Underage Drinking Getting Worse

There have been a deluge of reports recently about underage drinking.

All lament the consequences and long term impact to health ... and ultimately to society. Officials scurry to impose tougher restrictions on irresponsible retailing, or to authorize the confiscation of alcohol on streets.

Experts postulate. Politicians pontificate. The media stirs the brew with relentless vigor.

Kids are interviewed and the one common thread is that they could care less. If there's a party going down, they want to be there. If they can't access booze directly, they'll just get someone of legal age to do their bidding for them.

It's hardly a logistical hiccup!

They're bored and jaded. Besides their parents drink too. So it would be hypocritical for them to attempt to intervene.

Not that they would. Most think it is not really that serious. Someone elses' mess.

The NHS picks up the tab. The law enforcement agents buffer the abuse. And in the morning they sleep it off and hopefully haven't drowned in their own vomit.

People shake their heads and wonder why something more definitive can't be done.

Maybe we could remove the branding like the cigarette companies are being forced to. No ... drinking can't be as serious as smoking. Everyone knows that smoking is "bad" for you.

But drinking, well that's different. It's more ... social. Everybody does it! Come on. Lighten up man.

Get a sense of humor, why don't you.

This, my friends, is why the problem will continue to persist. Because of the universal hypocricy of everybody in the equation.

Heavier taxes, lip service and neutral branding will make no real impact ... other than to annoy and further alienate a giant segment of the population.

While we continue to treat young people like a separate species, incapable of responsible discretion ... they will continue not to disappoint.

Getting real is the first step.

Hidden Danger Of Saturated Fat

It appears that many people have no idea about the dangers of saturated fat hidden in "foods" like butter.

In fact a gentleman by the name of Shyam Kolvekar, a cardiac surgeon from the Heart Hospital at University College, London, suggests that this problem is now so serious that he is seeing people in their 30's requiring coronary bypass surgery.

While some fat is required to keep our bodies healthy, protected and insulated ... too much, especially of the wrong kind, can cause major problems. It seems peoples' only concern is with calories.

Apparently the problem is particualrly prevalent in some Asian communities that customarily drench most meals in ghee, or "clarified butter".

Loaded with saturated fat and eaten over a sustained period, this particular delight inevitably leads to blocked arteries and a fatty heart muscle. In fact, the blood vessels supplying the heart with life-giving oxygenated blood in many such cases, are actually invisible to the surgeons who do the bypass operations.

Commentary "from the trenches" suggests the problem is now so serious that some surgeons are not entirely opposed to the idea of a ban on butter.

But when this was tabled for discussion on BBC Breakfast, people were quick to react with anger.

"What's next ... a ban on milk and cheese?"

Which raises a common theme: people cling tenaciously to the notion that they should have the freedom to kill themselves if they so choose. Smokers seem relaxed that their habit will lead to their own untimely demise and cost the NHS billions.

Likewise, people want to be able to continue to consume butter, fried snacks, pastries, baked goods and confectionery without sanction.

Which brings me to the whole point of this commentary.

Saying "no" always gets peoples' backs up! Bans never do anything but create resentment and a black market ... so why on earth do we still keep threatening to even consider them?

If grown, sentient adults want to die a painful, premature death and cause untold suffering to themselves and their loved ones, then let them! Just quit expecting the NHS to pick up the tab.

Ahh ... but that would be unfair. Sufferers of heart disease have a genetic predisposition to that particular ailment.

Bull!

It's totally preventable. The fact that two poor souls in the same blood line had bypass sugery before middle age is indicative, not of bad genes, but of irresponsible consumption.

In today's blame culture, adults are no longer responsible for anything. So we must give them guidelines and boundaries.

Just like we do with children.

No wonder people object and get defensive about cultural mainstays such as dairy, believing them to be "health foods".

But wait a moment, I thought dairy was good for you?

No my friend. That's what the advertising says. Actually dairy is designed for unweaned cows and is loaded with animal fat (saturated fat and cholesterol). Even skimmed milk contains a disproportionate amount of unusable protein (rendered so by the process of pasteurisation) which causes digestive difficulties.

Milk also creates acidity in the body, which means that calcium must be leached from teeth and bones to neutralize this. A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that this fact offsets any of the potential bone-protecting benefits touted by the industry.

Which brings me to another point, which is that we have so successfully complicated the practical application of nutritional science that people just "shut off" when they hear some expert banging on about the hazards of all the food we eat.

So even basic messages like stop eating butter are distorted.

Case in point ... instead of butter, we are told we should be eating "healthy margarine" with added "healthy" omega-3's and chlorophyll. They even find doctors to lend credibility to these absurdities.

What a crock! Literally!

How can we allow major food manufacturers to tout these substances as "healthy" options, while simultaneously considering a sanction on foods that are falling out of fashion. It's just plain confusing and annoys the heck out of most people who just want to be left in peace.

Until we stop pandering to the food manufacturers and start telling the truth, people will continue to rationalize their indulgences and the NHS will continue to creak under the unsustainable load created by the costs of managing preventable disease.

We have painted ourselves into a corner from which there can be no easy escape.

Finland Moves Towards Banning Smoking

Finland has extended its anti-tobacco laws to include a ban on cigarette displays in shops and restricting smoking in cars with passengers under 18 years of age.

One thing is clear ... the Finnish government wants to outlaw smoking completely and is prepared to take on the might of the tobacco giants. Philip Morris is already investigating its legal options.

Do we care? Smokers do!

Not too long ago we laughed (nervously) at the idea of banning smoking in public places. Today it's a reality. People acknowledge that smoking is offensive to non-smokers and the idea of a smokers' section is now seen as about as ludicrous as offering the public a "urination" section in a public swimming pool.

So ... where's this all going and should we be concerned?

I think there's a bunch of issues here.

Freezing people out of polite society and pandering to their sense of guilt (that they are harming themselves and blighting their own kids) is seen by many as extreme. Even though that's precisely what's happening.

Why can't we appeal to responsible adults to be considerate?

And what happens if we don't arrest this dangerous headlong descent towards an Orwellian reality? First the nanny state infiltrates its slimy tentacles into public spaces. Next vending machines (which are accessible to all) are removed. People are then prohibited to smoke in their own cars.

What next?

The nanny state morphs into a "bully" state and legislates what we do in our own homes?

Hmm ... when presented in that light there is a distinct flavor of unwelcome control and invasion. Adults are no longer capable of making responsible decisions, so we will shepherd them towards something more in line with someone's vision of how society should be.

Pretty repugnant!

But let's look at the practical reality.

People are anything but considerate. At least a huge number of us. If we were all kind and sensitive to the needs of others I would be the tooth fairy and people would stop smoking in their cars with their babies in the back seat.

In fact, if we really could be trusted, people would not need legislation to buckle up, or not park in the handicapped spot, or not pee in public.

"But I smoke with the windows down ..."

Yeah lady, that mentality is precisely why our civil liberties have been quietly neutered.

It's kinda like with children. Want to live in my house, you'll have to live by my rules. It's for your own protection.

And it is!

What moron in their right mind smokes with their kid in the car, windows up or down? It's so stupid and reckless, it's horsed things up for the rest of us!

Now we do have to be told what to do.

Because we were so busy selfishly defending our own rights that we lost all reasonable perspective.

And now we're being treated like children ... incapable of responsible distinction.

Thanks a lot!

And yes, it is the height of hypocrisy and inconsistency that Big Brother is attacking smokers when alcohol is still freely available and arguably far more offensive because of the element of violence.

But because we have a track record of irresponsible consumption, no doubt that will be on the agenda at some point in the future.

Which brings me full circle ... people know, but they just don't care. On a planet built for less than 2 or 3 billion (I'm being hugely generous here, but stay with me), there are now way too many bats in the belfry.

And this makes us control freaks nervous.

To be honest, I'm not sure what the answer is. I find so many elements on both sides strange, even offensive.

I have learnt from my foray into "health" that people value their right to harm themselves even if they do have at least some appreciation of the consequences. Rubbing their noses in the facts only gets peoples' backs up.

So does acting like you are somehow "better".

So does acting "holier than thou". In fact, unsolicited selling is just plain obnoxious in anybody's book. That's human nature ... and it ain't going to change.

Stay out of peoples' private business, why don't you? Sure, if it only affects you chum!

I've also learnt that people adjust quickly.

Seat belt laws may have been an irritant when they were first introduced. But over time even naturally rebellious people have come to appreciate the importance of buckling up.

But we still get really peeved if we get caught without a seat belt, even if we are maleable.

So that fine line is moveable and adults don't like feeling stupid, or having their knuckles rapped ... or getting a fine that's just a little more painful than a mosquito.

Come to think of it, nor do kids.

And maybe that's were the problem all started? Why do we insist on treating kids like their opinions don't matter? Because we know better ...?

Do we?

Most of all though, I have come to realize that society is never more disharmonious than when we start pointing out differences between people.

Is Finland right?

You tell me. You've heard what I think.

My Healthy Predictions For 2010

In keeping with blogging tradition, I feel compelled to write something scintillating about where I see the industry going this coming year. After all, it is New Year's Eve!

I'll start by referring you to a post I just completed on my brand new blog Body Mind Freedom.

My girlfriend read it and remarked that it contained little that was upbeat.

So, feeling a little like Scrooge Mac Duck saying "Bah Humbug" to the Christmas fairy, I started to ponder why I was such a sour puss and whether it was time to get excited again.

And before too long it came to me.

I think the health, fitness and weight-loss industries need a major wake-up call.

If you've read even a smattering of my posts over the last year, you'll already know that I am saddened at the lot of personal fitness trainers and nutrition professionals.

These well-intentioned individuals are little more than low-level cogs in the antiquated machinery or our respective health care systems (USA and UK).

And I make no apologies for the fact that I think these systems are operating on borrowed time. People are getting sick from a host of preventable diseases and our solution is to plug them in, medicate ... and foster further dependance, suffering and inbalance.

All of which needs to be paid for by someone. Increasing load, less bucks ... something has to give.

But I digress.

Here is a quick summary of what might change in 2010: Nothing! Nix! Zippo! Not a thing.

If it is broke ... don't fix it!

We will continue to get sicker, sooner. But actuaries will refute this with statistical proof that average age expectancy is up, so nothing is rotten in the state of Denmark.

We will continue to abrogate our responsibility to ourselves for our own state of well-being. After all what are health care systems and insurance companies for?

We will continue to ignore the obvious benefits of organic foods in spite of the science. Science, like accounting, is malleable ... and money always talks.

Besides, no-one likes to feel naive, so the dissidents have an easy sell in a recession.

We will continue searching for magic bullets, quick fixes and super-foods. Isolation will lose none of its lustre. People will not see that a supplement is the ultimate refined food.

And the formal status quo will continue to endorse its existing set of sacred cows.

Then we will wring our hands in frustration that our kids are becoming fat and diabetic. We will endorse hugely expensive programs to show them how to get outside and play again.

But health and safety fears will still encourage kids to wear helmuts and check for allergies first before using sticking plasters (elastoplast). Really!

We may rue that politics and legislation trump common sense and foster paranoia ... but we will do nothing. Except tell people to participate in the process, so they too can change the world (or at least have a licence to complain).

On a positive note (see, I listen to my most ardent critics), some people will keep digging and refuse to succumb to the inexorable tide of media conditioning.

These enlightened souls will relish responsibility and choose to embrace the notion that the best health insurance is getting healthy and living a healthy lifestyle.

These special people will be my inspiration.

Thanks for all your kind support in 2009. May this next decade bring you the happiness you deserve.

Reframe your Nutrition Paradigm

I must apologize for not updating this blog for such a long time.

I have been working on a new project that I will reveal before the end of the post. Because my technical skills are quite limited and because I am a frustrated perfectionist, getting everything "just right" took far longer than I had initially envisioned.

Today, I thought I'd chat about the way we view nutrition. Quite simply, we have been conditioned to such a degree that we no longer even understand what constitutes appropriate food for a human being.

I'll give you some examples. How many times does one hear that we should learn how to read labels ... or that we should be taking "this supplement" or "that" superfood?

Or, if we only learn to eat less food, more often ... then somehow we will gain back control of our cravings and "balance our sugar". Blah, blah, blah ...

What hog wash!

The reason we have lost our way is very simple actually. For years and years, in fact millennia, we foraged for what we could get. That was, pretty much, fruit and vegetables, berries and seeds. And roots and tubers if you really want to get down and dirty.

In the last 10,000 years or so we "discovered" fire and learnt how cooking can enhance the flavor of food. We also learnt how to domesticate grains which allowed us to settle in one place and really concentrate on breeding.

And of course cooking meant we now could eat animals and enjoy them, something I'm not sure any self-respecting Neanderthal would have seriously considered prior to that mythical lightening strike.

In the last few decades, maybe a little longer, we also became quite skilled at manufacturing "food" and so ushered in the age of convenience consumption. And this, in turn, negated the need to expend energy foraging for sustenance growing in the wild.

What these developments also meant was that we now eat according to modern dictate, rather than Nature's design.

So we consume calorie-dense, nutrient-deficient food ... and we become fat, slow, sore and ultimately diseased. Symptoms yielding inevitably to condition.

Of course, some people will say that we have adapted to tolerate grains and no doubt will adapt to our sedentary lifestyles and concentrated calories. But it would appear the scientists among us feel there's strong evidence that the human genome could not possibly change that radically, so fast.

Whatever the real truth, I am utterly convinced through personal experimentation, that we respond best to the following:

- living, fresh food versus dead, cooked, or manufactured food. Mother Nature beats mankind's best food chemists hands down, every time.

- plant food versus animal products (which need to be cooked and contain surplus saturated fat, cholesterol and protein).

- organically grown versus commercially farmed fruit and vegetables ... which are theoretically free of chemical residues and, if fresh, are far more nutritious because they come from living soils.

- "low" fat versus "high" fat. By this I mean that no more than 10% of your calories should come from fat (not just "fatty" foods).

- ripe fruit and tender, young greens versus immature fruit and overly mature greens ... because these criteria facilitate digestion that is less energy-expensive.

So ... start your days with fresh, ripe, seasonal fruit so you get a variety over the course of a year. Then, sometime in the afternoon, have some more fruit and/or tender, young, fresh greens. Occasionally eat minimal amounts of avocados, olives, nuts and seeds.

Eat this way and you will feel infinitely better. You will think clearer, articulate yourself better and even appear more intelligent to your slower peers who are no doubt weighed down by the burden of animal products and cooked delights.

You will also be free of addictions (though we prefer to call these "cravings" or "an appetite"), which is an added bonus that should not be under-estimated.

Earlier, I promised to reveal my new project to you, so here goes: you can find a rather snappy landing page here.

Because I am a trust-worthy guy who would not dream of compromising your privacy, I strongly suggest you opt-in to my list and grab yourself a free copy of my report "10 Fat Loss Tips". This will also take you to an information (sales) page that explains everything you need to know about my stunning new book.

Who knows, you might find it quite an eye-opener ...