DEADLY TEMPTATIONS by BIBLIOTECA JUAN MANUEL OCHOA TORRES

DEADLY TEMPTATIONS JUNK FOOD HANDBOOK How to avoid obesity, diabetes, Hypertension, cholesterol, Diabetic blindness and Other serious problems

Gustavo Cruz Santiago Juan Manuel Ochoa Torres Translator: Richard Sampson and Margarita Turnbull

G. CRUZ S.

JUAN M. OCHOA T.

DEADLY TEMPTATIONS

INDEX

PROLOGUE ............................................................

LESSON I ................................................................ DEFINE THE PATH

Your Sweet Future ......................................................... History ...........................................................................

9 11

LESSON II ............................................................... SWEET TEMPTATIONS

Speed of absortion ....................................................... Blood Chemistry ............................................................ Oxidative Stress ............................................................. Genetic history ..............................................................

19 32 35 39

LESSON III ............................................................. BITTER CONSEQUENCES

Diabetes ........................................................................ Arterial Hypertension .................................................... Blindness ....................................................................... Renal Damage ................................................................ Obesity .......................................................................... Cardiac Problems ........................................................... Digestive Problems ........................................................ Strategy .........................................................................

42 46 48 50 52 53 55 58

LESSON IV .............................................................. MARKETING

Proper focus ...................................................................... Sharpen your aim .............................................................. Marketing costs .................................................................

63 68 71

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LESSON V ............................................................... COSTS REDUCTION

Refined flour .................................................................. Fructose .........................................................................

75 77

LESSON VI .............................................................. APPEARANCES

Social Perception ........................................................... Realities ......................................................................... Appearances .................................................................

89 90 95

FINAL WARNING ......................................................

101

APPENDIX “A” ........................................................... WHAT VARIOUS CARBOHYDRATES CONTAIN

109

APPENDIX “B” .......................................................... FREE YOURSELF OF SWEET TEMPTATIONS

115

APPENDIX “C” .......................................................... OCULAR ALTERATIONS CAUSED BY DIABETES

123

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PROLOGUE

If you think you can turn yourself into a businessman capable of obtaining in the quickest possible way, a slice of the scrumptious cake of highly processed food business, believe us, through this manual, you can achieve this goal, following the suggestions we set down in these lines – and despite of the great social damage you can cause, these suggestions are considered perfectly legal. Regardless, we feel obligated to warn you that before becoming a successful producer of junk food, it’s necessary that you not only stick closely to our recommendations, but also to be prepared to completely ignore fundamental ethical principles; because even though your new activity is considered legal, there are dire consequences for many people, because, if your costumers use your products on a daily basis, they will be putting their health at risk. But don’t be alarmed, no one will file a lawsuit for your efforts. The only thing you need to do, is to prepare yourself psychologically, in case someone in the future seeks to make you responsible for their health problems, just pretend you had absolutely no idea of the negative consequences of your new activities. Seriously consider this warning: If you aspire to become a producer of junk food and the principles of community well-being are worth something to you, we beg you to immediately close this book and don’t go to the next page, because these suggestions are not for you. So, if basic human values are of no concern for you and you are just seeking personal financial success, then you 5

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will become, quicker than you can imagine, the prosperous businessman or woman you always wanted to be, Discover how to do this in the following pages. Once you decide to enter the world of filthy lucre, due to a series of reasons you will see in this text, you should forget personal morality all together and make a drastic separation from the collective well-being of society and your own needs â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all you have to do is keep on reading this book. 1 But there is something else: If you are one of those who care about the common good and your own health, we will make you understand the exact opposite of the tactics used by purveyors of junk food and hopefully help you get away from the bitter consequences of sweet temptations. It will surprise you in the following six lessons to read about the main motives and procedures employed by the food magnates and hopefully we can prevent you from becoming another victim of their greed.

With the aim of making this manual fully accessible to private citizens as well as specialists in the field, we deliberately made the following separation: In the main text we use a more simple language for the public and in the footnotes, we use medical and scientific terminology for those who labor in these professions and want to delve more into the subject. 1

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LESSON I DEFINE THE PATH We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to be geniuses to suggest that if you really want to obtain a substantial income through the sale of processed food, you should focus all your efforts on ensuring you products are the most delicious ones. If you achieve this goal, we assure you that your food will be consumed by a huge number of people, which accordingly will make you rich. But we cannot forget to warn you, that if you want your food products to be completely devoured by the largest number of consumers, you must arrive at a point where every client should not be able to distinguish between: A.- That which in reality is healthy and: B.- That which is simply tasty. If you hope to compete with products manufactured by nature, beforehand we must tell you that you are fighting a practically losing battle, because, for example, almost all fruits and vegetables are not only accompanied with enzymes, vitamins, minerals and nutrients from diverse sources, but surprisingly enough, with their own natural wrappings, or packaging, which are for the most part, biodegradable and will eventually become fertilizer for future biological processes: How can you compete with that? We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to frighten you before you get started, and we realize you are beginning a daunting task, this is why you will need advisors in steering your boat through the rocky shoals of creating food products that will appeal to the taste buds of your future customers, which will eventually lead you to the wealth you seek. How to achieve this? 7

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We must suggest you the easiest route to follow: Once you define your objective towards picking the taste buds of your customers, you must make use of a little trick, which demands, to artificially alter the taste of your product. Most people will not have a clue as to the processes you used, nor will they think much about it, they are only interested in the flavor which will help you achieve your financial objectives. Once you have defined a road to tasty products, you will be able to opt for – in limited and previously analyzed doses – ways to increase the sweetness or salt in your food. Or inject a wide variety of artificial flavors to increase their full taste, which will attract your customers. 1 You must also ensure the food products are conserved in such a way they last the longest possible time without going stale or losing their flavor. This goal is achieved with a wide variety of preservatives.2

Artificial flavoring, such as Monosodium Glutamate, for its side effects, each day is becoming prohibited in more countries across the planet. Among other problems, tests on laboratory rats have proven monosodium glutamate causes what is termed metabolic syndrome, which occurs after a huge intake of this artificial flavoring, increasing cortisone levels in the body, elevating oxidative stress (a condition we will touch later). Oxidative stress saps the body’s energy levels and the process eventually leads to obesity. Diniz YS and cols. Monosodium glutamate in Standard and high fiber diets: Metabolic Syndrome and oxidative stress in rats. Nutrition jun: 21(6):749-55. 1

(Note to reader not specialized in medical matters: In the final part of many footnotes, you will notice that we employ terminology approved by international conventions and norms, of which when cited, should necessarily specify (in proper order): Authors, the articles titles, title of medical magazines read by doctors and researchers, year of publication, period and comma, volume , “dash,” and final page). Item. Glutamate monosodium, besides being a flavor enhancer, is a powerful food preservative, which is so potent that it can also prevent meat from rotting even in high temperatures, though the chemical is known to inhibit natural digestive process. 2

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Once you have chosen the easiest path, we will offer another suggestion. Independently of the myriad of possible combinations of elements and artificial flavoring and preservatives that you can inject into your products, we invite you to make the sweetening of your products a huge priority, adding to them a wide variety of refined sugars. This element is considered one of the most eficient preservatives there are. The preservation process will prevent the rottening of your food products and will ensure a longer shelf-life for them, which accordingly will increase your profits.

YOUR SWEET FUTURE The main reason of our suggestions is to make sure that your products are the tastiest, to attract the most customers possible, and that their duration period is longer, because stale food means less sales and less sales mean less profits. Let us look at an illuminating case: when a researcher carried out an experiment on laboratory rats3 with the purpose of knowing their food preferences, the researcher gave the rats two options to choose from; one was normal and the other choice included sugar. The rats immediately went for the sweetest option, dismissing the non-sweetened food, which caused a series of problems in them, which will be discussed later.

The researchers noted that the consumption of sugar became an addiction for the rats and they became extremely dependent on the sweetener. When the rats were denied sugar, they showed signs of irritability, bared their teeth and demonstrated many signs of subjects withdrawing from the use of opiates, though at a much lower level of intensity. Avena NM, Long KA, Hoebel BG, sugar dependent rats show enhanced responding for sugar after abstinence: evidence of sugar deprivation effect (Physiol Behav. 2005 mar 16;84 (3): 359-62) 3

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Sweetener has a powerful ability to transform the flavor of food and in almost all cases the food injected with sugar becomes the most preferred – its taste attraction is almost notably superior to all other additives. If you don’t believe this, take a plain tomato or the yoke of a raw egg and mix them with sugar in a blender, and the difference will surprise you. This is why it is such a popular taste enhancer and should be injected into your products if you want to increase sales. However, don’t tell anyone our little secret, because a daily intake of sweeteners will eventually cause all types of health problems, of which we will talk about later. If you are still not totally convinced of the power of sugar additives, take a small amount of freshly mown grass – which should be disinfected and washed – grind the grass in a blender with a little water and add some refined sugar. We suppose you will not make this concoction a daily favorite drink, but we are confident you will be surprised at the change in flavor of grass and water. Even this mixture, with sugar, can be made into an attractive product … easy, right? This is exactly why we insist you use our little trick on the road to riches. With sugar you will obtain more customers for your products and your products will eventually become a daily habit for them. Isn’t that the objective? You really shouldn’t tell anyone about the financial and marketing advice we are giving you in this manual. We don’t want them to jump into the game and perhaps in the future overwhelmingly prove, that these products have negative consequences on human health, and cause the consumer serious problems. One of good conscious 10

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could opt not to follow our guidelines on how to get rich and will see profits slump by not using suspect additives. So, if you decide to follow this path to wealth, it is necessary for you to fully understand the process of creating junk food products, and to be able to prepare your defense, which is why you should read on to become more aware of the consequences of a daily consumption of these products, and from this moment on, you will have your most loyal ally, refined sugar. 4

HISTORY Do trees that have sugar in their branches exist? In the strictest sense, refined sugar is merely a human invention and it is certain that we all require it and it is also certain that sugar exists in a natural form, in diverse proportions, in a wide variety of foods. The extraction process of sweet sap from some plants with a greater content of sugar,5 which entails refining, storing and mixing it with other foods, is an activity that has gone on for centuries, but its use was much less extensive than it is today. The reason for the reduced consumption of sugar many years ago was, not only due to the high value placed on For the purpose of this text, as refined sugar we mean monosacharides and disaccharides as they are stripped of their natural nutrients and fiber, which happens to fructose, saccharine, maltose, lactose, syrups, hight fructose corn syrup, molasses, dextrin, maltodextrin, fruit juice extracts, glucose and other similar variants, once they have been isolated or separated from their natural components. 4

Or to say, plants with a greater content of sugar, because the refining process of these types of plants is more profitable, the producer can obtain a greater amount of sugar, which will occur with sugar cane, beets, grapes, among others. 5

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it – way above an individual’s salary – but because humans hadn’t figure out how to mass produce, process, package, distribute, refine and sell it, compared to the massive capacity of manufacturers that do so today. However, this situation changed drastically in the XX century. This change facilitated for us in a huge way, the change in eating habits and health consequences that will continue to be discussed, in an empirical manner, in this manual. This custom6 began to take root in India several centuries before Jesus Christ: “Sugar cane was cultivated with much enthusiasm by multitudes, who cut, deposited the cane in vats to extract its juice, then placed the final product in bins converted into something like snow or white salt.” When Nearchus, an admiral of Alexander the Great, sailed toward India to explore the eastern part of this country (close to 325 years B:C) he described sugar as something like honey. Later, Greeks and Romans described sugar as “honey without bees” and imported the product at an enormous cost. Herodotus described the new product as manufactured honey. A Roman writer during the Nero’s epoch bequeathed the sugar extract with its Latin name: Saccharum, or in The history of sugar consumption and production can be found in the following books: The nine books of history by Herodotus, encyclopedias Encarta and Compton, Sugar Blues by William Duffy, publishers Warner Books, the United States. Among other documents, we sought other support of our text in the following books: Food in History by Reay Tannahill and The History of Sugar by Noel Der and L.A Strong, as well as other sources such as Journals of Leonhard Rauwolff, published by John Ray 1627, London. 6

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English today, Saccharose. Dioscorides described it this way: “ Saccharum that is extracted from cane, has the consistency of salt and its texture is breakable between teeth.” We must mention that one of the purposes that compelled our ancestors to develop the crystallization process , was to prevent its fermentation, a natural process that occurred when the cane’s sap was still in liquid form. The crystallization process also facilitated sugar cane extract’s storage, distribution, sale and mixture with other products to modify their original flavor. Countries began to import from China this extract from sugar cane, and it was not only considered a very expensive product, but rare and exotic. In Sanskrit, it is know as khanda, which is known today in English as candy. Later on, the custom of adding certain amounts of sugar to other foods – though in much more reduced quantities than seen today – spread to Europe from Arab countries, and the custom of making sugar was spread by the tumultuous crusades7 which awoke blind greed and ambition, cloaked in religious vestments. You can analyze in the following paragraph, the position of some diplomats8 in the year 1306 to pope Clement V, who was exiled in Avignon, France. The diplomats were trying to convince the pope, without much success, to revive the crusades: The crusades occurred between the years 1096 to 1270. Only the first and third crusades were deemed successful, but as contemporary French politician Jacques Chirac once said: All wars are a failure. There were also two children’s crusades in the year 1212, which were disasters. Encyclopedia COMPTON. 7

Quoted from the book Sugar Blues by William Duffy, Warner Books, Pag. 31 in the English version. 8

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“In the land of the Sultan, sugar is cultivated in large quantities, which represents a source of great tax revenue. If Christians took these lands, it would surely cause great damage to the Sultan, while at the same time, Christianity would be well supplied …” Fortunately, most European leaders were not very interested in reactivating the crusades. However, if you think for a moment the general refusal to launch another crusade contained the greed of many merchants, and prevented them from having a more active role in the game of the sweet cake, with the riches to be had, I regret to tell you this wasn’t the case. In the opinion of many historians, from the XIV to the XIX Century, the unbridled ambitions to try to get rich in this sweet business required a huge workforce for planting and cutting, which contributed to the rise of slave trafficking, genocide and other diverse atrocities. British historian Noel Derr9 expressed the situation well: “It’s not an exaggeration to say that among 20 million African slaves, two-thirds of them labored in sugar plantations.” Taking all of this into consideration, dear disciple, if they did all this many centuries ago, what is keeping you from getting rich from this sweet business? Imagine, if your ancestors involved in the sugar trade had had the production, distribution and marketing capabilities you have today; they would have certainly obtained riches beyond their wildest dreams.

British historian Noel Derr, author of The History of Sugar, quoted from the book Sugar Blues by William Duffy, Warner Books (USA) Pag. 31, in its English version. 9

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It’s certain that we mentioned in previous pages that this lucrative business causes various health problems, but with our advice, you will be able to whitewash these problems, you will see. Although we don’t live today with the lack of medical knowledge suffered by our ancestors, and we are much better informed than they were, we must warn you, that you will have to deal with all types of nosey people, who will try to ruin your business by alerting the public of the dangers of junk food. For this reason, the following lessons will show you the main objections to your business, and we will teach you how to defend yourself against these accusations. Everything can be worked out, so don’t be alarmed for a second, we won’t let these busy bodies get in your way, or will we?

G. CRUZ S.

JUAN M. OCHOA T.

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LESSON II SWEET TEMPTATIONS Your products should be identified by everyone as a type of sweet and irresistible temptation, and for now, they will be stowed away in the cupboard waiting to enhance their flavor. In the following lesson we will show how your seductive sweet foods become addictive. For your peace of mind, we must tell you that the consequences of eating the sweet stuff are not immediate, but nonetheless silent and inexorable. It should be comforting for you to know, that all the changes on the health due to the consumption of junk food don’t appear in the first stages, because many people attribute the ill-effects to family medical history, one’s lifestyle, while some even blame it to “tensions of modern life.” All of these consequences to health that have been discovered, and those to be discovered in the future, in no way should discourage your new endeavor, because when in years to come, all of the ill-effects of artificially sweetened food comes to light, you will have already made your fortune. While this occurs, we highly recommend: Pretend to have absolutely no knowledge of the connection between your products and human health and roundly deny this if you are so accused. However, so that you are better prepared to deny any responsibility for any illnesses caused to your loyal customers, discretly learn about the changes your most assidous costumers will suffer. We reiterate that if we teach you about the negative effects of refined sugar, our intention is not to dissuade you from making money, but to help you prepare a strategy to 17

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defend yourself. Carefully analyze the upcoming pages, but keep in mind that you must never tell anybody you read this text. You can act surprised and shocked when you are challenged. We give you our most warm congratulations for not giving in to the temptation to stop reading this book or the effort to continue with your money-making project, when you were advised of the health problems caused by your products, which illustrates your determination to put your desire to get rich before the common good of society. This is the backbone we would like to see in all of our students. Meanwhile, we will introduce to you the arguments against those who will be your loyal allies in the sweetening process: Refined sugars. To some people, perhaps even yourself, it has seemed that this white powder commonly known as sugar, having been extracted from nature, should not cause any great harm. Some would think that the only difference between natural sugar from plants, and the refined stuff, is that the latter is pure. Isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t that right? Of course, we cannot blame people who have not put a great deal of thought into these matters, but the reality of refined sugar is a very different thing. Why? What could be the difference between the two of them? Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the raw sugar from cane and the refined product come from the same original source, and even share the same similar composition? Perhaps analyzing the differences, not only on sugarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s molecular composition, but on its repercussion on the body, we will discover a completely different panorama. 18

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We will examine these differences as a first step to show you how sugar turns into a habitual consumption product.

SPEED OF ABSORPTION Even when it’s pretty clear to everyone that sugar comes from plants, its repercussions on the human body will be completely different, depending on how it is ingested. The lone fact that refined sugar has been deprived of its natural fiber and nutrients, is apparently simple, but this deprivation ensures that its speed of absorption is modified and becomes quicker. We want to emphasize that we are in complete agreement, that sugar in its natural way is vital for human beings, but from this moment on, we will stress, that when consumed in its refined state, there is a great difference to the influence it has on the human body, because it can induce a different organic response. Many people – and we cannot really blame them – think, that if they ingest, let’s say 50 grams of carbohydrates, the effect will be the same, independently of how it was consumed. Or to say, they suppose it is irrelevant if this amount comes from refined sugar or its equivalent in carbohydrates from a natural source. For example, let’s suppose we put five products on the table: a.- Refined sugar; b-. rice; c.- beans; d.- peanuts and e.- cactus. Given that the level or percentage of carbohydrates varies in each product, we will use the necessary weight of each product to have the same ammount of glucose: 50 grams. For the effect of the analysis, we are only evaluating the effect on the glucose and insulin levels in the bloodstream, 19

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we are going to assume, that the remaining nutrients contained in these foods,1 does not interest us or lacks value. Being this way, we are going to suppose that we cannot take advantage of all their vitamins, neither fiber, enzymes nor calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, zinc, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine, folic acid and other elements. We will only evaluate the organismâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s response to the same quantity of carbohydrates, but as we said, obtained from different sources. Any doctor will agree with us, that the velocity of absorption of refined sugar will be almost immediate and will enter the blood flow in minutes and, oh surprise! The absorption of the same amount of glucose of other foods will be different and at the same time it will generate a completely different response. But before moving forward with our discussion, please allow us to go a little deeper into the great importance of velocity2, because as sometimes this factor is minimized or ignored, the truth is, it performs an extraordinary role in everything that occurs in our world. Why does this occur? What is the importance between the due synchronization of two or more factors? In fact, we dare to tell you that before any process is carried out, the big difference between success and failure in great

Except refined sugar, which does not contain any nutrients, besides calories.

For the effect of this analysis, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very important that we show you the etymological meaning of this term. Velocity: From the Latin word Velox (Fast, quick) that at the same time comes from the word Velo (Sail of a ship) and currently means movement of a factor (could be time) with respect of another. Etymology dictionary of Castilian language, Publisher Gredos, by Joan Corominas. 2

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measure, is based on this simple word, velocity. For a stronger clarification, we are going to expose you to only four cases – among many we could cite – on the incredible role of velocity. If you are diving in 90 feet of water and decide to go to the surface at a speed faster than 54 feet per minute, this, that could appear as a harmless act, could produce an aeroembolism,3 which would kill you. Why does this happen? The air is bad? Or is it bad to descend and ascend in water? The danger lies in doing it at a faster speed that recomended, because air is denser below water and the simple act of surfacing should be conducted at a speed in which the human body can adapt to the changes in pressure. Let’s delve into case number two, one that is more related to human health and physics: If you are on the third floor of a building and you have to descend to the first floor, it wouldn’t be the same if you only jumped, as if you were, all of a sudden, one of those superheroes, (and we hope we aren’t giving you any ideas) than if you came down using the stairs or the elevator. Is it wrong to try to reach solid ground? Both methods we discussed would get you to solid earth, but the second option would be better for your health. Don’t you think? For this reason, we insist that the apparently innocent fact of not respecting velocity could cause serious

Boyle-Mariotte Law, mechanical effect of gases submitted to pressure. Compton Interactive Encyclopedia 1996 and professional opinion of diving expert in the city of Veracruz, Mexico, Mr. Edwin Corona y Cepeda, vice president of the World Confederation of Underwater Activities Technical Committee and member of the Mexican Society of Geography and Statistics (Mexico). 3

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problems and believe us, this rule of speed imposes itself on practically everything. To widen the scope on this theory and as a proof that this apparently harmless defiance of velocity intervenes in all of the universe’s processes, let’s look at the third case, but in the socioeconomic field. If a country grows, demographically speaking, at a faster velocity than the government can provide services for, you will see serious problems. The magnitude of this problem will depend on the degree of the defiance of velocity. Why? Let’s say a country in 1972 had 50 million inhabitants and in the year 2000 the population grew to 100 million people,4 (28 years), it is obvious that this nation’s development of infrastructure, housing, potable water, sewerage, education, productive jobs, highways and roads, forest reserves, agricultural areas, fuel supplies, etc., could not keep pace with the doubling of its population. Why? No one could do in 28 years what couldn’t be done in all of its history.5 This element, the velocity of population growth rate in this case, performs a crucial role, which is why, in part, you will see that the continent in which the population doubled

The velocity in which the majority of countries in the world grew in the last few decades. Population Reference Bureau. Year 2000 (USA). 4

Take a look at only five countries. Mexico had (expressed in millions of inhabitants) 50.8 in 1972 and 100 in 2000. India 536.9 in 1972 and 1,000.2 in 2000, Bolivia 4.8 in 1972 and 8.3 in 2000 and Peru, 13.1 in 1972 and 27.1 in 2000, Guatemala 5 in 1972 and 12.7 in 2000. In consequence, it was certain that no government or other agencies could have kept up with the services required to meet the needs of the growing population in these countries. United Nations Annals 1970-2000 and Population Reference Bureau. 5

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in a shorter time (Africa), posted its Human Development6 in the exact extreme of where the population grew at a more measured pace, such as Europe.7 Statistics donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t lie in these cases. If the population of a country grows faster than its infrastructure, then you will see people living in cardboard shacks, irregular highrisk zones where proper planning could not be applied, causing a multitude of other social and physical injustices. What happens in any country that cannot create jobs at a velocity required by population growth? The need to emigrate to find work in other countries would arise, an informal economy would emerge, muggings would increase and violence in all manifestations would occur, along with other problems. Another serious problem caused by rapid growth would be the lack of roadways, which leads to hellish traffic jams, extreme loss of time and other inconveniences. Believe us, this situation will extend to all sorts of social and political areas, of which the citizens will blame their governments and leaders for their inability to deal with such mind-boggling problems. As we see, velocity is an important factor in growth, especially concerning a country or region, and if ignored, Human Development Index (HDI). Parameters used by the United Nations, which evaluate levels of education, income, expectations and quality of life, housing, communications, etc. of a certain country or region. These data are used as a reference to evaluate individual and social development of a country. 6

Though it is not recommendable to experience the other extreme of growth, which would be no growth or at a negligible rate, it is desirable for a country to post a growth at close to 1.0 percent, where for each 100 million inhabitants, there would be one million more per year, which would double a population in 60 to 70 years, which would give the authorities adequate time to provide all the services required. 7

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its weight will be felt, especially if a government cannot keep up with the education needs of its citizens. Well. Is demographic growth harmful? No way, if the growth is controlled and the powers-that-be are able to meet the many needs of a burgeoning society. There is no doubt that human beings are the most visible and valuable elements in our world, but exactly for this reason, it is imperative to ensure a harmonic growth, with the possibilities of proper generalized and universal development. Okay, let’s move on to our next example of how velocity operates in our world. We will now discuss the relationship of velocity and the environment. Let’s say we both have the same amount of land, each with 20,000 hectares and a heavy rain falls on both properties for a period of three consecutive days. If one of them is heavily forested, we wouldn’t expect negative consequences, in contrast, if the other piece of land is deforested, it would suffer flooding in its low areas, soil erosion and other problems. Is the rain negative? Not in the least. The harm would come from human error, because if the trees were cut down, they would not be there to absorb the water from the rain, and the run off would flow rapidly to the lowlying areas of the property, causing a great deal of problems. On the other hand, in the wooded areas, you would be surprised to learn that rain caused very little environmental damage, but in the deforested part, you will find dust and other forms of deterioration to the land.

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Unfortunately, we cannot expand on this as much as we would like to, discussing the multitude of known cases in different sciences, where the apparent simple fact of provoking two or more factors to interact in a nonsynchronized manner, will cause serious problems, without caring that in many of the present conditions, exists the good will of those trying to influence them. Once we have seen these examples of daily life and how an abysmal difference is generated because of the simple fact, that one or two factors do not interact at the appropriate speed, we return again to the food example we discussed in previous pages. We mentioned before that we had put in front of you, the equivalent of the same amount of glucose (50 grams) though in five different presentations: Refined sugar, rice, beans, peanuts and cactus. As you can analyze in graph number 1, the same amount of glucose will provoke a glucose8 response in the blood completely different, depending on the type of food you ingested, a fact that at the same time will have other important organic repercussions, which we would be remiss if we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t conduct a deeper analysis of them. The first thing we appreciate in this quick search is how the level of glucose in blood, derived from refined sugar rises, causing at the same time something even worse, the big leap in the insulinic response9 (see graph number

Glucemia = Presence, amount or percentage of glucose in the blood.

Though the curve of the glucemic response with a determined glucose charge, without a doubt is very useful, it is not the best indicator of the individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tolerance, because the glucose in blood is regulated homeostatically in order to maintain certain values, independently of the amount of glucose ingested or absorbed. 9

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GRAPH 1

VALUES IN mmol/l

GLUCOSE LEVELS IN BLOOD AFTER COMSUMPTION OF 5 DIFFERENT FOODS IN DOSES EQUIVALENT TO 50 GRAMS OF CARBOHYDRATES (1)

MINUTES REFINED SUGAR (2) RICE BEANS PEANUT CACTUS

NOTE (1): AN EQUIVALENT AMOUNT OF EACH ONE OF THE MENTIONED FOODS WAS PROVIDED, SO THAT THE CARBOHYDRATE CONTENT (50 gr.) WASE EXACTLY THE SAME. (2): SACCHAROSE. SOURCES: ALBERTO C. FRATTI-MUNARI AND COLS. THE GLYCEMIC INDEX OF SOME FOODS COMMON IN MEXICO. MEDICAL JOURNAL OF MEXICO 1991 MARCH-APRIL; 26 (12): 178-83 PHYILIS A. CRAPO AND COLS. POSTPRANDIAL PLASMA-GLUCOSE AND INSULIN RESPONSES TO DIFFERENT COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES. DIABETES 1977; 26 (12): 1178-83

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GRAPH 2

VALUES IN pmmol/l

INSULIN LEVELS IN BLOOD AFTER CONSUMPTION OF 5 DIFFERENT FOODS IN DOSES EQUIVALENT TO 50 GRAMS OF CARBOHYDRATES (1)

MINUTES

REFINED SUGAR (2) RICE BEANS PEANUT CACTUS

NOTE (1): AN EQUIVALENT AMOUNT OF EACH ONE OF THE MENTIONED FOODS WAS PROVIDED, SO THAT THE CARBOHYDRATE CONTENT (50 gr.) WAS EXACTLY THE SAME. (2): SACCHAROSE. SOURCES: ALBERTO C. FRATTI-MUNARI AND COLS. THE GLYCEMIC INDEX OF SOME FOODS COMMON IN MEXICO. MEDICAL JOURNAL OF MEXICO 1991 MARCH-APRIL; 26 (12): 178-83 PHYILIS A. CRAPO AND COLS. POSTPRANDIAL PLASMA-GLUCOSE AND INSULIN RESPONSES TO DIFFERENT COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES. DIABETES 1977; 26 (12): 1178-83

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two), which evolves in a different manner, depending on the type of food ingested.10 If you have wondered at one time about the role of insulin in your organism and why it shows these sharp oscillations in certain cases, we will tell you a little more about the importance of this hormone: In a healthy person, insulin is segregated automatically by your own pancreas – through a complex endocrine system – once your organism has detected a certain glucemic charge in your blood. What is most worisome is that, if glucose appears in your blood at a fast rate, from something you ingested, the insulin response will be proportional to the speed in which the glucose is taken in. It’s important to know that insulin performs a key function: it is precisely this hormone that allows glucose to be assimilated in the billions of cells in your body. But when in excess – attention – that causes other problems, from metabolic disorders, to the eventual damage of your cardiovascular system.11

On the other hand, the insulin response curve is working not only to the charge of glucose and its doses, but to the capacity of the individualized response. The insulin response curse gives the specialists a more exact way to evaluate the metabolic state of an individual. Hector Bourges Rodriguez. The genetic substratum: Diet sources and your digestion, absorption and assimilation. Chapter 6, pages 93-94 from a book on diabetes, F.J. Gomez Perez and J.A. Rull. The National Salvador Zubiran Nutrition Institute, Mexico, 1997. Phyilis A. Crapo and cols. Postprandial plasma-glucose and insulin responses to different complex carbohydrates Diabetes. 1977;26(12):1178-1183. 10

In the coming pages, we will explain the eventual risks of high insulin levels and the metabolic repercussions and ensuing cardiovascular risks. Metabolic repercussions: Dr. Robert Atkins, The Dietetic revolution, Publisher Grijalbo. Cardiovascular repercussions: Dr. Robert Youngston Antioxidants and free radicals. Publisher Edaf, Spain; A Week in Zone by Barry Sears, Publisher Regan Books, USA 2000. High levels of insulin increase the risks of cardiovascular illnesses, Metabolic syndrome, diagnosis, epidemiology and cardiovascular risk. Section IV book by Carlos Fernandez Barrios and Coauthors. 11

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I’ts important to know that in most people, a highly elevated flow of insulin, in only a few hours, will cause a quick loss of blood sugar,12 which in return sparks the desire for more sweet food and without noticing it, the person will be trapped in the allergic-dependence syndrome. He will be then the perfect customer for you. Wonderful! Don’t you think? Obviously, if the food ingested possesses a less amount of natural sugar,13 the glucose or insulin response will be less severe,14 but the worst part of this matter is that, what is convenient for your client is less convenient for you. It wouldn’t benefit you if your products were less sweet and less attractive to your consumer base, because eventually that could affect your profits. So, if you want your business to prosper, you should heed the following route: Once your customers falls into the

On more than a few occasions, these sudden heights and lows in glucose and insulin levels trigger animic alterations, which are often confused as psychological disorders. Modifications in behavior adversely affect family and social relashionship. Sugar Blues by Dr. William Duffy, Publisher Warner Books, USA. He doesn’t want to mean that all animic disorders came from metabolic problems, but instead that, in any type of behavioral disorders, an analysis should be conducted to see if the source is not of nutritional nature. 12

You can consult a list of main food groups that contain carbohydrates in Appendix A. 13

With the aim of showing you a wider variety of opinions and perspectives that exist on this subject, there are those who believe that the constant ingestion of high glycemic index food like refined sugars does not lead to sharp or chronic hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia. Alfenas RC. and Matterd RD. Influence of glycemic Index, load on glycemic response, appetite and food intake in healthy humans. Diabetes Care.2005;28(9):2123-2193. 14

However, according to clinical experiences and certain statistical analysis that we will show you, the constant alterations of blood glucose and insulin – along with other elements – will eventually alter the metabolism of many people.

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allergic-dependence trap, you should do all you can to exploit this addiction or weakness, which would surely boost your earnings. The limit of this exploitation will occur when your customer contracts some of the ill effects produced by your products, such as diabetes, 15 and this person’s doctor will prohibit the further consumption of junk food, which will eventually put a dent in you revenues. But don’t you worry, though there will be defectors from your customer base, there will be always legions of new consumers attracted by your sweet treats and most of these victims will be completely unaware of the tricks you employ to trap them. We will reiterate an important fact: Convincing your fellow citizens to consume your products is totally legal, so, continue onward along your road to riches. If some of your ingrateful fellows resist consuming your sweet temptations, and continue to eat only natural food, it’s probable they don’t have this abnormal glycemic or insulin’s response,16 and do not suffer from the consequences of ingesting junk food.

Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes derives from the Greek word diabetës that means siphon, surely because our ancestors noticed the great need to urinate of those who suffered from this illness. The great majority of Diabetics say they have type 2 diabetes, which basically derived from bad eating habits. The etymology of Diabetes goes beyond the food factor – though it is the most important one – and we must also be aware of the genetic aspects of the illness. 15

When someone becomes Diabetic, his insulin response will be each time weaker, until it arrives at a point where it is not possible to reduce the level of sugar in the blood, and will stay permanently high. Among other inconveniences caused by a sharp elevation of insulin is the fact that high levels stimulate on its own, the production of araquidonic acid, 16

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For this reason, you definitely need our advise, because with the myriad of recommendations we will make in lessons IV, V and VI, we will show you a series of tricks to broaden your customer base. These unwitting victims will not understand the origins of their illnesses and will probably, as in most cases, blame them on other sources. However, if we undergo – very privately – an analysis on the benefits of consuming refined sugar, as you can well appreciate, we are beginning on the wrong foot. If we consider – as is the reality – that health is found in balance, and that every quick and unnecessary fluctuation is an enemy of this balance, from the moment a disorder in the organism is provoked on the insulin or glucose levels, anyone can notice the inconvenience of adding sugar. However, if we assume that the majority of junk food consumers, do not take note of these reactions, you will be able to continue with your business. For this reason, we reiterate that your most serious problem will not be the damage your products inflict on health, but if the tricks of your trade become known to the general public, because this definitely will put a huge dent in your business. For the time being, we are confident that our counsel is invaluable, that of which we will be happy to share with you in the second half of our manual, and dont’ even

which unfavorably modifies the proportion of low density fat levels. (fats considered bad). A week in zone by Barry Sears, Publisher Regan Books, USA 2000. Elevated levels of insulin, increase the risks of cardiovascular diseases. Metabolic syndrome, diagnosis, epidemiology and cardiovascular risks. Section VI book by Carlos Fernandez Barios and Coauthors.

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think about paying us with your sweet products, because we prefer natural ones. Well, let us take a look at the other consequences of your sweet temptations.

BLOOD CHEMISTRY In more than one occasion you sure have appreciated, our dear student, that the fact of adding an additional element to a certain mix, alters the mixture in a significant manner. Haven’t you? We will tell you another anecdote about an experience of one of this text’s authors. In the 1960s, before entering university, one of the authors of this manual was spending time on a ranch in the Mexican state of Michoacan. They were spraying a foliar pesticide17 to get rid of a plague that had infected the crops. While spraying the leaves of the infected plants, we realized it was getting ready to rain. If it rained hard, the water would wash the pesticide from the plants. The father of my friend came up with the solution. He said that adding sugar to the pesticide and water mix, would ensure, that the bug killing agent would stick to the leaves during the rainfall. “Add to each 200-liter container of pesticide – previously mixed with water – two kilograms of sugar. Sugar will make the product stick to the leaves.” Said and done, using tractors with sprayers attached to the rear, we finished the job a few hours before the rain fell and we returned later to discover that this solution worked because the pesticide stuck to the leaves. 17

Foliar Pesticide = Used on plant leaves.

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We had to accept that even though the solution worked, it made us lose some time, because we discovered that the sugar mixed with the pesticide, caused blockages on the small holes of the sprayer, which forced us every now and then to stop and clear the holes. We began to think twice on this sugar solution. To what extent the simple addition of refined sugar can modify a product’s viscosity and sticking capability? Why did this mixture block the spray holes? You and everyone else can prove that if you spill a drink with sugar on the floor there is always a light viscous or sticky residue. Therefore, could an unusual increase in the content of glucose in the blood, provoke similar reactions to what occurred with the tractor’s sprayer? In case an abnormal increase of glucose in the blood stream modifies the blood’s viscosity, this also, our dear disciple, will add a new element of risk that should cause us to worry a little more. Don’t you think? In the face of these concerns, we met with Roger Patron,18 a chemical engineer, who worked as an executive and was a stockholder in a giant company Industrias Resistol, S.A., and he confirmed that during the first stages, this company made glue based in corn (starch or carbohydrate), and when they mixed it with Clorohydrate acid (which we have in our stomach) it became dextrin (another form of sugar), which gave the adhesive quality desired. This fact awoke even more our curiosity, and considering the pathology developed in people with high glucose Who is also the author of several self-help books, which encompass the thoughts of some of the greatest thinkers in history. (www.rogerpatron.com) Industrias Resistol, S.A. is a giant manufacturer of glue and other products in Mexico. 18

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levels, we took it upon ourselves to try to find out if under the action of a greater glucose content, the blood would alter its natural viscosity19 and allowed certain blood components such as cholesterol, to get added to the internal walls of the circulatory system or cause some kind of damage. We don’t aim to alarm you, our sweet businessman, but if there is an increase in blood sugar content, followed by a rise in the blood stream viscosity,20 we will see a serious problem, that’s the reason why, without being rude, we don’t want you to pay us with your sweet merchandise. The first thing we found out was that an abnormal increase in the blood glucose, favores the formation of clusters in one of the main blood components, called erythrocytes, which distributes oxygen throughout the body, among other functions, and high glucose levels tend to alter normal circulation.21 Furthermore, if glucose abnormally increases in the blood, it’s been proven that the blood’s viscosity levels

Viscosity: Pasty or sticky consistency. Translated from the Larousse Spanish dictionary, Publisher Larousse Planeta, S.A., to English. 19

Blood viscosity depends on the quantity of many elements, erythrocytes, leukocytes, plasma, protein and glucose. You can measure viscosity with a capillary viscometer. It has been proved that with higher blood viscosity there is a greater resistance to peripheral circulation. There is an indirect relation between blood viscosity and micro vascular tone, mediated by tissue oxygenation, because a compensatory vasodilatation occurs if the tissue perfusion worsens secondary to hyperviscosity. Baskurt OK et al. Hemorheology and vascular control mechanisms. Hemorheol microvasc. 2004;30(3-4):169-78. 20

An abnormal rise in blood glucose increases the erythrocytes aggregation, reduces the erythrocytes flexibility and reduces its capacity to filter (ability to pass though a membrane). Babe N Singh M. Influence of hyperglycemia on aggregation, deformability and shape parameters on erythrocytes. Clin Hemorheol Microcirc. 2004;31(4):273-80. 21

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rise, and, surprisingly, at the same time, diminishes the capillary blood stream. Perhaps for this reason, an increase in blood pressure is a natural reaction to this situation.22 In other words, an abnormal increase in blood glucose will generate a rise in the blood stream’s viscosity, which along with other factors, begins the deterioration of one of the keys to good health: Your circulatory system.23 For this reason you will understand, our sweet friend, why your gentle and naïve customers, throughout the years, will begin to suffer a series of problems with their health. So, as it is preferable to damage the majority of the population, so that your business will flourish, pay scant attention to the whole process, as if these events were taking place in another planet outside our galaxy and your customers were other beings that don’t belong to the human race.

OXIDATIVE STRESS

This term, also known as oxidative tension, began to surface just a few years ago, but for many researchers, It’s been proved that if there is an abnormal increase in blood glucose, for example 100 to 400 mgs/dl, this will be followed by an increase of 25 percent of blood viscosity and if there is an increase in viscosity of 26.13 percent, there will be a decrease in capillary blood flow of 20.72 percent. 22

Contrariwise, a 10.38 percent decrease in viscosity will be followed by an 11.40 percent increase in capillary flow, as well as a drop in blood pressure. Clinar Y. Et al. Blood viscosity and blood pressure: role of temperature and hyperglycemia. Am J Hypertens. 2001 May;14(5 Pt):433-8. Hyperglycemia (the abnormal increase of glucose in the blood) triggers the activation of coagulation, through the increase in the plasma aggregation and blood viscosity and in a way favors arteriosclerosis and tromboembolic events. Yamada T. and cols. Importance of hyperglycemia over hypercoagulability for vascular complication in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 2000; 49:23-31. 23

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such as Doctor Ray D. Strand24 and other doctors involved with this subject,25 this problem plays an important role in the development of more than 70 degenerative chronic illnesses such as coronary problems, strokes, cancer,26 diabetes, hypertension, Alzheimer, Parkinson disease, sclerosis, macular degeneration, arthritis and other illnesses. The main argument of the researchers is this: Taking into consideration that each cell of the body has a type of chimney or source of energy called mitochondria, where oxygen is used within the chimney to create that energy, occasionally, a molecule of oxygen – when interchanging electrons – makes some of them unstable, because they lack the adequate amount of electrons. These molecules are called free radicals.27

Dr. Ray Strand, M.D. the author of What Your doctor Doesn’t Know About Nutritional Medicine May Be Killing You, Taken from the University of Colorado, USA. (www.mediterranean-diet-advice.com/oxidative-stress.html. 24

As detailed in the following texts: aterotrombosis in the third millenium by Dr. Ricardo J. Esper and cols. Prous Science, Spain. Mohn A. and cols. Increased oxidative stress in prepuberal severely obese children. Endocrinal Metab. 2005; 90 (5):2653-8; Susuki K. and cols. Relationship between obesity and serum markers of oxidative stress and inflamation in Japanese, Asian Pac. J. Cancer Prev, 2003 julsep; 4(3):259-66; Skrha J. and cols. and Relationship of oxidative stress and fibrinolysis in diabetes; Med. 1996 sep; 13(9): 800-5 and antioxidant health plan by Dr. Robert Youngston, Publisher in Spanish language: Publisher Edaf, S.A. Spain 2nd edition 2004. 25

Food possessing high glucemix index (GI) increases the risk of developing cancer, through the inadequate inhibition of the growth factor related to protein 1 that has the effect of an anabolic stimulator of cell proliferation, of cell diferentiation and of cell apoptosis (cell dead) and contrariwise reduces the growth factor related to protein 3, that promotes cell apoptosis in vitro. Research Division, Joslin Diabetes Center, and the department of medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA (SBB) cited in Sudha B. Biddinger and David S. Ludwig. The insulin-like growth factor axis: A potential link between glicemic index and cancer. Am J Clin Nutr 2005;82:277-8. 26

The term Free Radical is from the Latin word Radix “Root,” and it was selected due to the added atoms hanging in the molecules. Antioxidants and free 27

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These new elements, free radicals, generate instability in other parts of the body, producing even more unstable radicals in different areas and causing damage to cell membranes, internal arterial walls, proteins, lipids and even to the cell’s DNA.28 Now then, what is it that increases the possibilities that the energy source that exists in each cell, produces more free radicals than would be considered normal? Well, something that will appear simple to you, The fact to provide that celular “oven” with too much energy in a lapse of time too short.29 To give an explanation as simple as possible, we will use a description of Dr. Strand: “Imagine that you are standing in front of a sparking chimney, which basically burns at a pleasant heat for most of the time, but occasionally flings

radicals, Dr. Robert Youngsthon, ED, Anzos, S.L., Spain, translation of The antioxidant health plan, Harper Collins Publishers, England. A free radical is an atom or group of atoms capable of existing independently, despite containing at least an unlinked, disunited and unpaired electron. Among the principal free radicals and reactive oxygen species we have: Hydroxyl, alcohoxyl, peroxide, superoxide, peroxinitrite , hydrogen peroxide and others. 28

DNA: Deoxirribonucleic Acid, it’s function is to program cell reproduction.

Dr. Robert Youngsthon explains that free radicals are able to affect cells DNA, the possibility exists that they influence the development of several types of cancer given that cancer is nothing more than an irregular cell reproduction. In a study done in Mexico there have been found a correlation between consumption of high glicemic index food and breast cancer prevalence. Lajous M and cols. Glycemic load, glycemic index, and the risk of breast cancer among Mexican women. Cancer causes control. 2005 dec;16(19):1165-9. As we have cited in previous pages, all of life’s processes in the world should be carried out with a determined speed, so that all parts interact in a harmonic manner. To illuminate this concept a bit with something relative to another area, if you should write a simple letter, and you know the normal time to do this is 15 minutes, believe us that if for some reason you rush to finish the letter in less time, we guarantee it will have errors. 29

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burning ashes onto the carpet and makes small holes; if this is only sporadic, it won’t do much damage to your carpet, but if the burning ashes frequently fall for a period of time, the carpet will become completely perforated.” “The chimney represents the mitochondria; the ashes flung out would be free radicals and the carpet your body. The part of your body that first receives the free radicals30 will be the one that begins to deteriorate and increase your potential to become a victim of a degenerative disease.” “If the arteries are the first to receive the free radicals, the risk of a heart attack increases, and concerning the brain, you could get Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer or develop arthritis.” Now then, our dear sweet student, you could ask yourself, what is the role performed by refined sugar in all of these processes? Why does the ingestion of refined sugar accelerate the production of free radicals?31 Let’s go back to the chimney example and imagine for a moment that some genius – with an obvious financial bent – suggests not to take the trouble to use traditional trunks of wood from nature but instead he will sell you elements extracted from the wood. Meanwhile, you, unwittingly, place the highly combustible wood, or refined wood, lacking its natural components, such as cellullose, in your fireplace, after the salesman

The underlined corresponds to the authors of the book.

Roberts CK and cols. High-fat, refined-carbohydrate diet induces endothelial dysfunction, oxidant/antioxidant imbalance and depressed protein expression. J Appel Physiol. 2005 jan;98:203-10. Antioxidants and free radicals, Dr. Robert Youngsthon, Publisher Edaf, S.A. Spain, (Reprint from The antioxidant health plan from Harper Collins Publishers, LTD, England. 31

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has sold the product as totally natural and easier to use than the vulgar and obsolete wood. What would be the result? actually the salesman did not lie to you, because the resins you purchased were natural, and your fire burned at a faster rate, leaving afterwards your home cold because it burned too quickly, and that is precisely the bad part, the combustion was so rapid, that it spewed too many ashes that left more burns and holes in your carpet. What would you think of this salesman?32

GENETIC HISTORY

If we add to the problems caused by consuming refined sugar the fact that, our genetic history tells us that perhaps human beings are capable of managing lesser carbohydrate proportions in their diet, the situation gets even worse. Why do we dare to mention such a thing? You see, we are at this moment a product of evolution, – obviously as a mere result from the hand of the Creator – through many millenniums–, but, in accordance with a large series of anthropological research,33 we have been able to conclude that evolution – physiologically speaking, – in the last 20 millenniums, has not been such a big deal. 34

The vasodilatation mediated by the blood flow (circulation) deteriorates, adding to damage ot the endothelial function, probably as a consequence of free oxygen radicals production. Giuliano D. and cols. Vascular effects of acute hyperglycemia in humans reversed by L-arginine: Evidence for reduced availability of nitric oxide during hyperglycemia. Circulation 1997;95:1783-1790. 32

The structure of evolutionary theory. Gould SJ. Harvard University Press (USA) 2002. Evolving health: the origin of illness and how the modern world is making us sick. Boaz NT. Wiley and sons, Inc. (USA) 2002. Eaton SB. Humans Lipids and Evolution. 33

Being that current man and woman obey some biological patterns derived from their genetic history that dates back hundreds of thousands of years and in contrast, should confront some artificial dietary modifications in just recent 34

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However, a few millenniums before Christ, appeared in our diet some elements never known before, called cereals,35 which dramatically increased the intake of carbohydrates, but what really began to alter our metabolic balance was the consumption of refined sugar, which just recently occurred in the last century.36 All of this combined, will make us understand why your sweet temptations can turn into bitter consequences for a growing number of people. But do not worry, as we said before, as long as a great number of people do not learn about this, you can continue with your business, they can take care of themselves the way they want.

decades – the same derived rather from monetary convenience and the commercialization by a small group – of which they are simply not capable of adapting to, the results are horrible. The name cereal comes from Latin cerealis. From Ceres, god of agriculture Etymology dictionary in castillian language E..Gredos de Joan Corominas. In cereals, except for soybeans, the main component is carbohydrates. Wheat can be traced back to the Euphrates Valley more than 9,000 years ago and from there the grain showed up in Greece, Rome and all of Europe. Rice can be traced back 5,000 years to India, and from there to Japan, the Philippines, Persia and Egypt. Corn can be traced back 8,000 years ago to Mexico and all of the grains developed into mixed varieties, either by accident or deliberately. Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia. 35

It must be mentioned that sugar was consumed before the XX century, but in small quantities compared to today’s standards. Before, only people who could afford it, such as kings used to consume it, of which among other things, provoked after a certain time certain illnesses in the XX and XXI centuries, for example, we can deduce that Henry VIII of England probably suffered from diabetes, given the ulcerations that scarred his legs and other external manifestations. 36

However in other royal courts, sugar consumption was less intense and sweets were considered rare and exotic. As an example: “Regarding Roman Pontiff (Alejandro VI, -Rodrigo Borgia- at the wedding of his daughter Lucrecia) – said chronologist Infessura- gave the newlyweds, apart from jewels, 50 silver cups full of candies and caramels, which were thoroughly enjoyed by all the ladies during the party.” Lucrecia Borgia, Publisher Tomo, S.A. de C.V., by Marcela Altamirano, Pag. 23.

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LESSON III BITTER CONSEQUENCES It is undeniable that all action will always cause a reaction, regrettably, this unavoidable rule that governs all we do, is often forgotten. If you forget to give proper maintenance to your automobile or any machine, we assure you these apparatus will remind you at the least opportune moment. Speaking of machines, if someone for example convinces you to put refined sugar1 in the motor of your car, to give it more of a boost, we assure the results will be regrettable. However, concerning the human body, our health would not be so fragile, and for a while, repeated abuse of this nature, will not have a negative effect, but continual consumption of sweet temptations, sooner or later, will yield to bitter consequences. We have discussed the constant problems of ingesting refined sugar on a repeated basis, such as high and lows in glucose levels and the consequent insulin response, the modification of blood chemistry and oxidative

Carbohydrates as we have mentioned earlier, are organic substances that under the effect of the sun transform carbon dioxide and water into a “combustible kind of thing. In the case of petroleum (this derives from Latin and Greek petra, or “rock”, and oleo, or “oil”, which comes from “olive”). 1

Crude oil or petroleum comes from vegetation that has existed for thousands of years that was deeply trapped in the Earth’s strata. Crude oil is considered a non-renewable natural resource, made up of carbon and hydrogen, as well as sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen and other elements. Encyclopedia Encarta.

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stress. Now, where do all of these factors lead? What illeffects do they have on the habitual consumers of sugar? We will show you in the following pages.2

DIABETES In the previous pages we talked about India, where, as far as we know, occurred the first production and consumption of saccharose (or common sugar); therefore, we consider that it is not a coincidence but a logical consequence, that the first cases of diabetes appeared in this country. Doctors in India called this illness Madumeha, which means sweet urine. 3 Refined sugar is not the only element that can cause a myriad of illnesses. Saturated fats, the lack of regular

Many international researchers apply the phrase “the assassin quartet” to the principal manifestations of metabolic syndrome derived from an inappropriate diet: 1.- Obesity, 2.- Diabetes, 3.- Hyperlipidemia, 4.- Arterial Hypertension. In this lesson we will discuss other associated maladies. 2

The exact time for this illness to appear in a human being will depend mainly in the amount of refined carbohydrates consumed per day, the number of years he/she has been ingesting them, the individuals genetic makeup, which determines the metabolic response to certain foods, the individual’s weight and the amount of exercise the person performs on a regular basis. We are not trying to say that all cases in which refined sugar is consumed on a regular basis will lead to this illness, though the risk of contracting it will increase with constant consumption. Cited from the Ayurveda Susruta (from India), which is mentioned in The History of Chronic Ulcers, by Pedro Larios Aznar. Labs Janssen-cilag. Another reference to this illness has been found in an Egyptian papyrus 20 meters long and 25 centimeters wide, which is stored at the University of Leipzig, Germany. Experts believe the text of the papyrus was written 1,500 year B.C. Historia de la Medicina (History of Medicine), by Manuel Barquin Calderon. Publisher Mendez, Mexico, and found in the website www.diabetesymas/ BreveHistoria.php. However, 1,000 years later, in the Ayurveda Susruta from India, the writers of the text describe more specifically “a strange disease of persons of the upper classes, who are obese and consume great amounts of sugar and rice.” 3

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exercise, genetic factors, addictions and an inappropriate lifestyle also contribute to poor health. Accordingly, we have in modern times developed a much better understanding of this illness. The sharp increases and decreases in glucose, and its insulin response, added to the indirect effects of other elements cited earlier in this text, cause in our times, in a growing number of people, that the victims’ pancreas show signs of exhaustion, up to a point that the organ no longer functions. When this day arrives, almost any amount of carbohydrates ingested, 4 will be followed by a rise in the level of blood glucose, same that won’t easily decrease, and which will trigger a long chain of very negative consequences. We also mentioned that any person’s health is always struggling for balance, and whatever element that is over or under of what is considered normal, will eventually cause problems. For all we have said, and to summarize a bit, the development of diabetes follows more or less the following pattern: In the first stages, the ingestion of refined sugar – without the individual knowing it – because it is quickly absorbed into the blood stream, (see chart 1 in previous

Though carbohydrates are considered natural, they provoke metabolic imbalances, natural carbohydrates cause less problems than refined ones (such as flour and refined sugar), which should be completely eliminated from your diet. Additionally, you should limit the consumption of natural carbohydrates from your diet, limiting the ingestion of those that have a greater glucemic load, if you want to lessen the possibilities of their negative effects. We recommend you see a specialist to determine your Critical Carbohydrate Level, or your individual intolerance level, which would decrease the risk of getting diabetes, or other related diseases. 4

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lesson) creates a sharp insulin response (chart 2), and this great amount of insulin will in time trigger a new decrease in the body’s glucose level,5 which in turn will be perceived by the individual as an overwhelming desire to consume more sugar. Take note, our dear entrepreneur, that this is your ideal customer, who will encompass a large part of your client base for your sweet temptations, and will be the source of your future revenues. Once your customers have been trapped in the allergic-dependence syndrome,6 your road to riches is all but guaranteed. We would be remiss not to think about another segment of the population, though not too numerous at this time, but growing daily, those who are victims of the highs and lows we have talked about, and who start to show signs of metabolic imbalances that maintain their glucose levels above of what is considered acceptable. If these people do not take care of themselves, the consequences can be devastating. And something just among comrades here – don’t tell a soul – the greatest impact on your revenues will be from those individuals who are already sick and their doctors have prohibited further consumption of your sweet treats. The best part is that most of your customers will not be warned in time. We would like to reiterate, our dear sweet businessman, what happens to your clients is not the most important part of all of this, they will receive from their families or

Amount of glucose in the blood stream.

Term used by Doctor Robert Atkins, in its book The dietetic revolution, Editorial Grijalbo. 6

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the state, medical attention, what is vital for you is that probably they might want to blame you for their illnesses, for not warning them about the risks of consuming your products. But don’t worry, in the following pages we will show you the road to follow. When this illness shows up in an individual, the primary symptoms are usually, general physical exhaustion, or a notable loss of energy —including sexual drive and the ability to work— a lack of mental concentration, blurry vision in some cases, thirst and the desire to urinate frequently. But those external manifestations won’t be as bad as what is gestating inside the body, such as that abnormal glucose level in blood, which will trigger a harmful deterioration process. This deterioration process will eventually damage the individual’s circulatory system, will contribute to arterial hypertension, will provoke renal damage, will elevate cholesterol levels, will increase the possibilities of retinal damage and will cause many other health problems. Now, I would like to introduce you to the wonderful world of cells and in very general terms, in a hypothetical manner, let’s put ourselves in front of those miniature parts every body has: cells. For our purpose, we have chosen the body of Alfredo,7 because this process is developing in his body. Though we chose not to use last names, Alfredo was selected in memory of a real case of a patient who suffered almost all the symptoms we have mentioned so far in this lesson. This young and brilliant professional lost his sight after only three years of marriage and on top of all this, his wife abandoned him. We consider the plight of Alfredo – from a medical point of view – as a prime example of the evolution of these illnesses at a general level. However, Alfredo’s case is an extreme one, but could be repeated in someone else when the glucemic levels are out of control. 7

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ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION I am a cell8 belonging to the main artery of Alfredo’s left arm. Alfredo always took for granted that the function of me and my comrades, as parts of the circulatory system, was to serve as a type of simple blood tube conductors, and though this belief is correct, our job goes even farther than that.9 That is why we should always keep ourselves in the best possible condition. I should tell you that throughout the years, as a consequence of certain alterations in the blood, derived from an inexplicable modification in Alfredo’s eating habits, a series of blood components were stuck to the internal wallsof veins and arteries, which caused our normal activities to be notably diminished. To a degree, that me and my comrades lost many of our faculties, among them, the capability of transporting freely the flow of blood, — imagine, incapable of carrying out our main duty and even lose the natural flexiblity we used to have.10 The thickening and hardening of those internal walls not only decreased our capacity to supply nutrients, but also caused a sharp rise of the blood pressure. As an interesting piece of information, I will tell you, doctors call this anomaly, arterial hypertension. 8

Endothelial cells. Cells that cover the inner layer of arteries.

Among the endothelial cells most important functions are, the regulation of intravascular liquid, determination of the focal vascular tone, modulation of the vascular permeability, modulation of the extra cellular matrix’ metabolism, regulation of the angiogenesis and vasculogenesis process, modulation of the muscular growth processes, regulation of the apoptosis (cells dead), extravasation and adhesion of inflammatory cells, regulation of contained intersticial liquid and the coagulation balance process. 9

Given the vast amount of functions of the inner arterial layer, — endothelium – the current belief is that the chronic, degenerative illnesses begin here, through a process known as endothelial dysfunction. Through this dysfunction begins the so-called micro angiophaty that leads toward retinopathy, 10

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It’s worth mentioning that this higher pressure that we suffer, my comrades and I, not only makes our job more difficult, but puts the whole body at risk. Many specialists told Alfred that “you are as old as your arteries are”, unfortunately, he paid no attention. In this case, as well as others, the most important question for any patient would be: why did this illness start? Believe us, for me and my mates, the answer is not as complicated as it seems. In the course of time, our arteries harden naturally as we get older and our veins lose their interior light, as well as their flexibility. But in Alfredo’s case, the process was accelerated when the following occurred: Maintaining for more time than considered normal, high levels of glucose in the blood, and the consequent and abnormal increase in his blood’s viscosity, facilitated certain components, such as cholesterol, to stick more easily to the internal walls of the circulatory system. Unfortunately, me and my comrades could not warn Alfredo about what was happening. And the worst part

nephropathy, neuropathy and others. There are blood plasma indicators that anticipate the endothelial damage long before the anomaly is present, these are: The Von Willebrand Factor (VWF), protein C reactive, trombomodulin, selectin, PAI-1 collagens type IV and I-PA, from the first manifestations of clinical damage such as stress friction, which is defined as the tangential force on the endothelium surface as a result of the blood flow’s laminar arrangement. According to Pouseuille and Hagen’s Law, the force of friction is directly proportional to the viscosity and flow and inversely proportional to the third potency of vascular radius. This means that a greater sanguineous viscosity or greater blood flow generate a greater friction, contrariwise there is less stress force the larger the artery. The endothelium is the production site for free radicals, induced because of the presence of chronic high glucemia, high levels of fat and high blood pressure, which leads toward oxidative stress and arteriosclerosis, which facilitates the appearance of other serious illnesses such as those we have mentioned in previous lesson.

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was that some old fashioned specialists were focused in a wrong direction; instead of finding out the cause, they were trying to attenuate the effects – high blood pressure — which not only didn’t attend the problem, but was causing some collateral damage. Alfredo did not intuit that, to a great extent, the good operation of his organism depended on the capacity to distribute oxygen and nutrients throuout his entire body, and, if that function was diminished, the aging process advanced. So, every time Alfredo succumbed to the sweet temptations from the shelf, his glucemic level rose quickly and the effects in his blood flow were felt. Maybe, several years before, that high sugar level dropped quickly, but it reached a point, where the level would never decline, and that, accelerated our damage. At this point, we can not find a solution, because the circulatory system – we don’t know if Alfred knows – extends 90,000 kilometers through his body and all of my comrades are suffering similar problems. It called my attention that through a complicated and costly operation, doctors replaced a section of one of Alfredo’s friends aorta that was almost completely obstructed, but I believe, that the only right way to treat this horrible problem, is through prevention. That is, to correct the level of blood viscosity. Could any of you inform Alfredo and his friends about all of this?

BLINDNESS I am a cell in Alfredo’s retina. As a curious piece of information, I will tell you that perhaps he doesn’t know 48

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it, but one of the places where the bloodvessels are very narrow is precisely in the eye. In a healthy person, the blood ducts in this place are so thin, that the red blood cells transit one by one inside that almost invisible network, so you can imagine how clean and flexible our circulatory connectors should be. I must tell you, we could have fulfilled our mission of transmiting images to the brain, â&#x20AC;&#x201D; in conditions more or less reasonable â&#x20AC;&#x201C; during the entire life of Alfredo, but there were some things that became very harmful to me and my comrades. As the few cells that remain alive, we are very near to the end of our function and the same will occur to all the other parts of the organism where the microvascularization process takes place, where the nutrients and oxygen arrive through this almost invisible connectors. Because Alfredo was ingesting diverse things that were not the product of nature, but for unknown reasons, his glucemic coefficient and other things were altered, his organism now, not only suffers metabolic disadjustments, but the most serious malady is the shrinking of his capillary vessels, which have been reduced to such a degree that elements indispensable for our life are no longer getting to us. Alfredo gets desperate with us, but I will tell you that we are fully conscious, that if we stop functioning, he will slide into total darkness for the rest of his life, however, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know another way through which we could supply ourselves in order to survive. We wish Alfredo had known what he was doing, when he was modifying his eating habits in this way, and that 49

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he had a hidden purpose for this change and not just because of an absurd whim triggered by instant gratification. We would have loved to have had the opportunity to talk with him about all of this, or to at least have given him an example. Just as he became desperate when he could not get what he needed. What could we have done when this situation became permanent? We think that, when he began to lose his sight and his doctor diagnosed diabetic retinopathy,11 we would have liked, that instead of imposing this pompous term, someone had told him the basic causes and preventive measures he could have taken, to prevent it in some way when there was still some hope. We feel there is nothing or very little to do now.*

RENAL DAMAGE Though the organ – kidney – at which I belong, does not have the proudest job in the body, I am one of its cells and from my point of view, we perform a truly exceptional job. Our job consists in purifying and cleaning all the blood in the body. On a daily basis, the equivalent of 180 liters. Because even though a body has 4 liters of blood, that volume goes through the kidney several times per day. When Alfredo was healthy, he rarely thought of our existence, because our work was perfect. I am not trying to brag, but me and my comrades were capable of

The medical term indicates the development of a serious progressive disease in the retina, which eventually causes blindness. 11

* We invite you to read “Appendix C” (Ocular Alterations Derived From Diabetes) by Dr. Hector Garcia Villegas.

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purifying each year the equivalent of a 66 cubic meter swimming pool. We could have done this job for our entire life, but a series of disorders occurred that made us relatively useless. When the blood plasma began to flow with an abnormal glucemic charge, our job became more difficult. We not only had to expulse the excess of sugar, but the worst part was that some elements got stuck in the interior of the very thin filter connectors, in a progressive and accelerated manner, which made our labor more difficult. If this wasn’t bad enough, the sugar levels increased dramatically and would not abate as before. Alfredo can’t even imagine what would happen if we didn’t do our job well, because to mention just a few, if the percentage of urea, creatinina, potassium, uric acid and many other things rose a great deal, it would cause damage to the rest of his body. At these moment, our filtration system is so obstructed, that we cannot find a viable solution. Now, the specialist who is treating Alfredo decided he should try an uncomfortable and very costly procedure called hemodialysis.12 How we would have loved to have made Alfredo aware of the great damage he was causing to us by modifying his diet. Because this was altering his sugar level, and if it hadn’t been altered in such a way, he could have remained healthy for many years. But there was no way we could have told him.

Hemodialysis: Process that – through a sort of an external artificial kidney – tries to eliminate waste from the blood. 12

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We notified him of the complications we were having by sending him pain signals through his nervous system but our efforts were useless, since most of the damage had already been done.

OBESITY

I am a fat cell, belonging to the abdomen, and I want to show you the vicissitudes that I have suffered in the last few days. A small part of my inner body, which is in charge of providing energy, is called mitochondria. It has suffered a series of alterations that I haven’t been able to correct. Because Alfredo is eating too much fat and sugar, the energy comes to me through the blood stream in a lapse of time too short and in quantities above my capacity to process it. This apparently simple fact that Alfredo hasn’t paid much attention to, made me decide to deal with this problem by storing the excess energy within me, in the form of miniscule amounts of lipids, or body fat. With the energy levels rising, I tried not only to adjust myself by expanding, but my brother cells also inflated to cope with the increase in volume, the sad part is, that we lost our capacity to function in an efficient manner. I do not know the reason why this energy gets to me in such a way, but I suppose Alfredo has a good reason to be eating the way he is. I confess that in agreement with the genetic memory I possess, my ancestors never had to deal with such a problem, which made it difficult for my comrades and me to rectify Alfredo’s worsening situation. Added to all this, Afredo has a very sedentary life and he doesn’t bother to exercise very much, just ocassionaly. We believe he should excersice more periodically. 52

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That is why, this accumulation of lipids worries me, because as I told you before, not only debilitates our efficiency, but also makes the burden heavier on some other organs, such as the heart, the lungs, kidneys and other parts of the body. As it is today, it is already causing serious complications in several places.13 While Alfredo discovers that, out there,14 some people have altered artificially the glucemic content of some products in order to induce him to eat them, we, the cells, will continue to do our job the best way we can. We hope that when Alfredo makes better eating choices, we still have time to avoid a more serious problem.

CARDIAC PROBLEMS If there are cells that are not deemed important, I consider myself fortunate because we are regarded as vital: We are laboring in the muscle that moves the heart, I think outside it is called the myocardial. 15 Alfredo, as a person, counts on certain periods of rest. In fact, a third part of his day is dedicated to relaxing in an effort to recharge his energy levels, and this is good, but I will tell you that, we as cells, never get a chance to take

The direct cost of only one year for obesity treatment in the United States is 51,000 million dollars and indirect treatment is estimated at 47,046 million dollars. These figures represent a 7 percent of the total money spent in this country. Wolf and cols. Current Estimates of the Economic Cost of Obesity in the United States. Obese Res 1998;6(2):97-106. 13

In the United States, 65 percent of adults above the age of 20 suffer from obesity in various degrees, but their consumption of refined sugar, including fructose, continues to increase and has moved beyond an amount of 55.5 kilograms annually per inhabitant in 1970 to a shocking 69.1 kilograms in the year 2000. Cordain L. and cols. Origins and evolution of the western diet:health implications for the 21st century. Am J clin Nutr. 2005;81:341-54. 14

This word comes from myo (muscle) and cardio (heart).

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a break while the organism remains alive. Many outside donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know it. But our only time to rest is between heart beats. We would have liked to have told Alfredo that some regular or moderate exercise, would have helped his situation, and would have given us a break from time to time,16 because if he had been in good physical condition, his heart beats, while at rest, would have had more space in between one another, and we could have rested a little bit more. We have never been complainers, but lately, we have had many serious setbacks; due to a series of modifications that Alfredo made in his diet, many different components were getting stuck to the internal walls of his blood vessels, which eventually caused them to shrink and made it difficult for us to receive the supplies we needed. Basically, we lost our capability to function in an efficient manner and severely complicated our capacity to do our job. Several weeks ago, the simple act of climbing stairs almost caused us to collapse because the routes to feed us with nutrients and oxygen were partially blocked. In this situation, the brain ordered an increase in the pulse rhythm in order to raise the blood flow, and due to the slowdown in the supply of nutrients, we were one step behind to suffer from a crisis that could have been fatal. We can not find a solution to this problem, because without the steady feeding of oxygen and nutrients to Experts estimate that a person in good physical condition has about 79,000 heartbeats per day (55 per minute average) while those in poor shape have about 108,000 heartbeats daily (75 per minute). Following this scale, people in poor physical shape will have about 37 percent more heartbeats daily, which, besides other things, reduces the period of rest for the heart muscles. 16

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the cells, not only we are in trouble, but the rest of his organs are also struggling to function.

DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS I am located in Alfredo’s intestines, and those on the outside call me enterocytes. My job is to digest and absorb food. You can’t imagine the amount of stuff I am capable of dealing with, among them, my comrades and I, convert carbohydrates into mono sacharides, fat into fatty acids, and protein into amino acids. I think Alfredo doesn’t have a clue as to what is going on in his body and is totally unaware of the problems he causes, especially when he stuffs himself with junk food. His diet essentially prevents us from properly converting lactose, maltose, and saccharose into galactose, glucose and fructose, which we are highly capable of doing. I don’t know where he got the idea to ingest refined sugar, and alter so drastically the job my ancestors and I have done so well for thousands of years. Genetically, they told me this was to be my function.17 Additionally, the food he eats comes with an elevated glucemic charge,18 and if this wasn’t enough, it doesn’t contain any fiber, which makes our efforts to facilitate digestion even harder; therefore, among other things, we cannot carry out the smooth transition of food through the intestinal system. Rumessen J. J. and cols. Absorption Capacity of Fructose in Healthy Adults, Gut. 1986 Oct; 27 (10):1168.8. 17

There is a correlation between the consumption of sugar and food with a high glycemic charge or index, with cholecistectomy frequency. Tsai CJ. and cols. Glycemic Load, Glycemic Index, and carbohydrate intake in relation to cholecistectomy in women. Gastroenterology 2005 jul; 129(1):373-5. 18

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I cannot blame Alfredo totally for this situation, he is just another innocent victim of the absurd modifications in diets invented in modern times, and no one warned him of the danger he was in. For this reason, it wasn’t a casual event that in the crisis we were suffering, where the food was unable to flow in an appropriate manner, the intestinal pressure increased to such an extent, that food residue became trapped in an organ known as the appendix, which sent Alfredo to emergency surgery to remove this section, and believe me, this operation saved his life. I don’t know why someone didn’t warn Alfredo about the risks he was taking by not eating the right kind of food, which drastically complicated our job. I knew, for example, that all of the carbohydrates that came at us in the form of flour and refined sugar, originally came accompanied with fiber and other nutrients, and I don’t know who the genius was who decided to eliminate them.19

There is evidence that the development of many chronic-degenerative illnesses associated with ageing, food modification of the western diet play an overwhelming role. These modifications can be grouped in the following manner: 1. Glucemic charge artificially altered by the addition of refined sugars; 2. Modification in fatty acids, which includes a great deal of Omega 6 and reduced Omega 3;3; alteration in macronutrients, diminished protein content and increased the refined carbohydrate calories; 4. A decrease of micronutrients content due to processing of natural foods; 5. The natural pH of natural foods is altered to an acidic pH which is equivalent to an acid charge of 50 mEq/dary, which triggers a low-grade metabolic acidosis, that limits the capacity of the body to confront osteoporosis and other illnesses. It is estimated that wheat alone contributes 38 percent to acidity; 6. These foods alter the sodium-potassium relation and 7. Have low fiber content, Cordain L and cols. Origins and evolution of the western diet: Health implications for the 21st. Am J. Clin. Nutr 2005;81:341-54. Flour for Man’s Bread, a History Of Milling. Storck J. Teague WD. University of Minnesota Press. 19

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Alfredo doesn’t remember either, that the “glue” elaborated in the form of home cooking by his grandmother,20 was precisely made with starch and refined sugar, and I don’t know why, now he is so surprised, when he suffers from gastritis and constipation, 21 because even though these ingredients are ideal for such goop, they are now the main components of his food. I am not sure, but I believe that this nutritional alteration was basically affordable and convenient for some businessmen. Here, I would like to see everyone that has cooked and provided such meals to see the problems we confront daily. I would also have liked to see them in Alfredo’s shoes, when he didn’t even have enough money to deal with a situation a specialist diagnosed as acute hemorrhoids. How easy it would be to work in normal conditions, receiving fruits, vegetables and more nutrients in their natural form, but for the moment we don’t have another choice but to wait and hope he would eventually take note of the damage he is doing to himself. Another advantage we would have, if we received the proper amount of fiber in its natural form in the food Alfredo ingests, is that the cholesterol that the body needs

In Mexico it is known as engrudo, or goop in English

In previous centuries, those who had access to a wider variety of refined products, were kings and wealthy citizens. Look at the case of King Charles I of Spain and V of Germany: The Venetian Baldoero, who spent time with the emperor from 1554 to 1557, confirmed that the king ate in a disorderly fashion: He consumed great amounts of fish, meat, fruits and sweets. 21

In consequence, the king suffered not only from gout, but also from constipation and hemorrhoids. Cited from the book Juana la Loca by Roberto Mares, Grupo Editorial (Publisher) Tomo, S.A.

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to get rid of, could be discarded, at least partially, through the digestive tract, but if this system is not working properly, this cannot be done. When Alfredo flooded us with soft drinks and other products, like junk food saturated with refined sugar, the PH levels in his stomach leaned toward the acid side. If he had opted to drink natural water, in the same natural way, the content in his intestines would have leaned toward a neutral PH level, which is exactly the status of common water. I wish one day Alfredo learns that if he drinks just simple water, he would help us compensate for the overflow of acidity and alkaline that eventually occurs. I consider that Alfredo could modify his eating and drinking habits and help us deal with the problems he is putting us through when he falls into the trap of sweet temptations.

STRATEGY We could go on and on for many pages talking about this, our dear sweet and starchy businessman, analyzing the interminable chain of effects 22 of something that appears as harmless on the surface, bad eating habits.

At this time researchers across the globe are conducting studies on this subject, they consider that a diet rich in refined sugar eventually leads to a myriad of health problems, like depression, instability, hyperactivity, including endometriosis, a great number of infections and some types of cancer. Sugar Blues by William Duffy, Warner books. Larsen SC, Friberg E, wolk A. Carbohydrates intake, glicemic index and glicemic load in relation to risk of endometrial cancer. Peet M. International variations in the outcome of schizophrenia and the prevalence of depression in relation to national dietary practices. An ecological analysis Br J Psychiatry 2004 may;184:381-8. However, for the effect of this book, we are limiting the health problems we could identify more reliably with medical facts to support our claims. 22

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But we would have to write a much larger and extensive book – talking deeper about refined sugar and tasty treats – but we decided to offer a more streamlined text. However, we consider that what we have exposed so far, is enough – in very general terms – to enlighten you about the sad panorama about health. Besides, the situation is not limited to the personal realm, because being a country the sum of individuals, the damage extends to the social and economic grounds. In one occasion someone said: What is good for a bee is good for the hive, and on the contrary if something hurts the individual, believe us, everyone ends up paying. Being like this in whatever part of the world, if the health of the citizens is deteriorating, then the whole nation will feel the impact. At this time in history, each country suffering from the illeffects of bad eating habits has to employ a vast amount of resources to help its growing sector of sick citizens, 23 which has become a huge obstacle on the road to development and social well-being for many countries. Essentially, money spent on resolving these health problems could have been spent in education, research, housing, water supplies and a host of other social problems.

In the United States, Latin America and Europe, these countries allocate millions and millions of dollars to treat the ill-effects caused by these sweet temptations, which do not include the regrettable costs of human lives. It’s very important to mention that if this current trend continues, in a few years the costs will not be measured in billions of dollars, but in trillions. 23

Arredondo A. Zúñiga A. Economic consequences of epidemiological change in diabetes in middle-income countries: The Mexican Case: Diabetes Care 2004; January 27(1):104-9. Hogan P. and cols. Economic Costs of Diabetes in the US in 2002, Diabetes Care, 2003; mar 26 (3):917-32. Jonson B. and cols. Revealing the costs of type 2 diabetes in Europe. Diabetología 2002, jul; 45 (7):S5-12.

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We are not sure, but we suspect that you, our complacent businessman, may have lost your enthusiasm to enter the refined sugar food business, especially after all we have told you so far, but taking into account the availability of the market and financial goals, we think we don’t have any better options. Judge for yourself: The first solution, and perhaps the most honest one, is not to get involved in this business, and to promise society you won’t fill their bodies with your merchandise, but, in order to compensate you, for your honesty and concern, people should send you a check every year, to help you with you personal finances. This first option will probably make you look a little bit crazy, because we believe that our selfish compatriots would prefer to spend their money on their personal wants and needs, such as education, clothes, automobiles, housing, trips and many other things, and perhaps you will receive not even one check. So we can forget about this road. The second alternative would be, that you dedicate yourself to the production and commercialization of natural products, but we don’t dare recommend this, because your earnings would probably not be very big and your job would be more complicated. You would have to confront problems that you couldn’t even imagine and your ambitious goal to become extremely wealthy by the easy way, would not be around the corner. One alternative we haven’t even mentioned would be to enter a wide-variety of more complicated activities, using more advanced technology. Applying current norms, your efforts in this field of endeavor, would enable you to 60

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succeed with your first objective, which is making a profit, and with this, without even noticing, you could carry out your second and invisible objective, which would be producing useful goods and services for the community.24 However, in this alternative, your margin of utility would be more reduced, and in addition, you would have to invest in research, training and diverse types of infraestructure, but as we perceived that you are rather interested on the easy way of doing things, we feel this does not go for you. So, we have no other alternative, but the same one we recommended at the beginning of this book: Make use of the little tricks we suggested, sweeten your products with refined sugar to make them tastier and pretend to be unaware of the problems they cause. The reasons why we are asking you to continue along this path are obvious. If you analyze the value of the components in a bottle of sweetened water, with artificial flavorenhancers, or a bag of donuts or other sweets, you will appreciate that your direct cost, compared to the price to the public, represents a small percentage. Without having to be a financial genius, you will notice that even with all you spend on marketing, distribution and other costs, the difference will still be huge. And regarding the diverse articles you could create, believe us, the sky is the limit, with such a wide-variety of products such as soft drinks, muffins, marmalade,

The mechanism constitutes one of the basic principles of the free market system, which has existed throughout the history of social mankind, though conditioned to prevailing variants and norms of this period of time. 24

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syrups, fritters and crullers, cookies, chocolates,25 and an abundance of other junky food you could dream up, like we said from the beginning, if your customers deem your products as delicious, you will definitely achieve your financial goals. However, as each day more researchers are getting involved in the problems with junk food, and this tendency is expected to increase, which could throw a monkey wrench into your ambitions, don’t lose hope, it’s still possible you will be able to achieve your goal, but you will have to pay strict attention to the next three lessons.

The term Chocolate comes from the nahuatl word (Pre-Columbian Mexico) Chocolatl, which means “bitter drink”, and here we deduce two things, first, that Moctezuma, the ancient Aztec king, never read our manual (We forgive him because he existed five centuries ago) and second, if you were foolish enough to become attached to your true origins, you would not sell a lot of products with bitter flavors, which means you would have to transform your wares into another sweet temptation, so that the public will consume them without even thinking about it and your cash register will never get a rest. 25

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LESSON IV MARKETING As you have noticed, if you make an honest analysis of what we talked about in the previous lessons, you would have a pretty good idea of the problems caused to health by the products artificially sweetened with refined sugar. It’s possible that you might now have some doubts about putting your business in motion, or be worried about public opinion, but don’t worry, that is why we are here for, to give you advice. Look, in the span of our lifetime, we all face some kind of illnesses, and it is fair to say that we count on many and very important advantages; one of these advantages is the advanced communication system we enjoy in most parts of the world today. If we apply to all the marketing skills at our hand, we will make you look like a white sheep instead of a black one, that your critics try to create. Your products will appear to be authentically marvelous, all wrapped up nicely in cellophane – you will see.

PROPER FOCUS Remember one of the famous phrases attributed to Joseph Goebbels,1 that went like this: “Repeat a lie a thousand times and people will eventually believe it.” All of this indicates, our dear disciple, that this gentleman not only kept such ideas in his disturbed mind, but he went one

Joseph Paul Goebbels, (1897-1945) Propaganda Minister for the Nazi Party in Germany from 1933 until his death. He laid the ground work and foundation for the myths, which served as a base for the demented bellicose and racial policies of his party. 1

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step further by putting these concepts into practice with the aim of carrying out all the purposes of his political party. So, if propaganda is so effective in fooling the masses, why should you not apply these tactics to promote your products? For now, pay attention to what we have to say. In previous lessons, we ventured into the hard world of reality, now we will travel into the fragile world of appearances. In the realm of appearances, the important part is not what is real, but what the consumer perceives to be real. And this is where our astuteness comes into play. The first recommendation we would like to make is, that you contract the best marketing and advertising firm available, which will to create an appropriate image for you and your company. We don’t want the public to think you are a selfish person who puts wealth before anything else, in spite of knowing the harm you could inflict on your fellow citizens, do you? We assure you, that well-focused messages, will make you appear as someone who puts the community’s welfare before personal profits. And to prevent whatever future responsibility, you must contract also, legal and image advisors, who would make your customers, subliminally believe, that they are the ones who made the decision to buy your products and were never tricked or coerced to do so. Through the use of skilful media people, you will be able to sell larger quantities of your products. Don’t’ believe all products enjoy the same marketing freedom, judge for yourself: weapon’s manufacturers claim that they don’t pull the triggers, they just put the 64

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weapons on the market and, mean consumers, using their own judgment, decide to buy firearms and then use them. This way, weapon’s makers evade responsibility for the use of their products in criminal acts. But you have a great advantage over them, our sweet entrepreneur: In your case, you can freely use marketing techniques through massive means of communication, which is an abysmal but decisive difference. In the case of firearms, it wouldn’t look good if weapons’ merchants showed commercials on TV, radio, and magazines, that suggested it would be good to slaughter your school mates, or your neighbor, because his dog soiled your garden, or to be well-armed to engage in a little road rage. So, weapon’s merchants are prohibited from advertising their wares, but you can do just about anything you want. If they could openly use advertising to sell their products, you can imagine the type of society we would have. However – pay attention – what they cannot do for obvious reasons, you can surely do, and believe us, here is where the party begins. Until some stern legislation comes out that controls massive advertising to sell junk food, you are basically free to use this valuable tool to the best of your advantage. It’s certain that you will not obligate anyone to buy your products, but through a well-employed marketing scheme, you will promote your merchandise to such a degree, that people will buy the food or drinks without even thinking about it. Your advertising will do all the work, so rest easy. The marketing assault will ensure fat profits in no time.

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Don’t even worry about the eventual damage you will perpetrate on human health. It will seem incredible to you, but when something is managed properly, you will always find the way to propose something as harmless or justifiable. In a parallel fashion, you will note that there is a very common human impulse: If someone knows they are doing something inappropriate, his or her mind will naturally and automatically enter into self-justification, and will concoct a wide-range of excuses aimed at deflecting blame. 2 To amplify this a bit, on one occasion, one of the authors of this manual had the opportunity to converse with a person dedicated to a very damaging job. He was a lumberjack engaged in the uncontrolled cutting of trees. While he listened carefully, realizing this person converted beautiful woods into arid plains, he asked himself: How can he justify the grave environmental damage he is doing? How can he dare to do this? Shockingly but not surprisingly, “this wood entrepreneur” said: “The only thing I do is clear out old trees in order that new, smaller ones will be able to be planted and grow without obstacles.” We couldn’t believe that such cynicism could exist and that it was used to justify environmental damage. I would like to present another similar situation, one that will perhaps provoke a laugh or indignation on a common citizen, or someone who has not conducted a complete analysis. Take a look at this extreme case: A person dedicated to the production and selling of illegal narcotics, surely would try to convince us he was only producing and

This curious psychological mechanism is called rationalization. Whoever employs it, attempts to liberate himself or herself from any counter signals. 2

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supplying products that were in big demand. Of course he doesn’t accept he is doing anything wrong. If that kind of argument is used in these extreme cases, you can always argue that you are only making people’s life a little bit more sweeter, and appear to be as innocent as a lamb. Supported by your experts, you can always claim you are not doing anything at all to harm society. Once you have entered the very singular world of marketing, let third persons drop kind of small “research” notes, saying your products are harmless or even beneficial to the consumers. Through another example, you will understand what we want to tell you. On one ocassion, someone enjoying several glasses of wine told his friends: “It contains bioflavonoids, I saw it on television.” Surely, a little wine never hurt anyone, but what we want to emphasize, is how that research on alcohol use, was filtered in the media to promote its consumption, showing only one facet of the issue. The findings did not mention that alcohol abuse causes most of the traffic accidents and violent acts, and they also forgot to say that very few grapes contain bioflavonoids,3 also known as Vitamin P, and other nutrients that wine does not possess.4 Red grapes and red wine reduce the cardiovascular risks, probably through a correction in the endothelial dysfunction through flavonoids. The red grape, withouth secondary effects of red wine, in addition, corrects the adhesion of molecules that cause arteriosclerosis. Coimbra SR and cols. The Action of Red Wine and Purple Grape Juice on Vascular Reactivity Braz J Med Biol Res. 2005 sep; 38(9): 1339-47. 3

The endothelial dysfunction can be preceded by oxidative stress, the flavonoids, rutin and quercetin, have a strong antioxidative activity, Zielinska-Przjemska M and cols. Oxidative Metabolism of neutrophils in Obese Patients Pool Arch Med Wewn 2005 mar; 113(3):231-40. The excessive consumption of alcohol interferes with the formation of bone tissues, and could accelerate the osteoporosis process. Treatment of fractures and luxations, John F. Connally. Publisher, Panamericana, pages 19 and 42. The Sugar Blues by Dr. William Duffy Warner Books (USA) page 137. 4

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So, as a suggestion, you could also argue —in a direct or subliminal way— that through your product, people not only will indulge their taste but they will obtain quick energy. Regarding the disadvantages, simply don’t say a word. Don’t say that the energy burst will burn in the body like the head of a match, or the chimney example discussed in a previous lesson. As we mentioned, once the sugar burns up in your system, you will likely have a craving for more sweet food. But we insist. Don’t even mention it. And there exists a wide range of things you don’t need to recommend to your advertisers, they probably know it better than you. When the ad company shows someone enthusiastically enjoying one of your products, they won’t be using the image of a fat, slovenly person completely taken in by your sweet temptations.5 They will probably employ a good looking woman raptly consuming one of them.

SHARPEN YOUR AIM Like an archer, before shooting an arrow, first locate your target, in this fashion you should concentrate in those social groups that you think will favor your products, so that in accordance with this, you can tailor your advertising, the packaging and TV programs they watch,

Which will contribute to enlarge the group of chronic-degenerative illnesses, the first manifestation being Obesity (this condition is basically cited when the abdomen measures 94 cms, or more for men, and 85 cms, or more for women) and at least two of the following: high Trigliceride, (greater than 150 mgs/dl.); reduced high density cholesterol (below 40 mgs/dl. for men and below 50 mgs/ dl. for women); arterial hypertension (greater than 130/85 mmHg); and blood glucose higher than 110/mgs/dl. on fasting. 5

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and what they like to listen on the radio. You can select appropriate colors, cultural traits and tastes and many other things specially made for the type of public you want to reach. Now then, if we take into account that taste develops in the first years of our lives – without minimizing any other age groups – you should focus with special fervor in advertising towards the child sector, and in that way – independently of their immediate economic potential – the message will stay implanted in the boys and girls’ minds practically for the rest of their lives. This phenomenon will ensure your profits for many years. With this tactic, the infant sector will remain trapped, regardless of how hard a researcher tries to free them, talking about health risks. You will see that in spite of the efforts made by the dogooders trying to protect people from consuming vast quantities of sweet temptations, at the end, they will be only wasting their time. On one occasion, in the form of a test, a nine-year-old girl was given a plate of a traditional meal cooked in the ancient style, which did not contain sugar. The girl said: “This food has no taste.” This example, we can assure you, will be repeated for millions of people and illustrates how we become accustomed to artificial flavoring in our food and never want to change our diet. The refined sugar addiction is so strong, that even when a person, an adult, suffers from one of the illnesses we have previously discussed, and even if they have been warned by their doctors or specialists, or have read about it on authorized media, they continue eating and drinking

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sugar products, regardless of their illnesses. Isn’t this wonderful? Confidentially, don’t ever take responsibility for the illnesses of these little ones, when they become adults. “No one made them eat or drink these products.” One of the main objectives of an aggressive marketing campaign is to hook youngsters, so they will always crave for your products, 6 and all you will have to worry about is your financial profit. So, it’s best not to get distracted fretting about moral issues. As you will see, it’s best for you to concentrate your marketing attack on television and radio programs, geared toward children, we can assure you that these kids, for the rest of their lives,7 will remain your loyal customers. Don’t worry, you won’t be the only one involved in the sweet business, you will have plenty of company on your road, and the good part is, their advertising schemes will also benefit your products. Now, as this market segment deserves very special attention, remember that children are specially susceptible to vivid colors, atractive images and even better yet, products that contain little gifts. For example, if you are going to make small chocolate products, we recommend you that these sweet treats are wrapped in colorful paper, which is a form of attraction.

Cardiovascular illnesses, which are usually the main focus of researchers, are the principal cause of death and the origin of other cardio-degenerative diseases. Bad eating habits are considered the prime factor of risk in these cases. 6

Or at least while they are victims of these diseases, until their doctors prohibit the consumption of sweet food. 7

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MARKETING COSTS It is very likely that once you have reached this point, you will be a little worried about the enormous cost for an advertising campaign of this nature. Before going deeper into the subject, we ask you to grab a finely sharpened pencil. It’s certain that you will have to spend a great deal of cash on your marketing campaign, but don’t worry, the cost will eventually be passed on to your customers. Let us explain how this works. In the previous pages, you will remember that we explained that each product put on the market has a direct real cost, which except for a few exceptions, is incredibly small. Among the most important components of your products, refined sugar, flour, flavorings, conservatives, water and other lesser elements, you must analyze carefully that the percentages of these ingredients, that represent the direct cost, against the total sale price to the public, is no big deal. Where does the difference go? The remainder of your expenses will go to packaging, administrative cost, sales, transportation, colecting, detail percentage, taxes, your sacred profit and other expenses involved in running a business. Of all we have just mentioned, the most important aspect will be the money you pump into marketing and advertising, which obviously will help expand your customer base. But don’t fret, because when each one of your products is sold, your gentle customer, without noticing, will be paying back all the percentages mentioned, including of course what you spent in publicity. What do yo think 71

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about that? At the end the consumer will be the one paying for the ad that made him your customer. You must aggressively aim your ad campaign to the segment of the market that is most likely to buy your products, and ensure that these people will never be deprived of them. Whatever you do, don’t get tangled up on moral or ethical issues, because this will definitely hurt you ability to get rich. Also, you won’t have to tell lies, simply show the facet of the situation that is convenient for you. Remember this popular verse: “In this treasonous world, Nothing is truth or a lie, All depends on the color, Of the crystal you are looking through” On one occasion, someone tried to sell some land that was arid as the desert, and the buyer complained that he didn’t see any green on the property. Ironically, the seller said: “Put on some green tinted glasses and your wishes will come true.” We are not suggesting, our dear sweet disciple, that in order to sell your products, it’s necessary for you to lie through your publicity messages, we are just telling you, that the marketing and advertising professionals know how to make your customers see exactly what you want them to see. In most cases, they won’t have a clue as to what ingredients are in your products. It’s very important that we place these special lenses on the customers. Remember when we talked about the importance of propaganda in the previous pages. Why do you think that during the Second World War most 72

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Germans followed Hitler to the very end, knowing full well all was lost? The propaganda machine was so well conducted by the Nazis, that most of the German people did not know of the atrocities their government was perpetrating throughout Europe, and they remained totally convinced, or completely blind, that their leader was in the right path, and many believed this until the day they died. Well, we have shown you the road. Meanwhile, forget about all of this medical nonsense we have talked about and in the final lesson, we will show you how to shake all your worries off, but before that, we will show you how to make some additional savings.

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LESSON V REDUCING COSTS Looking at the title of this lesson you might come up with the following question: If the direct costs of sweet temptations can be so reduced compared to the selling price to the public, why should we be concerned with lowering this even further? Have faith in your advisors and listen to the voice of experience, we know what we are talking about. Once you see your profits swell, you will understand. You shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t lose sight of the benefits of marketing and other things we have talked about, because the broader your customer base is, the more pennies will add up, to quite a tidy sum of money. For example, we would like to cite just two cases where you can maximize your savings, which will eventually add greatly to your already hefty earnings. We picked two products for our demonstration that will become key ingredients in many of your products: Refined flour and fructose.

REFINED FLOUR Perhaps you know that before the XX century, in order to grind wheat and other specific cereals, the millers used big rocks,1 specially cut for this purpose. This allowed In some countries, such as Mexico, the grinding of cereals, such as corn, is done with an artisanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tool know as the metate, which is a polished grinding instrument made of stone. This process allows (in some parts of Mexico and Central America) the use of the whole grain. 1

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the millers to place the husk and germ with the wheat, which became integrated into cereal. Surely you remember that at the beginning of this manual, we told you that if you wanted to compete with natural products, you would be fighting a losing battle. We regret to tell you, we were not joking, natural products contain elements that at the moment these lines are written, are not completely studied yet. Observe for example, each grain of wheat possesses an infinite amount of nutrients, in the husk as well as in the germ, and surprisingly, among other things, it contains its own cellulose, indispensable for the adequate passing of food through your intestines. What do you think about this? However, observe what happens: At the beginning of the XX century, the miller, or rather the maker of mills, decided to employ wheels made of stainless steel, instead of the traditional stones, to make the grinding process easier and facilitate production and commercialization. This innovating process made it possible to separate completely flour, bran and germ, which lowered the cost of milling and produced a flour so fine, it would have made the best manufacturer of powder, envious. This modification in the milling process, which appeared to be a great technological advance of the time, had a long series of repercussions on human health. These repercussions included irregularities in the absorption of starch and other long list of digestive problems such as gastritis, constipation, appendicitis, hemorrhoids, and a weak capacity to discard cholesterol, among other problems. 76

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Which one should be your position about all this? You, our sweet apprentice, must be focused on maximizing your profits. So, as refined flour is cheaper and easier to use, pretend you don’t know about the inconveniences of its use, and use it as much as you can. Really, you have to remember that your business is not a charity. Your state of annual losses and profits will appreciate your attitude. Let the customers take care of themselves. This will make them become wiser. If they begin to make noise about this, just add bran to the dough and say you are using whole wheat flour, and we assure you that few people will notice it is refined flour with some bran added. If you promise not to show it to anyone, we will show you the graph 3 that shows the amount of nutrients that are lost when wheat is processed. It’s best if you do not show your customers the extra profits you earn by using refined flour, or powdery flour, they will not understand your weakness for making money and blame you. All things considered, it’s best to keep our little secret. In case some dreamer decides to improve the health of the population and opts to make the same products you make with refined flour, but with whole wheat flour, we assure you he will see higher costs. So, unless you are under pressure from society, always use cheap or refined flour.

FRUCTOSE So, in order to compensate for the cost of this manual, we want to recommend you another phenomenal 77

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GRAPH 3 PERCENTAGE OF NUTRIENTS KEPT IN FLOUR, AFTER THE REFINEMENT PROCESS VITAMIN E VITAMIN B MAGNESIUM MANGANESE NIACIN FIBER ZINC POTASSIUM TIAMIN PHOSPHORUS COPPER A. PANTOTEICO CALCIUM PROTEIN CALORIES

NOTE: Watch that the only percentage increased, is the one of the calories. SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Nutrition. (http://www.nal.usda.fnic).

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ingredient that has been used more and more in recent decades, fructose.2 As you and other entrepeneurs of the food and drink business, have managed to hook many customers to sweeter tastes, we will explain you why this ingredient is used so much. Before discussing the inconveniences on people’s health, we will show you the advantages of using fructose on your products. The good news for you is that fructose is cheaper, which will help boost your earnings, and if this wasn’t enough, this element has close to 1.7 percent more sweetening power than common sugar, and this will bring something that perhaps you haven’t thought of: you will need to use less product in order to sweeten at the same level. If you wonder why fructose is cheaper, we will give you a simple answer: From a ton of sugar cane, you can obtain close to 12 percent of saccharose3 (the cane contains about 13 percent of it); in contrast, you can get 60.7 percent of fructose from a ton of yellow corn.4

Fructose, also known as fruit sugar, is a monosacharide (C6 H12 06) found in sweet fruits and honey. Actually fructose is consumed as high fructose corn syrup, extracted from yellow corn. 2

Taken from a thesis to obtain a Masters In Public Policies written by Gonzalo Suarez Prado: Analysis of the Institutional Efficiency in the Sugar AgricultureIndustry in Mexico, the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, Feb. 1999. 3

Op. Cit. Idem. Additionally, yellow corn can generate various by-products, such as oil, bran and gluten. You will only lose about 10.6 percent of each ton; while in each ton of cane, 85 percent will be non-useful. Because of this, fructose price in the market is sustancially cheaper than cane sugar (‘sacharose’). If this weren’t enough, the production of corn in the United States – a large pro4

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So, the advantage of using fructose is too obvious, because this ingredient will definitely reduce your costs. You don’t have to be a genius to understand that you must use fructose instead of saccharose in your products. The advantages don’t end here, and one of these is psychological. Look, at least for appearances sake, the simple use of the term fructose will seem to the consumers as something less harmful than common sugar (saccharose, dextrose and others), because fructose gives the impression of being a benign product extracted from fruit, when in reality, it comes from yellow corn, which some countries use to fatten cattle in a shortest time. And talking about all the supposed advantages of this product, we will add up some more: You can combine fructose with other sweeteners to lower your production costs and furthermore, the sweet flavor will last longer and taste stronger than if you use regular sugar. In other words, these additives will make food or drink products much tastier. 5 Our advice would not be complete, if, at the same time that we are explaining the financial benefits of using these ducer of fructose — is notably superior compared to other competitor and this massive production helps knock down the prices per ton of corn. (Dividing the greatest number of tons per hectare between the cost of production per hectare, creates a lesser cost per unit), which in turn, lowers the cost of fructose. Other commercial advantages of using fructose are: 1.- The smaller fructose molecule compared to glucose’s and other sweeteners, allows the industry to obtain a greater microbes stability in the product, without sacrificing the necessary moisture for maintaining adequate texture; 2.- It’s highly soluble in water, which favors the product’s moisture, and is hygroscopic, or absorbs water from the atmosphere, which is an advantage over saccharine because it inhibits crystallization and prolongs the shelf life of your products, and this accordingly prolongs their sale and consumption. 3.- Reduces the freezing points. 4.Favors the brown colorization of bread and its consistency and maintains 5

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additives, we would not warn you about the inherent health dangers of these products. Accordingly, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seek to discourage the use of fructose in your products, because we are aware of your desire to make tons of money in this business, but you must understand, at least confidentially, the health risks involved in this financial endeavor. You have to be prepared in case you receive a lawsuit and put in risk all you have worked for. So let us take a look at the risks involved in using this sweetener. Additionally to the problems inherent to the consumption of refined sugar, which were discussed in Lessons II and III, one of the primary observations made by researchers was that fructose triggers a different organic response. Fructose causes a lesser insulin reaction in those who consume it, and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think it is benefical, on the contrary, the experts have proved that a weaker6 insulin response the brilliant red color of catsup and preserved strawberries. 5.- Favors the viscosity of foods and softens starches, and 6.- Takes up less space than saccharine and has a greater resistance to the contamination by fungus. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1993;58 (suppl):724-32S. The lack of stimulation in the production of insulin on the part of fructose is probably due to the low concentration of the carrier of fructose glut5 in the beta cells.Iinsulin regulates body fat through the central nervous system through the inhibition of food ingestion and energetic homeostasis, but the reduction of insulin in the central nervous system results in hyperphagia (eating excessively) and eventual weight gain. The increase of free fatty acids in the liver result in the production of low-density lipids. 6

Currently, researchers estimate that inhabitants in developed countries consume close to 90 or 100 grams of fructose daily, compared to the 16 to 20 grams consumed daily from fruit for thousands of years. And the hepatic exposure of the figure mentioned, stimulates the formation of fat and the accumulation of triglycerides, which contributes to the reduction of hepatic sensibility to insulin, as well as an intolerance to glucose. The habitual consumption of refined fructose generates oxidative stress, causes digestive changes and alters hormone plasmatic levels in the hepatic metabolism and induces endothelial dysfunction (or damage to the internal walls of the cardiovascular system), Heater B. and cols. Fructose insulin resistance and metabolic dyslipidemia. Nutr. Metab. 2005 feb 21;2(1):5.

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favors the formation of triglycerides and alters how the body manages fat.7 At the beginning, some nutritionists thought refined fructose was less of a risk than saccharose, at least for diabetics, because it did not show immediate strong effects on the bodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blood sugar and insulin; however, exactly because of this delayed reaction, the damage eventually done to the human metabolism can be more extensive. 8 In this form, a reduced quantity of fructose, like the one you ingest when you eat fruit, has benefits for the body,9

Schwartz J-M, Neese RA, Schakleton C, Hellertein MK, De novo lipogenesis during fasting and oral fructose ingestion in lean and obese hyperinsulinemic subjects. Diabetes 1993;42(suppl):A39 (abstr.). 7

Schwartz J-M, Neese RA, Turner SM. Nguyen C, Hellerstein MK. Effect of fructose ingestion on glucose production and the novo lipogenesis in normal and hyperinsulemic obese humans. Diabetes 1994;43(suppl):52A (abstr.). Alan R. Gaby MD. Adverse effects of dietary fructose. Alternative Medicine Review 2005;10(4):294-306. 8

This investigator warned that an excessive and habitual consumption of refined fructose represents a serious risk for the health, since it is a powerful reducer * that promotes the formation of final toxic glucosilation products**. It assures that, in addition, they play an important role in the process of individual aging, as well as in the development of vascular, renal and visual problems, as well as in the development of arteriosclerosis, and, even, influence in an increasing number (prevalence) of obese and in serious hepatic damages. (*) The reduction capacity of this sugar (fructose) refers to how easily it transfer its electrons to an oxidant agent. (**) The glucosilation is the nonenzymatic reaction in the glucose-protein reaction. Pacheco Leal, Medical Biochemistry 2005, Publisher Limusa, S.A. de C.V. 9 Surely this is due to the catalytic function on the hepatic glucose uptake, as an effect through hepatic glucocinasa and also stimulates the hepatic synthesis of glucogen and restores the hepatic ability to produce glucose from hyperglycemia. Shiota M. Galasseti P, Monoham M, Neal DW, Cherrington AD. Small amounts of fructose markedly augment net hepatic glucose uptake in the conscious dog. Diabetes 1998;47:867-73.

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however, once the fructose digested exceeds a certain limit,10 the effects could become harmful. In his research, Dr. Alan R. Gaby, 11 warned that the constant consumption of refined fructose speeds up the aging12 process, and he also described other concerns such as renal, hepatic, ocular problems, and accumulation of sorbitol, an increase in oxidative stress, as well as obesity, which triggers a lot of other illnesses. The ill-effects of fructose consumption still haven’t had a great impact across the globe, because its use is fairly recent, but researchers warn the consequences in the future could be widespread and dire. In this interesting research, which hopefully will be known by many people in the medical and scientific community, they also cite that regular and excessive consumption of fructose not only causes the problems we discussed, such as the acceleration of the individual aging process, but also contributes to an increase in uric acid levels.

It’s worth mentioning that the limit mentioned, in countries known for habitual consumption of sweet temptations, is completely passed up. They consider that before, the use of refined fructose in food, consumed naturally from fruit, was an average of 16 to 20 grams daily, and currently, the average ingestion is 100 grams per day, and adding other refined sugars (sucrose, dextrose, maltose, etc.) is considered too excessive. Nutr. Metab. 2005 feb 21;2(1):5. 10

Op. Cit. Idem.

Researchers say this influences chronic degenerative illnesses and aging process, in a laboratory analysis (in Vitro), the percentage of non-enzyme glucosilation of the hemoglobin – elements associated with the aging process – was 7.5 times higher, as well as the percentage linking cross proteins, which were 10 times greater with fructose than with glucose and furthermore, generates, by still not defined processes, final products such as pentasidine. Op. Cit. Idem. 12

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It also says that it is possible to induce the metabolic syndrome13 in a healthy person, even if the individual only consumes a quantity of fructose equivalent to 25 percent of his daily intake of calories. Furthermore, researchers have also affirmed14 that habitual consumers of fructose can develop diabetes, (see graph 4) even when the fructose does not indicate an adversely affect glucose and insulin blood levels. To reinforce these findings, the researchers conducted an experiment on healthy rats. They placed moderate amounts of fructose (15 percent of the weight of their food portion) which provoked glucose intolerance, which is one of the first steps toward diabetes, and the rats that received larger portions of fructose (72 percent of the total food portion), developed diabetes with all its negative consequences. In his expose concerning the influence of fructose on blindness, Dr. Gaby15 also showed in a study of healthy rats, that all of the rodents fed with 68 percent of carbohydrates from refined fructose or sucrose, exhibited pathological changes in their retinas, similar to diabetic retinopathy, even when their levels returned to normal levels. On the other hand, rats fed with glucose,16 demonstrated no changes. The metabolic syndrome is a condition characterized by high levels of fat and sugar in the blood, weight gain, high blood pressure and a decrease in HDLC (High density lipid cholesterol), as we cited in previous lessons, frequently associated with increases in insulin in blood. Experts consider this condition develops when body tissue changes in such a way that it requires itself each time a greater amount of insulin, in order to obtain the same results (resistance to insulin) and the pancreas responds by increasing the insulin secretion. The G.I. Factor, Hodder and Stoughton, Dr. Antony Leeds and cols. Publisher Panorama. 13

Alan R. Gaby MD, Adverse effects of dietary fructose. Alternative Medicine Review 2005;10(4):294-306. 14

Op. Cit. Idem.

This doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean that the rest of refined sugars (sucrose, dextrose, etc.)

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GRAPH 4

PREVALENCE OF DIABETES (persons/1000)

35 20 30 25

20 10

15 DIABETES

10 HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP CONSUMPTION

5 0

0 1933 38 43 48 53 58 63 68 73 78 85 88 93 1996

YEARS INCREASING PREVALENCE OF TYPE 2 DIABETES IN THE UNITED STATES BETWEEN 1933 AND 1997 WITH INCREASING PERCENTAGE OF CARBOHYDRATE INTAKE OF CORN SYRUP PER CAPITA. SOURCE: AM. J. CLIN. NUTR. 2004 MAY; 79(5):774-79.

CARBOHIDRATES FROM CORN SYRUP (%)

INCREASING FREQUENCY OF TYPE II DIABETES IN RELATION WITH HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP CONSUMPTION

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In a study of 38 diabetic patients with the highest levels of fructose in the blood, the patients had 75 percent more proliferative diabetic retinopathy, which was significantly superior to those who had medium or low levels. Well, our dear sweet businessman, it’s a regrettable panorama, and don’t even think about telling this to your customers. How can you tell them now that the fact of getting used to sweet flavors is harmful? Imagine if you will, an acceptation of a likewise repercussion in human health, caused by your innocent and sweet temptations, would be like accepting that, the growth of your company came about by condemning the multitudes to live an authentically miserable existence, with many succumbing to premature deaths and others, suffering terribly, while you read these lines. What would you say to the families of the victims who died because of your products? Could you tell them that you created that sugar craving in order to make your business grow? That you were only trying to increase you earnings, like any other shrewd business person? Don’t even think about it. Just pretend you don’t know anything about it. Even better, it might be a good idea to burn this manual when you finish reading it. Perhaps you should focus on making a fortune with your sweet temptations and don’t give a hill of beans about the consequences. And worse still, as the tendencies indicate, thanks to unhealthy food, that through the years the number of

does not have the same harmful effects mentioned in previous lessons, but that fructose (refined), causes damage in a different way, sometimes even worse.

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obese individuals, diabetics, hypertension sufferers, people with kidney problems, others going blind will rise, and along with the enormous costs of treating these diseases and, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget, legal fees, you could put yourself in a seriously risky position. For all of the above, our starchy entrepreneur, once you have burned this manual, we ask you to go forward with your plans to provide your public with the widest range of sweet temptations, with the aim of increasing exponentially your consumer base. As far as health issues are concerned, that is another story, probably, they have lived too long already. Meanwhile, we are sure no one will know what you are up to.

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LESSON VI MAINTAIN APPEARANCES SOCIAL PERCEPTION We suppose at this point that you are convinced that in order to have a successful business, you have to make your products as tasty and attractive as possible, and conduct an extensive advertising campaign, while at the same time, you have to keep your costs low, with the aim of boosting your profits. All of this said and done, we wish to touch upon another salient point: The importance of keeping up appearances. Our suggestions fall along these lines: As you will remember in previous pages, we stressed that the important thing is not the health of society, but how citizens perceive your products. All the rest, forget about it. If we seem a bit obsessed about the importance of advertising, it is because you know that if people become aware of the dangers to their health by consuming your products, by counter information against your sweet treats, they could make changes in their diets, or in the worst case scenario, some cases could end up in courts or legislatures, which would really put a big dent in your earnings. On a parallel line, we wish to expose this aspect in a more concise and brief fashion, because we know that you might decide not to use this manual as originally proposed, or even burn it, therefore, facing this eventuality, we would like to leave you with an easier task. We want to convince you of the need to maintain appearances, in the easiest possible way. 89

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First, we will explain what is going on in the social field, and in the coming pages, we will offer you some options so you can try to modify the perception of society.

REALITIES At this time, in many countries throughout the world, unprecedented demographic changes are taking place and studies show many of the populations are ageing. We have another vision that we wish to share with you. Many demographers, surely with the best of intentions, consider men and women close to the age of 60, dependent or retired, as “old”. What happens is, that, when parameters were set, many years ago, life expectancy was much shorter, and despite the fact that humans are living longer nowadays, the parameter of 60 years still holds firm in many places. Whoever conducts a superficial analysis should realize that the age at which people should be considered senior citizens and/or dependent persons, should be elevated to the same proportion of what is deemed the life expectancy rate. Don’t you think this should be done? It would surprise you to realize what is occurring today: The immense majority of specialists in this field — with a few honorable exceptions – haven’t even suggested to make a change in the classification of senior citizens, nor have they taken note of these demographic changes taking place with no parallel in history. Its is very important to make these adjustments to be able to carry out accurate demographic studies. If these demographic realities are not factored in, what are the repercussions for society? This will generate the 90

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following effects: On one hand, the statistics will – inaccurately – classify many adults as senior citizens, when they still have much to offer to society and to the communities in which they live. On the other hand, the pensions of retired persons will increase in such a way, that it will become impossible to pay out these funds, and each time there will be more people, who will spend more years retired than working.1 Furthermore, perhaps it is not just about mere population ageing, but rather a recuperation or rearrangement of the normal age that a man or a woman should live. In reality, what impeded this was, that our human nature, plagued by confrontation on all sides, obstructed all sort of medical, scientific, economic, and educational advances, which, if carried out many centuries ago, could have improved substantially our socioeconomic situation, among other important aspects of our lives and accordingly, lengthen our life expectancy. Speaking of conflict, allow us to show you an example: Surprisingly, there are still many people who oppose global integration, which they deem as a threat, and fear this natural tendency toward unity and universal cooperation. Despite the fact that through extraordinary re-

If we add up the period of our infancy, and later the preparation for life – or to say the years spent in school or universities – and after this, the period of retirement after our productive years, the following will occur: At the moment in which the life expectancy rate elevates, while leaving static the classification of what is deemed as senior citizen, the proportion of what is considered dependent persons compared to productive life, without any doubt, will be harmful for the individual and his or her’s community and it would be criminal to waste the most important resource that we have: The physical and intellectual capacities of human beings. 1

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search programs, like the one on the human genome, it has been completely demonstrated,2 that all of us come from the same gene pool and furthermore, as it for the advent of true development, we had another option, but to integrate what should have never been divided. We are discussing this subject because, the fact of achieving this harmony and unity among all people who inhabit the planet, would contribute in a few decades to rise life expectancy rate to levels we couldn’t even imagine today. As a mere reference, we would like to show you a paragraph that pertains to this theory and it is cited in a book known for its universal literary excellence – The Bible – which says: “But the LORD said: ‘My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.”3 Allow us to pass along an anecdote: One of the authors of this text during a trip to Germany, had the chance to read a newspaper in English and an advertisement caught his eye. The classified ad said a company was looking for a chief executive of the first level, and among other Human genome map. According to these extremely important studies, which represent a historic event comparable to landing on the moon, we can now prove that all human beings are from the same origin and not only this, but each individual shares 99.99 percent of humanity’s genetic map. In virtue of this, we see the paradox that they have found more similarities – genetically speaking – among different ethnic groups, than among individuals of the same “race.” In consequence, according to one of the participants in this scientific research, Svante Paabo, it is well supported the thesis of a planet and humanity as parts of the same whole. 2

http://comunidad.vlex.com/dergenitica/declunigenomaDDHH.htm/ www.ondasalud.com. Book of Genesis, 6:3. If you desire to analyze this paragraph in an historical context, one of the characteristics of the Pentateuch, ( “implementation of five 3

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requirements,4 the ad said: “Don’t bother applying if you don’t have at least 55 years of age.” At first, the writer thought the advertisement was wrong, but he perused other classified announcements for workers and they also posted the same requirement. It came to his mind that most developing countries consider 50 or above to be retirement age. If we conduct a careful analysis, we will see that perhaps when a person is mature and has accumulated a great deal of experience and knowledge, is when he or she can be the most creative and productive. Believe us, these could be the most beautiful and profitable years of our lives. But this concept comes with a key condition and this is why we are discussing this topic. The main question is: Are these people entering the golden years of their lives in good health? Think of it this way. What is the use of reaching these magnificent years if our health is bad and our quality of life is deplorable? If you, our dear and self-denying disciple, attempt to obtain your financial goals by offering tasty products, intentionally altering their glucemic index, you are causing a huge health damage to your customers, as many specialists across the globe will attest to. books”) is a Greek word that is derived from two words: penta meaning “five,” and teukhos which means “implement” which comes from the Hebrew Bible’s of: 1.Genesis. 2. Exodus. 3. Leviticus. 4. Numbers. 5. Deuteronomy., they were written on rolls of papyrus and many traditionalists believe they were scribed by Moses; however, in these books coincide many erudite concepts, at least in some parts, they use other older text, such as the Book of the Lord’s Wars. Study bible, United Bible Studies, 1994. Among other qualifications, the ads were seeking for someone that had master degree and could speak four languages. 4

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Now we can see a completely different social panorama. Under these conditions, what type of senior citizens will we have? How would this influence their personal, family and community well-being? What would be the cost? What benefits could be derived from healthy and active senior citizens? What else could be done with the billions of dollars spent on treatment for those suffering from the cited illnesses? Look, if we talk about statistics, they can be very scary and they would not even come close to describing the width and scope of problems caused by the consumption of junk food. The reason is very simple: If John Smith dies at the age of 55, after having suffered from a myriad of metabolic dysfunctions, his doctor would certify his death with the mere statement: heart attack, or accidental vascular trauma or some other complications. In most cases, the doctor signing the death certificate would not explain the real origin of the illnesses the deceased suffered from. Therefore, these illnesses do not enter into the statistics. But this doesn’t mean you can cry hallelujah at this time, and/or slide away from your responsibility, because more research into these matters is being conducted everyday, and sooner or later, the whole bitter truth about the effects of the sweet temptations will come to light and will be understood by consumers. And then, all “the sweet entrepeneurs” assets put together, won’t be able to cover not even a small percentage of the devastating social damage they have caused. For this reason, you should always try to stay ahead of these events by controlling appearances and ensure that, if you cannot bury the whole truth of the matter, you 94

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can endeavor to at least make things so murky that the average consumer will not be able to completely grasp the situation, and therefore, business can go on as usual. In the meantime, ignore the pathetic reality and, use smoke and mirrors to manipulate the perception of society, which will, if not totally exonerate you, will at least confuse your responsibility in these matters.

APPEARANCES To start with, it is of the utmost importance to make it very clear in the mind of consumers, that if more and more people are suffering from diabetes, it is because of genetic factors and not related to poor diets. You and I both know that it is certain that our genetic makeup, in reality, predisposes a determined organic response in the face of the food we eat, but it is precisely the wrong kind of food, what triggers this type of illness, whose personal, social, and economic consequences are immesurable. Thanks to all the hard work and sacrifice of sweet sellers like you,5 in their effort to offer sweet temptations, have ensured that in almost all countries with induced diets, the consumers, eat the equivalent of more than a 130 pound sack of different types of sugar per year average. If you have sufficient resources â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which is why we insist that before anything else, in order to maintain your financial strength â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you must proceed in this way: Obtain

See graph 4 in previous lesson, whick shows that the more refined sugar is consumed per year, the more diabetes increases. 5

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favorable opinions about your position, that talk about how harmless your products, made with refined sugar, are to the public. Though a great deal of doctors and specialists will reject your point of view, you will not lack those who will attribute all of the illnesses to different reasons, and leave refined sugar and artificial flavorings out of the equation. Upon reading or hearing the most insignificant defense about your products, whether or not it is well-founded, seize it and use it for all it is worth, to justify your position. If you can get favorable opinions on your products, ensure these statements go on television or radio, and most of the public will deem this information as gospel. Later, as discreet as you can, instruct your advertisers, without much noise, that the economic and social damage done by your products is no big deal, and if public or private health institutions have to deal with any of these problems, well, that is what they are there for. We assure you that the majority of your customers, will never see that the enormous cost of treating sick people is eventually passed on to taxpayers. On the other hand â&#x20AC;&#x201C; also subliminally â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you must induce people into the easy way culture, so, if someone has two options on the table, one that is nutritive, not too attractive, and takes a few minutes to be ready, and one that is very tasty, zero nutritive, and takes only a second to open a package and eat it, always steer to the one that is less complicated. In the worst case scenario, imagine that the majority of your customers opt for the more nutritious food, what would happen to your business? This is why we strongly suggest that you, as discreetly as possible, keep steering 96

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the public toward instant gratification and into the easy way culture. Would you like to know who is your ideal customer? Perhaps you have heard of an organization that labors mightily to help alcoholics quit drinking, known as alcoholics anonymous, which operates on a principle of living life one day at a time. Well, my ambitious friend, this is the perfect customer for you, only backwards, or to say, only today I will eat this or that, tomorrow, I will begin a healthy diet and these people will say this, one day after another, indefinitely. What do you think about this? But creating a profile like this is not easy, so, as we suggested in previous pages, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always best to start manipulating your customers when they are children. Sure this method has some additional inconveniences, look, if you continue to push people into the easy way and instant-self-gratification culture, they will take it seriously and make it a habit, and they might start acting like this in other situations, favoring other type of addictions. If some health official begins to get wise, and inform the public of the culture of prevention, trying to convince people of making healthy living a habit, you can always get your advertising people to start a live for the moment campaign, or live it up while you can because life is short. Most people could improve the quality of their lives by eating healthy food and taking care of themselves, but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry, the majority of citizens will listen to advertisers, without putting much thought into it. 97

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Whenever you come across campaigns that promote heart care or good eating habits, donate time and money to these efforts. Don’t worry about the cash spent on this, because it will be good advertising for your company and for your public image. You will appear as someone who cares a great deal for the well-being of society. Your accountants will find a way to make your donations tax deductible and you will eventually pass the extra cost of your generosity off to the customers. Another road you can take at the same time is to let the public know that your business generates lots of jobs. Between you and me, we both know that if people didn’t spend their hard earned cash on your products, they would spend it on education, recreation, cultural activities, clothes, automobiles, trips and many other things, and this activities will also create jobs. If someone gets smart and starts making noise about the harm your sweet temptations cause, discreetly leak something to the media in the form of a warning, or alert about the economic conflict that would occur if millions of tons of sugar or corn syrup are not produced and all the people throughout the world, who could lose their jobs, if cane or corn for making sugar is not planted, harvested and processed. In fact, most people are focused only on their own issues and won’t notice the huge amount of sugar that could be transformed to produce alcohol and add it to fuel, which will help reduce air pollution.6

That is currently occurring in Brazil and the United States, where they add “ethanol” (about 22 percent) to gasoline. Alcool carburante uma estrategia brasileira (Alcohol as fuel, a Brazilian strategy) Leo da Rocha Lima, Aluizio de Abreu Marcondes, Publisher UFPR. Brazil. 6

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On the other hand, if you are in the bottled soft drinks business, and no one has noticed how much could be spent each year individually and collectively in this sector, all will be perfect, specially if the same officials involved in health matters become part of your customer base. In this scenario, you will see nothing but smooth sailing. But if someone wants to make a fuss about the health problems caused by soft drinks, and exposes you to the citizenry, it could come to light that you are pulling the wool over society’s eyes.7 For this reason, it is indispensable that you continue to send constant subliminal messages through our massive worldwide communications network, to convince people of the wonders of your products, and at the same time, make them think about the great economic benefits of these types of businesses. We guarantee you, that using this type of tactic will drown anyone screaming about the dangers of soft drinks and junk food. There are many ways to defend yourself from the onslaught of criticism,8 many of them can be developed by your advertising people, and through this strategy you will ensure One of most noted environmentalist researchers, Luis Manuel Guerra, says that in countries where people don’t drink water from the faucet in their own homes, is the more expensive water, because such citizens are forced to consume soft drinks or bottled water, with a myriad of problems because of the ill-effects of soft drinks on the individual, the pollution from the trucks that deliver the water and if that is not enough, more garbage to deal with, due to the waste of plastic bottles from soft drinks and water. 7

If you are concerned about the labels because they have to show the amount of refined sugar used in your products, don’t worry, all you have to do is alter the names a bit. You can name them like this: Sucrose, dextrose, dextrin, galactose, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, malt extract, and many others. You must pass some time with a chemist advising you and you will be surprised by the number of different names he or she comes up with. With all the terms to play with, you can write on your labels: No sugar content. 8

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no one will threaten your business again. Now we will describe the fast and easy track toward riches. You should use all the weapons we told you about to perpetuate the current state of affairs, extending these efforts until the situation appears practically unsustainable. If you behave wisely, you will even be seen as a model businessman, but we insist that you always be prepared to react to any changes in the population’s consumption habits. If all this bothers your consciencie, let us remind you, that our unconscious citizens left you no choice. How are you going to pass the money from their pockets to your bank account? In previous pages, we told you that the most honest way to do this would be to ask for an annual check from each man and woman in your country, which they would send to you and your competitors, but you must promise, you won’t fill the store shelves with your sweet temptations. However, it’s possible that your ungrateful customers prefer to spend their money on personal or family activities, instead of making you rich, which leaves you no choice but to act, taking drastic, though discreet measures. Being like this, let us be logical: Like a fisherman carefully baiting a hook to catch a fish, sweeten your products, apply a wide-range of marketing techniques to the utmost, and for your protection, maintain certain appearances. This way, you won’t have to go through the embarrassing process of asking folks to send you money, because automatically, the cash register of your business will stay perpetually active, while you look like a true pillar of the community. 100

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FINAL WARNING

If you decide to become a sweet businessman and refrain from worrying too much about the social effects of your products, we firmly believe that if you follow the process we set down for you in this text, adding some of your own ideas, you will achieve financial success. With the pass of time, the financial strength you acquire, will allow you to develop the image you always desired to have. However, if you don’t want to harm your fellow human beings but instead, you want to develop your talents in a healthy field, sacrificing the chance to become wealthy, we believe you have made the correct decision, and we would like to congratulate you sincerely. Forgive us if we express our believes, but the biggest tragedy in the history of human race, is considering the individual goals separate from the community’s welfare. This has been a grave social error with immeasurable dire consequences for humanity. As a matter of fact, we will also tell you, that some sociologists have affirmed that, in effect, there has been a disassociation between personal and social interests.1 By analyzing this a little deeper, we will see that this separation only exists on the surface, in the minds of Opinions of authors such as William F. Ogburn, Eldridge and associates, Erich Fromm, Laura Bender and H.S. Sullivan, are cited in the book Sociología (Sociology) by Luis Recasens Siches, (Publisher Porrua). They discuss the existence of rational interests (referring to parallel interests such as the one between father and son, or husband and wife), and irrational interests (those 1

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people who have limited vision. Because even if we wanted to, the objectives of individuals cannot be separated from those of the community as a whole. If human blindness and superficiality have allowed many human beings to behave as if this separation exists de facto, this doesn’t mean, socially speaking, that things should be this way. What is good for the bee is good for the beehive, or vice-versa. Those who don’t see things this way are only fooling themselves. Dear reader, just as the interest of the smallest or the biggest cell in your body cannot be disassociated from the interest of the entire body, in the same way, the interest of any man or woman in the planet, is necessarily related with the rest of humanity. Humanity, regardless of culture, nationality, or gender, is interconnected, and it is regrettable that this is not yet fully understood. The poignant aspect of this is, not only that societies do not operate is this fashion, but that we are not sufficiently astute to recognize this fact. Most of our social conflicts stem from it. If you decide to become a seller of sweet temptations and make piles of money, putting the health of society at risk, let us tell you something: You cannot fool all the people all the time, and sooner or later what you do, will be exposed, and the consequences could be dire. which are, supposedly, opposite in nature, such as between boss and the worker, where one expects more work at a lesser salary and his conterpart wants the opposite). Going a little deeper into this subject, all interests of human beings are rational interests (using the same terminology) and in fact most people do not see things this way. That doesn’tt mean that life does not work this way, but because of a lack of social vision, many do not see our existence in the whole context. This social dynamic can be demonstrated in a relatively easy manner, but we don’t have the space to do so in this book.

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Don’t believe for a minute that now that you are fortified by your wealth and praised for the good things you do, you are protected from the consequences of your actions. Don’t get too comfortable. Now we will offer you a statement that better explains the problems that accompany too much adulation. These are the words written about Pope Alejandro VI (Rodrigo Borgia): “Wide and tall, bathed in purple, black eyes, full lips, radiant in health, which help him happily overcome the fatigue of the priesthood and the weighty matters of the Church and its pleasures: always jolly, brilliant, humorous and courteous. There is not one person who does not marvel at the harmonious balance of this powerful and sovereign nature, shining with joy, benevolence and Olympic placidity.”2 Most human beings would succumb to such flattery, don’t you think? A few years after this person received such adulation, he passed away, and his admiring followers scattered other realities that came to light. For your own well-being, we suggest that you do not pay too much attention to sycophats heaping praise upon your person, for these words will distort reality and land you in all sorts of problems. Finally, we exhort you to focus more on selling products that would not be as profitable as sweet temptations, but would be of great benefit to society as a whole. Don’t forget that all of us form one big human team called the world, and what we sow, we shall reap. Phrase taken from the book Lucrecia Borgia, un destino difícil (Lucrecia Borgia: A Difficult Destiny), Publishing Group Tomo, S.A. de C.V., by Marcela Altimirano, Pag. 22. 2

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AUTHOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES This written material refers to a situation that could exist on any planet outside of our solar system and any similarity with events in your country is merely a coincidence. Notice that we did not exactly indicate what planet we are talking about, and if you are a sweet businessman and hope to make a journey to prove the veracity of our concepts, we will not be responsible if you get lost in space. The End (If you didn’t notice, this is the end of the manual)

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Tell me what you eat, And I will tell you what you suffer from Gustavo Cruz Santiago Don’t seek to be what you are not, To get what you think you want Many things when living. Rather look to think about What you can generate If you have to fool your brother And you must give him false food It’s my duty to warn you That false appearances Will someday come back to haunt you In the world, what we do Eventually comes back to us It’s not important if it comes late Or someday visits upon you children Because this is the way of it Juan Manuel Ochoa Torres Do not dig your own tomb with your teeth. Hector Garcia Villegas

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As we have said from the beginning of this text, this book has a dual purpose. It can serve as a tool for the sweet entrepreneur to seek his or her fortune, or it can be used by any reader wanting to stay away from sweet temptations. For this reason, we can recommend to the sweet entrepreneur additional texts, so that he or she would have more control over their finances, as well as some type of recreational activity so that he or she doesn’t feel ashamed or feel remorse for the great social damage caused or, to those who wish to stay away from this culinary plague, we ask you to please read the following:

APPENDIXES A, B AND C

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APPENDIX “A” CARBOHYDRATE CONTENT IN DIVERSE FOOD This appendix seeks, as a first step, to give you, our dear reader, an idea of the different percentages of carbohydrates that many types of food contain, so that you can, with the advice of your physician, choose the desired level you wish to consume. If someone assures you that they have found their ideal diet and they say this diet consists of the complete elimination of carbohydrates, or the loyal following of the moon diet, then we must say this person is deceiving himself. Health is not found in extremes, but in balance. Each one of us should find, with the help of experts and according to our weight, age, physical activity, genetic background and other factors, what is the appropriate amount of carbohydrates we should consume. If this level is agreed upon, the individual should not exceed this amount if he or she wants to stay in excellent health. We invite you to read the following list of foods with the carbohydrate content in each one of them.

CEREALS

Amaranth 65.10% Barley 75.40% Oats 67.00% Polished rice 78.80%

Precooked rice 82.50% Puffed rice 88.60% Rice flour 79.70% Rye (bread) 53.40%

CORN AND DERIVATIVES Cereal meal 75.60% Corn flakes 86.10% Corn flour 77.40%

Corn flour 78.80% Corn powder 85.60% Corn tortilla 45.30%

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Rye (grain) 73.40% Rye (wole bread) 58.30% Rye (whole flour) 74.80% Whole rice 77.40%

Corn, wheat tortilla 40.60% Dough w/calcium 62.20% Yellow Corn 69.60%

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WHEAT AND DERIVATIVES Bran 56.70% Salted Crackers 69.70% Spaghetti 75.20% Sweet bread 60.80%

Sweet Cookie 66.80% Pastas 72.80% Wheat flakes 80.50% Wheat flour 77.80%

Wheat Germ 46.70% White bread 62.10% Whole bread 54.00% Whole wheat 73.40%

Garbanzo 57.10% Lentils 58.70%

Lima bean 63.10% Soybeans 33.50%

Almonds 13.30% Cocoa 26.10% Walnuts 13.20% Pumpkin seeds 12.20%

Hazelnuts 11.70% Chestnuts 32.50% Pine kernel 16.80% Pistachios 19.00%

Avocados 7.60% Celery 4.20% Beets 10.90% Yellow squash 4.90% Peas 25.20% Cilantro 2.60% Yellow corn 32.60% Asparagus 5.00% Green beans 13.10% Lettuce Stalk 4.10% Cactus 5.60% Pore 14.10% Green tomatoes 4.50% Mint 7.70%

Garlic 36.20% Eggplant 5.90% Broccoli 5.90% White onion 9% White squash 2.70% White cabbage 5.40% White corn 21.70% Spinach 1.70% Mushrooms 4.40% Tomatoes 4.30% Cucumber 2.40% Radish 4.30% Purslane 4.90% Carrots 10.50%

Potatoes (regular) 17.50% Yucca root 9.60%

Yucca 28.20% Yams 17.50%

BEANS Bean (average) 58.50% Bean flour 59.10%

NUTS AND SEEDS Sesame seeds 13.30% Peanuts 21.50% Sunflower seeds 13.60% Peanut butter 28.20%

VEGETABLES Chard 4.80% Artichokes 16.50% Cabbage 2.90% Italian squash 3.70% Chayote 6.60% Serrated Chile 7.20% String beans 3.50% Endives 3.30% Pumpkin flower 2.70% Corn fungus 6.24% Turnips 3.30% Parsley 10.90% Pilgrim stew 4.90% Cactus pears 5.20%

STARCHY ROOTS Yellow sweet po. 28.30% Chayote root 17.50%

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FRUITS White star apple 9.90% Sugar cane (sap) 17.20% Yellow plums 17.90% Yellow peaches 11.70% Pomegranates 23.40% Figs 19.20% Lime 10.50% Tangerines 12.00% Apples 16.50% Oranges 13.40% Nispera 12.40% Green apples 15.90% Bananas (Tabasco) 22.00% Prisco 9.70% Sloelike fruit 22.00% Grapes 17.80% Yellow sapota 20.00%

Sugar cane 17.20% Apricots 11.00% Red plums 11.80% Strawberries 7.00% Custard apple 6.50% Jicama 8.70% Lemons 10.70% Mango (Manila) 11.30% Melons 6.30% Orange (juice) 10.40% Papaya 9.80% Pineapple 12.40% Bananas (regular) 23.40% Watermelon 7.20% Grapefruit 11.10% White sapota 16.10% Xocoyol 6.60%

Cherry 16.80% Cherimoya 24.00% Coconut (juice) 4.70% Mulberries 10.10% Guava 11.80% Kiwi 15.90% Mamey 16.20% Mango (creole) 9% Quice 15.30% Nectarine 11.80% Pears 15.90 % Pitahaya 10.40% Red apple 16.40% Tamarind 62.50% Prickly pears 8.10% Sapota fruit 14.50% Blackberries 12.80%

MEATS In general, meat do not contain carbohydrates, but you must select what type of meat you eat regarding to fat content, choosing the ones that have less fat. So we suggest first fish, then turkey and chicken, beef, and as a last choice, pork.

LACTOSE Cow’s milk 4.80% Skim pow. milk 51.90% Pow. maternal milk 55.10% Aged cheese 0% Chihuahua cheese 1.90% Camembert cheese 0.50% Manchego cheese 0.50%

Condensed milk 54.40% Pow. whole milk 38.40% Fresh goat milk 4.40% Fresh goat cheese 8.70% Roquefort cheese 2.00% Cheddar cheese 1.30% American cheese 1.70%

Evaporated milk 10.00% Natural yogurt 4.70% Maternal milk 6.90% Fresh cow cheese 5.00% Oaxacan cheese 3.00% Skim cottage cheese 2.70% Cottage cheese 10.00%

EGGS AND FATS In general, eggs and other fatty foods (from animals or vegetables) contain almost no carbohydrates, and you 111

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should choose these foods accordingly to their fat content.

SUGAR, SYRUPS AND HONEY Brown sugar 90.60% Molasses 60% Corn syrup 75.00%

Refined sugar 99.10% Bee honey 78.00% Flavored maple syrup 72.00%

Maple syrup 65.00% Cane honey 72.60% Sugar loaf 90.60%

VARIOUS PACKAGED AND CANNED FOODS Chocolate w/sugar 75.10% Prunes 89.10% Proc. strawberries 23.60% Fruit jams 80.30% Tomato catsup 25.40% Mayonnaise 4.60% Orange marmalade 57.50% Potato chips 53.30% Proc. pineapple 29.80%

Powdered choco. 73.20% Prune juice 17.40% Ice cream 17.20% Tomato juice 5.40% Apple jam 57.40% Marmalades 60.00% Fruit nectars 24.20% French fries 36.00% Tamales 39.70%

Chocolate milk 73.90% Dry dates 73.50% Processed figs 22.90% Tomato sauce 10.10% Apple juice 13.80% Mustard 6.40% Potato flakes 51.80% Raisin 77.00% Oat flakes 66.00%

We are fully aware that the afore mentioned list only shows carbohydrate content, so that you can select what amounts are suitable for you, and we reiterate that each one of the natural foods described, contain a diverse amount of vitamins, enzymes, minerals, fat, fiber and various nutrients that are also important and should be taken into consideration. Before moving on to the next appendix and concerning the list above, it’s important to consider the following factors: I.- You should not only evaluate the carbohydrate content in each product but also the amount you are going to eat. For example, garlic contains 36.20% carbohydrates, which seems high compared to other foods; however, the portion you usually consume is very small, besides, this product also contains other valuable elements in regard to its anti-oxidative content. 112

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II.- You should also pay attention to the weight of each product. For example, if amaranth is a cereal that contains 65.10% carbohydrates — similar to corn with 69.60% — the weight of each product is completely different. A cup of amaranth would weigh 50 grams and a cup of ground corn without sugar would weigh about 220 grams; consequently, the carbohydrate content of a cup of amaranth would be 33 grams, while ground corn would be 166 grams. III.- You should also evaluate the fat content of each product, plus the type of fat, as well as the amount and type of fiber and various nutrients. These factors will determine the speed of absorption of carbohydrates, and the importance of the components in the food. IV.- Keep in mind that the exact carbohydrate percentage of each natural or processed food can vary a little, depending on the variety, source, geographic zone and other variables. V-. It’s important to seek out diversity in the type of food you eat, in order to get all the proper nutrients your body needs, excluding products containing artificial glucose derived from refined sugar and refined flour. That’s because these possess a low level of nutrients, as well as a long series of harmful elements previously discussed in this text. For this reason, many producers add to their labels a wide range of vitamins that have been added to their products. The better alternative is to look for vitamins you need in natural foods. Source: Tables of nutrition value of the foods most consumed in Latin America. Salvador Zubirán Nutrition Institute. Tables compiled by the following specialists: Miriam Muñoz de Chávez (National Cancer Studies Institute), Adolfo Chavez Villasana and associate researchers, Pax Publishers (Mexico 1996)

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APPENDIX B FREE YOURSELF OF SWEET TEMPTATIONS We congratulate you for assuming your right to take care of the most important thing you possess, your health. Furthermore, generally speaking, life expectancy rates have fortunately increased and we should all take good care of ourselves, to maximize the years we have been given. Here are some recommendations to live longer and happier lives. But first, we insist that you should’t be afraid of lowering the sweet entrepeneurs profits. At the end of this appendix, we will tell you why. As for your personal wellbeing, we assure you, you can free yourself completely from eating this kind of food, which has become dangerous for you and your family. We are convinced that now that you know about the damage it does to your body, you will have no problem giving it up for good. The road to freedom from sweet temptations is not as hard to travel as many people might consider. The specific route will be personalized and will depend on: 1.- The years you have consumed junk food and accordingly, the amount you have ingested on a daily basis. 2.Your weight, age, physical condition, family medical history and other personal characteristics. Accordingly, your personal doctor would be the best source of advice in this situation, but we will offer some broad suggestions, which we clasify in two groups: I.- If your metabolic system has not been altered yet, which we hope has not occurred, the route we suggest involves the following: 115

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a. Limit as much as you can, or preferably do not eat at all food that containes refined sugar or refined flour. b. Consume carbohydrates that we should all ingest, through natural food, trying not to abuse those that have a high percentage of carbohydrate content (See appendix “A”). c. If you are trying to control your weight, keep in mind that the most important element in all of this, are carbohydrates, followed by fats, the amount of food consumed, exercise, habits, and other factors. Your doctor should be able to give you guidance in this matter. In your efforts to control or lose weight, you shouldn’t give up natural carbohydrates entirely, but try to control the amounts. However, we strongly suggest that you completely eliminate refined carbohydrates from your diet, and we are convinced you will be pleasantly surprised by the results. d. Limit, as much as you can, your consumption of alcoholic beverages, trying not to drink more than the equivalent of one glass of wine or one beer per day. Heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages can cause many health problems, especially damage to your liver, which is one of your key organs. e. Exercise periodically, though don’t overdo it. If you are not exercising right now and want to start a program, begin with some light workouts, such as walking. Please consult your doctor before beginning an exercise program. f. Try to consume food with fiber on each meal, but in moderation. g. Drink enough water, 6 to 8 glasses per day. h. Be mindful of tricky advertisements trying to convince you to eat junk food. Many are done in such a way as to confuse the consumer. One example: Refined sugar in all of its forms can be harmful, but 116

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only when consumed in excess, as if it wasn’t excessive1 that in many industrialized countries the average annual consumption per inhabitant is higher than 60 kilograms (close to 164 grams/daily, derived from an infinite amount of products). Always keep in mind the purveyors of junk food are focused on making profits, and not on your well-being, your family’s or the community’s. If you must consume refined sugar, the ideal amount would be perhaps 10 or 20 grams per day (or 4 to 6 kilograms per year). These amounts should be determined by your current health and of course, with your doctor’s approval. Allow us to tell you something that would make this clearer: On one occasion, we were chatting with a patient who had kidney problems, and we scolded him for consuming excessive amounts of sugar. This person told us he didn’t eat a great deal of sugar, per se, but consumed a few soft drinks, donuts, and some other sweet food. No one would be foolish enough to sit down and consume refined sugar by the spoonful, but many people do not realize, that by drinking only two soft drinks and other types of junk food per day is the same as if an individual consumed close to 150 grams of sugar daily (55 kilograms annually), which is something, we assure you, your system is not prepared to deal with. i. Try to keep your proper weight. Your doctor can help you with this. The term excess is discretional and with some people’s overeating nowadays, can be involuntary. Allow us to show you some parameters so you can judge for yourself: If the average consumption of sugar in the U.S. Is more than 65 kilograms of sugar per year, this is the equivalent of an individual consuming 178 grams per day. In concrete terms, that means that your endocrine system could suffer 3.6 times a day the glucose and insuline impact shown in graphs number 1 and 2 in lesson II. The rushes of insulin and glucose will only last for a few hours at first, but could eventually lead to severe metabolic alterations, such as diabetes and many other illnesses discussed in the text. 1

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j. We recommend that when you eat fatty foods, try to limit the amounts and opt for vegetable oils, such as oil from olives, sunflower seeds, macadam nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, peanuts, etc. Try to stay away from hydrogenated fat like margarine and other similar products. k. You must adopt a preventive attitude to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Always remember that if you feel something is wrong, regardless of how minor it is, always go see your physician. Little things eventually grow into big things. l. Try to get all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients you need, from natural food. If for some reason you cannot get a convenient diversity of foods, supplement this deficiency with multivitamins. m. Try not to eat too much on each meal. Too much food at one sitting, will alter your insulin levels. Also keep in mind your body functions are not the same during the 24 hours a day has. During the night, your metabolic and cardiac activity decelerates, as well as your temperature and other parameters. For this reason eating a big meal late at night, is not good for you. We recommend you eat at least three hours before going to sleep. n. Design you life to fit your needs. Many people will give you advice on how to manage an exercise regimen, but we are all not alike and you should develop one that takes into consideration your weight, age, metabolic capacity, availability, likes and dislikes and other personal factors. o. When you eat fruit, try to eat it complete, removing only when necessary peels or seeds. If you only eat part of the fruit, as it happens with juices, you will deprive yourself of the much-needed nutrients and fiber your body needs.2 Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always best to consume your food entirely, or you will eventually suffer stomach or digestive problems. When food is being chewed, your mouth secretes ptyalin and your stomach secretes clorhydric acid, both of them trans2

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p. If you have children, try to include them in these healthy habits because your example is crucial to their development. If they grow up with healthy eating habits, they will more than likely stick to them when they are adults. We know people, that even when they know they are putting their health in danger, by consuming certain type of food, they just can’t stop. II.- Now, if you have been converted, or you are close of becoming another victim of the sweet gentlemen we have described, we suggest you add the following recommendations to the aforementioned ones: a. Go and see a specialist as fast as you can, though make sure he or she has a good grasp of the problem. A good conversation with the specialist will help you understand what you are dealing with. If this doctor does not prohibit the consumption of refined sugar and flour, or does not try to regulate your consumption of carbohydrates, then this physician is probably not the right one for you. b. Give your physician all the information he or she needs in order to solve your problem. With this information, you and your doctor can determine your glucose tolerance, as well as your personal Critical Carbohydrate Level or CCL.3

form part of the food into monosacharides and the pancreas will contribute with other important substances, so that the enterocytes can carry out their important work. If food is only half chewed or refined, this will cause many problems. The food will be absorbed in an irregular way and cause a series of digestive discomforts. It's not healthy to take your digestive system lightly. Most people don't think very much about this important function of their bodies. The Critical Carbohydrate Level is the personal level of carbohydrate consumption at which the body shows certain metabolic alterations, we recommend that you don’t exceed them. Cited from several books by Dr. Robert Atkins, one of which is titled The Dietetic Revolution, Publisher Grijalbo. 3

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c. In your case, given the stage at which you are right now, stay away from refined sugar and flour, and put a limit, according to your personal needs, in products that contain whole wheat flour; you don’t want to go beyond your personal CCL. If you consume carbohydrates, look for those that are absorbed at a lower speed like polisacharids (generally they don’t have a “sweet taste”). And try to stay away from monosaccharids and dissacharids which are mainly found in products with refined sugar. According to your doctor, who knows your glycemic and insulinic response, try to consume only fruit that contains less than 10 or 11 percent of carbohydrates (see apendix A). We repeat, each case should be considered separatly. d. Try to exercise daily. e. Eat vegetables on a daily basis, except those with high carbohydrate levels, such as potatoes, yams, etc. The percentage of personal carbohydrates consumption depends on your doctor. We have met people with severe pancreas’ damage and even the smallest ammount of carbohydrates ingested — specially monosaccharids and disaccharids — has a high rate of response on sugar levels. f. All the instructions such as weight control, consumption of fiber and water, limited ingestion of animal fat, should be carried out as prescribed in previous paragraphs. You should erase from your list alcoholic beverages and soft drinks with refined sugar. g. Ignore charlatans who claim their miraculous potions can cure you, and also ignore those messages from the food industry that assure that artificially sweetened products are not bad for you. There is plenty of scientific and medical evidence that prove totally the contrary. h. One of the key moments is when you do your grocery shopping. If you take home the wrong kind of 120

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food, it is probable you or a member of your family, might eat it. So, watch what you buy. i. You should adopt a preventive attitude at all times. Always be on guard against products that will eventually cause you health problems. j. We also recommend that, when you or your doctor consider it useful, carry a notepad with you at all times to record the foods and drinks you are consuming. This is a very effective way to keep track of the amount of carbohydrates or refined sugar you are ingesting on a daily basis. This information could also be helpful to your doctor in case you develop some physical problem. We assure you, that if you avoid eating refined carbohydrates, and follow your doctor’s advice, you will reach an optimal physical condition and weight, without having to start one of those exotic diets. k. Always try not to overeat, but be mindful of what you are receiving so you get the proper amount of nutrients. Your doctor should be able to help you with this. If you feel you need more food, it is better to eat more on smaller portions daily. Try not to think about this as a difficult task to perform, but as an effort to assist you in living a healthy and full life. Just try these recommendations for three weeks and you will be surprised by the results. Think you aren’t on a “diet”, but eating properly, the way we all should eat. However, if you have to struggle mightily with this, then it is certain sweet businessmen have achieved their goals. You might be addicted to junk food and drinks. But it is never too late to free yourself from these products. Your organism will be forever grateful. We know an infinite number of people who have followed these recommendations and have succeeded. These 121

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people are now enjoying a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy and other natural products. Mother nature has so much more to offer, than that bunch of sweet garbage, that besides, will ruin your teeth. On the other hand, don’t worry too much about the future of the processed food and drinks’ industry. These companies will not lose their profits, nor fire their employees. They simply will move toward the true social interests. However, the key for this transformation to occur, is not that they will make it happen, but that you, me, and other consumers with purchasing power, will force them to make changes, in order to think more about the wellbeing of society, than in lining their own pockets.

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APPENDIX “C” OCULAR ALTERATIONS CAUSED BY DIABETES Dr. Hector Garcia Villegas M.C. MSP 1 A majority of specialists throughout the world know that the number of people who die from diabetes are not measured by the day, but by the hour, and this tendency is growing at an alarming rate. Those who do not die from diabetes, are usually stricken with different diseases, that stem from this illness, such as renal and heart problems, loss of vision, loss of limbs and neuropathy. The worst part of all is that, most people don’t even know what they are suffering from, or they are on the road to contract one of these illnesses. It’s important that citizens know, that all the complications derived from diabetes usually appear in the longterm, but these maladies are nothing more than the consequence of bad eating habits 2 throughout many years. Once this problem appears, it will bring repercussions especially in the vascular system (basically in capillary blood vessels) and the problems will be eventually spread throughout the body via the circulatory system, since this system is the natural way to provide good nutrients to all cells in the body. Dr. Hector Garcia Villegas is a medical surgeon at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), interned at the Mount Vernon Hospital in New York, did post-graduate pediatrics work in the first course for military doctors at the Hospital Central Militar (Central Military Hospital), possesses Masters degree in public health and Medical administration from the Escuela de Salud Publica of Mexico (The Public Health School of Mexico) and did post-graduate work at the Barraquer Ophthalmology Institute at Barcelona, Spain. saludocular@yahoo.com.mx Telephone (52)(55) 5540 6382. 1

Genetics, excess weight, lack of exercise and age are other factors that can cause diabetes. 2

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Now we will discuss ocular diseases caused by diabetes. The main damage of diabetes is usually towards the patient’s retina – because of the vascular problems mentioned above – and nowadays is the principal cause of blindness in countries with industrialized diets. We regret to tell you that the retina is not the only part of the eye affected. Diabetes can also cause blurry vision, alterations in the immune system of your tear ducts, paralysis of the extra-ocular muscles, duplication of the cornea’s basal membrane, cataracts and optical neuropathy. Blurry vision (the diminishing of sharp vision) is very often caused by macular edema, which is not rare in diabetes sufferers. Tired vision can also evolve early in a diabetic patient and this is due to the accumulation of neuritis, which adversely affects the nerves of the muscles involved. It’s a well known fact that the function of tears is not only limited to a mere mechanical washing or moistening action of the exterior eye, but serves as an immunological protection from external agents. The important function is also diminished by diabetes. Some cases of double vision (diplopic) are often the consequence of the alterations of the glucemic level, which is common with diabetic patients. It must be noted that emergency ocular surgery can be very difficult and risky for diabetes sufferers. The pupil response to light is also deficient in those who suffer from diabetes. In these cases, the risks of suffering from glaucoma, cataracts and neuropathy are notably higher. Now then, if we analyze the diabetic retinopathy, we should say this encompasses retina alterations caused by diabetes, and as we mentioned beforehand, this 124

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disease deteriorates vascular capabilities. But, perhaps, you might ask: How does this process occur? For a blood capillary to function properly, the presence of cells called pericytes is indispensable. Pericytes serve as support to blood vessels, and at any given moment, perform other tasks such as cell reparation, control of vascular diameter to allow more blood to flow, and also defend the cells from absorbing foreign external particles.3 If for any reason there are no pericytes, the capillary vessels would be rendered unable to function, and the capillary walls could dilate, generating micro aneurisms, which would impede circulation and the natural exchange of gases (oxygen for CO2). This process, could cause hemorrhaging, provoking the loss of transparency in the optic nerves, which could trigger coagulation, fibrosis, retraction and occlusions of the capillary vessels, asphyxiating the retinal cells. 4 Why would diabetes damage the pericytes in a patient? You would be surprised to learn of the many wondrous things that occur in the interior of our bodies: As a crucial defense mechanism, the body is prepared to carry out the phenomena of apoptosis, which is a cell programmed to die, or a suicidal cell. If a cell is infected with a virus, cancer, metabolic alterations,5 or any dysfunction, that impede its Kawamura H, Kobayashi M, Li Q. Yamansh S. Kasumura K, Minami M. Wu DM and Puro DG: Angiotensin-induced effects on the physiology of the pericyte containing microvasculature of the rat retina. Journal of Physiology (London) 2004;56l:671-683. 3

Sugiyama T. Kobayashi M Kawamura H. Yamanishi S. Katsumura K and Puro DG: Regulation of P2X7-induce pore formation and cell death in pericyle containg retinal micorovessels. Am J Phys. 2005;288:C568-C576. Yamanishi S, Katsumura K, Kobayashi T and Puro DG: Extracellular lactate as a dynamic vasoactive signal in the rat retinal microvasculature. In Press (doi:10.1152/ aipheart.01012.2005) 4

Retinal cells are modified neurons that do not have reproductive capacity.

Greatly caused by poor eating habits.

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proper functioning, these cells destroy themselves (autosacrifice themselves), through various biomedical mechanisms, in order to protect the tissue they belong to. Now then, an insulin deficit or a cellular resistance to insulin, derives on an increase in glucose in your blood and tissues, which causes at the same time, an advance in Aldosa reductasa, an enzyme widely distributed in tissues, including nerves, kidney and retina. And if we consider that glucose is converted during its metabolism, in fructose, to arrive at this point, one of the intermediate steps is to transform itself into sorbitol. If this accumulates along with glucose in some cells, this will cause osmotic damage. Meanwhile, this specific enzyme, called Sorbitol deshydrogenase, will cause a biochemical imbalance, that will trigger an increase in free radicals, provoking apoptosis and destruction of the pericytes. And if we consider that your body, with your eyes, brain, heart, kidneys etc, is nothing but a marvelous biological machine, that has evolved for thousands of years, we must reflect on something very important: Is it worth it to put it in serious danger, by following those businessmen, who intentionally alter the glucemic content of some products only motivated by their monetary interest? Believe us, the manufacturers of the wide variety of sweet temptations donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even measure the great amount of bitter consequences they will cause. Fortunately, we, as human beings count on an ability to make individual decisions, and it is in our hands to 126

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adopt a preventive attitude in order to live a healthy and happy life. This is why we should pay regular visits to our medical specialists, who will open up a wide variety of crucial programs designed especially for you. And by following such a qualified advisor, you will be able to develop your personal and social goals. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t allow your existence to be limited or truncated by a few greedy ambitious people. In other words, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t dig your grave with your teeth.

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This book is dedicated to the innocent victims of “sweet businessmen.” With confidence there is still time to modify your habits, and change many things in your life.