the fatty foods mentioned the previous pages. You guide should look like the plate below:

Wholegrains: These include brown rice, whole-wheat bread, and whole-grain pasta. Limit refined grains (like white rice and white bread)

Veggies: The more vegetables and the greater the variety, the better. Stay away from potato chips (French fries)
Healthy protein: Choose poultry, fish, beans and nuts. Limit red meat, avoid bacon, cold cuts and other processed meats.
Fruits: Eat plenty of fruits of all colours.
Drink: Drink water, tea or coffee (with no or very little sugar). Limit dairy/milk (1-2 servings/day) and juice (1 small glass a day). Avoid Sugary drinks.
Oils: Use healthy oils (like olive and canola oil) for cooking, on salad and at the table. Try to avoid butter, even if it tastes good. Avoid trans fat.

Helping Your Overweight or Obese Friend
If your friend has a problem with weight,
then you can be a good friend by:

Commenting on the things that she or he is good at.

Telling the teacher if your friend is being teased or called unkind names - this is harassment and a type of bullying that no one should have to suffer.

Not nagging him / her about it.

Eating good stuff yourself and encouraging them to do the same

Playing with him / her in an active way.

Doing something active together after school, like walking the dog or bike riding, rather than watching TV or playing video games 

Getting her to join in sports lessons by encouragement.

Helping him / her to practice sports skills.

Local councils and schools can help!

Here are some good things that some communities and schools are doing:

Some councils are banning new takeaways from opening within 400 yards of any school, youth club or park, in an attempt to tackle the growing toll of obesity, strokes and heart disease.

Some schools check children’s lunch boxes to award marks for healthy eating. Healthy lunches and snacks like vegetables, carbohydrates and fruits and snacks score high points. Bad meals like fried chicken, chips, fries, cheesy and sugar/fizzy drinks score nothing.

Some schools ensure that each child is involved with a weekly sports activity.

Can you think of some cool ways that your community and school can help fight obesity?

Some Myths and Truths about obesity

Myth: Childhood obesity is genetic, so there’s nothing you can do about it.
Truth: While a person’s genes do influence weight, they are only one small part of the equation. Although some children are more prone to gaining weight than others, that doesn’t mean they’re destined for weight problems. Most kids can maintain a healthy weight if they eat right and exercise.

Myth: It’s just baby fat. Children will shed it off as they grow.

Truth: Childhood obesity doesn’t always lead to obesity in adulthood, but it does raise the risks dramatically. The majority of children who are overweight at any time during the preschool or elementary school are still overweight as they enter their teens. Most kids do not outgrow the problem.

Myth: Children who are obese or overweight should be put on a diet.
Truth: Unless directed by your child’s doctor otherwise, the treatment for childhood obesity is not weight loss. The goal should be to slow or stop weight gain, allowing your child to grow into his or her ideal weight.

Conclusion
There are many people who claim there are medicines that can make you thin. Others claim there foods that are diet foods.
Always remember that the greatest solution to controlling obesity isself -motivation, eating healthy and in smaller amounts and doing lots of exercises and physical activities.

No medicine will help if your basic eating habit is not changed. Be strong and do it yourself, and let people see that you are capable of achieving great things too.

So… this is it. Ask your friends to come and learn with us on how we can control our body fats, stay healthy and help others.

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