CHICAGO PERSONAL TRAINING ARTICLES:

How to Fit Your Child's Nutritional Program into a Busy School Day by San Diego Personal Trainer Dave DePew

Dave Depew is San Diego's top Personal Fitness Trainer. He has served as a consultant to the US Navy Seals and the Marine Corps. He is the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the San Diego SoCal Scorpions (Women's professional Football), and hosts the Dave Depew Fitness and Nutrition hour on World Talk Radio.

Written by Dave DePew
Tuesday, 11 December 2007
How many times have you heard the expression, “looks are deceiving”? This is definitely the case when it comes to dealing with processed foods. Processed foods, by design, are meant to appeal to us in terms of looks and taste. Unfortunately, little attention has been given to ensuring their nutritional value and their safety. Yes, I said safety.

Our bodies are being bombarded by the chemicals used to prepare process foods. Those same preservatives and additives that are used to ensure processed foods not only look appealing, smell scrumptious, and taste delicious to consumers, are the very same ones that are tearing our general good health down. Many of these chemicals are toxic and damaging to our bodies in so many ways. Even after research has proven that there are definitive links to some illnesses and cancers, they are still being used in abundance.

Why? The short answer is rudimentary economics. It is simply more profitable for the processed food industry to use these additives, preservatives and chemicals than it is to find healthy alternatives. The processed food industry has between 30,000 and 50,000 food items on store shelves. In 2002, the food industry sold over $174 billion in processed food. On average, they spend approximately $34 billion marketing those food products to people every year, of which $12 billion is targeted specifically to our kids. It’s definitely big business. A business they have no intention of changing as long as it remains so profitable. Regrettably, that means that most Americans will unknowingly continue to poison their bodies.

Here is just a brief sample of some of the preservatives, additives and chemicals being used in processed foods:
• Sulfur - used in dried fruit to keep it fresh.
• Formaldehyde – used to disinfect frozen vegetables (and yes, preserve corpses).
• Sodium nitrate – used to preserve ham, bacon, sausage and bologna and keep meat looking red. (Did you know that sodium nitrate is converted to nitrous acid in the stomach and that this has been linked to stomach cancer?)
• Arsenic – fed to chicks to stimulate growth and increase egg production.
• Aluminum compounds - added to baking powder, aspirin, antacids, beer, table salt and antiperspirants. (Has been discovered in high concentrations in the brain of Alzheimer's patients).
• Maleic hydrazide – sprayed on potatoes to keep them from sprouting. (It has been know to cause cancer in lab animals.)
• Proplene glycol – used in ice cream, it is also found in antifreeze and paint remover.
• Carboxymethylcellulose - a stabilizer, used in ice cream, salad dressing, cheese spreads and chocolate milk. Found to produce tumors in 80% of rats injected.

A buildup of toxins can disrupt the production of new healthy cells. It can reduce our resistance to disease and quite possibly lead to premature death. To make a lasting change that will positively impact not only weight loss, but long term health, you need to not only educate yourself to what you are eating, but to drastically cut back on processed foods. You owe it to yourself and your body.

Our Personal Training area covers Chicago, Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Kenilworth, Skokie, Niles, Morton Grove, Des Plaines, Rosemont, Park Ridge, Naperville, Downer's Grove, Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Highland Park, Northfield and most other Chicagoland Suburbs.