Since time immemorial, primitive people have known by instinct the importance of certain food items not only for their very survival, but for the health of future generations, which was why they paid particular attention to the diet of their young girls before marriage. Often they would walk many miles to obtain one specific plant or fish that they sensed contained a nutrient that they needed.
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VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION
Unfortunately, when people consume only the food they like to eat, it will invariably contain sugar in some form or another whether it be in the form of sweetened drinks such colas, manufactured fruit juices, and fruit concentrates or cakes, biscuits and pastries of all kinds, packeted breakfast cereals, ice cream, chocolates and sweets etc. Dr. Joel Wallach, a veterinarian who later became a doctor, is convinced that the virtual explosion of the type of aggression and violent behaviour seen in recent years in Western civilisations, is as a result not only of an addiction to sugar but also mineral deficiencies, especially copper, vanadium, chromium and lithium. The Weston Price Foundation points out that zinc, another essential mineral, is frequently lacking in the average diet because it is so often removed in the processing of food. Zinc deficiency has been linked to hypoglycemia and suicide, and with angry, aggressive, hostile behaviour that results in violence. Studies on boys and young men with a history of violence have shown that their copper/zinc levels were often out of balance and they were more likely to have high levels of copper and low levels of zinc in their blood compared with non-violent people. Scientists believe that such minerals influence behaviour because the body uses them to make chemical transmitters in the brain. DEPLETED SOILS In his book ‘Rare Earths,’ Dr. Wallach refers to American soils, in particular, as having been badly depleted due to intensive farming and the drive to feed the world. The depletion process accelerated to such an extent that it was achieved in just 250 years whereas in other countries, if you look back in history, it took between one and two thousand years to deplete the land to the point of total cultural collapse. He writes, ‘the increase in the numbers and violent behaviour of American sociopaths and psychotics shows a direct connection with the rapidly declining mineral content of our soils and foods’. Exhaustion of our minerally ‘played out’ land and the resultant mineral deficient high sugar foods are unable to support us mentally or physically and are now producing hordes of ‘Bad Seeds.’ These people he calls ‘bad seeds’ are those who suddenly turn from being normal children, teenagers or adults to become aggressive or violent in what is recognised as the ‘Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ syndrome. He stressed that far from requiring counsellors and psychiatrists, what these people need is nutritional advice about mineral requirements and to adopt a no sugar diet. 
JUVENILE CRIME
Dr. Wallach made a study over many years of serious crimes committed by juveniles, showing that these individuals would fly into a rage often for trivial reasons, demonstrating that they seemed to have no control over their anger. He claims that hundreds of American children under the age of 18 are arrested each year for murder or manslaughter following their explosive rages. Most are apparently senseless acts, unrelated to drugs or gang warfare; the violence and the killing far outweighing the often minor incident that provoked it. One youngster admitted that he shot dead his mother and father because they made him stay in and do his homework instead of letting him go out with his friends. Another shot and killed both his parents after an argument over whether the boy could go to a party. Dr. Wallach observes how tragic it is that ‘by putting together the appearance of the male hormone testosterone during puberty between 14 and 18, mineral deficiencies (especially copper, chromium, vanadium and lithium) and high sugar intake, it is not surprising that our jails are full....! Testosterone surges, high sugar intake and mineral deficiencies are as explosive a mixture as matches, nitro-glycerine and gun powder combined!’ |
It is a sad fact that in the UK in the last few decades there have been some horrendous acts of murder committed by young people such as, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, (Jamie Bulger’s killers), the killers of Stephen Lawrence stabbed to death by a group of white youths, and the teenage murderer of head teacher Philip Lawrence, not to mention the more recent horrific knife attacks often committed by young people that are on the increase. In 2017, it has been reported that 19,243 people were cautioned, reprimanded or convicted for carrying a knife in England and Wales, of which one in five, 4,148, was under the age of 18; the highest number for seven years. According to the Independent newspaper, ‘over one year to June 2017, London-based knife crime grew by 34 per cent.... The news comes after several investigations into increasing moped crime in the capital. Police say the average age of moped criminals is just 15 years old.’
ADDICTION TO SUGAR In the UK, investigative television programmes have revealed that far too many children are being brought up on the type of junk food that contains highly processed items and lacking fresh fruit, green vegetables and protein in the form of dairy foods, eggs, meat and fish, yet at the same time packed with sugar, especially high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and chemical additives. It is little wonder that they often grow into difficult teenagers and aggressive young adults. It is said that the addictive nature of many junk foods is virtually the same as the addictive nature of drugs. A report in the British Daily Telegraph, 22 November 2016, claims that teenagers are each drinking the equivalent of almost a bath full of sugary drinks a year and even children under the age of three are consuming high levels of sugary drinks, equivalent to almost one third of a bath full. One can of cola contains about 10 teaspoons of sugar, 150 calories, 30 to 55 mg of caffeine, and is loaded with artificial food colours and sulphites. It is also the largest source of high fructose corn syrup. 
CAFFEINE IN COLAS CREATES THIRST
Dr. Batmanghelidj, in his book ‘Your Body’s Many Cries for Water’, writes that caffeine is one of the main components of most soda drinks. It is also a diuretic and, as such, is a dehydrating agent. This, he claims, is the reason why people who drink sodas and colas keep drinking them, consuming many cans a day trying to satisfy their thirst. Just one extra can of cola a day, over the course of a single year, can add as much as 15 pounds to your weight, not to mention an increased risk of 85% of becoming diabetic. VENDING MACHINES BANNED One of the most important steps a family can make is to give up drinking soda drinks. In 2004, France, banned all vending machines from schools across the country in an attempt to tackle child obesity. In 2011, it limited servings of french fries to once a week in school cafeterias. A year later, it imposed a “soda tax.” Now, the government says no restaurants can offer free refills of sodas and other sugary drinks. Isn’t it time the same positive stand was made in teaching establishments in the UK? Manufacturers of cola drinks donate large sums of money to schools and colleges to buy computers and sports equipment in exchange for installing vending machines, but if this is at the expense of our children’s health, then is it not far too high a price to pay? |
MAJOR PROBLEMS TO ADDRESS
Faced with the two major concerns about young people today, childhood obesity and juvenile crime, a two-pronged approach would greatly alleviate these problems. First, an all-out drive to ban cola drinks in schools, and second, simple testing such as analysing samples of hair or finger nails, for certain vulnerable or disruptive school children, in order to spot and correct vitamin and mineral deficiencies at an early age, before more serious conditions have time to develop.
Faced with the two major concerns about young people today, childhood obesity and juvenile crime, a two-pronged approach would greatly alleviate these problems. First, an all-out drive to ban cola drinks in schools, and second, simple testing such as analysing samples of hair or finger nails, for certain vulnerable or disruptive school children, in order to spot and correct vitamin and mineral deficiencies at an early age, before more serious conditions have time to develop.