Thursday, June 17, 2010

Sure you want to eat that?



By David Zinczenko

What's Really In …
NACHO CHEESE DORITOS
(11 chips)
150 calories
8 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
180 mg sodium

The concept is, well, sort of brilliant: Nachos and cheese without the hassle of a microwave. Or even a plate, for that matter. You just tear open the bag and start snarfing. And as a parting gift, Dorito's leave your fingers sticky with something that looks like radioactive bee pollen. Now here's the question: Do you have any clue what's in that stuff? Here you go:

To create each Dorito, the Frito-Lay food scientists draw from a well of 39 different ingredients. How many does it take to make a regular tortilla chip? About three. That means some 36 ingredients wind up in that weird cheese fuzz. Of those 36, only two are ingredients you'd use to make nachos at home: Romano and cheddar cheeses. Alongside those are a cache of empty carbohydrate fillers like dextrin, maltodextrin, dextrose, flour, and corn syrup solids. Then come a rotating cast of oils. Depending on what bag you get, you might find any combination of corn oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, and sunflower oil. Some of those will be partially hydrogenated, meaning they give the chip a longer shelf life and spike your heart with a little shot of trans fat. (The reason you won't see this on the nutrition label is that FDA guidelines allow food manufacturers to "round down" to zero.)

And then, after the fats and nutritionally empty starches, there's a seasoning blend, which includes things like sugar, "artificial flavoring," and a rather worrisome compound called monosodium glutamate. Monosodium glutamate, or MSG, is the flavor enhancer largely responsible for the chip's addicting quality. The drawback is that it interferes with the production of an appetite-regulating hormone called leptin. A study of middle-aged Chinese people found a strong correlation between MSG consumption and body fat. What's more, the FDA receives new complaints every year from people who react violently to MSG, suffering symptoms like nausea, headaches, burning sensation, numbness, chest pains, dizziness, and so on. Talk about radioactive bee pollen.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Dreams...


... they come and they go. Dreams, as in goals for life, things you want to do and accomplish should be a prime requisite for humanity. Everyone should have one. Some people have multiple dreams, the fire which fuels their ambitions and actions.

Ever since I was young I had a dream... for years it has not changed. Funny thing is is is not a glamorous dream at all, no ambition. I even had someone from a previous relationship tell me that part of why they had to end it is that I wasn't ambitious enough for them and that I didn't have a real dream. It's a good thing I don't generally let what people think about me affect me.

My dream has always been to be able to help others with their dreams. Maybe it's because I am not creative enough to come up with my own dream, maybe it's because if I did have my own I might get disappointed if it didn't work. Whatever the reason, my dream is simple.

IN the past year of my life I have invested a lot of time in helping someone else's dream try to get past the idea stage, as I see my participation in their dream the vehicle in which will get me mine... a way to help others and sustain it. The Dream I have been invested in nearly fell apart and vanish this past week.

Right now it is living on life support and I am anxiously waiting the verdict, if it will come back to life or die. Can't say that I really mind either way as both have their benefits. If it does die then I will just have to work all the harder to get my dream.... I have never been afraid of hard work... it's time to roll up my sleeves and go to work.

I hope I don't wake up.