If you’ve been reading my Reality Health Check for a while, you know that I get livid about soft drinks and artificial sweeteners. School lunch programs that claim pizza qualifies as a vegetable make me crazy.
Now this has crossed my desk. And it’s got me rolling my eyes in disgust once again.
A group of scientists has developed a “fruit & veggie juice concentrate” that they are stuffing into a capsule. Sort of like “V-8” in a pill.
The scientists were pretty proud of their little fruit-and-veggie capsules. And their study, conducted at the Nemours Children’s Center, was published in The Journal of Pediatrics.
They recruited 30 kids and randomly assigned them to eat either the fruit and veggie capsules or a placebo
Six months later, presto!
The “veggie capsule kids” had a significant increase in blood levels of beta-carotene. They also had less belly fat and had significantly less triglycerides.
Which is all fine and good. But honestly, it’s what I call a “Band-aid” approach to a major health problem.
There simply is no substitute for the REAL thing. For teaching kids to take care of themselves. For teaching them to eat the right foods–and to turn down the harmful stuff. For teaching them to STOP eating when they’re not really hungry.
These are critical life lessons. We can’t rely on “magic bullet” pills to keep our kids healthy. As much as I believe in supplements, even I have to draw the line here.
Promise me you’ll take the high road here. Set a good example for your kids. Stick with me, and I’ll show you simple ways to bring good food–and good health–to your family’s dinner table.
Source:
“Insulin Resistance and Adiposity in Relation to Serum ß-Carotene Levels,” Journal of Pediatrics 2012; 161(1): 58-64
Sign up for Dr. Pescatore's Free E-Letter and receive this bonus report:
Reverse Alzheimer's!
The 30-cent, all-natural 'cocktail' that slams the brakes on Alzheimer's disease
