If we are what we eat then Americans are high fructose corn syrup and soy

[JurisDoctorOfDoom]

This pretty much confirms what I've suspected which is that the average american is loaded to the gills with high fructose corn syrup and soy, both of which are basically poisons:

   "We are what we eat with respect to carbon, for sure. So if we
   eat a particular kind of food, and it has a particular kind of carbon
   in it, that's recorded in us, in our tissues, in our hair, in our
   fingernails, in the muscles," Dawson says. Dawson tested a strand
   of my hair: 69 percent of the carbon came from corn. This may
   seem high, but it is typical for Americans.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/diet.fitness/09/22/kd.gupta.column/index.html

See also "The Dangers of Soy":

http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle.do?article=body_87prote
http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle.do?article=body_143soy

[kaykay]

I read that......I already also knew it......what makes me upset is finding HFCS in products in supposed health food stores.  Told a clerk about it in one of the only small health food stores in this small town....couldn't have cared less.
Soy is the great lie.  Read about how it got started.....TPTB...not surprised.  Most soy is Gm anyway.

[JurisDoctorOfDoom]

Isn't it amazing that people simply don't care? As in "not the least bit curious". Now don't get me wrong we've all got our blind spots. But when somebody tells me "hey Matt this thing you're being exposed to or ingesting may be doing some real damage", I automatically want to know more. If it doesn't sound totally crazy I go do some google searches on it.

It blows me away that you could tell somebody "hey this is some serious poison you're ingesting" and you get back the "classic American blank stare". It's a particular type of blank stare, one we should come up with a specific name for.

[GreenMonster12]

It blows me away that you could tell somebody "hey this is some serious poison you're ingesting" and you get back the "classic American blank stare". It's a particular type of blank stare, one we should come up with a specific name for.

I see that stare a lot from people.
That stare is a cross between indignation, amazement, ignorance, and arrogance.

Indignation that you are talking to me without noticing my new Oakley sunglasses, you didn't open the conversation by complimenting me on my new shiny car. etc...
Amazement because of the fact that you are talking about something other than my fake Oakley sunglasses.
Ignorance because I don't understand WTF you are even talking about, what are you some kind of encyclopedia Britannica? Dude stop I don't even know what metabolism is.
Arrogance at the fact you think I'm stupid, if it were important there would be a warning label, or it would be on TV; you don't know WTF you're talking about you're just trying to sound cool.

I swear I've seen those exact expressions on peoples faces even when explaining little things like how a car engine works; TO SOMEONE WHO ASKED THE QUESTION.

Edit: I've also come to the conclusion that most people don't ask questions in order to learn something new or receive an answer; instead they ask a question because once you answer it will be their turn to talk again. Death to someone who takes up their talk time by answering a question.

[Ethos]

It blows me away that you could tell somebody "hey this is some serious poison you're ingesting" and you get back the "classic American blank stare". It's a particular type of blank stare, one we should come up with a specific name for.

There are a handful of terms already in use for this particular affliction (my Mother used them to great effect):

-Nobody Home
-Wooden Stare
-Deadpan or Dead Eyed
-Fish Eye (my favorite - maybe you can call it American Fish Eye)
-Dazed and Confused
-Dunderhead or Lunkhead, sometimes CementHead
-Addle-brained
-Clownfaced
-Shitforbrains (lot's of mileage out of that one)
-Dingbat (my bitch stepmother used that one a lot)


Some other suggestions:

-Simpleton Stare
-Goon Gaze
-Twitfaced
-Stumblebummed
-Retard Donkey Stare
-Britneyesque
-Mystified Meathead
-Assfaced
-Dodofaced
-Boobybrained
-Chimpfaced
-Hooplehead (from Deadwood)
-NIMROD!!!! Someone HAS to resurrect this oldy.

And, finally, one that I'm certain comes only from a few counties in Upstate NY:

I give you BOTARD.  A combination of the acronym B.O.C.E.S. (pronounced boh-seez) and the word RETARD.

Boces stood for Board of Cooperative Educational Services.  They had some good vocational education but is still mainly known as being the place where they send all of the mentally handicapped kids as well as the kids who are erratic future criminals.  If someone said "Shut up you BOCE" (again, pronounced Bo-see) and they crossed their arms to simulate a retard with poor motor skills, THIS was one of the supreme putdowns.

Some brilliant child combined Boce and Retard to come up with Botard to significant success.  The social impact of being called a Botard (even though most kids couldn't even tell you where it came from) is devastating and useful when one is thought of to be an idiot.  It also didn't help that BOCES was where a great deal of homily looking girls went to Beauty School to study the latest "Bride of Frankenstein meets MidWest Mamma" hairstyles.

Pick a few and put them up for vote in the forum.  You don't even have to explain Botard.  Just use it a few times for a week or so and it starts to feel good.  It is important to put a heavy accent on the first syllable "Bo" followed by swallowing the "R" of the second syllable in a MidWest fashion.
For greater emphasis, use "Fu@#ing Botard!"  or the longer, and somewhat more cumbersome "Boceated Retard"

My vote is for that... or NIMROD.

Sorry, had waaaaaay too much fun with this post.

[710]

So we get the CRABS, the Classic Retarded American Blank Stare.  CRABS are a possibility in any intimate social interaction.

Because you are kind of addressing someone intimately when you tell them, "hey, dude, you're being poisoned, your life is in danger".  On one level, thats care and concern that most people aren't familiar with and don't know how to deal with from a stranger.

So what to do about getting CRABS?  Preparation, protection, and lack of predisposition.

Preparation.  How are you setting up the delivery of this information?  Do you also just walk up to women and say, "you're hot, let's go have sex"?  If the way you're putting this information out there isn't working, you must change your delivery.  You have an action, "you're being poisoned", and they have a re-action, CRABS.  If the reaction wasn't what you were looking for, your action must change.  You must prepare differently.

Protection.  As in protecting yourself.  How involved are you, yourself, in getting someone else to sit up and take notice about a problem?  Does it really bother you that someone doesn't appear to care?  And then what are you doing with your now-bothered nature, your frustration, your anger?  Hint: see Preparation.

Lack of Predisposition.  Is the person, group, party, or organization ready to hear what you have to say?  Or are they predisposed to having CRABS?  Hint: either way, see Preparation.

[LaLaLucy]

This pretty much confirms what I've suspected which is that the average american is loaded to the gills with high fructose corn syrup and soy, both of which are basically poisons:

JDD, you are so right in pointing out the dangers of high fructose corn syrup.  What I'm wondering is how the heck does it pack on the pounds so successfully?

After reading the articles, I think I understand that Soy's omega-6 fatty acid is very bad for all of us.  I understand that the omega-3 fatty acid (like from fish) needs a whole lot more representation in our diets.

But, are you also saying that women don't need to worry about soy's phytoestrogen?  The articles from Testosterone World (which I would never read for myself) seem to imply that soy is only bad if you are a male, especially a body-building male...

[Ethos]

So we get the CRABS, the Classic Retarded American Blank Stare. 

Damn - that's a good one.

[thomasl]

I am thinking of buying a few 55 gallon drums of HFCS.

I figure when TSHTF and the faucets that dispense HFCS are shut off, people will be jonesin' for that junk and I will make a killing!



but seriously...I know that a number of research groups have been showing that diets high in sugar and/or fat can have some pretty intense reinforcing properties, more similar to cocaine and heroin than you would think. 

[GreenMonster12]

What I found most enlightening were two things.
One: Even if everyone were to eat healthy tomorrow we couldn't there aren't enough fruit and vegetables to go around. Simply put the US grows Corn and Soy, everything else is a "specialty crop", and gets zero federal funding.

Omega 6 fatty acids are linked to depression. Considering that for the last few years a vast majority of people have been more prone to and increasingly diagnosed with depression or other mental illnesses; it isn't hard to see why. I have always held great distain for taking anti depressants, I refuse to take them. Fresh air is better. I have witnessed the personality changes in many of my friends and colleagues. It's freakin disturbing!
Sometimes when I've felt weird around groups of people and during the course of the conversation find that 50%+ are on some form of anti-depressant or mood altering pharmachemical neural dulling medication.

The more you put the peices together it's no wonder most of the country is apathetic, and stupid. I understand why there are not people lined up infront of our nations capital holding pitch forks and rakes.


 

[Ethos]

Omega 6 fatty acids are linked to depression. Considering that for the last few years a vast majority of people have been more prone to and increasingly diagnosed with depression or other mental illnesses; it isn't hard to see why.

The more you put the peices together it's no wonder most of the country is apathetic, and stupid. I understand why there are not people lined up infront of our nations capital holding pitch forks and rakes.

Dead on with that Green Monster.  I cannot believe how many people I know are on antidepressants INDEFINITELY.  There is only a small minority of people with chemical imbalances significant enough to merit taking some form of regulatory medicine for the rest of their lives (or for more than 3 years).

However, I rarely, if ever see any real support to help people get off of their meds.  Doctors just keep prescribing it. Pharmaceutical companies keep raking in the profits.  I know Pastors that adamantly discourage people from trying to get off meds.

The food most of this country eats is rotting their guts, brains, and families and synthetic pills are sold to keep them happy about it.

I stopped taking antidepressants this year after a two year stint.  I avoided taking them at all costs and only agreed when I stopped sleeping completely and couldn't even swallow food - cause my brain and body was shutting down.

Long story short - NOBODY wanted me to get off of them including my wife.

I told them all to just get used to me being pissed off sometimes and acting.... well... normal for a change.
I'd rather be a asshole with no meds than a complacent imbecile on them permanently.

Disclaimer: Some people really do need medication - I'm not slamming them.  I'm simply disgusted by the profit driven industry pushing the meds on an entire culture.  Talk about putting a massive bandaid on a severe nationwide wound.

[kaykay]

But, are you also saying that women don't need to worry about soy's phytoestrogen?  The articles from Testosterone World (which I would never read for myself) seem to imply that soy is only bad if you are a male, especially a body-building male...

Lucy, here are some links about soy...convinced me.

http://www.mayanmajix.com/Soy_health.html
http://v.mercola.com/blogs/public_blog/An-Urgent-Warning-to-Parents-About-the-Dangers-of-Soy-Milk-for-Babies-17650.aspx
http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/promotion.html
http://www.mothering.com/articles/growing_child/food/soy_story.html

http://www.mayanmajix.com/soy.html
This last link has a whole lot of articles about soy from many sources.

[JurisDoctorOfDoom]

This pretty much confirms what I've suspected which is that the average american is loaded to the gills with high fructose corn syrup and soy, both of which are basically poisons:

JDD, you are so right in pointing out the dangers of high fructose corn syrup.  What I'm wondering is how the heck does it pack on the pounds so successfully?

After reading the articles, I think I understand that Soy's omega-6 fatty acid is very bad for all of us.  I understand that the omega-3 fatty acid (like from fish) needs a whole lot more representation in our diets.

But, are you also saying that women don't need to worry about soy's phytoestrogen?  The articles from Testosterone World (which I would never read for myself) seem to imply that soy is only bad if you are a male, especially a body-building male...

I had a bunch of articles on the news page a while back on what it does to men and women. Thyroid problems, uterine fibroids, etc.   KayKay's got some great articles linked up. I've read the on weston price and on mercola.

[JurisDoctorOfDoom]

Omega 6 fatty acids are linked to depression. Considering that for the last few years a vast majority of people have been more prone to and increasingly diagnosed with depression or other mental illnesses; it isn't hard to see why.

The more you put the peices together it's no wonder most of the country is apathetic, and stupid. I understand why there are not people lined up infront of our nations capital holding pitch forks and rakes.

Dead on with that Green Monster.  I cannot believe how many people I know are on antidepressants INDEFINITELY.  There is only a small minority of people with chemical imbalances significant enough to merit taking some form of regulatory medicine for the rest of their lives (or for more than 3 years).

However, I rarely, if ever see any real support to help people get off of their meds.  Doctors just keep prescribing it. Pharmaceutical companies keep raking in the profits.  I know Pastors that adamantly discourage people from trying to get off meds.

The food most of this country eats is rotting their guts, brains, and families and synthetic pills are sold to keep them happy about it.

I stopped taking antidepressants this year after a two year stint.  I avoided taking them at all costs and only agreed when I stopped sleeping completely and couldn't even swallow food - cause my brain and body was shutting down.

Long story short - NOBODY wanted me to get off of them including my wife.

I told them all to just get used to me being pissed off sometimes and acting.... well... normal for a change.
I'd rather be a asshole with no meds than a complacent imbecile on them permanently.

Disclaimer: Some people really do need medication - I'm not slamming them.  I'm simply disgusted by the profit driven industry pushing the meds on an entire culture.  Talk about putting a massive bandaid on a severe nationwide wound.

I've long wondered what percentage of people on SSRIs would see enough improvement in their mental state that they could ditch the SSRIS if they:

-began exercising 3 days a week
-began taking a basic multi-vitamn
-began taking fish oil daily
-began engaging in some activity like gardening or something involving animals 3 days a week
-began engaging in some sort of community oriented activity whether it's volunteering at the church, at the fire department, whatever. . .

I think living in environments like this is almost guaranteed to raise your risk for depression:

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/PostOilBulletin/mapoflosangeles.html

Most cities and suburbs don't like quite as bad as los angeles but still . . .

[Ethos]

I've long wondered what percentage of people on SSRIs would see enough improvement in their mental state that they could ditch the SSRIS if they:

-began exercising 3 days a week
-began taking a basic multi-vitamn
-began taking fish oil daily
-began engaging in some activity like gardening or something involving animals 3 days a week
-began engaging in some sort of community oriented activity whether it's volunteering at the church, at the fire department, whatever. . .

Agreed.  I upped my exercise to swimming 4-5 miles per week.
I take multi vitamins and a B-stress everyday.
Omega-3 fish oil supplement
Lot's of gardening
Also made certain to ingest lots of turkey (tryptophan) with a good amount of carbs.  It aways helps produce seratonin.
Took tincture of Skullcap, Chamomile, and Cardamon every single day, several times per day.  Also St. John's Wort.

Add that all up and I'm pretty set to go.