Messengers have been shot for carrying ‘less bad’ news! The news in question is the links between fizzy drinks and diabetes. By chance, as I surfed the net, I came across a feature with the uninspiring title: “3 Surprising reasons to give up soda.” [‘Soda’ is America-speak for fizzy drinks.] Two paragraphs later, the article compelled this reaction: “Print, and, risk being shot.” (See below.)
TARGET, SWEETBREAD
Today’s article is part of our on-going mini-series on how to select cost-effective tests to help us sniff out diseases before they become a handful. Last week, the target organ was the kidney. This week, it is the turn of an organ with a most unlikely name. It is called “sweetbread” or, pancreas.
Sweetbread manufactures insulin. When things go wrong with insulin, whether in the production factory, transportation system, or, end-user cells, the result is the same: Diabetes, the sugar disease.
FIRST, OR, WITH THE FIRST
In theory, diabetes should be one of the first diseases to be gleefully trapped in the early detection net. In practice, it is often the last.
If you look at cost-effectiveness in the detection enterprise, diabetes should be first, or, with the first. (With apologies to a prestigious secondary school in Ghana.) There are at least two reasons for this happy situation.
For one thing, all it takes to rule out diabetes is the following. A piece of blotting paper picked from a test-kit, and, a couple of drops of urine. You need no special lab. Your backyard or bathroom will do.
Like tissue paper, the test-kit is disposable. (Of course, blood and complex tests are required when the clinical picture is foggy. But, here and now, blood and complex tests are not our concern.)
Secondly, which reader of this column cannot recite the unholy list of common non-communicable killer diseases in Ghana? They include high blood pressure, diabetes and its companion-in-crime: obesity.
REMEMBER TO REMIND
Healthcare professionals are fully aware of the diabetes menace. Their most routine of routine orders for lab tests always seeks to rule out diabetes. But, if, in the unlikely event that your doctor or nurse omits it, there is no harm if you do the needful. Remember to remind him or her.
In this way, professionals and clients will work together to ensure that we no longer relegate diabetes to the last, when it should be among the first.
SOURCE: ‘RODALE.COM’
And now, back to the beginning. The trigger was a feature written by David Zinczenko [with Matt Goulding.] It was posted on the net on 24 January 2012. It opened with a truism: “You don’t need me to tell you that fizzy drinks are not healthy. They contribute to our expanding obesity problem.”
David Zinczenko linked up with Leah Zerbe. She writes for Rodale.com, today’s source of the three surprising reasons to give up fizzy drinks. Here are the details of the ‘bad’ news. If you have guns and bullets, prepare to fire, but, shoot not the messenger.
SHOCKING FIZZY FACT #1
Fizzies fatten your organs. A recent Danish study showed that drinking non-diet fizzy stuff increases fat deposits in dangerous places. It is as if the body feels guilty. So, it conceals the fat in places which are hard to detect. Examples are in the liver and muscles. Fizzies also increase blood levels of cholesterol.
NO ANGELS HERE
Fizzies are fizzies. Diet this, and, diet that are no angels, either. None will save you from harm. Why? Here comes another shock. The devil is in the detail. The artificial sweeteners and the noisy dyes used to jazz up the looks of drinks [and food] are the culprits. They’ve been linked to hyperactivity, and, damaged brain cells.
FIZZIES & DIABETES
Research has shown that people who drink diet fizzies have a higher risk of developing diabetes.
SHOCKING FIZZY FACT #2
Some popular brands of fizzies use vegetable oil laced with a chemical. The compound is said to be ‘brominated’. This chemical retards the spread of flames. And, it is toxic. In fizzies, it’s commercial purpose is to firmly bond the artificial flavoring with the rest of the liquid. If not, flavoring will separate out from liquid with disastrous consequences.
This hazardous ingredient can cause symptoms and signs of a condition called ‘bromide’ poisoning. Examples are skin rashes, memory loss and nerve disorders.
SHOCKING FIZZY FACT #3
This third shocking fact is added here for the sake of completion.
Leah Zerbe’s feature continues. Many brands of fizzies are sweetened with corn syrup. High in a sugar called ‘fructose’, it is a heart-harming, man-made compound. It is derived mainly from genetically engineered corn. Here is the problem.
Leah Zerbe points out: “Genetically engineered ingredients have only been in our food chain since the 1990s. We don’t know their long-term health impact. The corporations that developed the crops never had to test them for long-term safety.”
Apparently, “some recent findings suggest that genetically engineered crops are linked to digestive tract damage, accelerated aging, and even infertility.”
ADDICTION?
We’ve covered the three shocking facts on fizzy drinks pre-posted on the Net. Here comes the fourth protocol. Are you an addict? Addicted to cocaine or heroin? Alcohol or cigarettes, perhaps? Most certainly not. But, are you by any chance addicted to fizzy drinks? Heavens forbid!
If you are not an addict, then you’ll find that kicking the fizzy can out of your life is just like munching tiger nuts. On the other hand, if you are sweating beads of blood trying to skip the next can, maybe you should plan to re-visit a Clinical Psychologist.
TEAM WORK
Today, sweetbread has been the organ, and, diabetes the disease we targeted. Team work is required. Professionals, clients and care-givers must work together. We must ensure that we no longer relegate diabetes to the last, when it should be among the first of disorders to be trapped by cost-effective early detection.
We’ve delivered three shocking messages pre-posted on the Net about fizzy drinks. Addiction was the fourth protocol. If the message fires you up, well and good. But, shoot (not) the messenger.
TARGET, SWEETBREAD
Today’s article is part of our on-going mini-series on how to select cost-effective tests to help us sniff out diseases before they become a handful. Last week, the target organ was the kidney. This week, it is the turn of an organ with a most unlikely name. It is called “sweetbread” or, pancreas.
Sweetbread manufactures insulin. When things go wrong with insulin, whether in the production factory, transportation system, or, end-user cells, the result is the same: Diabetes, the sugar disease.
FIRST, OR, WITH THE FIRST
In theory, diabetes should be one of the first diseases to be gleefully trapped in the early detection net. In practice, it is often the last.
If you look at cost-effectiveness in the detection enterprise, diabetes should be first, or, with the first. (With apologies to a prestigious secondary school in Ghana.) There are at least two reasons for this happy situation.
For one thing, all it takes to rule out diabetes is the following. A piece of blotting paper picked from a test-kit, and, a couple of drops of urine. You need no special lab. Your backyard or bathroom will do.
Like tissue paper, the test-kit is disposable. (Of course, blood and complex tests are required when the clinical picture is foggy. But, here and now, blood and complex tests are not our concern.)
Secondly, which reader of this column cannot recite the unholy list of common non-communicable killer diseases in Ghana? They include high blood pressure, diabetes and its companion-in-crime: obesity.
REMEMBER TO REMIND
Healthcare professionals are fully aware of the diabetes menace. Their most routine of routine orders for lab tests always seeks to rule out diabetes. But, if, in the unlikely event that your doctor or nurse omits it, there is no harm if you do the needful. Remember to remind him or her.
In this way, professionals and clients will work together to ensure that we no longer relegate diabetes to the last, when it should be among the first.
SOURCE: ‘RODALE.COM’
And now, back to the beginning. The trigger was a feature written by David Zinczenko [with Matt Goulding.] It was posted on the net on 24 January 2012. It opened with a truism: “You don’t need me to tell you that fizzy drinks are not healthy. They contribute to our expanding obesity problem.”
David Zinczenko linked up with Leah Zerbe. She writes for Rodale.com, today’s source of the three surprising reasons to give up fizzy drinks. Here are the details of the ‘bad’ news. If you have guns and bullets, prepare to fire, but, shoot not the messenger.
SHOCKING FIZZY FACT #1
Fizzies fatten your organs. A recent Danish study showed that drinking non-diet fizzy stuff increases fat deposits in dangerous places. It is as if the body feels guilty. So, it conceals the fat in places which are hard to detect. Examples are in the liver and muscles. Fizzies also increase blood levels of cholesterol.
NO ANGELS HERE
Fizzies are fizzies. Diet this, and, diet that are no angels, either. None will save you from harm. Why? Here comes another shock. The devil is in the detail. The artificial sweeteners and the noisy dyes used to jazz up the looks of drinks [and food] are the culprits. They’ve been linked to hyperactivity, and, damaged brain cells.
FIZZIES & DIABETES
Research has shown that people who drink diet fizzies have a higher risk of developing diabetes.
SHOCKING FIZZY FACT #2
Some popular brands of fizzies use vegetable oil laced with a chemical. The compound is said to be ‘brominated’. This chemical retards the spread of flames. And, it is toxic. In fizzies, it’s commercial purpose is to firmly bond the artificial flavoring with the rest of the liquid. If not, flavoring will separate out from liquid with disastrous consequences.
This hazardous ingredient can cause symptoms and signs of a condition called ‘bromide’ poisoning. Examples are skin rashes, memory loss and nerve disorders.
SHOCKING FIZZY FACT #3
This third shocking fact is added here for the sake of completion.
Leah Zerbe’s feature continues. Many brands of fizzies are sweetened with corn syrup. High in a sugar called ‘fructose’, it is a heart-harming, man-made compound. It is derived mainly from genetically engineered corn. Here is the problem.
Leah Zerbe points out: “Genetically engineered ingredients have only been in our food chain since the 1990s. We don’t know their long-term health impact. The corporations that developed the crops never had to test them for long-term safety.”
Apparently, “some recent findings suggest that genetically engineered crops are linked to digestive tract damage, accelerated aging, and even infertility.”
ADDICTION?
We’ve covered the three shocking facts on fizzy drinks pre-posted on the Net. Here comes the fourth protocol. Are you an addict? Addicted to cocaine or heroin? Alcohol or cigarettes, perhaps? Most certainly not. But, are you by any chance addicted to fizzy drinks? Heavens forbid!
If you are not an addict, then you’ll find that kicking the fizzy can out of your life is just like munching tiger nuts. On the other hand, if you are sweating beads of blood trying to skip the next can, maybe you should plan to re-visit a Clinical Psychologist.
TEAM WORK
Today, sweetbread has been the organ, and, diabetes the disease we targeted. Team work is required. Professionals, clients and care-givers must work together. We must ensure that we no longer relegate diabetes to the last, when it should be among the first of disorders to be trapped by cost-effective early detection.
We’ve delivered three shocking messages pre-posted on the Net about fizzy drinks. Addiction was the fourth protocol. If the message fires you up, well and good. But, shoot (not) the messenger.
