From the Directors

From birth onward, we have been directly and indirectly targeted as consumers. Constantly bombarded by images, slogans, fearful persuasion and seductive temptations, we have been molded into unsuspecting purchasers. This is not necessarily a conspiracy; it has more to do with corporate greed. Some of the many items dangled before us are necessary, suspect only because we neither need so much so often nor in the method proposed. Clothing, housing, transportation, recreation, pharmaceuticals and glitzy niceties are in the hierarchy of necessities advertised, but the most vital need, food, tops the list. Subliminal advertising is no longer legal in most parts of the world, but since the universal addiction appears to be FOOD, food itself seems to be an exception to that rule. Cookies, cakes, ice cream, candies, pizzas, fatty foods, highly seasoned chips and other snacks seduce us into zombie-like consumption. How often have you found yourself peering into the refrigerator or driving to a restaurant when you may not even be hungry? This is most often provoked by ongoing programming from promoters combined with the prevalent blood-sugar concerns most of us experience. Obesity is the blatant evidence of our overindulgence.
    From the beginning of the health food industry there has been a history of adapting misfits and labeling them health foods. Look at some of the names in the hall of fame that are simply industrial by-products that have become profit-makers instead of expensive discards – cod-liver oil, wheat-germ oil, brewer’s yeast, whey protein, wheat bran, rice bran, oat bran, etc. To top this off, many “health manufacturers” have learned that if they slap the word “organic” or “natural” on the side of a package, the same non-nutritive items will sell since this label relieves the buyer’s guilt. Notably, such “false foods” as sugar, flour products, dairy products, coffee, so-called healthy fats, sodium, alcoholic beverages, and chocolate – yes, even raw cacao – all play a role in reducing health and promoting disease. Endless effort and expense have been expended by advertising agencies to find ways to make the unhealthy appear healthy. Spin doctors are notorious for fulfilling the old adage, “If you tell a lie long enough, people are apt to believe it.” There is no product easier to sell than one to which people are addicted. Large health food chains have learned to manipulate the public by offering the “same old, same old” dressed up in a new package with not only a gourmet sticker but a gourmet price. We both knew at an early age that not everyone in the health-food manufacturing sector was canonized. We were shocked, as were many of you, the first time we saw health-food cookies and potato chips on the “sacred” shelves that we believed were devoted to ethics and purism. At a young age we found ourselves falling into the same former patterns of fat and sugar consumption that many of you suffer today. There is literally no difference between white sugar and fruit sugar or table salt and Celtic Sea Salt. The results of consuming too much of these items are less health and more disease. Additionally, as we replace one stimulus with another, we are not truly arresting an addiction but prolonging its agony. Resolution requires a concrete determination to eradicate the addictive “food stuff.” Of course, when consuming such unhealthy fare the justification most often used is that it has beneficial properties. In fact, if you scientifically analyzed recreational drugs you would probably find aspects of their structure that can also be beneficial, but few of you reading this would be willing to indulge in that illicit activity. We do not speak as judges, but as friends who previously indulged in the same type of consumption and cover-up. Alcoholics are told that they are “lifers” and that even one sip can lead to an avalanche of mass consumption. This is also mirrored in false foods that seem irresistible: You must consider yourself a “lifer” as well.
    This magazine is dedicated to all those who want truth and are now ready to grow beyond the rituals of the past. We are given a unique opportunity in our daily work to observe many of these destructive foods in terrifying action. As scientists – and more importantly, as concerned individuals – we are committed to exposing injustice when it comes to health. Diehard addicts will read our concrete findings and dismiss them as speculation and opinion; self-respecting consumers hopefully will rise above the fray and begin to focus on fortified fuels rather than fake fare. Comfort foods do not really comfort; rather, they sedate so that we fail to proceed positively. With foods like this, a little is never enough. It is best to “Just Say No.”