LETS GET FIZZICAL

TOO MUCH IN THE TROLLEY

Talking of throwing things out we have been told that we are not very good at buying the right amount of food to feed our families. This new report tells us that we buy too many groceries every week. On average each family in Ireland throw out at least 400 kg of food a year. The reasons for this are many fold. Pandering to advertising is a common explanation. Then there is the fact that a lot of processed food is so cheap that you can afford to just throw it in the bin when you have had enough. Most products now have sell by dates on them, which causes people to chuck things out to be on the safe side. Even cracking open an egg is pretty safe now; they can’t hide in the rack for six months before you try to use the rancid remains in an omelette. These have sell by dated stamped on them too.


LETS GET FIZZY

I have mentioned before about the corrosive effects of fizzy drinks. It can be used to get the tarnish off all sorts of metals and the New York police use it in crime scenes to clean up. Now there has been a report recently published claiming that excessive intake of these sugary tipples is having an undesirable effect on the waist size of the population. Again the masses are being dragged through the coals and having their wrists slapped for not realising that every time they crack open and drink a can of coke they are ingesting thirteen teaspoons full of sugar (heaped ones too I’ll bet). A test was carried out by a load of school kids and the findings were at best predictable. The paper found that the children who chose fizzy drinks were more likely to put on weight. The difference with this test was that some of the kids were actually educated by the teachers that its not good to have excessive amounts of sweet drinks and were informed about alternatives such as natural fruit juice and that funny clear stuff that comes out of the taps. The children that chose the latter faired a lot better on the weighing scales.

The drinks are not much good for your bones either.

It doesn’t end there either. Yet another separate report claims that if you drink too many fizzy drinks you may weaken your bones and increase the risk of bone disease. A Danish research team claim that the drinks deplete the calcium stores in the body. Drinks are made fizzy by adding carbon dioxide. This also increases the acidity. This acid can enter the bloodstream where the body tries to neutralize it with calcium, the alkaline mineral that helps to build bones. In just ten days the test showed that if a person has a high intake of cola drink and a low calcium diet then there is a significant loss of bone and a decrease in bone building. It doesn’t get much better when you look at the drinks with the artificial sweeteners in either. Too much of that and you will find yourself sat on the loo for the best part of the day. Carbonated water in bottles didn’t fare much better either it’s the same price as a can but you don’t get the sugar rush! Stick to getting water out of the tap. Inishowen has one of the best fresh water supplies in Ireland (So a water board executive told me recently). …… And fresh water must be good for you, as after all lions drink it!

Environmental.