The 3 Deadly Wrongs


By Melanie Stewart

Melanie Stewart

In my 10 part series, Digestion by Design, the focus was on what and how to eat to enhance digestion and maximize nutrient absorption. As the foundation for the environment of our cells, food is even more influential than our genes because it influences which genes express and which don’t. Therefore, our food choices become our greatest health asset or our greatest health foe.

Today I’d like to focus on what NOT to eat. The 3 Deadly Wrongs: Sugar, Artificial Sweeteners and Trans fatty Acids. I’ve written pretty extensively about the toxicity of sugar, its role in internal inflammation, the negative impact it has on blood sugar levels. More dangerous than fat, refined and processed high sugar foods promote inflammation, contribute to insulin resistance and feed bacteria, virus material and cancer cells. Suffice it to say that sugar is sweet, but it’s poison!

Number 2 on the list of deadly wrongs: Artificial Sweeteners. These non-nutritive, hyper-intense sweeteners can be equally if not MORE toxic to your system and should be avoided like the plague for the following reasons: 1. They dull your taste for natural sources of sweetness but provide no useful energy.  2. They can mess with your hunger signals by tricking your gut into expecting calorie dense foods which never arrive, and studies show they can disrupt your hormones by tricking your body into releasing insulin when it’s not needed.

Research at Harvard suggests diet soda is not only toxic, but drinking it daily significantly increases the risk of developing a stroke, heart attack and diabetes. But here’s the real KICKER:  it’s been proven to actually INCREASE your waist circumference!

Number 3 on our list of deadly wrongs: Trans fatty acids. These “bad” fats are not found in nature, not recognized by your body, and are toxic. They’re found primarily in processed and packaged junk foods, snack foods, and unhealthy fast foods and include margarine, solid vegetable shortening, and partially or fully hydrogenated oils. Trans fatty acids entered our food chain in 1910 to extend the shelf life of these processed foods. In the 3+ generations since, we’ve experienced an increase in allergies, aggressiveness, heart disease and cancer, a decrease in sperm counts (50%), but at least we are fatter, more violent and have learning disabilities!

Now here’s an interesting tidbit: The adult human has a set number of fat cells which enlarge or shrink in response to caloric intake. However, much of the fat we see on obese bodies is not adipose tissue; rather it is bulky accumulations of mucus and toxic waste bulging out through the intestinal walls, jowls, lymph-nodes and other parts where waste is stored, including our internal organs. This toxic obesity likely results from impaired liver and kidney function caused by tranfatty acids and the assortment of other dangerous chemicals, additives, preservatives, hormones, antibiotics, flavor enhancers, dyes, and dough conditioners added to processed foods. Our bodies have NO programming for these man-made additives, many of which are banned in other countries but allowed in our foods. In fact, the Average American eats 14 pounds of additives per year! This is why it is so important to read labels and focus on eating more LIVE healthy and REAL foods while reducing or even eliminating processed and packaged DEAD foods.

Melanie Stewart has written 2 books for children (Yum Tum, Good Food is Fun! and Yum Tum, We Get it Done!) and one for adults (Yum Tum For Everyone!) all available on Amazon. For more information, to book a seminar, or for private counseling, you can fill out the contact form at: or email:  All content is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech laws. It’s not meant to give individual medical advice or to make any health claims on the prevention or curing of diseases.