School Diet Change Brings Improved Behavior, Healthier, More

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School Diet Change Brings Improved Behavior, Healthier, More

Focused Students

 

 

http://www.wanttoknow.info/050520schooldietchange

 

 

School Diet Change Brings Improved Behavior, Healthier, More Focused

Students

 

" Before the Appleton Wisconsin high school replaced their cafeteria's

processed foods with wholesome, nutritious food, the school was

described as

out-of-control. There were weapons violations, student disruptions, and

a

cop on duty full-time. After the change in school meals, the students

were

calm, focused, and orderly. There were no more weapons violations, and

no

suicides, expulsions, dropouts, or drug violations. The new diet and

improved behavior has lasted for seven years, and now other schools are

changing their meal programs with similar results. "

-- Jeffrey M. Smith, Author of Seeds of Deception

May 20, 2005

Dear friends,

 

The informative article below clearly demonstrates the importance of a

healthy school diet for our children. Diet is being shown to clearly

influence both behavior and mood. A healthy diet fosters calmer,

healthier,

more focused behavior. Studies like the one below demonstrate that

excessive

amounts of fast food can lead to severe behavior changes, and suggest

that

avoiding genetically modified foods may be a very healthy option. Links

at

the bottom of the article provide lots more information on this topic

for

those interested.

Two excellent, humorous videos also reveal important health-related

information. First, " Store Wars " is hilarious! This incredibly well

done,

five-minute spoof on the movie Star Wars is available at www.storewars

org/tater_tot.html. Have fun watching Cuke Skywalker battle Darth Tater

and

lots more. A second fun one is a spoof on the Matrix called " The

Meatrix, "

available at www.themeatrix.com. A little humor goes a long way in

delivering a great message. Spread the humor and spread the news by

forwarding this great information to your friends and family. Have a

great

day, and may the force be with you!

With best wishes,

Fred Burks

 

 

http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/appleton090304.cfm - Organic

Consumers Association

Why Schools Should Remove GE-Tainted Foods from Their Cafeterias

Institute for Responsible Technology

Newsletter on GM Foods, Spilling the Beans

By Jeffrey M. Smith, author of Seeds of Deception

Before the Appleton Wisconsin high school replaced their cafeteria's

processed foods with wholesome, nutritious food, the school was

described as

out-of-control. There were weapons violations, student disruptions, and

a

cop on duty full-time. After the change in school meals, the students

were

calm, focused, and orderly. There were no more weapons violations, and

no

suicides, expulsions, dropouts, or drug violations. The new diet and

improved behavior has lasted for seven years, and now other schools are

changing their meal programs with similar results.

Years ago, a science class at Appleton found support for their new diet

by

conducting a cruel and unusual experiment with three mice. They fed

them the

junk food that kids in other high schools eat everyday. The mice

freaked out

Their behavior was totally different than the three mice in the

neighboring

cage. The neighboring mice had good karma; they were fed nutritious

whole

foods and behaved like mice. They slept during the day inside their

cardboard tube, played with each other, and acted very mouse-like.

The junk food mice, on the other hand, destroyed their cardboard tube,

were

no longer nocturnal, stopped playing with each other, fought often, and

two

mice eventually killed the third and ate it. After the three month

experiment, the students rehabilitated the two surviving junk food mice

with

a diet of whole foods. After about three weeks, the mice came around.

Sister Luigi Frigo repeats this experiment every year in her second

grade

class in Cudahy, Wisconsin, but mercifully, for only four days. Even on

the

first day of junk food, the mice's behavior " changes drastically. " They

become lazy, antisocial, and nervous. And it still takes the mice about

two

to three weeks on unprocessed foods to return to normal. One year, the

second graders tried to do the experiment again a few months later with

the

same mice, but this time the animals refused to eat the junk food.

Across the ocean in Holland, a student fed one group of mice

genetically

modified (GM) corn and soy, and another group the non-GM variety. The

GM

mice stopped playing with each other and withdrew into their own parts

of

the cage. When the student tried to pick them up, unlike their

well-behaved

neighbors, the GM mice scampered around in apparent fear and tried to

climb

the walls. One mouse in the GM group was found dead at the end of the

experiment.

It's interesting to note that the junk food fed to the mice in the

Wisconsin

experiments also contained genetically modified ingredients. And

although

the Appleton school lunch program did not specifically attempt to

remove GM

foods, it happened anyway. That's because GM foods such as soy and corn

and

their derivatives are largely found in processed foods. So when the

school

switched to unprocessed alternatives, almost all ingredients derived

from GM

crops were taken out automatically.

Does this mean that GM foods negatively affect the behavior of humans

or

animals? It would certainly be irresponsible to say so on the basis of

a

single student mice experiment and the results at Appleton. On the

other

hand, it is equally irresponsible to say that it doesn't.

We are just beginning to understand the influence of food on behavior.

A

study in Science in December 2002 concluded that " food molecules act

like

hormones, regulating body functioning and triggering cell division. The

molecules can cause mental imbalances ranging from attention-deficit

and

hyperactivity disorder to serious mental illness. " The problem is we do

not

know which food molecules have what effect.

The bigger problem is that the composition of GM foods can change

radically

without our knowledge. Genetically modified foods have genes inserted

into

their DNA. But genes are not Legos; they don't just snap into place.

Gene

insertion creates unpredicted, irreversible changes. In one study, for

example, a gene chip monitored the DNA before and after a single

foreign

gene was inserted. As much as 5 percent of the DNA's genes changed the

amount of protein they were producing. Not only is that huge in itself,

but

these changes can multiply through complex interactions down the line.

In spite of the potential for dramatic changes in the composition of GM

foods, they are typically measured for only a small number of known

nutrient

levels. But even if we could identify all the changed compounds, at

this

point we wouldn¹t know which might be responsible for the antisocial

nature

of mice or humans. Likewise, we are only beginning to identify the

medicinal

compounds in food. We now know, for example, that the pigment in

blueberries

may revive the brain¹s neural communication system, and the antioxidant

found in grape skins may fight cancer and reduce heart disease. But

what

about other valuable compounds we don¹t know about that might change or

disappear in GM varieties?

Consider GM soy. In July 1999, years after it was on the market,

independent

researchers published a study showing that it contains 12-14 percent

less

cancer-fighting phytoestrogens. What else has changed that we don¹t

know

about? [Monsanto responded with its own study, which concluded that

soy¹s

phytoestrogen levels vary too much to even carry out a statistical

analysis.

They failed to disclose, however, that the laboratory that conducted

Monsanto¹s experiment had been instructed to use an obsolete method to

detect phytoestrogens results.]

In 1996, Monsanto published a paper in the Journal of Nutrition that

concluded in the title, " The composition of glyphosate-tolerant soybean

seeds is equivalent to that of conventional soybeans. " The study only

compared a small number of nutrients and a close look at their charts

revealed significant differences in the fat, ash, and carbohydrate

content.

In addition, GM soy meal contained 27 percent more trypsin inhibitor, a

well-known soy allergen. The study also used questionable methods.

Nutrient

comparisons are routinely conducted on plants grown in identical

conditions

so that variables such as weather and soil can be ruled out. Otherwise,

differences in plant composition could be easily missed. In Monsanto's

study

soybeans were planted in widely varying climates and geography.

Although one of their trials was a side-by-side comparison between GM

and

non-GM soy, for some reason the results were left out of the paper

altogether. Years later, a medical writer found the missing data in the

archives of the Journal of Nutrition and made them public. No wonder

the

scientists left them out. The GM soy showed significantly lower levels

of

protein, a fatty acid, and phenylalanine, an essential amino acid.

Also,

toasted GM soy meal contained nearly twice the amount of a lectin that

may

block the body¹s ability to assimilate other nutrients. Furthermore,

the

toasted GM soy contained as much as seven times the amount of trypsin

inhibitor, indicating that the allergen may survive cooking more in the

GM

variety. (This might explain the 50 percent jump in soy allergies in

the UK,

just after GM soy was introduced.)

We don't know all the changes that occur with genetic engineering, but

certainly GM crops are not the same. Ask the animals. Eyewitness

reports

from all over North America describe how several types of animals, when

given a choice, avoided eating GM food. These included cows, pigs, elk,

deer

raccoons, squirrels, rats, and mice. In fact, the Dutch student

mentioned

above first determined that his mice had a two-to-one preference for

non-GM

before forcing half of them to eat only the engineered variety.

Differences in GM food will likely have a much larger impact on

children.

They are three to four times more susceptible to allergies. Also, they

convert more of the food into body-building material. Altered nutrients

or

added toxins can result in developmental problems. For this reason,

animal

nutrition studies are typically conducted on young, developing animals.

After the feeding trial, organs are weighed and often studied under

magnification. If scientists used mature animals instead of young ones,

even

severe nutritional problems might not be detected. The Monsanto study

used

mature animals instead of young ones.

They also diluted their GM soy with non-GM protein 10- or 12­fold

before

feeding the animals. And they never weighed the organs or examined them

under a microscope. The study, which is the only major animal feeding

study

on GM soy ever published, is dismissed by critics as rigged to avoid

finding

problems.

Unfortunately, there is a much bigger experiment going on one which we

are

all a part of. We're being fed GM foods daily, without knowing the

impact of

these foods on our health, our behavior, or our children. Thousands of

schools around the world, particularly in Europe, have decided not to

let

their kids be used as guinea pigs. They have banned GM foods.

The impact of changes in the composition of GM foods is only one of

several

reasons why these foods may be dangerous. Other reasons may be far

worse

(see http://www.seedsofdeception.com).

With the epidemic of obesity and diabetes and with the results in

Appleton,

parents and schools are waking up to the critical role that diet plays.

When

making changes in what kids eat, removing GM foods should be a

priority.

 

The above article may be used as a stand-alone opinion piece, or as

part of a monthly series about genetically modified foods by Jeffrey

Smith. Publishers and webmasters may offer the series to your readers at no

charge, by emailing a request to column.

Individuals may read the column each month, by subscribing to a free newsletter

at http://www.seedsofdeception.com. The website also describes how to

avoid eating GM foods. For a powerful, engaging, ten-page summary of

Jeffrey's book on GM foods, Seeds of Deception, For lots more,

see our Health Information Center.