"Let Your Food Be Your Medicine": Big G get's a Big "F"

Our food and drug administration has decided, finally, that Americans aren't getting enough whole grains, vitamins, minerals and fiber from our diets. Thank Goodness someone is paying attention. However, I wouldn't hold your breath. The bright idea loses it's shine when they call on the big guns which they refer to as Big G or General Mills, to solve the problem. General Mill's is as corporate as Goldman and Sachs with it's agenda being money, greed and bigotry. General Mill's quite literally throws sugar, artificial flavors, corn syrup, dyes, corn (promoted as "whole grain") and a number of GM's cereals contain a substance called BHT into a box. They also add in fortified vitamins which are not in usable form to our bodies.

Back to BHT. BHT is a chemical compound used to protect against the rancidity of fats and oils. BHT is also an additive in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, jet fuels and rubber petroleum products, to name a few. BHT has been shown to be a common allergen which could cause your child to behave out of the ordinary. It is also a known carcinogen and tumor promoter. When we try to conquer nature by using science, we lose, every single time. By preparing our own foods from fresh ingredients, we bypass the need for chemical preservatives and additives. We need to leave the boxes on the shelf, or in our wood stoves, and pick up some cooking utensils so we can pass the art and beauty of preparing and cooking healthy, wholesome meals down to our children. When we teach them to open a box and pour it in a bowl, we're crippling them instead of empowering them.

General Mills goes on to use phrase slogans on the front of their boxes such as "whole grain", "good source of calcium and vitamin D", "Good source of fiber". Here's corporatocracy at its best; conventional, pesticide laden corn that's probably been sitting around for quite some time and starting to mold. That isn't exactly a whole grain. The vitamins they fortify cereals with such as, calcium, vitamin D, iron, and B vitamins are synthetic, yes, they're fake. These vitamins cannot be absorbed in our bodies, instead they are stored in fatty membranes or hopefully they find there way out via urine or defecation, hopefully. The dyes that they add for attractiveness such as Blue dye #1, can "trigger a number of behavioral, learning and health problems". These dyes have also been shown to be carcinogenic, increase nervousness, and lack of concentration they are also derived from petroleum oil. A nauseating (literally) 15 million pounds of dyes are added to U.S. food supplies each year. It is known that each added dye is like ingesting a small dose of cancer. This isn't exactly what we should be feeding our children nor ourselves.

As for the fiber. Unfortunately, it's still not looking too good. With the highest fiber amounts coming in around 3-5 grams with 46 grams of sugar for a 3/4 cup of cereal, that amount of fiber couldn't excrete a rabbit pebble. Try eating 3/4 of a cup of sugary cereal and see if you get satiated. Chances are you won't be or if you miraculously are the probability of you being hungry in about an hour is almost 100% (if you are a healthy individual). Bottom line- these cereals are at the forefront of what's initiating obesity in our youth as well as type II diabetes in children and young adults. In order to change the health of society, we need to change the way we eat. Stop buying chemicals in a box, start purchasing true whole grains such as oats, brown rice, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat and polenta. The FDA tries to outwit us via its sly advertising methods especially targeting children. We can stop this by discontinuing our purchase of such products. Overall, General Mill's and our FDA get an "F".

If you don't have time for a hot breakfast in the morning, here are some healthy cold cereal choices. Top with berries, ground flax seeds, and goat, rice or hemp milk:

Arrowhead Mills: