Avoiding nutritional suicide is hard
The other day I wrote about how we are effectively paying to poison ourselves. Tax incentives for certain types of food production, paid for by higher taxes on consumers, results in more poisonous food being provided to Americans. Since then, a report has been released which shows that human brains are compulsively obsessed with eating these foods, unless we consciously resist them. “This is the most complete evidence to date that suggests 
obesity and drug addiction have common neuro-biological foundations,” said Paul Johnson, a colleague of neuroscientist researcher Dr Paul Kenny. “You lose control. It’s the hallmark of addiction,” Kenny said. Junk food is almost as addictive as heroin, the scientists found. In laboratory tests, it was discovered that junk food diets actually rewire the brain to crave these foods more. “They might be a normal weight, but how they respond to food in the future may be permanently altered” said obesity expert Ralph DiLeone of Yale University School of Medicine.
What’s worse, is that the fatty, salty food most craved is meat. The problem is that it is increasingly apparent that human farming of animals is creating health problems. Scientists at Columbia and Princeton Universities have actually been able to trace six of the eight genetic segments of the most feared virus in the world directly to U.S. factory farms. The CNN report found that that demand for meat, eggs, and dairy is a “primary factor” influencing emerging zoonotic diseases. H5N1 and SARS topped the list of feared emerging zoonotic diseases. Today, the H1N1 swine flu would be the pathogen enemy No. 1. In the United States, about 3 million pounds of antibiotics are given to humans each year, but a whopping 17.8 million pounds are fed to livestock. On a typical factory farm, drugs are fed to animals with every meal, the report states.
The by products of animal farming have become so severe that a former Marine officer has taken to aerial reconnaissance of chicken manure. On a recent flight, he saw what appeared to be a two story pile of manure threatening to contaminate Chesapeake Bay. Livestock and poultry operations generate about 500 million tons of manure each year, or about three times the amount of human waste in the U.S., according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Much of that waste goes untreated and sometimes can make its way into public waterways. “The EPA seems to think that poultry farmers are Public Enemy No. 1,” says Bill Satterfield, executive director of the Delmarva Poultry Industry Inc.
You may be able to determine the pros and cons of eating certain types of food using your own brain. It may require a great deal of effort, however, to keep from eating the bad ones anyway.
