IT WILL KILL YOU SOON!

Here are some things you should know about your beloved McDonald's, below is an article written by John Robbins:

HOW BAD IS MCDONALD’S FOOD?
By John Robbins
Morgan Spurlock sought to find out in his 2004 documentary Super Size Me. In his film, I was interviewed and spoke about the role McDonald’s food is playing in our epidemic of obesity and diabetes.
For 30 days, Spurlock ate only McDonald’s food. All of us involved in the film, including Spurlock’s doctors, were shocked at the amount that his health deteriorated in such a short time. Before the 30 days started, we each predicted what changes we expected to see in his weight, cholesterol levels, liver enzymes and other biomarkers, but every one of us substantially underestimated how severely his health would be jeopardized. It turned out that in the 30 days, the then 32-year-old man gained 25 pounds, his cholesterol levels rose dangerously as did fatty accumulations in his liver, and he experienced mood swings, depression, heart palpitations and sexual dysfunction.
Some have said Spurlock was an idiot for eating that way, and it’s true that he did himself some major damage in those 30 days. But I’ve always felt the suffering he took upon himself by eating all his meals for that month at McDonald’s was admirable, because it served to warn millions of the all too real health dangers of eating too much fast food.
Super Size Me struck a chord for a lot of people, as it became one of the highest-grossing documentaries of all time, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. And more importantly, it changed the eating habits of millions.
Now a group of physicians and other health professionals have produced a short (39 second) ad that may be one of the more controversial in advertising history. The Washington, DC-based group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)’s new “Consequences” ad takes dead aim at McDonald’s high-fat menu. The provocative ad has become a story unto itself, because it has in only a few days generated nearly one million views on YouTube, and has been covered by newspapers and broadcast media around the world, including the Wall Street Journal, U.K.’s The Guardian, CNN, the New York Times and hundreds of other media outlets.

What do you think? Is the ad a contribution to public health, or does it go too far? Even if the underlying critique of the dangers of hamburgers and other fast food is valid, does the ad accomplish its purpose, or is it too emotionally manipulative?
The ad ends by telling us to “make it vegetarian,” making it obvious that PCRM has a pro-vegetarian orientation. But with good reason. The evidence is consistent and compelling that vegetarians suffer less from the diseases associated with the typical Western diet. Vegetarians have repeatedly been shown to have lower rates of obesity, coronary heart disease, hypertension, type II diabetes, diverticular disease, constipation and gall stones. They also have lower rates of many kinds of cancer, including colon cancer and the hormone dependent cancers such as prostate cancer, breast cancer, uterine cancer and ovarian cancer.
Do you have to be a strict vegetarian to enjoy the considerable health benefits of a vegetarian diet? No, you do not. What’s important is to eat a plant-strong diet, with a high percentage of your calories coming from whole foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and a low percentage coming from processed foods, sugars, unhealthy fats and animal products.
The standard American diet — in which 62 percent of calories come from processed foods, 25 percent from animal products and only 5 percent from fruits and vegetables — is nothing less than a health travesty. Our fast-food culture has produced a population with widespread chronic illness and is a primary reason that health care costs are taking a devastating toll on just about everyone.
The annual health insurance premiums paid by the average American family now exceed the gross yearly income of a full-time minimum wage worker. Every 30 seconds, someone in the U.S. files for bankruptcy due to the costs of treating a health problem. Starbucks spends more on the health insurance of its workers than it does on coffee.
Medical care costs in the U.S. have not always been this excessive. This year, we will spend more than $2.5 trillion on medical care. But in 1950, five years before Ray Kroc opened the first franchised McDonald’s restaurant, Americans only spent $8.4 billion ($70 billion in today’s dollars). Even after adjusting for inflation, we now spend as much on health care every 10 days as we did in the entire year of 1950.
Has this enormous increase in spending made us healthier? Earlier this year, when the World Health Organization assessed the overall health outcomes of different nations, it placed 36 other nations ahead of the United States.
Today, we have an epidemic of largely preventable diseases. To these illnesses, Americans are losing not only their health but also their life savings. Meanwhile, the evidence keeps growing that the path to improved health lies in eating more vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes, and eating far less processed foods, sugars and animal products.
It’s striking to me that in all the heated debates we have had about health care reform, one basic fact has rarely been discussed, and that is the one thing that could dramatically bring down the costs of health care while improving the health of our people. Studies have shown that 50 to 70 percent of the nation’s health care costs are preventable, and the single most effective step most people can take to improve their health is to eat a healthier diet. If Americans were to stop overeating, to stop eating unhealthy foods and to instead eat more foods with higher nutrient densities and cancer protective properties, we could have a more affordable, sustainable and effective health care system.
Is it McDonald’s fault that more than 63 percent of Americans are overweight or obese, making us the fattest nation in the history of the world? I don’t think so, because each of us is responsible for what we put in our mouths and in the mouths of our children. Plus many other fast food chains serve food that is just as harmful. But the company is playing a significant role in generating our national appetite for unhealthy foods. McDonald’s is by far the largest food advertiser in the country, spending more than one billion dollars a year on direct media advertising.
Much of McDonald’s advertising is aimed at children, and it’s been effective. Every month, approximately nine out of 10 American children eat at a McDonald’s restaurant. Most U.S. children can recognize McDonald’s before they can speak. Tragically, one in every three children born this year in the U.S. will develop diabetes in their lifetime.
Of course, fast food is not the only cause of the tragic rise of obesity and diabetes in our society. Our culture has become pathologically sedentary. Watching television and sitting in front of computer monitors for hour upon hour doesn’t help. But the high sugar and high fat foods sold by McDonald’s and the other fast food restaurants is certainly a major part of the problem. You would have to walk for seven hours without stopping to burn off the calories from a Big Mac, a Coke and an order of fries.
Love Wins

YEEEEAAAAHHHHH

Fat Fruit Flies?

Well, Google Alerts still isn't too helpful; although there will never be a shortage on links to...God only knows what: "We cannot tell which flies are fat simply by looking at them but that's because we're not fruit flies," he says. "I think if you were a fruit fly in the same vial you might look at them and go, 'Whoa they're fat!'" - Of Portly Flies and Slimmer Thighs - abc news... Well thank you Google Alerts and abc news for this vital bit of information that will truly save my Bucket project. Although for an update on dad's diabetes, he was recently in the hospital for an infection on his leg. His diabetes made the infection spread like wild fire and only a few days ago he was back in the E.R. So don't be fat and get diabetes because it'll do horrible things to you. Moral, man, moral. Now he has to shoot four shots of insaline a day until his medicine can be stabalized. If that doesn't want to make you eat right, maybe all the helpful articles Google supplies will.

I GOT YOUR OLD!!

I'm tired!!

I was playing the Wii with my little cousin, and he's so full of energy. He's five, so of course he's got enrgy, but it was like we were cars and her was running on F (full), while I was running on E (empty.) My little cousin took pity on me and said "sit your old self down!"

Can you believe, he called ME old. I'm not even sixteen yet, and he had the nerve to call me old. That did not make me happy.

Then I though about this project. I thought about how I've been tellin you to eat healthier to eliminate diabetes. I've even been telling you to excercise!!

I also thought about what I had yesterday for a snack. I'm not going to lie, I had a coke and a Twix. It was good too, but I shouldn't have eaten because I knew what dinner was going to be that night. Fried chicken, patato salad, and collard greens.

Before you get all judgemental, you should know that when I ate my snack and my dinner I did feel guily. I mean I could just as easily have had and apple or orange for a sanck, but instead I chose a Twix and a coke.

So when he called me old, I regreted that snack even more. So tonight for dinner I had a simple salad, and as soon as I finish posting this, and check my twitter (my addiction), that little boy is in for a rude awakening.

I got his old!!!

Steak!

Sunday. The day that many family settle down after a nice sermon at church and gather around the table for a homecooked meal. Well, at least that's what my family does. My parents, older brother, younger sister, and I enjoyed a meal Sunday afternoon and it was tasty, as always. We enjoyed Mother prepared steak and it was just right. Tender, juicy, yet fully cooked. Along with steak, she cooked green beans, corn, corn bread, and mashed potatoes. To make things a little sweeter, she made her famous home-made lemonade. Dinner was delicious and we were all full. After the second plate, we all went to our rooms and enjoyed the rest of our Sunday afternoon.

Beginnings

This is the beginning of my fictional story based from my research on food-related illnesses:

Science is the most boring thing in the world. Trust me, I'm not exaggerating. As usual, my mom has to love the one thing I actually hate with all my heart. I'm Carra Langsten, and I am the daughter of one of the most famous scientists in the world. My mother, Rachelle Langsten, is well-known for her scientific break-through in the world of germs. She had found the soul purpose of germs' lives, and she recorded it, and she was given millions of dollars for it. Honestly, I don't see why. Give me any kind of germ and i can find the base of its life source in about five seconds. It really isn't that hard. I don't see how any other scientist hadn't seen it earlier. Besides her germ break-through, she has also conducted many famous experiments with trying to kill the germs. Luckily, for me, another scientist had found the pesticide before my mom. If my mom had found it, then I would never hear the end of it. Just more hours at press conferences. More hours at college lectures. More hours in inerviews. More hours in the lab. More hours being harrassed by my science teachers about my mom and if they could meet sometime. I guess you could say I was a master at excuses because, seriously, would you want to have five different science teachers eating at your dinner table? Not me.
I got up from the couch in the corner of my mom's personal lab. Oh, yeah, did I mention that? Yeah, my mom was given her own personal Jeffersonian lab personally by the President. No, not the president of the Jeffersonian. The President of the United States. That's a pretty big deal right there. So I'm walking around the lab because my legs were cramping. I stared at my mom as she was leaning over the microscope, as still as a statue except for her hand that was scribbling furiously on the notepad. You think a doctor's hand writing is messy? Try reading a scientist's hand writing while their observing something. Now THAT'S something I would like to see an archeologist decode.
My mom remained at her little observation table. She didn't notice that I was walking around. She didn't notice that I was picking up her prized trophy. Once, I even sliced my hand open accidentaly on one of her knives, and she didn't even notice it until I was shoving her arm with my bloody hand. I swear, mom is so unobservant when it comees to reality. I could walk in one day, scream at the top of my lungs: "Goodbye Cruel World! I will miss you not!" and then hang myself right infront of her, and she wouldn't notice until three hours later when her contacts would start getting dry from staring so long at the SAME STINCKN' THING!

Dying Out

Is it just the fish in the gulf dying out? Nope. Restaurants in Alabama are dying too. Checks are being sent out to those who made claims after the oil spill disaster, but they are coming too late with too little composition. Too late for restaurant owner Robin Lamber of Fairhope, Alabama is now in the top priority for businesses claims form the oil spill. Lambert received her check, but was basically cheated and not given enough to keep her fifteen year old restaurant, Old Bay Steamer, open. Customers being cautious of the fish and shrimp served after the spill left Old Bay Steamer in a fix, and when Lamber disappointedly opened her check containing ten percent of what she asked for, she knew it was time to close. Senator Richard Shelby and Governor Bob Riley have poked and prodded Ken Feinberg to move Alabama to the top of the oil claims, and while this may have worked, if BP is not giving enough money to the local restaurants, then they stil cannot survive if not given the help needed when they money they customarily depend on is gone in the deep, black sea.