It’s Not Your Fault!

— by Emanuel Barling, Jr. Esq and Ashley F. Brooks R.N. -  $19.95 (Paperback)

or Is It Just in Your Mind?

The plight of the overweight and obese has become a national debate that has poured over into television talk shows such as Oprah and the evening news. Oprah devoted an entire show to the book, Women, Food and God asking viewers to email their comments to her web page. Our reactions to the limited theories advanced on that show are contained in this book.

American obesity rates are the highest in the world. Sixty-eight percent of adults are categorized as overweight, one-third of them are diagnosed as clinically obese. There are nearly 7 million overweight and obese children in the U.S. today. Childhood obesity statistics show that obese children have a 70% chance of becoming obese adults. The percentage increases to 80% if either one or both parents is obese as well.

Americans did not get fat overnight nor did some mosquito spread a deadly virus that causes obesity. Eating until becoming obese is now the leader in American addictions surpassing cigarettes and alcohol. There are tangible reasons why Americans are gaining weight, becoming obese or cannot lose it. The so-called “healthy foods” you’re eating are making you fat and ill.

We ask and answer the questions: Are you eating a lot of salads but still gaining weight? Juicing and still gaining weight? Drinking so-called health food shakes to lose weight without success? Changing your diet so often you feel like a yo-yo? Can’t stop eating? Finding working out impossible because you are getting too overweight to walk, jog or exercise for very long? Are you considering a drastic means to lose weight such as liposuction, gastric bypass or lap-band surgeries?

 PLEASE STOP NOW. It’s Not Your Fault! The information in this book led to one author losing more than 80 pounds and the other losing 20. And still losing weight. It is easier than you think.

We describe the causes of food cravings, overeating, addiction and discuss food allergies, delayed food intolerance and the dangerous addictive chemicals used by food manufacturers that cause the compulsive/obsessive eating that leads to obesity. We offer a 90-day challenge and easy 12-step dieting rules that can start readers on their way to losing weight.

We also discuss how certain chemical food addictions in children originate with the eating habits of pregnant mothers that start in vitro. We offer important information to help expectant mothers stop the cycle of addiction.

“I’m having great fun already with the book. Fascinating read. And extremely informative. I’m appalled at the extent of my ignorance!” Barbara Paskin, BBC

Reviews

*****  Book Review: It’s Not Your Fault: Weight Gain, Obesity and Food Addiction by Emmanuel Barling Jr and Ashley Brooks — January 30, 2011

 Synopsis:  Two-thirds of adult Americans are overweight. In their newest guide to a sane approach for better health, Award Winning health authors Mannie Barling and Ashley Brooks answer the main question for those who have failed in dieting: “Are you addicted to chemical food ingredient or is the addiction just in your mind?”

In this comprehensive work the authors describe the causes of food craving,overeating and food addiction and they reveal the dangerous addictive chemicals used by food manufacturers which cause the compulsive and obsessive eating that leads to today’s obesity epidemic.

The leading addiction of the American public — surpassing even cigarettes and alcohol — is overeating to the point of obesity. American obesity rates, in fact, are the highest in the world. Nearly twenty percent of the adult population has been diagnosed as clinically obese and there are ten million overweight and obese children in the U.S. “Americans did not get fat overnight nor did some mosquito spread a deadly virus that causes obesity,” write the authors.

Barling and Brooks convincingly show that weight gain and obesity are the result of an addiction to chemical food ingredients, the dangers of genetically modified fruits and vegetables and the damage caused by the synthetic growth hormones, carcinogens and antibiotics found in factory farmed meats and dairy. For any reader who has failed to lose or keep off weight despite conscientious juicing, eating salad diets, drinking healthy food shakes or changing diets like a yo-yo It’s Not Your Fault offers hope.

MSG (leading cause of migraines) is hidden in Maltodextrin, Yeast Extract, Hydrogeneated Vegetable Oil, Autolyzed Yeast and Hydrogeneated Vegetable Protein. So even if you say no MSG at a restaurant, the odds are you are getting it due to the contents of the food or oil used!

*******************************************

*****  Five Star Review from  Reviews and Giveaways by The Chickenista — January 31, 2011

“It’s Not Your Fault, Weight Gain, Obesity and Food Addiction” Monday, January 31, 2011

I was recently asked to review “It’s Not Your Fault, Weight Gain, Obesity and Food Addiction” By Emanuel Barling, Jr., Esq. and Ashley F. Brooks, RN. I’m not a huge book fan. Only because I rarely get the time to finish one. But, I have on occasion taken the opportunity to review those I find interesting, fascinating and educational.

What drew me to “It’s Not Your Fault, Weight Gain, Obesity and Food Addiction”, was the title. Hello NOT my fault..OK why?

Written by a Husband and Wife team both determined to find out why they were struggling so hard with weight-loss. While neither is a doctor, this books is filled with their research and backed with studies.

This book was compiled very well. It will really open your eyes to a lot of key factors of weight gain and ultimately obesity. If you’ve ever had an addiction, be it cigarettes {guilty}, alcohol or illegal drugs, the comparison this book is making to food is almost identical. The urge to have that burger or piece of cake is actually the craving of the food additive in the burger or cake. Thus, leading to a chemical dependency to the food.

We’ve all heard that MSG is bad. Monosodium glutamate, or MSG, is the primary cause of weight gain and obesity in the US. In the 60′s scientists had evidence that it had serious side effects, leading to neurological disorders, birth defects in addition to weight gain and obesity. So here’s the kicker with that:

It’s found in 150 different ingredient names and is injected into more than 9000 different canned, bottled, frozen and packaged foods.

And just because a label says “No MSG” they may actually have it hidden in the ingredients! Scary.

The book also goes over genetically modified fruits and vegetables in the US….

After reviewing more than 600 scientific journals it was shown that genetically modified organisms {GMO} was deteriorating Americans health!

In the first 9 years after the large scale introduction of GMO crops in 1996, the incidence of people with three or more chronic diseases nearly doubled, from 7% to 13%.

Europe has banned any importing of GMO foods including our spices! It was surveyed that 90% of European shoppers would double their travel to another grocery store to avoid buying GMO products.

In Japan over 2 million people signed petitions to ban American soy products because its genetically modified!

The Church of Scotland called US practices unethical because we are NOT given the choice. “It smacks of imperialism!”

Here in the US we have more than 99% of all crops being genetically modified. These crops are sprayed up to 16 times with 36 different pesticides before being picked.

Here’s another I found shocking. High fructose corn syrup. Thought all was fine in moderation? Not only is it a “highly addictive chemical additive”, but it is the leading contributor to weight gain and obesity. It does so by messing up your brains ability to control appetite and metabolism.

This book covers so much. I wish I could share with you everything. One thing I think that stands out the most with me after reading this is, when you have a food you find yourself craving like crazy… maybe jonesing for … replace it with an organic version. Taking out those additives that makes us have a chemical dependency.

The book ends with 12 Steps of the “Its not your fault” Dieting Rules, A Partial List of Hidden Sources of MSG, A Partial List of Hidden Sources of High Fructose Corn Syrup Found in Fast Foods, A Partial List of Hidden Sources of High Fructose Corn Syrup, A List of Corn Allergens and the top 50 Food Manufacturers & Processors in the US & their Lobbying Associations.

This really was one of the most fascinating and eye opening books I’ve read.

*******************************************

 Amazon Review   –   Five Stars   *****,  January 4, 2010

Book Review: It’s Not Your Fault by Emanuel Barling Esq. And Ashley F. Brooks R.N.Posted on January 1st, 2011 by Simon Barrett in Book Reviews, Food, ReviewsRead 98 times.Weight Gain, Obesity and Food Addiction

Unlike Global Warming there are very few experts that do not agree that obesity in the Western world has become a chronic problem. Authors Mannie Barling and Ashley F. Brooks tackle this question in their new book It’s Not Your Fault.

Over the years I have watched as people near and dear to me have waged personal battles with the problem, the usual outcome is a short term gain in losing a few pounds, and a long term loss of not only regaining the weight but adding yet more pounds.

Some argue that it is our modern life that is responsible, we sit at desks all day, we drive to and from work, in fact the nearest thing to exercise is walking to the coffee pot for a refill. There are elements of truth in this thinking, but is it the whole story? Mannie Barling and Ashley F. Brooks have other ideas on the subject.

It’s Not Your Fault explores other reasons why obesity is so prevalent in the US. They pose the question, might it be a result of what we eat? It is a great question.

I first met Mannie and Ashley as a result of reading their first two books Arthritis, Inflammation, Gout, Crohn’s, IBD, and IBS , and Mannie’s Diet and Enzyme Formula. While the titles may seem a trifle dry, the material made for great reading. These authors leave no stone unturned in their research, they cite over 3000 scientific sources. In It’s Not Your Fault they have taken a slightly different approach, the level of research is just as great, but presented in a style that a non-expert can understand.

Mannie Barling and Ashley F. Brooks have both battled life threatening health issues, both were told that their days upon the earth were numbered. This became the catalyst for them to evaluate their lifestyles, and while not turning their backs on modern medicine, try to explore how hey could supplement it. They took many paths but those paths inevitably converged at the same place, food. You are what you eat! Both also suffered from weight gain as a result of their health problems. To quote Ashley:

Over the years, to stay at my “fighting weight” I routinely tried Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystems, the Atkins Diet, South Beach Diet, Bally’s diet, Slim Fast diet, the blood type diet and every other fad diet out there. Some worked briefly, on others I gained weight. Some made me overeat when I stopped. Others caused me to gain twice as much weight afterward. I read a bunch of diet books and followed their programs. I even went to the diet specialists’ offices for counseling and the humiliation of weighing in. After one day on the Subway diet, I was ready to puke from overeating. I couldn’t stop eating the “foot-longs.”

So what is the reason for the huge increase in obesity in the US? The authors explore many avenues, each one is disturbing, accumulated they paint a very bleak picture. At the very center of the problem is Big Food and Big Pharma. Interestingly enough the interrelations between these two seemingly dissimilar industries runs deep and far.

The issue with obesity does seem to have its roots in our food supply, over the past several decades there have been major changes in what we eat and how we eat. Since the 1960’s the list of additional ’stuff’ in packaged and processed food has continued to grow. Today almost everything on the supermarket shelf contains MSG, High Fructose Corn Syrup, and some form of Soy. Added to the problem is the fact that the majority of the ‘natural’ raw materials are GMO (Genetically Modified Organism). It’s Not Your Fault explores how each of these factors have created the obese world that we live in.

Mannie Barling and Ashley Brooks have done a great job of researching the subject and putting the often hard to understand language of ’sciencespeak’ into plain English. Many of the additives used in processed foods have an addictive nature to them. It is the addictive element that causes us to crave a specific fast food offering, or other item.

With today being Jan/1 2011 or 1/1/11 why not start the new year with the resolution to make this the year that you are nice to yourself? A great place to start would be by reading It’s Not You Fault. You can order your copy from Amazon by using the link above, or directly from the authors by visiting www.howtoeliminatepain.com.

Simon Barrett