Unraveling the Mystery of Fibromyalgia - Natural Solutions and Alternatives

The Bolick Clinic i at Casselberry Public Library will be hosting a FREE Workshop
on Fibromyalgia Thursday April 5th . Please call 407-278-8115 for info.

Fibromyalgia breaks down as FIBRO: from fiber or fibrous – tissues. MY: from myo – meaning muscle. ALGOS: from algia – meaning pain. IA: meaning state of, or condition. Fibromyalgia simply means a condition which is characterized by pain in the muscles and soft tissue fibers of the body. According to a paper published by the American College of Rheumatology, Fibromyalgia affects up to 18 million – or as many as one in 20 Americans. Up to 90% of those diagnosed are women between the ages of 40 and 60 years old.  

Chronic widespread body pain is the primary symptom of Fibromyalgia. Most people with Fibromyalgia also experience moderate to extreme fatigue, sleep disturbances, sensitivity to touch, light, and sound, and cognitive difficulties. Many individuals also experience a number of other symptoms and overlapping conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome, lupus, restless leg syndrome and arthritis. Many Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) patients have been previously diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  

Diagnosis of FM can be difficult. Currently there are no laboratory tests available for diagnosing Fibromyalgia. Doctors must rely on patient histories, self-reported symptoms, a physical examination and an accurate manual tender point examination. This exam is based on the standardized American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. Proper implementation of the exam determines the presence of multiple tender points at characteristic locations.  

It is estimated that it takes an average of five years for an FM patient to get an accurate diagnosis. Many doctors are still not adequately informed or educated about FM. Laboratory tests often prove negative and many FM symptoms overlap with those of other conditions, thus leading to extensive investigative costs and frustration for both the doctor and patient. Another essential point that must be considered is that the presence of other diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, does not rule out an FM diagnosis. Fibromyalgia is not a diagnosis of exclusion and must be diagnosed by its own characteristic features.

 To receive a diagnosis of FM, the patient must meet the following diagnostic criteria: (1)Widespread pain in all four quadrants of the body for a minimum duration of three months. (2)Tenderness or pain in at least 11 of the 18 specified tender points when pressure is applied.

 Hormone imbalance is another important factor contributing to Fibromyalgia. As women approach peri-menopause in their early 30’s to late 40’s, hormone levels of DHEA, estrogen and testosterone decline. Excessive stress can accelerate the decline in adrenal hormones, testosterone and estradiol leading to an increase in inflammation.

The adrenal glands are located on the top of each of the kidneys. Adrenal glands contribute to the production of many hormones, including cortisol, DHEA, steroid hormones, neurotransmitters norepinephrine, epinephrine, and others.

When women are under physical, emotional or environmental stress, cortisol is released from the Adrenal glands in response to stress.When the adrenal glands become chronically stressed over time there is a decline in production of cortisol that leads to an increase in inflammation. The symptoms of menopause can be worsened by adrenal stress as more and more of the female hormones come off of the adrenal gland as a woman approaches menopause.Glucocorticoids produced by the adrenal gland help regulate blood sugar.When blood sugar is too low symptoms of hypoglycemia can occur, affecting Fibromyalgia symptoms.

Since Fibromyalgia symptoms may have a different cause or combination of causes in different people, treatment protocols may be variable for individual FM sufferers. Different FM sufferers may have different results with the same treatment. There are no specific medications for Fibromyalgia and all too often FM patients end up in pain management as a last resort.

There are some nutritional options that have been helpful. Reducing the number of simple sugars (carbohydrates, table sugar, high fructose syrup, etc.) in the diet helps support the adrenal glands and manage blood sugar that may reduce the symptoms of Fibromyalgia. Restoring normal adrenal function with Magnesium Malate has been studied in treating FM. Malic acid is important in the body’s energy production; the muscle fatigue of FM may be reduced when therapeutic doses of Magnesium and Malic acid are used over a reasonable treatment duration. Balancing hormones naturally using Bioidentical hormones can be very good in treating adrenal stress and its resulting complex of symptoms. I have been helping women for over a decade balance hormones naturally and have much experience in this area.

Help reduce FM inflammation with omega-3 fatty acids.It is important to maintain an appropriate balance of omega-3 and omega-6 (another essential fatty acid) in the diet, as these two substances work together to promote health. Omega-3 fatty acids help reduce inflammation, and most omega-6 fatty acids tend to promote inflammation. An inappropriate balance of these essential fatty acids contributes to the development of disease while a proper balance helps maintain and even improve health. A healthy diet should consist of roughly 2 – 4 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids. The typical American diet tends to contain 14 – 25 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids, and many researchers believe this imbalance is a significant factor in the rising rate of inflammatory disorders in the United States.Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids. They are essential to human health but cannot be manufactured by the body. For this reason, omega-3 fatty acids must be obtained from food. Omega-3 fatty acids can be found in fish, such as salmon, tuna, and halibut, other marine life such as algae and krill, certain plants (including purslane), and nut oils. Also known as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA’s), omega-3 fatty acids play a crucial role in brain function as well as normal growth and development.

There is a new non-invasive test for Fibromyalgia that may produce relief of symptoms that could last days, minutes or even weeks. Available for the first time in Florida, it will now be offered at The Bolick Clinic. People who respond well to the test are typically good candidates for this new treatment regimen. Even if you think you know all about Fibromyalgia, you will learn something new, as this has never been available in this area. If you have had failed courses of medical treatment, chiropractic or otherwise you definitely want to come and get tested and see if this is right for you.

Benefits of eating those immune building Leafy Greens,

From: Positively Positive

The fastest way to turn your diet around?

To go from not-so-great to almost perfect?

The answer is organic leafy greens.

Those life-supporting, health-inducing, nutrient-packed edibles that should take up most of the space on your plate at every meal—not just at dinnertime. Eat them or drink them, but just get them into your body every day—that’s my leafy green mantra, and I hope you will make it yours. Need a little more encouragement? Here’s the top-line low-down on my favorite health-promoters, the “leafys”:

WHY LEAFYS?

It’s incredibly simple: they improve health—benefitting virtually every cell in your body! What’s so amazing about the leafys is that calorie for calorie, they deliver more nutrients than just about any other food on the planet. Loaded with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, leafy greens give your body the artillery it needs to fight off potential killers like heart disease and cancer.

MEET THE LEAFYS

My favorite leafy greens, from both a nutritional and taste standpoint, are kale, spinach, Swiss chard, and mustard and dandelion greens. You can toss them into virtually anything, as long as you give them a good washing first! Eaten raw or cooked, my favorite leafys (as well as many others in the leafy green family) add just-right doses of vitamin A, C, K, folate, potassium, and calcium to every meal.

CODDLE YOUR LEAFYS

As most leafy greens come straight out of the soil, the majority, if not all your leafys, should be organic. If price is a concern, combine organic with conventionally grown leafys, to reduce costs as well as the toxic load. Once you’ve gotten your leafys home from the market, don’t let them sit around in the crisper too long or they’ll start to lose some of their nutrients. To minimize nutrient loss, when cooking your leafys, be gentle and don’t overcook—do your steaming and sautéing as quickly as possible.

LEAFYS—MORNING, NOON, AND NIGHT

One way to boost your leafy green intake is to add a lot of them to your breakfast. Recently, during a stay on the West Coast, I was very pleasantly surprised by a room service veggie omelet that was stuffed with lightly steamed greens, and accompanied by a spinach side salad. It was a good reminder, even to a greens fanatic like me, that salad shouldn’t be limited to just lunch and dinner.

SNEAK THEM IN, OR DRINK THEM IN

OK, so you’re not a huge salad eater? Not nuts for greens? Then, try upping your intake by basically tricking yourself into eating leafys. Start by dropping a few fistfuls into soups and tomato sauce or tucking a pile of greens under fish, chicken, or grass-fed meat. You can also cut to the chase and just drink your greens by blending a few fistfuls into your morning fruit smoothie. Find some recipes here.

Short on time? Traveling without a blender? There are lots of options in liquid forms from many companies. 

BLOWOUT SALE at Botanic Choice. Savings of up to 80% on a HUGE selection of vitamins, minerals, essential oils, special formulas & more.

Go green!

While the Food and Drug Administration has seemingly reached the limit for unbelievable behavior, the company’s decisions continue to astound and appall consumers and health activists alike. In the agency’s latest decision, undoubtedly amazing thousands of individuals yet again, the FDA virtually erased 1 million signatures and comments on the ‘Just Label It’ campaign calling for the labeling of genetically modified foods.

FDA Deletes 1 Million Signatures for GMO Labeling Campaign

The ‘Just Label It” campaign has gotten more signatures than any campaign in history for the labeling of genetically modified foods. Since October of 2011, the campaign has received over 900,000 signatures, with 55 politicians joining in on the movement. So what’s the problem here?

Evidently, the FDA counts the amount of signatures not by how many people signed, but how many different individual letters are brought to it. To the FDA, even tens of thousands of signatures presented on a single petition are counted as – you guessed it – a single comment. This is how, despite over a million supporters being gathered by the petition, the FDA concluded a count of only 394.

“This is an election year and there are more than a million people who say this is important to them. This is petition has nothing to do with whether or genetically modified foods are dangerous. We don’t label dangerous foods, we take them off the shelves. This petition is about a the citizens’ right to know what they are eating and whether or not these foods represent a novel change.” said Andrew Kimbrell an attorney for the Center for Food Safety, one of the partner groups on the Just Label It campaign.

The argument as to whether genetically modified foods are dangerous is a whole discussion on its own, but for the FDA to completely sidestep away from the labeling of GM foods is completely and utterly irresponsible. Consumers have every right to know what they are consuming. Needless to say, biotechology giant Monsanto is against GMO labeling, claiming that it would mislead consumers since GMOs are ‘perfectly safe’. Of course there is plenty of evidence proving that GMOs are not completely safe, and how they affect life in the long-term is questionable to say the least. Either way, there is enough controversy surrounding the issue which is cause for alarm for millions of people, and Monsanto’s opinion on GMOs safety is a sorry excuse for not labeling foods as GM. Is the FDA avoiding such an issue because so many ties exist between genetically modified makers like Monsanto and the agency?

The bottom line is that you have the right to know what is in your food, and what your food IS. Denying that right, whether it be by the essential deletion of millions of signatures on a petition, or by ignoring the voices of thousands of people on the street, is taking power away from the people.

More aspartame side effects revealed - headaches, blurred vision, neurological symptoms and more

From: NaturalNews: For a great majority of Americans who consume processed food, food additives are an ever-present component of the menu and one with serious health effects. In the United States as well as in Canada, aspartame - an artificial low-calorie sweetener - has been used as a food additive as early as 1981 after it was approved for use in dry goods. It was approved again in the US in 1983 for carbonated drinks. This approval came in the face of much opposition which has not seen any respite over the ensuing years despite the claims of theFood and Drug Administration(FDA) and theJoint Expert Committee on Food Additives(JECFA) of theWorld Health Organizationthat aspartame is safe for use.
Why aspartame is dangerous
75 percent of reported adverse reaction to food additives is attributed to aspartame. Of these reactions, many are serious and include seizures and death. A number of the 90 documented symptoms as reportedly caused by aspartame are headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, rashes, depression, irritability, insomnia, hearing loss, vision problems, loss of taste vertigo and memory los.

Those who study the adverse effects of aspartame report that the following medical conditions are triggered or worsened by aspartame: brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, mental retardation, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, lymphoma, birth defects, diabetes and fibromyalgia.

And that's not all -- according to Victoria Iness-Brown in her book "My Aspartame Experiment," aspartame is also addictive.

What is aspartame composed of?

To understand the effects of aspartame one must look at its genetic composition. This substance - which is 200 times sweeter than sugar - is made of 50 percent phenylalanine, 40 percent aspartic acid and ten percent methanol.
Aspartic acid
Russell Blaylock, a neurosurgery professor at theMedical University of Mississippi, describes aspartic acid as an isolated amino acid that is just as toxic as glutamate, another popular additive. Aspartic acid is an excitotoxin, a chemical that excites the brain to the point of death. It alters the manner of brain formation in newborn infants, permanently resulting in hyperactivity and behavioral changes in children.

In its free form, unbound from proteins, it significantly raises the plasma level shortly after ingestion. The excess aspartate in the blood shortly after ingestion leads to high levels in certain areas of the brain. It slowly begins to destroy neurons and a large part of neural cells in a particular area of a brain are destroyed before any clinical symptom of an illness is noticed. Reported physical effects after long exposure to excitatory amino acid include Parkinson's disease, brain lesions, neuroendocrine disorders and hypoglycemia to mention a few.

Pregnant women and lactating mothers increase their risk by consuming aspartame-laden products because the child's brain barrier, which protects the brain from excess aspartate and other toxins, is not developed enough to protect it from this chemical. Moreover, while in the womb and during the first year of life, these compounds can have free access to the nervous system due to the fragility of the infant's blood brain barrier during this stage of development.Phenylalanine
Phenylalanine is an amino acid. Individuals with phenylketonuria, a genetic disorder, cannot utilize phenylalanine, causing possible buildup in the body. Even for persons who are not suffering from phenylketonuria, it has been shown that ingesting aspartame together with carbohydrates can cause increased levels in the body. Excess phenylalanine in the body causes the serotonin levels to dip leading to emotional disorders like depression. Human testing has shown that phenylalanine levels significantly increased in subjects who chronically used aspartame.Methanol
Methanol is a neurotoxin and an extremely harmful substance. The enzyme chymotrypsin facilitates its release in the small intestine. Its absorption is sped up when aspartame is heated above 30 centigrad - or above 86 Fahrenheit - creating free methanol. This normally occurs when products containing aspartame are improperly stored or when subjected to heat.

Normally, methanol breaks down into formaldehyde and formic acid. Formaldehyde interferes with DNA reproduction, retinal damage and birth defects. Its toxicity affects the nervous system, taking approximately ten to thirty hours before symptoms manifest - the most common of which is vision impairment. The symptoms for methanol poisoning have been reported to include dizziness, nausea, gastrointestinal disturbances, memory lapses and numbness to name a few.

A consumption limit of 7.8mg/day is recommended, but a one liter of an aspartame sweetened drink contains about 56 mg of methanol. Heavy users of products containing aspartame consume as much as 250mg of methanol a day or 32 times the recommended limit.

Since humans do not possess certain key enzymes that animal subjects possess, human are more sensitive to the toxic effects of methanol. It is without doubt that animal testing on aspartame or methanol does not accurately reflect the potential danger for humans.Do not wait, act now!
In sum, recent research on aspartame has just revealed what appears to the tip of an enormous iceberg. Defenders of aspartame consistently insist that aspartame is safe to use after having been affirmed by the US FDA 26 times for the last 23 years. However, doubts as to its safety will always linger when well-respected researchers such as Dr. Blaylock and the Ramazzini Foundation speak out about its possible adverse effects and put their reputations on the line for what they believe in. This is even without taking into consideration the questionable circumstance that led to the approval of aspartame in the first place.

Next time you open a diet soda think about the possible consequences. Sometimes, it takes years before a problem manifests itself; by then, it maybe too late for you to do anything about it.

DIET & HORMONE IMBALANCE

FREE Workshop Tonight
Balancing Hormones Naturally
Maitland Public Library 6:30 PM

RSVP here Limited Seating

A hormone imbalance can occur in both men and women, and it is caused by an increase or decrease in the body's production of hormones. Hormones are released through various endocrine glands located in the body, and these hormones regulate growth, metabolism, sexual function and mood, according to the National Institutes of Health. While there are many contributing factors to a hormone imbalance, a healthy diet can help to keep your hormones at normal levels.

The Facts

Hormonal imbalances can lead to serious health conditions, including diabetes, osteoporosis, thyroid disorders and heart disease. Your body goes through a normal cycle of hormone secretion throughout the day, according to The Hormone Foundation. For instance, your levels of growth hormone, or GH, peak during your first two hours of deep sleep, which is why it's important to get enough sleep when trying to build muscle in the weight room. Your diet helps to supply your muscles with the nutrients it needs to function properly.

Significance

Nutrition plays a significant role in controlling hormone production, according to Amy Shapiro RD, CDN of Nutrisense Inc. Eating a diet low in saturated fats, sodium and full of nutritionally-dense foods can help to lower the risk of many diseases associated with hormonal imbalance, including heart disease and thyroid disease. Shapiro suggests increasing your intake of antioxidants to fight off free radicals, which are environmental factors that influence hormone production. This means focusing on foods rich in beta-carotene, lycopene and lutein.

Function

The function of a healthy diet in hormonal regulation is to ensure your body is getting the vitamins and nutrients it needs as well as to keep your body weight within normal levels. Obesity can lead to symptoms of hormonal imbalance, such as fatigue and reduced sexual function, and a healthy diet can reduce your risk of obesity significantly. Shapiro recommends choosing fruits and vegetables, foods low in saturated fats, soy foods and eating every three to four hours.

Diet

The U.S. Department of Agriculture offers free dieting advice that can help you maintain a healthy body weight and thus reduce your risk of developing symptoms of hormonal imbalance. This includes eating well-balanced, nutritionally-dense meals consisting of whole grains, vegetables, fruits, lean protein sources and low-fat dairy. You can get a free personalized diet plan based on the USDA's recommendations by visiting MyPyramid.gov.

Warning

While diet does play an indirect role in affecting hormonal production, there are other factors that contribute to increases or decreases of hormone levels, such as aging, menopause, stress and genetics. So, even if you eat healthily, you may still experience symptoms of hormonal imbalance. For this reason, you should consult your doctor or endocrinologist to determine the steps you need to take to become healthy. This may include lifestyle changes, such as eating healthier, and/or prescription medications designed to control your hormone production.

Read more:@ LiveStrong

The Four Most Common Hormone Disorders in Women

Hormones play a major role in how well your body functions and how you feel from day to day. If your hormones are in balance, you likely sleep well and have lots of energy, a strong sex drive, and well-functioning immune and digestive systems.

"The healthy body is equipped to produce all the hormones a woman needs throughout her life," said Dr. Christiane Northrup, author of The Wisdom of Menopause. But those hormones can easily become pushed off kilter -- even with too much stress or an unhealthy diet -- leaving room for a wide array of hormonal disorders to surface.

As many as one in 10 women may suffer from the most common hormonal disorder among women, PCOS.

Hormones are proteins or steroids that are secreted directly into your bloodstream. They are responsible for the body's metabolism of minerals, regulation of fluids, reproduction, sexual function, and responses to stress.

The endocrine system, which includes glands such as the pituitary, hypothalamus, thyroid, parathyroid, pancreas, adrenal cortex and medulla, and ovaries, produce hormones in women.

Common Hormone Disorders: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)

The most common hormonal disorder among women is polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), which affects an estimated 7 percent of women. However, many cases may go undiagnosed, so as many as one in 10 women may be affected.

"This is a syndrome, which means it is a collection of features," said Dr. Ricardo Azziz, chair of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's department of obstetrics and gynecology.

Two-thirds of women with PCOS are overweight and most are insulin resistant. Symptoms include:

• Irregular or absent periods
• Unusual body hair growth
• Unusually severe acne
• Darkened skin patches
• Rapid weight gain

Although the cause of PCOS remains unknown, researchers are looking into its connection to obesity, genetics and insulin production.

Lifestyle changes, including eating a healthy diet and exercising, are often "prescribed" for patients with PCOS. This is because weight loss has been found to cause an improvement, or even a remission, of symptoms. Sometimes medications, including birth control pills and fertility drugs, are prescribed to help with symptoms.

Thyroid Dysfunction

Over 20 percent of menopausal women in the United States are diagnosed with thyroid dysfunction, according to Marcy Holmes, NP, Certified Menopause Clinician, and Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN N.P. However, studies suggest that millions more may be suffering from subclinical problems, but remain undiagnosed.

Most women are affected by hypothyroidism, a sluggish or "underactive" thyroid. Symptoms of hypothyroidism include:

• Fatigue 
• Weight gain
• Depression
• High cholesterol

Other women may be affected by the opposite, hyperthyroidism, which is an overactive thyroid. A person with hyperthyroidism may:

• Have trouble sleeping
• Feel anxious
• Be irritable
• Feel overheated
• Experience weight loss (with an increased appetite)

Hormonal imbalances, which could be caused by stress and nutritional deficiencies, trigger thyroid disease. Hypothydroidism may also occur at other times your body may be more prone to hormonal imbalance, such as during perimenopause, menopause and pregnancy.

Adrenal Fatigue

Your adrenal glands (located on top of each kidney) act as control centers for many hormones. One of their most important tasks is to get your body ready for the "fight or flight" stress response, which means increasing adrenaline and other hormones.

This response increases your heart rate and blood pressure, slows your digestion and basically gets your body ready to face a potential threat or challenge.

While this response is good when it's needed, many of us are constantly faced with stressors (work, environmental toxins, not enough sleep, worry, etc.) and are in this "fight or flight" mode for far too long -- much longer than was ever intended from an evolutionary standpoint.

The result? The adrenals become overworked and fatigued. Symptoms of adrenal dysfunction are varied, but include:

Fatigue is a common symptom of a hormonal imbalance.

• Fatigue and weakness
• A suppressed immune system
• Muscle and bone loss
• Depression
• Hormonal imbalance
• Skin problems
• Autoimmune disorders

You can support healthy adrenal function by:

• Resting more
• Reducing stress in your life (read more about the dirty dozen stressors)
• Eating a nutrient-dense diet

There are many other hormonal disorders among women as well, including menstrual and fertility problems. A lot is still being discovered, such as why some women appear to be more vulnerable to hormone problems than others. If you suspect you may have a hormone disorder, you should seek help from a health care practitioner. Holistic practitioners, in particular, may be able to help you get relief from your symptoms using herbal supplements and lifestyle modifications, rather than prescription drugs.

It is no secret that the average American diet is in completely in the slumps. Consuming packaged foods, fast food, artificially enhanced products, and especially low quality cheap food is the norm, but is it any wonder that being overweight while also falling victim to a host of illnesses is also the norm. Being raised in this era of poor health makes it difficult to know what is truly healthy and unhealthy. Food has drastically changed since decades ago, and so parents often aren’t aware of the severe decline in food quality. Fast food in particular is one of the primary reasons for the drastic health decline seen today.

Why You Should Avoid Fast Food at All Costs

If you haven’t already, take a couple of hours to watch the films Super Size Me or Fast Food Nation. After watching these films, you can see first hand how fast food causes severe damage to your body – even if you don’t consume it for every meal of every day like in one of the films. Fast food is nothing but a concoction of harmful and health-damaging chemicals which can easily be understood if you were to think for a moment how any restaurant could offer a double cheeseburger for only $1.

Most recently it was uncovered that these $1 cheeseburgers, along with the rest of McDonald’s’ beef and chicken, were actually harnessing ‘pink slime’ scrap meat covered with ammonium hydroxide. Not only does this fake meat provide no nutritional value at all, but it is chemically contaminated from ammonia, the toxic cleaning agent found under the sink. The meat is actually fat trimmings and connective tissue that are separated from the bone – scrap meat that is not fit for human consumption. The ammonia treatment is in response to the danger of contamination from salmonella or E. coli, but the scrap meats themselves are more likely to contain pathogens. Despite the chemical treatment, the meat is still in the line of fire for contamination.

Additionally, McDonald’s McNuggets contain 7 different ingredients making up the ‘meat’, many of which contain sub-ingredients. Instead of using real meat, the ingredient list utilizes sodium phosphate, safflower oil, wheat starch, dextrose, and autolyzed yeast extract – a particularly dangerous substance very similar to the toxic MSG. Along side with these ingredients comes the use of dimethylpolysiloxane, a silicon substance used as an anti-foaming agent and often found in breast implants and silly putty.

Of course the use of these ingredients is not limited only to McDonald’s. In fact, all of the fast food restaurants are guilty of using them. The worst part? They are aware of the destructive nature behind these ingredients, but truly couldn’t care any less. The truth behind such a statement can be exemplified by Taco Bell’s attempt to create a drive-thru diet where individuals would supposed to lose weight by eating fast food. It was only a few years ago when Taco Bell announced the “Drive-Thru Diet”, where they showcased their foods low in fat. But what they don’t tell you is that even if their food has 9 grams of fat, it is still made up of numerous ingredients contributing to the global health decline.

While the reasons for the influx of fast food consumption are many, one primary one is the usage of psychological advertising. Being one of the most powerful tools to reach both the conscious and subconscious, advertising plays a huge role in how society is ran today, and that includes which foods we eat. What’s more, children are much more influenced by what they see and hear, and research proves it. A study conduced late in 2011 showed that 71 percent of children will choose junk food like french fries over apple slices when given coupons for each of them. The number dropped only to 55 percent when parents encouraged children to choose the apple slices. But the desired reach does not stop at direct advertising and influence.

A new children’s educational book (see previous blog) has recently been launched by the Council for Biotechnology Information, educating young children on the ‘numerous benefits’ of genetically modified food. Of course genetically modified food has time and time again been shown to cause human and environmental harm, but still the attempt to brainwash young children is carelessly made. The advertising for such food is also heavily tied in with fast food, as virtually all fast food is constructed with genetically modified food and ingredients.