Projo Fitness Blog

On Friday, I had the please of guest blogging for "A Life Less Sweet," a blog by Cathy Blount, a Wyoming-based stay-at-home-mom with a Ph.D. in chemical engineering "trying to revamp" how her family eats.

I've been keeping up with Cathy on Twitter, and started reading her blog because of comments my brother made when he came to visit us in July.

Marty is a mental-health therapist in Seattle, who also plays the drums in a blues band. He loves to travel, and both he and my sister, because of food allergies, are very conscious of what they eat.

Marty is allergic to nuts, and just a couple of months ago, passed out cold and hurt his head and ears after eating at a local Thai restaurant -- probably an allergic reaction to cashews.

Dana, my sister who's a teacher and lives in Pittburgh, has celiac disease, which is an intestinal problem caused by too much wheat -- or gluten -- in our diets.

But it was my younger brother who alerted us to the high content of high-fructose corn syrup, or HFCS (as Cathy calls it), is in so many of the processed foods in our pantry. It's why many Americans are now overweight. Cathy's even found it in breadcrumbs!!

That's why reading Cathy's blog really resonated with me, and now, thanks to her (and my little brother), I'm paying more attention than ever to what we eat as a family. Cathy's now got me reading more labels -- and trying to avoid the additive where I can, especially in juices and crackers.

So here's a little thank you to my brother and Dr. Blount, for their efforts to shape up the Cotter clan's diet. I can't say we're perfect yet, but our life may just be a little "less sweet."

Pictured above in this MCT photo, even the homeopathic cold remedy Cold-EEZE lists corn syrup as a key ingredient.

 Tags  A Life Less Sweet celiac disease cold-eeze high fructose corn syrup nut allergies

Comments

Martin Reinsel said:

Another great (& recent) resource to learn more about the scary aspects of the glut of "Modified Corn" products, their dangers, and the often-unknown effects they have on an individual can be seen in the 2007 documentary 'KING CORN.' This is NOT a boring documentary - - the story is interesting and the storytellers come off as your neighbors, not overly intellectual or heavy handed. Plus, the scene where they try to MAKE their own High Fructose Corn Syrup (after being rebuffed by the industrial company - again, "industrial," not a farming company) is resonant. Their hazmat outfits left a mark on me ... no more HFCS for this man.

Link | September 29, 2008 2:18 PM
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