Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…
Primary election generalizations and commentary
Big winners were Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump who both supported winners in upsets or decisive wins. Bernie Sanders successfully endorsed, supported, and campaigned for several candidates including Abdul who won in a close election against favored and heavily-funded Haley Stevens. Approximately $50 million was spent by dark money PACs to help Haley Stevens
Abdul was outspent by an 8-1 margin. Yet he prevailed due to hard grassroots support, charismatic energy, superior intelligence, and the support of Sanders. Donald Trump’s support for John James allowed James to coast to victory without much effort other than what his campaign got from PACs. Perry Johnson spent a great deal of money to attack and defame James, but Trump’s support negated all that. A study was done back in 2016 and it demonstrated that both Sanders and Trump had appeal equally with those in blue collar jobs and those who felt discriminated by the system. Sanders in 2016 would have been a greater candidate for President than Hillary Clinton.
Ingredients in your food products that should be avoided for your health. How to eat right and live longer
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that should be avoided by all
This time of the year is a good time to purchase more fresh fruits and vegetables and less processed foods that might be more convenient and enjoyable, but could have bad contents for your health
Needless to say, I really love sweets and have been somewhat addicted to dark chocolate chip cookies, and anything dark chocolate for a long time
I did learn that Ste okay, but when marketed in candies and chocolate chips, the manufacturers have added erythritol to enhance the sweet taste. That creates a potential health problem
Recently, I decided that I was too dependent on regular sugar and made a move to make myself healthy by using products that contained Steugar, Stendy bars. Thinking at the time that I was improving my healthy intake of sweets that I really liked while protecting my health
How wrong I was, last week I spoke with a worker in a grocery store that I shop at twice a week, wanting to know where some dark chocolate date chips were. In the conversation, I brought up that I also liked Stevia products for their healthy alternative. He pointed out to me if you look at the contents you will note that Stevia candies and chips contain a little known substance called Erythritol. He said it’s not healthy, so when I got home I researched it and found out he was absolutely correct.
Erythritol is an artificial sweetener known as a sugar alcohol. It does occur naturally in our bodies, but when it is added to foods in high doses it has very adverse effects. Steookies they adversely affect the health aspects of using Stevia
Why is Erythritol is not safe for you?
According to Dr. Stanley Hazen of the Cleveland Clinic in his studies it shows that this product has potential major adverse effects, such as cardiac events. This would affect people who use this product that are more prone to heart attacks and strokes, and can even cause death. The studies demonstrated that it increased blood clots in blood samples in which Erythritol is added to the blood of humans. Note: The studies are not yet conclusive or complete, but in my opinion there is enough evidence that it should not be used anymore.
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol sometimes added to various foods to enhance the taste. It is often added to the following products, but not listed as an ingredient: ice cream, candy, gum, cookies, cakes, protein bars, fruit spreads, and energy drinks
Sugar alcohol products may be listed that are similar to Erythritol, but most of us do not know they have similar potential unhealthy affects on our bodies and they include: Xylitol, Sorbitol, Maltitol, Isomalt, Lactitol, and Hydrogenated starch Hydrolysates
Strong suggestion to the U.S. Health Department, under RFK Jr., that his department should insist that healthy products that are potentially dangerous to us should be listed as such. And Erythritol should have a warning label that it may cause blood clots leading to possible strokes and heart attacks. The study is however not completed yet
Final Note: Erythritol found in our bodies naturally isn’t a problem, but when it’s found in high levels in various products it’s very unhealthy
Other ingredients which should be avoided include:
Palm Oil
This oil is found in a lot of kid friendly snacks and a variety of other products. It’s buried in the table of ingredients. It’s listed with all kinds of other ingredients as “palm fruit oil” in “Made Good Granola Squares.” In other products it’s listed as a sustainable oil. However, it’s composed of about 50% saturated fat, specifically palmitic acid which can elevate blood cholesterol and clog arteries. Of course it’s often used in cheap, highly processed, packaged foods that contribute to weight gains. Positive things about Palm Oil are that it is less saturated fat then butter, and does not have any trans fat. But there are better alternatives, so I would avoid this oil.
Coconut Oil
Many people today think that this oil is very healthy and a health boosting food. Consequently, some use it in their baking. It could be used on your skin, or maybe your hair, but not internally as it is an extremely high saturated fat composed of up to 80-90% saturated fat, which can raise your bad LDL cholesterol levels. This reference comes from ‘Everyday Health.’ It can raise total cholesterol, with some benefit to good cholesterol, but also very bad cholesterol. Coconut oil is found in movie theater popcorn, coffee creams, and candies. It is perhaps, potentially, the worst of all fat.
Salt or sodium; potentially a great killer for some of us
Salt greatly contributes to high blood pressure and strokes. The lower the contents of sodium in the ingredients, the healthy you are likely to be, unless you have a very low sodium level in your body. Most of the sodium (70%) we consume is from outside sources, such as products we buy, and food we consume at fast-food places, or at restaurants. I personally look at labels, and specifically the ingredients, and will not buy most products that contain more than 30 mg per serving. A general guide according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) or U.S. Health Department on the ingredients is that sodium should ideally be in the range of 5% daily value to not more than 20% daily value.
Five actions to ensure that my sodium value is low, I try to avoid the following:
• Processed meats and cheeses – especially cured, smoked, or preseasoned meats and cheeses
• Condiments high in sodium such as soy sauce, ketchup, pickles, and processed salad dressings
• Avoid processed snacks, unless they are low sodium nuts, chips, and cheese
• Request less salt when eating out
Things to counterbalance a high sodium diet:
• Cook at home most of the time
•Use herbs and spices if you can tolerate them as opposed to sodium
• Make your own salad dressing such as; my combination of a fresh organic avocado mixed with organic extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). Makes a very healthy salad dressing. Or a home made Italian salad dressing without sodium
• Choose fresh or frozen foods over fast foods or processed foods
• Avoid high sodium foods like Pizza or only consume it occasionally not weekly or certainly not daily
• Increase potassium rich foods like bananas, sweet potatoes, beans, and nuts
• Consume salmon at least once a week which helps to reduce your high blood pressure and counterbalances a high sodium diet
A diet with less sodium everyday makes dying less likely
Sodium can also be accumulative. If you add up all the breads, pastries, snacks, and other foods you eat all day-soon you will be over your limit
Common packaging claims on food containing sodium sold to you:
• Salt/Sodium free means less than 5mg of sodium per serving
• Very low sodium means 35mg of sodium or less per serving
• Low sodium means 140mg of sodium or less per serving
Reading Labels and specifically the contents of what you will be eating is important
A quick glance
• Sodium content should not be more than 140mg for the whole day. My preference is zero to not more than 30mg
• Trans fat should be very low preferably zero. Saturated fat should also be low
• Calories – you may want to check this out too. Particularly on a diet or if you have restrictions by your physician
Daylight Savings Time may be coming back for a vote! Trump now wants to make Daylight Savings Time permanent after originally opposing it in 2024
I hope President Trump changes his mind. It is a bad proposal and unhealthy for people in general. It does not go by our natural rhythms related to the seasons and the sun, but to help out the golf industry. It contributes to an increase in strokes, heart attacks, and other problems like traffic accidents. It’s not good for kids at school, because they lose that precious hour of natural sleep in the morning. That would be really great if Trump wins one for public health, not for the golf industry! Note: The U.S. House of Representatives already approved Daylight Savings Time being permanent, but the U.S. Senate still has to vote on it in order to make it law across all 50 States.
Jim Fouts is the former Warren Mayor, a member of city council and a retired Warren Consolidated Schools government and history teacher
