Soothing Tunes to Calm You As You Face Anything: What Are Your Favorites?

If you’re going through a challenging, stressful or upsetting time, one of the best ways to rise above the situation is to soothe yourself with melodies that calm and comfort you.
Forget comfort foods that send you into Sugar Shock. They don’t work!
Music is one of the most exhilarating ways to achieve this serenity and peacefulness. (Meditation works, of course, too. More about that later.)
So help me compile a list of Soothing Tunes.
For instance, the title Hans Zimmer soundtrack from the film, Gladiator, with the talented Russell Crowe as Maximus, is one of my favorite melodies. Doesn’t it evoke a feeling of triumph in you?
So what are your favorite Comfort Tunes (not Comfort Foods, of course)?
(Usually, I don’t care to share anything personal here, but please know that I have two reasons I’m seeking Comfort Tunes. Of course, my first goal is to help you, because I know music can soothe you in a way that food or other addictions can. Secondly, I’m facing a very trying situation, and I’m seeking to arm myself with a number of powerful, potent tactics to get me through this easily. One of the ways to sail through such pain is with the help of magical melodies.)
Please submit your ideas for Magical Melodies and Soothing Tunes.

Dessert for Breakfast? Sugary Children’s Cereals

How would you feel if your kids had a Twinkie or even had cookies for breakfast?
Well, that’s exactly what she or he — or maybe even you — may be doing most mornings.
Suffice it to say that millions of children are beginning their day going into Sugar Shock.
So found a scary new report on popular cereals, Sugar in Children’s Cereal, from the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization dedicated to using the power of information to protect human health and the environment.
The Environmental Working Group arrived at its frightening sugar findings after studying 84 popular brands of cereal, many of them marketed directly to children, to see if they meet either the federal government’s proposed nutrition guidelines or the industry’s looser nutrition guidelines.
And the EWG found lots about sugar, sugar, sugar.
Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, which has nearly 56 percent sugar by weight, leads the list of the 10 worst children’s cereals, according to EWG’s analysis.
In fact, the EWG found, a one-cup serving of the brand contains more sugar than a Hostess Twinkie.
Meanwhile, one cup of any of the 44 other children’s cereals has more sugar than three Chips Ahoy! cookies.
Here’s EWG’s list of the 10 worst cereals.
10 Worst Children’s Cereals
Based on percent sugar by weight
1.) Kellogg’s Honey Smacks 55.6%
2.) Post Golden Crisp 51.9%
3.) Kellogg’s Froot Loops Marshmallow 48.3%
4.) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s OOPS! All Berries 46.9%
5.) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch Original 44.4%
6.) Quaker Oats Oh!s 44.4%
7.) Kellogg’s Smorz 43.3%
8.) Kellogg’s Apple Jacks 42.9%
9.) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries 42.3%
10.) Kellogg’s Froot Loops Original 41.4%
Of course, this EWG report comes as no surprise to me, given that I often share information about sugar’s pervasiveness and its dangers, as I did in my first book, Sugar Shock.
So why should you care about your kids eating so much sugar for breakfast?
As the EWG points out, studies suggest that children who eat breakfasts that are high in sugar have more problems at school.
For instance, they become more frustrated and have a harder time working independently than kids who eat lower-sugar breakfasts, as the EWG noted. And by lunchtime, these kids who filled up on sugar for breakfast have less energy, are hungrier, show attention deficits and make more mistakes on their work.
Kudos to the Environmental Working Group for sharing this important news.
Click here to see the best and worst cereals, as discovered by the EWG.
Wondering what’s a good breakfast then? Well, for starters, why do your kids have to have cereal to start the day?
But if they do, make sure, as nutrition expert Marion Nestle, Ph.D., recommends that you pick:
Cereals with a short ingredient list
Cereals high in fiber.
Cereals with little or no added sugars (such as honey, molasses, fruit juice concentrate, brown sugar, corn sweetener, sucrose, lactose, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup and malt syrup).
An easy breakfast for children would be a piece of fresh fruit (like an orange or apple), a cooked of steel cut oats (sprinkled with cinnamon), some plain milk (if they can handle dairy), and a hard boiled egg (prepared the night before).
Have you heard yet that my next book, Beyond Sugar Shock, is due out next year? Stay tuned for details.

Eat All the Pancakes You Want & Leave Happy, Ad Says. Huh? Wrong!

Frankly, I don’t get it. Here we are in the midst of a horrific nationwide obesity epidemic, and a certain national chain is now enticing people and tempting them via a TV ad to eat can eat all the pancakes they want and leave happy!
You’ve got to be kidding!
Eating as many pancakes as your heart desires will not make you happy!
Isn’t it more accurate to say: “Eat all the pancakes you want, especially ones smothered in butter and syrup, and leave bloated, feeling gross and angry at yourself for pigging out!”
After you eat a pile of pancakes, you’ll probably say, “Ugh! I can’t believe I ate all those pancakes! I’m so unhappy!”

High Fructose Corn Syrup: Sour Surprise

Do you eat prepared, processed cereals, breads, pasta, yogurt, tomato sauce, crackers, frozen foods, pickles, canned vegetables or fruits?
If so, then you’re probably consuming a lot of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) without even knowing it.
Did you know that most people who eat processed, packaged foods are consuming a lot of sweeteners, especially high fructose corn syrup?
And did you know that when take in too many sugars, especially HFCS, you can gain weight, as well as develop heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and numerous other life-shortening illnesses?
Learn more about HFCS in a mere three minutes by watching the 3 Minute Ad Age interview I gave last year.
I just found out today that the video interview about HFCS is posted on YouTube so please spread the word to your friends and loved ones.
Find out more about the dangers of high fructose corn syrup and other sweeteners by getting my book SUGAR SHOCK!
You also can learn more about HFCS by visiting the new blog, Sweet Disguise, which kindly featured my book and 3 Minute Ad Age Interview today.