The Good, the Bad, and the Downright Dangerous
“Hey, little girl, wanna piece of candy?” They come in all shapes and sizes, and all colors of the rainbow. They tempt us. They rape us. They poison us. While we’ve come a long way since the times of sweets laced with toxic additives such as mercuric sulfide, copper arsenite, and lead chromate, today’s food supply may be no less responsible for driving long nails into short coffins. Let’s take a staple as simple and sacred as milk, for example. The next time we or our children have a nice, refreshing glass of that bone builder, we’ll also be enjoying the extra added “benefits” of the 50 antibiotics, hormones, blood, and pus contained therein. Cow udders and hooves are infectious vehicles. So, to expect a germless nectar would be tantamount to a belief in leprechauns, elves, and fairy godmothers.
With holsters at the ready, and a quick draw leading to slow agony, the fruit and vegetable gang also patiently awaits a showdown to take us down. We scrub those skins, we peel those orbs, and yet traces of toxic pesticides such as copper sulfate linger on that apple a day. It’s no consolation to us that the doctor eats from the very same orchard, reminding us that nutritional research progresses in leaps and bounds, as well as the more than occasional false starts and dead ends.
When we turn our gaze to modern-day Africa and many areas of South America, we see the ravages of malnutrition, scurvy, and folate and thiamine deficiencies. We thank our lucky stars that we were born here in our sanctified Mecca, and protected from an invisible oral assault on our metabolic machinery. That short-lived lure to a false sense of security comes to a screeching halt when we recall history’s lessons. Even the culturally and economically advanced, ancient Romans were prey to 1,500 years of malnutrition, under the misguided teachings of the famous physician Galen who strongly advised against consumption of any form of fruit.
When many of us were young, there was a stigma attached to the “Made in Japan” label. Then we grew up, the world evolved, and Hondas were built. Soon, connotations were modified, and the Japanese colossus took flight. We must never forget, however, that it was Japanese food researchers who invented high-fructose corn syrup, an economical soft-drink sweetener that has made most of our acquaintances on more than one occasion. It is six times sweeter than glucose, and, according to some estimates, it has single-handedly breached our pancreas’ Maginot Line, taking no prisoners while at the same time increasing rates of diabetes and obesity the world over.
The push-and-pull of the passing of time has nonetheless yielded quite a few successes to accompany the numerous shortcomings in nutritionists’ thinking. Three come to mind. Where would we be today were it not for those perspicacious investigators who connected vitamin deficiencies to serious disease? The answer is up to our necks in birth, blood, bone, cardiac, gastrointestinal, gum, and neurologic diseases. The British Admiralty also made its contribution, issuing seamen on ships-of-the-line a regular ration of rum, water, and lemon juice, which prevented the vitamin C deficiency better known as scurvy. And, finally, giving new meaning to the old adage, “you are what you eat,” we arrive at the French, who once treated constipation with large, oral tablets of toxic antimony. Back in the good ole days, those excreted metal pills were reused.
Tall tales, you say. Not exactly. Were we to discuss the trans fats, additives, substitutes, fillers, dyes, sweeteners, preservatives, colorings, and artificial flavorings currently employed in the food production industry, noses would by no means grow long.
© 2008, Albert M. Balesh, M.D. All rights reserved.
With holsters at the ready, and a quick draw leading to slow agony, the fruit and vegetable gang also patiently awaits a showdown to take us down. We scrub those skins, we peel those orbs, and yet traces of toxic pesticides such as copper sulfate linger on that apple a day. It’s no consolation to us that the doctor eats from the very same orchard, reminding us that nutritional research progresses in leaps and bounds, as well as the more than occasional false starts and dead ends.
When we turn our gaze to modern-day Africa and many areas of South America, we see the ravages of malnutrition, scurvy, and folate and thiamine deficiencies. We thank our lucky stars that we were born here in our sanctified Mecca, and protected from an invisible oral assault on our metabolic machinery. That short-lived lure to a false sense of security comes to a screeching halt when we recall history’s lessons. Even the culturally and economically advanced, ancient Romans were prey to 1,500 years of malnutrition, under the misguided teachings of the famous physician Galen who strongly advised against consumption of any form of fruit.
When many of us were young, there was a stigma attached to the “Made in Japan” label. Then we grew up, the world evolved, and Hondas were built. Soon, connotations were modified, and the Japanese colossus took flight. We must never forget, however, that it was Japanese food researchers who invented high-fructose corn syrup, an economical soft-drink sweetener that has made most of our acquaintances on more than one occasion. It is six times sweeter than glucose, and, according to some estimates, it has single-handedly breached our pancreas’ Maginot Line, taking no prisoners while at the same time increasing rates of diabetes and obesity the world over.
The push-and-pull of the passing of time has nonetheless yielded quite a few successes to accompany the numerous shortcomings in nutritionists’ thinking. Three come to mind. Where would we be today were it not for those perspicacious investigators who connected vitamin deficiencies to serious disease? The answer is up to our necks in birth, blood, bone, cardiac, gastrointestinal, gum, and neurologic diseases. The British Admiralty also made its contribution, issuing seamen on ships-of-the-line a regular ration of rum, water, and lemon juice, which prevented the vitamin C deficiency better known as scurvy. And, finally, giving new meaning to the old adage, “you are what you eat,” we arrive at the French, who once treated constipation with large, oral tablets of toxic antimony. Back in the good ole days, those excreted metal pills were reused.
Tall tales, you say. Not exactly. Were we to discuss the trans fats, additives, substitutes, fillers, dyes, sweeteners, preservatives, colorings, and artificial flavorings currently employed in the food production industry, noses would by no means grow long.
© 2008, Albert M. Balesh, M.D. All rights reserved.
posted by Dr. Al at
1/04/2008 09:50:00 PM
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