I was watching the news tonight with a segment about the effect of Santa's weight on the psychology of children. Being that he is supposed to be a role model, is a tubby Santa sending a wrong message to children? Is it time for Santa to shed a few pounds and stop his over-eating habits just as he quit smoking? Click click

From my perspective, I don't see how kids will see Santa as a role model. It's more about your own actions as it depends on if you're bad or good come Christmas time when you receive presents. Being bad or good doesn't depend on one's weight. So, I don't really see a correlation. Either that or I've never seen a kid dressed up as Santa on Halloween before.

I seen an article on this the other day, didn't care to read it. Just so tired of hearing all this BS about imagines and examples (good & bad). Geez, just live and let live!!

I think this is as ridiculous as warning labels on the original Sesame street.

No. It's more important that Santa Clause show children how to be happy about who you are instead of agonizing and hating yourself because you are not built like Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie.

I also don't think that he's a role model for anything other than good will and service to fellow man. Seriously, what kid looks at Santa Clause and says "gee, santa's fat, so I should be fat too!"

News Media sucks.

Right when I read this I just thought about why Santa was overweight. He needs to have fat to keep him warm in the North Pole. There's always snow there and if he was skinny, he'd have to wear layers of red suits!

Ugh... Frelling PC'ness BS.

As NC said. These people just need to "Live and let live" and have a cup of STFU.

That has to be one of the most rediculous things I ever read..........Next we'll be reading all snowmen have to be built like a stick man and the reindeer have to lose 40 lbs........

I have more of an issue with people calling father christmas 'santa clause'.

LOL - I work in the cubicle next to tobacco control here at my job. I just printed this and took it to them just to see the reaction I got... Pretty funny stuff - LOL - Thanks!

Gotta love those ancient Lucky Strike Ads

Lol, Santa smokes Lucky Strikes.

I'm sure children have enough role models who aren't fat to balance things out.

Psssh, everyone knows it's from the cookies.

Santa's setting a bad example with all those cookies he eats and without any proper dinner.

He can't say "Ho, ho, ho" anymore because it was offending prostitutes with coal in their stockings.

Cookies should be banned as well... and a warning label attached to the bottom of every image of Santa. (Do not eat cookies all the time or your cholesterol will be as high as mine)

Perhaps we should utilize the media to stage his death and rebirth... I can see it now...

A man believed to be Chris Cringle, who also goes by the name Santa Claus, was found dead last night on a rooftop in Syracuse, New York. The autopsy has ruled out foul play, but lawyers are investigating whether or not there was a conspiracy to run his health into the ground with all the cookies left for him. Charges are not being pressed at the moment.

Breaking News! Santa has risen from the dead and has announced he will be going on a diet. Likewise, he has politely requested that kids stop leaving him cookies, but instead some brocolli and cauliflower. Updates at 11 and a special first hand exclusive from a dwarf who claims to know Santa.

they are suggesting a fictional character slims downand we wonder why teenagers get paranoid about weight.

OMG Goalie...you just made my day...!!!






Good post Neo.

Idiots, they are!!!

Oh my goodness - the world is going mad I tell you, mad.

See the Easter Bunny brings tons of chocolates, I remember the feeling of imminent vomiting well from Easter as a child - and he doesn't get any complaints!

Click to view attachment

That's the most screwed up thing I've heard since I heard about the "ho ho ho" thing. [Which I'd like to just say... It offends hos. Who cares about the hos? They should stop being hos if they get offended. Hahaha]

If you REALLY wanna get technical, female and male reindeer both have antlers and in the winter the males lose theirs. So Santa's reindeer would have to be female. So now we have to change their names. Comette, Donderita, etc.

And ya know what, Bud... It's 'little person', not dwarf. Gosh!

Gold star.

Plus, as long as we're being asinine (meaning the news media, NOT the poster quoted above) let's not forget that santa claus is IMMORTAL, so there's no reason to thin down except for the sake of vanity.

I was waiting for someone to call me out on that, but it just didn't have the same ring to it...

lol...that picture reminds me of Patric Cranshaw.



This whole silly thing reminded me of the easter bunny too. Watch...when Easter roles around there will be talk about sending the wrong message to kids again . Although, I think I'd rather be more worried about the easter bunny considering chocolate does rot your teeth, than a jolly old man who leaves presents. I doubt many kids think about Santa more than the presents anyway.

I'd say that sneaking into houses at dead of night, sneaking up on unsuspecting children while they're asleep and planting things in their stockings could be construed as slightly dubious behaviour. :-@

Good one.

No. I don't think so. The only people who think that. Are trying to ruin Christmas for everyone. Saying that he's a bad example. I don't see kids trying to smoke because they saw Santa doing it.

HA! that's very true.

The Santa we went to see this year had a special stool next to him for the children to sit on, apparently many places don't let the children sit on Santa's knee anymore... .

Of course. Blame Santa. Next let's blame global warming. Or terrorists. If you don't want your kids to get fat then don't take them to McDonalds twice a week and learn to turn off the tv.

I find this sad.


Exactly. I know. My sis (I love her, but) She has four kids and always takes them to fast food places, also lets them play video games 24/7. ( First I am NOT against video games, I am a game junkie myself, however there must be a limit.) Anyway her kids are all over weight. Also ANYBODY can learn to cook healthy food if they try.

I was just glad to have Santa. The Easter Bunny always seemed to skip my house!
And I don't exactly think that Christmas is really a peaceful and "jolly" time.
I mean seriously! You supposed to pay money for a tree your going to eventually throw out, eat candy out of socks, and not be scared of a big man in a red suit sneaking in your house and saying "ho ho ho" with flying reindeer? This really makes me wonder about how these"traditions" started!

What Moe said.

low fat santa

Santa has always been chubby...a right jolly old elf. The reason America has become the land of the obese is not because of Santa Claus. The reason America as become the land of the obese is directly related to A. The number of fast food restaurants, B. The vast number of high calorie snack items available at Wal-mart Supercenters (which are practically on every corner now) and C. The fact that EveryThing from peanut butter to soft drinks to icecream to mayonaise....EveryTHing that once contained cain sugar is now sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup!

AMerica is in for a ride...fast and furious straight to the bottom of the hill and is going to crash into the tree at the bottom and burn like an old tire in a bonfire...the stench and smoke of her burning will be nasty, nasty, nasty...

...and it doesn't have a damn thing to do with Santa Claus!

...end of diatribe...thank you for listening...please resume your horrible eating habits....

so should i eat or should i go on diet

Thank you!!!
People love to blame their children's issues on the media. Why wont these people take responsibility, YOU are your child's biggest example.

Actually Clover...it is far deeper than that! Yes YOU are your child's biggest example...but the deeper, underlying issue of obesity is not of example...rather it is 'Taught Behavior'. In the wild, the mother animal teaches it's young how to hunt...what to eat...what not to eat. In the human arena, mothers teach their children the same thing...which is why it is so common these days to see obese Moms and obese children walking side by side through Wal-Mart.

It isn't Santa's fault...it's Mama's fault!

Mom's....WAKE UP!

One important thing to remember is that if your body cannot use all of the calories you take in...it WILL store the calories by creating fat cells....and fat cells NEVER go away. They shrink in size as one uses the energy stored as fat...but the cells themselves never go away. That is why dieting never works....we starve ourselves from the foods we crave until we deplete the existing fat cells of stored energy...then, once we have 'lost the weight', we resume our old habits and since the fat cells are already there it is just soooooooo much easier to store fat. So, the body stores fat in the already existing fat cells and whallah...before you can say Chocolate Bunny you have blimped back up.

Here is how one should lose weight forever: Simply make a choice....to eat for the Blimpo You or the Rock Star You! Eat now how you will eat when you are ninety....and you just might make it. Eat like you do now and ninety ain't even gonna come close....ever see any obese eighty year olds?

does everyone have fat cells?

Only Mom's need to wake up? There you go...blame it on the woman for the woes of the world.

No doubt Moms & Dads need to educate themselves and read labels, but the responsibility doesn't just fall on them!!!

I have posted the full article, as it is my hope that women, in particular, will read the important info at the bottom of the article concerning fetus development and infants. If this has gone off topic, than my apologies, but I'm not gonna swallow this BS that Mom is the main culprit!
















There is no question that there is an obesity epidemic in our country, as well as in some other countries. One cannot avoid awareness of this problem. The subject of obesity is regularly covered in newspapers and on radio and television. It is reported in the United States alone that obesity is responsible for $90 billion in medical costs and 300,000 premature deaths every year. According to some sources, one third of the adults in our country are obese, and another one third of our population is overweight.

If one is to believe the reports of the media,(2-3) often based on the findings of researchers, obesity is mainly the result of poor nutrition and lack of adequate exercise. Psychological problems, poor parenting, and genetics are also reported as contributing factors.

Although what we read and hear through the media seems logical, one must ask whether the perceived reasons for obesity are, in fact, the actual causes, and whether researchers are looking in the right places for the causes of obesity and a possible resolution of the problem.

A NEW PHENOMENON
Prior to the 1950s, there were overweight people, but it was relatively rare to find an individual who was grotesquely obese. I graduated from college in the 1950s, and do not recall one person in high school or college who approached 300 pounds, not even members of the football team. I can also relate that as recently as 2003, when I visited Spain, a country that does not heavily rely on processed foods, or that has just recently begun to use processed foods, I never saw a grotesquely obese person.

What has changed through the years?

Simply stated, our food supply has changed along with the changes in our lives brought about by the demands of our fast-paced society. We are depending more and more on processed foods, and with each year, the FDA approves more and more chemicals for use in foods. With each year, the food industry is using more and more chemicals in their products. These chemicals increase shelf life, kill bacteria, improve taste, replace fats, replace carbohydrates, even replace meat in some vegetarian preparations, and more. Most important to food producers, chemical use can increase profits. Most important to the consumer is the fact that some of the chemicals are neurotoxic and/or carcinogenic.

For purposes of this paper, we will report on the neurotoxins MSG (glutamic acid that has been freed from protein through a manufacturing process - what many MSG-sensitive people refer to as processed free glutamic acid) and aspartic acid (about 40% of the sugar substitute aspartame).

In 1968, John W. Olney, M.D., a respected researcher at Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, Missouri, and member of the National Academy of Science, found that mice in his laboratory that were being used to replicate a 1957 study by Lucas and Newhouse, in which the administration of MSG had resulted in retinal damage,(5) had become grotesquely obese. Dr. Olney decided to sacrifice some of the mice and found lesions in the hypothalamus portion of the brain, the portion of the brain, as defined in Stedman's Online Medical Dictionary, that is "...prominently involved in the functions of the autonomic (visceral motor) nervous system and, through its vascular link with the anterior lobe of the hypophysis, in endocrine mechanisms; it also appears to play a role in neural mechanisms underlying moods and motivational states."

Dr. Olney published a paper on his findings in 1969, in which he described the hypothalamic lesions, stunted skeletal development, and obesity in maturing mice which had been given the food ingredient "monosodium glutamate" as neonates. Olney also commented on observed pathological changes found in several brain regions associated with endocrine function in maturing mice.

CONFIRMATION
Since 1969, many scientists have confirmed Dr. Olney's findings of damage to the hypothalamus from MSG with resulting obesity. Go to the National Library of Medicine website, www.pubmed.gov, and type in "monosodium glutamate, obesity" (without the quotation marks). As of May 13, 2004, you’ll find 151 studies listed in addition to Dr. Olney's study. Fewer studies come up with "aspartic acid, obesity" (without the quotation marks).(8-9) More research has been done on the effects of MSG on the hypothalamus leading to obesity than on the effects of aspartic acid.

Neuroscientists have found in animal studies that glutamic acid and aspartic acid load on the same receptors in the brain, cause identical brain lesions and neuroendocrine disorders, and act in an additive fashion.

Research indicating that MSG causes damage to the hypothalamus has been carried out mostly on small laboratory animals, primarily the mouse and the rat. In the 1960s, a few studies looked at the effects of MSG on primates, using rhesus monkeys. The findings were the same for rhesus monkeys as they were for rodents. Although research designed to produce brain lesions cannot be carried out on humans, neuroscientists have determined that humans are 5 times more sensitive to MSG than the mouse and 20 times more sensitive to MSG than the monkey, based on blood plasma levels of glutamate following an oral dose of 150 mg/kg of glutamic acid. Furthermore, individual variability in plasma response to glutamate loading is more extreme in humans than in the mouse or monkey.

Neuroscientists have known that MSG and aspartic acid cause lesions in the hypothalamus since 1969, but only recently has a possible explanation for the mechanism by which this occurs come to light. In 1994, researchers discovered the appetite-suppressing hormone, leptin. As described in many articles, leptin regulates, among other things, energy, control of appetite, and body weight. Leptin acts by altering neuropeptide circuits in the hypothalamus.


BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER
The glutamate industry would like us to believe that MSG is not a problem for humans because the human brain is protected from MSG by the blood-brain barrier. However, that is not true. The blood-brain barrier is not fully developed in newborns, and although there is some evidence that it is not fully developed in some children until puberty, when it reaches full maturity is unknown. It is definitely not fully developed in any fetus. Furthermore, throughout life, certain regions of the brain, known as the circumventricular organs, lack a blood brain barrier, and the blood brain barrier can be damaged from, among other things, high fever, stroke, trauma to the head, seizures, repeated ingestion of MSG, and the normal process of aging. The developing fetus is at particular risk since the placental barrier is not impervious to MSG; and we can assume the same is true for the aspartic acid contained in aspartame. Since most of the processed foods we eat contain MSG, as do many personal care items, supplements, and pharmaceuticals, it is almost impossible for an expectant mother to avoid it. (See list of common food ingredients that contain MSG at www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html.) She may also be using aspartame in diet soda or as a sweetener in coffee and/or ingesting free glutamic acid or free aspartic acid as a chelating agent in the minerals included in her multi-vitamin preparation.

INFANT EXPOSURE
Following birth, an infant is exposed to MSG in most, if not all of the vaccines it is given, and in most cases, is also exposed to free aspartic acid in vaccines. The effect of the glutamic acid in vaccines is intensified by any mercury that is also present. All infant formulas contain some free glutamic acid and free aspartic acid. An infant on a hypoallergenic soy-based formula will ingest more excitotoxic amino acids (glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and L-cysteine) per day than is contained in any serving of food that this writer has seen on grocery store shelves. (We understand hypoallergenic soy formulas are now being used by 25% of mothers because they have been led to believe that soy formulas are better for their babies than are milk based formulas, even if their children are not lactose intolerant.) If an infant is breast fed, it appears likely that the MSG and/or aspartame ingested by the mother will pass into her milk. If the infant becomes ill, he/she may receive a medication sweetened with aspartame. As soon as the infant begins to eat table foods, the infant will be ingesting free glutamic acid, and, in many cases, free aspartic acid.

INDUSTRY RESPONSE
The glutamate industry claims that glutamic acid and aspartic acid are natural components of protein and, therefore, cannot be harmful. What they fail to mention is that when glutamic acid and aspartic acid are freed from protein through a manufacturing process, they will invariably be accompanied by contaminants. If the manufacturing process used to free amino acids from protein is acid hydrolysis, carcinogenic propanols will be included as contaminants. In a speech before The Celiac Sprue Association in 2000, an FDA researcher reported that in freeing L-tryptophan from protein, certain contaminants are produced, and it is now believed that those who died or became ill from L-tryptophan in the late 1980s, were people who were intolerant to those contaminants. (The FDA has suppressed that finding.)

In July, 1992, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) issued its findings on an FDA-funded study entitled "Safety of Amino Acids Used as Dietary Supplements." In the section on glutamic acid (the reactive component of the food ingredient "monosodium glutamate"), the report concluded, in part, that "The continuing controversy over the potential effects of glutamate on growth and development of neonatal animal models suggests that it is prudent to avoid the use of dietary supplements of L-glutamic acid by pregnant women, infants and children. The existence of evidence of potential endocrine responses, i.e. elevated cortisol and prolactin, ... would also suggest a neuroendocrine link and that supplemental L-glutamic acid should be avoided by women of child bearing age and individuals with affective disorders."

The FDA appears to have suppressed this FASEB finding. When asked how the FDA can allow MSG to be used in food, FDA officials stated that one cannot compare the free glutamic acid in supplements to the free glutamic acid in food. Of course, this position is completely untenable since food products contain far more free glutamic acid than supplements. Following issuance of the FASEB report on supplements, the FDA contracted with FASEB for over $500,000 to conduct a study on the safety of MSG in food. In July, 1995, FASEB published its report entitled "Analysis of Adverse Reactions to Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)." Most people who inquired, and the media, received a 20 page "Executive Summary," primarily made up of questions developed by the FDA and the answers to those questions. The carefully crafted summary left readers with the impression that MSG was essentially safe.

What is not generally known about the FASEB report on the safety of MSG in food is that the original draft final report was issued to the FDA in September, 1994, and leaked to the glutamate industry. The glutamate industry was not happy with FASEB's report and the FDA rejected it. The FDA paid FASEB over $100,000 in additional money to "clarify" the report, leading to the final report, dated July, 1995. A reading of the entire July, 1995, FASEB report (over 350 pages long rather than the 20 pages making up the Executive Summary), will not give the reader the impression that MSG is safe.

CONCLUSION
Although there are a number of causes for obesity, there is no question in this writer's mind that the main cause for the obesity epidemic is the ever increasing use of MSG and aspartame - free glutamic acid and free aspartic acid - in our food supply. MSG, is most often found in food as a component of food ingredients with names that give consumers no clue to its presence. It was not used in our country to any extent until the late 1940s, and not used widely until the 1960s, when the Ajinomoto Company introduced MSG made by bacterial fermentation. (Ajinomoto Company is the world's largest producer of the food ingredient monosodium glutamate.) Aspartame was approved by the FDA in 1981. Today, most processed foods contain MSG, and it is even found in personal care items and pharmaceuticals. According to The NutraSweet Company, aspartame is used in over 5,000 products. As the use of MSG and aspartame grows, the incidence of obesity appears to be growing.

Since there is no question that MSG and aspartame cause lesions in the hypothalamus, the portion of the brain that is recognized to affect weight, I call upon scientists to consider the destructive qualities of glutamic acid and aspartic acid as they expand their search into the reasons for obesity. In particular, I urge those who are exploring the role of leptin in obesity to consider that it may be the relationship of leptin to a hypothalamus damaged by MSG and aspartame that results in the inability of some people to control food intake, and resulting obesity.

What can be done to stem the obesity epidemic? I would start by identifying the sources of MSG in processed food. MSG should be fully disclosed on processed food labels. I ask that all processed food be measured for "free glutamic acid," post production, and when free glutamic acid is found to be present, it be disclosed on the product label as "MSG," with the amount present stated in milligrams. Such an action would stop the accelerating use of MSG, and likely cause its current use to drop because some people would recognize their intolerance for MSG. Others, realizing its toxicity, will choose to avoid it.

Aspartame should be withdrawn from the market. There is no need for aspartame or the recently approved sweetener, neotame, described by some as a super aspartame.

Your thoughts on this matter should be submitted to your representatives in Washington, to the FDA, and to the CDC. Your submission might include the suggestion that all MSG should be disclosed on processed food labels and that all aspartame products be withdrawn from the market.

Please note. Since publication of this article, we have been told by scientists that repeated ingestion of MSG increases levels of the hormone glucagon found in the body. Elevated levels of glucagon then increase insulin levels, leading to a feeling of hunger and, therefore, overeating.


Source

Hidden sources of MSG

More studies/articles:

Proof MSG Causes Obesity In Experimental Studies

MSG Causes Most Obesity

Obesity

Well siad, Joc. <3

Yes, I do agree.

Thank you! Too bad some people (who are tying to get rid of what they think is the "problem") can't see that.

The world complains or says "we're the fatest country." When we're trying to solve the problem.

You are sweet and I love you! But you are wrong. The responsibility for what we eat does in fact fall directly upon us. We choose what we eat and we choose what our children eat. I am not disputing the claim made about MSG. I haven't really ever heard that before but I will certainly look into it.

The fact is however that even if MSG is making us 'hungrier', it in no way is effecting our choices in how to deal with that hunger. So your hungry...okay...what are your 'choices'. You can eat a bunch of cookies or chips or crackers or whatever...or you can eat an apple and a bananana.

Most people are overweight because they do not take a pro-active stance in their eating habits. I get made fun of constantly by my wife, my daughter, and other friends and family because I don't eat ANYTHING without reading the label. I bought some cookies at Wal-mart for $1.00. A whole bunch of cookies for a buck. Before I ate one though I read the label. Each cookie contained 110 calories. I ate one. ONE! Most people don't know, don't care. So, they gobble up four or five or ten....they were so good I could have eaten all of them...without any consideration whatsoever of caloric intake. So, one winds up consuming 5 or 6 thousand calories (or more) every single day when one should only be taking in 2000 or so. What happens to the rest of that food? The body begins storing it as fat. It isn't rocket science. But to know and do one first has to care....and most just don't care and most just aren't going to go to an extreme like making good eating choices.

You can only blame the product so far...MSG, Corn SYrup, etc....we all must make hard and better choices.

Sweet...?!?!? lol...you want me to show you sweet?

I do agree with you about choices Joc...but you've missed the point!!!...or you just didn't bother reading the material. I realize it's rather lengthy, but if you had read all the info, I doubt you'd be making the same post.

I agree completely with what you are saying about portion control, reading labels, and making good choices...but there's a lot more to it than just making wise choices, Joc.

Take for instance...baby formula, vegetables, fruit, meat, milk, vaccinations, binders and fillers for medications, nutrients, and supplements, both prescription and non-prescription, enteral feeding materials, and some fluids administered intravenously in hospitals, soaps, shampoos, hair conditioners, and cosmetics...you name it, the list goes on and on. It's not just in processed foods.




Might not be a bad idea...then perhaps you will understand the purpose of my post.

BTW...you're a sweetheart, and I always enjoy reading your posts...kiss up kiss up


edited to add: Just in case you're interested...146 more studies all showing the same results about MSG and obesity.

Source: www.pubmed.gov Click on the source, enter msg obesity in the "for" box, as the actual URL link with the studies will not post to UM.

I did read (just now) your information...very interesting...I'll read more when I get more time.

So....we are doomed. Okay, what else is new. Not you, or me, or your article's author is going to change any of that within the FDA. Our food supply is what it is and it isn't going to change. We do have again 'choices' to make and since we cannot effect the industry...we must rely on our own choices. Organic fruits and vegetables cost more but they are much less problematic in this area. MSGs are simply not why obesity is a problem. The main reason is because of the vast amount of cheap, high-caloric food available and an ignorant lazy populace. Combine that with the fact that sugar is replaced with HFCS and add MSGs to the argument and it gets really 'fattening' really quickly.
Thanks for your input. You MUST be high calorie because you are just so sweet!

That, my friend, is an ignorant and lazy statement. Read the material before making such assumptions.

I haven't even gotten into the mycotoxin problems with organic fruits, grains, nuts & veggies.

Joc...bottom line...the solution is not as easy as you think.



Still think that?

Hugs and that heart thingy...you know the one.



edit:typo

I did read the material. And I think it is correct. But the Bottom (heh, heh) line is that the solution to the problem is not easy...and I don't think it is. The solution is what I said. Make better choices. Easy? Not hardly. Why? Because we are dealing with an ignorant and lazy populace. Ignorant not stupid. Or maybe stupid...I don't know. What I do know is that when one chooses to just snack high cal foods all day...they aren't doing it because of MSGs. They are doing it because they aren't taking the time to 'think' about what they are doing. They just do it. It's habit. Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat! Like so many pigs at a trough. Our trough is Wal-mart Supercenters. Did you read what I wrote about a bunch of cookies for a buck? They were sooooo good. And 15 cookies later I've consumed my entire daily caloric equivalent of what my body can process. But what about the 600 calorie Bisquit Breakfast I had at McDonalds on the way to work? And where do we blame MSGs when I pull into BurgerKing and get 1500 calories for lunch? And then when I get home I grab the bag of potatoe chips and down another 5 or 600 calories. And then I consume 1500 calories for supper. And then it's snack time before I go to bed where I take in another 7 or 8 hundred calories in ice cream. And then there is the Midnight Snack. Don't you see where we are getting obese? It isn't just because of MSGs. It has to do with not making choices in our every day life. We eat like there isn't going to be anything left at Wal-mart next time we go...and there always is...more choices of obeseity creating foods than one can imagine.

Look....you eat 5 or 6 thousand calories a day you are going to become obese. Defining the problem isn't hard at all. It is the Solutions that the difficulty is found. Some want to blame Santa, you want to blame MSGs. The truth is that the Individual is to blame...and if that Individual is not making correct and good choices for their children...well it ain't Santa's fault and it ain't the kids fault...it's Mama's fault! Plain and simple...lets just put the blame where it belongs is all I'm saying. Yeah, I still think your sweet....you just can't help it.

Santa has to stay fat. Who would trust an old skinny non-smoking cookie crammer that plays with decorated sleighs and animals and makes toys wrapped in pretty napkins and stuff. i don't need Martha Stewart popping down my chimney. uh uh no way. she tells people when to steal heeelllloooo.
The Santa figure is Grandfatherly comfortable. He is old and wise and comfortable and watching over you and making you behave (even if it is basically through bribes) my grandfather was fat and smoked a pipe. Matter of fact I LOVE pipe tobacco smell...it smells like safety. and I love fat old guys....cuz they are cushy. j/k on that one. but really REALLY people don't want to BE santa like they want to BE barbie.

I get where you are coming from Joc, and as I have stated in earlier posts, we do have to make wise choices and educate ourselves, but...some people don't have time to read 150+ studies and unless you are one who enjoys research, or you're in a profession like mine, you are not going to be informed...and since you state that you have already read all the material, you know the apparent reason(s) why.

I'm not anti-government, nor do I have a "conspiracy" type mentality, but in my profession, I have to be aware of diet issues with patients, as I work with neurobehavioral challenges. I'm not trying to pull rank on ya, but I know a little bit about this stuff, and how it affects the brain and body.

You make very valid points...and portion control is way out of control...but there are many underlying problems that can't be swept under the rug with regard to why the appetite has gotten completely out of control, and why the population craves unhealthy food. Oh, yeah...you say cuz it tastes so damn good and you want more and more...but why?

Even the pro-MSG site states that MSG increases appetite.

The thing is Joc...if we all listened to advise such as yours, we'd never really get to the bottom of this problem. No offence, but you sound like a doctor out of the 60's. "Just push yourself away from the table".




LOL, we'll see how long this opinion lasts.

I do thank ya though.

umm well thats what I was saying just with out saying all that.

Noted. My name is Kildare...Dr. Kildare!
Okay... my opinion of you has not changed...except possibly increased in admiration...so:

I didn't read anymore of your sources....I may have and didn't know it. I have been doing my own little bit of research on MSGs and have concluded that you are absolutely correct. Try telling a heroin addict to just stop doing heroin! It 'sounds' easy. In reality though what I have read and understand about MSG is very scary to say the least. But the MSG producers of the world are multi-billion dollar corporations and they apparently have the FDA in their back pocket....so to speak. So..what is one to do? Again: it comes down to personal responsibility. We are as previously stated an ignorant, lazy populace. Case in point: I was totally ignorant of MSGs until this thread...and I'm 50 years old! Who would know? One doesn't know that one doesn't know what one doesn't know. And I would say that 98% of Americans simply don't know. Most don't know about MSGs and most don't care about HFCS(High Fructose Corn Syrup). And why should they? Our Government is supposed to be watching and keeping us safe right? Well, they aren't. So who is going to?

What are we to do then Inner Space? Aside from informing ourselves and making better choices? What else is there to do?

I know a lot of people here don't like David Icke but he himself has done some research on msg and aspartame. However Icke has more of a conspiracy connection with the additives in our foodstuffs and drinks. Here is what he wrote about it from his book 'Infinite love is the only truth everything else is illusion':





The loudest voice behind GM is Monsanto of St Louis, Missouri, one of the most important Illuminati companies on the planet. These were the guys behind Agent Orange, used to grotesque effect in the Vietnam War and this is also the corporation marketing the brain scrambler known as aspartame . This was manipulated through the Food and Drug administration (FDA) 'safety checks' by Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defense Secretary under Boy George Bush, and CEO of Seale Pharmaceuticals when he used his buddies in the Reagan-Father Bush administration to have fundamental doubts about the safety of aspartame ignored. Searle later sold out to Monsanto and now aspartame is in an ever-growing number of drinks and foodstuffs, a trend only stemmed by the fear of class action lawsuits over its effect on the human health.

You will find aspartame in instant breakfasts, breath mints, cereals, sugar-free chewing gum, cocoa mixes, frozen desserts, gelatine desserts, juices, laxatives, multivitamins, milk drinks, pharmaceutical drugs and supplements, shake mixes, soft drinks, tabletop sweeteners, teas, instant coffees, topping mixes, wine coolers and yogurt. And these are only some examples. Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar and marketed under its own name trademarked brands like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure. Some of the 90 different documented symptoms reported to be caused by aspartame include:

Headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia (abnormally rapid heart rate), insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss and joint pain. The reason for this appalling catalogue of disease is that aspartame disrupts the DNA communication system.

The US Air force formally warned all its pilots not to consume diet drinks in their official flying safety bulletin in May and August 1992 because of the effects of aspartame on their ability to fly a plane. Many other non-military pilots have complained of the same symtoms, including seizures. A 1990 edition of Plane and Pilot magazine told the story of an Air Force pilot who traced the patterns of tremors and seizures he suffered for two years directly to his consumption of NutraSweet. When he stopped drinking diet sodas his symptoms disappeared when he ditched the NutraSweet. Plane and Pilot also reported the case:

'After only two cups of artificially sweetened hot chocolate, a pilot experienced blurred vision so severe he was unable, in flight, to read the instruments and very narrowly avoided a tragic landing. Safely on the ground, he related his symptoms to the secretaries in his office. {He told} of experiencing similar symptoms after ingesting aspartame products.'

Aspartame contains methanol (wood alcohol), a poison that causes blindness and death. Two teaspoons are considered lethal. Smaller doses destroy the brain (DNA central processing unit) little by little, because the effects are cumulative. Depending on the tolerance level of the person , the effects can ebe severe like epileptic seizures, including grand mal, blindness, chest palpitations, blurred vision, bright flashes, tunnel vision, ringing or buzzing in ears, migraine headaches, dizziness and loss of equilibrium. Other psychological problems are caused by the phenylalanine in aspartame depleting levels of serotonin, a brain chemical and neurotransmitter that regulates, among other things, behaviour and sleep patterns.

Laboratory tests have also shown that aspartame can change the DNA. Here we go again, and this is the prime reason behind the daily chemical bombardment through food, drink and environment sources. Imagine what the effect on children is going to be of all the aspartame-poisoned sh**e they are consuming by the bucketful today, especially in the soft drinks.

Damage to the brain and the DNA is a constant theme when you research the poisons that infest what we consume, breathe,and absorb through technologies. Asapartame is what is called an excitotoxin, or neurotoxin, and so is the 'flavour enhancer', monosodium glutamate, or MSG. You'll find this in almost every mass-produced foodstuff and it tricks the brain to taste more flavour than is actually there. It is often disguised in the list of ingredients as 'natural flavour/flavourings' when it is nothing of the kind in the form it is used. MSG also hides behind terms like 'hydrolyzed', 'autolyzed', and yeast extract or nutrient, among many other pseudonyms. Americans alone are apparently consuming 160 million pounds of this stuff every year and yet it is a brain poison.


Dr George Schwartz, a toxicologist and author, says that two tablespoons of MSG will kill a dog in minutes. Some of the health effects linked to MSG include heart problems, Alzeimer's, Parkinsons's, asthma, cancer, birth defects, obesity and. . . . brain damage. MSG attacks what is called the brain-blood barrier, a defence system that normally prevents toxins enetering the brain. Even tiny amounts of toxic substances like MSG and aspartame can cause the brain cell to so overreact that it becomes exhausted and dies. Hence they are called excitotoxins. MSG, a crystalline substance like DNA, damages parts of the brain like the Hypothalamus that govern many systems in the body.

As with aspartame, MSG also causes food cravings and can make people fat. The epidemic of obesity exploding across the world is largely caused by these additives, the use of which has mirrored the rise in overweight people. This epidemic is caused to a large extent by the effect on the hypothalamus that regulates hunger and weight. Rats fed MSG became massively obese and their hypothalamus was found to be in a shocking state. Another similarity with aspartame is the way MSG was allowed onto the market without adequate safety checks and most of the later studies into its health have been conducted--as usual--by 'researchers' linked to the food giants. The food corporations that profit massively from MSG say that it's safe. Phew, that's okay, then, you had me worried for a second.


-------David Icke, pages 150-153, infinite love is the only truth all else is illusion.




Read it and make of it what you will. Personally I also believe that there is more to it than 'profit' I believe our brain is being attacked by poison to maintain the masses in a chemical stupor and addiction. That is just what I believe and Im not asking anyone else to believe it. Best they take out such poisonous additives whether I am right or not.

Take responsibilities for our actions. The governments/media/banks/corporations/military only has as much power to make our choices insofar as we let them. In no way am I advocating a 'violent' revolution. I am instead suggesting that we love and love more. See everything as one and no matter what the media say always so no to war and write to corporations and governments your concerns about them letting brain posoin being added to our food and drink.

Have faith that your inner consciousness/intuition is more stronger and powerful than any external force or reality. Whatever you do do it non-violently.

That sounds lovely Brave...but as you know...Corporations do what is best for their stockholders...that is what they are suppose to do. There can be no retreat from the MSGs or Aspartame by the Corps. The reason they cannot retreat is because if they ever...EVER...even for a second, went along with the ideal of their products being 'poisonous' then the whole thing would mushroom into a lawsuit of Obese Proportions and they simply would rather have people fat and stupid than to pay huge billion dollar settlements. I think it all boils down to money...and hey...a fat and stupid and hungry populace is only going to keep filling their Corporate Coffers so why should they care. The fat and stupid stockholders are happy and that is all that matters to them...that is ALL that matters to them.

Therefore: we must each take Personal Responsibility for our own actions and make choices that always equal good choices....if enough people started NOT buying those products as a result of better choices, then things might change...but as it is...only about 2% of any population either get it or care. That doesn't provide very high numbers for effecting change on a Global Economical Scale.

I've been researching this for several years, and Joc is right. It's about money. The media is backed up against the wall, and Washington doesn't seem to care.

I grow my own veggies now, and have a few fruit trees. Fortunately, I can do that because of the climate I'm in, but most can't.


This is what the populace is up against. Supporters of MSG/Full Article



A Study In Suppression Of Information


Brave, appreciate some of the info. Still not an Icke fan though. lol





Thank you, Joc, for taking the time to research this. You could have easily continued to debate for the sake of debate, but you didn't, therefore...my admiration for you has increased as well. No "possibly" about it.

BTW...who's Dr. Kildare?!? j/k




PS I love Santa just the way he is!!!