Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Children who eat sweets and chocolate every day are more likely to become violent adults according to UK researchers.

The Cardiff University study involving 17,500 people is the first study to look into effects of childhood diet on adult violence. It found 10-year-olds who ate sweets daily were significantly more likely to have a violence conviction by age 34. The researchers found that 69% of the participants who were violent at the age of 34 had eaten sweets and chocolate nearly every day during childhood, compared to 42% who were non-violent.

The link remained even after controlling for other factors such as parenting behavior, location of where child lived, not having education after the age of 16 and whether or not they had access to a car when they were 34.

So not only does eating junk food in childhood increase the risk of adult cancers as stated in my book Disease Proof Your Child, there is now evidence that suggests eating sweets may contribute to sending your child to jail down the road. Interestingly, this link between violent behavior and sweets was better than the link between abusive parenting behaviors and violent crime. Parents need to know that giving their children sweets is dangerous for many reasons.

The study was reported in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

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Editor's Note: This is Dr. Fuhrman's follow up to this post: The 4H Pledge. This Week is Our County's 4H fair.

America is certainly beautiful and one of the best places in the world to live, but our population of proud Americans has let their health deteriorate. We are not living up to our heritage as leaders in technology, in health, in fitness, and in doing what is right for humanity. The image of overfed, fat and sickly Americans has become a common joke the world over.

The number of obese Americans is higher than the number of those who smoke, use illegal drugs, or suffer from other physical ailments. A poor diet and even being moderately overweight is a major risk factor associated with highly prevalent, serious diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, and the diet-style that creates these diseases fuels out-of-control medical costs.

In the 20th century, the average American diet shifted from one based on fresh, minimally processed vegetable foods to one based on animal products and highly refined, processed foods. As a result, Americans now consume far more calories from fat, cholesterol, refined sugar, animal protein, sodium, white flour, and far less fiber and plant-derived nutrients. Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer have skyrocketed. Our diet is killing us and resulting in a health care crisis no economy can afford.

The saddest part is the needless medical tragedies that cause so much unnecessary suffering, with deaths and serious chronic diseases arising out of nutritional ignorance that never had to occur in the first place. How do we measure the pain, suffering, and emotional distress thrust upon individuals and families as a result of this staggering epidemic of broken hearts?

Wrong information begets bad results and good information begets good results. Consider these three critical points.

• Americans have adopted a distorted viewpoint that doctors and drugs are the answer to all their health problems.

• Unhealthy food is addicting

• Low micro-nutrient intake leads to overeating

These three simple facts helped create the problem that is killing most Americans, and solving these simple truths is the solution to what ails America.

Very few people take advantage of modern nutritional science that can bless us with the potential to live longer and in greater health than ever before in human history. Many rally against the criticism of their junk food (junkatarian) lifestyle and food addictions. We can see this everywhere and even in the comments posted here. They make it clear how powerful food addictions are, and the desire of many to want to squelch this much needed message and purpose.

We have a mission to change Americans and it will not be silenced.

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I was in 4H when I was a kid, and now my children are in it. It’s always fun to go to the fair soon after the judges place the infamous ribbons on the projects to see what award they received; the suspense and excitement is sort of like Christmas in July. For rural kids especially, the county fair is one of the highlights of summer.

When I was a kid, I didn’t really notice the food vendors at the fair. Cotton candy, salt water taffy, hotdogs, and snow-cones were just a part of the package. No big deal.

Now, as a bonafide nutritarian, a person who has eaten nutrient-dense foods for a year, lost close to a hundred pounds, and got my health and life back in the process, the children’s projects didn’t catch my attention as much as the many obese bellies that literally saturated the landscape. It was shocking.

As I entered the food pavilion area, one of the main attractions of the fair, the shock factor increased. I sat down on one of the picnic tables, strategically placed in the middle of over twenty, food vendor booths: cheesy-spiral-fried spuds, double cheese sirloin burgers, elephant ears, funnel cakes, cotton candy, snow-cones, lemon shake-ups, cream filled pumpkin rolls, ice-cream cones, gooey pastries, fountain drinks, foot long corn dogs, and salt water taffy, just to name a few.

It was at that moment, the 4H pledge, the one recited at every club meeting by the youth of America, came to mind:

I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service and my health to better living, for my club, my community, my country, and my world.

Junk food is literally killing us. As a nation, we are in crisis. We must all band together to fight this creeping destruction of America. Unwise food choices are not only destroying our health and economy, but also our values, our dignity, and our environment.

Fast forward to five years from now…hard working farmers and 4H clubs band together to help save the lives of the American heartland. There are fresh produce stands sprinkled all throughout the nation’s county fairs that say, “Let’s save America. Get fit and healthy. Reject junk food. Support local farmers.” These stands would sell cherries, melons, ice cones made with local fruits, nourishing bean soups, little sacks of nuts and seeds, and locally grown greens made into fresh salads with a delicious, cinnamon-cashew-apple dressing drizzled on top.

Maybe we can enlist the 4H leaders and youth of this nation to help with the rescue efforts. After all, it’s their pledge.

May we all pledge clear minds and healthy bodies to better living for our community, our country, and our world!

UPDATE: Dr. Fuhrman wrote a follow up to this: Not Only At The 4H Fair But Everywhere

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I'm a nutritarian who lives in the real world.

I have children, so therefore, I have a vehicle that hides half eaten suckers and stale candy bars deep within its seats. I find them. I usually eat them.

I have a little boy who likes to have “treat dates” with his mom. I'll be his date.

I have a young adult daughter who has sprouted wings, and flown to new adventures, and wants to show me her exciting city, and the Italian restaurants that abound within. I'll visit her discoveries.

I have graduation and birthday parties to attend. Weddings to celebrate. Art openings to linger at. Holidays to enjoy. I'll continue to rejoice with family and friends.

I’m 100% committed to living the ideal life of excellent health and well-being within the real world.

The real world…filled with pizza, chips, dip, macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, cheeseburgers, fries, pop, stale candy, birthday cake and parties, ice cream treats, social events and holiday gatherings centered around high fat / low nutrient foods, chronic malnutrition, organic depression, type II diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, achy joints, lethargy, chronic fatigue, a stuffy nose, back pain, triple bypass surgery, dialysis, astronomical medical bills, insulin, heart meds, ace inhibitors, anti-depressants loaded with toxic side-effects, baggy “fat clothes” composed of black shirts and stretch pants, and absolutely nothing fun to wear.

I eat to live. I eat for health.

I nourish my cells with nutrient dense foods.

I am kind and gentle to my body.

I’m fully committed.

Abstinent, yes.

Perfect, no.

For life.

100%.

How have you managed to commit to Dr. Fuhrman’s nutritarian lifestyle while living within the real world?

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Recently, my two sons, my brother, and I went hiking up the rocky cliffs overlooking Devil’s Lake, near the Wisconsin Dells. The climb was steep and strenuous, but the view at the summit overlooking the bluffs was gorgeous; well worth the physical exertion that was expended to capture its magnificence.

Three years ago, when I was obese, and carrying around almost a hundred extra pounds, I could only make it a third of the way up due to shortness of breathe and exhaustion.

Unfortunately, I never got to see the breathtaking views from the summit. In fact, past a certain point in the climb, one never sees an obese person.

Not only did I make it to the summit with little effort this time, that evening I asked my 20-year-old son if he’d like to go back, and watch the sunset with me.

We reached the summit in record speed, just as the sun was beginning to melt into the earth, and the picture of me above, on the right, was taken immediately afterwards.

At that moment, I vividly recalled one person’s response to the infamous, “How did you do it?” question that many, including complete strangers, have asked me throughout this past year of getting my health back.

After telling the basics of being a nutritarian, I recall one person emphatically exclaimed, “Oh, I could never give up pizza!”

Give up pizza? Ha. She had absolutely no clue.

I didn’t give up pizza. I don’t want pizza!

Because I eat high nutrient dense foods, my body has become so well nourished that it no longer craves junk. In fact, now, a year later, pizza sounds repulsive to me, and doesn’t even enter the radar screen of desire, because the addictive craving for high fat, low nutrient, processed food is completely gone.

Being a nutritarian not only gave me my health back, but my entire life back!

We reached the base just as darkness settled in.

It was at that moment, I knew that I was completely free from the power of our culture’s toxic food addiction, and would be committed to eating for health for life.

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Flies buzz around at a zillion miles per hour, but not when they eat candies and cookies. The poor little guys get bloated and pass out. Then the ladybug laughs at them:

You shouldn’t take your nutrition advice from flies. After all, they eat poop. But these inchworms are smarter. Inchworms love apples, and each other!

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In 2007, countries like Canada and the U.K. banned junk food commercials during kids’ television. It seemed like a good idea, but now a new study in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood reveals many commercials aren’t actually getting the ban. Researchers analyzed 2,315 adverts from Canada and 1,365 from the U.K., 52% to 61% were for unhealthy food, with 5% to 11% likely to be seen by children, but only 5% of the ads would be prohibited under the ban; via EurekAlert!

Even 5% can’t hurt, because previous research has shown most commercials during kids’ programming are for junk food, with American children being exposed to food of poor nutritional quality, like Honey Smacks cereal, which have as much sugar as a glazed doughnut.

In related news, a recent study found advertisements for unhealthy snack foods, like chocolate bars and ice cream, often appear right next to health articles in health magazines!

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• According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America, highly educated people, ages 25 to 74, are healthier than adults who didn’t graduate high school of the same age. Non-graduates are 2.5 times less likely to be in very good health than college graduates; from HealthDay News.

• Writing in the journal Nutrition Reviews, researchers claim immigrant populations moving to European countries tend to replace their traditional healthy diets with the worst aspects of western diets, such as fast food. Ethnic groups with low incomes often can not afford healthier foods and face limited food availability; via EurekAlert!

• Americans are mental! Published in the journal Health Affairs, data shows more Americans are now on medications for mental issues. Compared to 1996, 73% more adults and 50% more children are using psychotropic drugs, medications include antidepressants, antipsychotics and Alzheimer's drugs; Reuters reports.

• United States senators Tom Harkin and Lisa Murkowski want a bill passed allowing the U.S. Agriculture Department to establish nutrition standards for snack food and beverages sold in school vending machines, which are often high in fat, sugar and calories. This sort of legislation may help kick junk foods out of schools; Reuters explains.

• Parents who teach their kids to stay focused and not worry about the small stuff, increase children’s chances of becoming healthier adults, especially girls. The study, in the journal Health Psychology, tracked 569 individuals finding participants with better attention spans and positives outlooks reported better health; from ScienceDaily.

• The Children's Food Campaign has determined many baby foods are worse than junk food. Saying some baby products contain as much sugar and saturated fat as chocolate cookies and cheeseburgers. For example, a brand of cheese biscuits has more saturated fat per gram than a McDonald’s quarter-pounder with cheese; via Reuters.

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Tuesday’s inaugural kept everyone busy. From the new first family to the old first family and everyone in between! And journalists get worst of it. CBS’s Diane Sawyer tells Rachel Ray on busy days her and her fellow reporters gobble down nothing but sweet and salty snacks all day.

Rachel Ray breaks my heart. She’s super cute. But that food she cooks. It’ll kill you. Eek!

Via That’s Fit.

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An upcoming study in the Journal of Nutrition claims removing sugary snacks, i.e. vending machines, from schools makes kids more likely to eat fruits and vegetables. And this effect held up even when kids returned home. Most likely because kids are already full, having not eaten empty calories. Currently, 72% school districts limit the fat in cafeteria food and number of vending machines; The Orange County Register reports.

According to the CDC, many schools are already selling less junk. And other officials are working hard to get soda machines out of schools. College is a little different, but my school was loaded with vending machines, snack foods and fast food, and kids ate it up!

Via That’s Fit.

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