I am grateful for the labels that now appear on food products.  There is a lot of helpful information on these food labels.  However, I would like to see two more on all products.  It would be really nice if the labels included glycemic index and glycemic load as two of the listed items.  It would be much easier to make healthy choices in the food we eat, if these labels did appear on all food products.  What can we do to start a campaign to add these items to all food labels?

What are Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load?  Glycemic Index is more commonly used than Glycemic Load.  Glycemic Index is how fast the carbohydrates in each serving of food turn to glucose in the blood (“blood sugar”).  The Glycemic Load is a combination of how much of these carbohydrates are present in the food and how fast they transform into blood sugar (glycemic index).  The example I like to use is that Glycemic Index is equivalent to the height of a waterfall and the Glycemic Load takes into account that height and the amount of water actually coming over the falls.  The more water, the more dangerous, no matter how high or low the drop is.  However, even a high waterfall with very little water going over the edge is not nearly as dangerous as the Mississippi River in flood stage.  So the quantity we eat is just as important as the low or high GI and GL foods that we do eat.

Glycemic Index is not enough to judge a food.  For example, carrots have a GI of 42, but a GL of only 3.  The sugars/carbohydrates they have turn into blood sugar quite quickly.  However, they do not contain that many carbohydrates.  In comparison, Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake has a GI of only 38, but a GL of 20.  Just going on the GI of each item, it would appear that Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake is better for us than carrots.  Our intuition would said “That’s not right!”  However, until we look at the GL it appears that our intuition may be wrong.  If you would like to look up this information, it is from Dr. Ray Strand’s Healthy for Life book.  It is the book we are currently using in our classes.

Looking at the current food labels, they do have a lot of information.  However, they can be misleading.  For example, we can look at oatmeal.  There are four types that are on the grocery shelves:  steel cut, Old Fashion (takes about five minutes to cook),  Quick (takes about 1 minute to cook), and Instant (just add hot water).  The current labels on all four products are identical (minus any sugars that are added to the Instant Oatmeal).  However, the Glycemic Index and Load start off reasonably low with the steel cut, are medium with the Old Fashion, are high with the Quick Oatmeal, and are extremely high with the Instant Oatmeal.  It is impossible to tell the difference with the current label.

I believe that all foods should be labelled with both a Glycemic Index and a Glycemic Load.  I am looking at what options we do have to add such information.  If you agree, do you have suggestions on how to have these two items added?

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered: “Man. Because he sacrifices his health to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.“

A good friend on Facebook posted this quote and I was very impressed. Chasing the corporate dream is not the solution. My father’s generation seems like they were able to have a better balance in their lives that even my generation (the baby boom generation).  In order to stay employed in a well paying job, there seems to be more demands applied.  I have a good friend with whom I talked about the stresses of a corporate job.  He was asked to do more and more as his co-workers were given the opportunities to do other jobs outside of his corporation.  When I talked with him a while back, he said he was often putting in 70 to 80 hour work-weeks.  Unfortunately, his funeral was a few weeks ago. He is a good person whom I will dearly miss.

So, what is the bottom line.  Are each of us taking care of ourselves (and our health) as well as we would like?  Do I lead the balanced life I would like to live?  Is the occupation I chose healthy for me? What are my hours of work?   Is there a healthier way to earn a living?

Stress is a killer.  It can come from lack of financial resources, lack of time with loved ones, great demands at work, sick loved ones, loved ones in trouble with the law, … or perhaps a combination of these, and more. There are many causes of stress, but for me my main concern is, time spent with family.   If I am the financially richest man in the world and do not have time to spend with my family, am I truly rich?

Money is important, if only to keep a roof over our heads and pay our doctor bills.  Our oldest son has had three open-heart surgeries and he goes in for a check-up every six months.  However, what is the trade-off between time and money? And what is the best way to earn money?

I am finding out that the best way for me to earn money is to serve others. When we serve others, we are only serving out God. That is one reason for this website. There are related ways that I earn money, but if I am able to help one person with this site, that is a good reward for me.

To avoid the pitfalls that the Dalai Lama so beautifully mentioned, I feel that I need to have a Vision and a Mission for my life. This is not something that can be just whipped out, it is something that takes time to develop.  Without a Vision people do parish (whether that be actual physical death or an attitude death, I do not know).  For me, if I do not have a purpose in life, I flounder and wonder what I accomplished at the end of the day.  I like helping others, so my mission must include that aspect of doing/being.

We all go through major trials in our life.  Can we respond to those as opportunities to grow and mature?   Our attitudes govern much of the effect such times bring upon us.  So, I ask you as the reader, how do you keep a positive attitude?  What is your Vision and Mission in life?  How are you helping others?  If you do these things, can you bring joy into your life?  God wants us to have true joy in our lives, what can we do to help Him so that we can have the joy He would like to give to us?

I do appreciate all of the kind comments.  I know I have let some advertising through,I have tried to make sure that none of these are offensive and may be of interest.  I have also been asked about how to use some of these posts in other newsletters.  Since I am new at th posting, but have been using the products for over twelve years, I would like to share as much information as possible at no charge.  Eventually, this will probably change.  I am looking at ways to allow people to donate.  However, if I do that, then I feel obligated to be writing to this post on a regular basis.  If you have suggestions, I would love to hear them.  For those who celebrate this day, I hope everyone has a great fourth of July.  For those who live in countries besides the United States, I hope each of you have a great day today.

Out attitude is one of the keys to our health.  Keep a cheerful attitude, remember to laugh, and you will remain much healthier.

And, as a side note, I am willing and look forward to working with others.   The products and services have to be the very best.  Second best will not due.  As our business grows, we will expand this website.  Our attitude is to give knowledge away for free and earn our income in other ways.

I just had my physical and the blood-work came back great.  I am happy for that.  The doctor commented on how few prescription meds I am taking.  I prefer to know all about a medication before I even consider taking a new med.  I need to know how it works, what organs it affects, how it affects those organs, what side effects does it have, and are the potential risks worse than the problem.

For example, my doctor mentioned that if my cholesterol was up, he would like me to take a cholesterol medication.  My total was 193 with the HDL being 63 (these are my results and no guarantee is implied).  But if these numbers were not so good, I would ask him a series of questions, which could probably be applied to many other medicines.

1. How is cholesterol produced?  What organ produces it?
2. How does the medication reduce the production of cholesterol?
3. Does cholesterol really cause the problem or is it oxidized cholesterol that causes the problem?
4. What other substances does this organ produce?
5. How does the body use these other substances?
6. What would be the effect on the body if these substances were lacking?
7. Where would the body get these substances if they were truly needed?
8. Is there a better, more natural alternative?

Also, find out if there are any of your friends who have been on this med for awhile and ask what side effects they have suffered.  Some that are listed on some cholesterol medications are muscle weakness and gastric reflux.  Will you need another medication if you are affected by any of these side effects?

The bottom line is to know your body, know the facts, and ask lots of questions.

Wayne Cook
waynec@cookhealthalliance.com
Welcome to Cook Health Alliance.  There is a lot to view here.  Thank you for visiting.

Diabetes and heart disease go hand in hand.  Both are caused by a poor diet and little exercise.  Unfortunately, with Physical Education in our schools being drastically reduced, the latter is very difficult for most student who are not on sports teams to actually get.  The food pyramid is also a problem.  The newer one is better than the original, but the first one caused great harm to everyone who followed it.  The problem is that the bottom row consisted of breads and cereals, both of which are very high glycemic (glycemic index is how fast carbohydrates turn into blood sugar and glycemic load measures how many carbohydrates are in the food).  For example, white bread turns into blood sugar faster than table sugar does.  The key is that the more processed the food is, the faster it turns into blood sugar.

With the introduction of the food pyramid, diabetes started to rise in the United States (and other parts of the world that used teh pyramid).  It used to be that diabetes, in general, was broken into two groups:  childhood and adult-onset.  These two types are now called Type I and Type II diabetes respectively.  20 years ago, it was rare to see a child with Type II diabetes.  Now it is quite common.  In fact, children born after 2000 have a 33 1/3 % chance of developing diabetes i their lifetime.  Minority children ahve a 50% chance of developing diabetes.  This is sad and never should happen.  With balanced nutrition and proper exercise, this trend can be reversed.  That is what we teach in our program.  We do not want to see anyone suffering from Type II diabetes.