You make some valid points.

Unfortunately, it is simply easier to eat junk food than nutritious food.

We humans tend to take the path of least resistance, and if that means picking up fast food or stopping by the vending machines versus chopping vegetables, we'll keep eating junk food.

My husband drinks diet soda but I have been buying him soda sweetened with Splenda because I have read articles on the effects of aspartame. I do eat whole foods not fast foods. I have been eliminating sugar and foods high in starch to lose weight and to do that I have to read labels; sugar and salt are in so many of the ingredients.
Diets eliminate sugar but they never mention salt which is another trigger for cravings.

I learned of this from the Clinton Foundation Website when it was originally announced. I think it is long overdue. Unfortunately, it shouldn't stop with the children and the schools. With both parents working, it has become the norm to eat fast food and prepared boxed meals due to lack of time and energy. The education regarding healthful eating needs to be addressed at home where children first learn about healthy eating. If they can train kids to lecture their parents about smoking, why not train the parents to lecture their kids about healthy eating? Or better yet, have TV commercials aimed at the kids to inform them of the health benefits of eating healthy foods. We don't give kids enough credit when it comes to understanding. Give them the information and they will run with it!

Who says it is easier to eat junk food than nutritious food? Mother Nature doesn't provide impossibly packaged food or chemicals that we can't pronounce. Why can't our schools teach nutrition to families. Let's keep it simple. Let's try to eat the least amount of ingredients and see food as tasty fuel!

I've just begun my new HEALTHY lifestyle......no junk food, bad fats, sugar, or extra salt. Have lost 13 pounds in 8 days and feel great! Don't miss the stuff at all!!! Raw, healthy foods are so easy. All you 'junkies' out there need to get on the bandwagon. Have been a teacher for many years and always wished the pop machines only held water or juice. Thanks for the updates.

The government is not anybody's MOTHER.

We need less government and less toxic food. The more government, the more toxic everything gets.

Does anybody realize that kids have PARENTS! They're the ones responsible for their little Johnny and Jane. Show a little responsibility for a change.

I for one, am damn tired of paying for other people's ignorance.

All parents have to do is STOP buying the crap and the manufactures will quit making it.

Do really think we need a Dept of Junk food? We already have Dept of Health, Education and Energy.

How about the US Department of Common Sense?????

These kids can have maybe one or two sodas at school, meanwhile Mom and Dad are pounding diet drinks down at home like water. So if the kid doesn’t get them at school they just open the frig door and have all they want.

I’m with you on the toxic food, but to tax it and ask the government to help is just insane.

Look at your profession, how much has the government help you? I think you spell it
M E D I C A R E!

I wold like to say that in addition to the sugar,artificial sweetner issue, that I find it very alarming that buying natural and organic is far more expensive than the conventional chemical/overly perservative laden food. You would think it would cost more for the food you have to add chemicals to rather than the ones you don't. I wouldl like the subsidies for farming to emphasize a push for more organic foods and goods.

Thanks for talking about artificial sweeteners...how do you feel about Splenda? Is it any less harmful than aspartame? Thanks.

I have been a busy mother and always managed to cook meals. My 2 daughters manage the time with 3 small children. The problem will only get worse if parents have not learned the basics and learned to cook.

If my mother had not taught her children, male and female alike, to cook and care for themselves, I would not have a clue. I would be intimidated by recipes and cook books. I would have been stuck in the fast food lane. Teaching the kids isn't enough. We have to teach the parents too.

Dr.Hyman the LBS keep dropping [10 LBS]and more amazing is how after moving away from refined sugars and especially TONS of artificial sweetners the sugar cravings have stopped. I'm officially converted away from artificial sweetners.

Jay
http://www.mypetfat.com/blog_175.asp

Two years ago I cut out all of that processed junk and as a college student, have been spending almost all of my money on natural, organic foods. It's worth it to me because I cannot personally contribute to the profits of these companies that don't care that they are contributing to poor health and disease in millions. The government is not doing enough because these foods should just be banned altogether. With the obvious effects of processed foods during this past century, we should give them and ultimatum: either they convert to unrefined foods free of chemical additives or they go out of business. For anybody who has ever been to a natural foods grocery store, we know that our options are not limiteds when it comes to eating natural foods. In the end, that extra dollar we spend on that bag of organic cookies is one hundred dollars saved in future medical expenses (or maybe even more). In my opinion it is the governments responsibility to ensure that corporations do not intrude on the citizens right to health, and they should be stopped in their tracks immediately.

Governments finally are not not the answer as people must take responsibility for their choices and so learn to ask for healthy alternatives. However choices for many people are often limited in that (as an earlier response pointed out) many people really don't know how to cook well. Also healthy foods are dearer to buy, so the average person needs to reach for the cheaper alternative when shopping.

Governments do however have the power to reduce this whole artificial food problem and orientate individual awareness towards healthy eating. While it is obvious there are some government departments that promote healthy lifestyles and living, the reality is that whatever presents itself as a revenue raiser another government department will usually endorse....with no 'real' questions asked.

As an Australian living and working in China I have 'real' questions about the ethics of governments and their 'marriage' with the market economy. Two years ago there wasn't a supermarket in sight in most cities in China. Now I see supermarkets shelves filled to capacity with endless amounts of sweets and similar questionable products as corporations exploit various ways of marketing high profit, high calorie, low nutritional food and drinks.

While there is a need to ask questions at a local level so that governments feel the pressure from the ground up, we also need to raise awareness in these countries that are 'fresh' markets for hungry corporations.

The question now is how do we do this?

Having recently had bariatric surgery, I was warned by my doctor about carbonated drinks, not for the sugar, although important, but because the carbonation expands the stomach, which increases the amount of food your stomach holds. Wouldn't this be a good reason to back away from these products?

Thanks for the article regarding soda in schools. As the Director of Food Service for a local school district of about 4100 students, let me fill in our fellow bloggers on some little known facts about school food service. Here's a little "school food service 101." First of all, both the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs are governed by the USDA. School food service programs are given a small reimbursment by the state and federal government according to the number of meals they sell each day. Here in New York State, we haven't had a state increase in over 20 years and the cost of food and labor have certain went up! The rest of the funding for our programs comes from the money we generate in sales. This can include vending, Ala carte and afterschool sales. 99% of the programs in this country get no funding from the money collected from the local taxpayer who is paying his or her school taxes. Most people are not aware of this. In my case, I have to plan an entire meal for less than .95 cents as I am expected to at least breakeven at the end of the school year. Besides food and labor, my department pays for health and dental insurance, retirement, workers comp, etc. We also purchase and maintain all of our capital equipment. With the federal requirement that all schools have a wellness policy in place within the next few months, I see a chance for the tide to turn in the favor of health and wellness. I am starting a farm to cafeteria program to bring fresh, local items into my program and the push is on for the school board to subsidize a part of my expenses so that our students can get more of these types of items. My district is also looking into an extensive nutrition education program by training the teachers first, who will then teach their students. When students come back to school in September, they will begin to see changes in the menu. The old US Food Pyramid is going in the trash and I will be following a Mediterranian style of eating. (I eat in one of my four cafeteria's daily, and frankly, I am tired of looking at all the fastfood!)I think it is time for school boards across the country to step up to the plate and subsidize their food and nutrition programs if needed. They should be part of the curriculum, not just a service where the bottomline is all that matters. If we are just worried about our bottomline, we are no better than the food companies.

I began your program shortly before the book offically came out and lost 10 pounds in the first few weeks. Since then I have lost another three pounds over several months, so it isn't coming off fast. However I feel so much better and have more energy. Since stopping use of aspartamime my thinking is clearer and while I can't prove that is the reason, I am convinced it made a difference. My husband has become a convert and has lost 15 pounds down to his ideal weight. Thanks

What is the name of your book and where can I get a copy?

I completely agree with the notion of supplementing vitamins in our diets! IT is necessary and vitally important in maintaining our uptake in nutrition.

I enjoyed your comments on vitamin supplements and have heard before that it was a waste of money to take them. I go to a doctor now who practices a little bit of Western and Eastern medicine. He urged me to take B6, B12, and folic acid to lower my homocysteine levels and raise my red blood cells because I was so anemic for 16 years. I can't believe the doctor I had before never suggested this, knowing what my blood levels were. My latest blood tests showed everything in normal range. All my immune markers were great too. I am a firm believer in supplementing when necessary, and that tends to be all the time.

I agree about vitamins they are good . I have been taking THE GREATEST VITAMINS IN THE WORLD . They have really have helped me .If you want to check them out the web site is ncvitashop.com on the URL. What do you think about them?

Try going in a store and buy food that isn't full of sugar or subsitute sugar
or dies or colors or some type of chemical.Don't taxes these people, just stop makeing the foods,that have these thing in them, Let the Politians pay the law suites for allowing this items been allowed in the food,drink.Let the invertors be liable for the harm they do to people that doesn't really know about the harm it causes to people& effects.

Please no more darn Taxes, that only means a person can get a disability for eating junk food, if that's what they want let them have it, But don't forget the Goverment and their Beer parties at the tax payers expense, Al Gore's going away party.Why don't you go in a store and remove every thing that is bad and you will find what left is car parts dog food and hair spray and non consumable item.

I think we are fools to beleive that we get the nutrients we need in our limited choices of foods available to us in general. I go to great lengths just to get fresh, organic foods and wild seafoods lower in mercury. For most of us, it is very time-consuming, but since we do not have the time to grow everything we need in our diet daily, it is our only option. Healthy supplements are the way to "fill in the gaps" in our daily nutritional needs in this 21st century.
Thank you for knowing how important quality supplements are. We spend a good deal of our food budget on supplements and just consider it "an extension of our diet".

I just finished your book-am excited and little reserved about getting started in the morning. am looking forward to feeling better but the last time i tried to detox i never finished because it made me so sick with extreme headache. Do you have a suggestion that can help with that? thanks for all your wonderful info!

My concern is sweetners. The latest and greatest supposed safe == Splenda. I switched my family off Aspertame to this and found it is processed sugar and chlorine. Now how can this be safe?

I use a soy drink from a company called Revival Soy. I had great success with this until I have switched to the Splenda sweetened drink. Could this have contributed to my weight gain? Does it keep me craving sugar and unsatisfied? I used the unsweetened before.

I agree about the junk food, it is convenient but causes many health problems after continuous use. We need more whole fresh foods and less artificial junk. The reason we crave these sweets and treats is because we have food adictions to them. Once we determine the problem and realize why we crave these foods, stress, emotional eating, candida etc. then we can help the problem. Once you cut refined sugar and the rest of the junk out of your diet you feel better and you DO NOT crave that stuff any more. Learning what our bodies need and the role nutrition plays in our bodies naturally makes you want to skip the candy isle and go to the fruit section. It's up to us to learn the truth about nutrition and not let the sneaky food manufacturers trick us with their changing the bad names into other names so we think it is a healthy ingredient instead.

This is a question rather than a comment. Does anyone know why Dr. Hyman advises against using Stevia as a sweetener since it consists of ground leaves from a plant? I grow my own and therefore know that it is organic. Comments?