Supplements and snake oils
I have a totally non relavent comment concerning supplements, including the snake oils and the commercial products sold in grocery and health food stores. This morning I found a year old can of "ensure" meal substitue in my fridge which my wife had bought for me to try. The label read, "healty, healing" etc. The Tv commercials tout Ensure as being the best health drink for senior citizens, diabetics, etc. I looked at the label for the first time. I am glad the FDA at least regulates the labeling of products now. The stuff has 18 mg of sugar per can, twice as much as canned fruit juices. It contains 30 mg of fa, 360 mg of sodium, which is over 1/8 of the daily allowance. 60 mg of carbohydates and about 250 mg of potassium. A banana has more good stuff that one can of that junk, and none of the sugars and sodium or the processed carbohydrates. Back around 1900 or so, snake oil companies and food manufacturers peddled junk like this all the time. Sears Roebuck catalog and other major mail order houses had ads advertising all kinds of scams. Around 1950 or so the FDA started cracking down on the snake oil companies, but now it seems that we have come full circle. There are thousands of scams on the market, such as this angioprim chelated mineral theory, or the mangnets to wear around your body, head or neck to cure anything from migraine to heart problems, and there is no control whatsoever. The FDA is now trying to get laws passed to regulate the sale of supplements, and the supplement companies are raising cain about it. If it were not so dangerous, this situation would be comical. Elwin Bagley www.windyhillalpacafarm.com
Sodium is the tough one. The recommended daily allowance is stated to be 2400 mg. The average Calorie requirement is 2200. Close enough that the easiest way to figure it is to look for a one to one ratio of mg of sodium to number of Calories. You don't have to read many labels to spot the fact that it is very difficult to avoid getting far too much sodium. I have seen many ratios as high as 12 to 1. Soups are among the worst. I just went to the cupboard for a quick check and found a can of chicken broth. The label says 20 Calories per serving. The fat is low, the cholesterol is not too bad, the sugar is low, the protein is too low to be of much value, and the sodium content is 770 mg, a ratio of over 38 to one! This from a company whose ads brag about how healthy its products are. regards, Bob S. On May 3, 2005, at 10:24 AM, Dayton Crummey wrote: Eiwin, Yes! It pays to read the label before you buy. Most of us hve blenders that just sit. We could make juice or combinations of fruit and vegetables that would be natural and nutritious. I'm guilty of buying canned stuff, just because it's easier and faster and we don't have to clean up as big a mess. However, we do need to take more time reading the labels. This is part of the reason we are where we are, health wise. And, it may be a bigger part than we think. It's something around which we do have some control. Thanks for the reminder. Dayton