So, how was your Halloween? Did you have a fang-tastic time? Kids, did you go trick-or-treating? Speaking of Halloween treats, did you know that there are spooky ingredients lurking in those chocolates?
Scary, isn’t it? What’s scarier is even the so-called “natural” chocolates contain some of these unhealthy ingredients. Now, that sucks!
Chocoholics, take note — before you sink your fangs into those sinful delights, watch out for these unhealthy ingredients:
• Trans fat. An artery-clogging type of fat, it forms when vegetable oils are hardened into margarine or shortening.
• High-fructose corn syrup. A metabolic poison, it contains no enzymes, vitamins or minerals, and leeches micronutrients from your body. More, it raises blood sugar beyond acceptable levels, leading to insulin resistance and weight gain.
• Artificial sweeteners.
• Soy proteins. Unfermented soy can cause digestive distress and a weakened immune system.
• Monosodium glutamate (MSG). An excitotoxin, it over-excites cells to the point of total destruction. It can cause brain damage and other disabilities.
• Preservatives and stabilizers. Certainly, you should avoid anything artificial.
• Milk or milk products. These could have an effect on how well you absorb the healthy antioxidants that the chocolate contains.
But since for a lot of us, life ain’t sweet without chocolate, health activist Joseph Mercola gives this sweet prescription:
• Restrict your intake to dark, organic chocolate. Consume chocolate as close to its original raw state (unprocessed cacao) as possible.
• Look for chocolate made from the least destructive processing techniques. Over-processing reduces the healthy nutrients and can introduce lead contamination.
• Choose chocolate with low-sugar content. Sugar can seriously impact the immune system.
• Consume chocolate in moderation.
Wanna know some deep dark secrets? Scientists report that dark chocolate, baking chocolate, and cocoa powder all contain significant levels of resveratrol, a potent antioxidant like no other that helps neutralize free radicals as well as helps protect the brain and nervous system. Studies reveal that resveratrol may increase the lifespan in human cells. Of course, you can also find resveratrol in raw vegetables and fruits such as grapes, apples, blueberries, spinach, and broccoli. A sweet reminder: Dark chocolate should not be used as a substitute for your greens.
So, be not afraid. Now, you know what ghost into that devilish concoction.
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Nothing fantastic about plastic
Manny Calonzo of EcoWaste Coalition writes a rejoinder to a letter e-mailed to us by a reader Reynaldo Anabo.
Dear Mr. Anabo,
Thank you for your interest in finding solutions to the growing plastic problem facing our communities. We share your observation that the volume of our plastic waste is increasing daily. It’s a sorry indication of the “plasticization” of our society that has been going on for the past few decades.
As a concerned citizen, you rightly asked about the “recycling” of plastic materials as one way of addressing the plastic problem.
Specifically, you were asking if plastic bags and other plastic packaging materials can be melted, shaped, and turned into new products.
Some types of plastic discards are already being reprocessed into materials or products of lower grade plastic. To be more precise, this form of “recycling” is referred to as “downcycling.” When plastics are recycled, secondary products are produced, which, from our understanding, are of lesser quality and not easily recycled again. There are companies here and abroad that reprocess plastic discards into something else such as plastic containers, garbage bags, lumber, and the like.
As an interim measure, we must endeavor to collect and recycle plastic discards and prevent them from being disposed in dumpsites, incinerators or into water bodies, and exacerbate environmental pollution.
As plastics are made from non-renewable resources like petrochemicals, producers, government regulators, and consumers really need to think of long-term measures to rein in plastic use and pollution at source.
The far superior option that any person can take is to cut the use of plastics, especially when eco-friendly alternatives exist.
We can start from minimizing the use of single-use plastic carry bags and switching to bayong and other reusable bags, or by buying in bulk instead of sachets and other non-recyclable containers, especially when if one’s budget will allow it.
To conclude, downcycling plastic discards is better that burning them or throwing them into the dumps or the oceans. However, let us not forget that downcycling does not adequately check consumer addiction to plastics.
Since plastics require tons of non-renewable resources to produce, hundreds of years to photodegrade, and millions of pesos to manage when indiscriminately disposed, we, the consumers, really need to embrace better choices that will not degrade the environment and cause toxic harm to humans and other creatures.
— MANNY CALONZO
President, EcoWaste Coalition
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We’d love to hear from you. E-mail us at ching_alano@yahoo.com.