Hypothetically, let's say you had a product and the power to coerce the entire world to want your product, completely unbeknownst to them. Would you do it?

Now you might think I'm some crazy conspiracy theorist, but hear me out. I think some food and medicine companies are playing a nasty trick on the public. Just like some companies have released drugs meant to treat cancer that actually cause cancer, there are some companies that release "fat free" foods that actually make you fat.

Obesity is now classified as a pandemic, with over half of the world population either obese or overweight - with the exception of east Asia. Think about that for a second. Doesn't that make you afraid to be overweight? Doesn't that make you want to buy diet food?

"Despite the fact that diet is seen as only a minor part of the problem, a highly lucrative diet food sector has developed on the back of growing consumer concern. According to Marketdata Enterprises, the market is worth over $39 billion and covers everything from low-fat and low-cal products, diet soft drinks, artificial sweeteners and OTC meal replacements and diet pills.

With consumers preferring to opt out of exercise - and reticent to change their diets - it is not surprising that many of them are turning to the easy solution to weight loss - popping pills. According to weight-loss-diet-i.com, sales of diet pills and related supplements have been increasing by 10 to 20 per cent a year since 1997 as more Americans struggle to fight fat without breaking into a sweat." - Source: Nutra Ingredients USA

These statistics cause fear, and that fear causes people to purchase a chemical cocktail to fix their problem - when the problem is the fact they are consuming chemicals. Do you really know what those chemicals are doing to your body? All you know is what the company is telling you - but can you expect that company to be honest?

"The researchers believe low-calorie versions of usually high-calorie foods disrupt the body's ability to use taste to regulate calorific intake." - Source: BBC News

"Several genes influence weight. One gene that has been identified-the ob gene-controls the production of leptin. Leptin is a protein made by fat cells. Leptin travels to the brain and acts on receptors in the hypothalamus (the part of the brain that helps regulate appetite). The message carried by leptin is to decrease food intake and increase the amount of calories (energy) burned." - Source: Merck

Fact of the matter is, the only shortcut to anything is just plain suicide. If you take something artificial to heal something natural, you're only causing an artificial problem because you are offsetting your body's natural flow. Then in a few years, you're going to have to take something even more artificial in order to heal that artificial problem you caused, and it just snowballs from there.

"You can't treat cancer by swallowing a chemical cocktail. Lifestyle changes are always a better solution - something even the American Cancer Society now says can bring about a 62 percent reduction in this disease. If you have cancer:

1. Cut out all offending habits
2. Cut out all processed foods
3. Get sufficient omega-3 fatty acids into your diet
4. Get plenty of sun exposure, or use an oral Vitamin D
5. Get lots of exercise to drive down insulin levels and keep a healthy bodyweight
6. Get plenty of fresh foods into your diet, which includes loads of vegetables
7. Keep foods organic to avoid unnecessary chemical exposure
8. Get plenty of quality sleep
9. Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins such as household chemical cleaners, synthetic air fresheners and air pollution."

The one part of that I really want to emphasize is "Cut out all processed foods." This includes margarine, which is homogenized and therefore causes arterial scarring, which therefore causes heart disease and obesity. This includes store bought juice, which is homogenized and therefore causes arterial scarring, which therefore causes heart disease and obesity.

And most especially includes "diet" foods, white bread, and foods with an extremely long shelf life, which are processed to no end. If you were to take the ingredients for white bread and mix them with water, you would get paper mache. It literally turns to stone in your stomach, and then is either added to fat deposits (because your body has no idea what to do with it) or sits in your colon and blocks nutrition absorption.

Do the food companies tell you this? Of course not! Why? Because fat people eat more food, which allows them to make more money. Worse yet, there is evidence that several pharmaceutical companies are teaming up with the food industry to create more obesity - and they are succeeding.

"American consumers will spend more per head over the next five years than European consumers, with respective per head expenditures of $154 and $125 in 2004. By 2009 these figures will have grown to $177 and $147, with European growth outstripping US growth at 3.3 per cent a year compared to 2.7 per cent.

...

"The US has by far the highest proportion of overweight and severely overweight consumers, but European consumers are not far behind: the figure for Europe is currently 48 per cent and will have crossed the 50 per cent barrier by 2009," he said." - Source: Food Navigator

Take a long hard look at that excerpt. Doesn't it look to you that obesity and diet food consumption is linked? Doesn't it make you question which is the chicken, and which is the egg?