Understanding Food Advertising

Billions of dollars are spent each year on advertising food, and much of this is focused on specific markets. Food ads for breakfast cereals and junk food, for example, focus largely on the children’s market. Toys, comic books, giveaways, and polished commercials can hinder young people from making independent judgments on how to eat a balanced diet. Instead, their choices may rely on the direction of advertisers. TV advertising plays a prominent role, where cartoons featuring food commercials dominate children’s programming. Most of these emphasize PROCESSED FOODS—low in nutrients and high in CALORIES, SUGAR, SALT, and FAT. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) discovered that less than 3 percent of advertising during children’s programs focuses on healthful food, such as fruit and milk. The AAP concluded that there is a direct link between commercials promoting high-calorie food and health problems, and in 1991 recommended a ban on food commercials geared toward children.
The Better Business Bureau’s Children’s Advertising Review Unit was founded in 1972. Composed of representatives from the media, ad agencies, and others, its goal is to monitor truth in advertising in radio, TV, and the printed word for children up to the age of 12, according to self-regulating guidelines. It will review material before it is publicized upon request. The group provides a forum for information exchange and relies on a panel of academic professionals to provide expertise on the impact of images on children.

Understanding Adulterated Food

A food is classified as adulterated if it contains extraneous material, dangerous amounts of poisons or filth, or if it has been processed or stored under unsanitary conditions. In terms of food for interstate commerce, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration monitors environmental contaminants, toxins from microorganisms, bacterial levels, and potentially harmful substances. Since it is impossible for food to be 100 percent pure, tolerances have been set for each type of contaminant. Very hazardous materials can be ruled so dangerous that no amount should be detected (a “zero tolerance”).

Understanding Adipose tissue (body fat, depot fat)

Fat storage is A specialized function of adipose tissue, and it represents The major fuel depot of the body; it is as Essential to normal function as any other tissue. Body fat serves other important functions: It insulates The body against low environmental temperatures And serves as a shock absorber. Typically, fat Stored in adipose tissue represents 15 percent to 20 Percent of men’s weight and 20 percent to 25 percent Of women’s average weight. Women usually Have more fat than men because fat is an important Energy reserve during pregnancy and lactation. Adipose tissue synthesizes fat after a high carbohydrate Meal in response to the hormone INSULIN. During FASTING, STARVATION, or STRESS, a second Hormone EPINEPHRINE (adrenaline) signals ADIPOCYTES (fat cells) to break down stored fat into FATTY ACIDS, which are released into the bloodstream. They are rapidly absorbed and oxidized for energy By muscles. In contrast, the brain relies on blood Sugar to meet its energy needs.
The fact that an adult can consume approximately Two pounds of food a day (or 700 pounds of Food a year) with only small changes in body fat Indicates how well the body regulates weight when The calorie intake matches the total body requirements. Of course, common experience suggests that Body fat can increase. For example, fat accumulation Often accounts for the weight gain of middleaged Americans. Older people tend to EXERCISE less And the metabolic rate slows with aging. An individual’s Optimal body fat at any age depends upon Many factors, including inheritance, body build, Sex, and age. Standard HEIGHT/WEIGHT TABLES or the BODY MASS INDEX can be used to estimate an appropriate Body weight for an individual.
Excessive body fat is not healthy for many reasons.
OBESITY carries with it the increased risk of CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, HYPERTENSION, and some Forms of CANCER. It is interesting to note that the Distribution of body fat plays a role in defining the Risk for heart disease. Abdominal fat (the “spare Tire” profile) carries a greater risk for cardiovascular Disease than fat accumulated around hips and Thighs (the “pear” profile).
The general approach to losing fat stored in adipose Tissue is exercising and eating low-fat, highadipose Fiber meals, while decreasing caloric intake. Dieting Without exercise decreases muscle mass (not desirable) As well as the fat in adipose tissue, and the Weight regained after a crash diet is mostly fat (also Not desired). Cycles of dieting and not dieting also Cause loss of muscle mass. Muscle burns more ENERGY per pound than fat, so DIET cycling may Increase the difficulty of losing weight permanently. The number of fat cells in adipose tissue—
The storage bags themselves—cannot be lost by Dieting or exercise. The only way to lose fat cells of Adipose tissue is by LIPOSUCTION, a surgical procedure.

Understanding Sugar Addiction

Addiction to refined CARBOHYDRATES in general and to sucrose (table sugar) specifically is a controversial topic. Proponents believe that sugar has no effect on behavior, and that it has little effect on health other than promoting tooth decay. A government task force concluded in 1986 that typical sugar consumption does not generally pose a health hazard. Critics contend that sugar addiction is a common phenomenon. Preferring sugar and sweets seems to be programmed at infancy. A craving for sweets often develops later in life, and in this sense sugar may be psychologically addicting. Compounding the problem of defining sugar addiction is the general observation that related symptoms are rather vague, including a change in mood or feeling shaky when abstaining from sugary foods.
One hypothesis proposes that addicted persons have a drive to achieve a sense of well-being and to overcome depression. Some addicted persons seem to have an abnormal metabolism of NEUROTRANSMITTERS, chemicals that carry signals from one nerve cell to another cell. A primary example is the link between depression and low levels of the brain chemical serotonin and the correlation between high-sugar, high-fat diets, and high brain serotonin levels. Evidence suggests that eating certain sugary foods stimulates the production of brain peptides (ENDORPHINS), which trigger pleasant feelings. It has been hypothesized that the formation of endorphins may be abnormal in some individuals,
possibly triggering compulsive eating behavior like BULIMIA NERVOSA. (See also APPETITE; BLOOD SUGAR; NATURAL SWEETENERS.)

Understanding Addiction

A chronic condition characterized by CRAVINGS for and uncontrollable use of a substance (often drugs or alcohol) despite negative physical, mental, or social consequences. People who suffer from drug or alcohol addiction are often malnourished and may be either overweight due to an increased consumption of foods high in refined CARBOHYDRATES or underweight due to a loss of APPETITE.
Nutrition offers a powerful adjunct to recovery and restoring the body’s biochemical balance. A nutritional program for a recovering addict might advise:

• establishing new eating patterns, including eating frequent small meals to stabilize blood sugar (GLUCOSE) and prevent HYPOGLYCEMIA
• avoiding foods high in sugar or refined carbohydrates eating a varied, balanced diet of VEGETABLES, whole GRAINS, LEGUMES, FRUITS, lean MEAT, POULTRY, and FISH
• avoiding or eliminating foods that contain CAFFEINE
• taking daily supplements of certain VITAMINS and MINERALS, such as GLUTAMINE, VITAMIN C, and NIACINAMIDE.

Acrylamide and Human Health

A chemical used in making plastics, textiles, and dyes and in purifying drinking water. Short-term exposure above safe limits (maximum contaminant levels) set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) causes damage to the central nervous system. Long-term exposure can cause paralysis and possibly cancer. The chemical has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals. In 2002 the World Health Organization (WHO) convened an emergency meeting of food safety and health experts after a team of Swedish scientists reported that some starch-based foods, like potato CHIPS, FRENCH FRIES, and some BREAKFAST CEREALS and BREADS, contain high levels of acrylamide. The amount of the chemical found in a large order of fast-food french fries was at least 300 times above EPA safe limits for drinking water. Additional studies in Norway, Great Britain, Switzerland, and the United States reached similar results.
Acrylamide apparently forms in some starchy foods when they are baked or fried at high temperatures. Raw or boiled samples of these foods, such as potatoes, test negative for the chemical. Research on the health effects of acrylamide in food is ongoing. For the time being, most health experts have stopped short of advising consumers to avoid the risky foods or change their cooking methods.

Understanding Acidosis

The acidification of the blood and other body fluids. This condition can be due to acid accumulation or to the loss of bicarbonate buffering capacity from kidney disease. The pH of blood is tightly regulated; the normal range is between pH 7.3 and 7.4. A drop in blood pH below pH 7.3, which corresponds to increased hydrogen ion concentration, could signal excessive acidity of the blood (ACIDEMIA). Homeostatic mechanisms (the body’s regulatory system of checks and balances) help prevent acidosis. Bicarbonate and serum proteins take up hydrogen ions to neutralize excessive acid rapidly, while the kidneys more slowly compensate for acid production by excreting surplus hydrogen ions. Prolonged acidosis requires medical attention because it slows down many vital functions, including nerve transmission and heart muscle contraction. Symptoms of acidosis include nausea, vomiting, DIARRHEA, headache, rapid breathing, and, eventually, convulsions.
Two forms of acidosis are recognized: metabolic and respiratory. Metabolic acidosis can occur when metabolic acids accumulate excessively. For example, when the body burns FAT at a high rate, the liver converts FATTY ACIDS to KETONE BODIES, acidic substances. This condition may occur during crash DIETING and FASTING or in a person suffering from uncontrolled DIABETES MELLITUS or chronic ALCOHOLISM.
Excessive ingestion of acids, such as in aspirin poisoning, also causes acidosis. Metabolic acidosis can also result from vomiting or diarrhea, which cause excessive loss of ELECTROLYTES like BICARBONATE and upset the acid/base balance.
Renal disease may prevent the kidneys from adequately correcting acid production.
Respiratory acidosis can occur when breathing does not adequately remove carbon dioxide. Shallow breathing, associated with respiratory disease, can cause excessive CARBON DIOXIDE in the lungs, in turn causing carbon dioxide blood levels to rise and upset the bicarbonate buffer system of the blood.