Natural Weight Loss - Food for Thought and the Body
By Gary
Scott
The story below shared by an alert reader shows the power of the first foundation
of good health, nutrition.
OCTOBER 14. In Appleton, Wisconsin, a revolution has occurred. It has taken
place in the Central Alternative High School. The kids now behave. The hallways
aren't frantic. Even the teachers are happy.
The school used to be out of control. Kids packed weapons. Discipline problems
swamped the principal's office. But not since 1997.
What happened? Did they line every inch of space with cops? Did they spray
valium gas in the classrooms? Did they install metal detectors in the bathrooms?
Did they build holding cells in the gym?
Afraid not. In 1997, a private group called Natural Ovens began installing
a healthy lunch program. Huh?
Fast-food burgers, fries, and burritos gave way to fresh salads, meats "prepared
with old-fashioned recipes," and whole grain bread. Fresh fruits were
added to the menu. Good drinking water arrived.
Vending machines were removed.
As reported in a newsletter called Pure Facts, "Grades are up, truancy
is no longer a problem, arguments are rare, and teachers are able to spend
their time teaching."
Principal LuAnn Coenen, who files annual reports with the state of Wisconsin,
has turned in some staggering figures since 1997. Drop-outs? Students expelled?
Students discovered to be using drugs? Carrying weapons? Committing suicide?
Every category has come up ZERO. Every year.
Mary Bruyette, a teacher, states, "I don't have to deal with daily
discipline issues. I don't have disruptions in class or the difficulties
with student behavior I experienced before we started the food program."
One student asserted, "Now that I can concentrate I think it's easier
to get along with people." What a concept---eating healthier food increases
concentration.
Principal Coenen sums it up: "I can't buy the argument that it's too
costly for schools to provide good nutrition for their students. I found
that one cost will reduce another. I don't have the vandalism. I don't have
the litter. I don't have the need for high security."
At a nearby middle school, the new food program is catching on. A teacher
there, Dennis Abram, reports, "I've taught here almost 30 years. I see
the kids this year as calmer, easier to talk to. They just seem more rational.
I had thought about retiring this year and basically I've decided to teach
another year---I'm having too much fun!"
Pure Facts, the newsletter that ran this story, is published by a non-profit
organization called The Feingold Association, which has existed since 1976.
Part of its mission is to "generate public awareness of the potential
role of foods and synthetic additives in behavior, learning and health problems.
The [Feingold] program is based on a diet eliminating synthetic colors, synthetic
flavors, and the preservatives BHA, BHT, and TBHQ."
Thirty years ago there was a Dr. Feingold. His breakthrough work proved
the connection between these negative factors in food and the lives of children.
Hailed as a revolutionary advance, Feingold's findings were soon trashed
by the medical cartel, since those findings threatened the drugs-for-everything,
disease-model concept of modern healthcare.
But Feingold's followers have kept his work alive. If what happened in Appleton,
Wisconsin, takes hold in many other communities across America, perhaps the
ravenous corporations who invade school space with their vending machines
and junk food will be tossed out on their behinds. It could happen.
And perhaps ADHD will become a dinosaur. A non-disease that was once attributed
to errant brain chemistry. And perhaps Ritalin will be seen as just another
toxic chemical that was added to the bodies of kids in a crazed attempt to
put a lid on behavior that, in part, was the result of a subversion of the
food supply.
For those readers who ask me about solutions to the problems we face---here
is a real solution. Help these groups. Get involved. Step into the fray.
Stand up and be counted.
The drug companies aren't going to do it. They're busy estimating the size
of their potential markets. They're building their chemical pipelines into
the minds and bodies of the young.
Every great revolution starts with a foothold. Sounds like Natural Ovens
and The Feingold Association have made strong cuts into the big rock of ignorance
and greed. Thanks.
This is an article worth passing on in the hopes that we can get all our
schools to recognize the importance of feeding our kids a healthy diet.
Until next message I hope your health is improving as well!
Gary
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