Page 9 - Summer2018

Caustic Commentary

Sally Fallon Morell takes on the Diet Dictocrats

DANCE WITH THE SUGAR MONSTER on this commonly used painkiller, what do the researchers
An alert member sent us an article about Kellogg’s New recommend? Pregnant women should continue to follow
York City Café, a five-thousand-square-foot store in Union the guidelines given by their country’s health authorities.
Square where millennials can pay up to seven dollars fifty “If you are ill, you should naturally take the medicine you
cents per bowl of cereal (containing a few cents worth of need. After all, having a sick mother is more harmful for the
ingredients). “It would be hard to make up this sort of thing,” fetus” (EurekAlert! Science News, June 22, 2017).
was her comment. Indeed, it would be difficult to think of
a more disgusting way for young people to eat. The menu THE HARD FOOD THEORY
features highly sugared cereals—many dyed with coal tar In a recent post (January 27, 2018) dentist James R. Trexel
dyes—plus toppings like marshmallows, pop tart crumbles, expounds on the so-called “hard food” theory of dental palate
white chocolate chips and caramel sauce, moistened with development. The reason many modern people don’t have
“dairy options” (1%, skim, chocolate or whole), soy milk or room for their wisdom teeth, he claims, is that they are no
almond milk. One dish, called the Unicorn, consists of pink longer eating the “coarse food” of our ancestors. Because
and blue Cheerios, pink cotton candy and “cotton-candy they ate coarse food, our ancestors “experienced an increase
flavored pop candy” (kelloggsnyc.com). Oh my, America! in tooth wear, or attrition. Attrition causes a reduction in
What future can we expect from a nation that sees nothing the height of the crown, or top of the tooth. If this reduc-
wrong about this dance with the Sugar Monster? What kind tion progresses far enough, it actually creates more space
of tragedy lies ahead for young people who eat this way? in the dental arch, space that can allow for wisdom teeth to
erupt normally. . .” In addition, he claims that the effort to
LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES chew coarse food “causes the bones of the jaw to become
“Healthcare providers consider acetaminophen (Tylenol) the larger and more robust” (answersingenesis.org). This is sort
safest over-the-counter pain reliever and fever reducer to take of like arguing that stretching exercises for teenagers will
when you're pregnant,” says pharmacist Gerald Briggs at cause them to grow taller! In fact, we can tell the moment a
babycenter.com. “Acetaminophen has been widely used for child is born his likelihood for having a wide face and large
decades, and extensive research shows that it's safe to take dental palate—long before he has eaten any food at all. And
during pregnancy.” Not so fast! Studies have shown that tak- most foods consumed by primitive people were far from
ing the pain killer acetaminophen (also called paracetamol) coarse—soaked porridges and organ meats come to mind.
can inhibit the development of testosterone in male fetuses, Except for the Eskimos, the native peoples with wide palates
thus increasing the risk of testicular malformation in infants. that Weston Price photographed did not have worn teeth. The
A recent animal study from the University of Copenhagen hard food theory may seem silly but unfortunately it steers
goes further. According to the researchers, “We have dem- parents away from proper preparation for pregnancy, and
onstrated that a reduced level of testosterone means that vectors moms into fads like baby-led weaning, where babies
male characteristics do not develop as they should. This also without molars gum on hard foods like meat and raw carrots.
affects sex drive. In a trial, mice exposed to paracetamol at
the fetal stage were simply unable to copulate in the same IMMORAL?
way as our control animals. Male programming had not Those concerned about the use of genetically engineered
been properly established during fetal development and this crops (GMOs) have been called all sorts of names—old-
could be seen long afterwards in their adult life.” In fact, fashioned, naïve, anti-science, to mention a few. But a recent
with behaviors such as territorial marking, the males acted article in The Washington Post ups the ante: people against
more like female mice. And mice exposed to acetamino- GMOs are immoral! The author, Mitch Daniels, is the presi-
phen had half as many neurons in the area of the brain that dent of Purdue University, an educational institution that has
controls sex drive (Reproduction 2017 Aug;154(2):145-15). sponsored many GMO initiatives. According to Daniels, as
But instead of demanding an immediate black box warning far as GMOs are concerned, “there are no credibly conflict-

SUMMER 2018 Wise Traditions 7