The chemo, salt and sugar debate

HERE WE GO AGAIN! According to the Associated Press, a state judge in Minnesota "ruled that a 13-year-old cancer patient must be evaluated by a doctor to determine if he would benefit from restarting chemotherapy over the objections of his parents. The judge, John Rodenberg, found that the patient, Daniel Hauser, had been “medically neglected” by his parents. Judge Rodenberg gave the Hausers until Tuesday to select an oncologist. Daniel was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and stopped chemotherapy in February after one treatment. He and his parents opted instead for “alternative medicines” based on religious belief"
Thank God I don't live in America and still have freedom as to whether I want chemo or not.........whenever we are sick there is enough pressure from friends and family who are scared and if Doctor says so it must be so, I don`t need pressure from the State too.........
As an adult you should be able to choose for yourself, just like the people who don`t want blood transfusion, it's their choice.If you are going to die so be it! YOUR CHOICE....YOUR LIFE! When you choose to kill yourself with chemo why doesn`t the state step in?
Maybe what they should be doing is watching more closely what we are consuming.........THAT`S what they need to step in and change.
A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows how much weight we gain from sugar-sweetened beverages.out of seven beverages which included 100%juice,milk,and alcohol,only the sugar-sweetened beverages which are sodas and juices with added sugar had an effect on weight change.I wish they had done a study on the beverages that have Splenda etc. so we can find out just what effect those have on us.
The other day in Jamaica,the Government raised the taxes on some things including salt -not a popular move at all - well I think they should have raised the tax on sugar too - we use much too much salt and sugar!
It's 2009 -- have we heeded the call to cut down or cut out salt and sugar or do we only listen after we are diagnosed with hypertension or diabetes?
What happen to "prevention better than cure"?
Well Melinda Beck recently did an excellent piece in WSJ entitled "Why We Need A Diet Less Rich in Sodium " in which she reports that a typical American consumes about 3,400 milligrams of sodium per day. Beck states "That's well beyond the 2,300 mg recommended by the U.S. Dietary Guidelines. And it's 15 times as much as the human body requires. Average sodium intake has increased about 50% since the 1970s. That's largely because we're eating more convenience foods. And, as makers of processed food have cut fat and sugar from their products, they've often added more salt to restore flavor.
How bad is all this sodium for your health?
Excess salt has been linked to osteoporosis, kidney damage and stomach cancer. Worse, it raises blood pressure, a key factor in heart attacks and strokes, which kill about 850,000 Americans a year.
"After smoking, high blood pressure is the leading cause of preventable illness and death," says New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden, who is urging makers of packaged foods and restaurants nationwide to gradually reduce their sodium content by 50% over the next 10 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that such a reduction could save 150,000 lives and $18 billion in health-care expenditures a year.
Some 50 million Americans have hypertension (that is, blood pressure readings consistently at or above 140/90 mm/Hg). Another 20 million are prehypertensive (with blood pressure from 120/80 to 139/ 89 mm/Hg). Hypertension is more common among African-Americans than whites, and nearly 90% of Americans eventually develop it as they age.
With that in mind, the CDC is urging anyone who has hypertension, is African-American or over age 40 -- nearly 70% of the U.S. population -- to follow a stricter guideline of just 1,500 mgs a day."
WHOA!!!!!
Don`t you realize that the flavour has to come from somewhere so if it's fat free they add sodium as sodium-free means less than 5% sodium.... plus salt adds texture and is used as a preservative so you really think it's not being used? People - you know the main thing most food producers are thinking about is their bottom line! We really have to be smart about our choices. I sit with friends who add salt before they taste their food what's up with that?
And I`m sorry I don`t trust restaurants that say they use 'no MSG'.... you mean they are making a fresh pot of chop suey just for me? I think not! They all have that 'Accent' container in their kitchens.....I remember how my mother loved that .....made everything taste better...if only we knew!
Beck indicates in her article "A few critics don't think a broad reduction in sodium is warranted. Michael Alderman, a professor of medicine and public health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y., says it hasn't been conclusively shown that cutting salt intake across the population would save lives, and it could have unintended consequences. Lowering salt can cause kidney problems and contribute to insulin resistance in some cases, says Dr. Alderman, who is an unpaid consultant to the Salt Institute, an industry group.
Darwin Labarthe, director of the CDC's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, counters that there's a very broad consensus that reducing salt would cut the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and there is little evidence of harm.The American Heart Association, the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization all urge lower salt consumption".
While they fight it out - you should control your intake - remember when a product says "less sodium", it's loaded with salt, so don`t add salt, why do you think you feel so bloated when you eat out?
Also when you are cooking at home cut the recommended amount of salt in recipes in half or use more herbs and spices.....YOUR TASTE BUDS WILL GET USED TO IT ... and your health will thank you ......TRUST ME!