In addition to the devastating effects of additives in children (and adults), the excessive consumption of
sugar by children has highly destructive effects on their development. It sows the seeds for many
illnesses, including diabetes and obesity. A 1998 study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic
Association showed that children get 20% of their daily calories from sugar. Kids consume on average 29
teaspoons of added refined sugar each day. Every year, teenagers eat 93 pounds of refined sugar on
average. I’m afraid this amount has only continued to grow since these figures were researched. Sugar
consists, however, of “empty” calories that have no nutritional value for the body whatsoever. Sugar robs
the body of precious minerals and makes the immune system vulnerable to pathogens. It has led to the
enormous obesity problem among children today.
The High Fiber Trap
Official health reports advise us to pack large amounts of whole grain and bran-enriched cereals into
our diet. Studies have shown that those who follow this advice have a significantly lower fat intake
compared with those who don’t. They also want to eat fewer calories at lunchtime, which seems desirable.
A high fiber cereal for breakfast subdues AGNI, the digestive fire for many hours, which might tempt you
to even skip lunch (for lack of proper appetite). But by the evening, the body, sensing a “famine,” wants
to eat twice as much to make up for the lack of nutrient supplies during the day. By then AGNI is too low
to handle large quantities of food, which results in the accumulation of toxic fecal matter in the intestines.
Consequently you put on weight, despite your good “health habits.”
The commonly held belief that indigestible fiber cannot be digested and leaves our body unaltered
applies only to the small intestine. But when it reaches the large intestine, the fiber is attacked and broken
down by large numbers of residential bacteria. This causes fermentation and the common flatulence,
headaches, heart pressure, irritability, tiredness, sleeping problems, etc. Fiber is a plant’s skeleton, and
can only be found within plants. It is vital to the health of your digestive system as it stimulates the waves
of muscular contraction that coerces food through your intestinal tract. If your diet is low in vegetable
fiber, your intestinal musculature becomes weak, resulting in the sluggish transit of foods. This can cause
many problems: including intestinal gas, constipation and irritable bowel syndrome. The vegetable fiber
helps you to feel full, and reduces the likelihood of you overeating. It also assists in the evacuation of any
excess cholesterol from your system. Your body is designed to process the soluble fiber found in fruits:
not the insoluble fiber found within grains (bran), which is sharp and can leave microscopic lacerations on
the wall of your intestines.
Doctors at the South Manchester University Hospital, England, studying Irritable Bowel Syndrome
(IBS) have discovered that after eating bran—the one time cure-all food for IBS—more than half of their
patients felt much worse. Today over 20 percent of the British population suffers from IBS, and it is even
more so in the United States. High fiber cereals cause loose stools, a major reason why people with
constipation choose bran or bran-enriched foods as a method of producing regular bowel movements.
Added bran, however, leaches minerals from the colon cells, weakens peristalsis, and causes chronic
colon problems. If intake of bran is discontinued, constipation results.
Many health-conscious people follow a low fat diet—so highly recommended by nutritional experts.
Yet if cereals don’t contain enough fat, they miss out on the “fuel” required to properly digest and absorb
their carbohydrates. The result is that they pass through the small intestine far too quickly. The colon
bacteria then act on the undigested food, producing many unpleasant side effects, including flatulence,
bad-smelling gases, constipation or diarrhea, and weight gain.